How to save money on the blacksmith

I have had my own horses now for about 20 years. When I got my first one, I was in a stable with 15 other horses, so it was quite a family atmosphere. The blacksmith that everyone used was a 70 year old guy, who came around with his little fire stove and his old-fashioned methods. He was a great guy though. He worked by himself, only the owner of the horse he was working on had to assist and hold up the feet. I still remember standing bent over breathing in clouds of smoke from the red hot iron shoe he melted onto the hoof.

Nowadays things are vastly different. The blacksmith comes with a helper and uses modern high tech equipment.

But after several years of watching the blacksmith work on my horse’s feet, I got a really good idea of it. So good indeed, that I am still doing my current horse’s hoofs myself. That only works of course, because he doesn’t need shoes.

It is actually very simple to do and I save a lot of money doing it myself. All you need is a rough rasp and a hoof knife, both of which you get in horse shops. I lift up the hoofs one by one and rest them on a brick, while I rasp them down evenly in a half circle. It seems rather natural how far you cut. Then I lift the hoof up, clean it and cut with the knife along the groves and take out all the soft bits that stick out. It is that simple.

Another good thing about this is that I can do that according to my own schedule.

There are only two things you have to be careful with: to not cut into the soft centre of the hoof inside and not rasp of to much.

How to cure dust allergy

When horses are kept in stables they often develop a sensitivity to dust. It mainly happens in stables, where the horses are indoors most of the time and the stalls are not cleaned out every day. It is common to throw on another layer of straw on top of yesterdays dirty one and only do a complete clean-up every two weeks or so, because it is much more economical that way.

Unfortunately that means the horses breathe in their own ammoniac gases all day, which irritates their respiratory tract. Over time they develop a serious allergy to dust, in particular to hay or straw dust. If you do nothing, they build up phlegm in their lungs which they constantly try to cough up. Their breathing becomes difficult.

There are a lot of things you can do as a temporary solution, if your horse has to stay in these conditions. The vet normally gives you a powder to make it easier to cough up the phlegm. You can also put herbal teas in their drinking water. But most importantly you put them on wood chips instead of straw and only give them wet hay to eat.

This is all very well, but it doesn't solve the problem. It only makes it easier for the horse to deal with it and can become quite costly for the owner.

The only way to cure the horse permanently is to move it away from living indoors. No matter where you live, the horse can be kept outside all year round, you only have to provide a shelter against weather. Horses are more robust then we think. When kept outside in the cold they grow a thick coat to keep them warm. They adapt very easily to their environment.

Fresh air and regular exercise are the only things the horse needs to stop phlegm building up in their respiratory system. I have heard about several horses (including my own) that have suffered severely from chronic cough and dust allergy and were nearly put down because of it. After four weeks of being in fresh air and getting exercised they ALL stopped having these symptoms and could be feed normally without any medication.

How to western train your horse

Its actually very easy. You can train an English trained horse to a western trained horse no problem, because the western way is much more natural for the horse. Should you want to train your horse the other way, you will face great difficulty.

To change an english trained horse to a western horse you first have to change your own attitude towards riding. Instead of control and discipline you go for fun and friendship. You make your horse want to do what you want to do by letting it have the choice.

Lets start by mounting the horse. The most important thing: it doesn't matter, how you get on the horse! That's one of the fundamental rules of western riding. Do what is comfortable for both of you and don't do it by the book.

Once you sit on the horse, just relax. Stretch your leg away from the horses flanks and get rid of the broom stick you were taught to have in your back. Just sit naturally and comfortably.
Leave the reins loose. It doesn't matter, if you use one or both hands for the reins, just (again) hold them in the most comfortable way.
To get the horse going, you do not hammer your heals into his sides.
You move your hip forward and click with your tongue. The horse will feel encouraged to go rather than pushed to go.
Enjoy the horses movement! Lean back in your saddle. Dont tighten the reins.
To go from walk to trott to canter you do just the same thing: move your hip, click your tongue.
And sit back and be relaxed.
To turn right, all you do is move your hand (or hands) that is holding the reins over the horses neck to the right, without pulling his mouth.
To turn left, move your hand with the reins to the left.

To stop or slow down, you gently pull in the reins just enough to let your horse know, what you are asking. This is the only bit that takes a bit of training. Mainly, because, being used to the English way, we become all tense and afraid to loose control over the horse, when we dont have the tight reins. But western riding is all about being relaxed, and sending tiny signals through your mind and body to the horse. The horse knows exactly how we feel. So, when we are tense, the horse gets tense as well, and the last thing a tense horse wants to do is slow down. So, train yourself to be relaxed, and TRUST your horse. If you trust him, he will trust you.
A famous book I once read by Henry Blake told about a guy who was asked to train a hypersensitive, nervous horse and make it calm. So this guy took the horse, and went straight out into the middle of a parade of people with drums and guns etc. The same horse, that he was riding for the first time, stood still in amongst all this noise, as his rider put down the reins and lit a cigarette. And that the secret: he completey relaxed himself, so the horse felt, there was nothing to be nervous about and relaxed as well.

