Snow Time

Who needs a snowmobile when you have a pony? I sure don’t. Hi. Guess what we will be talking about today? Snow activities to do with your horse. We will talk about safety, equipment, and how to have a blast!!! Let’s get snowy!

The first thing is safety because safety comes first. To be safe, find an open area where there are minimal trees and other objects. Then put your helmet on. Make sure your horse isn’t going to high tail it away from the sled that he/she is pulling. HINT: Choose a curious and calm horse that is ok with moving objects. The person in the sled should sit on their butt with their feet on the sled edges ready to stop the sled when the horse stops or slows down. Otherwise, the sled might come up and hit the horse, causing it to kick out at the sled. Finally, make sure your equipment is good and not broke or frayed, which leads us to the next topic: equipment.

For horse sledding, you will need a sled that can be hooked up with a long rope or lariat, a horse or pony with riding tack, AND at least two crazy people with a sense of adventure. The horse rider dallies (wrapped around the saddle horn) a long rope back to the sled.

When sledders and rider are ready, sledding begins! The sledders sit on their butts with their feet in front of them, so if needed, they can stop the sled with their feet. The sledder has to keep the sled balanced around corners and up and down hills. The rider needs to control the horse while keeping an eye and ear on the sledders to make sure they are still on the sled. When the rider is going to slow down, he needs to tell the sledder, so the sledder can slow the sled down, too. This could be a yell like “stopping” and then the sledder will yell back “ok”. Then the sledder will slow down the sled by putting his feet out into the snow while the rider stops the horse.

Another way to play in the snow is to train your horse or pony to pull a cart. Hook them up to a sleigh and pull it around. But that is a whole different ball game, which is coming to you NEXT WEEK!

In my opinion this is one of the most entertaining winter activities to do with your horse. Have fun and be safe!

If you have any ideas on what I should write about, please feel free to comment below.

Thankful List

• ·      I am thankful for my horses Keeno and Princess.
• ·      I am thankful for 4H.
• ·      I am thankful for the Falkers and all they do for me.
• ·      I am thankful for family.
• ·      I am thankful of YouTube.

What are you thankful for?

Preparing Your Horse For Winter.

            Preparing your horse and equipment for a hard Minnesota winter will help both of you to enjoy it. Today we will be going over food and water, shelter and blanketing, and finally footing and elements. Let’s suit up and head out.

            Will your horse have enough energy to keep warm? In cold weather, your horse will use a lot more energy to keep warm, which means more food will to be accessible. Before winter hits, try and have all the supplies that go scarce in the winter, such as hay or hay cubes. Fresh water with no ice is crucial. Horses may drink more water in the winter when they only get hay because it is dry than green grass, which is wetter.

            Horses should have a place to duck away from the elements. A lean-to or run-in is great for this purpose. In late fall going in to winter, it is not a good idea to blanket horses. If you do blanket them, they may not grow the proper amount of hair for winter. Remember this phrase “horses weren’t made for blankets, blankets were made for horses.”  Most horses don’t need blankets; but some old, sick or young horses do. If you decide to blanket or stall your horse, decide on a temperature that the blanket goes on and come off with. For example, if the temperature drops under 15 degrees, the blanket goes on but if it is above that it comes off.

            Prepare for the winter elements. When the freeze hits, ice can become a problem. Make sure that you have a bucket of sand to sprinkle on any icy areas. Before freeze-up, it is a good idea to smooth out the riding surfaces because it’s hard for the horse to go through rough bumpy frozen terrain. Sometimes snow can get packed in their hooves. It is important to pick their hooves often, whether riding or not.

            Let’s go back in and warm up a bit. We just covered the cold harsh winter with horses. We went over feeding, shelter and even footing for your horse. Thanks for reading. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know in the comments below.

Exercising

Exercising is very good for both you and me, but did you know your horse benefits from it as well? In this blog post, we will be going over why to exercise, ways to condition, and finally how you could go about it. Let’s put our boots on and start exercising.

            Why would you want to exercise a horse? Here are a few reasons. A horse that is in shape looks better than a fat or skinny horse. In young horses, exercising can increase growth hormones and help with bone development (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG2S3WcwhTE ). It also gives them something to do. A well maintained exercise program is a good way to make your horse look and feel like a champ.

