“Heels Down!”

As a riding instructor, you find many ways to phrase things and many interesting ways to explain things.  Especially when working with beginners, certain things always seem to be brought to attention in any lesson.  One of the things that I find myself repeating over and over and over again is “heels down!”  Out of all of the repetitive phrases I use, this I believe is the most important to creating a stable rider who is able to advance in level and ability.  We know that a good hoof is crucial for a good horse, but I also believe a good heel is crucial to be a good rider!

With practice, your heel will sink down naturally.  

What is so important about the heel?   I have seen (and also experienced) more successful rides through spooks, bucks and bolts when riders keep their heels down.  I attribute this to several factors, the main one being the distribution of weight.  No matter what style of riding you are doing, your heel needs to be where your weight is.  By dropping your heel, you allow your weight to sink into your legs and the further down that you bear your weight, the more stability you will have in the saddle. If the heel is up and the toe is pointing towards the ground, the rider’s weight will most likely be settled in their rear end or higher, which forces them to do a balancing act on the saddle.   In this scenario, if a horse jumps to the side or bucks, the rider will have a harder time keeping their balance in the middle of the saddle and will end up clenching the horse’s sides with their legs in an effort to maintain their seat.  Many times, this just serves to spook or aggravate the horse further and sends the pair into a vicious cycle that ends with either the rider sitting in the dust or the horse (thankfully, in this situation) deciding that today isn’t actually when he wants to audition for the rodeo.  By dropping the heel, and therefore lowering the area where the rider is bearing their weight, when the horse is naughty, the shock is absorbed more easily and the rider is less likely to be displaced from the saddle.

 

Dropping the heel also encourages better position in the upper body.  When the heel is down, I have found that riders are less likely to hunch or lean forward.  Let’s be honest, it can be scary to get up on that horse for the “beginner” phase of riding (and sometimes well beyond!).  One of the body’s natural reactions to fear or nervousness can be to try to shrink away from the scary thing or tense up.  It goes against what your natural instincts tell you to do to let your heel drop down in the stirrups and pull your shoulders back.  Therefore, it is one of the things that riders need to be reminded of often before it becomes second nature.

This is a horse who would have definitely had something to say about being jabbed in the side. Melissa’s good lower leg and heel position allows her to correct Concorde with other aids without being distracting because of a swinging or clenching leg.

The last big issue I find associated with the heel is gripping and clenching of the lower leg.  Your leg is an aid for directing and guiding your horse.  If a rider’s heel pops up, oftentimes it begins to bump, dig into or clench on the horse’s side.  This is not only aggravating for the horse, but confusing for him also.  Some horses need continual pressure on their sides to be motivated to go forward – especially some of the dead-broke school horses you often try to place beginners on – but the pressure needs to come from a proper application of the entire lower leg against the horse’s side rather than a fear-induced stabbing of the heel into the innocent creature’s ribs.  Additionally, when the rider does get on a horse which does not need as much motivation to move forward, boy are they in for a *treat,*  so it’s best to fix the problem before it ever has a chance to really become one!  Keeping the heel down allows for a steady pressure and a leg that doesn’t swing out of place.

“Heels down!”  “Toes towards the sky!”  ” Let your weight sink in your heel!”  “Pull your toes up!” “HEELS!!!!!”  However you choose to say it, never underestimate the importance of the heel!! 🙂

 

Goodbye, Old Friend.

So I know that I haven’t posted anything for a while.  (Sorry…) So this is probably a depressing post to be coming back to the blog with, but I need to pay tribute to GQ, the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

A couple of weeks ago,  he colicked and it was too severe for him to recover from. I can’t imagine any horse in the world ever living up to the perfectness of GQ.  He was the first (and only, actually) horse that I have ever owned and I could never have asked for a better companion.  He was always willing to snuggle when I was sad, stand for hours while I groomed and clipped and messed with him, and gallop like his tail was on fire when we were feeling crazy! He carried me, my mom, my dog, my friends and some of my students.  He was used in a friend’s wedding proposal as the “noble steed.”  He jumped like a youngster even up to a ripe old age and was generally perfect in every way.  I loved him more than anything in the world and he will be impossible to replace.  Rest peacefully, Sir — you deserve it.

