Stormy May, a graduate of the United States Pony Club, and professional equine video producer, is dedicated to promoting the harmonious relationship between human and horse through quality riding instruction and educational videos, workshops, and other products.
www.stormymay.com

Horse Mangement Newsletter by Stormy May

Selected articles from HMN's June and July editions! To read the full newsletter, see back issues, or to join the HMN's email list, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HorseManagementNewsletter/

* Note to Canadian Pony Clubbers: Any Pony Club advice given below is based on the US Pony Club Rule book, and should be confirmed with the Canadian Pony Club rule book (available to download on the Canadian Pony Club Website www.canadianponyclub.org), or ask your DC.

Contents
1) Feature Keeping your horse hydrated away from home
2) Reader responses More on hydrating horses
3) Rally and rating tips Unmounted teaching games
4) Fun and educational websites

Feature: Keeping your horse hydrated away from home - by Stormy May
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I had the pleasure of teaching at the Southwest Regional Pony Club camp this
year in St. John's, Arizona. The weather didn't treat us too badly, with
only a couple of days over the 100 degree mark. Pony clubbers and their
horses (and ponies!) came from all over Arizona and New Mexico. Everyone
was used to the heat but not all the mounts were drinking enough water to
keep themselves properly hydrated while away from home.
Fortunately, we only had one mild colic due to dehydration and stress. We
came up with some guidelines for next year's camp to make sure that all of
the horses will be getting plenty of this most important nutrient. Here's
what we came up with.

First of all, when your horse is away from home (and even at home) it's a
good idea to have some way to monitor how much your horse is drinking. On
an average day, a horse will drink 8-12 gallons of water. During different
parts of the year though, the consumption might vary from 2-20 gallons. The
typical way to monitor water intake is to use two five gallon buckets in the
horse's stall and then to keep filling them as the horse drinks them down.
For horses who live in a pasture with a herd, this isn't practical, but keep
it in mind for when they are by themselves. At one fancy barn they had
automatic waterers in each stall that sent a digital read-out to a display
panel so the barn manager could tell how much each horse was drinking every
day. What will they think of next?!

If you aren't sure how much your horse will drink while away from home there
are several steps you can take before you leave that may help him adjust.
First of all, horses often don't like the taste or smell of water they're
not used to. To help with this, you can either bring large quantities of
water from home in clean, plastic containers (which they might not like the
taste of anyway) or try adding a packet of powdered Kool-Aid® or Gatorade®
to your horse's water bucket while still at home. If he continues drinking
from the bucket with the flavoring added, chances are the flavor will mask
the taste of the new water and he'll drink it away from home too. Don't
worry about mixing it up to the same strength that we like it, just one
little scoop or packet per 5 gallon bucket should be plenty. If he likes
the taste, be sure to bring enough powder with you.

Electrolytes are a form of salt which is another essential nutrient for the
horse. Electrolytes have the added benefit of making the horse want to
drink more. Pony Club has always allowed the use of electrolytes added to
the horse's water, but be sure to always leave one bucket with plain water
in case the horse doesn't like the electrolytes in the water. Perhaps an
even better way to make sure your horse gets enough water while away from
home is to add electrolytes to his supplements rather than his water bucket.
Most horses will happily eat electrolytes with grain or other concentrated
feeds. There are several different commercial brands of electrolytes, some
with flavoring and trace minerals added, or you can make your own with 3
parts table salt (NaCl) to 1 part "Lite Salt" (KCl) available at most
grocery stores. Most importantly, if you are going to use electrolytes
while you are away from home, start feeding them before you leave to make
sure your horse likes the brand that you've picked and will clean up his
feed. Check with your vet for recommendations about the correct amount for
your horse. Also be aware that if you feed a high percentage of a
"complete" feed such as Purina's Equine Senior®, it may already contain all
of the electrolytes and trace minerals your horse needs. You can verify
this by talking to the company that makes it or checking on the feed tag and
with your vet.

Once you've arrived at your destination, if you think your horse still might
not be drinking enough, you can always add water to his grain, or soak his
hay right before feeding. If you choose to do this, make sure you have some
sort of feed tub for your hay and/or grain so the horse won't have to end up
eating a lot of bedding along with his wet feed. If it's warm out, don't
let the wet feed sit for more than a few hours or it might start fermenting
and give the horse a whole new reason to colic!

One last old standby for tempting a horse to drink. Bring a little bit of
wheat or rice bran and make it into a very soupy mash. The water doesn't
need to be hot. I've never seen a healthy horse turn down a tasty bran
mash.

