May 04

Summer Fly Control And Your Pony

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If you are keeping your pony in suburban areas with neighbors close by, probabilities are good you’re going to face flak from neighbours who are getting harassed by flies. Fly control in open country is a totally different story from fly control in the suburban areas.

There are a few strategies you can resort to for the purpose of resolving this issue.

Irrespective of how clean you keep your horse’s environment, it is going to draw flies. There’s this distinct advantage to cleanliness: the cleaner the environment, the less the flies.

One way is to hang up those traditional fly papers and fly traps. You have to take care that they are beyond reach of horses and children. Another alternative is fly baits, with the same condition. If your bank account allows it, you might get a pesticide mist system installed in your stable or barn. While such a system can play a gigantic role in reducing fly populations, it is not dangerous to horses. Other techniques that work are water traps and bags. I put a water and vinegar mix in these gizmos, together with a bit of vegetable oil.

Yet one more system that does a good job is to feed supplements with larvicide to your horses. These supplements do not harm your horses, but prevent fly breeding in pony dung. You get the very finest results when you start feeding your horse these supplements when spring has just set in and the flies have yet to appear. You can maintain these supplements till winter subsequently starts to set in.

You may apply fly repellents and sprays to your horses. As fly sprays can be rather costly if you have plenty of horses, you can save cash by making your own. My typical recipe is to mix some apple vinegar with some baby oil, add fabric softener and load the concoction into an a spray bottle. It is something which has worked fine for me for an extended period of time now. You simply want to be careful about one thing: if you are intending to ride your pony soon, make certain you don’t spray him before saddling him. The baby oil in the mixture works as a lubricator which will have your saddle sliding around. It may not make for a delightful ride.

If you do a bit of reading online, you will come across a lot of other natural recipes for making repellents. And incidentally, do definitely remember to get a quality fly blanket and mask to prevent flies from annoying your pony.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about horse show cloths

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May 04

Boarding Horses At A Stable

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If you're nuts for horses, and desperately need one of your own, don’t let your absence of room or facilities at your own house stop you. Go ahead and pamper yourself; owning a pony can be tricky but very rewarding work. Horses are impressive animals that are pure fun, and if you are really set on getting one, just look around for an acceptable stable that houses outside horses.

You want to set certain criteria that will need to be met before it is possible to decide on the boarding stable that's best suited for your purposes. You need a stable that is maintained with total attention to cleanliness. The other animals at the stable should be recent on their inoculations and vaccinations. Proficient vets should be available on call at any point of night or day. If the stable operators can not offer you detailed info on the health care of their boarders, you wish to look some place else. You need a stable which will turn out your horse every day. If you're unable to come over every day to feed your horse, will the stable make appropriate arrangements? Is there an acceptable supply of fresh water, and are the boarding animals given full time access to that water? The horses should have sufficient protection from the elements in the shape of sheds or barns. They should also be given satisfactory space in the stalls.

Find out what protection measures are in place in case of fire or other possible sources of damage or injury. Does the stable have satisfactory insurance that covers the animals also? A lot of establishments do not trouble to get insurance coverage for animal housing structures and stock; ensure you don't put up your horse at one of them. Make really sure you are getting value for your cash.

You also need to be certain that your horse isn't going to be utilised for riding by strangers. While most stables are reasonably tough about this issue, I'm aware of some unethical multinationals that permit folks ride horses they're not entitled to for a charge. One way to get trusty feedback is to talk to owners of other animals boarded at the establishment. Are they happy with the care their animals are receiving? You may also follow up with neighbors round the stable. Have they spotted things that aren't quite kosher?

Double check forms with minute care before you put your signature down.

Most stables are usually well run and will give no cause for complaint, but there's always the wierd one that is out to make money without giving worth in return. The internet is another fine source of feedback, as are any vets in the neighborhood of the stable. A good stable should not have any problem in allowing you to give their establishment an inclusive inspection and in providing you with references. The better ones will give you a lot of options: additional feed, additional blankets, prepared farrier or vet visits and such like.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about stable rugs

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May 04

Tailor Lunge Equipment To Your Pony

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Whenever you are working with an item of horse equipment, the very first thing you need to do is get an excellent idea of what the standard or recommended settings for that item are.

