• Home
• About

Subscribe

Babysitters: Steps To Finding A Good One

With the way that the world is today, you have to use caution when dealing with other people in any given situation. The trust that we took for granted when we were younger has virtually disappeared. This is especially true when screening babysitters. There are many of these “caregivers” that range from being incompetent to actually being a danger to your child. There are a few simple precautions that you can take to ensure that you hire a capable childcare provider.

If the child care provider that you are interested in cares for several children, most states require that they have a license as well as regular health inspections of their home or center. You should ask for the phone numbers to contact the other parents of the children that the babysitter is caring for so that you can get their feedback about the quality of care that their children are receiving. You should also ask to see the caregiver’s license and any other documentation that they may have to ensure that everything is in order. You also may want to ensure that the care giver is child CPR-certified, and that their certification is current. This certification is also required in most states. You can also contact the babysitter’s local health department to discover if the provider has ever had any health violations and if they have, discover exactly what steps were taken to resolve the issues. These violations are public record so you should have no problem in acquiring them. If the caregiver has had more than one minor violation, you may want to acquire childcare elsewhere.

When obtaining the services of a “private” (non-licensed) babysitter, you should be extremely cautious. You should draw up an application, asking the questions that you feel are important. You want to be sure that you have a space for the potential childcare giver’s social security number and references. You might also want to ask for any certification, be it child CPR or certificates for completion of courses in child care. This will give you an idea of how much training the potential babysitter has had. After they have filled out the application, schedule a follow-up interview at a later date to give yourself time to check out the information that they have given you. The first thing that you may want to do is to use their social security number to do a criminal background check. This check can be done through your local law enforcement agency and can help reveal if the applicant has substance abuse problems or more importantly, a history as a sex offender. Once you are satisfied with the criminal background check, you should then check the applicant’s references to ensure that these contacts are professional and not personal. Now that you have completed a thorough check of the potential babysitter’s criminal and professional background, the next step is the interviewing process.

When scheduling the interview, you may ask the applicant to dress professionally to assess how they carry themselves, or casually if you plan to have them play with your children. The second strategy can give you an idea of how the potential babysitter will interact with your child. Once you have completed all of the previous steps and feel confident in the applicant’s abilities, you can then hire them.

A babysitter has the most important job in the world and that is the care of your children. This person will have close contact with your family so choose someone that you feel comfortable with and you will both have a successful working relationship.

Find helpful and creative ideas for parents and grandparents while you shop our affordable kids furniture. For more information, visit this article on wooden toy boxes.

Car Trips With Kids

Taking a long car trip with your children can be a trying experience. Parents have all heard the question “Are we there yet?” or the words “I have to go to the bathroom” five minutes after they have just past the last bathroom for miles. For parents with more than one child, it can sound like professional wrestling in the backseat. As boredom is the main cause of the whining and complaining that the children are doing, the secret to surviving a long car trip with the kids is to come prepared with numerous activities and toys to help keep the little ones busy.

First you can pack a small lunch basket with healthy snacks so the kids will not complain about being hungry. It might be a good idea to avoid salty snacks as this will cause your children to drink more which can lead to you having to make more bathroom stops. You also might want to avoid snacks and drinks that have caffeine or sugar in them. These will give the kids more energy than they need if they are just sitting in a car for several hours.

Next you can pack toys for your younger children. You should ask the child which toys he wants to take as well as picking a few on your own so that you can choose ones that will take up the most of his time. There are portable toy chests available which may be an option for parents who travel a lot with their children. If you only travel occasionally, an inexpensive alternative would be a plastic storage tub, preferably one that comes with a lid. Both the portable toy chests and the storage containers can be easily carried back and forth from the car and come in various shapes and sizes that can fit easily in your backseat.

There are also traveling games designed especially for long car trips available for you to purchase. These can be as simple and inexpensive as check lists that involve pads of paper that lists different items that your child can check off as they spot them along the road. These lists can include vehicles that you pass, a restaurant along the way, and animals that you might expect to find in the area that you are traveling through.

