NATURAL HORSE NEWS

Issue 47, May/June 2004. Published by Cynthia Cooper.

Cynthia’s Say…

Well, now that Agfest is over, life returns to normal…. As you will read from my report below, it was a hugely successful event and helped many more people find out about the fun you can have with horses. The Horse Psychology workshop has been filled with new people and many took advantage of purchasing from the new range of Natural Equine equipment at realistic low prices.

Altogether, Autumn has been a very active time with the horses – the Easter camp, Young Horse Starting workshops and Agfest have kept us busy and with the help of my current live-in student, Roland from Switzerland, it has been possible for me to keep up the pace.

We also managed to fit in float training of the foals and yearling Fantasy to enable moving them to greener pastures. You can view the photos from the website.

Unfortunately, with little time to compute, I have neglected my web site but now that the winter months are here, I will be adding lots more info for you all to access so I’ll keep everyone informed of the bigger changes.

By the way, let me know what you think of my new logo above for future caps, vests and shirts.

Enjoy the read.

Cynthia.                                                                            

 AGFEST INAUGURAL CHALLENGE TOURNAMENT

After a 2 year absence from Agfest, our return as Natural Horse World featuring the first Challenge Tournament for students, was indeed a huge success. I have heard so many positive comments about how much people enjoyed seeing all the students and the high level of horsemanship they have achieved that I am considering retiring my Manny (star of Agfest demos for 6 years) from future performances!!

Leading up to the big event we ran a Tournament practice day at the Deloraine show grounds for our April play day which gave everyone a chance to get a feel for the tasks, timing and scoring. Thankfully, everyone also learned to be on time!

From there we refined the tasks (see the website for a copy) equipment needed and organized the entries so there was continual activity in our arena in the West Demo area apart from when we all performed in the central arena once daily.

These half hour performances were packed with wonderful examples of imagination and good horsemanship and it was an incredible de-sensitising to crowds experience for the horses who all coped remarkably well.

The crowds were wowed by Helen, Ashleigh (8) and Mitchell (6) showing how quiet the family ponies (Woodstock and Tommie) can be by riding backwards, standing on their backs while facing a cracking whip, getting both to stand on the big block and bowing.

Then Shirley and Piper showed how a big thoroughbred can back into a float followed by Liz and Nara backing in at Liberty and Denise and Lord riding in and sliding off.

Roland and Lucky demonstrated trust with standing up bridleless and doing a shoulder stand while Deb and Coby showed the ultimate friendly game with a tarp all over then towing it tied to his tail over a jump.

Louisa, Tammy and Chloe demonstrated the games we play on the ground while I mirrored with a ridden version and Catherine showed how a young horse can cope with a friendly ball bouncing all over and around while Meg (11) mounted Fluer with a classic frog jump over the rump.

Joylene and her lovely Pinto stallion Anawa then showed mounting with help from the horse over the neck and wowed everyone with her flying lead changes, sideways over barrels and jumping 3 big barrels standing up while bareback. On the first day Anawa even obliged by lying down but after discovering the arena surface was too rocky for his delicate skin, managed a bow thereafter.

Jen and Zamir proudly showed off their Old Mac boots and helped introduce Dave MacDonald and barefoot trimming guru, Peter Laidley along with Nola Cooke  and her Equine Tension Release Therapy.

Manny and I had fun riding around bareback and bridles while commentating, standing on the block with all 4 feet and then me doing my signature stand up bareback.

Back in the Tournament arena at our site students had 30 minutes to complete Float loading, Liberty, Freestyle riding and Trail course tasks to achieve the highest points in the fastest time. Special thanks to all the scorers who helped make it possible to run the event smoothly.

And the winners were:

1^st prize of a pair of Old Mac Boots went to Helen Vagg riding the tiny Woodstock who achieved maximum possible points.

2^nd prize of a set of Hoof Trimming equipment, CD and private lesson with Peter Laidley went to Joylene Dudink and Anawa.