This applies enormously to lunging gear. It is extremely important that you’ve got a complete grip on the best fit, particularly if you have a few horses and only 1 or 2 gear kits, as is often the situation. Sharing must always be avoided in yards or pastures with masses of horses, as skin conditions may be transferred. If we are talking about a private yard with just 2 or 3 horses, sharing lunging equipment would possibly not be a significant issue The problem surfaces that arise though are because unlike any other gear, lunge rollers and lunge cavesson are very flexible and adaptable and are capable of working with a substantial number of horses.

It is sensible to have the slip head beneath the cavesson when lunging equipment is being fitted on. The slip head bit must sit such that it causes a tiny wrinkle in the horse’s mouth corners. If you use your fingers to make a contact with the bit, there should be no significant movement of the cheek pieces. Where the cavesson is concerned, nose bands must be separated by the width of 2 fingers from the base of either side’s cheekbone. This way the nose bands are not allowed to rub against the cheekbone, nor can they slide downward and meddle with the animal’s breathing. The nose band must be fastened firmly without being constrictive: you have to be able to slip in 2 fingers at the front and the back. If the nose band is too tight, it’ll cause a lot of discomfort to the horse. Lots of lunge cavessons include a second strap that goes on slightly under the jaw. This strap should be tied firmly; when too loose, it’ll cause the cavesson to slide round while lunging is in progress.

Lunge rollers are rather straightforward uncomplicated stuff. They fit in just at the back of the withers, at about the point at which a saddle’s front would sit. A properly trimmed pad or piece of saddle cloth may be inserted underneath the roller to maximise comfort. Try and get the lunge roller girth even on both sides. Ideally, it should be at the half way position on either side to stop pinching.

You can lunge with other items like a saddle and bridle on the pony, but you should ensure the stirrups are secured such that they don’t keep crashing against the sides of the horse. You need to also take care about the intensity of any contact when you lunge with a bridle, because the lunge line goes directly to the mouth of the pony and thus could be far more severe than just a cavesson. You may use this solution, though, with ignorant or extraordinarily strong horses. It is a good idea that you talk over all angles with your coach, and customise your lunging gear to suit every individual pony. You need to follow the same principle with training aids and pretty much every other pony rigs. There are differences in the hundreds or maybe thousands, and each difference comes with its own distinct action and mechanism. Make sure you are fully aware of how each rig works and discuss it first with any expert you find at the tack shop you made your acquisition of that rig from. Then consult your coach.

Finally, keep in mind when fitting on lunge rigs that the quality of material you are using will have a bearing on the fit. Just to name an example: leather lunge cavessons when properly worked in get into a comfortable fit that helps prevent chafing. But nylon and webbing are similarly suitable, so try and keep your options open. Make your final calls according to your specific requirements.

Regardless of which lunging rig you opt for, make sure it is acceptable for your pony. Give its fit, both in motion and at halt, an in depth scrutiny. You may want to get some other people also to take a look over the entire thing for you, just in case you missed out on something somewhere. If the feeling is that the fit is great, then commence your lunging sessions with your pony content that he is experiencing no discomfort with his new rig.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about stable rugs

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May 04

Understanding The Pony Social Structure

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In my early days, I was often told that horses are herd animals and had a stiff order based on strength, which suggested the strongest pony bossed around the rest. I now know, after a life spent with horses, that they’ve got a social structure, nevertheless it is unquestionably not primarily based on fear. Neither is the head pony always at the front of the herd. Horses in a herd are actually awfully protective of one another, as is amply demonstrated when a mare gives birth: she is surrounded during the process and care of her new born foal is looked on as the entire herd’s responsibility.

The head horse reaches their station thru respect earned the difficult way, by acing practical tests in the herd’s life. Some tests were contrived, but most were not and the head pony was certainly the one who handled tough’s situations best.