A more expensive alternative to these checklists are electronic handheld video games. Any parent who has these games in the home can tell you that a child can spend hours sitting in one place playing these kinds of games. The handheld versions have become quite elaborate and have many of the same features that the home versions do. Again, some of these electronic games can be expensive, but depending on how much your family travels, it may be a worthwhile investment.

There are also free activities that you can share with your child on long car trips. A good old-fashioned game of “I spy” or a sing-along of your child’s favorite songs can pass the time.

Whatever activities that you plan to use to keep your children occupied on a long car trip, make sure that you choose ones that are easy to do in the backseat. Just make sure that you plan something to keep the kids occupied. . It makes for an easier and happier journey.

Find helpful and creative ideas for parents and grandparents while you shop our affordable kids furniture. For more information, visit this article on wooden toy boxes.

Child Car Safety

In the past few years, child safety in cars has progressed greatly. As of March, 2008 Congress is looking into passing a bill making it mandatory that all children up to the age of eight years old be placed in a appropriate safety seats whenever they are riding in a vehicle. For the present, most states require that children up to the age of five be placed in these safety seats. To purchase an appropriate child’s car seat, a parent needs to find one that is designed for the child’s age and weight.

For infants, there are infant-only safety seats that are designed for babies up to one year of age. These seats are designed to face backwards and come individually or can be part of a stroller system. Most models have a carrying handle that makes it easier to carry the infant to and from the vehicle while remaining in the seat. Some models come with a base that the seat snaps into which enables you to leave it right in the car. When installing these seat, make sure that the seat belt is put through it properly and that the belt is tight to hold the seat securely in place.

There are also toddler seats available. There are many varieties of these seats available. Some seats may be used front-facing or rear-facing, although most experts advise the child seat to remain rear-facing as long as the child’s weight and height permit it. There are front-facing seats only. When using any seat in the front-facing position you should again make sure that the seat belt is looped through it properly and also makes sure that the seat is tilted back so the child’s head is resting against the back of it and is not loping forward. There are combination forward-facing/booster seats that have a harness that fit over the child’s shoulders and usually attaches between his legs. This harness helps to hold the child in place in the seat. As a child grows, this type of seat can also be used as a booster seat that the child sits in with a seat belt holding him in place so that you are able to get longer use out it.

Travel vests are also available for children between 20 to 168 pounds and are useful in vehicles that only have the lap-style seat belts.

For school-aged children, regular booster seats are available. These seats ensure that the child is sitting high enough in the vehicle for the existing shoulder and lap seat belts to fit properly. This ensures that your child can ride safely just like you do.

There are several ways to tell when your child is ready to move into the more adult-like booster seat. You should keep close track of the weight and height requirements of your present safety seat. Once your child has reached either of these measurements it is time to move him into a bigger seat. You should also consider a larger seat when his shoulders surpass the top harness slots or when his ears have reached the top of the back of your existing seat.

Child safety seats have proven to be effective protection for children in case of a car accident. If the seat is installed properly and is the appropriate type for your child’s age, you can rest comfortably knowing that your child is as safe as possible.

Find helpful and creative ideas for parents and grandparents while you shop our affordable kids furniture. For more information, visit this article on wooden toy boxes.

Cool Microscopy For Kids

“Look Daddy…Wow…that’s so cool!” Parents are used to hearing such exclamations from their children when referring to video games, superheroes, cheap impulse-buy toys at the grocery store and, as they get older, clothing and hairstyles designed to cause maximum parental disapproval. The fact that one of my seven year old twin boys was applying these words to a stereo microscope was a pleasant surprise.

He was looking at a recently deceased bee or, more accurately, the incredible cross-hatching that makes up a bee’s eye. This was followed by a close-up examination of the stinger, the gossamer like fabric of the wing and, following a brief search round the ground floor of the house, a house fly. By then, his brother was full into “My turn, my turn” and believe it or not, their three year old sister was also clamoring to get in on the act! Before we knew it, a half hour had passed with all three kids fully engaged in the wonders of the microscopic - a full half hour focused on one activity! This was not only a record; it verged on miraculous!

