September 2000

This newsletter is a personal letter from me to you,
a fellow horse owner and enthusiast.

My goal is to send you interesting stories and helpful seasonal tips for your
horse care, training, and riding.

  ©  2006 Cherry Hill       www.horsekeeping.com

FALL IS IN THE AIR

     When I wrote the last newsletter, we were in a cloud of dust and smoke.  Since then we have been fortunate to receive rain.  As a result, the footing has regained it resiliency, the pastures are greening up and the creek is flowing.  Life is good.  Fall is my absolute favorite time of year for riding, closely followed by winter.  Cool temperatures, no flies, frisky horses, you can't beat it.

    I get many questions every day from readers.  I'm only able to answer a few each week due to time limitations.  I truly wish I could respond to each and every one but it just isn't possible.  This month, I'd like to offer you some tips on how to ask a question, hoping the information will help you formulate well-posed questions for my site as well as other sites that I will recommend to you.

    There is another episode in the continuing adventures of Sherlock, the suckling foal.  See Health Care below.

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IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

ARTICLES
How to Ask a Question
Other Places to Find Help
Health Care for the Suckling Foal
Help us with the Horsekeeping Web Site

ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Klim-Team is featured in Western Horseman Magazine

REGULAR DEPARTMENTS
New Postings on the Roundup Page
Book News and Reviews
Our Recent Magazine Articles

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How to Ask a Question

     The internet is filled with sites that offer expert advice.  What a great service.  I just had my first opportunity to use such a service to solve a computer and printer problem and believe me, it was exhilarating to get a helpful answer from an expert - and he was in Greece.  What a world we live in!  Anyway, I digress.  This month I'd like to help YOU find the answers to your questions by giving you some suggestions on HOW to ask a question so that it will get answered and where to find other sources of equine information and sites that offer Q&A. 

    First, here is how NOT to ask a question.  This is a sampling of questions that didn't make it to my "Answer" folder.  See if you can tell why.

  1. My horse is lame at the jog for 7 to 10 days everytime he gets new shoes.  I've tried different farriers...all with the same problem.  Do you have any
suggestions?

2. I want to train my horse to lay down.But I don't know how or where to start.

3.  I have 5 foals that need to be halter broke in a week. They are consigned to a sale on the 18th. Help.

4.  can u help me he has a problum he cant turn to the left that good i need help and ifo and how do u bild a horses muscles up to be a ropeing horse and a team ropeing horse i need help

5.  I know about horses my dad has a mustang that he says I have to break if we are going to keep him.  She is real gentle and I can almost give her grain.  Do I bridel her or saddle her first?  Help, I need to do it real quick.  

My answers would be:  

1.  Read Maximum Hoof Power and Horseowner's Guide to Lameness and confer with your vet and farrier.  

2.  Why would you want to do this?  

3.  I didn't read your e-mail until the sale was over.  

4.  Where do I start?  

5.  Where do I start?    

     For an example of a well-presented question, see catching_on_pasture.

    When you ask a question to me or any other expert on the internet, if you follow these guidelines, you are more likely to get an answer:  

1.  Do some preliminary research so you can learn all you can about the subject before you ask and so you can ask an intelligent question.  

2.  Be sure that you thoroughly read all posted material on a person's website before you ask him or her a question.  Often the answer or an article that will head you in the right direction is already posted.   

3.  Choose an expert that is well-suited for your question.  If you have a veterinary question, it would be best to ask a veterinarian.  If you have a farrier question, you should ask a farrier.  If you have a training or horse care question, Ask Cherry!  Later in the newsletter, I'll share with you some other places you can find horse experts that will answer your questions.  

4.  Thoroughly describe your horse if it is a horse question.  Provide pertinent information such as:

Age
Sex
Breed
Height, weight
How long you have owned the horse.
Horse's training level.
Describe the problem in detail.
What have you tried so far?
What was the result?  

     For example, if you say "My horse paws", that does not tell me much, but if you say "My yearling gelding paws in his stall in front of his feeder at feeding time until I put the feed in, then he stops" - WELL, then I have a lot more to work with.  But it would even be more helpful if you told me how many times a day you feed, what you feed, what the horse's exercise schedule is, and what kind of facility options you have. The more you help me understand your picture, the more I can give you a more useful answer.  And that's what I want to do!  

