by Stuck in Customs
Water Tank Fun…..
We have a a water tank that is filled with clear well water. As you can imagine, the quarter horses on the property go nuts over this tank as opposed to the tap fed other tanks. One day a friend and I had just come back from a lengthy trail ride and we stopped to let our horses have a drink at this particular tank. Payday, my friend’s horse, sipped the water daintily and then backed up politely to allow Tari, my horse, a turn. Well, Tari had other ideas… she promptly dropped her head into the water all the way up to her ears practically and blew bubbles. Then she lifted her head out of the water and played with the water with her lips, rapidly skimming them over the surface, and getting poor Payday all wet. We had a great time laughing at my mare just having a good time. Next time though, I’ll have a camera!
Katherine
When There’s a Hill, There’s a Way…..
I was a kid and I worked at this horse farm. There was a scrawny little pony stallion that was obviously by himself in the field. He was really small and we didn’t think he could breed a mare because he was too short so we put him out in the field with all the other horses. This field was hilly.
We had seen him mount a mare… only one and being kids, we thought – oh well, it is only one and we doubted she will take. The following spring there were about 5 – 10 new *unexpected* babies!
Unsigned
Willy Did It!
I board horses along with owning a few of my own. Well, in this pasture, the chief boss & bottlewasher is a big white gelding named Willy. 9 horses total, Willy is head honcho. WAS. At least at drink time. Whenever the tank gets empty and I scrub & refill it, Willy holds court over the whole tank. Drinking his fill and keeping everyone away even after he’s done. Well one day, the edge of the stock tank was touching a strand of the electric fence and Willy got a faceful when he dipped his head inside. A couple more tries and the results were the same….. he snorted & bolted, (yes I know what you’re saying, “move the tank away from the wire, poor horse.”) But I just couldn’t, all I could do was laugh at him, he finally met his match!!! Well, that wasn’t all…. after I was satisfied, and pushed the tank away, the others came up to try for their share & Willy was more than willing to oblige and leave them alone! He just could not believe they were drinking fine and all he got was zapped! Needless to say, Willy never “hogs” the tank anymore!!!
MaryBeth
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by Thomas Shahan
Most of the time, our owners tell us they have never seen their horse have an HYPP episode. In many cases, this proves to be true and we never have any problems with their horses. They come into our barn – some of them staying for years – showing and training with us like their negative counterparts – never having an episode. We have learned that just because a horse is HYPP positive – it doesn’t mean they ALL have HYPP episodes. On the other hand, just because the owner has never seen the horse have an episode it doesn’t mean the horse hasn’t had them.
In our experiences, most HYPP episodes have happened when the horse is at rest – quietly in its stall – usually about an hour or so after being worked. Sometimes the horse can be having – what we call a very minor episode and the owner doesn’t even realize it. However, we have seen a very few instances happen where is ’seems’ excitement has brought on an episode. We have found a correlation in some of the horses we have worked with, that the episodes occur just prior to feeding time. We, again, have no clinical evidence to substantiate this, just our personal experience working with the positive horses we’ve had in our care. Again, our experiences have shown that some severe weather changes have brought episodes on – especially going from cool weather to extreme heat. In the summer, when it’s really not, we keep fans on our horses – this seems to help. Our positive horses seem to be warmer to the touch than our other horses, so checking under the blankets often is a must!
If the horse has a history of past episodes, we document as much of the history as we can. We initially pay particular attention to the diet and exercise program the horse has been on. Like the documented clinical evidence that has been compiled by the experts, we have learned by experience, that diet plays a BIG part in maintaining these horses successfully. Positive horses that are fed alfalfa hay, processed feeds and sweet fee, we think, are horses in potential danger. They might not have had an episode yet – but they very well could! We know numerous top rpfoessionals in the Quarter Horse industry that keep their HYPP positive horses on straight alfalfa hay and processed feeds and/or sweet feed and they tell us they have done this without problems! We think that’s wonderful but, aren’t willing to risk the chance in our barn. We have found that keeping HYPP positive horses on a diet of whole grain – particularly whole oats and feeding a good quality grass hay – we like the high quality Timothy/Brome mix – is all they really need – AND THIS IS WITHOUT MEDICATIONS! Splitting your feed rations into as many feedings as possible really seems to help, too!