As a cynical parent, I confess to having been resigned to watch the microscope consigned to the black hole of our children’s toy cupboard. To my surprise and delight, they have taken the initiative on a number of occasions to retrieve the microscope for further viewing. Shiny rocks have proved a big favorite as have the occasional worm, piece of fruit and other assorted items that catch their eye. But it was Grandma’s crystals from the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh that stimulated the next ‘big session’. She brought with her a glittering array of crystals as well as a series of geodes that reprised the cries from the top of this article. Even my three year old daughter has prompted me to get out the microscope – much to my wife’s chagrin, she found a dead bug on the kitchen floor – her enthusiasm was not only infectious, but for a brief parental moment, I was convinced that she was a budding Einstein.

And that is part of the fun of a microscope. Not only does it open up a whole new world of the microscopic, but it has something to please everyone in the family. For the kids, it offers all sorts of cool, phantasmagoric images to equal the most evil aliens imagined. Yet it also opens their eyes to a completely different and very real perspective on the world. For us parents, it is something other than a video game or TV to share with them while also giving us the satisfying knowledge that, apart from being fun, it is also educational! Under a microscope, the kids can view whatever they like. They learn and perhaps most important, they retain some wonderful visual images that help fire their imagination in other ways. We have some innovative new alien life form drawings to prove it!

Moreover, a microscope is inexpensive. Ours is a real microscope in the sense that it is not a toy. It is an Omano OM1030L stereo microscope from The Microscope Store, LLC (www.microscope.com). The cost($259)is a fraction of what we have spent on toys that have been discarded or broken within one or two uses and it has proved a wonderful way for us all to participate in something that we all enjoy. Our next one may be a compound microscope so that we can make and view our own slides – but so far, the ecstatic cries over our current stereo microscope continue. We can’t ask for more!

Visit The Microscope Store, LLC The author has three children including two twin boys aged 7 years old and a daughter aged 3 years. He is English, married to an American from Pittsburgh and lives in the North East. He is an enthusiastic father and apart from sculpture and microscopy, he is also learning baseball.

Horse Moon Blindness

You most likely better know it as “moon blindness,” but periodic opthalmia, the most common cause of blindness in horses, has nothing to do with the phases of the moon.

The reason why horsemen used to attribute moon blindness to the phases of the moon is because of its tendency to appear suddenly, subside in about a week, and then come back. In fact, the reasons for moon blindness remain unknown, although there are a few hypotheses, which we’ll get to later.

Moon blindness is essentially the inflammation of the eye, and occurs most often in horses that are older than four years. While it may start in one eye, moon blindness eventually affects both eyes. Each recurrent attacks adds to the damage done.

What are the symptoms of moon blindness? Symptoms usually arrive suddenly, and include a severe sensitivity to light. The eyelid is often half shut, and sticky tears may be evident on the lower lid and cheek. The pupil does not dilate, the cornea is inflamed, and the blood vessels in the eye are clearly visible.

Following the initial phase of moon blindness, the horse’s cornea becomes cloudy and yellow at the edges. In two to three days, a cheesy substance builds up on the lower part of the pupil, which blocks the amount of light going into the eye. While these attacks will subside and the eye will appear to go back to normal, after each attack the eye will become a little more damaged. Atrophied eyeballs, thickened sclera, and eventually total blindness will occur in horses who have had several attacks.

As we stated earlier, no one really knows what causes moon blindness. The general consensus is that there may be a few reasons for the disease, including worm larvae, leptospirosis, allergic reaction, or riboflavin deficiency. What is known for sure is that the disease isn’t congenital or hereditary. So if your mare has moon blindness, you don’t have to worry about her passing it on to her offspring.

If you suspect your horse has moon blindness, call your vet right away. He or she will treat the disease by reducing inflammation through the use of topical corticosteroids. Anti-inflammatories put into acrylic beads, which are then put in the sclerae, have also been used to prevent recurring bouts of moon blindness. Your horse should be kept in a dark stall throughout the course of the bout, as UV radiation tends to promote inflammation. If your horse must go outside or be exposed to daylight there are special ultraviolet blocking masks that he can wear to prevent exposure.

