Good Western Racing Horses

Whenever the term "Western horse" is used, most people picture a rough-and-tumble rodeo - an event full of color but so full of danger, too, that no youngster would be permitted to enter the regular events. What few people realize is that many small, country horse shows have classes open to Western horses. The wide range of these local shows gives them their importance to the show world, and if you own a Western horse, you should pay attention so you'll know about the shows in time to enter your horse.In case you strongly prefer western riding, you don't have to worry about being left out of the fun - or change your style simply because you thought all horse shows were exclusively for English riders. "Well," you may be thinking, "all I have to do, then, is to pick out the kind of horse I want and then use a western saddle and bridle on him. That's just fine."But it isn't quite as simple as that! You wouldn't advise a person about to go on a hunt to use an American saddle horse on the chase. You'd suggest he use a thoroughbred - or a horse with thoroughbred characteristics. The same standards of suitability hold true if you're picking out a Western horse for yourself. Suppose that, during your excursions to find a horse, a big, long-limbed thoroughbred strikes you as a handsome animal - one you'd like to own. After all, you reason, he has speed, courage, stamina - just right for a Western horse.Strictly in terms of breeds, the Morgan and the Arabian offer good Western horse prospects.Both are small horses and have plenty of strength and endurance. The Morgan is compact and therefore good at making fast turns, stops and starts. The Arabian is traditionally a desert horse and so is capable of working on little food and foraging for himself. Also, he has a perfect canter.However good Morgans and Arabians may be, an important western breed we haven't yet talked about is the quarter horse. Every Westerner will boast of the qualities of this breed, but the fact is that the quarter horse had his beginnings in the East - in Virginia.In the late 1600's, Virginia gentlemen enjoyed racing their stock but there were no big race tracks available. They would use stretches of road near the towns - the road lap usually being about a quarter of a mile long. The distance became standardized and men began to breed horses especially for these quarter-mile races. Usually the breeder combined imported English horses either with the speedy little runners developed by the Chickasaw Indians or with a Rhode Island variety which had come down from New England and competed successfully against earlier Virginia horses. Then a horse named Janus, an English racer with thoroughbred bloodlines, was imported and began to transmit his characteristics to all his offspring. In time, the entire breed was influenced by the speed and power he passed on to his foals, and, as sprinters, Quarter horses became unbeatable. Then, when racetracks were built, the Easterners gave up the quarter Horse in favor of thoroughbred racing on longer tracks. But ranchers and cowboys soon discovered that the compactness of the quarter horse enabled him to turn quickly and stop short. In fact, many people who want a Western horse get a quarter horse. Western horses come in all shapes and sizes, you just need to find the one that's right for you.

HOW HORSES SLEEP

How horses sleep: What does your horse need to sleep well? Maybe not what you think, say equine-behavior experts.


You're at a show, and it's almost time to warm up for your next class. Butterflies are starting to flap up a storm in your stomach. You glance over at your horse. Is he feeling the excitement?

Nope. He's standing next to you with eyes closed and head hanging. How could he sleep at a time like this?

A comfortable bed, darkness, privacy, and eight hours of peace and quiet-that's what you need to sleep well. But your horse's needs are very different. Knowing about those differences can help you ensure that he gets the rest he needs.

"Horses have sleep patterns typical for prey species that evolved on open plains," says Sue McDonnell, PhD, head of the Equine Behavior Lab at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Veterinary Medicine. There isn't a huge body of research on equine sleep, she notes. But over the past twenty years or so, she's gathered detailed data on the daily behaviors--including sleep patterns--of stabled and feral horses in a wide range of settings throughout the world. Here, she and two other equine-behavior experts will share their insights--so read on to learn your horse's sleep secrets...and what he needs to sleep best.

To Sleep, Perchance to Flee

Not every horse falls asleep waiting around at a show, but all horses can sleep standing up. Your horse has a sort of internal hammock-a system of tendons and ligaments called the stay apparatus. This system lets him lock his legs in position so (unlike you) he can relax his muscles and doze off without keeling over. Even when he's not sleeping, he uses the stay apparatus to rest muscles and reduce fatigue.

Being able to sleep standing up is a great advantage for a prey animal. If a mountain lion comes creeping through the underbrush, the horse can be off and running without wasting precious seconds struggling to his feet. Horses plan for a quick getaway in choosing resting places, too. Out in the open, they go for sheltered areas but position themselves to get out fast--butts to the windbreak, heads pointing toward a likely escape route. "They're like volunteer firemen who back their cars into parking spaces so they can pull out fast," Sue McDonnell says. In many cases, even horses in box stalls rest standing toward the back of the stall, facing the door.