So, remember the basic rules for western riding:

1. do what is comfortable and dont follow any strict rules.
2. be relaxed. That includes your whole body; your back, legs and hands.
3. trust your horse
4. treat it as a friend and not as a slave.

Now, enjoy yourself and have fun...

Western versus English

(from the horse's perspective)

You know, I was originally trained the way it is more common around here. Tight reins, strict discipline and my riders heals constantly pushing mi sides. Some horses probably prefer this style, but personally, I think it sucks. Why does my rider think, he has to control my every step? I can walk by myself, and if I wanted to, I could use my physical strength against him or her and there wouldn't be a thing they could do about it. Fact is, I have control. My feeder, the girl I've been working for for the last 16 years, saw that straight away. I am not the type that can walk stiff necked, with hands pulling my sensitive mouth while pretending to be relaxed.
I got retrained, in Western style. What that means is, I walk along on long reins in a totally relaxed way. Whats even better: my rider is relaxed, too. She leans back and her heals don't even touch me. When she wants to turn right, she sends a soft request with the reins touching my neck, slightly pointing to the right. And I choose to turn right.
Its such a friendly way. It feels like my rider is my friend who wants to go for a walk with me, rather than my master telling me what to do and how to do it. I feel free; I go where I want to go, because my rider asked me to. No strain on my mouth, no more aching neck muscles, no more master-slave hierarchy.
One of the best parts is, we often use what they call a Hackamore, a bridle without mouth piece. So I can actually nibble some grass on the way, because there is no bite in my mouth stopping me from chewing properly.
If youve got any questions on how to train your horse western style, you will have to ask my owner.

How to keep and feed a horse Part 1.

All you need to begin with is a piece of land just big enough for the horse to walk about. Depending on the horse, about 50 m2 is actually enough, as long as you exercise the horse otherwise. Fence it off so the horse isn't able to go places where you don't want it to be. Like your rose garden, for example.

Unless you live in Siberia, just an open shelter that keeps the rain and wind off, should do, because in winter the horse will grow a thick coat. A horse grows fur depending on the temperature its exposed to. One thing we like to forget, is that animals are not human beings. Just because we feel uncomfortable, doesn't mean they do.

It would be good, if you had a place to dump the horse poo regularly, but maybe just ask around the neighbours, who might be happy to use the poo to fertilize their gardens. They might even be grateful, because its actually not cheap to buy. Around here, where we live, there are several neighbours we call the 'poo collectors', because they come here with their wheel barrows every few weeks and clean up the section.

If it is really your front yard, meaning you live right there, its probably okay for you to put a bucket of water there that you can fill up every day. Otherwise its more convenient to install a self watering place.

Under the shelter you put a trough for his pellets and make a corner for his hay. All you need to do now, is source a place you can buy those nearby.

How much to feed to the horse is of course different for every one. Best is to try it out. Start by giving him/her about 1 liter of pellets twice a day and as much hay as it eats. The horse will generally not eat more hay than it needs. feeding too much hay is not a problem, feeding too much pellets or oats can be a problem, because they contain a lot of protein. Too much protein can be bad for horses.

Also, too much 'energy food' (pellets or oats) may have a similar effect on the horse as alcohol on a human being, making them drunk-like and unpredictable/harder to handle.

Hello, got any grass?

(Please excuse any typing mistakes, its a bit tricky with those hoofs on the keyboard.)

My name is Gato, and I am a horse. I'm 26 years old, and I used to work as a Polo horse in Germany, when I was young. One day, one of my stupid riders hit me on the head with his bat and I had to quit. I didn't like that job anyway. Too much stress and noise scaring me. I never got over the fear of swinging objects around me.

After I quit I found myself a new home with a teenage girl, who didn't let me work very hard at all. Brilliant! I just had to take her out once a day for a walk in the bush, which was fun. Something different every day. Like freshly grown grass blades or newly dumped paper rubbish that I had to examine from a safe distance. She (my owner) never did understand how frightening and exciting these changes can be.

Anyway, she took me through a number of stables, all about the same, a small square inside and a big muddy paddock outside (that I had to share with others) during the day. Could have been worse, I guess.

Three years ago, my life took a sudden change, one morning she woke me up and put me into the float again. I don't mind the float. It's kind of fun driving along the roads, but I didn't quite expect to spend the next four days traveling. Admittedly we stopped for the nights in cool new places, but it was a loooong journey.

Apparently I now live in Spain. First I took the drastic change in temperature for Global Warming, before I was told that this country has a hotter climate. People here laugh about my name. Gato is spanish for cat. Very funny. But I really can't complain otherwise.

I've got a space of 300 m2 to myself and an open shelter, where I can walk in and out of whenever I want. But thats only where I spend the nights...During the day that same girl (she's a bit older now, and I still don't know her name, I just know she's the one that brings me food and stuff), takes me out to my paddocks. I've got five of them. Big ones, too.

In spring its all full of really juicy lush green grass. Being in Spain though, that only lasts till June or so. Then it all turns into hay (imagine that: hay that grows directly out of the ground). Not bad either. Towards autumn food gets a bit scarce on my paddocks, I am told I have to wait for the rain falls.