DAUPHIN. … It is a beast for
Perseus: he is pure air and fire; and the dull
elements of earth and water never appear in him, but
only in patient stillness while his rider mounts
him: he is indeed a horse; and all other jades you
may call beasts.
CONSTABLE. Indeed, my lord, it is a most absolute and excellent horse.
~Henry V, Shakespeare

What is my horse’s muzzle telling me?

To be a good horseperson  you have to learn to listen to your horse.  Horses are very good at communicating with us, if we know what to look for.  Body language is the main way your horse talks to you, so you need to understand it to be able to respond.  In this post, we will look at some of the ways that a horse uses his muzzle to tell us how he is feeling.

Relaxation

Relaxed, droopy lip

When your horse is very content and relaxed, you may see his lower lip sag.  I see this a lot when I give GQ a nice long rub down with a rubber curry.  He loves the way it feels and he often lowers his head and his lip droops.  This can also happen when they are napping, so if you aren’t actively working with your horse and you see this, make sure to let him know you are there so you don’t spook him! You will also see their lip sag if they are sedated by the vet for anything like dentals, sheath cleaning, etc.

Tension 

Tightening of the lips can be a sign of stress.

Sometimes this is a very subtle change, which is why its important to know what is normal for your horse.  If you happen to notice your horse tightening the muscles in his muzzle or pursing his lips, it could be a sign of agitation or stress.  If you see this happening, try to give him something else to think about so that the action doesn’t progress into something more severe, like biting or kicking.

Concentration

When your horse is working the bit in his mouth, it may create foam from excess saliva.

When your horse chews without having food in his mouth, it is often a good sign.  In training it can mean that he is relaxed and concentrating on the task you have given him.  If he is working the bit in his mouth, it will encourage saliva production, which is desirable.  Sometimes this can cause his mouth to foam, even if he isn’t working too hard.

Flehmen

Yes, this goofy looking action has a name and a purpose!

When a horse lifts his lip up over his nostrils, he isn’t just being silly.  He is trapping a strange scent in his nostrils to assess what  it is and get more information.  Oftentimes you see stallions flehmen if they are determining if a mare is in heat and ready to breed, but any horse will do it with a scent that is unusual to them. There is a structure in the nose called a vomeronasal organ (VNO) through which scent particles travel and help the horse assess what they are smelling.

Nervousness

Flared nostrils can indicate fear or nervousness

When a horse flares his nostrils (and he hasn’t just exerted himself excessively), it can be a sign of nervousness or being startled.  It is often accompanied by a raised head and sometimes tension in the eye and/or muzzle (notice the pursed lips in the above picture).   It is usually a fairly quiet action, but it is best to divert him from it by giving him a different task to focus on so that it doesn’t escalate into something more serious.

Pain, aggression

This horse is about to bite. BEWARE!

Gaping can sometimes indicate pain

Be wary of choke.

A horse gaping his mouth open with teeth showing can indicate a number of things.  It can be a sign of extreme aggression, as in the first picture.  A horse who is this angry has often given several more subtle signs of agitation before resorting to biting, which is why it is important to notice the small things! If your horse is gaping with a bit in his mouth, it might indicate pain.  Check to make sure that your bridle is put together properly and that your bit fits your horse’s mouth and isn’t pinching.  If that’s all okay, schedule a dental exam to make sure his teeth aren’t hurting.  Finally, if you every see your horse gaping with his neck outstretched when he’s eating, he might be experiencing choke, which means his esophagus is obstructed.  Take away any uneaten food and call the vet right away.

What are my horse’s eyes telling me?

To be a good horseperson  you have to learn to listen to your horse.  Horses are very good at communicating with us, if we know what to look for.  Body language is the main way your horse talks to you, so you need to understand it to be able to respond.  In this post, we will look at some of the ways that a horse uses his eyes to tell us how he is feeling.