3rd Prize of $100 cash donated by Williams, Saltmarsh & Associates (Accountants in Ulverstone) went to Deb Johnson and Coby.

4th Prize of a Workshop with Cynthia went to Liz Stanfield and Nara.

5^th Prize of a Natural Equine 3.5m lead went to Louisa Bygraves and Ben.

6^th place went to Tammy Miller and Angel.

7^th place went to Ashleigh Harvey and Tommie.

8^th Place went to Meg Wyly and Fluer.

9^th place went to Roland Hugli and Lucky.

10^th place went to Denise Saward and Lord.

Congratulations to all the others taking part for being there and being great examples: Catherine Wyly, Shirley Gillespie and Chloe Amos.  

WORMING NATURALLY

As with most things involving horses there are people who go to both extremes with their worming program. Many are over zealous, using chemical wormers every 6 to 8 weeks as recommended by vets and drug companies. Others don’t have much of a program and sometimes aren’t even aware of the number of times to worm, when its best to do so and what to use.

I guess in my lifetime of keeping horses, I’ve done both but have now realized that like anything else with horses, its not always simple and we need to educate ourselves to make good choices for our horses.

After studying lots of traditional and alternative methods of worming, I’ve developed a formula that seems to be working for my two herds and their situation which is what I’d like to share in this article.

There are plenty of veterinary based texts and advice in most horse care books on worming that is totally reliant on chemicals and now, there are more alternative publications available that outline a more natural approach.

The ones I have found most useful are ‘The Complete Herbal Handbook for Farm and Stable’ by Juliette de Bairacli Levy and ‘The Practical Horse Herbal’ by Victoria Ferguson.

One of the main reasons I chose to incorporate alternatives into my worming program was a developing awareness of the damage chemicals are doing to our animals and their environment. Chemical wormers are potent enough to kill poultry and dung beetles that eat from dung coming out of freshly wormed horses so I suspect earthworms and frogs and many other important invertebrates that help maintain our soils are also affected.

Then there are instances of the horse’s health being adversely affected with reactions to some chemicals in wormers and healthy gut bacteria being killed off. I’m not saying we shouldn’t use chemical wormers at all, just that we should not over use them to the detriment of the horse and its environment.

So what are the alternatives? Holistic management is the key.

This means looking after the pastures by rotational grazing, picking up manure from small areas and harrowing larger areas. Then resting the pasture for 8 to 12 weeks (longer at wet times of the year).

Cross grazing with cattle and sheep will also help clean the pasture of stale grass and worm eggs which don’t affect the cattle and sheep.

Providing plants that horses use in the wild to self worm such as blackberry, couch grass, wild turnip, mustard, green fern and broom tops, ash twigs and elder all assist the horse in maintaining his own health.

While not all of these plants are available in all areas, giving access to at least blackberry, couch grass and feeding plenty of carrots will help.

Choose the optimum time for using a chemical wormer instead of just doing it any old time. For all worming, the best time is leading up to and during the full moon as this is when the worms are breeding and so more likely to be active and easily removed.

Worming for bots is most effective in the late autumn when the bot flies are no longer active (May in Australia), and in spring (October) before they become active again. If you choose a wormer that also kills tapeworm to use at the same time, you may find a twice yearly chemical worming is all that is necessary providing you also use herbal worming methods which is what I have found successful.

During the bot season, it is also helpful to remove bot eggs frequently (daily) to reduce the chance of ingestion by the horse.

Garlic is a useful part of a herbal worming program and should be fed routinely  at the rate of 1 tablespoon of crushed or dried garlic per horse per day. If you are not able to hand feed your horse daily, then providing a free choice mix of minerals (seaweed, dolomite, copper and salt) with garlic is the next best thing. This mix needs to be kept under cover as seaweed turns to an unpalatable paste when wet.

