2009 may be winding down, but the season is not over yet! There are some great events taking place between now and the Christmas Holiday, don’t miss these events.

Quarter Horse Events:

NRHA Futurity – November 26- December 5, 2009 – OKC

NRHA Futurity Sale  – December 3-5, 2009 – OKC

NCHA Futurity Sale – December 5-13, 2009 – Fort Worth, Texas

NCHA Futurity Show – November 21 – December 13, 2009 – Fort Worth, Texas

Palomino Events

December 4-6, 2009 Florida Christmas Circuit

US Hunter Jumper Events

A full month of events including clinics with Frank Madden, Jeff Cook and more. Then annual USHJA meeting will also take place, vist USHJA for details.

Dressage Events

US Dressage Federation Convention and Clinic featuring Jan Brink. December 4-6, 2009 Travis County Expo Center, Austin, Texas

Jutta Heinsohn Dressage Clinic 12-13: mcmullenfarms@yahoo.com  Magnolia, Texas $100 per rider, Auditors Free

Variety Shows

Events at Great Southwest Equestrian Center – Katy, Texas

4-6 Gulf Coast Arabian Horse Club Christmas Show

5-6 Texas American Saddlebred Association Show

11-13 Britannia Farm Santa Claus Classic Quarter Horse Show

12-13 Houston Area Palomino Association Horse Show

Events from HorseShowCentral

Indiana – December 12-13 Winter Series – Penning, Sorting

Florida – December 19 Dressage & HJ Schooling @ Altantic Crossing

Texas – December 19 Ranch Sorting Benefit

If you have events in your area, please email and let us know. We would love you post local events from your area.  Lydiabagley@myhorseforsale.com.

It occurs to me as I sit looking at the majestic mountains of Angel Fire, New Mexico, the time for travel is up0n us, for some our companions can go with us or family comes to us, but every now and then, our equine friends get left at home. So what to do with them when we leave, how do you know they are safe, looked after, and getting the TLC they are used to?

Here are few tips to make your travels this season a little bit easier and hopefully less stressful.

If you own your property, and are leaving your horse at home.

1. Locate a trusted friend or pet sitter who comes highly recommended (call the vet/trainer for recommendations) to visit your horse at least 2x a day.  Am and Pm feedings, water check, and depending on the weather, blanketing.

2. If you are using someone who has not met your horse previously, be sure to have them come out ahead of time and meet. Make certain they are comfortable with each either.

3. Arrange to leave emergancy numbers on hand, vet, yourself, and other trusted equine professionals such as your trainer or Instructor.

4. Leave plenty of feed and hay available for your horse. You don’t want them to run out.

5. Notify your trainer, or vet that you will be out of town on certain dates, that way if there is an emergency they know it will be the caretaker calling, not you.

6. Workout payment prior to leaving and make sure all parties agree to the terms, sign a contract listing what is to be done in your absence.

7. Ask for email or cell number for the individual caring for your horse, so you can contact them and check in.

If you are leaving your horse with a Trainer or Boarding Stable.

1. Notify the stable with the dates you will be away, and leave contact information.

2. Make sure your horse has plenty of feed/hay.

3. If the stable is not full care, locate someone to perform the evening feeding and clean your horses stall. Many stables will do this for you, if you let them know in advance you will be gone, and offer to pay for the service.

If you have the option of traveling with your horse, and your destinations is greater than a 24 hours away, consider stopping in route to your destination, to give yourself and your horse a break.

1. If you have not seen the facility before, ask for pictures of stalls and runs.

2. Check to see that coggins, and other health papers are required to protect your equine friend.

3. Make sure there is plenty of trailer parking in secure area.

4. Carry feed, hay, water, and supplies with you. Feed and water your horse from your supplies.

Other basic safety meaures to take this holiday.

1. Lock all tack and equipment in a safe location

2. Lock all gates.

3. Stock up on feed and hay as many feed and grain stores will be closed on holidays.

Have a wonderful and Happy Holiday!

