Horses experiencing pain or discomfort will frequently grind their teeth when a bit is placed in their mouth; in addition this sort of grinding may also be caused through tension or conflict. Teeth grinding where the horse only performs the behaviour in the stable, when being groomed or saddled, may Read more…
Tips To Try When You’re Sore From Horseback Riding Stretch. Stretching is a great way to relieve pain and make yourself more comfortable after a ride. Apply Ice. Icing your muscles and joints after a ride can help to relieve pain and prevent you from becoming sore from horseback riding. Read more…
Hand-walking: If your vet has advised you not to hand-walk your gelding during his layup (and/or he’s had little-to-no exercise during his time off), begin his physical reconditioning with 10 to 20 minutes of daily hand-walking. Is it good to hand walk your horse? Horses aren’t just for riding. Walking Read more…
Walking can improve ground manners, your physical health (as well as your horse) and also build trust for the both of you. And if you think walking is not really important in your riding routine, you are missing a fantastic opportunity to build your confidence and even have a better Read more…
The short answer is that a lot of it has to do with shoeing practices, hoof hygiene, and nutritional imbalances resulting in pain in the back of the foot. When the back of the foot hurts, the horse compensates by landing with the toe first instead. Why does a horse Read more…
A horse’s jump has five phases: approach, takeoff, flight (bascule), landing, and recovery. Horses can jump from any gait or from a standstill, but they usually jump from the canter. Ideally, they jump most ordinary obstacles “in stride”; that is, the length of the jump is the same as the Read more…
Post-mortem examination and dissection of a whole animal to harvest tissues and determine a cause of death. What is the purpose of performing necropsy? Put simply, a necropsy is the examination of an animal after death. The purpose of a necropsy is typically to determine the cause of death, or Read more…
Horses sometimes lick and chew during training and this has often been interpreted as a sign that the horse is learning or showing “submission” to the trainer. However, a new study suggests that this non-nutritive licking and chewing behaviour is a natural behaviour that is shown after a stressful situation. Read more…
Many diseases can affect horses’ central nervous systems, but four of the most common disorders are cervical vertebral stenotic myelopathy (CSM), equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM), equine degenerative myeloencephalopathy (EDM), and equine herpesvirus-1 myeloencephalopathy (EHM). What are signs of neurological disorders in horses? Lack of coordination, weakness or paralysis of the Read more…
To have a horse ready for tough competition, usually takes 12 to 16 months or more. If the horse is a “born natural”, it may not take quite as long. How long does it take to train horse? At one point, 30 days used to be the most common length Read more…