Observations about Horsekeeping after the Weather Changed

Snowy weather for any length of time in western Washington is unusual. Odin and Bragi were both born in eastern Oregon; they know better how to thrive and survive in snowy weather than I do as well-adjusted horses are adapted to cold environments. I learned this as a graduate student of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the early 2000s. Evolution of equids was not my field of study but the fossil record is fairly complete and there’s much to learn about evolutionary biology from the scientific work that has been done on horses. The key to serve their survival needs is to offer them as many options as possible.

Shelter, check:

Companionship and room to move (for small acreage, check out this track system to keep them moving), check.

Plenty of good forage, check, as much as they want. Odin and Bragi get three types of hay: local, alfalfa, and orchard grass. Variety in anyone’s diet is important, I think, and it’s a strategy I adopted/copied from my wonderful farrier.

Water. Now this was the tricky bit because horses might not drink water when you think they should and some of them really need help to maintain good hydration. The question that has never been answered for me is, how much is enough? The consequences can be terrible (colic and others) from not drinking enough water. I’m not a veterinarian and this post isn’t about consequences. This post is about serving the horses’ needs and making observations to determine what they need, calling the vet when the available isn’t enough.

Odin isn’t a good drinker in ordinary weather (Bragi is a good drinker), so many months ago I started adding a little salt to his ration balancing grain with a lot of water. I doubt he likes the salt but he likes the mushy grain. I’m not entirely convinced that adding salt is good for him since he doesn’t like it — not that Odin is always going to make good choices. However, there is some debate among veterinarians as to whether adding salt helps or harms electrolyte balance; I add about half the recommended amount on the package. Still, what is a good next strategy for providing water: make the grain mushier than usual. I soak grain in the house so that it doesn’t freeze in the barn.

And what about drinking water? I left a hose running in one big bucket:

I chopped a lot of ice:

I used a tank heater in another trough:

Conveniently there’s a small wetland in the upper pasture:

After checking on the horses about a hundred times a day, I learned that they prefer the pasture wetland, the running water, and ice water. They avoided the heated water, but the heater made my ice chopping job easier.

A running hose and heated water are fine as long as the power stays on, which it doesn’t typically in any weather. Thankfully the power was out only for a couple hours this time. I am also thankful for the number of options available to the boys because if one preference is unavailable, they are used to ice water and I can pack water from the creek if necessary. Which has been necessary during longer power outages.

The major theme in horsekeeping for me in any weather and any time is serving their needs for their happiness and health, and ease of mind for me.

* The question “how can I serve” comes from Karen Rohlf’s Dressage Naturally podcast series.

Redefining Goals

The link in the caption is a short movie I took of the horses running around in the dark. I was safely standing next to a fence so that they couldn’t accidentally run over me. They’d shoot the gap of the open gate then gallop up to the round pen where the footing is better. And back, bucking and snorting/farting the whole way. Clear the lungs and sinuses before finding full hay bags in their stalls.

Winter horsekeeping is a time for easing off the goals. The dark, cold, mud, and rain help facilitate this. I know people who manage to ride all winter. I sort of envy them but not really. Mostly I envy their level arenas with good footing. Deep in my bones I know that winter is a time for hibernation, for rest, and restoration for both humans and horses. Besides, I mind the cold and damp these days.

My mind loves established patterns and regularity. I find comfort in the sameness of every day. I love having a schedule. I call it my “Beloved Schedule” or “BS” for short. The irony cracks me up because it is B, the bull-pucky variety. The BS is good for setting a schedule to meet goals. Write down or mentally note what to practice every day.

Winter is a time for me to be more present with Odin and Bragi. Just be with them and nothing else. The goals will be there in February when there is more daylight and hopefully better footing.

The horses still have manners because I do micro sessions at feeding time. In the morning, I remove Bragi from Odin’s stall so that they can both enjoy their own breakfast in peace.

Bragi and I work on walking nicely in the barn aisle without crowding me. Bragi is 3 and still needy. His preferred place is in Odin’s lap. Or mine. I’m trying to teach him that he’s okay if he’s not in our laps and in his own stall.