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by Stuck in Customs
- Using a 60 ml syringe, we pour in 30 mls of corn syrup and then add 20 mls of very warm water (NOT HOT) – shake well to mix, then administer orally. Then we give them one does every 2 to 3 minutes thereafter. This treatment is continued as long as the symptoms stay at this level. Because episodes can involve sweating, we suggest – if it’s not cold out – to remove all “clothes” that your horse might be wearing at this time.
- If the symptoms elevate to: slight muscle tremors and light sweating, we start calmly hand walking – (some cases where we know the horse well and know how their episodes ‘run’ – we’ll quietly longe the horse at a very easy job) for 10 or 15 minutes… “Sweet Treatments” at this level increase to 2 does ever 3 to 5 minutes.
Now, right here you might be thinking… Where does Acetazolamide come in? Well, if we have our horses on Acetazolamide there have been very few times where we have had them have an episode. If they have one, we know we need to increase the medication levels. If we have a horse on Acetazolamide and they do have an episode, we treat them just like we would if they weren’t on medication. So, the steps recommended here would be the same. Giving Acetazolamide during an episode doesn’t help them, so these steps are important to remember. Acetazolamide needs time to be absorbed into the system prior to it becoming effective. If we have a horse that is know to have regular HYPP episodes, we discuss with the owner the option of using medication as a prevention. We strongly suggest using medication on any horse with a history of having regular episodes. Acetazolamide is usually given every 12 hours – example: 6:00 am and at 6:00 pm. The dosage levels are recommended by a Veterinarian. It costs an average of $ 12.00 per month. You can crush the tablets up and mix it with the horse’s feed – we put them into a syringe and add about 10 mls of water to dissolve them and then give it orally. this way, we are sure the horse is getting all the medication.
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If the symptoms are diminishing after about 30 minutes or become more elevated, we suggest that you call a Veterinarian. If respiration and heart rates increase and/or the horse starts to stumble and or starts sweating profusely – more aggressive treatment is needed. At this point in time, we suggest that you no longer try to exercise the horse. If possible, find a nice grassy spot, where it’s quiet and just let the horse relax. Be careful, sometimes in extreme cases during bad episodes the horse may stumble or fall – sometimes even sit like a dog – don’t panic if this happens – just make the horse comfortable. If they’re lying down, make sure their eyes are protected from the dirt and sun – it’s important that you remain as calm as possible. Don’t try to get the horse up if he is down – just simply let him relax. I do not recommend giving any more “Sweet Treatments” at this stage, because you can’t be sure they can swallow properly and this might cause them to ingest some fluid into their lungs. Once the Veterinarian arrives and has the opportunity to make an assessment of the situation, he or she, will probably administer intravenously a dose of calcium gluconate, sodium bicarbonate or dextrose – all of which, stabilize the muscle membranes and lower the level of potassium in the blood. We always have a supply of these medications on hand for e Veterinarian to use in these cases. As well, in our experiences, we have learned that administering low levels of tranquilizers have proven to be of benefit – lower both heart and respiration levels. This would be something you would want to discuss with the attending Veterinarian. Once the horse has been treated, we usually see them coming back to normal quite quickly. You will probably want to have a slight blanket or sheet handy – they always seem a bit cold at this time. Once you’ve been through one of these episodes, you should consider putting your horse on, or increasing his dosage of Acetazolamide. Discuss this with your Veterinarian.
At this point in time, I would like to say that I have had only one horse who is HYPP positive who had an episode after being on Acetazolamide. Prior to being on medication, this particular horse was known to have severe episodes as often as once a week. Since increasing his medication level, he has never had an episode.
In reiteration, I do not advocate one way or the other, as to whether or not a person should purchase and/or breed HYPP positive horses. I very strongly advise, the choice be made only after carefully researching the documented clinical evidence. It is a choice to be made by the informed individual purchase and/or breeder!
IT MUST BE REMEMBERED – Acetazolamide is not a cure for HYPP – it’s a treatment!!
Using Acetazolamide and managing a horse’s diet and exercise goes a long way to helping HYPP positive horses. I also suggest that people who own positive horses talk to each other. Sharing information and experiences about HYPP and the episodes these horses can have, has proven very helpful to us. Also, it really helps to know you are not alone in this!!
