Monthly Archives: November 2017

Why Doesnt My horse Gait?

Why Doesn’t My Horse Gait!?

This is the most common question I get. 

“If my horse is bred to gait, why does he pace/trot!?”

I like to think of a sports analogy.  There are those few people out there who excel at sports.  They do well at whatever sport they try.  Then there are most people, who are like me.  They aren’t very good at any sport without lots of practice, and I mean attentive practice.  Without that good practice with advice and help along the way, I would never get better.

Gaited horses are the same way.  A very few never need the training, but the rest need someone to train their mind and body into a good gait. 

There are several specific reasons horses don’t gait well:

  1. Breeding – many of the gaited breeds have now been bred more toward a show ring type of gait and this is usually not smooth and very often towards the pace.
  2. Conformation – some horses are just not built to gait as easily as others.  This doe not mean your horse will never gait, but that it will just take more work. 
  3. Saddle fit – this is not the first thing I look at, but it probably is attributing to the problem if you have been working on the gait and it isn’t coming.
  4. Training – Your horse has never been trained/taught that the gait is the movement that you want.  This is the most common reason.

These are reasons why your horse doesn’t gait well, not excuses to get another horse.  All the gaited horses that have the conformation to gait can gait.   How much training they need depends on each horse.  Some horses get it very quickly and make the trainer look really good!  Some horses need a lot of muscle re-conditioning.  Many gaited horses have been allowed to stay bumpy and this trains their muscles to stay in that bumpy gait. 

Gaited horses need to be encouraged into a smooth, correct gait and then they need their gaiting muscles built up over time.   The more you let your horse be bumpy, the more they will build the wrong muscle. 

So now you know that what your horse most likely lacks is training, but along with that I want to encourage you to keep a positive attitude.  As you begin working with your gaited horse, you will most likely get discouraged and your horse will get discouraged too.  Praise your horse when he makes progress, even if that progress is very small.

 Focus on the good things that you have done and are doing and remember to enjoy the journey.

Home

 

 

Pace to Gait training

Member news request

Member News Submission Request

This is a request for news about you and yours.  I will publish it in the upcoming printed newsletter to be mailed before Christmas.  I need some news!!  Please answer some or all of the questions (just pick 3) or add news you wish to share.  Feel free to put your news in narrative form.  Story and article submissions are welcome.  I need this just ASAP so don’t procrastinate…Just do it!  Thank you.  Participation is key to a fun club and enabling us all to help each other.  Oh!  Don’t forget your photos!  [email protected]

Name/farm name:

Horse/s

New Horse, retired horse, horse Memorial

Horses for sale

2017 foals

Mares in foal for 2018

Stallion

Searching for a gaited Morgan

Training practice

Trainer

Tips and Tricks

Accomplishments lately

   Personal

   Professional

Accidents

Riding Trips

Farm Visits

Personal Health and Family News (babies, deaths, relocation, etc.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gaited Horses in Civil War

 

The Original Mane 'n Tail - Animal Care - Gaited Horses used in the Civil War

Gaited Horses used in the Civil War

Gaited Horses used in the Civil War

First of all, what is a ‘Gaited Horse’, you ask?  I asked the same question.  Gaited horses are horse breeds that have selective breeding for natural gaited tendencies, that is, the ability to perform one of the smooth-to-ride, intermediate speed, four-beat horse gaits, collectively referred to as ambling gaits.  Such breeds include the American Saddlebred, Tennessee Walking Horse, and the Standardbred, to name only a few.

These gaited horses were popular as the trusted steeds for many Civil War generals that lead their men into combat on horseback!  Did you know that?

General Ulysses S. Grant had two gaited equines during the Civil War, a pony named “Jeff Davis” was taken from Joe Davis (the brother of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy) at the siege of Vicksburg.  General Grant had suffered from back trouble and his pony Jeff became a favorite due to his easy and steady gait.   When Jeff needed a little r & r, a gift, Cincinnatti, a Kentucky Saddler type, took his place on the battlefield with a mounted General Grant.

US Grant with Cincinnatti

General Phillip Sheridan, rode a Morgan Black Hawk type horse named Rienzi, then renamed Winchester, serving him and the army with great distinction. Next to General Lee’s Traveler, Winchester is probably the most well-known horse of the Civil War.  A stately horse, he was 17 hands of pure power on hooves…and ‘flew’ over the battlefields to deliver the General to join his troops on many occasions.   The sight of General Sheridan atop Winchester, inspired poetry, sculptor and other artists during the Civil War and well after.

