- Tackle the shedding and muddy horses. Time to find the shedding blade, jelly scrubbers and flick brush that migrated to the bottom of my tack trunk since last fall. The Grooming Challenge That Is Mud for my thoughts on how to start tackling that.
- Clean out the tack trunk and tack room. While I'm rummaging to find that second jelly scrubber I might as well get to the bottom of the tack trunk. While I'm doing that I might as well pull the trunk away from the wall and give the tack room a good sweeping. I'll put away what I need, create a pile to be donated/tossed, and a pile that needs washing or repairs.
- Check the veterinary and grooming supplies. Invariably at least one thing is almost gone, past its expiration date, or has disappeared. Time to restock all my staples before I am in need of them.
- Get the wash and repair pile taken care of. Finally getting around to cleaning and conditioning neglected tack and boots is one of my spring cleaning chores. I tend to be horribly lazy about it, but I figure if they only see a rag once a year it might as well be in the spring. The laundry may have to wait for late spring so that I can make one trip to the laundromat to wash all the blankets, saddle pads, and wraps.
- Spring clean the stalls. Feeders and waterers scrubbed, floor stripped, leveled and deoderized, hardware replaced/repaired/adjusted/lubricated. We're good to go for another year.
- Prevent hoof cracks, thrush and scratches. Mud this time of year creates the perfect enviroment for three generally mild but extremely annoying horse ailments. One is thrush, another is heel scratches and the last is hoof cracks. Some horses are more prone than others, but ideally a daily routine of picking out feet, hosing mud off legs and hooves, throughly towel drying legs and hooves and applying hoof dressing to the coronary band only, powder or barrier ointment to the legs, and if thrush is detected a thrush remedy to the hooves will help eliminate the problem.
- Start early on summer bug control. Now is the time to get that manure pile off the property, and start hanging up traps or releasing fly parasites. From personal experience I can tell you that you will never catch up if you wait until you already have a big fly problem.
- Schedule vaccines and fecal egg counts with your veterinarian. Summer brings bugs, shows, and trail rides, all of which can expose your horse to pathogens. Time to make sure he's vaccinated and prepared. Deworming is also a good idea right now, but because of all the resistance being built up by the worms it is not a good idea to deworm without a high fecal egg count. A fecal egg count is a test that determines how heavily infested with internal parasites your horse is. If your horse has a low count, he doesn't need to be dewormed, if he does have a high count, he should be dewormed.
- Return to exercise slowly. If you or your horse haven't been exercising as much as you'd like over the winter, be careful as you return to it in the summer. It is easy to get overly enthusiastic and do more than you should. You and your horse both need time to rebuild strength and endurance. If you push it the results can be injury for both you and your horse, so please be safe and go slowly.
- Mind the lush grass and early hay. We all know this one, but it bears repeating. Your horse wants the lush grass, you want to watch him enjoy it, but be careful because the high carbohydrate content of early spring grass, or hay made from it for that matter (first cutting) can trigger founder or colic in sensitive horses, so make all dietary changes slowly.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Spring is Springing: Time To Get Moving
With the short days, cold, snow, icy roads, break from show season and busy holiday season, many of us put our equine activities on the back burner during the winter. But despite the fact that it snowed in my area this morning the tulips and daffodils are popping up and it is time to start getting back into the swing of things. There is a great deal of cleaning and prevention to be done but here's where I'll start:
Sunday, March 20, 2011
The Bridle Wars Part 3: Understanding Mouthpieces
The other important part to understanding bit action is understanding how the mouthpiece of a bit will function. There is one relatively reliable rule: with the possible exception of horses with low palates, the thinner the mouthpiece the more severe the bit's action. This is because the pressure will be concentrated over a smaller area.
Please note that this post is restricted to solid smooth metal bits with no twists or coatings. Twists or chains make for a severe bit, one that I feel is more likely to be abusive than to prove helpful. Rubber bits and rubber coatings have the opposite effect and make a bit softer and more forgiving. I am not a fan of these, (see Part 1: Not A Happy Mouth) though they do potentially have their uses.
There are many different mouthpieces even given our restrictions, but as a general rule we'll break it into four types: solid (aka mullen mouthed), ported, single jointed, and double jointed.
A solid mouthed bit will apply the
most pressure to the horse's tongue. As a general rule a solid mouthed bit is a mild bit. It is a good option for horses that have a low pallet as there is no way this bit can poke the horse in the roof of the mouth, an action that can cause the horse to throw his head in the air. There are however horses that dislike tongue pressure and will fight a bits of this style.
