Horse Care
First-time horse buyers love advice, and the following is a list I've compiled over the years. Although I have been riding Tennessee Walking Horses for years, I came from a Quarter/Horse and Arabian background and these tips will certainly work for any breed! Please feel free to email me if you have a helpful tip and I would love to include it! Scroll down for information on horse care.
- Do not tie your horse with a long lead.
I see this all the time where “considerate” owners tie their horses on a long line to the side of their trailer or a fence so that their horses can graze. Your horse should not be able to lower its head to a position where it can get a foot over the rope. I personally saw a horse which was tied this way get his foot around and over the rope, panic, and literally “saw” his foot into such an injury that he was rendered lame for life. Each time anyone would approach him to untangle him, he would panic again, causing deeper cuts.
- Do not tie your horse in a trailer, either!.
You will do your horse a favor to tie him short enough so that he cannot turn his head more than ninety degrees either way. If he gets his head down and a foot over his lead, he can tear your trailer up while inflicting damage to himself, not to mention the difficulty in helping a panicking horse inside a trailer.
- Breast straps are functional.
They’re not just for decoration. Flopping, loose breast straps are not holding the saddle in place, so adjust the straps where the breast strap fits snugly so the saddle will not slide back.
- Do not feed horses in a group.
No matter how much you think you know your horse, or how much you think your horse loves you, feed does to horses what money does to humans: brings out the Neanderthal! When you walk into a group (more than one) of horses with a feed bucket, a primeval instinct of survival kicks in, creating intense competition and when kicking at another horse to climb to the top of the hierarchy, a horse never checks to see that you’re not in his line of fire before declaring war. I personally saw a friend of mine get her arm broken this way, moments after I warned her, even though she was sure her horses would never hurt her. She was lucky it was just her arm and not her head!
- Pasture horses are happier, easier to enjoy.
Horses don’t cause as much trouble and set up as many bad habits if they’re allowed to “be horses”. If you want your horse to stay pretty all year, stall him out of the damaging rays of the sun during the daytime and allow him to graze at night. He’ll stay glossy and dark, but mentally healthier and happier.
- Stay out of the horse’s mouth.
When jumping obstacles, riders frequently unintentionally snatch their horse’s mouth for balance as they land. You can avoid this if you will take the hand you are holding the reins in (both hands if applicable) and right before the horse jumps, grab a firm handful of his mane about halfway up his neck (toward his ears) with the reins locked in with his mane. Release after you land, and there is absolutely no way you can hurt him if you follow this procedure.
- Compromise. Forward motion avoids trouble.
Try to control your panic if your horse is edgy and trying to move around against your will. If he’s that agitated, you don’t want to set up a confrontation with him, but you don’t want to let him get away with disobedience either, so simply let him walk, but control where he is walking. As long as you are moving forward, your horse is least likely to rear or throw a fit and fall down on you. Make no mistake – a horse will hurt himself while throwing a fit, and in the process, you may be injured. Horses are not intelligent enough to realize that their tantrums may result in their suffering. Both you and your horse come to a compromise – he wants to move and you want him to stand still. Let him move, but you control where he moves.
- Check and release..
Try not to hang on his mouth to slow or stop him. This will develop a hard, unresponsive mouth. Pull quickly and firmly (check) until you feel at least a change in speed, then immediately release. He might not stop, but don’t stay in his mouth until he does. He needs to receive a reward for responding, even though it wasn’t the exact response you were looking for. The release is his reward. Then check again and repeat until he slows to the speed you want or until he halts, if you want a halt.
- Never say “whoa” unless you mean it.
To slow down, talk to him in soothing tones and use a different verbal command than your command for halting, such as “easy” or “walk”. When you do say “whoa”, MAKE HIM WHOA!!
- Don’t dismount immediately after riding.
When you return to the barn (or trailer) after a ride, spend time just sitting on your horse to discipline him in patience, which will actually help prevent him from becoming barnsour.