I tend to treat my horses every 8 weeks with a herbal mixture over a 4 or 5 day period by feeding them a stalk of fresh wormwood leaves (or 25g of dried) and the tablespoon of garlic mixed with oaten chaff and a little boiled or soaked barley or oats.

There is a good herbal worming mix in Victoria Ferguson’s book or you can purchase it ready mixed from her website www.herbalhorse.com

To keep a check on your horse’s worm burden, it also pays to have a regular worm test done by your vet or send a dung sample to your local Govt. pathology lab. This can be a good way to check if you really need to chemical worm.

Also, young horses (up to 3yrs) and foals need more frequent chemical worming as they are more susceptible to infestation through eating manure (to establish gut bacteria) and through their dam’s milk. If mares are wormed 2 weeks prior to foaling and moved to fresh pasture, they are less likely to transfer worms to their foal. Foals should be wormed at 6 weeks of age then every 6 to 8 weeks and can be included in a herbal worming program if they are sharing their mum’s feed.

A CURE FOR SEEDY TOE

Seedy toe seems to be one of the most common afflictions to a horse’s hooves can best be described as a fungal infection which enters through the white line where it has been weakened either by long hoof growth of horse shoe nails.

It gets its name from most commonly being found in the toe area although it can affect any other part of the hoof wall.

Where the integrity of the white line has been weakened (stretched or punctured) the fungi and bacteria enter from the soil much like hoof rot in sheep, and eat their way up the inside of the hoof wall, thriving on the dark, damp conditions. What can first look like a small area of rot once dug into with a hoof knife can reveal a large amount of damage, which in severe cases can cause chronic lameness.

As the primary infection is usually fungal, it means that it does need consistent treatment to return the hoof to good health.

First, if you trim your own horse’s hooves, you need to remove as much of the damaged (crumbly) hoof wall as possible to open the infected area to the light and air and to stop dirt being packed into it. If you aren’t confident about doing this, ask a hoof care specialist to show you how far to trim and be careful to only remove hoof wall, not sole or the sensitive lamina inside the white line.

Next, it’s a matter of using an anti-microbial agent to soak the hoof in once or twice a week. Milton nappy wash or the generic equivalent (Black & Gold or Home Brand) which have the same chemical component and concentration as Milton, are ideal at a ratio of 1:10 (9 parts water).  I mix up a 2 litre bottle using 200ml of Milton and the rest luke-warm water.

Many bleaches use the same chemical (sodium hyperchlorate) but at different concentrations.  It is probably easier to use the “Milton” than to work out the right does rates for the bleaches.

Using a hoof soaking boot or if you’re on a budget, a section of inner tube folded in half once the hoof is inside and tied around the pastern is just as effective. After cleaning the infected area thoroughly with a wire brush and even a sharp knife or nail to get all the dirt out, put the hoof boot on and pour in enough solution to fill it to mid pastern level.

After 10 minutes, empty the boot and add fresh solution. Do this again twice more after 10 minutes so there is a total soaking time of 30 minutes.  While the hoof is nice and clean, spray the infected area with a solution of 1:10 Vetadine (9 parts water)  that you have mixed in a spray bottle (Vetadine is an economical form of tamed iodine (betadine) that you can buy as an animal wash from your vet or produce store…  again it is the easy way to get the dosage right as “iodine” may come in a large range of concentrations and straight iodine mixed 1:10 is quite destructive).

You can spray the Vetadine in twice daily if it’s a serious infection, otherwise, do it as often as possible between soaking.

This method has been used with great success by Peter Laidely who recently held a hoof trimming workshop after Agfest. He says people who use other products such as Formalin or Copper sulphate, risk poisoning their horse as the area where the bacteria reaches is alive and can absorb these chemicals into the blood stream.

Of course once you have the seedy toe under control, the hoof wall will grow out and if you keep the hoof correctly and frequently trimmed, it will not occur.

The type of ground your horse is on also seems to be a pre-disposing factor as some dirt (such as soft moist areas) seems to harbor more fungi and bacteria than other types.

