The Clip

We’ve got our clean horse, next is to prepare the clippers and the area we’re going to use. Having a broom handy is a must to remove the mountains of hair from underfoot as either you or your horse can slip.
Clippers are marvellous things, and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to wield them, but it takes a little fore-thought and finesse to do a good job. The blades need to be sharp and put onto the clipper head very straight and with just enough tension in the screws to allow them to move freely from side to side without slipping. Too loose and they will slip diagonally or fly off during the clip – neither is a fun experience. Each type of clipper is different, and it’s a case of instruction, instructions, instructions.
Once the process has started make sure to check how hot your blades are getting. If you can’t touch them then chances are they are going to be hot to your horse as well. There are plenty of coolant sprays on the market, but by far the best thing I’ve used is kerosene. It’s available in a reduced smell variety and if you put it in a shallow dish you can run your blades in the kerosene which will both cool and clean them (make sure not to put them in too deep or it may damage the engine), follow up with a little clipper oil on the sides and top and you’re ready to continue.
There are plenty of little areas that can cause someone who is starting out on clipping a lot of problems. Flanks, elbows and the chest area are probably the worst among them. Just remember that skin is supple and should be able to be manoeuvred into a position to make, even if this means asking the horse to stand in a certain way, or to get someone to stretch out a leg, while using your hands to flatten any wrinkly bits out. If in doubt don’t clip to the skin, just go gently over the area, better there be too much hair than a little less skin and a lot more blood!
Heads can also be a big issue. The vibration of the clippers can be annoying to some horses, even frightening to other; they’re big, noisy and foreign. Try to use smaller clippers for horses who are worried, if they continue to be worried by these then maybe it’s time to twitch them, or possibly sedation may have to be used. There is a time when the use of a twitch is passed; once the horse has reached a point of fear there is not a lot that the twitch will do. It’s better to know your horse has a problem with getting a certain area clipped and be prepared so the job is easy and safe. I do believe it is a better experience for the horse to have a minimal amount of discomfort and have a happy endorphin rush as a response, than to be pulled and pushed around while someone swings around their head trying to clip them – safety for all involved should take priority. A quick and easy way to make a twitch is to grab an old snaffle bit and a bit of baling twine, make a hand sized loop out of the bailing twine and attach it to the ring of the snaffle. Once the baling twine twitch is on your horse then you can simply clip the other ring of the bit onto your halter using your lead ropes clip, this way it stays safely attached, and leaves both your hands free! Make sure not to leave them on for long, 5 or so minutes is about all the time you should need to quickly zip through these problem areas, any longer than that and maybe it’s time to think sedation rather than twitch.
Once it’s all over, hose any hair off your horse; give it an Alpha Keri Oil rinse and rug! Then run into the shower for yourself, there’s nothing as itchy as clipped horse hair stuck into your clothes.

Before you Clip

It’s that time of year again when our happy ponies become woolly mammoths. If you compete or only are able to ride late at night or early morning then you have very little option but to clip your horse. A clipped horse will dry quickly, will be able to be kept clean more easily and will reduce the chance of fungal infections of the skin. All in all it is a lot easier to keep a clipped horse than it is to look after your woolly mammoth!
Before clipping your horse there are a few essential things to do. The first is washing your horse, and I mean WASHING it, so it is clean to the skin. No easy task when you’re looking at 2 inches of fur that essentially is semi-waterproof! I like to use a curry comb to really scrub the shampoo through, and as I try to remove all the suds I’ve found a sweat scrapper very useful as I have the hose running, it really gets rid of it all. The next thing to do is a bit of a trade secret – Alpha Keri Oil. Once you’ve washed your horse you’ve also stripped all the natural oils from the coat and skin, it needs to be replaced. The oil will also protect the skin and hair from being heated up or singed should the blades run too hot. I use about 100ml to 10L of water (yes that’s WAY more than the instructions say, but it’s a horse, not a human) and sponge it through the coat. There’s no need to wash it off. Using Alpha Keri Oil straight after clipping and once a week as a rinse while the horse is clipped will also help keep the coat smooth and shiny, and the skin nourished.
If you do these two things before clipping it will make the job quick and easy for whoever the poor sod is who is doing it! Both your horse and the clipper will be happier for it.

