Don't Hang Up Your Spurs!

Photo: www.theguardian.com

It's rare for us to go a week without talking to a customer who is recovering from a horse related injury. If you're in the same boat, you're not alone. Regardless of your riding acumen or your knowledge of horses, a day may come when you are involved in a horse-related accident. Hopefully, any injury sustained will be minor, leaving psyche unblemished and confidence unscathed.

But what can be done when your confidence has been totally shaken, leaving you anxious, or even fearful, of interacting with your horse? Experiencing fear and anxiety after an accident is understandable. Rebuilding your confidence is possible, so don’t hang up those spurs just yet!

The key is to go slowly and take your time; the journey of rebuilding your confidence begins by going back to basics. Grooming provides the most intimate one-on-one time you can spend with your horse. Your horse will enjoy the pampering and his relaxed state will also flow into you and begin to winnow away at your anxieties and fear. Daily sessions are best, as you will be touching your horse every day. Talk to him while you are grooming. Share with him what you are feeling. He won’t understand the words, but he will understand the language of your touch. You will see improvement with each passing day.

After you have become confident in your daily contact with your horse through your grooming sessions, another element can be added to regain further confidence. Begin working through basic groundwork steps. Re-visiting these steps reasserts your leadership ability with your horse and will do a world of wonder for your confidence. Leading, stopping, backing up, head lowering, bending, and stepping under are the basic groundwork steps to work on. As your horse responds, you will discover you are ready to try riding once again.

Choose a day you would like to once again mount your horse, and continue your basic groundwork sessions, but do so with your horse fully tacked. The site and sound of your horse in full riding regalia will allow you time to get comfortable with the upcoming date. Once that day arrives and after you have gone through the basics yet again, end the session by simply mounting and sitting on your horse for a few minutes. If you would be more comfortable, have someone assist you by holding your horse. If you are ready to ask your horse to move forward, ask him to walk. Once you are comfortable with the walk, you can ask for the trot and canter, but only take these steps as you are ready for them. There is nothing wrong with remaining at a walk until you know you are ready to pick up the pace.

After your riding session has been completed, unsaddle your horse and end the day with a relaxing and healing grooming session.

It takes time to regain your confidence after an accident, and time is something we all have. What is most important is that you salvage the relationship you have with your horse, as it is the power of this special relationship that heals you!

What are your tips for getting back in the saddle? Leave them in the comments and we might use them on our Facebook page.

By: Darlene M. Cox

Reining In Horse Related Expenses

The least expensive aspect of owning a horse is the price you paid for him. Horse ownership is an expensive hobby when you care for your horse in a responsible manner. Your horse should be kept happy and healthy, and to do this good hay and feed are required, as well as regular visits from the veterinarian, farrier, and equine dentist. Annual vaccinations and periodic deworming products are administered to insure good equine health. His teeth should be checked and floated, as needed, annually.

Whether you show your horse or trail ride, you will incur expenses to participate in those activities.  We purchase saddles, bridles, and other kinds of tack; shampoos, fly sprays, and other grooming supplies to keep our horses clean. We buy trucks and horse trailers to drive to and from shows and trails. Fuel must be purchased to get to and from these venues. Camping and trail access fees must be paid.

Fences are set and barns are built, water troughs are purchased and filled, bedding is bought to provide stalled horses a comfy place to lie down. Electricity is used to provide light in the barn or to power electric fences and water tank heaters.

If you board your horse away from home, you pay a monthly fee for his care, which may or may not include the cost of hay and grain. Riding lessons are purchased to enable you to become a better rider. Safety equipment, such as riding helmets, is purchased to keep you safe while riding.

Whew! Take a breath. Shake your wallet. Check your pockets. Where did all the money go?

How do you begin to budget for the expenses that you will incur through the year for your horse? As with any budgeting effort, you first must have a good idea of what projected costs might be. Project both for a higher projection and a lower projection, and if you’re lucky, your actual costs will hit somewhere between those two numbers.