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by ~Oryctes~
Exercise plays another GREAT role in this combination. Keeping HYPP positive horses confined all the time doesn’t help them. In fact, the positive horses – known to have regular episodes – that we’ve had here that were kept on pasture never had any episodes. ALL our show horses – HYPP positive or not – get daily turnout. We do, however, provide more turn out time for our HYPP positive horses. Here’s how we do it….. turn out time is done early in the morning and late in the evening – if it’s cool-ish they wear heavy blankets and hoods – if it’s warm-ish – they wear a light hood and blankets. They wear splint boots and/or leg wraps along with bell boots. They are liberally sprayed with fly spray – blankets and hoods, too. Usually our positive horses get out to play for at 1 to 2 hours morning and night – everyday. This is done in addition to working them. They are turned out – either in a big round pen or small pasture – some place where they can move and play. Not only is this great for HYPP positive horses – it also does wonders for all our other horses, too!!! THEY ALL LOVE IT!!! We’ve found that not only does this turnout time prove very, very helpful – but REGULAR DAILY (no matter what) exercise helps, too! No matter where we are – at home or at the shows, we keep our exercise program the same – especially for our HYPP positive horses. We’ve learned that many episodes occur at shows and while some people chalk this up to the ‘excitement’, we feel it’s the change in routine – either feeding or exercise or a combination of both.
Constant access to water is very important. This means that while hauling, you have to stop more frequently to offer water to your horse, but it’s worth it. Make sure your horse is drinking – in our barn we use water buckets instead of automatic waterers. By doing this, we know exactly how much water each horse has consumed and can monitor it carefully. Talk to your veterinarian for suggestions on things you can do to encourage horses to drink if they seem to have a low water consumption habit. And don’t forget – your horse needs free access to salt too!!!
KNOW YOUR HORSE – these are wise words for ANY horse owner, but are particularly wise words for owners of HYPP positive horses. Often times, we can ’see’ an episode starting and can help fight it way before it becomes a big deal! Here are some hints for initially spotting an HYPP episode coming on – droopy lower eye lid or droopy lower lip, quiet but worried or sensitive to noise and/or light, or slight evidence of the third eyelid in the corner of the eye – if we have a horse that is exhibiting these signs, we will quiet (it’s important to stay calm and quiet) give them 3 does of what we call our “Sweet Treatment”.
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by Tambako the Jaguar
BEACH “GALLOP”
First I’d like to say that my dad thinks he knows everything about horses. YEAH RIGHT!! So my family and I were vacationing on an island called St. Lucia. We decided, well actually I decided, we should go for a ride by the beach. I’m the only rider in my family so I had a job convincing them that it would be fun. It was beautiful and my dad and I went for a gallop up the beach. My horse was really rough but I made it up the beach in one piece and turned to wait for my dad. To my surprise he’s half way down the beach trotting as fast as possible, kicking the whole way and bouncing like he was on a trampoline. Finally he reached me and said “Peyton, how do you sit so still while galloping? My horses gallop is so bumpy!” “Dad,” I replied. “You have to actually gallop first.”
Peyton
Flying Spirits…
When I was young I had a horse that my dad wouldn’t let me ride alone. Finally when he changed his mind he told me not to leave the pasture and only to walk Spirit, my blue roan gelding. Dad always watched from the living room window. But there was a tall hill in the middle of my riding “arena”, so, as soon as me and Spirit got around to where my father couldn’t see us I would Gallop Spirit hard and slam on the brakes right before he saw us. One day when dad came riding with us he asked if I wanted to race 1 lap around the hill. Of course I did! We started where I usually began to run Spirit. He went as fast as he could go, but, even though I kicked him, as soon as we got the that one place Spirit knew it was time to put on the brakes. And as my dad went ahead I flew over Spirits head.
Melany
The Reason False Tails were invented….
I used to own a 25 yr. old Quarter Horse mare, whom I affectionately called “Annie” (I recently sold her to a little girl who adores her). Her almond dark tail used to drag on the ground, until I moved her to a new stable, where it was chewed off just inches from her tail bone. I love to show, so I tried every trick in the book trying to get that tail to grow. Finally, I settled on braiding her tail into a tail wrap, and combing it out each time I rode, then putting the wrap back in. However, the second day of our tail wrapping, I noticed that she was no longer wearing it. It was a rather expensive grooming tool, so I searched her entire pasture for it. Finally I found it back behind some trees and a pond. Puzzled, I braided it in tighter and pulled the knot harder, but the same thing happened for several days. After about a week had passed, I watched her after putting her back in her pasture. She ran behind the trees, leading the other horses with her, as if she was on a secret mission. She’d turn around, and her pal, Jessie, would clamp his teeth around the wrap and pull it out. Then they would all play with it, tossing it high into the air, keeping it away from each other. I’m sorry Annie, this show season will go by with a short tail.
