Fear of Clippers
Practice for Foals
Making Manes &Tails Grow
Keeping Your Horse Safe
Neck-Reining for Direct-Reiners
Get off and lead your horse as close to the water as you can. Let them investiagte if they wish. Then lead them away and get back on. Turn in wide circle and head back to stream. Get a little closer every time. When they finally place hoof on water, pet them, talk to them, tell them they're good. Turn in circle and repeat. Be patient. They'll be over before you know it. If they refuse in mid-stream, start over from square one. Trust me, it's worth it. Once they cross they'll do it again every time.
If your horse is not ear-shy, but just hates those darn buzzing clippers, try trimming them old-fashioned style with scissors! For example, Blaze is not ear-shy. She loves nothing more than to get her ears rubbed and scratched. But she hates clippers. It may take a little practice to get it to look professional, but it's a good method to use in the short-term while you accustom your horse to electric sheers.
My horse, Storm, had about 6 in. of mane when we got her. The Walker being a breed in which long manes and tails are desired, and since I liked them anyway, I tried to discover a way to make them grow out. A very close friend suggested braiding, and that did help. But then one day while surfing the web I found the soloution that really worked.
First let's look at why a mane stays short. It's not that their hair won't grow- it's supposed to. But it kept breaking off, especially at the ends, keeping the mane short. To solve this, of course, the hair needs to be strengthened. How? Conditioner. Note that you should only used mild conditioners, and nothing with idodine. I recomend Mane&Tail Conditioner.
Anyway, lather up the mane and smooth it out. There should be enough conditioner in it that you could be able to wring it out and get a good bit back. Then braid it. Leave the conitioner in for a few days. Then unbraid the mane and rinse. (The unbraiding is necessary so that the mane doesn't fall out in clumps.) Comb out the hair (gently!) and leave it like that for a couple of days. Then repeat. After just a couple of weeks of this I noticed a dramatic difference in Storm's mane.
Do the same thing for the tail. Also, when you leave it unbraided, it's okay to rub in a little more conditioner. Also note that the mane doesn't have to be abseloutely soaking in it every time.
I know that barn-sourness is a typical problem, and there are tons of ways to solve it, but here's one that I find works well for my horses. Walk them in the direct opposite derection of the barn. Or the herd, if they're 'herd-sour.' They most likely will attempt to back up. Don't let them. This would be a good time for spurs or crops. Anyway, urge them forward, and if they won't go, turn them in a circle and get a little forward momentum. Take them a good ways away from the barn/herd, then turn them around and walk directly towards it. Make them walk, not even a trot. Then turn around and do it all over again. Repeat several times and it should solve your problems.
When you're first training a foal, no matter what breed, a good place to start (after you've taught them to halter and lead) is to teach them to 'come out.' This is a walking horse thing. Anyway, what it means is to make your horse place his/her two front feet in front of them, moving them forwards while keeping the back feet still and in one place, so that they assume the 'stretched' posture. Most walking horses I've seen do this anyway, but if you can get them to do it on cue, that's great (and necessary for shows).
A friend of mine taught her filly to do this, and yes, it does help with obediance and to establish that same obediance early in life. Basically all you have to do is pick up the feet of the foal one at a time and place them in front of the foal, telling them to 'come out.' After a while, you can just pretend you're about to reach don there, and say 'come out' and they'll do it. Soon the vocal command (and maybe a pat on the shoulders) is all that is needed.
My horse, Storm, was taught to direct rein at an early age, and as she was used as a show horse in the english discipline, she never learned to neck rein. Well, I've always wanted to do roping, and I know she has what it takes, but she needed to learn how to neck-rein first. So I've come up with a method that (for her) began its magic after only a few minutes.
(Watch out, people: this one's a little bit long)
First, take a pair of regular reins (non-split) and hold the loop between your thumb and your index finger. Ask your horse to turn. Use your fingers in the hand you already have on the reins to pull on the reins slightly. Let the other rein fall against the horse's neck. Give them a little nudge on the opposite side of where you want to turn if they need it. Keep up the turning. The best way to do this is to walk a little way, and turn, then walk, turn, etc. Gradually stop pulling on the reins and work with them as if they already knew how to neck-rein. They may act confused at first, as Blaze did, but she got the hang of it right quick. Continue nudging if necessary. Note that each horse is different and that this method may not work on yours.
As you have probably heard if you've been around this site long enough, Mackie got out of the fence and was killed by a car. So here are some things that just might have helped, and can certainly help your horse stay safe:
1) Hotwire your fence. They will stay far away enoug so that they don't make a break in it, even if you have a weak spot.
2) Put blankets on them every night with reflectors sewn onto them.
3) Place a 'SLOW! HORSES!' sign in front of your pasture. People just might pay attention, especially when they see the 'SLOW' sign. Check that this is legal in your area.
4) If possible, stall your horses at night, with the blankets just in case they bust a lock and get out.
5) Check your fence for weak spots and strengthen it. Remeber: a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Jeaux just loves to bug Blaze. He does it all day long, whenever he gets the chance. Blaze got really tired of this so we tried putting a basketball in the pasture for him to play with and get his mind off Blaze for a while. It worked like a charm! Basketballs are very durable, too. People also make 'jollyballs' for horses, and we plan to get one of those next.