For more information on keeping your horse barefoot, or learning how to trim, Peter has a wonderful book on CD which is available from me at a cost of $39 including GST and postage. See my website for a review.

Young Horse Starting a Success….naturally!

In an ideal world the transition from birth to being ridden should be a gradual development for the young horse with ongoing confidence building steps and no trauma and certainly no ‘breaking’ of mind, spirit or body.

However, when humans need to learn the process, we hold a Young Horse Starting Workshop to cover all the steps necessary to having the horse accept the rider and their leadership.

This was achieved over 3 days in April, one of which had less than pleasant weather. All students and horses coped extremely well, assisted by their older ‘mentor’ horses and the patience and care taken by their riders.

It was lovely to see the riders demonstrate their skill in reading their horses, timing their reward and taking small steps.

Those challenging moments were an opportunity for us all to learn about the nature of the horse and how we can convince them that we are worthy leaders and no threat, even when we are on their backs.

Now its up to us to expand on those first 3 days with regular repeats of the steps learned to develop them into reliable riding horses. Then, they can be turned out for winter and bought back in next spring/summer for the next step in their education

A follow-up workshop is planned for November to start them off again.

Congratulations to John with Sam, Paul and Jane with Sepia, Joan with Fabista and Roland with Ikey for the patience and experience you offered your horses.

To view more photos go to http://photos.extrafilm.com.au/cynthiacooper

TASMANIAN NATURAL HORSE
EVENTS CALENDAR

May

23rd        Horse Psychology workshop with Cynthia at Deloraine show grounds.

30^th         Lilydale Play day at Liz’s.

30^th         Group lessons with Cynthia at Bridport – Ph. Debbie on 63 561644.

June

5^th           Natural Nous Playday and Pony Pals at Deloraine Show grounds from 10am.

12,13,14^th              Long Weekend at ‘Malahide’, Fingal.

20th        Untouched Horse Handling with Cynthia at Bridgenorth.

27^th         Lilydale Group lessons with Cynthia – Ph. Liz on 63 951590

Coming Event Details

Horse Psychology Workshop – this is an ideal workshop for those wanting to start in Natural Horsemanship. There are a couple of rider positions left which must be pre-booked and horseless participants are welcomed .  BYO lunch, hot drinks provided. $66 for the day includes for riders and $33 for observers at the Deloraine Show grounds starting at 9.30am. Arrive at 9am to register please.

Natural Nous Play days and Pony Pals – These days are for all natural horse people to get together and socialize their horses and themselves, to have fun at a venue away from home and to share ideas and activities. Starting time is 10am and the morning is available to do your own thing while in the afternoon we try to coordinate a group activity. Participants are asked to bring a challenge (idea) for this.

The Pony Pals group in the morning from 10am to lunch time (approx. 12.30) is for children aged 5 to 15 with supervision and active help from their parents. Cynthia and Helen organize various activities and show kids and parents how to have fun safely with horses. 

Cost for the day is $7 per rider of which $5 is ground hire and $2 goes to the group to buy videos and books for loan.

Un-touched Horse Handling day – A herd of thoroughbreds was recently saved from being turned into dog meat and amongst them were many relatively untouched horses ranging from yearlings to 6 year olds. They have been branded and gelded then enjoyed a life of freedom in a big herd. Now they must be re-homed and therefore taught to lead and travel, have their feet handled and be wormed.

If anyone is interested in taking part in this process or seeing how it is approached naturally, please contact me for more details.

June Long Weekend  – Catriona Nichols has kindly invited a small group of riders to stay at the Fingal property, Malahide for a couple of days of informal playing, trail rides and fun. The shearers quarters are available for accommodation and there is a kitchen and log fire.

Arrival is on Saturday the 12^th and departure on Monday the 14^th. Bookings are essential on a first in basis with Cynthia who will be available there for guidance if needed.