Buying A New Horse? Make Sure You Get The Right New Horse

If you are considering buying a new horse, there are several issues of concern to you. Smart buyers and riders know what they want before speaking to horse sellers.

It is important to know everything you can about the new horse. Learn its history, blood lines, habits, preferences, skills and overall attitude. It is also important to find out about its inherent traits. All horses have their own unique traits. Know which ones are most desirable to you.

Traits to Consider

Some horses are better at certain tasks than others. When buying a new horse, pre-determine what skills you want the horse to possess. Some to consider are:

• English riding

• Showing and jumping

• Racing

• Western riding

• Trail riding

• Roping

• Team roping

• Barrel racing

• Endurance

Questions to Ask Before Buying a Horse

How much do you expect to pay? Look only at horses within your price range. What gender, color, age and size are you looking for? Weed out horses that don't fit within your requirements. Does the horse load and unload from trailers well? Will it tolerate shoeing and hoof trimming? Score your prospective horses on a scale of one to five for these items. The higher scorers will help you determine which horses are of the most interest to you.

When buying a new horse it is important to be sure it has been thoroughly evaluated. An initial inspection of the horse must be performed by someone capable and experienced. If you don't know what to look for, bring someone you trust who does. Here are the areas you need to check:

• Eyes. Make sure the horse can see out of both eyes. Do a flinch test by waving your hand quickly in front of each eye. Check for any differences.

• Ears. Check for excess ear wax or over-sensitivity when the ears are touched.

• Mouth. Check for any lesions or sores. Be sure the teeth are normal and aligned. Watch the horse chew to check for normal biting ability.

• Head, neck and chest. Check for symmetry and balance of muscles. Be sure the horse moves its head, neck and chest freely and without difficulty.

• Feet. Inspect all four feet for swelling and sensitivity to touch. Flex and extend all joints to look for pain, resistance or head lifting that indicates pain or discomfort.

• Rear end. Check for good tone, signs of discharge and signs of diarrhea.

• Lameness. It is imperative that you are able to observe the horse trotting in circles in both directions and in a straight line. Watch closely for irregular bobbing of the head, sloppy movements or skipping that may indicate pain in any of the legs.

If the horse has passed your initial evaluation, it is time to take it for a ride. Observe its stamina, nerves and whether or not it is alert and well behaved.

If you have any doubts, either walk away or arrange an agreement based on the findings during the veterinary examinations. This is common practice and a legitimate horse seller will agree to some reasonable terms.

Be sure the three required exams are performed by a veterinarian of your choosing or one that has a neutral opinion. The required exams are:

• Health certificate, which is usually for crossing state lines.

• Insurance exam, to satisfy mortality and other questions related to insuring the horse.

• Pre-purchase veterinary exam, detailing the medical status of the horse at the time of purchase.

When buying a horse, you want to find one that is healthy and has a good attitude. The horse's experience and dependability levels must closely match, or be above, that of the primary rider. A willing and intelligent horse can be trained to bring you years of pleasure and skilled work habits. Choose your horse wisely.

By Rachel Harding

Rachel Harding has been riding horses since she was five. Sign up for our free newsletter and get all the information you need at Horse And Rider Info

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Horse Training - An Exciting Career

Like any career be sure that is really want you want to do before registering for horse training course, you must answer the following questions truthfully.

1. Is horse training your passion?

2. Have you participated in horse shows and watched horse races before?

3. Are you willing to gain new information about the kinds of horse feeds on the market, as well as the required dietary allowance for each type of horse?

4. Do you mind grooming horses every day?

5. What do you think if you are asked to talk to them? The reason for this is, studies have shown that horses obey more through human contact, especially the human voice.

6. Are you encouraging?

7. Can you be a leader?

8. Would you be able to put tacks or harnesses on the horse in order for them to be habitual to the tools?

9. Are you willing to ride the horses and to observe their behavior with each temperament when required?

10. Are you going to be calm when training them?

Why do you have to answer the ten basic questions? These questions are usually asked by horse training instructors to whoever that like to be around horses. It is important that horse trainer is there because he wants to because it can be very dangerous being around horses.

