Genre: Opinion/Argumentation

You gotta love the babies ! But milk supply is crucial to their survival . As if the anticipation of a newborn foal and a healthy delivery were n't stress enough , there is nothing scarier than questioning whether or not a foal has had enough colostrum within 12-24 hours of birth . And believe me , a mare that does n't seem to be producing sufficient milk afterwards , will make you question that very fact . First and Foremost : Colostrum is the life-giving substance which prepares a newborn foal for life . Since a brand new baby horse is totally and immunologically , vulnerable to the challenges of the outside world , colostrum deriving from the mare's teat immediately after birth is Mother Nature's way of delivering precious antibodies into a foal's system . A new foal must get enough colostrum through passive transfer , within 12-24 hours of birth . Therefore , if you find yourself in a situation where a mare is not producing enough milk several hours later , or the next morning , you must ascertain whether or not the foal received adequate colostrum . I can not stress this aspect enough . A mare without milk is almost the same situation as an orphan foal . You have to make wise decisions and fast . Determining colostrum intake is often done via a SNAP test or serum chemistry , to ensure antibody levels are adequate . Of Second Importance : The results of a SNAP test are obtained very quickly – in something like 7 minutes . If it is determined that plasma or frozen colostrum is necessary , it is still important to remember that the foal also needs nutrition for energy . There are a few equine replacement supplements on the market that can help to feed the foal . These include ; Equilac , Foalac or Kid Milk ( the latter primarily being used for cattle ) . But it 's important to note that milk replacers DO NOT substitute colostrum . Once a foal is is verified to have sufficient colostrum levels , providing adequate nutrition is the next big hurdle . Dr. Dennis Rach of Moore & Co. in Calgary , Alberta , gave me this helpful tip recently : Dextrose is used as an aid in the treatment of glucose deficiencies in cattle . When added to 2 % milk , it provides the nutrients a foal requires , plus , it helps to " sweeten " the milk slightly , to better simulate the taste of a mare's milk . If milk replacer is necessary , a foal needs to consume milk replacer every 2-4 hours . ( This makes life very difficult , but it needs to be done . ) And a foal must consume 16-18 % of its body weight in milk per day . For example , a 60 pound foal must consume 6 pounds of milk per day . It also possible to induce lactation . Certain treatment protocols have resulted in milk production ranging from 25 % to 82 % in success rates . However , induced lactation does not begin with a production of colostrum . Domperidone ( check it out at equitoxpharma.com ) has been used in recent years with good success , to increase endogenous prolactin secretion in mares ( either in advancing the onset of reproductive activity in early spring or to counter the ill effects of fescue toxicosis in pregnant mares at term . ) And of course , check out www.cyberfoal.com in you have an orphan foal , or have a mare suffering from agalactia ( non-production of milk ) . This website works !! It has proven to be a valuable tool for matching orphan foals with nurse mares . At CyberFoal.com , you can apply for a nurse mare or post your own mare up for a newborn foal adoption ( if she has lost her foal ) and help to benefit someone else who may have an orphan . You can also apply for colostrum or read listings as to where colostrum banks may be located . Altogether , CyberFoal.com is a brilliant , valuable website for owners in dire need of colostrum or nurse mare matches . Share this : Alright , I know Mother's day was this past weekend . And it 's not that I 'm trying to make up for not calling and visiting with my beloved Mother ( s ) and Grandmothers . ' Cause I did . My Mom has a very special place in my heart . She was a single mother who struggled , but somehow managed to raise two healthy , vibrant daughters . So although it 's belated , I thought I 'd share a couple of " Mother Scenes " out in our front pasture right now . Since I do n't yet have kids of my own , these are what my Mom proudly refers to as her " Grand-fillies and colts . " And on that note – why do we need one day to celebrate our Moms anyways ? They have been there for us 365 days a year since our lives began . We should be thanking God and commemorating everything they have done for us – every day . Our mothers have taken care of us . Nurtured and fed us , without question . They have stood by our sides , even when we may have been a little " nerdy " at times . Moms are always proud , no matter what we do . They protected us from danger . They taught us how to run and play . And how to survive . Share this : Okay , since this colt starting entry has spanned over several days , let 's go back to the beginning of Clay's first saddling concept . Yesterday , my husband desensitized Mercedes to the saddle pad . Now , he 's going to throw his colt starting saddle ( one that he does n't mind if it gets beat up a little bit ) , directly onto Mercedes' back . He does n't pause or creep up to her with the saddle – Clay simply throws it over like it 's no big deal . Of course , Mercedes