Content and alert

A bright eye that is content and alert

When your horse is happy and aware, his eyes will be bright and focused. They will move often, but not frantically, to take in his surroundings.  When this is the case, his ears will usually be attentive as well, moving casually to tune into what is happening around him.

Nervous or tense

Know what is normal for your horse, so that if he is ever nervous you can pick up on it.

Wrinkled upper eyelids and worried looks can be signs of tension and nervousness

Tension in the corner of the eye and wrinkles in the upper eyelids can be signs of nervousness, fear or discomfort.  Make sure you are familiar with how your horse looks when he is happy and content so that you can pick up on these changes if and when they occur.  Sometimes the change is subtle, but if you are able to see it, you can prevent something more extreme or dangerous from happening. If your horse’s eyes begin darting back and forth frantically, it is usually a sign of fear and he is probably looking for the best way to make his escape from the scary situation.

Fearful or aggressive

Extreme fear and aggression can be expressed in the eyes.

Fear and anger can both make a horse frantic

In some horses, the sclera(white of the eye) is visible all the time.  This is another reason to know what is normal for your horse.  If your horse is worked up enough that the whites of his eyes are showing or more exposed than normal, he is pretty upset.  If it is paired with with pinned ears, its usually a sign of anger.  Paired with snorting, it can indicate fear.  In any case, it takes quick thinking and confident handling to distract him from whatever is making him react so negatively.

Closed

Nap time!

If his eyes are closed, your horse is probably resting or napping.  Make sure you talk to him before getting to close so you don’t startle him and make him spook.  If only one eye is closed though, or he seems agitated, he might have done something to his eye.  If there is an eye injury, call the vet immediately.

What Are My Horse’s Ears Telling Me?

To be a good horseperson  you have to learn to listen to your horse.  Horses are very good at communicating with us, if we know what to look for.  Body language is the main way your horse talks to you, so you need to understand it to be able to respond.  In this post, we will look at some of the ways that a horse uses his ears to tell us how he is feeling.

Alert and Erect

Alert ears

Ears which are forward and pricked upright, as shown above, indicated a horse who is focused and aware of his surroundings.  He is ready to react to whatever comes his way, or whatever he thinks is coming his way.  If your horse is this focused on something, it might be difficult to divert his attention.  Try to turn him elsewhere or give him a job to do if he seems to be getting tense.  When your horse is alert, you must be as well because you don’t know how he might react to whatever has his attention.

Relaxed

Relaxed ears

Here is a horse who is completely at ease with his surroundings.  He is aware of what is going on around him, but is content to simply munch his grass. When you view a horse whose ears are a little floppy, you’re viewing a horse who is comfortable with his environment and whatever is going on around him.  This is something that I love to see when I ride, because I feel like my horse and I are truly connected.  If my horse is relaxed enough around me to let his ears flop a little, I feel that true trust has been established between us.  One thing to be aware of when your horse has his ears relaxed is that he might be napping.  If he’s by himself and seems relaxed, make sure you talk to him to let him know you’re there so he doesn’t get spooked or taken unaware when you get to him!

Attentive

Attentive ears

These are ears which are attentive to what is going on, but in a way in which will keep the horse responsive to you as well.  Unlike the alert ears in the first example, this is something you will see when a horse is focused on you.  Often times, if you talk to your horse from the saddle, or as you walk along beside him, you will see one or both of his ears twitch in your direction.  It is good to see him respond to you like this. Its a good way to know you have his attention.

Unhappy

Unhappy ears

When ears start to tilt backwards, you’re getting into unhappy behavior.  Sometimes your horse will give you a warning that he is uncomfortable or unhappy with an action.  You may also see his ears twitch rapidly back and forth which could be a sign of uneasiness or tension.  Pay close attention to ears that start to go back and adjust what you are doing or stop altogether and do something new.  If ignored, this signal could lead to more aggressive behavior, like biting or kicking.

ANGRY!