Fatty Fatty Boom Bah

Today I was having a giggle at one of my borders who requested some extra hay in the paddock for her horse. Why do you ask? She seems top think there isn't much grass, which there is a good deal of grass, and he's losing weight. The not much grass thing I can cope with, maybe she's blind but I can understand, it's the weight bit that gotmy goat.
This horse is huge! Obese in a sort of fatal looking way, everyone that sees him thinks he should go join the Biggest Losers, who used to be down the road. So when she tells me she's worried he's lost a bit of weight, the look I give her must make me look like I am Barbie. To top it all off the horse has been on and off lame for about 4 months, she tells me she's going to call the vet now. **rolls eyes**. Is it just me or do you maybe think that a little bit of weight-loss could actually help his lameness issue?? Must just be me, she thinks I am insane!

I can never understand why people, who seem to be so obsessed with being slender and muscular, think it's ok that your horse rates a 9 or a 10 on a body score.... that is OBESE people! The extra strain on joints and muscles is there, as well as higher risk of heart problems, feet issues and a stadium full of other health issues. They are really not that much different to us. I watch some of the horses compete these days and I am amazed at how over weight they are, and still managing to get around the course. It's like watching a day at Fat camp - I'm just waiting for one to drop at any moment.
Think of it like this, do you think it's ok to do an hour of dressage training with an extra rider strapped to your horse? That's pretty much how overweight a lot of these horses are - an extra person, problem is the extra person never gets off.

I'm not saying go starve your horse, but keep it in a healthy state of being, not too fat and not underweight either. Muscular and fit with a nice cover of fat is what we should all be aiming for, it will keep our four legged friends healthy and with us for longer.

Chew Chew Chew

One of the most annoying things that horses do when they are stabled or yarded is to chew wood. Not all of them do it, and some do it more chronically than others! Most of the time it just looks ugly and is something that they do out of boredom, but sometimes it can also be an indication of deficiencies in diet ( most likely copper), stomach troubles or teeth problems. If you've ruled out these things, then maybe it's time to put something to stop your horse chewing on the fence, and give him some toys to amuse him, a little extra work wouldn't go astray either!

Recently I have come across two of the worse fence-chewers I have ever had the (dis)pleasure of looking after. We gave them CaCoLiv ( OralX company makes this) to ensure there is no copper deficiency and had teeth and general health checked. Now we have 2 healthy horses eating through nearly a rail a day, (Needless to say the rails are pine - this never happens with hardwood!!!) out comes the crib-stop pastes.
There are three shelf-ready products available to me to use for this purpose:

1. Crib Paste - worked for a day while it stayed thick and creamy ( and ugly), the rain got to it and it turned the rails fluro green! This seemed to work ok on the inside rails, but it melted on hot days and needed to be reapplied constantly.
2. Crib Stop - stayed on in the rain, and all over the horses! It's bright red so my boss didn't like it very much. They didn't even flinch at chewing straight through it, and I discovered I am allergic to it. Yay for me :(
3. Red Hot Liquid - This has soap and herbs in it, and I can tell you it made those rails smell so good it didn't surprise me the next day to find the rails had been eaten twice as much as the day before. I even tried to up the anti with this one and put some detol in it as well, slowed them a little but not much.

Nothing left to try! I know sunlight soap works a treat to stop them, but can only be used inside as it washes off. What next???

A customer at the shop was talking to me about detering possums off her fenceline, and told me vaseline and curry powder works amazingly. The possum treads in it, tries to clean it off it's feet and gets a mouthful of burning goo instead! I LOVED it!!!

Since I'm a cheapskate, and vaso costs to much in the amounts I had to use to paint the fences in it, I looked through the store and found some out of date "Farrier's Choice" hoof grease. Lemon scented and a greeny tan colour, it had just the right consistency I was after - GOOOO!
Found some Massala powder at home, powerful stuff, I can smell it from 20 meters away I'm sure, mixed the 2 together and presto. Cheap anti crib paste that matches the fence colour, stays on in the wet and actually stops the little bastards from not only eating the fence but actually putting their face near it.

Thanks Possum lady!