There were similar strategies used to allot a place to each member of the herd. I have never seen horses rebel or indulge in trade unionism, so I presume each pony was fine with their place in the herd.

I also realized that it was easier to cope with horses if you appealed to their entrenched herd instincts. These instincts are robust, because they are a part of equine evolution.

When you train a horse, you either let it rule or you dominate. While you aim for a relationship of equals, one entity has to be more equal. When you set yourself up as the more equal party, you are pretty much taking the place of the herd leader, and the pony starts to offer you its trust and obedience. You cannot achieve trust thru bullying or a punishment-oriented approach. Things work far better with a reward-based approach that doesn’t compromise on your (subtle) dominance. On occasions of emergency, the herd leader or some other dominant horse takes control, and the rest follow with total and unquestioning trust. That is the sort of trust you need to earn.

Clearly, you must know your horses. Like human children, they come in all types: obedient and disgruntled, dominant and meek, curious and unquestioning. Again like with human children, if you dig deep into it you’ll find that horses respond to the treatment they receive. With patience , you can work nearly any pony into line. Their herd instincts are far stronger than their sense of individualism.

Just remember: horses think along straight lines. When you teach them something, they don’t forget, as long as they are not confused by contrary instructions later . Horses are not capable of the kind of multidirectional thinking humans are. Horses can’t reason how we can. So, it is down to you to initiate relationships: you have to reach out to the horse because you cannot expect it to relate to you mentally. Put simply, you adapt yourself to thinking along one direction, like a horse.

You are literally capable of joining its herd, but it is not capable of joining yours.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about mini chaps

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May 04

Using Trained Ponies To Help Bring On Your Novices

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There are 2 angles you can adopt when referring to pony training, when you have got the first of these attitudes, you find coaching slow, hard and drudgery. You would not be wrong on the “slow and hard” part. If you’re in possession of the second attitude, you find coaching loads of fun. You are moulding one of god’s most glorious creatures to your specifications.

If you are one of those fortunate ones who find training fun, you should believe that you can make it far more fun if you use another horse.

You need to use other horses to huge advantage if you’re coaching horses that are still extraordinarily young. Here’s some clarification on what I mean.

I have a reasonably standard system for training foals. My first priority is to get them used to my presence. I even touch them and scratch them and groom them gently to get them used to human touch and handling. When they’re happy with me, I put my hat on them. I have my reasons for doing this. My hat desensitizes the foals, ears and other areas around the head. Since it’s a absolutely new and possibly dangerous object for foals, they have to learn to trust me that there is no harm intended, especially since the hat impedes full vision.

This is where the other horses come in. Without them, the process would be more lengthened and involve harder work. With them, my objectives are met quicker. Since my horses all hang around in a herd, I put my hat on each one of them within sight of the foal I’m coaching. These older horses are totally indifferent to my hat, and so they show no reaction whatsoever. Every time I’m taking my hat off a horse, I praise that horse fulsomely.

I achieve a great benefit by doing this. When the foal sees other horses accepting the hat without any reaction in the slightest, it understands that the hat is something of no significance at all, negative or otherwise. And when the foal hears the praise the other horses get after wearing the hat, it understands also that there has to be something laudable about wearing the hat. The natural result is that the foal loses fear of the hat.

I once had a positively revealing experience with 4 new Morgan mares I got from Montana. They had not been trained or handled beyond being halter broke. I had 2 adjacent paddocks, and I put the mares in one and exploited the other for training them. I don’t think I’ve ever had a less complicated time. All I had to do was bring in one of my trained mares and make a massive show of picking her feet up and cleaning them. Clearly my trained mares endured the process with total detachment. It was a piece of cake attending to the new mares after that. I was amazed when the last mare basically lifted her front foot up in anticipation as I approached her!

In the first stages, I had to go into their paddock and bring them out one at a time for their coaching. A week or so later , they were all swarming at the gate, waiting for me, as if each mare was prepared for me to pick her first.

