Hangin’ with the Animals

posted by Animal Lover2 on Dec 7

by: Jennifer Allbright

Grooming a horse safely and correctly is a very important part of daily horse care. It is a great time to check over the horse for any issues on his skin, back, and girth area and to get an idea of how the horse is feeling that day. You should groom a horse before you take it out for riding or exercising. It helps keep them healthy and looking good.

First, halter and tie the horse to a ring or safety string attached to something solid. If the horse pulls back, you don’t want the horse’s halter tied to something that will swing or be pulled out of the ground. A ring on a wall meant for tying or a solid fence post often works well. You can also use cross-ties if you have two rings and cross-ties.

Next, pick the horse’s feet. This is one of the most important steps, so do it first so that you don’t forget. Stand on the horse’s left side next to his left front leg and face towards the horse’s tail. Slide your left hand down the back of his leg to the fetlock, which is the last big joint, and squeeze a little. The horse should pick up his hoof and let you hold it. Using the hoof pick in the other hand, pick out any rocks and remove any dirt from the area around the frog and just inside of the shoe line. The frog is the softer, raised triangular area located in the center of the foot. You don’t want to scrape or puncture this. You only want to clear the indented area of the sole of the foot. If a horse doesn’t pick up his foot right away, you can cluck or say “Up” to encourage the horse to pick up his foot. You can also try leaning a little on the horse’s shoulder to shift his weight off of the foot so it is easier to lift up.

After picking all four feet, take a rubber curry comb and brush all over the body in a circular motion. Avoid the lower legs and head since these are bony areas and need gentler brushing. The currying brings dust, dirt, and dead skin to the top surface of the coat so that it can be brushed away. Some horses enjoy a good strong currying, and some horses hate it, so try to be gentle at first. To clean the curry comb, tap it against a fence post to make the dirt fall off.

Next, use a body brush to brush off the loose dirt and hair. Brush in the direction of the hair growth to smooth the hair as you brush. Flick the brush at the end of the brush stoke to try to get all the dirt removed from the coat. Occasionally, you will need to clean the brush fibers by brushing them across the curry comb. Finally, follow up with a soft brush to further smooth the hair and spread the natural oils along the coat. This is what makes horses shine. You can also carefully brush the lower legs and face with the soft brush.

For the tail, first use a detangler spray or gel such as Cowboy Magic, Show Sheen, Mane ‘n Tail Detangler, or EQyss Survivor. This stops tangled hairs from being torn out when you brush the tail. Some people think you should never brush a tail because hairs will be torn out. If you are careful and brush only a small section at a time while starting from the bottom, you shouldn’t pull out many hairs. You can brush the mane without being as worried since most manes are kept thin and short. If you have a long-maned breed such as an Arabian or a Friesian, you will want to treat it as carefully as the tail.

Also, use a clean, damp towel to gently wipe any dirt or dust from the eye area and the nostrils. Most horses learn to appreciate this. You will appreciate it too because when the horse blows out his nose, he won’t get as much horse snot all over you!

About The Author

Jennifer Allbright writes for http://www.NewtoHorses.com which provides information to new-comers on caring for, riding, and showing horses. The site offers a wide range of information from safety around horses and resources for horse items to specifics about dressage training and showing.

posted by Animal Lover2 on Nov 29

by: Jennifer Allbright

What color is a horse? The words for a horse’s coat color have very specific meanings.

A bay horse has a body coat that is a shade of brown with black legs, mane, and tail. Within the bay group, there are blood bays which is a more dark reddish shade of brown and bright bays which can look a golden brown. There are also black bays, which might appear to most people as a black horse. Truly black horses are a more rare color.

Most horses that you might think look black are black bays, which is a very dark brown. You will see lighter colored hair between the hind legs and tummy area and around the muzzle. This makes them black bays instead of black horses. People also call this seal brown.

A chestnut horse has a coat that is a shade of red, while the legs, mane, and tail may be lighter or darker than the body, or the same color, but never black. A chestnut horse can be any shade of red, reddish-brown, or orangey-red. A very dark brownish red with no black on the legs, mane, or tail is known as liver chestnut. It is a more rare color. Sorrel is another word for a light chestnut color.

Grey horses have black skin with white or gray hair. A grey horse might look white, but if its skin is dark, it is a grey. Grey horses are born a dark color, such as black or brown, and their coat grows lighter as they grow older. There are light grey, dapple grey, flea-bitten grey, and steel grey variations in coloring. A white horse must have pink skin, which is more rare than grey horses.