I'd just like to give anyone putting up fences a word of warming. Rounded rails are easy to chew, they are really not suitable for horse fences, they're also a real bitch to attatch electric fence insulators to, so it's a double bogey! Use hardwood. Treated pine may be cheaper in the beginning, but let me assure you it will cost more in the end. The nice soft pine can be munched through so fast you'll think your horse owns a chainsaw. Fences should be made of striaght, flat hardwood. Not only will it look better for longer, be safer and be easier to secure things onto it, hardwood is also more difficult for white ants to attack, and staves off rot better. Try painting with a paint that has a tar base, Kentucky Fence black is a fantastic product, as it will repel water and has a very acidic taste ( yeah yeah I accidently ate some) which your horse will not enjoy!

White Hooves - a Misunderstanding?

So the old poem goes:

One white foot, buy him.
Two white feet, try him.
Three white feet, be on the sly.
Four white feet, pass him by.

Did we maybe misunderstand what people where trying to tell us by this? I've looked long and hard to find any evidence that white hoof wall is in any way lesser than black hoof wall and still found nothing apart from old wives tales. To say that unpigmented horn is weaker is like saying that unpigmented fur or hair is weaker, and I've never heard anyone say that their white horse's tail breaks more easily or is crappier than their black horse's tail - it really makes no sense.
So.... what have we missed?

The answer came to me last night when I was talking to the vet. Greasy heel!
Horses that have white socks are more prone to this than horses who have pigmented skin/hair, even on an individual horse the greasy heel is more likely to occurr on a white sock than one without. The vet went on to explain to me that the sun plays a part in the process of a greasy heel infection. Often it can start by a small sunburn, photosensitivity or an allergy, this in turn becomes itchy or will leave open areas of skin - perfect for an infection! Add to this concotion wet weather or dewy grass and we have everything we need for the perfect incubator: heat, damp, protection and food!

What can we do to help prevent this quite common infection?
* Reduce the effect of the sun - we can help with this by using fly boots, which are made from shade-cloth material so will reduce the UV on the area and lessen the chance of burn. In some situations this may not be viable as it may increase the humidity of the pastern area. Alternatively putting zinc or sun cream onto the back of the pasterns will also reduce the chance of a burn.
* Reduce the damp - I know it's impossible to change the weathe ror stop the dew, but we can reduce how much stays on our horse and how quickly it dries. Clip out the back of the pastern from heel the fetlock so there is little hair there to trap damp. When there's lots of hair on the pastern it can create it's own little micro-climate, warm and damp and protective for any infection - lose the hair, lose the climate. This also makes it heaps easier to put suncream or zinc on.

Once you have an infection there it is important that you are very consistent with treatment. The scabs will need to be removed to start the healing process, and the skin will need to be kept supple. There are a million and one treatments out there for greasy heel, but when push comes to shove, talk to your vet, as your vet will probably know what treatments will work best in your area and situation.

No Hoof... No Horse :Sole Guard

I like to try things, so I can understand what they CAN do and their limitations. So last trimming we decided to see if some Sole guard would help improve the seperation my horse has in her hind hooves. It was just a temporary measure, as the trimmer was getting to the point where he was running out of options to help get her hinds back on track!

This is her hoof all prepared for the sole guard. See the "ditch (white area) between her outer hoof wall ( grey) and her sole ( dirt coloured atm). This is the area the trimmer has been trying to get to "heal". Also notice in this horse the vertical toe-line where her sole and wall connect, this shows drastic change in her hooves. I should have done something about this sooner!!!! No ones perfect and we trust in our professionals.
That green nstuff I hear you ask? It's blue tack. Under the blue tack is some copper sulfat ewhich has been put into small cavities that had formed. Left unattended they could have become abscesses. Why blue tack? Just in case all the yuck hadn't been removed it's easy to pull out and clean up.

Sole guard is like a rubbery plastic stuff, that comes out liquid and sets into a semi-solid. The SG was put into the "ditch" and covered in a special plastic sheet while it set.

Once dried, the plastic can be removed and the area cleaned up. I will state this is NOT the intended use of sole guard, which s generally used on the.. you guessed it... soles! We were just using it as fake hoof, to see if it worked. I've been told it's a great product, we were just trying to cheat.

