Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Terrible Equine Toll From Victoria's Fires

Well, the fig birds won the battle and the tree is now devoid of fruit. Any ideas for next year? The local lake flooded and so had to be opened...but of course the exposed mudbanks smell awfull at low tide..urgh.
We've been looking at the toll of equine damage from the Victorian fires and it's not pretty. We've got an article for you on that.

A 550 million year old source of minerals and trace elements for your horse or pony. Mined from the vast and ancient Himalayan mountains, transported down steep passes on the backs of Yaks, and providing the mountain people with one of their main sources of income, these Himalayan salt licks must be the purest form of salt available. They cost a bomb...are they really worth it?

One Hour to Rodent Control
Consider these measures to protect your horses and property from the ravages of rats and mice.Barns and stables provide horses with shelter and sustenance--but they provide the same service to rodents who happily nest in any number of tiny spaces in barns or tack rooms, and consume spilled grain, cat or dog food and other feed sources they find.

The best estimate of the equine toll from Victoria's bushfires is in the region of several hundred. About 50 horses are reported to be receiving intensive veterinary care as a result of injuries. There's more news here

Chris Cox’ entire life has been influenced by his relationship with the horse. He moved with his ranching family from Florida when he wasn’t yet two-years-old, to an island off the coast of northeast Australia to raise cattle. Here's a blog radio talk from him.

Deanna Castro has written about 'Legs, Feel, and The Correct Stirrup Length' in her blog this week and it's worth a look to get things right.

There is a degree of horsemanship in almost every country on the planet and I thought it might be fun for horse lovers to see what the word horse looks like in other languages.

Here's a fascinating point of view from an American on the the value of the wild or wilderness, and their decreasing use of, interest in, and value placed on the wild places…um. Interesting to see other people's perspective and compare it with our own.

Courses for old horses. Ex-racehorses should be eased into a career change or good care - I can equate with that!

We're still offering a 2 for 1 deal on H10 ointment. Click here to see what others think about it and why it's do darned good.

Have a great week!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Paddling on the Mid North Coast!

We've had over 300mls of rain here on the Mid North Coast in the past two days. I have a family of miscellaneous birds sheltering under the back deck - all of them soaked and looking very sorry for themselves but what a mess they leave!! Costs me a fortune in birdseed too.

We have a NEW competition - tell us the most amusing or entertaining story about you and a horse...any horse. Mine might as well be the time I had a 'certain' tip from a horse trainer friend of mine for the Melbourne Cup. The nag is still running! You can think of better than that I'm sure so let us know here. Great prizes for the best entry every month and of course, the 'tame vet' has been roped in to help judge the entries.

Equine charity Project Hope Horse Welfare Victoria (PHHWV) has launched a lost and found registry for horses misplaced during the recent bushfires in the Australian state of Victoria. The registry can be accessed via the PHHWV Web site

Communicating Effectively With Your Horse? Deanna Castro asks that everyone listen to their horses this week, and deepen the communication with your equine parters. Have a look and see if you agree.

Teaching a young horse how to longe is a useful tool to have in your training toolbox. At different stages in his career, you can longe him to increase his fitness and to help him understand new training techniques. But as you train him, you need to be sure he doesn't begin to pull. In this article, I'll share some basic lessons that will keep him light while longeing. Courtesy of Equisearch.

You Know You're a Horseperson if You...
Horse people see the world differently than everyone else, and you know you're a horse person if you do these things.

Here's a nice, short video with a good song attached of two horses running and playing in the snow - courtesy of J Ross on You Tube.

Sue De Laurentis and Allen Pogue live at Red Horse Ranch in Dripping Springs, TX. Their web site is www.imagineahorse.com and here's a video of what they do.
You can make up your own mind....beans bags and all!

Plenty of good horse books still at 20% discount on the web site.


Have a great week!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Brand New 'Jockeys' - The Latest Reality Show For Horselovers

Hi there,
There's a real mix of articles, videos and blogs this week.