There are usually some expectations from each horse trainer when you choose horse training as a career because it is just like any other career. Mostly the owners would like the trainer they chosen to handle their beloved horses can stop from kicking, resisting grooming and bolting every time their reins aren't secured.

You must know you job as a horse trainer even before you choose horse training as your career. Therefore when answering the ten questions, answer truthfully. As a horse trainer you are responsible to teach the riding, driving and racing techniques to the horse. If you can bestow the horse the knowledge, the plan training as well as the techniques, you are doing your job well as a horse trainer. The owners have the option to pay independent operators or have their horses put at a training school. Whatever their choice, horse trainers are in demand.

Finer breed of the horse are more expensive. Even the ordinary ones are expensive. Since it is a good investment there are some horse trainers who are knowledgeable about the mating of horses pair up a stallion to a mare, depending on the horse type, in order to come up with a good breed of foal.

Horse training as a career can be a good choice which will give you good returns but you must love what you are doing. That is the bottom line.

Getting as much information on the basic care for your horses is important, make sure you check Heidi Edris' excellent free report on Horse_Training_Aids

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Does Your Horse Diet Need Fats?

Horse supplements with added Fats or (EFA's) Essential Fatty Acids should be an essential part of your nutrition program. Look at the label to make sure that they are in the ingredient list as many supplements omit them. Feeding EFA's alone is okay, just make sure that the product is fresh, look to see if there is a manufacturing date, or just smell it. Old oils turn rancid which changes the make up of the oils and your horse doesn't gain all the benefits and it smells terrible.

EFA's are important for many biological processes in your horse's body. The fats are critical for production of hormones, cell membranes and for the absorption of fat soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K. Your horse's body metabolizes these fats into tri-glycerides which it stores as an energy source or it can be used as an immediate source of fuel.

Feeding of fats can help your horse in many ways. The obvious one is the healthy, shiny hair coat; however, more importantly is the dense source of calories which provides the energy. Calories from fat are 2.5 times greater than the calories from proteins or carbohydrates. Horses fed EFA's in the morning slowly metabolize and utilized them throughout the day providing the needed fuel.

Is your horse considered a "hard keeper"? Most horses will benefit from the addition of fats to the diet as it slows the digestive process and helps to stabilize the blood sugar and provides a calming energy source. You will notice a gradual weight gain and even a better temperament due to the lack of sugar related mood swings (yes, they do occur in horses just like humans).

Another benefit is that fats produce an anti-inflammatory process in your horse's body which helps to fight off infections and build up the immune system. Also, the fats make the feeds more palatable for your horse. These unprocessed and unrefined oils provide a pleasant aroma and taste to your horse whereby you can reduce the amount of molasses fed (reducing diabetic tendencies) and reducing the dust factor of the feed.

What type of Essential Fatty Acids should you be feeding your horse to gain all these benefits? One of the more important factors is to make sure the fat is unrefined and unprocessed. A pure and highly digestible oil is a soybean and coconut oil blend called Cocosoya Oil. This cocosoya oil is naturally high in tocopherols (Vitamin E) and sterols and is crude unrefined oil with no chemical solvents. The natural phospholipds and tocopherols of the soybean are retained in the oil which is the highly nutritious solid portion of the oil. The cocosoya oil is much more digestible than the ordinary corn and vegetable oil and costs less.

If you want your horse to have a shiny, show quality hair coat year round, along with all the nutrition and energy necessary for proper body metabolism and growth make sure your supplement contains cocosoya oil.