When you utilize a trained pony as a kind of motivating factor for an untrained one, you are not only adding to the fun facet of coaching, you are also making it really easy for the untrained horse. You’ll be shocked how observant horses can be. I have often seen them learn simply by watching other horses. You can take advantage of this characteristic if you stick to one practice: praise every trained pony handsomely for whatever demonstration it helped you give: the praise mellows the untrained horses and makes them very receptive.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about tack shop

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Apr 29

Leather Or Synthetic Pony Riding Gear?

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As an avid and concerned horse rider, you need to ensure that every piece of equipment you use is suitable and does not cause the horse or the rider any discomfort. This holds good for the bridle: selecting a bridle for your pony is not an issue to be treated trivially, and you should take many factors into account when doing this.

Pony owners are fond of debating about the advantages and drawbacks of leather bridles vs synthetic ones. A large number of them have very powerful views on this matter. Many of them prefer the feel and strength that comes with the best leather bridles, while others lay great store by the lightness and dexterity of synthetic bridles, which are also extremely easy to clean. A lot of horse riders are fine with whatever is available.

Traditionally, tack for horses, whether saddles or bridles, has been made of leather. Leather is considered trendy and of lasting quality, and because of this, is thought of as a good buy. Leather has great durability mixed with great looks that means a bridle of leather can last a while and still look good as it ages. Well looked after leather becomes soft and flexible, and does not rub, deteriorate or irritate, which are qualities some synthetic materials have. Overall, the majority of people consider leather to be the better raw material for bridles. If your interest is in showing and competition, then you would be sensible to purchase a leather bridle instead of a synthesised one.

It’s correct that leather typically costs lots more than synthesised material. Craftsmanship is a major element of the price to leather products. You don’t get much craftsmanship with artificial material.

At the end of the day, what should steer you when you buy anything for your pony is this rule of gold: always buy the highest quality that’s available. Let cost be the less important consideration. You will land up coughing up more for a leather bridle, but that bridle is going to outlast and outperform the synthetic ones!

In some examples, synthetic bridles do have their uses. They’re used often in equine sport events like endurance, where it’s very important to load the horse as lightly as possible. For a similar reasons, synthetic bridles work better with young and as yet not totally broken horses. Synthetic material is also exceedingly easy to scrub and maintain, usually a wipe with a piece of fabric, sometimes wet, is enough to get the synthetic bridle clean and shiny again. Nonetheless synthetic material does tend to look worn or frayed much faster than leather, and if it is constantly washed, it may twist or warp and look uneven. While this should not affect the bridle’s efficacy, it does take away from the type of smart look that you wish to portray when you’re on your horse.

The selection of bridle ultimately lies with the rider, and you should base your decision on the use you plan to put your pony to, and at all points you shouldn’t forget: get your horse the best stuff you can.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about equestrian products

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Apr 24

Seeking Horse Training Excellence

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In an earlier article on horse coaching, I had voiced that the day comes when there is nothing left to teach. The horse is about as trained as you are really capable of making it, and after that it’s just a matter of watching over the horse’s behavior and performance.

I was only in part right. Exceptions prove rules, and there is an exemption to this one. Pony training never ends when you are struggling for excellence.

A long time back in Pheonix, at one of the AMHA’s annual conventions, a pony owner chum had just finished with a packing clinic. As he wrapped up, another female pal and I rushed away to move our horses before they started serving dinner. My pony was still charged with practically everything you can pile onto a horse, while my friend’s pony was tacked the English way. We found a free arena and had just got the horses moving when we discovered we were in the middle of some spectators. We were the spectacle.

My friend did a dressage of level two quite close to the rails, while I went roaring up the centre line, sliding to a stop and turning to go again with all sorts of bits and piece flopping around. The horses were freaking out, and so were we. By the time we had wrapped up, over half of the convention guests had turned up to watch. The event was later brought up by the AMHA president as a real-world example that vividly illustrated the breed’s versatility.

My friends and I talked about things later and came to the conclusion that this was simply the best performance we had ever put up on horseback. Though I was not particularly keen on reining, I had achieved sliding stops with reins practically grounded. The girl’s speciality was jumping; she wasn’t particularly into dressage. Our 2 individual horses matched our respective backgrounds, my horse did no reins and hers did no dressage.