is not sure what to make of the object but just the same , she allows it to remain on her back . Note the cinch is not done up at this point . Clay moves Mercedes around , so she feels the weight of the pad and the saddle on her back . Next , Clay drops the cinches on the near side and walks around to the horse's left side to do them up . Very carefully , Clay begins doing up the front cinch . Notice , he has moved Mercedes closer to the fence in case Clay needs to jump up on it quickly to get out of harm's way ... Then Clay slips the rope halter off Mercedes' head and places it around her neck instead . This is because Clay will now – carefully – do up the back cinch . And it 's likely that once the filly feels the back cinch for the first time she will be outta there ... Whew ! The lesson is n't done for today , Clay will continue to do some roundpen reasoning with Mercedes until she responds correctly to him , while still wearing the saddle . Then , he find a good note to end the lesson on . Clay will halter Mercedes and safely remove the saddle ( by undoing the back cinch first ) . And the filly will be allowed an extensive cool-down period , followed by a good grooming session . Finally , she is returned to her stall . In all , Mercedes has handled Clay's first saddling lessons extremely well . There was a little excitement , but nothing out of the ordinary . Neither Clay , nor Mercedes was hurt and a lot was accomplished in terms of the filly's training in a very short time . Please let me reiterate – Clay is a professional horse trainer . Therefore , he has a tonne of experience in the colt starting department . He also has specific roundpen equipment that he uses . The blog entries appearing in My Stable Life are by no means , a recipe for DIYers ... They are merely an inside view into the art of training young horses . I hope you enjoyed these sessions and we will be back with more " Insider Training " very soon . Cheers ! Share this : Clay intends to saddle Mercedes today , for the first time in her life . But for the purposes of breaking the concept up into easy-to understand portions , I will separate the steps into two more blog entries ( today and tomorrow ) . To get Mercedes used to the sensation of a front or back cinch ( since she has never worn one before ) , Clay tosses a lead rope around her barrel . Mercedes is not tied , she is allowed to move around the roundpen as she pleases . However , the goal is for Clay to apply light pressure to her barrel with the rope and when she yields , Clay releases the pressure . If at any time , Mercedes decides to run off , Clay releases his grip on the lead rope and lets her go . There 's no sense in either of them getting hurt or Mercedes becoming scared . In this case , Clay would simply re-catch Mercedes and try again . Today , Mercedes stays put and really puts a lot of effort into trying to comprehend what Clay is asking . Here , she investigates the rope and even tries relieving the pressure by biting it . Although biting is never desirable , Mercedes is clearly curious . Mercedes yields to the pressure and Clay releases the pressure by putting slack in the rope . Next , Clay will introduce the saddle pad to our filly . Note he has now put a rope halter on Mercedes . Clay presses the blanket to Mercedes' sides , an attempt to desensitize her to it . Then he quickly and assertively throws the blanket on her back . At this point , Clay always says " Do n't mess around here . Just throw the blanket up there like she 's had it done numerous times . " Otherwise , if Clay had tried throwing the pad on Mercedes in a fashion that implied she should be afraid of it , she probably would spook away . He lets the pad rest on Mercedes' back . Clay moves the pad all over Mercedes' body and desensitizes her to it . He wants her to realize she has nothing to fear in the saddle pad . Repeating the process over and over , Clay throws the pad over Mercedes' back until she is comfortable and relaxes with the concept . He will even move her around a bit and let Mercedes feel the pad on her back in motion . If it falls off , that 's okay . It simply gives Clay another chance to throw the pad on her again . When Mercedes relaxes her body and displays such body language as lowering her head , licking her lips and relaxing her tail , he is confident with her progress . This concludes the first portion of the first saddling lesson . Share this : In Mercedes' first roundpen lesson ( posted April 4 , 2010 ) , the young yearling filly was brought into our arena roundpen and taught the basics of human handling . While this filly is already halter broke , Clay basically wanted to teach her to have her attention on him at all times . The first session took approximately 25 minutes and when it was done , Mercedes willingly allowed Clay to approach her and touch her shoulders with his lariat . He did this using an " Approach and Retreat " philosophy . In this next lesson , Clay will put Mercedes through the same paces as in the first session , but the goal this time is to be able to touch her in several areas of the body without Mercedes retreating . Clay tests out what was learned in the first lesson . Mercedes is definitely unsure but she has not moved away from Clay's lariat yet . Clay was unable to really " touch " Mercedes , so he sends her around the roundpen to work . He wants the filly's