365 Days in Horse Country – Saddle Pads     There was a time when nothing came between a horse’s back and his saddle.  Things have changed, however, and nowadays horses wear saddle pads when being ridden. Saddle pads come in a vast assortment of sizes, shapes, colours, and materials.  Western saddle pads tend to be thick to help evenly distribute the rider’s weight across the horse’ ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Idaho Gem  The very first member of the equine family to ever be cloned was a mule named Idaho Gem.  Produced as part of a joint effort between the University of Idaho and Utah State University, the mule was born to a horse mother and was the clone of the full brother to a successful racing mule named Taz.  It took many attempts before a successful cloned ...

365 Days in Horse Country – National Show Horse  Originally a cross between the Arabian and the Saddlebred, the National Show Horse is now its own registered breed.  With the grace of the Arabian and the showiness of the Saddlebred, the National Show Horse is the quintessential exhibition horse. The breed was considered a crossbred until the early 1980s, when a group of fanciers esta ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Poisonous Plants    It’s a myth that horses won’t eat plants that aren’t good for them.  In most cases, horses can’t tell the difference between a toxic plant and a safe one.  And a horse that is very hungry will eat any plant he comes across, regardless of its smell or taste. It’s your job as a horse owner to protect your horse from toxic plants by keeping ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Cleaning Brushes    It’s one of those tasks you never get around to doing; cleaning your grooming brushes.  But it’s important to do this at least once a month.  After all, if you don’t clean your brushes, all you are doingis putting dirt back on your horses when you groom them. The best way to clean brushes is to soak them in warm water.  If your brushes ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Horsemanship  Many western shows these days feature a horsemanship class, where horse and rider are expected to execute a specific pattern in the arena.  The pattern is done at the lope, and illustrates the rider’s skills at controlling the horse. Horsemanship patterns vary according to the particular show, but most require the horse to back up, pivot, and c ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Comanche  The Battle of Little Bighorn, which took place in 1876 is famous for the fact that General George Custer and all his men were wiped out by the Sioux and Cheyenne.  One of few equine survivors of this historic battle was a remount horse named Comanche. Comanche, a 15 hand bay gelding, was the personal mount of Captain Myles Keogh, who led two of t ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Biting Horse bites are one of the most painful types of bites you can get from a barnyard creature.  When jaws strong enough to masticate tough fibrous plant material come down on human flesh, the results are excruciating. Horses usually bite people for one of two reasons: They are trying to play, or they are being aggressive.  Some horses that are hand-fed ...

365 Days in Horse Country – Xenophon  The title of “Horse Whisperer” has been used to refer to a number of modern-day natural horsemanship trainers, but the original holder of this title was a Greek soldier and historian named Xenophon.  A contemporary of Socrates, Xenophon was a gifted writer as well as a magnificent horseman. In 350 BC, Xenophon wrote a treatise called “On Horseman ...

365 Days in Horse Country – The Sorraia Horse  One of the most ancient and rare breeds of horse is the Sorraia.  Of Iberian origin, these horses appear in prehistoric cave drawings throughout the Mediterranean, and were first identified by zoologists in 1920 as living in the wild in Portugal. Believed to be the ancestors of today’s Andalusians, Lusitanos, And Spanish Mustangs, the Sorr ...