To aid in your budgeting forecast, keep all horse-related receipts from the previous year to help you with the next year’s projections.

Following is a sample budget of what you may expect to spend on your horse. This is a basic budget that should give you a starting point. Based on your location, specific horse, and type of riding, your budget may look very different.

Line Item	Quantity	Price Per	Total Price
Farrier – Reset	6 visits	$90	$540
Farrier – Trim	4 visits	$65	$260
Equine Dentist	1 visit	$60	$60
Vet-Vaccinations/Coggins	1 visit	$150	$150
Vaccinations owner administered	1	$35	$35
Dewormers	4	$20	$80
Fly Spray	4	$22	$88
Grooming Supplies	2	$20	$40
Hay	100 bales	$8	$800
Grain	6 bags	$24	$144
Mineral Blocks	8	$16	$128
Supplement	$6	$35	$210
Bedding	40	$4	$160
Camping Fees - Campsite	4 weekends	$60	$240
Bridle Tags	2	$25	$50
Fuel for camping trips	4	$100	$400
Total			$3,385

Even though the costs you incur may far surpass the amount you paid for your horse, the enjoyment and peace of mind you get from having him are priceless!

by: Darlene M. Cox

Establishing Trust Between Horse and Rider

Photo via Flickr

There is a breathtaking video floating around the internet of a young lady riding bareback and bridleless on her beautiful horse, wowing those in the arena with their wonderful display of athleticism and skills. What immediately struck my mind was the degree of trust she had to establish with her horse in order to train him to do all she asked with nothing more than cues given from her legs and seat.

Natural Horsemanship training is based on winning a horse’s trust, rather than forcing him to do your will. Training with trust makes your horse “want” to please you by doing what you ask.

But how do we get there? How can we build that kind of trust?

Just as trust with those whom we form relationships is important to humans, it is equally important in the relationships our horses have with us. By nature, horses are “fight or flight” minded.

They know two things: 1) there is safety in numbers, and 2) humans are predators.

It is our responsibility to show we need not be feared and that we can be entrusted as a leader. Your horse will interpret and compare everything you do in the context of herd behaviors.

Have you ever seen a horse respond well for a friend, but when you rode him he tried you? Rather than being stubborn as most folks would try to ascertain, he was simply telling you he was unsure of your leadership. Trust is not something that will be attained in a short amount of time; rather, it is built slowly and must be maintained daily.

Your horse will look to you for leadership, just as they look for the same within their herd.  When a horse trusts you, he knows you’ve got his back and that there is safety under your leadership; therefore there is no need for fear.  But he judges your ability to lead every time you are with him, because your lack of leadership may, in the herd, cost him his life.

We must be consistent in how we reinforce positive behaviors and correct bad behaviors. Again, we are emulating reactions in herd life. Our horses will always test our leadership to see if they can shift us from our course of action, which is a sign of weakness in a leader.

Be quick to praise and equally as quick to correct, and do it every time.  Trust can be lost if we lose sight on how our horse interprets our actions.

Begin to establish trust from the ground. If your horse doesn’t trust you on the ground, he is not going to trust you when you’re riding him.  Grooming is a bonding moment as it mirrors herd mechanics when horses groom each other.

If your horse approaches you unasked in the paddock, make him back up a couple of steps. He wasn’t invited to approach you. Once he stands for a little bit, invite him to walk up to you.

While on the trail and a “boogie” is encountered, stay cool in the saddle and urge your horse forward with consistency. Okay, my human is cool with this, so it must be safe. If you are tense in the saddle, it will transfer to your horse.

Round penning or longeing your horse also builds trust because you are in control of when, how, and where he moves, which again mimics natural herd dynamics.

Continually focusing on the bond shared with your horse and maintaining your position of leadership will strengthen your partnership and performance whether on the trail or along the rail.

By: Darlene M. Cox