Unfortunately, there’s little hope that a horse with moon blindness won’t end up blind. The best thing you can do is treat the bouts of moon blindness quickly and aggressively with the goal of preserving your horse’s eyesight for as long as possible.

For more great equine resources please visit our links below and make sure to bookmark them, so you can visit often!

Thanks

Ron Petracek was raised in Southern Idaho with horses and the great outdoors. With this continued passion He now shares through a a vast equine network. Learn more by clicking the links below. Amazing Equine Network System - Buy Sell or trade anything equine related. Get More Horse Classified coverage and distribution with less cost and work. Award Winning Horse Forum

Horse Splints

You know how important it is to check your horse’s legs before and after you ride for heat and swelling. If you find hard swelling in the area of the horse’s splint bones, your horse may be suffering from splints.

Splints are more common in young horses, and are most often found in the forelegs. Basically, splints are the injury and swelling of the interosseous ligament, which holds the splint bone to the cannon bone.

While overtraining is a common cause of splints, they can also be caused by concussion, direct trauma, poor shoeing, or conformation issues like bench knees. If your horse isn’t getting the proper amount of vitamins and minerals—if he is lacking in calcium, phosphorous, or vitamins A and D—he is also more prone to splints, especially if he is younger than two years old.

So what are the signs of splints? The two signs that generally show up first are heat and hard swelling along the side of the cannon bone. Your horse may or may not show signs of pain, and the degree of lameness—if any—usually correlates to the degree of inflammation. At some point the swelling will go down a bit in size, but will also become harder because of bone formation. As you notice the size of the splint going down this doesn’t mean that the bone formation is getting smaller. As a matter of fact, once your horse has a calcified growth, it will not go down in size. When the growth appears to go down in size it is just because the swelling in the surrounding tissues has subsided. Once the bone calcifies the lameness usually disappears, unless the calcification is positioned so that it interferes with the suspensory ligament, flexor tendons, or carpal joint.

There are several different treatments for splints, so it’s best to talk to your vet about what treatment will best work for your horse given his condition. Rest and cold therapy immediately following the tear of the interosseious ligament will help reduce inflammation and therefore bone growth. In addition, the vet may also recommend other treatments to manage inflammation including corticosteroid injections, topical nonsteroidal cream, or bandages over DMSO and Furacin or glycerin and alcohol. Plan on your horse being out for at least 30 days, and sometimes more.

When all is said and done, a case of the splints isn’t the end of the world. While the appearance of the limb can be permanently affected, most splints don’t cause permanent lameness. Treatment of inflammation as soon as possible can even prevent bone calcification. In cases where an ossification interferes with the suspensory ligament or carpal joint, surgery may be required. Only in relatively few cases, for example when the suspensory apparatus to the back of the cannon and knee is damaged, do splints cause permanent lameness.

Keeping your horse in moderate training and not overdoing it, especially if he is young, is the best prevention against splints. Be sure to check your horse’s legs before and after every ride, and if you notice heat and swelling take immediate action. Remember, the sooner you act the less likely it is that splints will cause long-term damage.

Want to learn more about splints and other leg issues? Just visit our equine resource links below and add them to your favorites or bookmark them around the web!

Thanks

Ron Petracek was raised in Southern Idaho with horses and the great outdoors. With this continued passion He now shares through a a vast equine network. Learn more by clicking the links below. Amazing Equine Network System - Buy Sell or trade anything equine related. Get More Horse Classified coverage and distribution with less cost and work. Award Winning Horse Forum.

Equine Cancer

It is not very often you hear of a horse with cancer. Often when you do it is after the horse has died and the cancer was later discovered in a necropsy. However, if the cancer is detected early then there are several things that a veterinarian can do to help your horse fight the cancer.

