More books from my library being added to the BOG2F page !

More books from my personal library are being added to the Buy One, Get TWO FREE page – some vintage, some New Old Stock, some just plain old NEW !

Visit the BOG2F page now.

Take a look – here are just a few of the latest additions.

 

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Horse Coolers

Wool plaid cooler

Coolers

A cooler is a lightweight, absorbent cover designed to help a wet horse dry slowly without getting chilled. Essential during cold or cool, breezy weather, these items are also valuable in hot times. Even when he doesn’t need protection from chilling, a cooler can help dry a horse more quickly by wicking moisture away from his hair and letting it evaporate from the outer surface of the cooler. Sometimes, during cold weather, frost will form on the outside of the cooler, a sure sign that it’s working! In the winter, you can layer two coolers after bathing a horse and remove the inner cooler once it has absorbed most of the moisture.

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The typical cooler style covers the horse from poll to tail and hangs very long on the sides. It usually has a browband, two or more light tie straps under the neck, and a tail loop, but no surcingle or leg straps. This style is good for throwing over a horse, tack and all, after a workout to allow him to cool down while walking or untacking. Small size is 66 by 72 inches, Regular size is 84 by 90 inches, and Large is 90 by 96 inches.

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Coolers also come in a more fitted stable-sheet style, with one or more belly attachments, front closures, and possibly leg straps. Because this style is more secure on the horse, it’s better suited for a horse that’s unattended, such as a horse turned into a stall or paddock to munch hay after a bath or workout.

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Coolers used on sweaty horses need to be easily washable, since the dirt and minerals from sweat remain in the material after the moisture evaporates. Since wool coolers, even when washed cold, are more prone to shrinking than synthetic coolers, you can minimize their trips to the washing machine by double-layering them with a more washable synthetic cooler next to the horse.

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Horse Care – Ten Skin Ailments to Avoid

Ten Skin Ailments to Avoid

Here is a brief primer on some of the most common skin problems that might plague a horse.

Rain rot is caused by Dermatophilus, an infectious microorganism from the soil that eagerly becomes established in skin cracks under a dirty hair coat during rainy weather. The painful, tight scabs that form on the horse’s neck, shoulders, back, and rump make him uncomfortable and unusable and require medication and bathing.

Seborrhea is a skin disease caused by a malfunction in sebum production and function, resulting in flaky skin.

Ringworm is a fungal infection affecting the skin and hair, characterized by round, crusty patches with hair loss. It is easily spread between horses via tack and grooming tools.

Photosensitivity of the skin (usually under white hair) can result from components of certain plants (ingested). The skin becomes red, then sloughs off.

Warts, most commonly on the muzzle of a young horse, are caused by the equine papillomavirus. As a horse matures, he develops immunity to the virus and the warts disappear. The same virus also causes aural plaque, a scaly condition inside the ear, which can become painful if flies are allowed to bite and feed inside the ears.

Sarcoids are common skin tumors with unknown cause. There are several types, mostly occurring around the head or the site of an old injury.

Thrush is a fungal infection of the hoof that thrives in moist, dirty environments.

Scratches (also known as grease heel) is a common term that refers to a general localized skin inflammation found on the lower legs of horses. The thick, chronic sores at the heels and rear of the pastern can be quite painful. Scratches are linked to an opportunistic fungus, but can be complicated by bacterial infection.

Ticks cause crusty scabs and can be disease carriers. Check the mane and tail carefully throughout spring and summer. Use rubber gloves or tweezers to remove ticks, which can carry Lyme disease that can also affect humans (see July Vet Clinic). Be sure to remove the entire tick. If the head is left in, it can cause a painful infection.

Lice are not common in horses unless they are poorly kept and crowded. Then lice can spread rapidly through a group. You’d find the nits (eggs) or the lice themselves along the midline of the horse, such as in the mane and tail head.

 

Take advantage of our Book Sale. Buy One and Get TWO FREE on this page. New books are being added weekly in both categories.

Here are a few added this week:

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Springtime for Horsekeepers

From Cherry Hill’s Horsekeeping Almanac

Shedding horses, green grass, the return of the meadowlarks . . . spring is here! When I go to bed each night, I am often rehearsing all the things I want to do the next day as I slip into dreamland, and when my feet hit the floor every morning, they are in high gear. This is the beginning of a new horse season and it can’t start too early for me.

Mother Nature, however, can bring some interesting events to the mix. We usually have our deepest and wettest snowstorms during March, April, and even May. So although I am revved, I always need a backup plan in place if the weather makes it unsafe or impossible to train or ride.

