I’d like to start this week’s column by making you aware of my new email address - kristim@hiway16.com

I had mentioned in the March 11 column that I was considering not leasing Tori out. Part of that indecision was brought about by concerns I had regarding the lease contract, which had been drawn up by the lessee and it was less detailed than I felt comfortable with. Being so busy with other things, I kept shoving the lease contract to the bottom of the briefcase, until March was half through and I realized that the lessee was expecting Tori to show up any day on their doorstep and I hadn’t even made up my mind!

I took a deep breath and did what I should have done when I first received the contract - I called the lessee. After a long discussion, I sent them a copy of the standard lease I usually use and Terry promised to rewrite her lease. Turns out she had never leased a horse before and had no idea what needed to be in the contract - she seemed happy to rewrite it using much of my material. Imagine my relief!

I received the paperwork via email a few days later, made a few more small changes, signed them and then sent them off with Tori. I was lucky to find a friend who was hauling that way anyway, someone who I trusted to take my mare, which saved me making the trip.

Tori left on Monday morning, March 31. I may not see her for a year and a half, or possibly even two and a half years if she doesn’t catch this year.

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

It’s kind of an odd feeling, to know that she is going to be gone for that long! I spent a lot of time trying to learn to ride her better, and after the Kevin Pole clinic in January was really feeling that I was getting somewhere.

However, with my subsequent move to town, and having her still on the south side, I just wasn’t riding her much - and then once I moved her to my new place, I didn’t ride at all. I do have a truck and a trailer now, but still don’t have a hitch installed, so hauling out to an arena is still not an option!

The one nice thing is that the little spare time I do have can be spent on my filly. I know I have a tendency to ride the broke horse instead of the green one (past experience!) so this way if I want to ride, I’ll have to spend the time on my filly.

And I have been doing that some of the time! I’ve climbed on Karisma a few times in the past few weeks, though she is pretty feisty. As soon as I get the hitch and wiring done on my truck, I’d like to start hauling her to the indoor arena at Liz Kempainnen’s place in Burns Lake - we need some large space with safe footing for her to burn around in! Once she has worked off some of her cooped up energy, then I can feel safer about actually starting her under saddle work.

I hope you are starting your spring plans with your horse - if you can find him under all that hair!
‘ Til next week,
~ Kristi :)

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Break things down into simple steps in order for your horse to better understand them. Remember to cue with a verbal command as well, to help the horse be clear that you are asking for a movement of some sort. I like to cluck for movement - the same cue I would use for under saddle, being led, or just handling on the ground. Any time I ask for a movement, I back it up with a cluck and the horse learns that a cluck means “Move Your Feet” - and that the hands or lead rope or legs or weight combine to tell him “Where” to move them.

When you first begin lessons asking your horse to move over, start with the hips as it is usually easier to move the hips than the shoulders. Apply pressure partway along the barrel, as close as possible to where your leg cue would be while riding. I like to start with my thumb, braced on top of my partly closed fist. I’ll explain as best I can - first make a fist with the thumb out, then turn the hand so that the thumb is on top. I use the thumb to push, and the knuckles also back up the cue.

Beware of signs such as a pinned ears, swishing tail and raised hind legs, as some horses will kick out at this pressure. If possible, stand further forward towards the shoulders and make sure you are not pressed up against a wall where you can’t get away from the horse.

If your horse moves away from you, immediately release the pressure and praise the horse. If your horse doesn’t move away from you, you have a couple of different options, which I like to do in increments. Start by trying to wait the horse out (it could take a while), then you can start *niggling* the spot by moving your hand while not releasing the pressure, and finally, if the horse still hasn’t moved away or is leaning into you harder, you can enforce the cue with a solid smack in the belly with your other hand.

Patience can be tough to do. You are likely exerting quite a bit of pressure and chances are your arm will tire out before the horse moves! Also, as the time goes by, the spot on the horse’s side that are cueing will become slightly numb, and the horse will be able to tune it out better. This is where *niggling* comes in.

By niggling the spot, you are increasing the annoyance to the horse. Don’t forget, this horse can feel a teeny fly land on his side, so you know he can feel you! He just doesn’t know that this is a cue yet. You try to annoy him in the hopes that he will move away from you - again as soon as he moves away, release the pressure and praise him!

Continued next week...

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

As in the last few weeks, 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 continued...
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The only way it travels through the air for miles is if snot or pus is flying through the air. This belief that it is airborne led to a permanently scarred mare. The trainer believed that it can be airborne, so there was nothing that could be done once one horse got strangles. She quarantined NO ONE. Bits and halters were shared. Needless to say, strangles spread.

The mare that got it the worst (and she was one of the last to be infected) had it for about 3 months, and we thought she was going to die. She was very sick and sloughed the skin off her legs. She is fine now, with partly pink legs - she is missing hair all over her legs. The mare went to another trainer and showed for about 2 years - scars and all!

Had the trainer had the facts and known that it was not an airborne illness, the outcome at that facility would have been SO much different.
Tammara
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With the rate of Strangles going around this year, there's lots of people might benefit from this info....

Be aware that there is a "new" version of Strangles out there (our place was the first known to be hit by it, two winters ago, and we just gelded a promising young stallion who was rendered infertile by it!)

This new Strangles has an unusually high infection rate, as well as an unusually high complication rate...Bastard Strangles and Purpura Hemhorragica. The other problem with it is that it is ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANT.

Yes, I know that antibiotics are not typically called for with Strangles, but are definitely necessary with Bastard Strangles and Purpura. The only medicine we found (through sensitivity cultures) to be effective, was CHLORAMPHENICOL.

Please, if you have a horse that is fighting what seems to be a particularly bad case of Strangles, or has some continuing malaise, get it checked by a vet, and make sure he runs a sensitivity culture before putting it on the usual Pen G.

I can not tell you the agony this disease caused us. Though we lost none of the 17 horses infected, the young stallion mentioned above suffered for a long time, and very nearly did not survive. He had an internal abscess the size of two footballs in his abdomen.

And please, if you have Strangles on your place, quarantine yourself!! We lost six months of business due to our self imposed quarantine (not legally required), but at least I have the peace of mind knowing we didn't spread it. I know others who have lost horses to Strangles this year. It is not always just a "young horse" thing like chicken pox in our kids - IT IS SERIOUS!

Sorry to be so negative, but that's the way it is. If anyone would like more info on the strain of Strangles that hit our horses, or treatments that helped, please feel free to contact me.

Marcia.
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If you have information to share, please email me at kristim@hiway16.com

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