Horses, like humans are able to develop a number of cancers. They are able to get skin cancer and lymphatic cancers. They are also able to contract cancers in various organs as well. Like humans, horses will also develop lumps and tumors. They can also develop skin cancer lesions. These lumps often occur under the eyes, around the genitals and on the skin. These lumps call for diagnosis via biopsy to determine the type of cancer as well as the severity.

Cancer is hard to diagnose because the symptoms are so vague. They may present symptoms similar to other disease or none at all. The main symptom associated with cancer is a horse that doesn’t seem to be thriving or responding to treatment for other diseases. These horses are often suffering from some sort of cancer.

Treatment for equine cancer is very similar to human treatments. The horse may undergo surgery to remove malignant tumors or potentially malignant tumors. They can undergo chemotherapy, immunotherapy for immune system support and even laser therapy.

Often several of these treatments may be employed at one time. Horses may also undergo radiation therapy and a process called cryosurgery, which involves freezing off the tumor caused by skin cancer.

Skin cancer is prevalent in light colored horses. Horses, such as Paints and Pintos that have a lot of white, as well as white colored horses, may easily sunburn and develop skin cancer.

Owners with horses such as these can often prevent skin cancer by keeping the horses in the shade during the day and turning out at night or by applying sunscreen to their white and sun sensitive areas.

The number of companies that are producing equine related sunscreens and treatments to help prevent cancers such as these should be praised. Not only do we worry about our children in the sun but sometimes we force or do not have resources to help shade or our equine friends.

A few that I know of are absorbine and healthy haircare, both human sunscreens can be watered down and sprayed with great results. I would use no less than 30 or 50 rated for this.

For more great information on equine cancer please visit our resource box below and share this article with your friends. If you have time bookmark it to share awareness of the growing equine health threat.

If you have any resource links on this topic we would ask that you would visit our links below and ad them to the comments section within our site.

Equine cancer is growing at alarming rates and whatever we can do to help will prevent some of these horses from not reaching a good old age.

Thanks for your efforts!

Ron Petracek was raised in Southern Idaho with horses and the great outdoors. With this continued passion He now shares through a a vast equine network. Learn more by clicking the links below. Amazing Equine Network System - Buy Sell or trade anything equine related. Get More Horse Classified coverage and distribution with less cost and work. Award Winning Horse Forum.

Developing A Deworming Program

A regular parasite control program is critical to your horse’s health. Infestations of internal parasites can cause your horse to feel ill all of the time, become colicky, and can even cause death. Parasites can cause damage to a horse’s internal organs. Signs of parasite infestation include overall poor condition, dry and dull coat, diarrhea, bloating, and an itchy tail. Deworming your horse regularly is necessary because he can be continually re-infected from parasite eggs in pastures or from bot flies. A haphazard deworming program is hard on your horse’s system; Getting rid of internal parasites and keeping them away is the best procedure for your horse’s health.

In some cases where a horse is confined, as with stallions, or he is very young, old or not thriving, a modified worming program may be advisable. Consult your veterinarian to determine whether an individualized program is recommended.

Parasite Life Cycle

Most internal parasites are ingested as larvae, where they migrate to your horse’s digestive system and live in the intestines. There, they mature and lay eggs which are passed out in manure. The eggs hatch into larvae and spread into the environment. Your horse, or another horse, ingests the larvae, and the cycle continues.

Purge Deworming

Deworming your horse with a paste dewormer purges the adults already in his system before they lay eggs. It breaks the cycle by stopping any more eggs from being passed. The problem lies with the fact that if he shares a grazing area with other horses or if manure is allowed to lie in his pasture, he can be immediately reinfected; The smaller the area, the bigger the potential problem. Horses normally will not graze near manure, but if the grazing area is not large enough to sustain the number of horses, or your pastures are not properly rotated, the desire for grass may over ride his natural tendencies.

Deworming with a paste dewormer requires all of the horses that share grazing space to be treated at the same time, thereby killing all of the adult parasites before eggs are laid. It is also good practice to remove manure from any grazing area. If you choose a paste dewormer, it is important to give your horse the proper dose. Be certain to read the dosage information on the packaging and to adjust dose according to each horse’s age and weight. Rotate between wormers that have different types of chemical bases. This will not only kill a broader spectrum of parasites, it helps prevent parasite immunity to one chemical.