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While I was researching horses' drinking habits, I came across an
interesting study about keeping horses hydrated in cold weather. In
different parts of the world, frozen water buckets can make it impossible
for even the thirstiest horse to drink. Not only should you make sure your
horse's water isn't frozen, but at least one study from the University of
New Hampshire showed that heating the water up to 90 degrees Fahrenheit
encouraged the horse to drink 40% more water than if the water is just
barely above freezing on a cold day. Read the whole article here:
http://ceinfo.unh.edu/Counties/Carroll/docs/Horses.htm

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Reader Responses: Horse hydration

Stormy,
Wow, that was a terrific article on how to keep horses hydrated when you
take them to strange places, like going to rallies, summer camps,... all
those things we subject our horses to. You suggested many of the things
we've done at our D Camp on Mt. Diablo - except one. Teach your horse to
drink from a hose.

Everyone has heard the old adage about you can lead a horse to water but you
can't make him drink...... well the exception to that is if he is used to
drinking from a hose. With most horses, it's an automatic reaction to drink
when the hose with running water is placed in their mouth.

My daughter's horse Tucker is a duck when it comes to water, and while she
and he were playing around with the water hose one time I realized that
using a hose is a great way to be sure you're getting water into a horse
when you think he might not be getting enough or it's hot and you want to be
sure he's replacing what he has been sweating off.

If you get him used to drinking from the hose you can use that method any
time you're away from home and worried if he's getting enough water. If the
level in his water bucket isn't going down as much as you think it should,
go find a hose and try that to supplement what he's getting from his bucket.
The old gatorade/koolaid trick works if you remember to start doing it at
home ahead of time, but if you've forgotten, you can just whip out a hose
instead. You'll be seeing him ingest water right before your eyes.... and
he doesn't have the time to sniff the water and get suspicious that it
doesn't smell like what he's used to at home.

It's just another idea to have in your bag of tricks to outsmart those four
legged beasties. Keep those great articles coming.....

Thanks,
Marilynn Terstegge, former PC mom, Mid Cal Region

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Hi Stormy,
A couple of years ago I was in Florida visiting my daughter and riding in a
John Lyons clinic. The owner of the horse I borrowed uses warm water and
PINK country time lemonade to encourage the horses to drink. She had two
buckets next to each other: both with fresh water during the day, at evening
feed she would fill one with 1/3 C (one scoop) lemonade and warm water. The
horse would drink the WHOLE bucket at once. Then she would rinse it and
leave it full of regular water. She said it was very important to only use
PINK lemonade.

Have a great summer,
Joan Hancock, former PC mom, Sierra Pacific Region

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Rally and rating tips: Unmounted teaching games

At the camp in Arizona, on the last day they held a "County Faire". The
fair consisted of the C, B, and H level members playing unmounted teaching
games with the D level Pony Clubbers for some great donated prizes. Some of
the games could be easily incorporated into club lessons, C3 test unmounted
lessons, or other fun play days. My favorite games are described below.

Horse Twister
Instead of using a plastic sheet with large colored dots on it, a large
horse was drawn a white plastic shower curtain liner. The teacher had index
cards with a different point of the horse written on each one. A spinner
was divided into 4 sections (left front, right front, left hind, right
hind). The teacher would spin the wheel and then draw a card. The player
had to then move their proper hand or foot to touch that part of the horse's
body. If they player didn't know where that part of the body was or if they
"fell" with the rest of their body onto the horse, they were out. Two
players would play at the same time, creating some very precarious
positions!

Horse Jeopardy
You may use a large foam core board with little spots of velcro on it to
hold index cards that list the categories (such as nutrition, stable
management, parts and colors, etc...) and then in each category was a 10,
20, 30, 40, and 50 point answer, taken from the D1-C1 standards. Just like
in real Jeopardy, the player needed to respond in the form of a question or
they couldn't get the points!

Horse Bingo
This was my personal favorite. Of course instead of BINGO at the top of
the bingo cards, it was written as HORSE. In each box was a little cut out
of some item of tack or equipment from a catalog. The teacher would draw a
card that might say something like "H - galloping boots" and then the
players would search their cards for a picture of galloping boots in the "H"
column and put a little wooden marker on it. This was a great hands-on way
for the kids to learn what different pieces of equipment looked like and
there were plenty of questions like, "What would you use a German martingale
for?" or "Is this a jumping saddle or an all purpose saddle?"

Does anyone have any other creative teaching games to share?

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Fun and educational websites

CALICO MOUNTAIN MUSTANGS AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION:
Some of the mustangs from Nevada's Calico Mountains and Palomino Valley are still available for adoption. Assorted colors, all beauties; bays, buckskins, chestnuts, a
cremelo, grulla, pintos, roans $125, call or e-mail to make an appointment. (775) 475-2222. Photos are available of them on the website.
www.calicomtns.net/june_18,_2005_adoption.htm
Some very cute horses are still available. They have been shipped to Nebraska so anyone in that part of the country can have a chance to adopt them. Of course remember these are wild horses and should only be handled by professionals until they have been gentled and started.

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A very good article on equine ulcers, including symptoms, prevention, and
many different treatments that are being used today:
www.equisearch.com/care/illness/eqhorseulc217/
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