Volusia and Flagler County Horse
Feb 17, 2012
A Few Tips For Selling Horses
Photo courtesy of Horse Journal
Maybe you need a different horse that will better match your needs. Or maybe you need to thin your herd.
Whatever the reason, if you’re thinking of selling a horse, you should read this piece by event rider and trainer John Strassburger, the Performance Editor of Horse Journal, about horse shopping:
Giving anyone “a few tips” for selling a horse is a challenging task, and evaluating a horse you’re considering buying is usually time-consuming and fraught with disappointment. And our country’s current economic malaise doesn’t make either task –selling a horse or buying one – any easier, because horses in the same price range can have a very wide range of ability, soundness and training or competitive experience. More info...
Feb 17, 2012
Does your horse jig on the trail? Here are some tips from Julie Goodnight so you...
Quieting a Jigging Trail Horse
Question: I mostly enjoy trail riding on my 8-year-old Half-Arabian gelding. He has a great disposition and is calm and focused in the arena, but when I'm out on the trail, he gets antsy. He starts to jig, tries to race in front of the other horses, and feels like he's about to take off. Not only is this annoying, but I'm beginning to fear for my safety. Is there anything I can do to stop his behavior?
Lynn Yates, Ohio More info...
Feb 17, 2012
Great compilation of barrel racing runs from the 2011 NFR. This outta get you excited to get out there
Highlights of 11 NFR Barrel Racing
These are barrel racing highlights from the 2011 National Finals Rodeo. I congratulate Lindsey Sears in winning her second world barrel racing championship. ... More info...
Feb 16, 2012
Barrel Racing Tips
Lead Change Between First and Second - View the Video
When do I change? Where do I change and why do I change there? I’ve been to quite a few barrel racing clinics and these are common questions. How do you train your horse to change leads out of first barrel (or between first and second barrel)?
I’ve heard a variety of answers all from professional barrel racers with a long list of achievements. Here are some of their thoughts on the matter:
I don’t worry about it, they figure it out
I never approach second on the wrong lead
I train for flying lead changes before I go to the pattern
I break my horse from a lope to a trot out of first (then pick up the other lead)
I break my horse to a trot at my rate point at second and pick up the other lead to lope around second
I teach them a flying lead change out of first on the pattern
I ask for correct leads going slow, but don’t worry about it going fast More info...
Feb 16, 2012
Laminitis: The First 48 Hours
by Alexis.Sowell@Colorado.EDU
Laminitis: The term strikes fear in every horse owner. But what exactly happens in those important first hours when your horse comes down with this hoof disease?
As Emily Kilby reported for EQUUS, well before laminitis stops a horse cold with excruciating hoof pain, it has already stirred up a destructive brew at the borderline between living flesh and inert hoof wall:
The horse shifts her weight back onto her hindquarters. Her forefeet, curved and creasing into a gross distortion of the polished, tough hoof capsules of her previous life, practically paddle the air to avoid that moment of pain when they must make contact with the earth and bear weight. Everything that was once so easy is now impossibly hard. The mare’s jaw is perpetually clamped, her eyes ever narrowed and her expression withdrawn, from the effort of managing her life now that pain is her master.
Founder, the ultimate and awful outcome of uncontrolled laminitis, brings this picture of misery to you. At some point, possibly years before, a catastrophic event occurred within the mare’s forefeet. It was of such magnitude that it dissolved the fundamental union of sensitive and insensitive laminae upon which equine mobility is based. More info...
Feb 15, 2012
Unsound or Untrained?
Barrel Racing
My horse “Emmitt” won’t go into the arena. He’s got to have ulcers. After all, research says all horses do, right? (It has nothing to do with the fact that he thinks he’s got a ticking time bomb on his back due to the nervous beat of my heart.)
Here are a couple of other not so rare scenarios, maybe some you’ve even experienced personally:
I keep crashing the barrels with “Rock.” I’m not riding far enough into the pocket and I’m looking at the barrel instead of the ground beside it. Maybe I need to do more reverse arcs to get him obeying the inside rein. (It has nothing to do with the fact he has huge bone spurs in hocks that have caused him to dump on his front feet so much that they’re sore too.)
“PJ” balks at the gate. He pins his ears when he turns. I can barely keep him running through the pattern. When I cross the timer, he dash boards me before calmly walking out of the arena. (He’s in agony because he hates barrel racing!) More info...
Feb 13, 2012
Save up to 63% on Weaver Fly Sheets and Masks! This week only.
Fly Season is Coming
Just in time for the fly season. Weaver fly sheets at unheard of prices. Don't wait, stock up on fly sheets and fly masks before you need them and save big bucks.
More info...
Feb 12, 2012
Tips from a Charmayne James Barrel Racing Clinic
Watch this video
11 Time World Champion Barrel Racers Charmayne James has a lot to offer the barrel racing world.
I came across this video on Youtube that was taken at one of Charmayne’s Barrel Racing clinics. If you have watched her video and read her book like I have, you will appreciate this visual.
Part of Charmayne’s teaching uses 5 axis points around the barrel. She also really emphasizes looking over the outside ear on a horse going into the turn to locate those points while shifting your weight to the outside. The third thing she wants to see is a bent elbow through the turn as you lift and position your horse for the turn.
This is a long video, but it won’t cost you a time to catch a glimpse of this $600 clinic.
More info...
Feb 11, 2012
Close Contact Saddle
Hundreds to choose from
More info...
Feb 9, 2012
A Home for Every Horse
Horse Rescue
Get the word out: www.equine.com has developed a program called, “A Home For Every Horse,” with the goal of finding homes for as many unwanted horses as possible.
If this sounds like a great idea, you’re right, says Horse Journal Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Foley:
There’s a special tab on their website that says “Rescue Horses.” Click it and you can quickly search through the available horses. I dare you to look at those horses’ faces and not at least think about taking one into your barn! You can also visit the program on Facebook.
Part of the AIM Equine Network – the owners of Horse Journal, Equus, Dressage Today, Practical Horseman, Horse&Rider, and much more (see full list), Equine.com is working with the Unwanted Horse Coalition to get the word out about these horses.
There are an estimated 170,000 horses deemed “unwanted horses” in the United States. What a sad word that is. Unwanted. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to be “unwanted.” More info...