finding a horse trainer

[verthandi]

I was happy when I saw that there were more horse posts showing up on BYC (at first). Some how along the way it appears that we sometimes forget what it is like to be new to horses. In both threads started by the OP, she has asked for help and appears to be willing to learn. We all also know that no two horse people think alike and most of us are sure that our way is the only way.

Is there any of us on this thread that hasn't taken what works for us from the huge amount of knowledge that we have learned from others and used it to form how we take care of our own critters? But we pick what works for us....and not use it all. The method and way that new knowledge is presented can either help a new horse owner or totally turn them away. If we truly care about horses.....is turning someone away from a useful source, benefiting the horse? or the owner? Let's help her, instead of tromping all over her. (off my mounting block and headed back out to play in the snow with the horses)

 

[fancy]

Some of us have been trying to make suggestions (post #21) in a nice way but they get ignored! This girl wants help and I see lots of help being offered but only excuses on her part as to the horses PAST. This is now. Fences can be updated in the winter. It's not posts that need to be put in the ground, just the wire elements addressed, and capping the posts. Even I could deal with that myself, and I'm crippled, fat, and work full time.

Our duty to our animals is to keep them safe and fed well. If you can't provide that, move her to a boarding stable until you can! Please, people are here to help but we can't mend your fences for you.

Fancy

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
I am not very mechanically inclined I guess you could say. My husband will help me with this when he is able and hopefully nothing terrible happens, I would be very upset.

In case you can't read either I have said I have upped her feed to 3-4 flakes per day now( see post #22, #64, and #68)....I had increased it a bit any ways cause of the cold here I normally do so how did I not take your help in advice and others even though I had already. Many have said that and I was already doing that....I always do in the winter. I do see her ribs a little in my first pics post #22 but she is still not that skinny or malnourished. She is small and not being worked. I don't have excuses either I tell the truth and the need for "those excuses" was not brought up by me. I did need to tell the truth in those matters when brought up by someone I told in confidence and reason being cause that trainer was family friend but not relevant to this thread so lets not discuss that no more please.

@ patandchickens that was the plan to take it all down originally and then someone we had talked to locally here had said I would not. Well my husband was the one told this from this person. Actually this person I guess said to make the barb wire hot.....but I think it would be better and my plan and idea to run a couple strands always has been on the inside of the barb wire. We may just take the barb wire down all together.

She is due for wormer very soon in a week or two. How often is this to be done? I hear so many different times to do it. I heard it is very hard on the stomach and not necessary in the winter cause every thing is dormant. She eats out of a tire and it does not move around.
I heard every other month and I have been every 3 months cause she was young and I believed it could be hard on her stomach. I have been debating if I should do it when due in a week or 2 cause it is frozen here.

I think the rib comment is from post #22 her ribs are showing a bit in the first pic? Those pics were in oct. of this year.

 

[fancy]

I'm not mechanically inclined either, but if you go to your feed store or fence supply place, I can guarantee that some nice man will be more than willing to show you how to do what you need.

Just bat those eyelashes and ask for help! It works for me every time! LOL





Fancy

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

She is due for wormer very soon in a week or two. How often is this to be done? I hear so many different times to do it. I heard it is very hard on the stomach and not necessary in the winter cause every thing is dormant. She eats out of a tire and it does not move around.
I heard every other month and I have been every 3 months cause she was young and I believed it could be hard on her stomach. I have been debating if I should do it when due in a week or 2 cause it is frozen here.

Whichever wormer you choose will tell you right on the packaging how often to repeat it. Ivermectin, for example, is given every two months as per the packaging.

HTH


Rusty​

 

[verthandi]

Here's a site from your home state (I think) with a worming schedule about half way down the page. Personally I do not use Quest, but many do without problems. I use Equimax instead.

http://www.nwequinevet.com/owner_resources


Sorry...I had to edit after I went to the website to make sure it was correct one. I also do not agree with using barb wire fences with horses...but check out the top picture on the page from a vet. oh my.

 

[arabianequine]

On the womer I was told not to use the same brand/kind everytime you gave the wormer. Also I don't like quest either....I heard it was bad for horses or something in it?

Never mind....on the edit not worth pointing out.

I don't either verthandi...and that barb wire looks pretty rusty too. Looks like they got a lot of room too though. I know bad things can happen but lots of people use it especially if already up. I see a lot of single horses in pastures too.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
Again, time to do some reading. Again I recommend www.thehorse.com as a concise place to find lots of good up to date information, although there are also plenty of other sources.

The reason to rotate wormers (in some situations; see below) is that different wormers kill different worms, and most importantly because repeated use of just one type wormer encourages the development of strains of worms resistant to that chemical. You really REALLY don't want to develop resistant worms, because then that class of chemical is useless against them. In goats there are some strains of worms in some regions that are resistant to EVERY KNOWN wormer chemical

which is a real problem. Don't want to go there with horses!