Heather
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by Big Grey Mare
Who says Horses are Dumb?
I have a horse named Mecalobe. He is a 6 year old gelding. I never knew a horse could…
I watered and fed Mecalobe and gave him a gentle slap on the rump. He munched at his food contently so I decided he had enough of me, riding him and schooling him over jumps. I left him to eat his food that night. I woke up bright and early to feed him his breakfast. I saw our neighbors Phil and Mary. They waved at me and called me over. They told me that they saw Mecalobe wondering around their back lawn. I was stunned. I shut the stall door and bolted it tightly how could he possibly get out. They said they would help with a search party but that wasn’t necassary he was in his stall and eating. I thought to myself – are my neighbors feeling alright? The next night I got a phone call. It was my neighbors again. They said that they saw Mecalobe again and he wandered out of their yard just a few minutes ago and told me I need to go looking for him. I searched everywhere, nothing. I went back to the barn and checked to see if my neighbors were seeing things again. There he was snoozing lo! Locked tight in his stall. I was puzzled. I wanted to figure out what the heck was going on with Mecalobe, so I stayed up the next night and waited down a couple stalls from Mecalobe’s and watched patiently for someone to let him out or something. I didn’t know what to expect. I waited and waited. Finally I saw Mecalobe’s head pop out of his stall. He fooled around with the stall latch and what do ya know – he got out. He pushed the stall door open with his nose and trotted out. I was going to follow but I decided to wait. I waited and waited. He came back in one piece and all happy like. He walked into his stall and pulled the stall door closed with his head. He was an expert and locked the stall latch just the way I left it and fell swiftly to sleep like nothing new happened that night. I had to change the lock and apologize to the neighbors for not believing them. What a Horse!
Krista
That’s “Breeding” not “Breading”….
When I was young, my parents were thinking about breeding Babe, our Belgian mare. They were talking and said that they were going to get her breed because they really wanted a foal. My little sister overheard them and blurted out “Mommy, I’m going to give Babe lots of bread so she’ll have lots of babies.
Unsigned
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by c@rljones
A Mobile Trailer Cleaner…
My paint mare who is now 18 years old has always done anything or gone anywhere for food. When she was two years old she was at a trainers barn. Maggie, was left on her own to wonder around the barn in a fenced area. When the riders came for lessons and unloaded their horses from the trailers, Maggie would step in each trailer and eat all the food that was in them. All the trailers were side by side and she would just step in eat everything in sight, back out and go to the next trailer. It took them several weeks to figure out where the food was going because no one had caught her in the act. To this day she will load into any trailer without any hesitation, probably anticipating a meal.
Kathy
A Christmas Pillow…
Every year we give my horse a Christmas present. Last year we kinda forgot to get something. We have a special room in the barn where our christmas tree is and we go there every year and open presents. The next day I thought I’d try out my new saddle. We put Crossfire (my horse) in the crossties and tacked him up. When we usually ride he gets excited he kicks the snow and eats it, but this year he didn’t. The ride wasn’t fun. We have a day stall and a night stall for Crossfire. That night I blindfolded him and put him in his night stall. He went in and I took off the blindfold and there in the corner was one of the balls that horses like. When I went to go check on him the next morning there was Crossfire with the ball safely tucked beneath his neck while he was sleeping. Around noon I took him out for a ride and he was actually more excited then the day before. So we have given Crossfire a present every Christmas.
Unsigned
Pays to be small….
We built new paddocks to keep our pony out of the large field in the spring. Every time I would put the pony into the new field, by the time I got back to the house he was in the big one! I checked fence boards, gates, everything. I couldn’t find where he was escaping. Finally, I sat down out of sight to watch. The little turkey was so small he walked right down the culvert pipe in the creek into the next field! And didn’t even have to duck!!!!!
Carla
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Sink or swim…
Training horses 30 years ago was simpler that training horses today. No, horses haven’t changed, people have.
