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. Happy
Birthday Richard!! Where
is the Summer Going? I
simply can't believe July is already here which means it is time to celebrate
Richard's birthday. (See more about the Renaissance man Richard in the Puzzle
section below.) I am a real kid when it comes to celebrations so I love
when Richard's birthday is here! BUT it also means that summer is nearly
half gone and there is so much that I still want to accomplish! Horses to
train, trails to explore, additions to build, fences to renovate, photos
to shoot, videos to script, articles to write, clinics to visit.......well here's
what I've come up with. I'm
not going to be able to "do it all". So rather than getting the
"swamped" feeling, I'm going to take a good look around and view the
big picture. I'm going to enjoy what is right here, right now
- and that includes spending some special, no-agenda time with my horse
buddies. Whenever I do that, it is like taking a deep, refreshing breath;
a big drink of life. "There is something
about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man."
Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965) "There
is no secret so close as that between a rider and his horse." Robert
Smith Surtees (1803-1864) So if you feel like you are
just going around in circles with your riding or training or you're
up against a wall with an unwanted horse behavior or stressed out by a health
problem, droughts, floods, grasshoppers or deadlines, take the time to smell your
horses! **************************************************************
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
Teaching the Suckling Foal to Lead Buying
Hay Comments on Clinicians Puzzles!! More on the Pico Search Tool
New Postings on the Roundup Page Our Recent Magazine Articles
Coming Attractions
**************************************************************** Teaching
the Suckling Foal to Lead In
my last newsletter, I talked about early handling; if you haven't read that article,
start there. The early handling pays off when it comes time to take
the foal out in the big world on a halter and lead rope. You can do this
at a few days of age with a sturdy foal that has no leg problems. If a foal
is weak or has crooked legs, your veterinarian probably wants you to keep him
confined anyway, so you can continue handling in the stall but postpone
the actual leading lessons until the foal is somewhat older and sturdier.
But don't wait too long or the foal might be too much of a handful for you.
Foals may only weight 100# when they are born, but by the time they are a month
old they are well over 200#, so don't procrastinate. Sherlock
is demonstrating part of the leading progression I use with foals. He was
2 weeks old at the time these photos were taken.To see the 3 photos that go with
this discussion, go to Sherlock's
Page 2 and follow along. Before you
get to the stages shown in the photo sequence, be sure you follow the
progression in the June newsletter. Now you will want to conduct the lessons
out in the wide open spaces. I like to tie the mare near where I am going
to work for two reasons: to give the foal confidence and to test the thoroughness
of the foal's training, going toward and away from the mare. I
like to use an adjustable rope halter for very young suckling foals as they tend
to fit better than most web halters. As you can see from the photos, the halter
is made from a very thick, soft rope. I add a browband to all my foal halters
to keep the crown piece in position at the poll. Otherwise the halter
would slip halfway down the foal's neck where it would be ineffective. In
the top photo, I am leading Sherlock with something that I call a foal "suitcase".
It is a way of configuring a rope around the foal's body which allows you to control
Go, Whoa, AND Turning! Cool huh? Here is how you put on a suitcase.
You'll need a 10-12 foot lead rope as the lead rope acts as a lead rope PLUS butt
rope. With the foal haltered, bring your lead rope around the off side of
the foal and encircle his rump with it. Hold the butt rope portion in
position above the horse's back with your right hand. With your left hand,
hold onto the lead rope about six inches below the snap, in the vicinity
of the foal's near shoulder. This means the rope is crossing the foal's
neck/chest junction. When the foal
is in correct form (stopped when you want him to be stopped, moving forward when
you want him to), the rope should be slack everywhere, that is, exerting
no pressure. You should feel like you are leading a hummingbird in a silk
thread harness. If the foal needs to be encouraged
to move forward, you just bring your right hand forward to engage the butt rope. If
the foal needs to slow down, you just pull back with your left hand, and you engage
the chest/neck rope. If you need the foal
to turn left, you lay the rope along the right side of his neck. If
you need the foal to turn right, you push the rope to the right under the foal's
neck. In the middle photo, I've
removed the butt rope portion of the suitcase and just have the neck rope on Sherlock.
I'm "setting him up" and testing him by walking very close to his dam
and because foals his age like to nurse about once every half hour, he's
trying to rush ahead and push me over in her direction. But I've stepped
slightly more forward to use body language to stop him, applied the rope across
his chest to prevent him from blasting ahead of me and I'm just getting ready
to push the lead rope under his neck to the right to turn right. In
the bottom photo, I've removed all "training wheels" and we are going
for it adult style. He's learning to stay in position without lagging or
jetting out in front and he's walking ahead with a decided forwardness which I
like. He feels like a butterfly on a string. Good boy! Time
for a milk break Sherlock. **************************************************************** Buying
Hay It's that time
of year when you should be stocking up on hay for the winter. I like to
have my hay delivered by stacker load as it saves labor and time. It costs
about $10-20 extra per ton to have it delivered that way but when I figure the
gas, time, and labor it would take for Richard and I to go get the hay......well.....there's
no contest. Its a great deal! We have to restack it in our barn once
it gets delivered and handling those bales once is plenty.