            There are a few different ways to exercise a horse. A couple ways are to ride, drive, lunge, hot walk, and/or pony. With adult horses, riding or driving is a good way to exercise. Trotting three miles is an appropriate distance—start shorter and extend the distance a little bit every day. With a young horse, ponying is a great solution. I pony Keeno with my riding horse when we do 1.5 mile trots. I enjoy taking two birds out with one stone. Lunging at a walk/trot is a great activity for young horses. (Hot walkers can also do this.) Horses need room to run when they want. Since Keeno lives in a smaller paddock, I let him run in the arena while I run on Vegas. (see video) These are what I use to exercise my horses.

            The best way to start conditioning is to figure out your horse’s current activity level. Then create a program that will challenge your horse, but not over do it. Younger and older horses can’t be pushed as much as healthy adult horses. Create a chart to track frequency, duration, and intensity of each workout. (There are phone apps for this. Last spring I used Track My Hack, which shows how long you rode, distance and average speed.) Whatever the process, it is important to be consistent for good results.

            The best thing of conditioning horses is seeing them in peak condition. Well-defined muscles and seeing their ribs during movement along with a shiny coat are some signs of a well-conditioned and healthy horse. I hope you learned something in this short paper. Have fun getting in shape!

The Haunted Horse Arena

The haunted horse arena was my sister’s idea as a 4h horse project event. It was a Halloween themed desensitizing obstacle course. The swim noodles rub against the horses sides. Looking very scary, a lot of horses won’t push through them the first time you ask them. The barrels with the poles on them help the horse go through narrow spaces. The banner and plastic bags overhead help the horses get used to stuff above them. The tarp is to get the horse used to walking over a scary thing that crinkles and moves. The banner on the ground gets the horse comfortable walking over new colorful things that make sound. And the jump is just to jump over for fun. These obstacles can be very spooky to your horse. You don’t want them to be afraid. Let them relax by the spooky objects, so they get used to them being around.

This was a very entertaining night. Keeno didn't care about any of these things and loved going through it again and again. Enjoy the video.

Camping With Horses

            Camping with horses is the one of the best training tools you can do with any horse. This fall my 4h club went camping at Wild River State Park with all the horses. In this paper I will be talking about safety at camp, safety on the trail and why it is so good for you and your horse. Now let’s saddle up and get started.

            Camping with the horses is really fun but could be dangerous. These few tips will help the trip go smoothly. There are different ways that your horse can be tied or fenced when camping. I will mainly talk about picket lines. Before you go your horse should know how to stand when tied. You should tie your horse with a bowline knot so the horse can move up and down the picket line. Your horse should be tied in a way where they cannot get their foot over the lead rope. Your horse should have hay in a hay bag to keep him/her busy. Have your campfires away from your horses. Don’t bring your horse directly through the campground because of chairs, picnic tables, tents, fire pits and many other items. Those items can spook your horse and hurt you or other people and can really injure your horse. Stay safe so your camping trip will be fun and safe.

            Riding the trails is very exciting and the main reason we go camping with horses. Riding the trails is very relaxing but it can also turn into a nightmare in a second. You should always ride with a partner but to be safe a group of 4 or more riders is recommended. If someone would be hurt, two go get help and one stays with the hurt person. Have a first aid kit for you and your horse and know how to used it. The leader of the group (trail boss) is responsible to make sure no one is falling behind. Go as fast as the least experienced rider is comfortable going. Make sure your horse is in shape and is ready to ride. In my opinion, trail riding is the best stress relief there is if you do it properly.

            Camping and trail riding are some of the best training and bonding time you can do with your horse. It is fun for both the horse and rider. To sum it up I wish you happy trails.

Keeno's Camping and Trail Ride Preparation

My 4H club goes on an annual trail ride at Wild River each year. This year Keeno gets to come. To prepare him for the trip, I have done different exercises to make it go over smoother. The first thing is simply getting him to really trust me. If a bad situation arises, he would be able to handle it and trust me enough to help him while I keep myself safe. Secondly, he trailered with the horses to the Anoka County Wranglers Fun Show. This got him used to trailering and being tied up for awhile. Thirdly, Keeno and my riding horse Vegas have been getting used to one another. This will help ponying to not be such a hassle. These three little things will help Keeno and I have a happy and safe camping experience.