I was having a nice ride on Cerise this morning until I asked her to bend and move forward at the same time. As a Fire horse personality, Cerise has her own ideas about how to do things and bending and moving off my leg is something she does not agree with. It is not … Continue Reading »
I have a hen named Squawker and she is without doubt the most annoying chicken I have ever had. She is constantly hiding her eggs so about every 3 days I have to go looking for her stash. She sat on eggs in the middle of the winter and then when the chicks hatched she … Continue Reading »
Laminitis horses that have metabolic issues are such a challenge to diagnose and treat. It is tempting to focus on lab results but this can be a mistake unless you look at multiple tests. My basic tests for metabolic laminitis horses are glucose, insulin and ACTH. I run these tests regularly and look for patterns … Continue Reading »
Do you ever present your horse with a training exercise only to have him rush through it, as if to “get it over with” as soon as possible? Or how about the jumper horse that charges a jump totally out of control? And then there’s the reining horse that spins … but at Mach-1 with … Continue Reading »
Are you able to stay focused when you are around your horse? I have a terrible time with this. I have learned to remain present when I am around people but when I go to the pasture my mind chatter takes over. God has been pointing out to me lately the need to quite my … Continue Reading »
When I say a job I don’t mean go around a course of jumps or do a reining pattern, I mean if you get in a bind can your horse step up and help you. For example, I was riding with a friend that was taking a young Wood horse temperament colt out on the … Continue Reading »
It’s bad enough if your horse develops ulcers, but it is so much worse if your horse develops ulcers and you don’t have a clue until he’s deathly ill. Unfortunately, there are certain horses who are more likely to develop ulcers without showing any outward signs of pain until they are really sick. In terms … Continue Reading »
Some women have a weakness for new shoes but for me it is tack. I could spend all day in a tack shop and never get bored. Touching and smelling leather brings me into a state of euphoria and peace. A new bridle headstall is a treasure. Saddle pads and girths are nice but they … Continue Reading »
For horse lovers, one of the most frustrating experiences is trying to catch a horse who doesn’t want to be caught. Maybe you’ve had a long day at work and are eagerly looking forward to a relaxing trail ride, or perhaps you need to catch your horse to haul him to a horsemanship clinic. Either … Continue Reading »
These days most horse owners are clued-up enough about horse health care to recognize insulin-resistance in their equine friends. The insulin-resistant horse is the laid-back easy keeper who gains weight if he catches even a whiff of grain. He’s also the one with the cresty neck, elevated levels of insulin and triglycerides in the blood, … Continue Reading »
Have you ever found bits of wadded up, chewed hay laying around the feed area and wondered about the health of your horses teeth? This is called quidding and if you are seeing it then most likely you have an older horse who has lost most of his teeth, a horse that recently had his … Continue Reading »
Spring is just around the corner and this is the time many people start thinking about sending their young colts to trainers, either to be started under saddle or for more advanced training. Many people send their horses for training with futurities, derbies, and classics in mind … all events catering to young horses. While … Continue Reading »
My cousin, Sonny, is facing an end of life journey with brain cancer. His symptoms are primarily loss of memory and confusion but he was lucid enough to make the decision to have surgery to biopsy and remove a portion of his tumor. The neurosurgeon had explained that because the tumor was growing into the … Continue Reading »
I went to one of my client’s recently and she asked me to look at one of her 2 year olds. This filly had a lump on her chest that had been there for over a week. My client had assumed it was from a kick but the lump was hard and not going down. … Continue Reading »
If there is one thing I have learned about horse health care during my career as an equine veterinarian, it is this: You can pay for horse health care now … or you can pay for it later. In short, caring for any single horse requires a certain sum of money, and that money can … Continue Reading »