Horses Pawing in the Trailer
By khan.
Do you have trouble with your horses pawing while in the trailer? Check out this Q&A with Julie Goodnight.
This question was answered by Julie Goodnight in the September 2010 issue of Horse&Rider.
Q: I have a 19-year-old Quarter Horse gelding that paws in the trailer. I
travel with him quite and bit and have no problems loading him in the
trailer, but he paws when we come to a stop. I recently purchased a
7-year-old Quarter Horse gelding, and when I put him in the trailer to bring
him home, he also started pawing. I’d like to solve this problem before
I put them together in the trailer and exacerbate the problem. Any
suggestions?
A: It’s important to understand where pawing behavior stems from. It signals frustration in a horse and his desire to move. Sometimes that frustration can morph into anger, which is expressed when a horse stomps his foot.
Fixing a pawing problem is a complicated matter, especially in a horse of an advanced age or one with a nervous and impatient temperament. My best advice for you and your aged horse is to wait to load him until absolutely necessary---right before you head down the driveway. Some horses get anxious in the trailer, so keeping time spent standing in a it to a minimum will help ease that anxiety. While you’re moving, the horse will usually stand on all four feet for better balance, so minimizing time spent standing in a stopped trailer is best.
Groundwork outside the trailer might also help a pawing horse get over his frustration and develop more patience. I work with my young horses to get them to stand still like statues in all situations. Horses can be impulsive about moving, and this exercise helps teach them to control their movements.If your horse paws when you stop, you can lightly bump your brakes to get him standing on all four feet. But remember, if you tap your brakes to jar one horse, it jars any other horses in the trailer, too.
I start by tying my young horses, yearlings and older, to a “patience post” (a hitching post or rail situated in a shady area). It’s a good idea to put down rubber mats at the rail or post; that way, if a horse does paw, he won’t be able to dig a big hole. Let him experience other horses coming and going, and only untie him when he’s relaxed and not pawing. Your horse’s temperament will really come out in this situation. Depending on how fidgety a horse is, he might spend several hours a day tied until he figures out that he’ll be there a while, so he needs to be patient.
Also work on ground tying. It’s another skill that requires your horse to be patient. Outfit your horse in a rope halter with a 12- to 15-foot lead. Stand facing your horse, a little to the left side, with your toes pointing at his shoulder. Tell your horse “whoa.” Correct him every time he moves, using enough pressure with the rope to motivate him to think before he moves again. Increase the distance between you and your horse, until you’re holding the very end of the lead and laying it on the ground. Practice at times when your horse wouldn’t want to stand still---when horses are coming and going from the barn or working in the nearby arena, for example.
When you work on ground tying, remember that your goal is to be in control of your horse’s feet, even when he’s not moving. It’s a skill that you have to reinforce and practice over and over. Most important: Be patient. Don’t mirror your horse’s impatience, or you’ll limit your chance of success.
Management:
by khan.
Give Your Tack Room a Makeover:
With some planning and a little help from your friends or family, you can make over your own tack room.
Before you get involved with your riding, training or show schedule this summer, why not tackle a project you've been meaning to do for ages--a thorough cleaning and organizing of your tack room. You know the place--that hold-all for miscellaneous gear, old magazines, piles of saddle pads, bits, brushes, baling twine, empty boxes, things you think you might use but never do--all under a film of dust.
- A makeover can improve the functionality of the busiest area of your barn. (before photo)
- Photo by Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore
A tack room makeover will improve the look and functionality of one of the most trafficked areas in your barn. It's a great opportunity to sort through all your accumulated tack and gear, check it for safety, clean it and donate items not needed to a local pony club, 4-H group or therapeutic riding program.
Your barn improvement project can be as simple as selecting and hanging some matching saddle and bridle racks in your barn colors or as complex as converting an empty stall into a tack room.
Timeline
A tack room makeover usually can be accomplished in a day or a weekend. If you are converting a stall for a tack room and plan to lay a floor, or if you are doing any major
Before you get involved with your riding, training or show schedule this summer, why not tackle a project you've been meaning to do for ages--a thorough cleaning and organizing of your tack room. You know the place--that hold-all for miscellaneous gear, old magazines, piles of saddle pads, bits, brushes, baling twine, empty boxes, things you think you might use but never do--all under a film of dust.
- A makeover can improve the functionality of the busiest area of your barn. (before photo)
- Photo by Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore
A tack room makeover will improve the look and functionality of one of the most trafficked areas in your barn. It's a great opportunity to sort through all your accumulated tack and gear, check it for safety, clean it and donate items not needed to a local pony club, 4-H group or therapeutic riding program.
Your barn improvement project can be as simple as selecting and hanging some matching saddle and bridle racks in your barn colors or as complex as converting an empty stall into a tack room.
Timeline
A tack room makeover usually can be accomplished in a day or a weekend. If you are converting a stall for a tack room and plan to lay a floor, or if you are doing any major
A tack room makeover usually can be accomplished in a day or a weekend. If you are converting a stall for a tack room and plan to lay a floor, or if you are doing any major
Pest & Fly Control:
Evicting Ticks
By khan.
Removing ticks from your horse isn't as tough as it sounds.
- Ticks are usually found at the base of the mane or tail.
Removing a tick from a horse can be tricky -- particularly for the squeamish. This disease-carrying insect has a strong jaw that anchors it to its host; thus, during removal it's easy to leave the tick's head embedded in the skin, inviting infection.
Several commercial tick-removal devices are available, but a simple technique recommended by the American Lyme Disease Foundation, Inc. also works: Using splinter forceps or tweezers, grasp the tick as closely to the skin as possible and gently pull it straight out. Don't worry if the ticks' mouthparts are left in the flesh; they should not cause a problem. After removing the insect, apply an antiseptic to the site.
For less immediate but equally effective results, swab the tick in both directions with a cloth soaked in baby oil or rubbing alcohol. This suffocates and kills the tick, but it may remain attached to the horse for hours or even days before falling off.
Pasture:
EquiSearch’s Ask the Vet: Manure in Pasture
By Dr. Joyce Harman
Is it safe to have manure scattered around your horse's pasture? Find out what's best for your horse in Dr. Joyce Harman's Ask the Vet column on EquiSearch.com.
- Horses will eat around manure piles that are not broken up.
- © Stacey Nedrow-Wigmore
Question: I am new to the equine world and was wondering whether I may have misinterpreted something. Where I board my horse, there seems to be poop everywhere. When I first visited, there wasn't. That was one of the things I looked at--the cleanliness of where my horse would live. Besides reading about a nice pasture with healthy grass, I am sure I read that a horse should also have a clean pasture. He should be free from having to walk in his own or any other horse's manure. When I finally get to bring him home with me, I want to make sure I can make his life a good and healthy one.
Answer: There are several ways to look at this situation. It is true that ideally horses should not be standing in wet manure all day, but if there is manure scattered around a paddock it does not harm them to stand in that. It is also possible that you are comparing the appearance of the paddocks in the warm weather to that in cold winter weather. In warm weather the dung beetles, insects and birds break apart the piles quite quickly, while in the winter this does not happen, so paddocks build up quite a bit of manure.