A ported mouthpiece is less common on snaffle bits, and more common on leverage bits. A ported mouthpiece will apply less pressure to the horse's
tongue and more to the bars of the mouth. This can be helpful for a horse that resents tongue pressure. This also makes the bit more severe because the pressure is being concentrated in a smaller area. The higher the port the more pressure is transfered, and the more severe the bit. A bit with a very high port can also create pressure to the palate (roof of the mouth) as the bit rotates. As mentioned above, this may not be desirable. There is an additional issue with the curb chain leverage action of many ported bits that rather than manifesting palate pressure as head tossing, the horse will learn to break unnaturally at the poll to minimize pressure from both the port and the curb chain. This can result in a horse that carries himself behind the bit, or false carriage in which the horse's head set gives the illusion that the horse is on the bit and carrying himself, when in reality his body may be all over the place. Prolonged work in such a frame can create poor muscle development, and undesirable balance.
A single jointed mouthpiece relieves some of the tongue pressure of a solid mouth, and can apply more pressure to the bars of the mouth. It is generally a mild bit and is widely available in all snaffle varieties. The one caveat with this style of bit is that it can create a severe pressure point on the palate. In horses with a low palate, this may result in head tossing.
A double jointed mouthpiece is generally considered the mildest bit as it most evenly distributes the pressure of the bit across the horse's jaw. It also minimizes the likelihood of pressure points on the palate. However, this type of mouthpiece also adds an additional variable. The center link is highly variable. As a general rule, the larger and smoother the center link, the milder the bit. The sharper or smaller the middle link, the more severe the bit. For example, a bit with a big round oval style center (as pictured at left) is likely to be very mild, a french link with a small center link less so, and a dr. bristol with a center plate set on edge (so that in use the narrow edge of the center link puts severe pressure on the tongue) is much more severe. So think carefully about how the center link will function before you make any judgments about the way the bit will function.
Please note that this post is restricted to solid smooth metal bits with no twists or coatings. Twists or chains make for a severe bit, one that I feel is more likely to be abusive than to prove helpful. Rubber bits and rubber coatings have the opposite effect and make a bit softer and more forgiving. I am not a fan of these, (see Part 1: Not A Happy Mouth) though they do potentially have their uses.
There are many different mouthpieces even given our restrictions, but as a general rule we'll break it into four types: solid (aka mullen mouthed), ported, single jointed, and double jointed.
A solid mouthed bit will apply the
most pressure to the horse's tongue. As a general rule a solid mouthed bit is a mild bit. It is a good option for horses that have a low pallet as there is no way this bit can poke the horse in the roof of the mouth, an action that can cause the horse to throw his head in the air. There are however horses that dislike tongue pressure and will fight a bits of this style.A ported mouthpiece is less common on snaffle bits, and more common on leverage bits. A ported mouthpiece will apply less pressure to the horse's
tongue and more to the bars of the mouth. This can be helpful for a horse that resents tongue pressure. This also makes the bit more severe because the pressure is being concentrated in a smaller area. The higher the port the more pressure is transfered, and the more severe the bit. A bit with a very high port can also create pressure to the palate (roof of the mouth) as the bit rotates. As mentioned above, this may not be desirable. There is an additional issue with the curb chain leverage action of many ported bits that rather than manifesting palate pressure as head tossing, the horse will learn to break unnaturally at the poll to minimize pressure from both the port and the curb chain. This can result in a horse that carries himself behind the bit, or false carriage in which the horse's head set gives the illusion that the horse is on the bit and carrying himself, when in reality his body may be all over the place. Prolonged work in such a frame can create poor muscle development, and undesirable balance.
A single jointed mouthpiece relieves some of the tongue pressure of a solid mouth, and can apply more pressure to the bars of the mouth. It is generally a mild bit and is widely available in all snaffle varieties. The one caveat with this style of bit is that it can create a severe pressure point on the palate. In horses with a low palate, this may result in head tossing.
A double jointed mouthpiece is generally considered the mildest bit as it most evenly distributes the pressure of the bit across the horse's jaw. It also minimizes the likelihood of pressure points on the palate. However, this type of mouthpiece also adds an additional variable. The center link is highly variable. As a general rule, the larger and smoother the center link, the milder the bit. The sharper or smaller the middle link, the more severe the bit. For example, a bit with a big round oval style center (as pictured at left) is likely to be very mild, a french link with a small center link less so, and a dr. bristol with a center plate set on edge (so that in use the narrow edge of the center link puts severe pressure on the tongue) is much more severe. So think carefully about how the center link will function before you make any judgments about the way the bit will function.
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