General Sheridan’s horse, Rienzi, later called Winchester.

General William T. Sherman’s horse Lexington, a Kentucky Saddler type became a bit more famous than Sherman’s other horse Sam, because more was recorded about him.  Both were described to have extraordinary ‘action’ and for that reason, termed to be gaited by the era’s application of the term.  Sam was the horse General Sherman rode during the historic and heroic march from Vicksburg to Washington, DC…through the South (Atlanta, Savanah, Columbia, and Richmond).

General Sherman on Lexington

General Stonewall Jackson’s favorite mount during most of the war, until his death at Chancelorsville, was Little Sorrel (later called Fancy).  This pony was a ‘gift’ he took from a captured Union supply train.  Little Sorrel was short in stature, but the steady, reliable gait won the general over and became his trusted companion.  Upon the pony’s death, he was sent to a taxidermist and then to the Solider’s Home in Richmond, VA, to be remembered forever for his diligent service.

General Stonewall Jackson’s Horse, Little Sorrel

General Robert E. Lee was mostly depicted on horseback for many of his portraits on his almost as famous gaited partner, Traveler! Traveler is considered to be the all time, quintessential officer’s horse of America. He was typical of the American/ Kentucky Saddlers of Virginia and Kentucky. Lee was loyal to Traveler as Traveler was loyal to Lee.  The bond broken not even in death.  Traveler escorted General Lee’s casket during his funeral parade, and then died a short time after.  The two were inseparable in life, and rarely seen apart.  It seems as if they were two souls joined together, comrades in arms.

General Lee with Traveler

Think about it.  These famous generals of one of the most monumental wars in our history depended on these gaited horses with their very lives.  It was an era of great industrial change, yet, these men fought on the fields and lead their troops into battle on the backs of these majestic, dependable creatures.  Trust between man and horse, a historic bond that was forged long ago, and continued onto the not so distance past…will forever be nurtured into present day.

Sources: Website, American Morgan Horse Breeders; American Saddlebred Breeders; The American Heritage New History of the Civil War, James M, Mc Pherson, Viking 1996; Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, University of Illinois Press, 2002; The Photographic History of the Civil War, Portland House, 1997; Gaited Magazine, A History of Gaited horses in the Civil War, Sue Sherman, 2006.

AMHA News

https://www.morganhorse.com/media-events/news/article/10340/

News from the Gaited Morgan Horse Organization

October 26th, 2017

Eleven Gaited Morgan riders recently took an impromptu ride up the mountain in American Fork, Utah. Well known for the little pod of gaited Morgan breeders that exist there, American Fork is a shining diamond in the state of Utah, as the mountain ranges there are a stone’s throw away from any neighborhood there. A perfect weather day and great company of some fine horsemen made this day on a Utah Mountain a great gathering of gaited Morgans. Thanks go out to members Gary Gray, Jared Young, and Brent Skidmore for providing gaited Morgans to ride and getting us up and back.

New officers for the Gaited Morgan Horse Organization are Vali Suddarth, president; Jennifer Conditto, vice president; Lorrie Gray, secretary; and Ryan Hunter, treasurer. 

You can find the club online at http://gaitedmorgans.org.

Hoof Flares

HOOF CARE

Getting a Feel for Hoof Flares

Photo by Susan Kauffmann

 

“The equine hoof is a complex marvel of natural engineering,” say Susan Kauffmann and Christina Cline in The Essential Hoof Book. “Developing an eye for symmetry and balance is definitely helpful in identifying hoof problems.”

There are many faces of imbalance and asymmetry in the horse’s hoof. Flares are just one example that every owner, rider, trainer, and caretaker should understand and know how to manage. Here’s how Kauffmann and Cline explain them in their book.

   ***

 

Flares are a type of hoof-capsule distortion where the wall horn is being stretched outward and pulled away from the coffin bone. The wall of a healthy hoof should follow the same angle all the way from the coronet to the ground. Flares are present when part of the wall deviates or “dishes” outward from that angle. They can be observed by looking at the walls from the front (in the case of medial or lateral flares) or side (in the case of toe flares), and by viewing the foot from the bottom.