If you would like more information on keeping your safe email LydiaBagley@aggienetwork.com.VAcVAc

It’s almost that time of year again! As the fall and winter near, there will be mares and stallions being placed under lights as they are prepared for the next breeding season. This is also that time of the year when mare owners are desperately searching for that special stallion.

Stallion owners know that the only way to a successful breeding program is to get their stallions out on the market. There are various ways that you can do this and become a successful stallion owner. The most successful stallions are those that have proved themselves in the show ring or on the track. The fact of the matter is, however, that most stallions these days have very similar bloodlines. In order to be successful with those stallions, you will have to prove to mare owners that he is worthy over the other stallions that have similar bloodlines to his. These successful stallions will also be more worthy of a higher stud fee.

There are several ways that you can promote your stallion. The most popular is a print ad in the major journals of your breed followed by Internet advertising.

The Internet has become a huge outlet for finding stallions. Studies show that 4 out of 5 horse owners are on the Internet. This includes mare owners and other hobby breeders. They are online looking for great stallions that will add to the gene pool of their farm.

Promoting your stallion is an essential part to standing a stallion. The mare owners only know about you if you put your stallion on the web, show him, and advertise him.  Invest in quality photography and video that shows off your stallion. A thousand good words can’t undo the damage of one bad photo, so don’t skimp on a photo budget.

Your Stallions Own Website.
Create a webpage or an additional page on your farm’s website for the stallion. A webpage has the advantage that it is working for you 24-7.  You can also use it to provide possible clients with additional info, more photos and even an online video of the stallion.

MyHorseForSale.com offers Stallions Advertising, Farm Packages with unlimited ads and individual horse ads.

Companies like Green Speak Media can create a website for you.

We’ve all seen it, an hour long session with the trainer and your horse is sore the next day, pinned ears when you saddle up, cross firing at the canter, lameness. While many issues horses exhibit are considered behavioral, some have roots in pain. Today’s article will look at using massage therapy and chiropractic’s to relieve the pain or ” behavioral issue” and create a more willing partner vs traditional methods.

I admit, I’m guilty. I had a horse who cross fired at the canter. I considered this a training issue, he tossed his head when asked to canter, I considered that a training issue. After 5 years of owning this horse and using multiple training techniques and going to clinics his “training/behavior issues” still existed.

People have visited massage therapist and chiropractors for years. Its a common practice in humans, you dislocate a hip, shoulder, need your back realigned, pain in joints. A visit to your chiropractor and/or massage therapist and you feel like a new person.

So why not use this practice in horses?

Horse’s get sore muscles, their spines get out of alignment, and yet we rarely think maybe the pain they experience from this causes some of the behavior and training issues we see. From a Holistic stand point, it doesn’t make sense to feed a supplement, or a pain killer that mask’s whats going on.

What is Massage therapy for Horses? Massage Therapy for horses, relaxes muscles, stretches muscles and joints, and allows soft tissue manipulation to allow bones and joints to return to normal positions, Massage therapy reduces muscle spasms.

Chiropractic Therapy is the use of force to realign bones and joints within the horses body, not focusing on the soft tissue or muscle. Like a human chiropractic treatment the focus is on the position of bone.

Many horses benefit from both massage and chiropractic work, others benefit more from one or the other. Its always important to involve your vet when choosing a massage or chiropractic therapist for your horse.

Does it work? From personal experience the answer is “yes.”

After 2 sessions my gelding could canter correctly, stopped tossing head when asked to canter, and become more joyful to ride. A friend also had her gelding worked on, his extension increased, the stiffness left his hindquarters and he was able to begin jumping.

For More Information Visit the following websites.

Equi-Sports Massage – Austin Texas

Texas Equine Massage – serving central Texas

Dr. Dagan – Chiropractic Irving, Texas

Motion Chiropractic – Austin, Texas

If you would like additional information on equine massage, please email LydiaBagley@aggienetwork.com, if you are massage therapist/ or chiropractor in this area please email me and I will add you to my reference list.