I’ll always remember this horse and this owner. The horse was a well mannered, seasoned show winner. The owner was a very capable rider. The problem? The horse loaded into a trailer just fine but upon arriving at a horse show would “blast out” of the horse trailer! This horse actually broke halters, trailer ties and butt ropes to make a hasty exit from the trailer! The final straw for the owner was when the horse “blasted out” and broke the owner’s arm in three places by slamming the back door of the trailer into the owner’s arm! Hence, said horse came to, yours truly, me, a young (at that time) horse trainer.
This horse was a gem. Never made a wrong move until unloading time! Such a good horse. Such a bad problem. What do I do?
Hmmm, thanks to being raised in a ‘horse family’, I stopped to ask my brother. After a lot of giggling we decided to try it!!! Here is what we did. Honest!
We loaded the horse into our trailer. No problem. But, instead of going to a Horse Show, we drove to the local marina. (Remember, this was over 30 years ago.) We backed that horse trailer all the way out to the end of the boat dock, at high tide. Actually backed it so that it extended well out past the edge of the dock! Then, we untied the horse, unlocked the back door to the trailer and, guess what??? Said horse did his normal thing. Flew backwards out of the trailer!! Down he went into the bay of salt water!! Splash!
We loaded a very wet, but unhurt horse back into the trailer and drove home. Apparently this horse did a lot of thinking on the ride home because when we stopped and began the process of unloading him, I could tell he was different.
He waited to be untied. He waited while the back door and the butt rope were undone. Next, he took one hind leg and extended it very carefully out the back of the trailer to test the ground. Test… test… test… Ever so carefully, the second hind leg was moved back a step. Test… test… test.. One step at a time, that horse backed out of the trailer like the earth would fall out from under him!
It was the funniest thing we had ever seen. Our sides hurt from laughing! We tested our theory for the next couple of days. Each time we unloaded the horse, he tested each step like it was his last step.
Bottom line… this was accomplished in two weeks of training. The owner was so delighted that she paid for a whole month of training. We were blessed with a very satisfied customer who benefited us for many years. The horse never had a barnacle scratch on him!
Lou
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Electric English spurs….
My daughter Sharon has always been game to ride any horse. We had started our stallion Cash under saddle and he was really good, we had been riding him maybe 30 days. Sharon decided that she would ride him in her english saddle. Well, everything was going as planned and everything worked out fine, so she stopped and talked to her sister and myself and said she would trot him a couple of more times around. Cash had other plans, he figured he should be finished and tried to rub Sharon off on the fence. Well he did it the first time and Sharon got him away from the fence. Cash went for a few more strides and took her into the fence again. Our riding ring fence has the neighbor’s horses right beside it and we have an electric fence on it. This time when Cash tried to rub Sharon off, the english stirrup touched the hot wire and he must have jumped straight up about six feet. Sharon’s eyes were huge, Cash’s eyes were huge and he hit the ground straight legged and started bucking. When he hit the ground this time Sharon looked at us and we were falling off the fence laughing, she hopped off and landed on her butt. Cash stopped bucking and walked over to her and just starred down at her and seemed to say “why are you down there”? Of course, she did not see the humor in it but to this day that horse will only go down the rail at least one foot off the fence. The electric fence had been turned off earlier, but dad says he saw one of the neighbour’s horses chewing out beside the house so he turned it back on.
Marion
If a Horse could Talk..
Being one of those ‘older’ riders, I choose to use a mounting block to get on my horse. I’ve been using one for years. I also have a lazy horse and at times must work him hard to keep him doing his best. One day, he’d decided I’d worked him hard enough and when we loped by the block, he stopped hard – right beside it, he turned his head and looked up at me and I swear I could read his mind – “get off”! he said, “I’ve worked hard enough”!
Tracey
A Big Mac Attack…
At a Peruvian Paso horse show at The Rusty Spurs in Saskatoon Sask. A mass panic, as most shows go and no breakfast. Too many horses, too little hands and no food. My dear wife jumps into the truck, makes a mad dash to the nearest golden arches. She returned with a big mac and a much needed soda. Grooming our big palomino gelding, now only 10 minutes away from show time; lo and behold, I turned my back to do his massive tail and reach back to grab my hamburger. Gone! I tell you! Somebody took my burger!! No time left, I must finish up. I grab for the pop and there it was, dangling from Areo’s lower lip and now seeing the final evidence, the wrapper of my semi-finished burger disappearing down the big boys mouth and my last chance of having any lunch with it. Moral of the story: Don’t trust your best buddy with your food. Thanks and good riding. PS We won the competition.
Dwight
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