5.  Ask only one question at a time and narrow the question down to a specific topic.  I have received countless queries on the order of "I have a young horse that I want to train, where do I start".....and my reply would be "gee.....let me write a book" but then I already have!  So you see, although my intention is not to push my books on you, often they do hold the answers to these bigger questions and that is why I've written them and often recommend that you read them.  I don't care if you buy them or check them out of the library, just read them to get the information.  

6.  In the subject line of your e-mail, put a specific topic such as "Foal Biting" or "Profession of Training" or "Side Reins" not something like "I Need Help!!!" or "Hello" (the most common subjects).  

7.  If you don't succeed at first, try again.  If you have asked a good question and it comes back without a personal reply, I'm sorry but Zinger, Sassy, Zipper, Dickens, Aria, Seeker, and Sherlock need me too!  I really only can answer a few questions a week so that means the majority of questions will only get a brief reply (I try to jot at least a sentence or two to get you started) or a suggested reading list.  Try again with another question some time.

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Other Places to Find Help

GENERAL HORSE SEARCH 

     Whenever you are searching for information on the internet, I suggest you use www.google.com for your search engine.  It is fast and accurate, giving you a list of relevant sites that have the information you are after.  Google has never disappointed me and the internet just keeps amazing me - most likely, the answer is out there.

     Check my links page and explore some of those sites.

LEGAL ISSUES 

     When I receive legal questions, I refer them to my friend Julie Fershtman, who is an attorney specializing in equine matters. She is also the author of two books on legal issues for horseowners.  Julie's information and books are great.  I heartily recommend them.

VETERINARY MATTERS 

     Start with the American Association of Equine Practitioners Owner Education Section.  There you will find articles on current equine veterinary topics. 

FARRIER QUESTIONS 

     Although my husband, knowledgeable and excellent explainer farrier Richard Klimesh would be a great Q&A man, I just can't ask him to contribute more time to my site than he is already doing by being my greatly appreciated but unpaid webmaster.  Richard suggests you go to THE site on the subject of horseshoeing and farriery www.horseshoes.com where you can research posted articles PLUS post your specific questions on a bulletin board.  >From the home page, go to Bulletin Boards, then to Farriers Helping Horse Owners, then scroll through the subject list to get to the bulletin board closest to your query in topic.  Great site! 

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Health Care for the Suckling Foal

     In the continuing adventures of Sherlock, my suckling foal, this month I'll give you some foal health care tips.  Be sure to view the photos that go along with this information.  They are at Cherry_Hill_foal-4.

     ALWAYS confer with your veterinarian for his or her recommendations for deworming, immunizations, and other health care issues.

     The information I am presenting here is my program designed for my locale, my closed herd, and my level of experience.  It is designed to help you get started formulating your own program.

Foal Health Care Checklist:

     Every farm's deworming program should be individually designed.  Read this article from AAEP on factors to consider when setting up your deworming program.

This is what I do:

     WEIGHT TAPE my foals regularly during their lessons, keeping a weekly journal of weight gain. Suckling foals should gain about 2% of their body weight per day.  (More than that can invite bone and tendon problems.)  That's why it is not a surprise that a 100# foal is at least 200# by the time he is a month old.  And it keeps escalating at a pretty rapid rate until weaning at 4 to 6 months of age.  By having an accurate weight record of your foal, you'll know exactly how much dewormer or other medication or feed to give your foal.  By the way, don't have a panic attack if you accidentally give your foal too much dewormer.  Several people have written me, saying the dial on the plunger did not stay put and they ended up giving the foal the whole dose!  Well dewormer manufacturers, in general, have created products with a high degree of safety, so overdose complications are rare. 

     DEWORM every 30 days until 6 months of age;
     Then every 6 weeks until 1 year of age;
     Then every 2 months with the adults.

     A foal should be dewormed for all parasites, the same as your adults are.  In addition, you need to target the parasites responsible for foal diarrhea - Strongyloides (threadworms) and ascarids (lung worms). Use a dewormer that is effective against these particular parasites.  Not all dewormers are.  Anthelcide EQ (oxibendazole) is effective against threadworms; you need to give the foal 1 1/2 times the normal dose in order for it to be effective - be sure to read labels thoroughly on all medications that you administer to your horse.