The horses are all brought in from winter pastures in March, if not before, to allow the land to rest and the plants to grow. Each horse has his own separate sheltered pen. I bring the horses back into work one at a time, starting with a grooming program. I might vigorously groom a horse daily to remove as much of the shedding hair as possible, or in some cases, I might bathe a horse in early March and give him a body clip. (See more about body clips in December.) Until a horse is 95 percent shed out, I usually don’t put a sheet on him. Then I either give him a turnout sheet or a fly sheet, depending on the weather, to protect his coat.

The horses are still on a 100 percent hay ration, but I cut back a bit to help them start to lose their winter fat and hay belly if they have one. Because they are in pens, they require exercise, so I review in-hand and longeing to get them back into work mode.

I pay attention to each horse’s specific needs for conditioning and adjust rations as needed.

Horses in training are kept shod, and even some that are not in training are kept shod to protect their hooves from our abrasive Rocky Mountain terrain. It is great having a resident farrier!

This time of year, the horses are fed three times per day, at 6:00 a.m., noon, and 7:00 p.m. The seniors are still getting their beet pulp and supplements, and the rest of the horses receive beet pulp with additives as their level of work dictates.

Spring makes us all feel great. I’m spending lots of time outdoors. I always wear a broad-brimmed hat, bandanna around my neck, gloves, and long-sleeved shirt. This is mainly to protect my eyes and skin from sun damage. I often find that from this time of year through fall, I get plenty of varied exercise from chores, grooming, training, riding, mowing, and facilities maintenance tasks, so the indoor exercise equipment gets a little dusty over the summer. The early mornings and late afternoons can still be a bit chilly, so mainly for my horse’s sake, I try to do vigorous training and riding either mid-morning or mid-afternoon, giving them plenty of time to cool out thoroughly before chilly evening temperatures.

 

Visit our Good Horse Books site for new, used and collectible horse books – Buy one and get TWO FREE.

Here are a few added today

Haymaker’s Handbook

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Horse Information Roundup full of Articles and Q&A s

If you have a question about horse care, facilities, horse behavior or training, perhaps your questions has already been asked and answered on my Horse Information Roundup.
There you can browse by categories such as Hoof Care, Riding and Mounted Training or Horse Clothing just to name a few………

OR you can use the Horsekeeping search tool at the top of the page to type in a word or phrase and that will create a list of articles that contain that subject.

To get more in depth information, you can browse through my complete books list. Here is the complete chronology of my books and DVDs

and here is a place where you can look for books by category – the Book Barn.

Cherry Hill

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Rottweilers Make Wonderful Pals and Ranch Dogs

We have been lucky to have had 3 wonderful German Rottweilers, all from my sister’s kennels in Texas when she was raising the beautiful dogs. Rottweilers are working dogs.

Rheabach, Bob and Mocha were all special pals and great partners too. With exceptional dispositions and minds, they made the perfect guardian dogs, alerting us to odd happenings and being our personal protectors.

In addition, Rheabach was a natural puller. He was happy to pull a cart or sled to help us feed the pasture horses. You may have seen photos of him doing so in one of my books.

Here are some photos of the late great Rheabach, Bob and Mocha here on our place.

Bob, Mocha and Rheabach

Rheabach, Mocha, Bob

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Horse Slaughter in the US – What is the Solution?

You might be on one side or the other of the horse slaughter issue in the US – or perhaps at this time you are uniformed and/or undecided.  Here are some facts and an abbreviated timeline. Feel free to leave your suggestions for solutions here or on Facebook.

The slaughter of horses has never been illegal in the US at the Federal level. However, it has been illegal in California since 1998.

In 2005 legislation removed funding for the inspection of horses slaughtered for meat which essentially put the the horse slaughter plants out of business.

H. R. 2744—45
SEC. 794. Effective 120 days after the date of enactment of this Act, none of the funds made available in this Act may be used to pay the salaries or expenses of personnel to inspect horses under section 3 of the Federal Meat inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 603) or under the guidelines issued under section 903 the Federal Agriculture Improvement and Reform Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 1901 note; Public Law 104–127).

In 2007, the last operating horse slaughter house (in Illinois) closed.

Since then statistics show that just as many or more horses were slaughtered each year, the difference being that they were hauled to Canadian or Mexican slaughter houses.

In November 2011 legislation was passed that allows the USDA to once again fund inspectors of plants that slaughter horses, so there is the possibility that horse slaughter plants in the US could reopen.

With many unwanted horses in the US (a high percentage of those starving) and rescue and adoption programs filled to capacity (a few of those being the worst offenders regarding lack of care), what is the answer?

For more information:

Read The Unwanted Horse on the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) website. You’ll find some very interesting and detailed Q&As there.

The American Association of Equine Practitioners also has some informative articles on their site, namely

The Unwanted Horse in the US

The AAEP Perspective on HR 503

We horseowners can agree on one thing:

None of us want horses to suffer, whether from neglect or malnourishment by irresponsible horse owners or by inhumane treatment when traveling or being euthanized.

What are some positive solutions to this controversial and complex problem?

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