A sample rotation schedule might be:

1. Spring (March) An Ivermectin based product controls large strongyles, small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, hairworms, large-mouth stomach worms, bots, lungworms, and intestinal threadworms.

2. Late Spring (May) A fenbendazole-based product (Safe Guard) controls large strongyles, encysted early- and late-third-stage and fourth-stage cyathostome larvae, small strongyles, pinworms, and ascarids.

3. Summer (July) A pyrantel pamoate based product (Strongid) control large strongyles, small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, and tapeworms when double-dosed.

4. Fall (September) A moxidectin based product (Quest) controls large strongyles, small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, encysted cyanthostomes, hairworms, large-mouth stomach worms, and bots

5. Late Fall (November) An oxibendazole based product (Anthelcide) large strongyles small strongyles, large roundworms, and pinworms, including various larval stages and threadworms

Daily Deworming

Another option is to use a daily dewormer. It is recommended to first use a larvacidal dewormer such as ivermectin or moxidectin before beginning a daily treatment plan. This will help destroy existing larvae and adult parasites. Pyrantel Tartrate is the chemical ingredient in daily wormers. It controls large strongyles, small strongyles, pinworms, ascarids, and tapeworms. If you choose a daily wormer, your horse should also receive ivermectin or moxidectin in early Spring and late Fall to control bots AND praziquantel in early Spring to control tapeworms.

Timing is Critical

For daily programs, be certain that your horse gets his daily dose every day, as missed doses will decrease the levels of dewormer in his system, rendering it less effective.

For purge programs, timing is essential. If you treat too early, targeted worms will be too immature to be affected by the dewormer. If you treat too late, adult worms will have the opportunity to produce eggs, infesting your horse’s environment and raising his (and other horses) risk of exposure.

How to Stay on Schedule

· Post a calendar in your barn. Clearly mark the day for each deworming.

· Purchase the entire year’s worth of dewormer at one time. Write the horse’s name and the date to be given with an indelible pen on the tube.

· Put the wormer out where it can be seen the day before you will administer it.

· Keep wormer out of the reach of children and pets.

Following a regular deworming schedule is critical to keeping your horse healthy.

Ron Petracek was raised in Southern Idaho with horses and the great outdoors. With this continued passion He now shares through a a vast equine network. Learn more by clicking the links below. Amazing Equine Network System - Buy Sell or trade anything equine related. Get More Horse Classified coverage and distribution with less cost and work. Award Winning Horse Forum

Equine Heaves

Heaves. Even the name sounds icky. And if you are a horse owner who has had to deal with heaves, you know it’s no day at the park.

What exactly are heaves? Heaves is basically another word for pulmonary emphysema, a condition in which the lungs can’t be properly emptied of air due to the rupture of alveoli, which are tiny air sacks in the lungs. What happens is that the air that escapes the alveoli becomes trapped in the pockets between them. And this makes it difficult for the lungs to properly empty. While heaves is most often seen in horses older than five, it can be seen in younger horses who have had respiratory illnesses. While it’s never been proven what causes the alveoli to rupture, theories include allergic reaction, exposure to dust or molds, chronic bronchitis, feeding of poor roughage for a long period of time, and overworking.

You’ll know it if your horse has heaves! Heaves will start with a runny nose and cough, but will progress to the emphysema phase where your horse will experience obvious shortness of breath. Another clue that your horse has heaves is the use of his abdominal muscles to breathe after exercise. An attack of heaves can last just a few days or can persist a few weeks or more.

As heaves progresses coughing and difficulty breathing will become more severe, and you’ll see further signs of heaves in the horse’s respiratory muscles. For example, the abdominal muscles may become misshapen, and the nostrils may dilate. In very severe cases, the rectum may even protrude as the horse exhales. Rubbing sounds, called “rales,” may also be present and are another sign that heaves has progressed.