Down Time

Even though they're able to snooze standing, horses apparently need to lie down for rest and sleep at least some of the time. In fact, scientists think horses must lie down to go into deep stages of sleep. Like humans and many other animals, horses experience both slow-wave sleep (SWS) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) deep sleep. (SWS is characterized by slow, synchronized waves of electrical activity in the brain as recorded by electroencephalography. REM sleep is characterized by jerky eye movements and rapid, disorganized brain waves.) REM sleep seems to occur mostly when the horse is stretched out flat on his side, rather than resting on his chest.

People dream during REM sleep, and it seems that horses do, too. Beneath closed lids, their eyes move rapidly back and forth. Sue McDonnell has even seen some horses move their feet as if "trotting" in their dreams. But what horses dream about is anyone's guess.

Power Naps

Studies of herds of wild and semi-wild horses show that horses take "power naps" and use the buddy system to get the rest they need while keeping safe from predators.

If you're like most people, you need a good, solid eight hours of unbroken rest every night. If you don't get it, you drag through the following day dull, drowsy, and sleep-deprived. You might assume that your horse has similar needs. But according to Sue McDonnell, horses do well with far less sleep than people.

Horses typically spend anywhere from four to fifteen hours a day in standing rest, and anywhere from minutes to several hours lying down. Only part of that is actual sleep time, taken in brief naps that last a few minutes each. The daily total sleep time for an adult horse may range from a few minutes to a couple of hours. Foals and young horses, like other youngsters, sleep more, more deeply, and more often than adults.

This pattern is another plus for a prey animal: His sleep can be interrupted repeatedly by predators and false alarms, but he'll still function. Rarely does a horse suffer from true sleep deprivation, says Sue McDonnell. The minimum amount of deep (lying-down) sleep he needs is very small--perhaps an hour in many days. Still, if he doesn't get that minimum, he eventually begins to drift off into what appears to be deep sleep while standing-and buckles at the knees.

Where you want your rest in a solid block of time, horses spread theirs out in scattered periods throughout the day and night. According to Sue McDonnell, "For any horse or group of horses, there is usually a recurrent pattern of rest and other activities," such as grazing. The pattern varies with the weather, the season and what's going on around the horse. Stabled horses, affected by the activity around them, typically get much of their sleep during the evening and early morning hours.

"Horses tend to learn the pattern of the barn," Sue McDonnell says, "and their deepest rest and sleep tend to occur soon after the busy 'people day' ends."

Buddy System

You're probably not surprised to hear that horses sleep best when they feel safe from danger. But the factors that help them feel safe may not be what you think. When you put your horse in his stall and close the door, you know he's protected. But he likely feels isolated and confined-and for a horse, isolation and confinement can be dangerous.

As part of her work at U of P, Sue McDonnell has studied the behavior of a semi-wild herd of ponies over time. She says feral horses actually sleep more than stabled horses. They also get more down time: As members of a herd, they're able to relax because one horse acts as a sentinel, standing guard while the rest snooze. "In feral groups, all individuals tend to rest together, eat together, go to water together. The young may get additional rest and sleep during grazing, with the protection of the adults." The adults share the sentinel duty, so everybody gets to lie down.

Solitary adult horses tend to get less deep sleep than horses in groups--probably because, with no sentinel on guard duty, and no other horses to help deal with danger, the solo horse feels he has to look out for himself at all times. He startles out of sleep at the slightest disturbance. In many cases you'll see horses stabled next to each other rest standing against the two sides of their shared stall wall, Sue McDonnell says--probably to take advantage of the sentinel effect.

Does your horse eat like a pig?

Yes! Then acorns are one porcine delicacy he should avoid.

Acorns are seeds or nuts produced by oak trees. There are more than 60 varieties of oaks in the continental United States. The bark, leaves and acorns contain an acidic chemical commonly known as tannin.

Tannin has a bitter taste and is an astringent (contracts tissues and draws out fluids). It can damage the liver and kidneys of horses. Tannin also interferes with the utilization of protein.

All plants contain some level of tannin. Oaks contain high levels. Within the family of oaks, red or black oak varieties contain the most tannin; white oak varieties contain the least. Buds and early spring leaves have a higher concentration of tannin than mature leaves. Green acorns have a higher concentration than ripe acorns.

