How To Use Leading Your Horse To Get Control And Response

Written by Andy Curry


I’ve been around many people who try to lead a horse by controlling their head with a lead rope. They end up pulling or jerkingrepparttar lead rope andrepparttar 125784 horse will typically pull back or push aroundrepparttar 125785 person withrepparttar 125786 lead rope.

Ultimately, you want slack inrepparttar 125787 lead rope while leading your horse because you don’t want to pull or jerk him. If your horse moves incorrectly while leading him then you can stop and correct him by making him move his body.

To really be successful in having controlrepparttar 125788 secret is having control over your horse’s body. How do you do that? By controlling his feet by making him move his rear end away from you. (Also known as “disengagingrepparttar 125789 hind quarters) Why this works so well is it alleviates stiffness and tension and almost magically forces your horse to focus on you.

There are few ways to get your horse to move his rear end away from you. Much ofrepparttar 125790 time, you can stand facing his shoulder and point to his hip. If he doesn’t move keep pointing and cluck at him. If he still doesn’t move, twirlrepparttar 125791 end of your lead rope at his hip and cluck. If he still doesn’t move tap him withrepparttar 125792 lead rope while clucking at him.

At any time he moves, takerepparttar 125793 pressure off him immediately. Give him a pat and a “good boy” and ask for another move. Repeat. Then ask for more steps. Remember to do this on both sides ofrepparttar 125794 body too. It won’t be long when you will simply point at his hip and he’ll move them for you. Do this every day for a while to get it in his mind that you are in control.

How To Prevent Your Horse Going Lame From The Most Common Cause Of Lameness

Written by Andy Curry


There are lots of ways a horse can go lame. Perhapsrepparttar most common cause of lameness is a result of Navicular Syndrome. The fortunate thing is that it can be treated whererepparttar 125783 horse gets complete, successful recovery if diagnosed and treated in it’s early stages. Here’s what you need to know about Navicular Syndrome.

First, there is a small bone betweenrepparttar 125784 coffin bone andrepparttar 125785 short pastern bone calledrepparttar 125786 navicular bone. This bone is important in that it distributesrepparttar 125787 horse’s weight betweenrepparttar 125788 coffin bone andrepparttar 125789 short pastern bone. The result is that it reducesrepparttar 125790 stress on bothrepparttar 125791 coffin bone and short pastern bone whenrepparttar 125792 foot lands torepparttar 125793 ground and weight is put on it. (Even thoughrepparttar 125794 rear feet have navicular bones, it isrepparttar 125795 fore feet that are most often affected)

The navicular bone also works with a tendon calledrepparttar 125796 “deep digital flexor tendon.” This tendon flexesrepparttar 125797 coffin and pastern joints. It also absorbs shock whenrepparttar 125798 hoof strikesrepparttar 125799 ground. Whenrepparttar 125800 flexor tendon moves, it slides overrepparttar 125801 cartlidge-covered navicluar bone which lowersrepparttar 125802 work load ofrepparttar 125803 tendon whenrepparttar 125804 foot moves.

Thus, whenrepparttar 125805 horse’s foot lands torepparttar 125806 ground there is a lot of force onrepparttar 125807 navicular bone. Asrepparttar 125808 horse’s weight is transferred overrepparttar 125809 foot,repparttar 125810 bone is pushed againstrepparttar 125811 tendon. When this happens repeatedly, then damage torepparttar 125812 navicular bone andrepparttar 125813 tendon can occur.

One thing that can happen isrepparttar 125814 cartlidge can lose its slippery surface and friction can develop betweenrepparttar 125815 navicular bone andrepparttar 125816 tendon. Thenrepparttar 125817 tendon can become rough and makerepparttar 125818 sliding motion onrepparttar 125819 navicluar bone even worse. This ultimately leads to pain forrepparttar 125820 horse and worse, lameness. Worse,repparttar 125821 blood flow torepparttar 125822 navicular bone andrepparttar 125823 tendon could be decreased and it may not heal.

How can you tell if your horse may have navicular syndrome? One is he may not want to change leads. He may lose his suppleness or perhaps have a stiff and jerky gait. As this gets worserepparttar 125824 may show lameness where you may see short stride in one or both front legs. The horse will purposely try to step on his toe portion ofrepparttar 125825 foot becauserepparttar 125826 pain will be inrepparttar 125827 back ofrepparttar 125828 foot. Thus, you will see his toe is worn more than any other part ofrepparttar 125829 foot.

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