Winter Trail Ride

Well thanks to rain and the holiday season, I've not been able to ride nearly as much as I'd like.  But that is just how life goes in the winter time.  There is always another Christmas party to attend, another gift to buy, etc.  Now, I try to schedule these types of activities on rainy days but it just doesn't work out that way sometimes.  So this past week I had to ride in less than ideal conditions, but beggars can't be choosy right?

It was rainy though not raining, the ground was pretty wet though not soaked, and it was cold but not that cold. And it had been nearly two weeks since I'd gotten in a good ride so I decided to venture out.  Chief was a little hesitant at first (he typically is).  There is a certain creek crossing that he often refuses to cross.  Now folks this horse is not scared of the water, he is just plain lazy and we've had "discussions" at this location before and why not break tradition right?  This day he may have crossed it, but I had to stop and take a picture because I couldn't believe how high the water was.

And since I stopped, Chief decided our lack of momentum was a great reason to stop and refuse to go forward.  Now, if you have a horse like this, my way of dealing with it is simple.  I very nicely squeeze with my legs, put my hands forward, and ask him to move on.  If he backs up, I let him back up.  If there is something behind him to run into that is really nice because he typically scares himself forward.  In this instance, I was not so lucky.  So once he stops, I ask again with digging my heels into his sides, hands forward again.  If he still doesn't listen, I smack him on the butt which usually causes him to do a crow hop.  He thinks this will scare me.  However, I immediately whack his butt again to show that a crow hop gets a smack.  I call it the double tap.  This usually gets him moving forward as he doesn't like getting smacked with a crop. If the crow hops continue, the smacks continue.  It didn't go this far this time, but it has in the past.  As soon as he stops crow hopping and moves forward, the punishment stops.  It has to be immediate.  Clinton Anderson always says make the wrong thing hard and the right thing easy so I do my best to follow this saying.  Also, you will notice that I always ask nicely first, a little firm the next time, and if you don't listen by the third time, then I'm showing additional force.

So we continued on the trail also known as the workout trail.  Maybe this is why Chief hates this creek crossing, he knows there's lots of work on the other side of that creek...  But once we got over that hurdle Chief found some spunk.  I've had him on grain now for about three weeks.  In the winter Chief looses weight so I put him on grain to keep the weight on.  Well this also puts a little fire into him so once we got rolling it was hard to get him to stop.  This is what you get for not riding for nearly two weeks!  We galloped up the hills and I just hang on.  Luckily I was wearing my chaps, love those things!  There is a really pretty little spot on this trail that I just love.  You come down a steep hill into a creek crossing and go right back up, but its a pretty little area.

The sound of the water and being out on the trail in the cold alone was great.  We (I) complain about the cold but in no time at all it'll be summer again and the creeks will be dry.  So I must remember to enjoy the winter because it is wetter.  The footing on the trail was less than ideal but it didn't seem to bother Chief as he continued to tear up the hills.  We winded our way back down to the creek trail and headed toward the barn. By the end of it, Chief had finally wore himself out so that was a good thing.  I made a mental note to myself to make sure I get up to the barn a little more often so I don't have such a crazy horse.  But we had a great time, and the weekend is already within site again!

Rain, Rain, Go Away...

Recently, East Tennessee has experienced quite a bit of rain.  Where there's rain there is often rain rot and thrush.  These two lovely conditions affect different parts of the horse but can be equally annoying.  We'll start with the rain rot.

For those unfamiliar with rain rot, it is a bacteria that lives in the skin of horses and causes little scabs over a broad area.  The scabs will come out with tufts of hair.  Sometimes it affects a small area, sometimes all over... Chief is especially prone to rain rot, he's just a sensitive guy.  So I am forever trying to get rid of it so I have tried a lot of different products to cure it.  MSM is a favorite of many, I tired that, apparently Chief is allergic to it (see...sensitive).  So then I tried some Cowboy Magic products as a friend swore by them.  Yeah, didn't do much.  Then I heard about a great cheap alternative... Pine Power.  Yes, it is a floor cleaner found at your local grocery store.  Please note, this is not Pine Sol, but Pine Power.  You take a cap full, put it in a bucket with some water and sponge it on.  I like to rub it into the coat really well in the affected area.  Then, you leave it on, and just sweat scape them down.  This solution is gentle enough to use every day and gets rid of the rain rot quickly.  And best of all its super cheap since you only use a cap full at a time.  Try it out the next time you run into some rain rot.

That brings us to thrush.  Thrush is another bacteria that grows in areas of your horses hoof that doesn't get a lot of air.  This happens especially when its wet because the all the mud gets shoved into the hoof and no air gets to the hoof.  This is exacerbated if your horse wears shoes.  The shoe helps hold all the mud and manure next to the hoof and then of course creates thrush.  This smelly black spot on your horses foot can be easily cured with one of my favorite products, Kopertox.  It is a green stinky, sticky product itself, but it helps immensely.  I prefer it in its aerosol form so it is less messy, it is a little more expensive this way, but is totally worth it.  Farnam also makes a clear gel but it really doesn't work as well at least in my little humble opinion. 

So next time the rain won't go away, if your horse develops some lovely rain rot or thrush, try these products out and see if they help for you.  In the mean time, Chief and I will keep dodging rain storms and ride on the nice days in between.