Live Oak Acorns

Squirrels, birds and deer eat acorns with no apparent problems. These free roaming species search out the less bitter tasting acorn varieties (less bitter means a lower tannin level). Stored and ripe acorns that have been soaked due to rain will also be lower in tannin. Tannin is water soluble and leaches out. It is important to note these animals have access to other foods which will help buffer and dilute the tannin.

Poisoning due to the ingestion of acorns is rare in horses which have access to plenty of good quality forage. An occasional acorn throughout the day should not harm a healthy horse with a digestive system full of long-stem fiber.

The ingestion of buds and spring leaves should be avoided. Make sure low hanging or broken branches are removed before they can be eaten. Providing plenty of forage will help deter horses from eating these forbidden windfalls.

Occasionally a horse will develop a taste for acorns. Such an individual would rather eat acorns than good quality forage. If your horse is one of these fanatics you will have to remove the horse from the pasture which contains the forbidden nut.

The signs of acorn poisoning can be: loss of appetite, excessive salivation, blood in the urine or manure, colic-like pain, slow or irregular heart-rate, elevated temperature, pale mucous membranes, watery eyes and a depressed attitude. In the early stages manure is hard and dark in color; the horse may be constipated. Often, in the later stage, the manure changes to diarrhea. Mouth ulcers may form; salvia may escape from the nose. In extreme cases liver and kidney failure ensues and other organs begin to hemorrhage. Some poisoned horses may founder.

Horses that are extremely sensitive to tannin or have eaten large quantities of oak leaves, bark or acorns may die.

If your horse develops acorn poisoning there is no antidote. The common treatment is supportive care. The affected horse must be removed from the source of the poisoning. Your veterinarian will probably give intravenous fluids to help flush out the toxins. Mineral oil and charcoal may be given to help rid the digestive system of the tannin. Hay and water is made available, which also helps dilute the poisonous material in the digestive system. Your veterinarian may also give pain killers to help make your horse more comfortable.

The best thing for the health of your horses and trees is to protect them from each other. Horses are hard on trees. They disturb the root system, chew the bark when bored and rub the branches. Forests or woods do not make good pasture. Fence off any trees. If the trees are providing shelter or shade erect a horse-safe structure, such as a three-sided loafing shed.

There is nothing more beautiful than a majestic oak tree and a horse - they just shouldn't be in the same picture.

Winter Care For Horses

Baby, it's cold outside!

Providing a comfortable and healthy environment helps ensure the horse will enter the busy spring season as healthy as possible. Nutrition, shelter and basic health are important year around, but during the cold winter months, are critical.

NUTRITION:

Water is the most important nutrient in a horse's diet. Many colic cases occur due to dehydration. Fresh, clean water accessible 24 hours a day is mandatory.

Heated water buckets, stock tank deicers or heated automatic waterers help ensure water remains unfrozen. These units must be cleaned and monitored daily.

Water and electricity do not mix! Follow installation instructions. Install ground-fault circuit interrupter (GFI/GFCI) outlets.

Have a back-up water source in case exposed water lines freeze.

Do not expect a horse to eat snow or break through the ice and remain healthy.

The average adult horse at rest requires about 10 gallons of water per day. Many horses will not drink cold water. It may be necessary to offer warmer water. The preferred temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 C).

Horses are grazers. Access to plenty of good, clean, nutritional forage (hay) is mandatory. The digestion of fiber in the hindgut generates heat and helps keep the horse warm.

In a perfect world horses would have grass hay available free choice at all times. But at least a minimum of 1.5% - 2.0% of the body weight should be fed each day; this amount will vary with individual horses and hay quality.

A balanced commercial feed that complements the forage and meets the horse's nutritional requirements should be offered.

The barn manager needs to evaluate each individual horse:

? Is the horse lacking protein? Signs are poor muscle tone over the back, shoulders, and loin area. Poor hoof quality and hair coat are also symptoms of protein deficiency. Chose a commercial mix that provides good quality protein.

? Is the horse receiving enough calories? All horses should have some fat covering the rib area. Close your eyes and run your hand over his ribs - how much pressure must you apply in order to feel ribs? If you can feel ribs without applying any pressure he needs calories - add a balanced commercial mix designed for the age, health and activity level of the horse. Follow the feeding directions. If you can't feel ribs and want to decrease calories make sure you don't short him on protein, vitamins and minerals.