Dun horses have a sandy yellow to reddish brown coat. Their legs are usually darker than their body and they sometimes have faint zebra stripes on their legs. Dun horses always have a dark stripe down the middle of their back along their back bone, known as a dorsal stripe.

Sometimes the dorsal stripe continues down the horse’s tail and through the mane. Many dun colored horses also have face masking, which makes the horse’s nose and sometimes the rest of the face a darker color than the horse’s body.

A buckskin horse has a sandy yellow or tan color with black legs, mane, and tails. Buckskins are similar looking to duns, except that buckskins do not have a dorsal stripe or other primitive markings that are seen in duns.

Palomino horses have gold-colored coat with a white or light cream colored mane and tail. A palomino coat can range from a light off-white shade to a deep shade of gold.

Roan horses have white hairs mixed with a body color to produce blue roan, which is roan mixed with black, red roan, which is roan and bay, and strawberry or rose roan, which roan and chestnut.

There are other white body markings and spots that can affect the horse color to be a Paint or an Appaloosa, which also have breed registries just for them. (We’ll save those topics for another article.)

So next time you see a brown or black horse, look carefully - What color is the horse?

About The Author

Jennifer Allbright writes for http://www.NewtoHorses.com which provides information to new-comers on caring for, riding, and showing horses. The site offers a wide range of information from safety around horses and resources for horse items to specifics about dressage training and showing.

posted by Animal Lover2 on Nov 5

By Jon Weaver

Buying a horse is actually the simple procedure of exchanging dollars and cents for an animal of your choice. But buying an animal suited to your abilities is a difficult task. Before looking for a horse decide what use and purpose the horse will serve, for pleasure, for breeding, or for showing. Each of these is in a different category and requires a different kind of animal. However, you may be fortunate enough to find a combination of all three attributes.

Consider these tests before you buy a horse:

1. Look at him from a distance and examine his build as a whole. This is called conformation, and each breed of horse has certain characteristics that identify him by form. The animal should carry his head well and be neatly put together.

2. Check for soundness. Run your hands up and down his legs. Look for an unexplained lump or sign of soreness.

3. Test his vision. A horse should blink when you wave your hand in back of his eye.

4. See whether or not he leads in or out of the stable easily.

5. Watch saddling and bridling. See if he is uneasy when cinched. Some horses are afraid of a girth, caused by too tight a cinch. Notice whether or not he is bridle shy, touchy about the ears; whether he opens his mouth to receive the bit.

6. Have the owner ride the animal so you can see how he handles. Watch whether he stops easily, reins well, backs, and has an easy gait. Have the owner work the horse to a gallop. Try to determine if he is speed crazy. The owner should guarantee the safety of the animal as to training. Also, note whether or not there is excessive breathing, noise with the breathing, and flanks that heave spasmodically.

7. Most important! Ride the horse yourself. Is he smooth in the walk, trot, and canter? Does he shy? Is he spooky? Can you start and stop him? Is he too spirited for you to handle? Does he switch his tail constantly? Can you ride him away from the stable? A tail-switcher means that the animal has been pushed too fast in training and indicates nervousness. Usually a horse that has been trained by a woman will not like a man rider, or will be uneasy with a man on his back. Sometimes this works in the reverse. Many times it is because of the handling of the reins. A man is normally heavier handed than a woman. However, this depends on the horse and the rider in the main, but it is something to consider in buying a horse that has been privately owned by one person for some time.

8. Don’t buy a stallion. He may look good in the movies but is not practicable in real life. He is likely to be unpredictable and should be managed only by an expert horseman. He belongs, mainly, on the breeding farm. You’ll find just as much spirit and animation in a good mare or gelding and far less trouble.

No horse is perfect, but whatever faults are present you must decide whether or not they may be eliminated with some training. Many times all a horse needs is work. Horses also respond to owners. They have their likes and dislikes. Personalities clash just as between people. Whole personalities have changed with ownership.

Be sure the animal is suited to your own capabilities. And, once again, don’t buy the first horse you see. Some­where there is a horse suited to you. Two things are important: the age of the rider and of the horse, and the experience or lack of it in both rider and animal.

One must equal the other, rider and animal, because no matter how well trained the horse, if the rider does not understand this training, then the horse will not work well. And a good horse can soon be ruined by a poor rider.

FREE information on how to buy, ride, train and care for your horse. Advice, tips and tricks for beginners and advanced riders alike. It’s FREE! Click here: http://www.HorseOwnersGuide.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Jon_Weaver