With Odin I work on gaining his attention when he’d rather be looking anywhere else, or head down cues, which releases endorphins. Easy 2-minute exercises.

Whenever you’re with your horse(s) you’re either training or untraining them. Micro sessions are satisfying in that you’re still training but not committing to big sessions in the cold, dark and mud. I think the micro sessions will pay off when daylight returns. Stay tuned!

The official transfer of ownership of Bragi the Mustang from the Bureau of Land Management to me:

Caveat: I’m not a horse trainer. I now own two Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Mustangs and subscribe to the idea that every time I’m them I’m either training or untraining them. Both of my boys came from skilled trainers who know how to gently introduce them to the ways of humans. Odin had 100 days of training and was just under saddle by the time I bought him. Bragi had about 30 days of training and barely tolerated wearing a halter. Now he’s seen the vet without losing his mind and I’m working on the idea of bathing and saddling.

More on bathing and saddling in a minute.

Before owning Mustangs, it never occured to me to think about the things we ask them to do from their point of view. For instance, when I got Odin a few years ago he had his first farrier appointment to trim his feet. When the farrier kindly asked him to pick up his foot, Odin seemed truly puzzled. It was as if he asked “why in the world would you want to hold my foot? That seems absurd!”

My farriers are awesome, patient, intelligent horsemen (gender neutral form of the word as my farriers are women). They gently persuaded Odin to pick up his foot and and allow them to hold it. Odin wasn’t alarmed by the request but just thought it was weird.

Looking back at the moment, I agree with him. We ask horses to do weird things, hopefully for their own health and safety so they can live in this human environment and thrive. Why adopt wild horses in the first place? That’s a whole other discussion but you may find information here. Both my boys enjoy regular, quality feed plus water whenever they’re thirsty. That’s not so easy in the wild.

Back to the idea of bathing and saddling Bragi. Bragi has an itchy tummy as he’s allergic to a common biting insect. Fly spray offers some protection but the saliva from the biting fly lingers and makes him itch. Ideally I will be able to bathe at least his tummy to remove that saliva offer relief.

Bragi doesn’t seem to mind the hose as much as Odin does. Odin acts like spray from water is acid on his skin. This morning I introduced a rag to Bragi. He didn’t mind at all. Some horses will shy away from a rag simply because they haven’t seen it before. He let me rub his shoulder and neck with it, ball it up and scratch his tummy, then flop it over his back as if it were a saddle pad. Tada!

The key to training horses is introducing new things to them kindly, patiently, and at the speed they are ready. If Bragi had jumped away from the rag, I would’ve backed up and introduced it to him from much farther away then approached him if he didn’t react. Then repeat. Ad nauseam.

When the Veterinarian Says the Horse is Too Fat

When the veterinarian visited in November to vaccinate, examine, and do dental work on Odin the Mustang, she commented that he was a bit too “fluffy” for his own good. She gave me the weight tape, which estimates weight based on girth measurement, and advised me to replace alfalfa hay for breakfast with local grass hay. He could continue to have alfalfa hay for his evening meal but to check his weight every couple weeks to see if the morning meal adjustment was moving his weight in the correct direction.

When I first used the weight tape, I’m not entirely sure I was using it correctly, as it wouldn’t meet at an actual number; instead the first measurement was at a letter in the phrase “Weight Tape” at the top of the tape.

Oh dear…

The second time I tried, the tape closed at a different letter in the phrase which seemed to indicate that Odin’s weight was going in the correct direction.

By this third measurement, shown in the photo, I noticed that his silhouette seemed a bit slimmer and maybe the fat pads near his shoulders were a little smaller. And it appeared that I definitively figured out how to use the weight tape.

Feeding an overweight horse, also known as an “easy keeper”, is actually harder than feeding a “hard keeper” in my opinion. For a hard keeper, you can add alfalfa pellets, soaked (or not) beet pulp, pelleted rice bran, even vegetable oil to their meals and give them as much hay as they’ll eat. And make sure their teeth are in good shape. The constant intake of food is beneficial as their stomachs produce acid constantly so they need the buffer of food to keep them healthy. Horses have evolved over the last million or so years to graze constantly.

