Never Stop Learning
This week was ROUGH. Next week I am supposed to go to a show and the mare I am supposed to take managed to get a nasty cut just below her hock and I don’t know if I will actually get to show her next week! It’s a bummer of a week and its really easy to get discouraged with it but it also has me reflecting back on horse care.
One thing I am reminded of is no matter how hard I try to keep my horses happy and healthy things will happen. I want to get down on myself because this happened but the reality is all I can do is deal with where I’m at now. (I do wish we could bubble wrap horses at times but don’t we all.) Getting down on myself because my horse is hurt isn’t going to make her better, proper time and care will. And here we are again: the importance of horse care!
Last week I dove into what it means to KNOW your horse and this week I’ll take a little time to talk about what it means to CARE for your horse. Caring for your horse is about knowledge. You don’t know what you don’t know. Now that shouldn’t be discouraging! That should be motivating. Go do some research! If you don’t know where to start look into the USHJA Horsemanship Guide it is free and a huge wealth of knowledge. I think the two most important areas to gain knowledge in are injury prevention, and first aid.
Injury prevention is huge. Figure out everything you can do to keep your horse as sound as possible. Ice is a big one. I ice after every jump session. You can buy ice boots from Dover. I use the Ice vibe replacement packs, JUST the replacement packs not the whole boots, they are like 25 bucks. Leave them on for 15-20min after a hard workout. Use liniment! Horses have huge muscle mass and horses get sore too. When muscles are tight or sore they risk being strained. The last thing I will harp on today is feet. Take care of your horse’s feet, no hoof no horse. Make sure you work with your farrier, use hoof paints specific to your horse’s needs, and make sure your horse gets its feet done before they NEED to.
First aid is tricky but the reality is you are your horses first responder. You need to know how to wash out a wound, know when to call the vet for an emergency, and know how to wrap. Make sure you have a fist aid kit. It should include Betadine, gauze, antibacterial cream, various wrap materials, Vetwrap, bandage scissors, clear eyes wash, Epsom salt, tweezers, shoe pullers and probably some other stuff that isn’t coming to mind. Have all this on hand and know how and when to use it. Have a relationship with your vet! Ask your vet questions whenever they are around and be comfortable contacting them for advice. No matter how much you research you won’t beat your vets experience! Finally, learn how to wrap!
I hope this was helpful, this is all coming out of where I am at right now in this moment. I am so passionate about this concept: don’t be afraid to never stop learning!