If you notice that your horse has any of the symptoms of heaves, it’s important to get your veterinarian out to the farm as soon as possible. Since heaves has symptoms similar to other respiratory diseases like pharyngitis and bronchitis, your vet will most likely ask a lot of questions about the horse’s history in addition to looking at the physical signs.

While there is no real treatment that will “cure” heaves, there are a number of treatments that will keep the symptoms under control. Corticosteroids, antihistamines, bronchodilators, and nebulizers can all give your horse a little relief. Since dusty hay and allergies can cause and exacerbate heaves, hay should be clean and wetted to minimize dust before feeding, and legume hay, as well as round bales of hay that tend to be dustier than square, should be avoided. You may even want to put a horse with severe heaves on a hay-free diet, which is certainly possible considering the amount of complete feeds on the market today.

A horse with heaves should have plenty of clean, fresh air. If you have the proper facilities, consider moving your horse out of his stall and have him spend his days under the sun and his nights under the stars. In addition to being healthy for his respiratory system, time outside is also healthy for your horse’s mental state. And a horse who is mentally healthy will heal faster than one who isn’t!

For more great equine health information and treatments make sure to visit and bookmark our links below, so you can visit often!

Thanks

Ron Petracek was raised in Southern Idaho with horses and the great outdoors. With this continued passion He now shares through a a vast equine network. Learn more by clicking the links below. Amazing Equine Network System - Buy Sell or trade anything equine related. Get More Horse Classified coverage and distribution with less cost and work. Award Winning Horse Forum.

Maintaining A Horse’s Sensitivity So You May Achieve Lightness In Riding

Think of how sensitive your horse is—even if you don’t think he is particularly sensitive to your aids at all. Think of how reactive he is just to the persistent presence of an annoying fly at his belly.

Horses are by their very nature sensitive creatures. They need to be because, in the wild, if they were dull and not sensitive to all that goes on in their surroundings, they would be someone else’s prey.

Take the horse’s sensitive nature and put him with a human for some time and that nature can change. Picture a horse that has been repeatedly exposed to conflicting aids, for example, a rider who kicks him to go but then accidentally pulls on the reins when she loses her balance. Or a horse whose rider has little control over her leg and constantly clinks her legs in his side. Eventually both horses may very well shut down and tune out the aids, becoming perceived as dead to the leg, dull, hard to get moving or downright sour. He gradually becomes desensitized.

Likewise, horses that aren’t given a sufficient reward system can follow the same desensitization course. When riding your horse, you are always training him, and that training needs to balance a proper reward/discipline program so your horse not only learns what he should and should not do but that he also doesn’t desensitize to you.

For a horse that is working, the greatest reward is an end to the work. Discipline or punishment is a continuation of the work. Constant repeated continuation of work or schooling a particular element over and over even when the horse has done it well just leads to desensitization. (How many times have you heard someone refer to a horse that has gone sour? That’s likely a horse that has not had a proper reward system for doing the work correctly. The fact that such horses ever learn anything is a miracle in itself!)

As a horse grows further desensitized and duller, the rider’s aids increase to achieve a desired response and attaining lightness is nearly impossible.

As a rider, your goal needs to be riding in lightness, that is, achieving what you want from your horse with minute imperceptible aids. Picture a top show hunter, grand prix dressage horse or champion reining horse. You barely see the rider do anything, and it seems as though the horse is doing everything on his own. What you don’t see is that the horse has been maintained to still retain sensitivity by a rider who rides in lightness.

When you have a training goal for your horse, keep in mind the reward system and remember that he will learn best when there is an end to the work. And always end on a good note

Hope you will continue and visit our resource box links below. Make sure to bookmark them and ad them to your favorites for future reference.

Thanks

Ron Petracek was raised in Southern Idaho with horses and the great outdoors. With this continued passion He now shares through a a vast equine network. Learn more by clicking the links below. Amazing Equine Network System - Buy Sell or trade anything equine related. Get More Horse Classified coverage and distribution with less cost and work. Award Winning Horse Forum.

« Previous Page — Next Page »