Managing the diet for easy keepers is more difficult because to lose weight and prevent metabolic diseases such as laminitis and others, you’re supposed to restrict their food intake. Which can have digestive as well as psychological implications. Neither make for happy horses.

Exercise can be an important factor as well and this time of year in the Pacific North Wet, the footing is slippery and dangerous plus the weather is less than inspiring. I let my horses have as much space as possible to roam and play.

Fortunately Odin seems to be responding well to a simple replacement of one type of hay so he’s able to get the daily volume required to keep his digestive system happy and fulfills that primal need to graze all day.

Way back 30 or 40 years ago equestrian sports were seasonal, including those at the professional level. I suppose that not as many people had access to indoor facilities during the dark, cold, and wet parts of the year back then.

Lately I’ve been reading posts about how to stay motivated to ride during the fall and winter seasons and wonder if that’s really necessary. Of course it depends on the rider’s goals and frankly this rider doesn’t have any goals except personal safety, happy and healthy horses.

So why do I have the blues? It’s pouring down rain for days straight, the footing is terrible, and it gets dark early, the sun rises late. I wonder if I should be doing something/anything with them. My two Mustangs don’t care about my goals and possibly prefer the lack thereof. They want security, food, and water. Likely in that order and they prefer to avoid shelter.

I provide them with shelter but they would forego that if the food showed up outside. I think they should come out and dry out once in a while. They may not agree but choose to come inside for hay.

This equestrian nomad would like to know if you and your horses take seasonal breaks? If you don’t, would you like to and what’s stopping you? Or, what keeps you motivated? Do you think equestrian sports should return to its former seasonality?

To be fair, every time I’m with my horses I train them or untrain them. This morning, I was very proud of Bragi for going into his own stall for breakfast. Usually he’s in Odin’s stall with Odin and I take the opportunity to lead Bragi away to his own stall and own breakfast. Granted, this “training” takes less than a minute but over time, these one-minute training sessions teach Bragi the important lesson of being more independent. Independence is an important skill for a 3-year old baby horse.

Anyway, here’s more about the horses:

Odin was gathered and gelded at age 6 (years). He still thinks it’s his job to stand guard if there are critters, deer or predators, doing their own business in the nearby woods. Odin is a good saddle horse and learns new skills from positive reinforcement. I adopted Odin from a Mustang gentling event in July 2018.

Bragi was gathered and gelded at approximately age 6 months. His priority is food and hanging out with Odin, although he loves to learn new skills as long as I teach at his speed. See this post on teaching him to accept vaccines. I adopted Bragi from an approved Mustang trainer who taught him basic good horse skills: accepting the halter, leading, picking up feet for the farrier, and trailering.

Also, using positive reinforcement to address needle sensitivity

Bragi has been with me for about 18 months now. Last November was his first wellness check and vaccines. Frankly I had no idea how it was going to go and to be honest, it didn’t go that well. We found out that Bragi is needle sensitive, which I learned is not that uncommon for horses.

My vet is very patient, kind, did her best, and told me how to best prepare him for his wellness check. Her suggestion was to use positive reinforcement training to help him overcome needle sensitivity. This approach seemed most fair to Bragi, because it would be fun for him, and also most fair to the vet who needs to stay safe and care for her patients.

Because I’m not a horse trainer, I enlisted my coach Meghan Valenti. In two sessions we worked on a “pinch (the neck), poke (with an empty syringe), click (bridge signal to the horse that he did the right thing)” game. The click noise I make with my tongue when he stood still and calm signals that he’s going to get a cookie in short order. Cookies are his favorite!

During each session, Meghan spent the hour teaching me how to play the pinch/poke/click/cookie game. She also taught me how to explore his nostrils gently so that he would be prepared for nasal spray vaccines. On subsequent days, Bragi and I would practice for maybe 5 minutes — most of the time a lot less as he tolerated my poking and exploring, loved the cookies!