Sole guard, used in the proper way, should last a few weeks, depending on your environment and how much you ride. This lasted about a week, and made her no worse or better off for the time it stayed in there. Back to the drawing board eh?

Another trimmer came by to do a different horse, so I asked him what he though we could do?
He was amazed that we'd tried this, and thought it to be a waste of time ( and money..grrr). He felt that putting stuff in there would make it worse rather than better, and suggested to put a roll to reduce the chance of her doing more damage as she rolled over her toe which was currently flat. He explained it like fingernails:
Think of the horses sole as the tip of your finger, and the wall like your nail, in this analogy the quick is the same as the laminae boundary ( sensitive to insensitive). When you "walk" with your finger, you will roll from the pad through the tip and onto your nail. If your nail is too long it will pull back painfully on your quick, this is akin to seperation of the sensitive to insensitive laminae, commonly called "white line seperation". That's YOUR finger which is not weight bearing...... think about it for the horse. Makes a little bit of sense doesn't it?

Hooves rolled ( nice guy did it for free for me! So he could explain it totally), and she walks off pretty well. Weight bearing has been reduced from the walls and increased onto the sole callous. She's great in the arena, and on the grass, still a little tender on the driveway ( gravelly on a hard clay surface). There's improvement, but I'd like to see more....
....the quest is on to find the better way for this horse!!!

Like to learn more about hooves?

http://www.hoofrehab.com/

http://www.uq.edu.au/~apcpolli/

http://www.farriervet.com/evolutionfarriery.html

Horse-Eating Showtime!!!

When you go to a competition or Pony Club and your horse behaves badly what do you blame it on?
I can guarentee you the number one answer to that is FEED, well that's the number one answer that comes out of most people's mouths when I speak to them. "My horse's feed needs to be cut because he was a moron at the Show on Sunday".....
I would love to slap them around, unfortunately that would get me fired.
IF your horse is a bit hyper at a show, but perfectly sensible at home here are a few non-feed related things to tick off your list that may be causing the problem:

*Your horse's paddock companion has been removed from the situation and now your horse is trying feverishly to find him/her. This happens a lot in Pony Club horses who are constantly stabled/paddocked with one other horse. You'll need to take measures to acclimatise your horse to the thought that the world does not implode when his/her friend is removed from the situation. Start small (seperate paddock or move across the breezeway in the barn) and work your way to them not being close to each other for extended periods of time. If you work through this slowly it will be a great acheivement for you both.

* YOU are stressed out. Often people will say the show doesn't frighten them, most of the time we are a little nervous or excited. The horses see this as the same sort of emotion - your senses are heightened and you are alert. To them you are getting ready for a flight or fight response, and as part of your herd, they consider this to be a cue for THEM to prepare. Try to calm yourself, I know a lot of people who use rescue remedy on themselves rather than on their horses ( or as well as) to bring their own mind to peace, which in turn allows them to be a leader, rather than a panic striken insano bomb.... well that's how your horse will see you!

*New situations will often frighten a horse, so be prepared to work through their anxiety by making these outings a part of their routine. Get some friends together and take the horses to the local show-grounds ( first making sure you are allowed to do this at the chosen time), get a lesson at someone else's property or just take your pony for a float ride that ends in some nice grass. Let them understand that although the PLACE may change the CUES for work will not, and most importantly that your behaviour does not either. It has to be the same at home as it is anywhere, after a while it won't matter if you were doing a grand prix test down the median strip of an 8 lane highway or at home in the arena.

*We get a little touchy if we have to change our schedule, our horses are no different. On a show day, you will do all sorts of odd things to them, so make that part a daily thing. Plait up their manes before you ride, braid their forelock while they eat ( take it back out before you go), braid their tail and put a falsie in and have a lesson or lunge, come stupidly early once a week and feed up at 4am while you fuss around them. These things then will become normal for the horse and when you do go out and about will desensitise them to these annoyances, so that you have minimalised the stress factor!

Think about all these things.... then take a look at how the horse will perceive it all. We just see it as a competition, but to the horse it may mean a lot of different things. Try to be their center, and prepare them rather than just dropping them in the fire, or deciding that a little bit of starvation should quiet them up.