So what’s the moral of this story?

A horse is generally schooled to a level which is determined by the trainer based primarily on the trainer’s own training capabilities, not on the horse’s learning capacity. All coaching is then stopped and the owner happily lets the pony stagnate at that level so long as it lives.

You must actually decline to accept any ceilings for your horse. Operate on the assumption that your horse has potential for just a bit more improvement. You could be stunned at precisely how much fun you and your horse may have. Because you have finished with the structured training, you can go the unstructured route. You can work on anything that takes your fancy, as long as it does not excessively strain your horse. Who can say what extraordinary capabilities of your horse you can unearth?

I can recollect a spell of a couple of years in my life when I was helping a chum run his ranch, where he also hosted groups of ‘city slickers’ we rode our horses at all times of night and day, checking out all sorts of new tricks, and I have no doubt that on many an occasion camping city folks considered us to be lunatics as we went side passing by them. Our philosophy was awfully simple: why not waste time, the horses were ready and so were we. So what was there to stop us? We consistently attempted to find something new, like when we became pretty good at the side pass, we tested ourselves and our horses to work out if we could do it using little or no reins.

Obviously, a neverending search for excellence keeps both the rider and horse peppy and continually on edge. I never ceased to get surprised when a pony I assumed would be tired out after a day of work would liven up and get raring to go for little bit of non-conformist lunacy.

You must try it, It can be great fun!

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about equestrian wear

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Apr 09

Your Horses Read You Like A Book

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Is that pony bodywork convention coming up next month alluring you? Or maybe you are thinking about attending a tack fitting clinic? Or maybe you are thinking of an animal communication workshop?

Well, you are on the right track. And here is the rider: beware!

Believe it or not, your pony knows when you have picked up some new thing that may better the standard of your horse’s life. Your pony knows precisely what it is that you have just learned. Earlier, your pony may have been very reasonable of that ill-fitting saddle you kept torturing him with, but now, after the tack fitting clinic, he’s going to attempt to throw you off if you keep persisting with that saddle.

Your swaybacked mare, who used to trot down to you when you entered her pasture, will now kick up her heels and take off the other way, that is, if you’re not planning on doing bodywork right then.

And what price your show pony who dislikes his job but still excels at it? He’s aware you attended an animal communication workshop and he is aware you are paying little attention to his wish for a change of career. He is now waiting to teach you a lesson at the next horse show.

Is This All Some Kind of Joke?

It is not, believe me. It is regrettable that so many pony owners have had to learn the tough way that their horses are telepathic. Your horse just knows what you know. So long as you were ignorant, he was content to endure you, but the instant you learned something new that would improve his life, he’s on to you, and he is expecting you to utilise your new talent to his benefit. And that’s starting right now, without any further loss of time!

Be warned: just finding out about new aspects of beneficial things like better horse medical care, better horse feed and better horse management marks you out! Once you’ve traveled down that road, there’s no coming back; it is a one-way street. Your pony will make damn sure of it! I have come across repeated instances of folks that convey something to their animals and then omitting to actually do what they exclaimed they would. They are facing the consequences: it may be the dog relieving himself on your carpet and letting you know where you get off, or it may be your horse bucking you into orbit. If you neglect your animals, they are not going to excuse you.

I have had repeated occasion to have my inabilities set straight by my horses. I remember Marka, my first big-time jumper horse, used to be very easy-going and totally safe to ride when I first got him. We were ideal partners, winning all kinds of shows and championships around. I was definite Marka and I had the ideal chemistry. In fact Marka was a cribber, and that usually played havoc with his teeth, spine, and performance. I believed cribbing was bad, and tried everything I could to bring a cap on his cribbing. Nothing I tried worked. That horse continued to crib, but he never had any antagonism that I kept attempting to get him to stop.

Then I had a brainwave. I tried to reach out to him, to really speak to him. I asked him just what could actually be done to stop him from cribbing. His response was right on the spot: “Do I ask you to give up eating?” Reading closely, he was telling me that cribbing was as much part of him as his eyes, his ears and his legs.