heart , lungs and muscles to help explain to Mercedes that it would be a lot easier to just stand and allow Clay to touch her body . Still , Mercedes declines Clay's invitation to stand , so he sends her around to work again , taking great care to stand back from her hindquarters . Finally the filly thinks about it a little bit and turns to face Clay . He approaches her . Clay wants to be able to rub her all over , with the lariat . Share this : # 10 – You cheer for yourself after every maneuver you perform in a reining pattern . # 9 – You ask the judges if they can hold your coffee for you until you finish your run . # 8 - You stop – mid rundown – and position your horse so the photographer can get your " good " side . # 7 – You wear a red shirt , with a blue saddle pad , no chaps , dusty hat and a pair of gloves in your back pocket . # 6 – You spend the night before your early morning class , at a hockey game . # 5 - You ride your reiner into the ring without sliding plates . # 4 – You refrain from checking your cinch , thinking , " Cinches are for wussies anyways . " # 3 – You walk into the show ring chewing tobacco . # 2 – You walk into the show ring talking on your cell phone . # 1 – You arrive in the warm-up ring , cock your hat back on your head and announce , " You can all go home now , the winner just walked in the pen . " Share this : Our mare is a 2007 model which we purchased from a reputable breeder . Upon picking her up , we discovered a fungus-like patch extending from her right wither down to her right gaskin . The condition did not seem to be bothering her ( it was n't itchy ) , however if it was a fungus that could be transferred to another animal , this was a concern to us . Therefore , following several veterinarian examinations and various topical anti-fungal preparations , one of our vets suggested that we do a skin biopsy . This test produced accurate results . And while knowing what we were dealing with was a huge relief , we could n't help but feel slightly forlorn when we finally did get a proper diagnosis . Equine Linear Keratosis occurs as vertical linear areas of alopecia ( or near alopecia ) , scaling and crust formation on the sides of the horse's neck , or shoulder or chest . The condition is characterized by the gradual development of annular areas of alopecia , usually in a linear , vertically oriented configuration . In our mare's case , her shoulder looked as though someone had spilled a chemical down her body – a scenario we even considered for a while . The lesions are usually 2 to 10mm wide by a few cm to more than 1m in length . The lesions are neither painful nor pruritic . Our horse is n't itchy and the skin seems healthy otherwise . Linear keratosis accounts for 0.67 per cent of the equine dermatology cases seen at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine . Meaning , the condition is very rare . At the blue arrow , you can faintly see the change of coat color that occurs due to the linear keratosis . Since the diagnosis , we have learned that it is possibly a hereditary condition and it may never disappear . However , linear keratosis is not contagious and luckily , it can not pass from our mare to her stable mate or any other horses she may come into contact with . And aside from its blemish appearance , our mare's skin disorder really does n't affect her . She is not sore in that area and it had never affected her training . Share this : This is Mike Oden of Oden Cattle Company . You can probably tell , Mike is quite a character . Here he offered to " pose " for me . Oden cattle company is a unique operation in that it is one of the remaining ranches that still relies heavily on horses to get the work done each day . With ranches in Northern Arizona and North Eastern New Mexico , Oden Cattle Company has the capacity to run 1,400 to 1,500 mama cows : therefore , the proper term in the industry for what Oden Cattle Co. does is " Cow Calf Operator . " Here 's a close-up of Mike's Arizona boots . In order to graze this many cows , Mike needs a lot of land . At Oden Cattle Co. there are about 100,000 acres or 156 square miles of land . They gather cows two-three times per year for branding , weaning , and shipping , or just to move them from one pasture to another . That 's why they have such a big need for horses . Horses at Oden Cattle Co. all wear the 7Up brand . Mike , along with his wife and head book keeper , Jamie , are crucial elements to the operation . They also have two children – Abigail is now 6 and Sam is 12 . Sam won 10th place in the 2009 AQHYA in Oklahoma City in heading , aboard Topless Valentine . Last year was Sam's first world show and he continues to do well with his horses . Sam loves to play all sports but roping is his passion and he has even started to win some money doing it ! The other cool aspect about Oden Cattle Co. is their chuckwagon - they honestly have an ol ' time wagon that can be rented for parties , weddings or reunions . However , you will have to do the cooking and hosting yourself ! Photo courtesy of Oden Cattle Co. The Odens are neat people . They have an impressive herd of horses and place a big emphasis on their mares . For that matter , they place a lot of emphasis on their heifers as well . " In order to raise good calves you need a good bull , but most important is the cow . Same goes for horses , " Mike says . Share this :