There is little or no point in rotating *within* a class, as resistance generally occurs to the WHOLE class if it develops at all. So just changing *brand* of wormer often achieves nothing whatsoever. You have to read the fine print and see what actual chemical a particular brand IS.

There are basically three general classes of wormers used in horses: compounds ending in -bendazole which are the old-style "cheap" paste wormers like Anthelcide, which affect the smallest number of types of internal parasites; pyrantel pamoate, such as Strongid, which is broader-spectrum and if used in high concentration for several days will kill tapeworms; and ivermectin and moxidectin, which a lot of horse owners treat as if they're totally different but actually are in the same *broad* chemical class and it is really debatable whether or not it's useful to rotate between them.

The ideal thing to do is to have several fecals done, such as by the vet, so you have a pretty good idea of what and how much worm burden your horse is carrying, and treat accordingly. So's not to be worming unnecessarily or with inappropriate compounds. If you don't do that though, then a good approach is to worm every 8 weeks (arguably skipping it in the absolute dead of winter.... but make sure you've taken care of bots and tapeworms first), using pyrantel for six months or a year and then ivermectin/moxidectin for six months or a year and going back and forth between 'em. (It used to be recommended to rotate *every worming*... current recommendations tend to be for a slower rotational cycle as being less apt to encourage resistance. Either way is probably better than totally not rotating.)

Make sure that what you're rotating to/between is going to do what you need it to do. If benzamidazole-resistant worms are common in your area (or where the horse came from), or if you expect bots to be an issue, then it would be stupid and pointless to use Anthelcide or another -benzadole compound in your rotation.

The reason for every 8 wks btw is based mainly on the life cycle of the parasites... the idea being you want to kill 'em off in the horse (the stages that are affected by the wormer, at least -- it is more complicated than I'm making it sound here, you should read more on the topic) BEFORE undue amounts of eggs are passed to reinfect the horse.

Moxidectin has had some issues in the past -- although I am unconvinced that part of it hasn't been a deliberate bad PR campaign

-- because of dosage sensitivity in very young foals and in minis, and because it kills off even encysted strongyles so if a horse has a LARGE worm burden it's a bad choice for the first time or two you worm the horse. But on the whole it is still pretty safe and does have some advantages over ivermectin in some circumstances.

These things -- nutrition, worming, behavior -- are not something it's smart to be relying on "general learning" from neighbors (however experienced) or the guys at the feedstore or a little article you read in a magazine five years ago. They are pretty important things to be up to date and knowledgeable about, if you are going to be in charge of a horse's life and health. I would really, REALLY recommend stepping back and reviewing basics like this from a reputable and up to date source.

Pat

 

[Hound]

Quote:
I'm with you entirely. Do we want to help the horse, or do we want to be all high and mighty? Insulting a person isn't going encourage them to follow any useful advice you might later provide.

Arabianequine, something you might consider are T-post topper insulators. They'll cap off the posts to significantly reduce the chance of impalement, and you can use them to run a high visibility electrical tape or rope. Both products are reasonably priced and will improve her safety until you can undertake large scale fence replacement. The mesh fencing is risky because horses can have a tendency to stick their feet through it and get stuck, even though there is no logical reason why they should want to. They're just horses, and common sense goes out of the window if they have the opportunity to acquire a spectacular injury. The insulator/tape combo should keep her away from the very edge of the fence so she'll be less likely to stick her feet through the wire fence. My biggest worry would be the T-posts that are slanted, they are much easier for a horse to run or skid onto.

T post toppers are usually about $7 for a bag of 10, and electric tape can be had for $45 for 660 feet. Horse.com usually have good prices on both and cheap flat rate shipping, Tractor Supply also sell them. Both honestly can be done easily by yourself.

I understand the difficulty of having to undertake large jobs with little help. You're not going to build pipe fence to surround the three acres by yourself, but making changes to the existing fence can help until you do get the input you need from others.

 

[michickenwrangler]

What Hound said.

The t-post toopers can be bought in bags of 24 at TSC. I use them on my chicken run since the tops are about eye level on me. If you put them on in the winter, keep them in the house and then go outside to put them on. When they are cold, they get stiff and are difficult to jimmy on. Much more malleable if warm.

I worked at and kept my horse at a ranch for years that had their main pasture for horses and cattle fenced in with barb wire. They were lucky that no horse was ever injured and young horses--under 2 years old--were kept in paddocks with wooden or tubular steel fencing. In all truth, there are people who do keep horses in barb wire. Is it safe? No. WOuld I recommend it? Definitely not. But it IS done.

Putting up electric in the winter may not be feasible depending on when your ground freezes. If you wait too long, you'll have to wait for the ground to unfreeze in springtime to drive the ground posts for electric.