Despite this, I did not give up on trying hard to get him to quit cribbing. It became plain immediately that he was no longer indulgent. He started showing me his butt whenever I went to catch him, and constantly damaged some part of his stall or some object there. His strongest sign of bitterness, though, was his new-found refusal to jump at the shows. He resisted all the attempts of my coach and I to make him perform in the right way. He refused to do so even on courses he used to have a liking for.

We went back for another session with the animal communicator. Marka was extremely unequivocal: “You want me to perform at the shows, let me crib.” Well, that was it “he had issued his final warning in a manner that was unmistakable. We made a decision to let him crib without any more complaint, and was that a good thing. He started performing well again and even more important, he started loving it again.

Marka is no longer with me. He now belongs to my former coach. I’m told Marka has his very own cribbing tree and he even has his own gang of cribbing mates. It is rather a lovable gang of equine cribbers! They take turns cribbing. Marka sets the ball rolling, then turns to one of his pals and asserts, “You’re on dude, go ahead!” when the pal is done with his cribbing, both turn to a third pal and tell him to get on with it. When each pony has had his turn, it’s back to Marka again. He is on one. Gigantic cribbing splurge nowadays. He is routinely used to take beginner adults and children through 3 foot courses. He has absolutely no issues with the world so long as it doesn’t interfere with his cribbing. His teeth may suck nonetheless it is worth it for him!

My experience with almost all of my horses “in particular my mustangs “has been pretty much the same. So long as you are an ignoramus, they are reasonable and forgiving. As quickly as you lose the blissfulness of ignorance, they stop forgetting and forgiving. They have memories that will challenge those of elephants. But they’re constant to you if you’re understanding with them. When you give them what they desire, they try to give you what you want: better rides, better performances.

I have attempted to pass on a friendly warning through this article to all horse lovers. Learn all of the subtleties of proper pony medicare. Learn also to reach a compromise with your horse: they like a scratch-my-back-and-I’ll-scratch yours arrangement. Don’t pay the penalty for being inflexible.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about cheap horse rugs

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Apr 06

Your First Horse Ride

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The first time a human being gets onto the back of a pony, he experiences mixed feelings. For some of the people, apprehension is dominant. Others feel thrilled. Maybe there’s the class of person who wonders what the fuss is all about, but happily I have not yet met this kind of person.

For the majority of people, a 1st time pony ride can be amazing. It is my experience that the majority of people feel happy about riding horses; even people who are initially nervous get over it. If you are riding a trained pony for the first time, you will generally find that he is happy to be ridden. It’s this feature of the horse that leads to such deep bonding between humans and horses.

Before venturing out on a horse for the first time, try and build some rapport well before you even saddle him. Pet him, feed him some treats, talk to him, try and make him feel comfy with you. It you succeed at setting up a good understanding straight away, you aren’t going to have an issue with that horse when riding him. You’ve just got to bear in mind the horse is a prey animal and in the initial stages, will be more suspicious of than receptive to a stranger.

As you get set to mount your horse for the first time, your body language will have a major influence on your successive experiences. You must exude confidence as you approach to mount. Don’t try and mount without assistance if you’re standing at a lower level, especially if you’re short in height. Use a mounting block, there is not any shame in it. A mounting block helps you keep your physical and psychological equanimity as you get onto your horse’s back.

Custom is to mount the pony from its left, but you need to try out either side. It is important that in the initial days, you work with a pony that’s trained to stay absolutely still when you are mounting. If your horse does have a tendency to move a bit, get help holding him still while you mount.

Position yourself beside your horse’s shoulder as you get set to mount. Be really careful about how you use your hands. Don’t do dumb stuff like grabbing the saddle horn to leverage yourself up. Try to keep your movements smooth, so that you don’t upset the horse’s poise and equilibrium.

Learning how to ride like a champion

Don’t rush your pony into motion without making sure everything is in order, and you are seated comfortably. Start off slow but certain. Stay attuned to any communication your horse is sending out, don’t make him do things that would discomfort him. Build up your riding speed slowly. Never lose control, never panic. You’re the ship master.