     VACCINATE the foal at 3 months and again at 4 months for:

Western Equine Encephalomyelitis
Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis
Tetanus
Influenza
Rhinopneumonitis

     You can buy a 5-way vaccine that covers all of the above.  Confer with your veterinarian - you might wish to consider adding vaccinations for:

Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE)
equine herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1)
equine herpesvirus 4 (EHV-4)
strangles
rabies
Potomac Horse Fever
rotavirus
botulism
anthrax

     HOWEVER, often immunizations other than the 5-Way are not necessary.  Be sure to read this good article on the AAEP site entitled
Are You Overvaccinating Your Foals and Weanlings?
By W. David Wilson, BVMS, MS, AAEP member

     ON SUCKLING COLTS, you'll want to start checking early to see if both testicles have descended into the scrotum.  In most foals, the testicles will have descended by 10 days of age.  If you have handled your foal from birth, he should not object to you palpating his scrotum.  You'll want to continue this lesson every week or so because the day your vet comes to geld your young horse, the first thing he or she will want to do is to feel the scrotum to be sure the testicles are there before beginning the procedure.  You don't want your vet to get his hand kicked in the process.  If your foal does not have 2 testicles descended, he is considered a cryptorchid.  There is a slight possibility that the retained testicle might descend sometime before he is two years old.  If it doesn't, the horse will require a more complicated surgery than a normal castration.

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The Klim Team is featured in Western Horseman

What a great treat for Richard and I to open the September 2000 issue of Western Horseman and see the nice article about us by Sue Reynolds!  I hope you enjoy getting to know a little more about the Klim Team through this article.  We sure thank Sue and our friends at Western Horseman for the nice write up.

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New Postings on the Roundup Page

Cross Tie Wiggle Worm

Cryptorchid Yearling

Packing wild Game

Rider Balance

Foal Training - Sherlock's Page (new section added)

Puzzle Section (Home Page and Roundup Page) 

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Book News and Reviews

Trailering Your Horse including a review in August 2000 Western Horseman, p. 219

Stablekeeping including review in August 2000 Western Horseman, p. 219 and Chronicle of the Horse July 21, 2000 Endurance Issue

Maximum Hoof Power  review in August 2000 Paint Horse Journal

Our horsekeeping.com web site was featured in August 2000 Paint Horse Journal!

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Our Recent Magazine Articles

Here's a roundup of the most recent magazine articles by the "Klim-Team", Richard Klimesh and Cherry Hill

September 2000 Western Horseman
"Selecting a Barn Site", p. 72
"The Klim Team", p. 102

September 2000 Horse & Rider
"Got Bots?", p. 37
"Horsekeeping on 2 Acres", p. 48
"The Cushion Question" (therapeutic saddle pads), p. 88

September 2000 Miniature Horse Voice
"Electric Fence - How it Works...How to Troubleshoot it"

August 2000 Western Horseman
"12 Stallions, One Corral" p. 122

August 2000 Horse & Rider
"Set Your Stirrups", p. 33

July 2000 Spin to Win
May 2000 Ride with Bob Avila
May 2000 The Trail Less Traveled
Interview with Richard Klimesh about hoof supplements

July 21, 2000 The Chronicle of the Horse
"Endurance Hoof Hints Package"

July 2000 Western Horseman
"Barn Aisle Flooring", p.170
"Why Horses Stumble", p. 124

July 2000 Horse & Rider
"Trail Riding Essentials", p. 67
"Bang Your Horse's Tail", p. 35

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Coming Attractions 

My training philosophies, catching a horse, winter riding, more foal training, and tips on buying and selling horses.

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Cherry Hill doesn't do endorsements!

    I don't accept payment to recommend or endorse any horse products in my articles, books or this newsletter.  I do, however, mention names of products that I am currently using and find satisfactory.  I do this to give you a starting point or help narrow the field.  Sometimes finding the right product or piece of tack is the beginning of the answer to a training or horsekeeping problem.

That's it for this month.

Keep your mind in the middle and a leg on each side.

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http://www.horsekeeping.com/horse-training-care-info.htm
to find information on training, horse care, grooming, health care, hoof care, facilities and more.

Browse the complete Cherry Hill Horse Book Library at http://www.horsekeeping.com