Angry ears – pinned

Beware of a horse who has his ears pinned! This is an aggressive behavior which is often the precursor of a bite, kick or charge.  Pinned ears equal an angry horse.  Stop whatever action you are doing immediately and if he does not calm down, get out of his way.   If you are riding and he has his ears pinned, he may be showing signs of pain, if the action doesn’t cease when you change your activity.  Check to make sure there is nothing poking him from your tack, make sure everything fits him properly and if he’s still pinning his ears, have a vet out to check him over — he might have back pain or something else causing him discomfort.

Above the Influence: Corners

One of the most important parts of any ride is balancing your horse through a turn.  When your horse rounds a corner, you can help make sure that he is balanced and strong.  It might seem like a minor detail, but being balanced through a turn can mean the difference between a mediocre ride and a fantastic ride whether you are in your backyard or an arena of scrutinizing onlookers.

When your horse is balanced going around a bend, it will give a more powerful, steady ride.  It may take a lot of help and support from you at first, but it will eventually become something your horse does naturally and will increase his strength and self-carriage through all aspects of your riding.  Start off with this exercise at the walk and work up from there.  Keep in mind that if this is something neither you nor your horse are used to doing, it will be a lot of work at the start, but if you work at it a little every time you ride, it will get easier before you know it!

Anky van Grunsven and Salinero

To ride a balanced turn, you first have to find your center of balance over your horse.  You don’t want to be leaning back too far or bent over his neck in front of the saddle.  Your body should be upright and supple.  Next, you need to get your horse to bend around the turn.  I’m not talking about a huge movement here.  Ideally, you want to see the outside corner of his eye as you are rounding the turn.  Don’t over-bend him so he is curled in a ‘U’ around your leg because over-bending him will actually make it impossible to balance.  By getting him slightly bent in the direction of the turn, you can push him in the direction you want to go with your legs and reins.  In order to bend him, you need to have firm contact with the reins.  You don’t have to be pulling his lips off his face, but you want to feel a nice line of connection from your hands, through the reins, to his mouth.  You will be using an inside opening rein to cause his head to tilt inward and allow his front end to move into the turn.  Be prepared with your inside leg to apply pressure at the girth to keep him from drifting into the center of the ring.

This horse has a nice bend and is sure-footed. You can see the power in his hindquarters as he pushes himself around the corner and doesn’t let his rider pull him.

You want to push your horse around the turn, not pull him.  What does that mean? That means, use your legs to push him as you round a bend and move him up into your hand.  The weight (pressure) applied with your legs should be just a little stronger than the weight applied with your hands so that you help hold your horse together and balance him as he turns a corner.  When most of us learn to ride, the easiest way to learn to steer is by using either a direct or leading rein to turn your horse in the direction you want to go.  To ride a truly balanced turn, you need to add leg to the equation.  Use your inside leg to push your horse’s hindquarters through the turn and your outside leg to keep the energy up through the turn.  If your horse is very responsive to your legs, the pressure will be almost even, with a slightly greater weight on your inside leg.  If your horse is not the most responsive your your leg, it might take a little bit of effort at first to help him push his hind end around the corner.   Keep in mind though that you have to be aware of where his hindquarters are going.  You don’t want to push so hard that they end up swinging around the turn and ending up on the outside so he is on an angle when you complete the turn.  If this happens, use a little more pressure with your outside leg, slightly behind the girth.  Be aware of the position you are in though.  If you are walking or trotting, you are putting your legs into the position for cantering, so be prepared to add a little extra weight in your hand to keep your horse from changing gait!

If your horse tends to stumble or trip, especially around corners or circles, I’ll wager a bet that its because he’s not balanced.  If you can help him balance himself as he rounds a bend, you will begin to notice a more sure-footed, energetic horse underneath you.  No matter what your discipline, helping your horse learn to be balanced will make your ride much more enjoyable for everyone involved!

This seems like a big chore for something that seems so insignificant, but if you start thinking about a balanced corner every time you have to turn, you will find that it helps strengthen and support both your horse and yourself and it will create an easier ride every time.