Photos: Susan Kauffmann (top), Christina Kusznir (bottom)

Flares can show up in the toe or along the sides of the hoof, and they can develop for many reasons, sometimes in combination. These include:

 

• Mechanical, meaning that some form of imbalance or other issue is creating excessive physical pressure on part or all of the wall and forcing it outward. The pressure could be a result of conformation, poor trimming or shoeing, too much time between trims (overgrowth), pain, muscular imbalance, or injury.

Photo by Susan Kauffmann

• Laminitis, which leads to damaged laminae and separation of the hoof wall, which is then easily pulled away into flared shapes.

• Nutritional, meaning that something in the horse’s diet—often too much sugar or starch—is weakening the connection of the walls, leaving them vulnerable to flaring.

 

• Metabolic, meaning the horse has a metabolic condition such as insulin resistance or Cushing’s disease that can prime the horse for physiological responses that may weaken the walls.

• Infection, usually secondary to walls that are already compromised due to weakened laminae.

Correcting flares can take time and often involves a multi-pronged approach. It is important to understand that once any part of the hoof wall has separated, it cannot reattach itself. Therefore, a flared hoof can only improve by growing down a new wall that is well connected to the coffin bone by healthy, tight laminae. In order for this to happen, the things that were causing the flare to occur in the first place have to be dealt with, and any leverage from contact with the ground that might keep the flare going needs to be addressed. When pressure from contact with the ground (or the shoe) is not relieved in the affected area, it will only continue to pull the wall outward and further weaken the connection of the laminae.

Photo by Christina Cline

Fortunately, beveling the flared wall from below is often enough to relieve that pressure. Beveling the wall actually changes the direction of the force experienced by the wall when it pushes against the ground, so instead of pressure levering the wall away, ground contact works to keep the wall tight. If you are concerned that beveling the wall will take away the support of the wall in that area, remember that any part of the wall that is flared is not well attached and is therefore not generally providing good support anyway.

 

That said, removing the flare should not make the horse uncomfortable. In most cases, a flare pulls painfully on the wall, and removing it provides relief. But there are instances where removing the flare can actually make a horse sore, and no matter what you try, it seems that the flare is the only thing keeping the horse comfortable. This may be especially true in horses with thin soles or damaged coffin bones. Thus, if you try correcting the flare and the horse gets sore, you may need to leave it be.

 

In addition to, or sometimes instead of beveling, your hoof-care provider might rasp the surface of a flared wall to make it more in line with the healthy sections of wall, the thought being that this will reduce levering forces and encourage the wall to grow down straighter, with better attachment. Other professionals disagree with this approach, believing that thinning the wall further weakens it, and is more likely to lengthen the time it takes to grow out the flare. Ultimately, both may be right or wrong, depending on what a particular hoof requires.

Whatever trimming methods are used to provide mechanical relief to a flare, if that is all you are doing, you may very well be missing important pieces of the puzzle. For instance, it is quite common for metabolic or nutritional factors to be at play in the weakening of the laminar connection, and if they are a factor in your horse’s flaring, those issues will need to be addressed or the flaring problem is likely to continue. Hoof imbalances must also be corrected, if at all possible, or you will continue to “chase” the flare it is causing in the hoof. There are also going to be cases where the conformational defects or injuries that are causing imbalance are pronounced enough that it is impossible to get rid of the flares entirely.

Lastly, you should be aware that there are plenty of instances where flaring is not really anything to worry about, especially with minor flares in the quarters, as we see in the hind feet of many horses. While such flares do indicate imbalance, the fact is that plenty of horses have minor imbalances that never actually cause a problem. If the foot is otherwise healthy and the horse is consistently sound, a minor flare is something to keep an eye on, but nothing to fret over. If, however, a horse never had any flare before but starts developing some, that indicates a change—most often in trim, diet, or an imbalance due to pain or injury somewhere in the body—and that is worth investigating.

 

  ***

This excerpt from “The Essential Hoof Book” by Susan Kauffmann and Christina Cline is reprinted with permission from Trafalgar Square Books.

A Helmet Saved My Life

SAFETY

A Helmet Saved My Life

A true story

 

 

So, six months ago this was me.

(Warning, the next photo might be a bit unsettling. No blood, just very broken bones. Also, cursing ahead.)

THANK GOODNESS I was wearing a helmet. I very well might not be here today if I hadn’t!

The Accident happened while I was riding at home on a horse I never thought would hurt me—she was too kind and had never unseated me. Did you know you can keep your seat even while in the air and with a horse on top of you? Yup. #helmetsavedmylife

In that moment, lying there on the ground, I thought that I might not make it. That this was it.