Today was Bragi’s real test as it was time for the appointment. I showed the pinch/poke/click/cookie game to Dr. V and she suggested that I stand by her while she administered the actual needle so I could reward and cookie. He flinched a little on the left side but made me very proud.

We set up for the same procedure on the right side but he was a bit more reactive; still wanted cookies though and earned them by allowing Dr. V to finish the vaccine.

I’m really proud of him and will continue to practice so that he’s a good, responsible patient for his veterinarian. It’s only fair to him and to his doc to practice and it’s quite easy.

Here’s an article that explains the process for both intramuscular (IM) and intravenous (IV) procedures: https://www.worldhorsewelfare.org/blog/how-to-help-a-needle-shy-horse-overcome-their-fear

Here’s a photo of Odin getting his teeth floated, just because he’s so dang handsome!

Yesterday we returned from our awesome 3-week vacation. I missed the kitties and horses terribly while we were gone. Here's how the kitties greeted us:

It didn't take long for them to want to snuggle and purr in our laps. Ah the love!

I was glad to see the horses trotting up to me from the pasture, which I'm sure is because they are certain it's feeding time even when it's not.

Today I wasn't sure where to start working with the horses. Frankly I couldn't really remember where I had left off; thankfully I keep a handwritten notebook with short notes on our sessions. I decided that the easiest thing to do is to start with super easy tasks to see how much each horse remembered from our last session.

Since I fed the boys breakfast in the round pen, they happily followed me in. Bragi is the most enthusiastic (and pushy) so I let him in and asked Odin to back out, wait his turn. Here's Bragi:

I love his expression and how curious he is; he seems to enjoy connecting with me. I'm pleased to report that for the most part he picked up almost right where we left off: keep your nose to yourself, check; follow me, check; backup, check; friendly game, check; stand still while I walk around, check; move the haunches left to right, check (eventually); go into the barn with me, not so great. He's always been wary of the barn aisle and that is where we left off before vacation. I used approach and retreat with lots of reward when he decided to go with me and stand still in the barn aisle. Rewards include cookies and also a good belly scratch. Then I asked him to back out and let him go about his own business. The photo is of him after the session. I'm in the round pen fiddling with the water bucket and he's still quite engaged, curious about what I'm doing.

Odin seemed a little put out that I worked with Bragi first but came around when I rewarded him for very simple tasks, namely asking him to put his nose in his halter. One of my goals with training these horses is make sure they enjoy their tasks. I think this builds trust and engagement for more complicated requests.

Halter on, Odin and I walked up to the front yard where I let him graze for a bit as a reward. I want him to look forward to leaving the barn and going to the front yard because that's where I do the majority of my riding, which is work for him. After grazing for a bit, we played the squeeze game where I asked him to go through a narrow space, which happened to be between the front porch and my truck.  This is a good exercise for getting used to tight situations.  Horses are naturally claustrophobic so doing this exercise as part of a warmup is good for unexpected tight situations; both horse and handler know what to do. I also asked him to hang out a bit near his nemesis, the hose bib. He offered to touch it with his nose and got a reward for his effort. Moving on, I asked for turns on the haunches and forehand to see how much he remembered. Odin still likes to go forward for the turn on the haunches exercise so we practice this a lot. He's naturally heavy on his forehand so this exercise is a little more difficult for him since he has to shift his weight to his hindquarters. Odin is growing his winter coat already:

Here's another critter I noticed during pasture patrol:

I call him Mr. Chippy even though he's not a chipmunk but a native Douglas squirrel. He looks like he's getting ready for winter.

 

 

Currently I'm on vacation, a long vacation from my Public Health day job, away from COVID response where the Delta virus is wreaking havoc in the unvaccinated in my community. I'm sorry but I have nothing else to contribute to that effort at the moment.

During vacation the Equestrian Nomad explored the St. Croix River on kayak and is making plans for the blog. The long break was due to exhausting the bandwidth for anything but COVID response and doing the bare minimum to keep everyone alive and thriving.