? Is the horse a pregnant mare, a stallion ready to enter breeding season, a young horse starting training, a senior having a weight problem, or a horse with health problems? The hay usually will not provide all the nutrition needed for these individuals. Vitamin, mineral and energy requirements must be considered for each horse.

A common misconception is increasing or adding corn to the diet, thinking it will keep the horse warm. Corn will increase digestible energy in the diet, but will not generate internal heat. Offer more hay instead!

SHELTER:

Most healthy horses will be fine if they are provided a windbreak and dry, clean place to stand and lie down.

Horses with special concerns such as seniors, foals or compromised health will need individual care. Observe the horse: Is he shivering? Is he standing by himself with a depressed attitude and no interest in his surroundings? This horse needs immediate attention.

Do not expect a horse to stand ankle deep in mud and remain healthy.

Horses kept in air-tight stalls can develop respiratory problems. Make sure the stalls are well-ventilated and ammonia from urine does not build-up. Avoid drafts.

Blanketed horses need to be checked daily. Make sure the blankets are clean and fit properly. Be sure the horse is not sweating.

BASIC HEALTH CARE:

Deworming - it is important to prepare horses for the stress of winter by maintaining a good deworming program. A horse supporting a large worm count will have trouble remaining healthy during the winter months.

Hoof care - it is easy to ignore the care of the hooves during the cold and often muddy winter season -- "no hoof, no horse." Horses need regular farrier work and the hooves kept clean. A horse standing in a wet dirty stall is prone to thrush and other hoof problems.

Vaccinations - a good vaccination program is important. If a horse becomes sick with a disease that could have been prevented through vaccination the recovery time can be longer during the stress of the winter months; not to mention the added work for the caretaker, who is also struggling with the routine chores.

Exercise - horses need routine exercise to maintain good digestive movement, good mental attitude and muscle tone. If the horse becomes sweaty and hot be sure to cool him out properly.

Do not neglect your horse during inclement weather. Yes, it is dark, cold and windy, but your horse depends on you.

Weight Gain For Horses

If a horse is under-weight, it's hard to get him fat.

Whoa! It's easy; just feed him more, you say.

Well, it's not that simple

Before we start thinking about increasing feeds and making changes we need to make sure the horse is truly underweight. We are so accustomed to seeing "well-rounded" horses when we see a fit horse we tend to think he is underweight.

Dr. Don Henneke developed the industry standard for determining the condition of a horse in regard to body fat. The body condition score (BCS) rates horses on a scale of 1-9. One is a walking skeleton and nine is obese.

The desired score for most horses would be 5 - Moderate: The back is flat with no crease or ridge. Ribs are not visible, but can be felt with very slight pressure. Fat around the tail head feels somewhat spongy. Fat along the withers and over the top of the back vertebrae make them somewhat rounded. The shoulders and neck blend smoothly into the body. For more information about the body condition score chart visit www.thewayofhorses.com

A horse that is severely underweight cannot recover from disease or illness quickly, is apt to become sick, will have poor quality hooves, will not be able to maintain body heat in cold weather, will not be able to perform or recover from exertion and will not thrive.

The first steps to take in helping the underweight horse is determine why he is thin. There could be one or several reasons.

1. Have a veterinarian visit to rule out illness. A latent infection may be present.
2. Have the vet or an equine dentist check the teeth. Malocclusion (teeth do not meet properly), high points, missing teeth, infection, sores and other problems may be causing chewing problems or causing the horse not to eat.
3. Have a good de-worming program in place. Conduct a fecal exam several times a year to determine worm types and load.
4. Ask your veterinarian about the possibilities of ulcers. He may recommend scoping the horse to detect ulcers. You may decide to try the ulcer medications without a scope and see if they help.
5. Alleviate stress.
6. Is he getting enough to eat and is it of good quality? The high price of hay, cheap commercial feeds, cutting back to save money and the shortage of good pasture for grazing are the most likely reasons for a thin horse. If this is the reason the horse is thin - it's time to sell the horse.
7. The horse may be a senior horse and can't utilize the nutrients available in feeds any longer.

Once the cause of the thinness is determined how to fix it can be addressed.

Your veterinarian can help you with disease, dental problems, deworming or ulcers. Alleviating the stress, providing better quality feed and more of it, better management and commitment to the care of the senior horse is up to you.

