Is your horse destroying your barn, shelters, and fencing with his wood chewing habit? A horse that has taken to gnawing on wooden fences, stall doors, and stable walls can not only cause extensive damage to the facility, the splinters he swallows may put him at risk of colic or other gastrointestinal problems.

When a growing resistance to dewormers is cited as a major issue concerning horse owners today, a fecal exam to see if your parasite control program is working makes sense. Collecting a manure sample is easy, but it must be done properly to ensure accurate test results.

Aches in the hip and lower back areas are very common in women equestrians because they are often riding in saddles that have been built for men. Because a woman’s pelvis is different from a man’s, women riding in a “male” saddle may face back, knee, hip, and pelvic pain and experience difficulty maintaining proper position and posture in the saddle.

There is nothing more fun and productive for me and my horses than when we have a real purpose. Whether it is gathering the cows, jumping a log, or climbing a mountain, it is an opportunity for us to do something together.

If I didn’t trust my own judgment about behaviour I would often take a horse down the wrong path. The corrections I make and the responses I encourage are all based on the assumption that I understand the intention behind a horse’s action. If I misinterpret an action, I could easily reprimand a horse for an unintentional action or inadvertently reward a response that was unwanted.

Okay, so training means the obvious: attempting to learn, and scheduling time for that learning. This we all know very well. What is less familiar, less practiced, are elements that support and facilitate this learning