 

Then I started breathing again (I did have a very minor collapsed lung) and realized I was alive. I “yelled” (so I thought, it was more like a croak) to my boyfriend that “I can’t move…call an ambulance” and then immediately asked for my horse—all that mattered from there was that she was okay.

And then my next thought was “F***! I can’t work! And I’m broke! F***! And I just agreed to lease a barn! F***!”

Sorry for the language… Like I said, I’m just happy to be alive.

I ended up being air lifted by helicopter to St Mary’s Medical Center, a level one trauma center. I later joked that it was good thing that I wasn’t at Delray since that’s apparently where they take you when you’re going to die.

The paramedics gave me all the morphine they could before moving me, but it was still agonizing being lifted for the stretcher. I was lucid for the flight. I could recite the address, my mom’s number, how to get my boots off, exactly what was injured, what happened—everything. But I was super freaked out about the helicopter ride. I’m afraid of heights. I kept trying to ask the medics if they would hold my hand but they couldn’t hear me, so they thought I was in pain. Oh yeah, and they were kinda hot (maybe it was the drugs).

 

So there’s me, strapped down to a backboard in my undies (they cut my shirt and bra cut off) begging one of these hot dudes to hold my hand. Not awkward or anything. After that I got super loopy and started yelling creative obscenities.

The following day I had surgery on my arm. The physician’s assistant (PA) told me it would be three months before I could ride again. At the time, that seem outrageous. I said, “Absolutely not, I have to ride sooner than that.” I think I scared him because he was like “Well, we’ll see what the doctor says when you come back…”

Four days later I was released from the hospital and basically wheelchair bound. I wasn’t a shy person before this experience. But after being naked in a helicopter with hot medics and having to use a bedpan, I’m pretty sure I had no dignity left.

The PA was right, it was at least three months before I was able to ride again. The accident happened on April 20th. I didn’t get back on until July 12th and didn’t really start riding again until around July 20th. Thankfully, once I was in the saddle again things started coming back quickly and I was able to show in early August.

In September, only five months after my narrow escape from the Grim Reaper, I showed three horses in four championship classes at Regionals, qualifying two for the US Finals. Six months later, I’m preparing an Intermediate 2 horse for his Grand Prix debut and a Grand Prix horse for his third US Finals!

It’s amazing how much has changed in six months…

It’s even more amazing how much can change in one moment, one ride.

That’s one of the things I can’t get over. How earlier that day I was on the phone (on horseback) making plans for the following month. How I was on my last horse at that barn and I was about to head out to a lesson at another barn. How I didn’t ride that particular horse with my phone in my back pocket because I had put it on the charger and, had it been there, how it surely would have led to even worse injuries. How my boyfriend almost left before that ride but I talked him into staying because I wanted him to see how well my young mare was going.

 

It all changed in an instant—so cliche, but so true.

It’s a universal truth that if you’re going to ride horses, you’re going to fall off horses. You just never know when a young horse, or any horse really, is going to overreact or when their antics might cause them to lose their balance and fall. It’s the reason I always ride in a helmet.

But the accident really drove it home for me.

It’s unsettling to still see so many people (mostly professionals) not wearing helmets, and having the gall to post pictures and video on social media without helmets.

Yes, to each their own. Yes, your safety, your call. Yes, this is my opinion.

But take this into consideration—if you are a professional, there is likely more than one rider out there who looks up to you.

They want to be like you. Ride fancy horses like you. Look pretty on a horse like you. Get good scores like you. So they wear the same breeches, or ride in the same saddle. If you’re sponsored by a company, they buy that product. You subtly influence the actions and decisions of others because you, a professional, are a public figure in our industry.

So when professionals post videos to YouTube where they’re riding without a helmet, it’s inevitable that someone is going to watch and think “Oh, so-and-so doesn’t wear a helmet, so it must be ok, I don’t need to wear mine.” Or “Oh, so-and-so doesn’t wear a helmet and they look so cool while they ride, I want to look like them so I won’t wear mine.”

Guess what? That person was subtly influenced by you to make a decision that puts them at risk for serious injury—even death. Not cool.

Helmets are like cigarettes and seat belts. Sure, you’re taking your life in your hands and risking your own safety. You might think you’re not hurting anyone else, so it’s no one’s business but yours. But that’s not the case. You indirectly hurt others.

 

Take it from a trainer who is grateful to be alive. Stop the madness. Wear a f***ing helmet. #StrapOneOn