By Audra Jensen

Audra Jensen has 70 head of horses at her barn and feeds a daily supplement to attain ultimate health for her horses. To learn more about horse supplements with EFA's, visit: http://www.totalsupplements.com

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When Horses Get Depressed And Emotionally Unbalanced

I'm a Farrier in the Bay Area California for about 17 years now. Shoeing horses is a great thing for me as I have helped many horses from lameness and bring about much recovery. When horses feet are correct horses know it and I love it when I see horses become happy and better adjusted from my efforts, blood, sweat and tears. Sometimes though horses are just not happy animals, the following story is just such an example.

A big beautiful paint horse i have shod for the past 12 years for the most part has been easy for me to shoe. The horse "always" was not just quite right though. Usually she would bobble on her back feet while I shoe the front and she would always side step when I approached to shoe the rear. However it was nothing serious enough for me to become alarmed or too concerned - until the other day.

It was time to shoe High (the horses name) so drove out to the ranch where she lived. She is a nice horse - haltered her up and walked back to the shoeing platform. I nearly always start with the front feet (they are usually more important as horses carry so much more weight on the front end). I pulled the front shoes off and started trimming and as usual High started bobbling on one rear leg which makes working on the front feet quite a difficult task. So as usual I sort of bark out the command "Quit"! She usually responds favorably, however this time it was very different.

High went into a "Depression". I have never seen such a thing before in my 17 years as a Farrier. She started to hang her head and go into a depression, so much so that I could not reach her emotionally. She would not respond to my verbal input at all. This was a serious problem now - not just because she was still difficult to shoe but because the poor horse is basically "Unhappy" and emotionally ill adjusted. I felt real sorry for her.

I know the owner pretty well and know how High is usually ridden. She does not really get ridden much but when she does she usually gets ridden quite hard - and the owner is a rather big man - probably about 6'3" and I would say 245 pounds. High is a great horse but could use a little more love in her life. She lives with one other horse in a smallish pasture where she really doesn't have the opportunity to run freely. Life could be better for High.

Well I felt a serious need to help High. Unfortunately she was in such a deep funk I could not reach her - she would not let me in - she was completely checking out of reality. When I pulled on her lead rope she got worse. When I tried to get her attention she got worse. I had to do something and what I knew would work have to be done or she would carry around her psychological issue for a long time.

I had to snap High out of her problem. I made a quick surmise and decided to use a tool that is very effective. I place the little tool into her mouth over the gums on the top and utilize the pressure it is designed to do and I proceed to "Get into her head". I command "Back" - lethargically she backs. I command "Back" again. She is slipping deeper into her funk - so I needed to become more firm and direct. The backing continues successfully firmer with each command until - somehow - she starts to pay attention and snap out of her depression. She blinks as if coming out of a ten year funk and finally picks herself up emotionally and psychically. AWESOME!!

She is acting like a horse for the first time I have known her. She is displaying true horse behavior. She is more alert, paying more attention to her environment and is more "Here and Now". I finish shoeing her- it was great - she was much better behaved as if she understood so much more now.

Several weeks later I met up with her owner and asked him how High was as they had just come back from a week long riding event. He told me she was AWESOME and that he had not had such a good ride on her before. You see she learned, and I taught her a valuable lesson - "How to care about herself". Horses are amazing animals and can sometimes have amazing issues. In the worst of cases horses can be worked on and shown the way to improvement. It is an awesome experience to be with horses, they give us so much and they deserve so much in return, that's why I love horses.

Reprint rights allowed providing nothing is changed.

By John Silveira

Author Bio: John Silveira, Farrier, Aikido practitioner, spiritualist, born and raised in San Mateo California the bay area. For information on his shoeing method and the 16 year 100% track record "Not One Single Lame Horse" just go to http://Farrieritis.Care4Horses.com a thank you and remember to Care4Horses.

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Horse Training Secrets - What You Should Know

If you make a compilation about secrets on training young horses, you may finish with a book thicker than any dictionary. There has never been any shortage on tips related to training young horses; and like opinions, most of these advice may never have been proven to be right or wrong. Really, these facts are essential for horse trainers in their pursuit to build up a young horse's performance and physical characteristics.

