3 Alternate Uses For Your Riding Crop

People ask me why I carry a crop when I go trail riding.  Aside from the obvious answer, I have a lazy horse that often needs encouragement to go faster, there are a couple of other reasons I take the crop along.

Use 1:  Fly Swatter
In the summer time, the flies and gnats can be really annoying for both Chief and me so I carry a crop as a fly swatter.  For me, when the gnats keep flying around my face, I swish it around my shoulders, bouncing from one shoulder to the other and back.  This keeps those little buggers from buzzing around my ears.  Also, Chief is plagued by those sweat flies that like to attack his ears.  I put plenty of bug spray on but he sweats and then its all over, enter the flies.  So, I use the crop to brush the flies off of his ears so he doesn't have to shake his head so much.  WARNING:  Be sure to desensitize your horse to the crop so you don't spook him by touching his ears on a ride.  As I get close to the barn, while we are cooling off after a long ride, I do weird stuff while in the saddle to try and throw Chief off.  Since he's tired this a great time to do funky stuff like run the crop over his hind end, over his ears, shift around a lot in the saddle, etc.  This gets your horse used to you not sitting prim and proper so if something spooks him or you, he won't be thrown off by you wiggling around.  It's also good in case kids ever ride your horse, gets them used to the unexpected.

Use 2:  Trail Clearer
Trails are always a work in progress in that there are often trees across the trail or bushes grow and enter the trail space.  These branches and bushes are sometimes hard to grab while riding so I use a crop to push the branches out of my way.  This can be helpful especially while going faster than a trot and keeps you from getting scraped up.

Use 3:  Brier Remover
Just like bushes and trees, briers often take over the trail especially in the summer.  Since chaps aren't a possibility in the summer, (just because its too hot) getting briers off the trail before they get to you can be a big deal.  Those briers hurt and typically will go through a pair of jeans so having a crop on the trail to push those aside keeps you from getting scraped up.

So, on your next trail ride take a crop along and have it handy for multiple uses. The crop you choose to use is also important.  I have a red one so in case I drop it, it is easy to find.  Those English black ones blend in to the scenery so having one a different color like red will stand out if you drop it.  Of course use the little wrist let on the end, but crazy things happen sometimes.

Happy Trails!

3 Baby Products to Use On Your Horse

After working at a dude ranch, a boarding barn, and now being a horse owner, I've come across some products that you may have in your home that can be used around the barn too.  Turns out a few baby products are very useful in the horse world.

Product 1:  Baby powder
Got a creaky saddle?  Put baby powder under the skirt of your western saddle to eliminate that creaky noise.  Its a very simple technique, all you have to do is apply liberally.  This works for several months at a time.  If the noise comes back, just reapply.

Product 2:  Desitin
Desitin is used to eliminate diaper rash most commonly, but it has another use for pink nosed horses.  Horses like Chief that have a pink nose often suffer from sunburn in the summer.  Get a tube of Desitin and apply liberally to the nose.  This product is packed with zinc so it soothes sores that occur from sunburn.  And the zinc also acts as as sunscreen to product the skin from further damage.  The smell isn't fun for the horse, but they get over it just like using any other product on them.

Product 3:  Baby Oil
This one is one of my favorites.  For those of us with gelding horses, sheath cleaning is a chore that we don't really like all that much.  So to lengthen the time between sheath cleanings, when your horse is "hanging out" squirt some baby oil on his manly part.  The oil lubricates the area and helps to keep it clean thereby lengthening the time between cleanings.  I do this every couple of months or when I happen to notice Chief is hanging out.  Every horse is different in the frequency of sheath cleanings.  I've known some horse owners to clean once a month and others once a year.  Chief usually avoids any problems with a cleaning twice a year with baby oil in between cleanings.  Try it out and see what works for you.

Got any other products that we use in our daily lives that gets taken to the barn?  Feel free to share.