The smaller the turn you make, the greater your contact must be. Keep your eyes up and looking where you want to go. Keeping your head up also helps you stay balanced which positively affects your horse’s balance around the turn.

Lynn Palm, the rider in the second picture also has a great article on this topic, found HERE.

Above the Influence: The Aids

Before we can talk about how our aids and cues effect the movement of our horses, it is important to understand what the aids are that we have at our disposal.

The first kind of aids are pretty straight forward.  Natural aids are the aids that, conveniently enough(!), nature provided us with.  They include your hands/arms, seat, voice, legs and brain.  Many times we don’t even realize how greatly we are effecting our horse’s movement simply by shifting our weight in the saddle, tensing a leg muscle or tightening/loosening our grip on the reins. Even the way that we hold our heads have an incredible effect on the movement of our horse.  Have you ever wondered why your riding instructor tells you to look where you want to be going? It’s because the motion of turning your head affects the position of your spine and subsequently, the way your weight is dispersed is effected. Your horse will sense all of that going on on his back and react to it (most of the time!). Your legs have the ability to get a horse moving and keep him moving.  Your arms and hands are an extension of the reins, connecting you  directly to your horse’s mouth to help guide him.  Your vocal tone can urge a horse forward or help calm him to slow him down or stop.  The voice is an aid that is often misunderstood.  Some people think a horse connects an action to a word.  That isn’t really the case.  They react to the intonation that you use.  To get your horse to go faster or get a little more peppy, your voice needs to be a little more harsh, clipped and higher.  If you want your horse to calm down or stop, your voice needs to be lower in pitch and softer in tone.  It doesn’t matter if you say ‘Yah!’, ‘Giddy-up!’, ‘Whoa!’, ‘Ease up!’ or ‘Mustard!’ If your voice is the right tone, your horse will respond accordingly.  My riding instructor actually did use various condiments one day to prove that it isn’t the word, but the intonation that a horse will respond to.

Our bodies are the best aids available to us!

The next kind of aids are artificial aids.  These are the aids that don’t come naturally installed in our body! Crops and spurs are the most common artificial aids that we see.  These aids should work as an extension of your natural aids by adding a little more ‘umph.’  So if you have a horse that isn’t listening to your leg when you say ‘move your body’, you can add a spur or a crop to get them to pay attention.  It is important, however, that your spurs and crop are used correctly, or they become cruel.  The proper use of a crop is behind your leg, not on the shoulder! Why? The crop is there to mimic the pressure of your calf when you ask a horse to move, whether it is sideways or forward.  The crop should be used behind the dominant leg in a movement or on the outside and it should be used on the barrel of your horse, not his flank or rump.  Using a crop correctly will get you faster results than if you just mindlessly beat on him when he doesn’t do what you want — that is not the purpose of a crop.  The crop is not a tool to take out frustration on your horse.  It is a form of positive punishment.  If you’ve ever taken any basic psychology classes, you’ve probably learned about positive and negative punishment and positive and negative reinforcement.  ‘Punishment’ is a word that many people don’t like, but in a psychological context, it simply refers to the decrease of an unwanted behavior.  Positive punishment is adding an unwanted stimulus (the crop) to decrease an unwanted behavior (ignoring your leg.) The same idea is used with spurs.  Spurs should only be touching the horse’s side when you are using them for a purpose.  If you do not have the leg control to keep your toe forward to avoid hitting your horse with a spur every time he takes a step, you are not advanced enough in your riding to be able to use spurs effectively.  The action of a spur is to accentuate the action of your heel and leg in asking your horse to move to the side or forward.  In some Western settings, spurs are used to stop, but for my purpose and style of riding, I will not be hitting on this concept.  If your spurs are constantly hitting your horse’s side, you will end up with a very annoyed or angry horse and then eventually a horse who is completely unresponsive to any leg aids.  Therefore, be absolutely confident in the control of your legs before breaking out the spurs.

