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Being prepared to help yourself and others

Being prepared to help yourself and others

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You have probably seen the news footage of the horrific fires in California or remember the recent floods across the South and Texas.  Other news footage of people turning their horses or livestock loose so they have some chance to survive is heartbreaking to us all.

In this article, I want to reflect how you and I can be able to help in a  tragedy in your area.  The secret to being able to do this is to be prepared to help yourself, your horses and your friends.  In an emergency, time is precious and  being ready to move your rig or animals is critical.

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The One-Rein Emergency Halt

The One-Rein Emergency Halt

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The act of moving the hips over for a one-rein emergency halt is the single greatest technique you can employ to stop a horse that is bolting or bucking. It can and has saved many riders from terrible accident and injury. Picking up on both reins when a horse is out of control, does not help. Pulling on both reins captures the horse’s energy and actually fuels the horse’s desire to flee. The horse will feel trapped and will rear, buck or bolt.

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You out in one end and take it out the other!

You out in one end and take it out the other!

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Do you know what happens to expensive grain and hay during its long journey to become manure?

Equine lips have almost a prehensile (adapted to wrap or fold around an object) ability. They can separate oral additives from grain, chose the tender shoots of grass and untie a lead rope.

A horse’s meal starts at the lips which gather feed and make it available to the teeth. Desirable grass is collected by the lips and presented to the incisors for snipping and moved back with the tongue to the molars for grinding. Loose products (for example – grain and hay) are collected and moved directly back to the molars.

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It’s crazy, the way we horse owners behave with our horses.

It’s crazy, the way we horse owners behave with our horses.

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It’s crazy, the way we horse owners behave with our horses.

No doubt it’s a love affair. A love affair of the heart, but not often a love affair of the mind. But then, seldom does a love affair have anything to do with rational thinking. Love affairs are crazy.

And what is crazy?

Crazy is mentally unbalanced, deranged, foolish, wild or fantastic.

That’s the description of a horse owner if ever I saw one!

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Know Your Rein Aids

Know Your Rein Aids

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Dear Julie,

I’m a bit confused about rein aids—how they differ in English and Western riding. I’ve been hearing terms like direct and direct opposition, indirect and indirect opposition. What do these terms mean and when do you use them while riding?

Signed, Reining in the Answers

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