Odin and Bragi the Mustangs have received a little education from my fabulous coach who guides me in person then offers a lot of homework.

The plan for the Equestrian Nomad is to continue that education during the winter and posting more frequently. Soon enough daylight will wane, rain will return and the horses will have more time with each other than with me.

What we have learned over the summer:

Odin responds well to moving forward under saddle by using R+ (positive reinforcement). We also practiced bareback. He's a good mustang.

Bragi is learning to relax with his demons in the barn aisle. R+ helps him focus on me for answers rather than his demons behind him or out the side door to the manure pile. Bragi is also learning about backing up and the stick and string flopping around his body. We'll prepare for under saddle work eventually but he's only 3 and I expect him to grow for another 5 years. Odin is now 9 and finally reached maturity last year. Such good boys:

Until next time, love your horses!

Corrina Marote

My last post was July 2020, about a month or so before I lost my beloved Jodee dog, on August 30, 2020. She was just a couple months shy of her 15th birthday. The loss was so profound that I had no words, just a persistent ache and a lot of questions about whether I waited too long to assist her out of her suffering. The last 18 months of her life were difficult for her, painful for me to watch, expensive and time consuming.  The latter two are the least important.  I know that I waited one day too long but the decision to assist a beloved pet out of suffering is extremely personal and situational. Jodee always had a lot of try and I did my best to honor that while alleviating her pain as much as possible.  I suppose I should've known when the vet told me that CBD oil was the only thing left to ease her arthritis and nerve degeneration pain that it was time for me to plan for her exit. I have no idea how the tumor in her abdomen felt but toward the end she was getting nauseous at meals times. To the point where she'd leave her meal unfinished.  I knew the time was getting close then because eating was the single-most important thing in her life. I wanted her to tell me when she was ready and maybe she was but she'd also tell me that she was interested in bunnies and fascinating smells. At the time I probably thought there was more left of her life than what there actually was. I hope I don't make that mistake again, of waiting too long, but I probably will because animals show profound joy in life and I have to wonder if the last hours of agony are the best trade-off for the moments of joy beforehand.  Perhaps so.  I hope to know that answer someday so that I can make better decisions on their behalf.

On what would've been Jodee's 15th birthday (best guess as she was a pound hound puppy), we adopted two kittens.  Kittens that brought joy and laughter into the house after too much sadness and the weight of the dark and wet time of year. Today is the six month mark of their adoption.  We think they were born in mid-July (again, adoption from a shelter). Harley and Herbert are two little black stinkers who surprise and amuse us every day.

The horses: Odin suffered a deep hoof abscess and is still recovering, although he gallops around the pasture with his best friend Bragi when I let them out together.  Bragi is an opportunist and when Odin was suffering greatly, he used the time to practice establishing his leadership. I separated them so that I could treat Odin's hoof and increase the possibility of the dressing staying on. Now that I'm allowing them out together again, Odin isn't putting up with Bragi's attempted bossiness but Bragi is a colossal pest so I still separate them except for pasture time.

Odin and I are still working on feeling comfortable in the trailer.  He gets in just fine but staying in is hard for him.  So we practice hanging out.  Since his abscess is still resolving we do more groundwork than anything and are trying to work on lateral moves.  He's getting them.

Bragi and I are working on leading.  He's a very forward horse, which is good but I prefer that he stays out of my personal bubble.  We've been working on leading, focusing on me, stopping when asked, and backing up.  The goal is for him to think about backing up a step or two when we stop.  So far his stopping consists of taking a step forward after I stop but at least he's backing up with a soft ask.

This summer I'm hoping to get out and try some things with Odin, maybe a cavaletti clinic, introduce him to cattle to see if he has an inclination to boss them around, and get out on the trails with some girlfriends and their horses. Maybe I'll introduce Bragi to trailer loading.  He did it before with his TIP trainer and obviously arrived here in a trailer.  I also hope to update this blog more frequently, now that I have words again.   Speaking of words, I've had a story brewing in my head for a very long time.  Maybe I'll try it out here.  Stay tuned!