Holistic Health Care encompasses many things, in Part 1 of this series I discussed Holistic feeding and deworming programs. In today’s article we are going to focus on Fly and Pest control.

Lets start with fly control – Its late in the season for flies this year, but never to late to get a jump on next year! One of the simplest solutions is Fly Predators. Fly predators eat fly larvae in manure, they are non toxic, and do not harm the environment. Fly Predators only travel about 150 feet. They do not kill existing adult flies, but eat the larvae from breeding grounds. Using fly predators throughout the spring and summer reduces the number of pest flies produced. Fly predators are produced by Spalding Labs. Another company producing a similar product is Arbico.

Fly Sprays – Arbico also produces a fly spray for use in conjunction with Fly Predators (Eliminators). The product is called Holistic Fly Guard. It is provided in 32oz bottles and is diluted 5 parts water to 1 part Fly Guard. This product replaces your traditional chemical fly sprays.

The third option for fly control is a feed through additive that create natural shields around the horse from the inside out. Consider FlyAwayGarlic. 100% cold pressed garlic that is added daily to the feed. Garlic is reputed to have multiple beneficial functions in addition to preventing fly bites. Visit Equilite for more information on this product.

A great Pest and Fly Control is Diatomaceous Earth (DE.) it works for lice, mites, and ticks. Using food grade DE in wet areas, breeding grounds, stalls, and small paddocks will dry out larve and adult flies. Be careful to only use in DE in areas where the flies are producing, as it will kill beneficial bugs as well. For more information on DE visit Wolf Creek Ranch.

For More information on Holistic Health Care visit these sites:

Nation Wide:

Dr. Ward

Grand Adventures Ranch

Holistic Horse Health

Have you ever wondered if Holistic Health care for your horse might alleviate costs and keep your horses healthier? There is a huge debate in horses and in people on whether or not Holistic is better. There are many (myself included)  who have always done things the traditional way, deworm ever 6 weeks, shoes every 6, and processed grains. I am beginning to question if traditional is best not only for my own health, but my horses as well. This is part one of a series on Holistic Horse Health Care: Dewormers and Feeding.

Dewormers: I posted a previous article discussing anthelmintic resistance in horses and the need to rotate or as some research has found to continue using the same product. The article also discussed the classes of dewormers available. Current Holistic research shows there are several good products on the market for deworming horses without overloading the digestive system with chemicals.

I found two products on Natural Horse Network and they are similar to others I found. Equine Herbal Wormer ($23 for 8oz.) and Natural Herbal Paste.($14.99)

Remember an effective deworming program starts with a fecal count test, and keeping new horses seperate until you can determine their parasite load.

Feeds: How many of us have rushed out to try a new feed, low calorie (for the gelding that eats to much) or low sugar (for the mare that’s always hyper)? I know I have, but before we keep jumping and running to buy the “latest” feed, we should look at nutrition in equines and understand what we are feeding. Horses were designed to each grass and grains, not by products. Some bags don’t list whole ingredients, I wonder if I can’t tell what the ingredient is, is it good for my horse? Horses that don’t have access to pasture, should have free choice hay, as this simulates grazing and keeps the horse happy and the gut working properly.

Dynamite Marketing – This is a company producing organic feed rations and supplements for horses. Check their website for a distributor near you.

Websites for additional research:

Holistic Horse Keeping – DVM in Austin, Texas, site contains articles, blogs, and links to much more

Grand Adventures Ranch has pioneered a holistic approach to boarding and healing horses including cancer treatment.

Do you currently have 10 or more head of coming two-year olds? Have you heard of the “Road to the Horse” Championships?

Each year 3 of the nations best Horsemen or Women select a colt to start during the “Road to the Horse” event. Horsemen include Tommy Garland, Clinton Anderson, Craig Cameron, John Lyons, Chris Cox, and many more.

If you have a herd of 10, 2 year-olds, your remuda could be chosen for the 2010 event. Contact “Road to the Horse” for more information and for herd requirements.