For those who are new to horse training, the sheer number of tips on teaching young horses can drive them to madness. Some techniques and principles that exist can be conflicting to each other; and the confusion can be more evident. But to really learn about tutoring young horses, one has to be approachable to trying out various techniques by combining various horse training methods. Here are some of the most common but successful training tips for young horses that have been practiced by a lot of trainers for generations.

The average age that a horse can start learning is about five years old. Although at this age, horses are still very young and therefore should not be trained severely since at this age, a severe training program can do damage to their physical development. At this age, we should focus on letting the horse feel what it is like under the saddle.

All horse training regimen depends on the breed of the horse that you are teaching. Horses have slow and fast learners just like humans. For example, the mountain horse, which could be trained under the saddle as early as two years of age. Or the Arabians, which are notably slow on their development; Therefore, at two years old, they can barely be trained for anything yet. Even under one breed, individual horses still have their own development rate; knowing this will enable you to adjust your horse training program consequently.

While it is true that horses can start training at two or five years old, young horses should never undergo a training program that is intendent for fully-grown horses. Training sessions for younger horses must begin with fifteen to thirty minutes of training periods.

The training environment plays an important role in the training of young horses. For instance, deep layers of soft sand in the riding ring might not be a good idea for young horses because in order to move their feet out of the sand, they will have to pull harder. Also, an inclined training ground may put more stress to the young horse's developing legs; therefore, it's better to use a level field.

By Paul A Wiseman

This well known author is an Internet expert and really enjoys sharing his passion with other people. Discover more now about Horses and all about Horse Training idea at his website http://www.horseswebsite.com

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Horseback Riding Tips - The 5 Fundamental Horseback Riding Tips Every Horse Rider Should Know

There are always some kind of hints or tricks that can make something that might seem so difficult end up seeming so easy. There are gardening tips for those with a black thumb, there are cooking tips for those who aspire to have their family not run when you say that dinner is ready and then there are those who just want to be able to stay on a horse. Those are the ones that could easily benefit from some of these horseback riding tips:

Tip1 - Don't go about riding like you're stomping snakes. You want to approach your horse with a gentle tone and manner so that they feel comfortable around you. I don't like people yelling at me for no reason and neither does a horse.

Tip 2 - If you are a new to horseback riding, remember that no matter how much money you spend on those fancy clothes or boots, they're going to get dirty. And the good news is that getting them dirty can be really fun. Also, money doesn't make a good rider. I've seen some of the best riders in the world wear pants and boots with holes in them and a shirt thin enough it's only there to keep the flies at bay and I'd give my eye tooth to ride half as good as they do.

Tip 3 - When you get on a horse you should always use the left side of the horse. Many horses are only trained to have a rider get on from the left side and might freak out if you get on the right side (I've actually seen that happen to people). This is just one of those things that is the way it is because it has always been that way in all horseback riding ranches.

Tip 4 - If you don't want to get out of the saddle with a sore back remember your horseback riding posture. It's never been good to sit all slouched over at any other time in your life and sitting on a horse is another time when it's just not appropriate. You're back will end up sore and it can mess up the rest of your body posture such as the way your hips are in the seat and the way that your feet are in the stirrups.

Tip 5 - Never, ever put your foot too far into the stirrup. I put some emphasis on this horseback riding tip because if you fall off of your horse with your foot shoved all the way in the stirrup nice and tight, odds are if you fall off you will be dragged behind the horse. I'm sure that you all remember the old westerns with the man being dragged by the running horse. When you put your foot in the stirrup, my rule of thumb is that you want the ball of your foot just about centered on the bottom of the stirrup. That way your toes (of course inside your boot) should just barely be out of the stirrup and the majority of your foot is out and should be pointing down. You don't want your heel set above your toes as that might lead to the foot slipping into the stirrup further. But if your heel is slightly lower than your stirrup your foot should stay right in place where it belongs.