Michael Bragdell talks about young horses bred and started at Hilltop Farm in Colora, Md., and shares a video from the 2008 Breeders Group Class at Dressage at Devon.

You can use this friendly game to get your horse used to you and comfortable with the carrot stick and to being touched all over. But did you know you can also use a friendly game to desensitize your horse to just about anything?

The Horse magazine appears to have had a makeover and there's ton of great info on ALL aspects of horses and horse events. In their Articles index, there are articles about literally every aspect of the horse ...and from contributors all over the Horse world. Well worth a look!

Tips for getting your halter horse ready for the ring. 'America’s Horse Daily recently received the following question, and we were able to answer it with a video our youth members filmed during the AQHYA World Championship Show'. Interesting video for kids and beginners.

In the US, there's been a spate of horses losing tails to thieves! Why?..I don't know and I don't know what a thief would do with a horses' tail either. Read this strange story here.

Move over, Heidi Klum and Paris Hilton. Some of the littlest guys in sports are joining you on reality television. "Jockeys," a 12-episode series taking viewers behind the scenes of the backstabbing, big-money, dangerous world of horse racing, debuts Friday on Animal Planet. Um!

Ex-wife demands $53,000/ week alimony!! What's that to do with horses you might ask? Have a read and see how much she's asking for horse care!!! I take no side in any of this though!

We've put some of the best selling (according to Amazon) horse books on the H10 web site and all at 20% discount. Go on, have a look!

Part of the difficulty of learning horsemanship for anyone is mastering the complex vocabulary that has grown up around riding and horse care. It is that much more complicated if one is only nine years old, and even more complicated when trying to explain to another 9 year old that one's horse has
been gelded. Read this lovely short article.

Have a great week.
Geoff

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

25 Ways To Have Fun With Your Horse

Welcome to February...and a heat wave or a drenching depending on where you live! Great info for you this week and some brand new books too!

Have More Fun With Your Horse - In January 2009 Horse & Rider gave you over 25 great ideas on how to enjoy your horse on a budget. Here are the resources promised in that article. Worth a good look since there are plenty of great ideas here.

Here's the wrap up report from last weeks Royal Melbourne Horse Show - goodness knows how they survived the heat...and the tennis fans.

Learning From Wild Horses - The third guest post in a 3 part series put together by Eleanor D. Van Natta. This one is on health and nutrition. Interesting.

The cavesson headcollar or headstall is a simple but strongly made bitless bridle with a low fitting, padded noseband, throatlatch and, in some cases, a browband - if you've never heard of it or seen it,
it's an interesting piece of horse tack.

Here's a blog on natural horsemanship which I found very instructive and practical....and down to earth too unlike some of the wacky horse blogs around. There's some 15+ language though.....Here's great post about 'The Horse training Video from Hell'.

EquiSearch's Ask the Vet looks at a 'Grumpy Horse'.
In this edition of EquiSearch.com's Ask the Vet, Dr. Joyce Harman suggests cutting out sweet feed and checking for pain to help a grumpy horse improve his attitude.

Horse Jobs - Stall Cleaner. This is a position usually found in larger establishments with many animals to look after. It is often a starting point for someone looking to earn experience around horses. Not my ideal job but worth a look if you are heading for a career that way.

Here's the February 1, 2009 edition of 'Carnival of the Horse' from Blog Carnival. This is the second carnival this year and it's a great list of new horse blogs with tons of info on all kinds of horsey things. OK, so I'm not on this one but then it's American - but I will be listing for the next!

Monty Roberts makes the argument that looking a horse in the eye drives him away, that it is interpreted by the horse as a challenge. But is it? There are ways and means to do anything as you'll read here

We have some great new horse books available including two from Mark Rashid - 'Horses Never Lie' and 'A Good Horse Is Never A Bad Colour.' If you haven't heard of Mark then you can read more here.
All our books are 20% off list price of course as I share my wholesaler margin with you 50/50.

Have a great week!