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by Ryan Gingerich

I have found that there are many horse people who are prone to feeding their horses an excessive amount of sweet feed and hay that’s high in protein, such as alfalfa. Obviously any kind of high carbohydrate diet will cause the horse to have excess energy, mostly the kind that they can’t use, since most horses are under-worked. You wouldn’t feed candy bars to a child with any kind of hyperactive disorder, and yet horse people don’t seem to see the correlation. We know that the hyperactive child who is fed lots of sugar will exemplify even more behavioral issues. So why can’t horse people understand that feeding a horse an unbalanced diet that isn’t appropriate for the amount of work he does can (and will) lead to behavioral problems in the horse?

Transforming the Barn Sour Horse

QUESTION:

I have a horse who for the most part is a very calm non-spooky horse (Quarter Horse variety) who listens to me on the trail as long as I am riding with other people and horses. When I am riding at the barn in the round pen, etc. — he's fine. He gets barn/buddy sour when I try to even LEAD him away from the barn property, let alone RIDE him away from the barn. He's blown up so big as to rear, spin, kick out, etc. I know this a lack of confidence in me on his part. How do I work with him in a SAFE manner to build confidence for both of us around this issue? Obviously, it scares me and I'm sure he can feel that. I really don't ever ride alone, but it's still a very unsafe behavior and I'd like to at least be able to lead him away from the barn property without a big blow-up. Help!

Head Shy No More!

Constantly frustrated with your horse swinging his head away from you and avoiding any contact? Here’s the answer to that annoying behavior!

Read on to get a handle on your horse's head!

Planning the Plan - Part 2

Part 2 of "Planning the Plan"
Need to review Part 1 of Planning the Plan? Click Here!

Goals for the Human

The other thing I do on a regular basis is to write down what I’m going to do with my horse. I sit down and write out steps 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 of my plan. The lessons I write down directly relate to the goal for the day. That way if you get interrupted (which is bound to happen), you can refer back to your written plan, which will redirect you to where you were with the horse. Trust me, this is easier than trying to rely on your memory. (Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have the worst memory on the face of the earth!)

Having a lesson plan, writing it down, making it attainable, making it simple, making it specific—all of these items are very important in developing a plan for you and your horse.

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