I hope that you were able to benefit from these horseback riding tips. They are ones that were always pointed out to me by my trainer when I was young and I have found them to still hold true today.

Did you know that 90% of falls and horse related injuries result from an inexperienced rider? Don't let this happen to you. Take a few minutes to learn the essential horseback riding and horsetraining methods practiced by experts for generations which are guaranteed to improve your horse riding skills.

Clinton Lyons has been raising foals and horses for over 35 years. He is a professional horse trainer and expert horseback riding instructor. Visit his website to learn more about horse training and horseback riding here: http://www.horsetrainingranch.com

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Ten Steps to Buying The Right Horse

In shopping for a horse there are a few basic rules to meet success. Do yourself a favor and read this guideline if you want a smooth transition into your next purchase of an equine. All buyers interested in horses are interested for different reasons. The most important thing you can do for yourself is know yourself. Knowing yourself will ultimately lead you to understand what you need to aim for in finding the "right" horse. For instance, if you have never owned a horse before don't buy a untrained horse or a young one for that matter. The market right now is such that you can find a well broke experienced horse for a good price. Also understand a horse will not train you, you need to find someone to help you learn how to become a good rider and a responsible horse owner. A well trained horse makes this transition a lot smoother if your new at being a horse owner.

Here are some steps to go by.

1) Figure out exactly what you want in a horse. Figure out the breed your aiming for, the level of training you want them to have, their age, their past experience, mare or gelding, and what you want to do in the future with this companion. If you are buying your ten year old daughter a pony will the pony still fit her in four years? Will she be able to compete with her like friends when they all have quarter horses? What is in her best interest now and in the future.

2) Start looking around to see what meets this description. Look locally, look on the Internet, ask a local barn that specializing in your area of interests.

3) Once you find a prospect start asking questions. Lots of questions. Past history, vet check-ups, how they do in a trailer, how do they respond to a bath and most importantly how often is this horse worked with? How do they respond to vaccines? What do they feed him or her? Are they in a pasture, a stall, a horse facility. What do they do when they are in a stressful situation? Bring a friend that is horse savvy with you. This is important, because it will give you a different perspective.

4) Make the owner ride the horse first and watch how the horse responds and how the owner complies with the horse. Ask the owner of the horse to load the horse in the trailer just to see how the horse responds. Pick up the horses feet. Lead the horse around at a jog to see how they respond. Then if your comfortable take a ride yourself, but wear a helmet. Have a friend video tape it and if your concerned about anything take the tape to a respected trainer and ask them what they see. Suggestions they might have?

5) Ask for vet check. It is worth the investment. If you buy a horse and it ends up lame in a week your "new" horse won't be worth as much as you paid for it. Also it will allow you to see if the previous owner has been up to date on teeth floating, trimming, ect. It will also give you a little time to really think about the decision your about ready to make. If the horse passes with flying colors I would recommend having the vet back out to give the horse it's vaccines and worming it before it's transported. You will be responsible for the bill so be prepared for that.

6) Ask the owner of the horse if they have sold any other horses in the two years. If they have get the name of the buyer and call them to see if their transaction was positive. Ask if the owner was honest about the horse.

7) If everything lines up then this is the one. I might wait a few weeks to make sure the vaccine becomes active and then it's time for safe transport.

8) Prior to pick up ask if the horse comes with anything. A records book? A halter (do you need to bring your own), a blanket, anything? So you are prepared when it's time to pick the horse up.

9) Once your horse has been purchased. Ask for all their vet records. If their vet has them ask for a waver so you can access them today and in the future.

10) Have the owner fill out a bill of sale and get a signature and date. Head on down the road. You got yourself a pony!

Understand that you can not predict everything when you buy a horse. That you can only do as much as you can to ensure that you made the most knowledgeable decision possible.

By Fiona Stone

Fiona Stone of StoneRidge Farms

http://stoneridgefarms.org

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