You may have a lot of highly delightful rides if you keep attempting to bolster your bond with your horse. If he does something wrong, be patient about correcting him, and keep at it till he does work it out. Don’t lose your cool.

When riding a horse for the first time, try and do so in an environment that offers no distractions to the pony. If other horses are present, for example, your horse may focus more on them and less on you, and that would imply loss of coordination.

Be a pro-active rider. Try to not be a total dead weight on horse’s back. Remember, you can use your weight to work with or against the horse’s motions. When you are in the right kind of coordination with him, you’ll make his life a whole lot easier and your ride a great deal more enjoyable. This sort of coordination comes with practice, so don’t expect to be a miracle horse rider the first time out.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about mini chaps

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Mar 23

Communicating With Your Pony

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Yes, your horse most likely doesn’t talk English. In all possibility, he doesn’t speak any other human language, either. He can’t speak how you and I talk, but that doesn’t mean he can’t communicate. Your horse is a constant source of non-verbal signals and body language that you would do very well to pick, interpret and understand. Let’s start you off with some inputs in this article.

Groaning

A horse groans for the same reasons human beings do. Rather frequently, the groan is an expression suggesting that the pony is experiencing pain. If you are uncertain of what caused a groan, you’d be smart to have your vet have a look.

Horse grunts that are not reflective of discomfort are voiced when the horse is straining over some barrier, much as some tennis players grunt when they serve or hit a shot. These grunts are easily interpreted and are nothing to fret about.

Certain riders, especially those that bounce like bad checks when they’re riding, can cause horses to groan. You will presume that these are groans of exasperation. Occasionally horses grunt when they think their work is done for the day.

You must become extremely alert when your pony moans; if there’s the tiniest indication that he’s moaning due to physical discomfort you need to call the veterinarian straight away.

Sighing

Sometimes, horses sigh. They do so by inhaling very and then letting out their breath slowly through their mouth or nose. Quite often, these sighs seem to signify ecstasy, if as an example, they occur when the horse is being groomed or rubbed down. Often horses sigh when they are given repetitious work; you could say these sights indicate irritation. You should look for something else to do if your horse sighs during a training routine.

Snorting

When a pony sighs with a lot of stress, with partly closed lips that vibrate when it expels breath, it is snorting. Snorting is much louder than sighing. Snorting generally is an indication that the pony is excited about something. Snorting is also infectious, as other horses close by can take it up in a form of chorus. Sometimes, the excitement may build up, and the pony may get difficult to manage, showing his excitement with a head held high, a lifted tail, more and louder snorting and some prancing.

Infrequently horses snort when they get frightened. In your rides, you could have occasion to notice that your pony snorts when he comes across something that looks like it might be a threat of some kind.

Nickering

Typically, a pony nickers when he is feeling cheerful, or he is expecting something nice like an additional treat. Horses also nicker to show their emotion, like mares do with their foals. Horses nicker as the times for their feeding get close; if they are feeling impatient for their feed, they make excited sounds that are high pitched.

Sometimes nonetheless , nickers can signal trouble. Horses nicker softly when they are nervous; nickering accompanied by pacing, eye rolling and ears moving forwards and backwards indicates that the pony feels threatened. It is best to instantly attend to the situation and take away the threat.

Neighing

At various times, neighing suggests that the horse is either anxious or assured. Horses neigh to speak with one another while at pasture. Perturbed or high-pitched neighing together with sweating indicates stress over something. If the neighing has a kind of bugle effect, and the horse is exhibiting confident body language with ears pricked, it is in excieted anticipation of something or somebody.

Well, that pretty much should make it plain that horses do communicate. You can understand them only if you’re alert and mindful of what each of their different modes of communication signifies. You will develop an everlasting bond with your horse when you do eventually understand everything he’s saying and respond accordingly.

Horses are Heather Toms passion and she enjoys sharing her extensive knowledge through her 100s of articles with other horse lovers, like all things about riding hats

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