When buying hay, remember that good quality hay should be leafy, fine-stemmed,
and adequately but not overly dry. Since two-thirds of the plant nutrients
are in the leaves, the leaf-to-stem ratio should be high. The hay should
not be brittle but instead soft to the touch, with little shattering of the leaves.
Lost leaves mean lost nutrition. There should be no excessive moisture that
could cause overheating and spoilage. The hay should be thoroughly cured.
Usually the farmer lets the hay cure in
the bale in the field for a day or two and then in the stack for a few more days
before it is delivered and fed. Be careful about feeding freshly baled hay,
especially if it contains alfalfa as it could cause your horse to suffer from
a painful bout of gaseous (flatulent) colic. Horses that are not accustomed
to green, leafy alfalfa may suffer flatulent colic even if the hay is cured properly.
Make all changes to new hay gradual. Feed 75% old hay and 25% new hay for
a few days; then 50% old hay and 50% new hay for a few more days; then 25% old
hay and 75% new hay for a few more days before you switch over 100% to your new
hay. That's why it is good to buy your new hay before you run out of last
year's hay so you can make this gradual transition.
Good quality hay should be free of mold, dust, and weeds and have a bright green
color and a fresh smell. However, in some instances, placing too much emphasis
on color might make you pass up what might be otherwise good hay. Although
the bright green color indicates a high vitamin A (beta carotene) content,
some bales might be somewhat pale due to bleaching on the outside and may
still be of good quality. Bleaching is caused by the interaction of dew
or other moisture, the rays of the sun, and high ambient temperatures. Brown
hay, however, indicates a loss of nutrients due to excess water or heat damage
and should be avoided. Hay which is dusty, moldy,
or musty smelling is not suitable for horses. Not only is it unpalatable,
but it can contribute to respiratory diseases. Moldy hay can also be toxic
to horses and may cause colic or abortion. Bales should not contain undesirable
objects or noxious weeds. Check for sticks, wire, blister beetles, poisonous
plants, thistle, or plants with barbed awns such as foxtail or cheat grass. Read
more about hay here. **************************************************************** Comments
on Clinicians I've had
the opportunity to view one more clinician at work since the last newsletter. Check
the Traveling
Clinician page for my comments. **************************************************************** Puzzles I've
introduced you before to my husband Richard Klimesh, the man of many talents.
He is webmaster, farrier, photographer, illustrator, videographer, writer, barn
builder, blacksmith, and I could go on and fill up this newsletter with his many,
many talents. Well here is another! He is a puzzle meister! He's created
a new puzzle section for you which you can access from my home page or the
Roundup page. Here are the first two for you to try. Let him know how you
like them at horsekeeping-webmaster@att.net Hidden
Horse Breeds Training
Crossword **************************************************************** Pico Search
Tool Since we installed
the Pico Search tool, I received an e-mail letter from a lady who asked me a question
that was already covered in several of the articles on my Roundup page.
I reminded her about the search tool and she said she used it but there were
"too many results to look through". Well, just like any search
tool, the more specific you are, the fewer results will be listed and, hopefully
they will be more targeted to your question. This will save us both
some time! For example, when I typed in the
word "bit", I got a list of 45 documents. When I typed in "snaffle
bit" and selected "Search All Words" in the drop down menu, it
was narrowed to 22. And when I was even more specific, wanting to read about
"snaffle bit rings", the search produced 5 documents. We hope
you find this tool useful. **************************************************************** New
Postings on the Roundup Page Foal
Training - Sherlock's Page (new section) Puzzle
Section (Home Page and Roundup Page) **************************************************************** Book
News and Reviews Longeing
and Long Lining including June 25, 2000 review in the New Jersey
Star Ledger. ****************************************************************
Our
Recent Magazine Articles Here's a roundup
of the most recent magazine articles by Cherry Hill and Richard Klimesh,
the "Klim-Team": 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 June 2000 Western
Horseman "Make Your Barn Legal", p. 72 "Using
and Caring for Saddle Blankets and Pads", p. 138
June 2000 Horse & Rider "No More Tears",
washing a horse's head, p. 31 "Build a Desert Barn", Stable Plans,
p. 42 "Effective Fly Spraying Techniques", Horsekeeping Skills,
p. 46 May 2000 Horse & Rider
"The Buzz on Fly Control" p. 93 Winning Ways Horsemanship
Pattern, "Ride Crisp and Savvy" p. 36
Coming Attractions
My
training philosophies, tying the foal, catching a horse, and tips on
buying and selling horses. ************************************************************************* 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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