ALLEVIATING STRESS

You must alleviate as much stress as possible when dealing with a nervous horse. These horses may have high metabolisms and burn calories easily. Stall walking and weaving is not going to help maintain or gain weight.

The nervous horse may calm down if another animal is nearby. If your horse is alone try getting a goat or pony for companionship.

Providing a stall with plenty of windows, a Dutch door or stall guard so the horse can look out may help calm a nervous horse. Try hanging hay net filled with hay outside the door so he can munch on hay while watching the activity around the barn. Grabbing a mouth full of hay and running to look out the door can burn calories. Continue to provide hay on the floor in the stall so he can also eat in the natural position with his head down.

More turn-out time with plenty of forage may also help the nervous horse. If the lot does not have adequate forage you can scatter hay to simulate grazing.

If your horse does have ulcers alleviating the stress will help speed the healing process.

A major stress factor is the feeding schedule. A horse is a creature of habit. Feed at the same time every day. Small, frequent meals are best and they need to be on time. Do not feed one big meal and expect it to last 24 hours or more. Do not feed twice a day with a lapse of more than 12 hours between meals. The best schedule is three or more times within a 24 hour period at the same time each day or night. For example: 6 A.M., 1 P.M. and 8 PM, with the evening meal providing enough hay to last until the next morning.

MORE FEED AND BETTER QUALITY

Most nutrition articles about feeding horses recommend approximately two (2) percent of their body weight in forage per day. This would mean a 1,000-pound horse would need about 20 pounds a day.

This amount is not carved in stone. There are other factors to be considered. What is the quality of the forage? How much of it is edible? How many calories is the forage providing? How many calories per day does the horse require? How digestible is the hay?

Hay that is mature, full of weeds, stored improperly, soiled by other animals, made with inferior grass types or not harvested from well-maintained fields will not provide enough nutrients. If the hay does contain adequate nutrients but the horse does not like the taste of it, then it's no good, too.

It is possible the nervous horse with the high metabolism may eat as much as four or five percent of his body weight in forage per day. Even if hay is provided 24-hours per day if it is not of good quality it will not provide enough calories.

If the underweight horse is on pasture the same problems must be addressed. Is the horse expected to thrive on weeds? A good pasture management program must be implemented which includes rotating pastures. Contact your local cooperative extension office for assistance. http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension/index.html In the meantime provide good quality hay in addition to the pasture.

The bottom line is the thin horse (and all horses) should have forage available 24-hours per day.

Once the forage part of the diet has been addressed a balanced commercial diet that compliments the forage should be added.

The key to this is read the feed tag! The mix you choose should be designed for your horse based on age, activity level and forage type. You do not want a feed made for adult horses at maintenance activity level when your horse is a high-performance nervous show horse. You'll end up feeding more, spending more money (think supplements), being frustrated and not providing the needed nutrition for your horse.

Commercial mixes designed for high performance horses and horses that need more calories will contain more fat and probably beet pulp. The fat sources will be vegetable oil, flaxseed and rice bran. These products will not be cheap, but they will be balanced.

Purchasing cheap feed and then adding supplements to try to make it better will only get your mineral ratios unbalanced, create more work for you and put your horse at risk. Unless you are an equine nutritionist leave the mixing to the scientists. Take my word for it - the math calculations are not fun.

If you still decide to add supplements do lots of research. Some key points are: rice bran has an inverted calcium to phosphorus ratio - it needs to be balanced. Horses cannot digest whole flax - it needs to be ground. High fat products turn rancid quickly - they need to be stabilized or purchased fresh frequently. Oil purchased at the grocery store lacks beneficial fatty acids.

Adding a small amount of beet pulp to the diet will not hurt anything. Many horses that are picky will eat with gusto if some moist beet pulp is added to their grain.

Do not feed more than one-half percent of the body weight in grain at one feeding. So a horse that weighs 1,000 pounds should not get more than 5 pounds at a time. (1,000 pounds times 0.005 equals 5 pounds). A horse that weighs 800 pounds would not get more than 4 pounds (800 times 0.005).

THE SENIOR HORSE

The senior horse will have trouble utilizing nutrients. Tooth problems and loosing the ability to extract nutrients from feeds will cause weight loss.

Addressing all management issues can help ensure good quality of life for many years.

Do not neglect the geriatric horse - recovery from sickness, injury or malnutrition can be impossible.

Caring for horses can be expensive and time consuming. Caring for a horse that has issues is worse - if you can't make the commitment, do not get a horse�.they all end up with issues eventually.