I’d like to start this week’s column by making you aware of my new email address - kristim@hiway16.com We had to change the address due to the numerous junk mails I was receiving at the old address.

For those of you who send and receive lots of emails, I’d like to remind you to please use the Blind Carbon Copy feature whenever possible. Using BCC hides the email addresses of all of the recipients - thereby not allowing a spammer (a person who sends junk mail to multiple people, whether they know them or not) to add those addresses to their mailing lists.

When you forward jokes and other unpersonalized mail, make sure you delete the previous email addresses before sending the joke along. If the jokes are inside several emails, try forwarding them from the email window the jokes are in, rather than from the one that was sent to you. All of these ploys will help to reduce the number of addresses added to mailing lists, which is greatly appreciated by anyone and everyone who has received unsolicited junk mail in their Inbox! (and no, there is no beta tracking program offered by Microsoft that will only pay you if you leave all those addresses there... )

Now on to better news - MY FIRST RIDE!!
Yup, I did it! I have finally ridden my two year old. Well, I sat on her a few times, for a brief moment each time, last fall, and again this spring. These were actual *rides* - short, I admit, but real rides. I tied my lead rope around onto her halter, led her over to the fence, and bailed on.

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

I’ve done that enough times already to her that I know she’ll stand for it, and lots of praise and a few cookies helped her confirm that having me on her back is no big deal.

After about 3 minutes, I hopped off of her, praised her, and let her go for a few minutes. Then I caught her up and did it again for 2 minutes. By keeping the rides extremely short at first, I give her mental space to think about it, and also allow her physical structure to adjust.

If you decide to start your horse in training under the age of four, it is exceptionally important to keep the riding sessions short. Keeping them short stresses their backs a minimal amount of time. Stress is what conditions the body - as long as you don’t overdo it. With a two year old, I am aware of how easily I can hurt her, and so I kept my sessions very short and simple.

I can hardly wait for another chance to ride her! Working with any age horse can be so rewarding, and working with a youngster who is a completely clean slate is even more so!

‘Til next week, I hope you can find some time to spend with your madly shedding critters,
~ Kristi :)

(Kristi has updated the 2003 Events List, again)

Would you like to Share a Trailer Ride? View the rides offered here... or submit your offer for a ride here
Foal Announcements View the latest or...
If you have a Foal Announcement you wish to submit, click here

Due to a technical glitch, the Retraining a Spoiled Horse series will continue next week with helping the owner whose horse won’t move over. Sorry to keep you waiting!

If you have comments or suggestions along the way, please share with me at kristim@hiway16.com

As in last week’s column, the following information does not come from veterinarians, but is compiled from emails that I received when I was on the quest for information about strangles. If you suspect strangles in your horses, please always start by contacting your veterinarian.
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Personal stories
(compiled to help you gain mental experience in recognizing and combatting strangles)
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I have been acquainted with strangles for 40 years and have dealt with it numerous times. You don't see it much now and consequently a lot of horse owners fortunately for them have never had it and therefore don't know what it is until it is there in the herd.

How to tell strangles from rhino or flu - you are right about it sounding like any upper respiratory. Usually a cough is first without other noticeable signs. Dull lethargy without obvious signs seem next and then the swelling under throat or side of jaws. Taking their temperature when the lethargy signs appears to be in order, but constant monitoring after
swelling begins will give temperatures that will spike at 103 to 105 degrees. Lab work won't help because when you realize you have a problem it is usually in the full blown stage.

Antibiotics can drive the strangles internal which is bastard strangles and much more dangerous to the horse. The lumps under the throat and on the neck on each side have to rupture to get on the road to recovery and to keep it from going internal. Sometime you have to lance them but should monitor them until they are ready to drain. Mine had severe coughs and I gave cough syrup orally and cough powder on the feed. I had two three month olds that got it and they never missed a meal and did fine without any medication. If it can be allowed to run it's course it is better, but careful monitoring of the horse's breathing and eating is required because the term strangles is a reality if the lumps close the throat. It can be deadly if not treated properly.

Once a horse has it, supposedly they have a lifetime immunity to it. I had two mares in training and just before they were brought home, they were exposed (unknown to me) to a horse brought in from a sale barn. One came through ok, the other one had severe complications and had to be treated with sulfa drugs. She was in such distress that I thought I might lose her.
Elsie
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We had a terrible bout of strangles this past winter. We of course had just opened our new facility (barn and indoor arena) and 3 weeks after opening one of the client horses brought it in. Needless to say we had many more after that. Nothing too terribly serious, one mare that broke out all over her body, which I had never encountered! I always thought that only happened with bastard strangles and the only way to have that was to have started a antibiotic run and not continue it long enough, which we never did.

I have only treated one case with antibiotics and it was a yearling that had the lump right in his windpipe and it was literally choking him. 21 days later of penicillin and bute and he did come around.

We have totally repainted and pulled every stall mat, bleached the cement underneath and used heavy duty antibacterial cleaner on every part of the stalls that was not painted, don't know what more I can do. So far we have been clean for 5 months so here's hoping....... It is virtually impossible to stop from coming in again though as new horses coming in can appear totally healthy. We do try to put new ones in the smaller "cold" barn for the first week but we sometimes have 3 or 4 new ones coming in at a time. It’s just 'one of those things'.
Lisa
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We just recently had strangles go through our barn. Symptoms were: Fever, lethargy, dry painful cough, a lot of thick nasal discharge. It swept through all the horses and took close to a month or more. None were treated and they have all recovered. A lot of the horses there did not come in contact with the others (that I know of), so it must have been from somebody patting one and then patting another.
Danielle
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If you have information to share, please email me at kristim@hiway16.com

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