I’d also like to address the different ways in which we use the reins.  The most common and basic rein aid is direct.  This is usually what you learn when you get on a horse for the first time.  Pull the left rein to go left and the right rein to go right. Easy to understand and use.  Another one that might be introduced to you early on is a leading or opening rein.  It’s pretty much what it sounds like!  Opening the rein away from your horse while maintaining the same amount of pressure allows his shoulders to move into the space you have made.  Another rein aid is an indirect rein.  An indirect rein is used to influence the shoulder or hips.  Indirect rein in front of your horse’s withers will keep his shoulder from bulging out.  Indirect behind the withers will help keep his hips from bulging out. The indirect rein forces your horse away from the side on which you are implementing it.  Then you have a blocking rein, which is not used to elicit a movement, but to — as the name suggests — block a movement.  It is accomplished by holding the rein flush on your horse’s neck so that the space into which he is trying to move, is closed off from him.  When a rein is taken away from the side of your horse’s neck, it is an invitation for your horse to move into that space.  Different rein aids can and often are paired to get the movement that you are looking for.   In Western riding, neck reining is used, in which the reins are used in one hand and the touch of the rein tells the horse which direction to go.

There are also different placements for your legs.  Depending on where your leg is positioned on your horse, you will influence the way he moves and the amount of control that you have over him.  The most common placement for your leg is at the girth.  This is where you tell your horse to stop and go and where your leg should rest most of the time.  Your leg can also be in front of the girth or behind the girth.  To influence the placement of your horse’s shoulder for a movement such as a shoulder out, your leg might slide in front of the girth.  A leg behind the girth would have influence over additional speed, as in the canter; or displacing his hips, as with haunches in.  You legs can drive your horse by having more pressure than you are holding in your reins.  You can accomplish a holding leg to maintain a movement by balancing the weight in your rein and leg and you can use your leg to block an action by keeping equal or greater pressure in your leg as is in your rein.

Obviously this is just the tip of the iceberg for the aids, but as each segment comes up, we will delve into certain aids in greater detail.  Use this as a guideline to have a basic understanding as you make your way with me through this series: Above the Influence.

Above the Influence: An Introduction

One thing that my college riding instructor was very good at explaining was why you use certain aids (or cues, for Western people!) to get your horse to move, bend and speed up or down.  If you understand what part of the body your aid is effecting, you can get your horse to do just about anything for you.  So in this series,  I’d like to take some time diving into how we influence our horses from the saddle and explaining the ‘whys’ that go with the ‘hows.’  By understanding how the movements you make in the saddle effect your horse, you can become a much more controlled and effective rider and your skill level will increase drastically.

George Williams rides Rocher during the USEF Selection Trials for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. (June 19, 2008 - Photo by None/Getty Images North America)

Why is he losing weight?!

It’s never a good feeling for you as an owner to look at your horse and think, How did he get to be that skinny?  If you’ve got a hard keeper, a lot of time and money is spent on making sure he keeps a healthy weight.  But what if your horse has never been a hard keeper and suddenly begins to lose weight?  That can be a frustrating, even scary feeling.  Take a step back and consider some of these possibilities and options for helping you four-legged friend pack on the pounds:

• If he gets grain, is he getting enough? Make sure that you check the bag of the grain that your horse is getting.  Any reputable brand of horse grain will have a feeding chart on the back for how much to feed based on weight and activity level.  If you are trying to put on weight, feed the high end of the recommended amount.
• Is his hay or pasture high-quality?  Is the hay that your horse is eating high quality?  You can have your hay tested to make sure that the nutrients he needs are present.  Sometimes even hay that looks like it is high quality is lacking in nutrition and some hay that doesn’t look so great to us will give your horse everything he needs.  For more information on testing forage quality, try the National Forage Testing Association.  Also, if your horse is in a pasture all day or most of the day, just because he’s happily eating lovely emerald green grass doesn’t necessarily mean that he is getting all the nutrients he should.  If  you are concerned about his overall vitamin and mineral intake, try a basic nutrition supplement like Accel, Red Cell, Grand Vite, or Missing Link.
• Have you tried a weight supplement?  It could be that you just got lucky enough to have a particularly hard keeper.  If  he is getting the highest recommended dose of grain and his hay/pasture is high-quality and he’s still not as fat as you’d like, try adding a weight supplement.  Certain breeds tend to be harder keepers than others.  Thoroughbreds and American Saddlebreds are two examples of breeds in which hard keepers are not uncommon.  Also, sometimes as horses age, they can become harder keepers so think about how old your horse is when you are trying to assess the reason for his weight loss.  If you are looking for a decent weight supplement, try Weight Builder, Fat-Cat, or SmartGain 4.  If you don’t want to supplement with a manufactured product, try adding Beet Pulp to your horse’s diet.  It is high-fiber and helps digestion and is often helpful in putting weight on.
• When was the last time his teeth were floated?  Horses do not chew the same way that we do.  Humans have a chomping, up & down motion when we chew.  Horses grind their jaw more side to side to pulverize their food.  This is fine except that their lower teeth are narrow than their upper teeth and therefore, when they grind, they do not wear down their teeth evenly.  Sharp points can form on the teeth and making eating more difficult and even painful.  How do you know if your horse might need his teeth floated? Watch him eat.  Does he drop a lot of food out of his mouth as he is eating?  This could mean that his teeth are not even and he can’t chew properly.  Also, is he not eating as much?  If it is painful or difficult to eat, he might not have as much desire to try.  Ultimately, talk to your vet and get a professional opinion about the quality of your horse’s teeth.  If this is the cause of his weight loss, you will see improvement in his weight within a month or two after floating the teeth.
• When was the last time you dewormed him?  If, in addition to be a bit on the thin side, your horse is also rubbing his tail and/or looks a little dull-coated, he could need to be dewormed.  My experience with the fecal testing that is currently all the rage was not a positive one, as the results came back telling me that GQ only really needed to be given his dewormer twice a year.  After several months, his coat was dull, he’d lost weight and was rubbing his tail like crazy.  Deworming him led to a huge improvement in his coat, as well as stopping the rubbing and helping his weight.  I have since put him back on his old worming schedule of 6 times a year, rotating Zimecterin and Zimecterin Gold and he is shiny and healthier.
• Talk to your vet!  There is a reason veterinarians go through so much schooling: to deal with the hard stuff! Ask your vet for ideas about why your four-legged friend might not be as rotund as you’d like.  If you’ve tried some of these basic things, there is always more a vet can recommend or work through with you!

SmartDark & Handsome

I have to just take a minute to sing praise for SmartPak’s supplement SmartDark & Handsome.

SmartDark & Handsome

I happened across a little flier for SmartDark & Handsome late last summer that came in one of GQ’s SmartPak shipments.  Not three days prior to that, I had been complaining about how sun-bleached his coat, mane and tail were looking.    Since this supplement was not too expensive (and to be honest, I loved the name! =D) I figured I would give it a try for a month or two and see if there was any improvement.  It was incredible! Within 3 weeks, my dark bay gelding was already getting some of the sleek, dark sheen back in his coat and within 2 or 2 1/2 months, his mane and tail were looking less red and blond and getting back to a darker shade, if not quite all the way black.  He gobbled it up — not that he’s a super picky eater — and looks great!

If you are looking for a product to bring some shine and dark color back to your sun-bleached horse, give this one a try!  This is the description from SmartPak:

SmartDark & Handsome helps bring out a deep, dark shine in black, bay and brown coats. This unique formula provides a rich blend of Omega 3 fatty acids from Fish Oil, Flax Seed and Chia Seed combined with Paprika and Nutmeg. SmartDark & Handsome is not just for the boys – it’s great for mares, too. (We just couldn’t resist the name!)

Note for Competitive Riders: This product contains Paprika, which may contain trace amounts of Capsaicin.  

Have a horse of a different color? We recommend SmartShine Ultra.

Here is a link to SmartDark & Handsome!