Leading a Horse To Water: Prevention of Dehydration while Trail Riding

By Darlene Cox

One of the most important requirements of your horse during trail riding is keeping him hydrated. Dehydration may lead to your horse to a bout of colic, tying-up (azoturia), or heat stroke. Dehydration severities can range from mild to life threatening, or even death. Maintaining the proper balance of water and electrolytes for your horse is imperative to his health and your peace of mind. There is no fear greater to any horseman than to be miles out on a trail and have your horse in peril of dying.

Hydration needs of your horse while trail riding are different than when he is at home relaxing in his pasture. Traveling and trail riding are stressful and you may find your horse refusing to drink while on the road, on the trail, or in camp. There may be many factors in the equation that keeps your horse from drinking: the water may not taste the same; he horse is too excited with his new surroundings and will not be calm enough to drink; he may be overheated; or he may have an imbalance in electrolytes.

While riding, we should be ever vigilant of our horse's hydration, and there are several ways that you can test to make sure he is hydrated:

• Skin pinch test - Pinch the skin over the point of the shoulder. If your horse if fully hydrated, his skin will pop back immediately. However, the skin will remain tented (pinched up) the more dehydrated a horse becomes.

• Capillary refill test - Press your thumb against your horse's upper gums. Once you remove it, count the seconds it takes for the area to return to the same color (the depressed area will appear white right after you remove your thumb). It is best to have a baseline number in mind taken at a time when you knew your horse to be fully hydrated. The longer it takes for the capillaries to refill, the more dehydrated your horse is.

• Mucous membrane test of inner eye lid and gums - Observe a baseline color of gums and inner eye lid. This can probably range from pink to a pinkish-yellowish color. Gums should be moist. If the color is dark red, then your horse is dehydrated. Again, you are looking for a deviation in color from the baseline.

• Jugular vein refill test - Squeeze off the jugular vein for a moment before allowing it to refill. Count the elapsed time before refill. Again, having a baseline reading is important.

• Gut sounds - If you are proficient with the use of a stethoscope, you can listen to the upper and lower gut sounds to determine hydration. Obtain a baseline reading first. Reduced gut sounds are indicative of dehydration.

There are several steps that we as responsible horse owners can take to insure that our horse is adequately hydrated during trail riding.

• Introduce your horse to electrolytes or other flavorings (Kool-aid, Gatorade, etc.) in his water several days prior to trail riding. This will get your horse used to the taste of the electrolytes and/or flavoring additives, and he will not hesitate to drink them while on the trail ride. Electrolytes will generally stimulate a horse to drink because they are salty. If your horse does not like the taste of the electrolytes or flavorings, bring along a small salt block or add salt to his feed while in camp to encourage drinking.

• If possible, bring water from home and offer to your horse during rest breaks while trailering. Some horses will not drink water from different sources, because it tastes different. However, bringing along the water that he is used to may prompt him to drink. Offer water several times during each stop.

• As soon as you get to camp and off-load your horse, fill up his water bucket and get him settled in before moving off to other things. Keep in mind that your horse will be stressed from the drive, being in different surroundings, and around other horses.
  

• While on the trail the cardinal rule to remember is to NEVER PASS UP WATER! Each time you need to stop and allow your horse an opportunity to drink. If you are riding in a group of horses, it is important that all riders understand they must remain close at hand to allow every horse an opportunity to drink. If the first riders water their horses and then move on down the trail, those horses left behind will not want to drink for fear of being left behind. Be courteous and thoughtful; always make sure that all horses drink their fill before leaving the watering source.

Some younger horses that are not used to drinking from trail water sources (creeks, ponds, lakes, rivers) may not initially venture to the water because of their uncertainty. Having a been-there-done-that horse in the group go into or to the water first will show the more timid horse that it is okay. This actually mimics horse herd dynamic behavior as often one horse will drink first before the others follow.

Bring along a tube of electrolyte paste in your saddle bags to use in an emergency while on the trail. The tube I always brought along was often time needed either for my own horse or someone else's horse.


Incorporating the above steps will keep your horse happy and well throughout the trail riding season.

Happy trails!

Shave and A Haircut: Teaching Your Horse to Stand for Clipping

By Darlene M. Cox---darlc5@aol.com

If you have been around horses for any length of time, you have probably encountered a horse that will not tolerate being clipped. Perhaps the horse believes those noisy, tingly clippers to be a horse-eating monster or perhaps the world's largest horsefly. Regardless, he's going to have none of it! Further attempts of clipping a horse that is fearful can be dangerous for you and him.

If you have a horse that is not comfortable with your hand touching his ears, face, legs, etc., you've got a horse that will not tolerate clippers. You want your horse to be comfortable and relaxed as you clip him; worry free and without a care. But how do you get there? As with many other training methods, you need to desensitize your horse to the sight, sound, and feel of the clippers.

The following steps will enable you to accomplish clipping your horse safely:

1. If your horse does not like his ears, head, muzzle, face, eyes or legs touched, you must first get him to accept your hands on him before you will ever be able to get him to accept the clippers. Once you have him accepting your touch without any resistance, you can then introduce the clippers.

2. With the clippers turned off, let your horse see, smell, and touch them. Wave them around in front of his face. Let him get used to seeing them in your hand. Rub them on his neck and then move up to his head, around the jaw and then move them up to his ears, eyes, and muzzle. Take the clippers down to his legs. Starting at the elbow, rub them down the leg to the fetlock.

Once he stands calmly as you rub the clippers over his body as they are turned off, you can then move on to the next step.

3. Stand by your horse's head and turn the clippers on. Let him get used to the sound. Turn them off and on. Wave the humming clippers around in front of his face to let him see the movement and hear the clippers as they move from one position to the next. If he reaches out to inspect them, let him; but make sure he doesn't put his nose on the blade end.

Move the clippers toward his ears, letting him hear the sound close up. He may lift his head higher to move away from the sound, but when he drops his head turn off the clippers and pat him, speak softly to him to reward him. It may take you a while to get him used to having the clippers around his ears, but continue the method of turning off the clippers and rewarding him with a pat each time he lowers his head.

4. Once he is comfortable with the turned on clippers being moved around in front of his face and the reverberating sound of them in his ears, it is time to touch him with them as they are turned on. This will be a whole new experience, because now he will be able to feel the vibration as well as hear them. Again, I start at the neck and lay the clipper body, not the blade, against his skin. You will get a reaction. Use the above reward method when your horse relaxes a little. From the neck, I move to the jaw, and down to the muzzle, up the other jaw to the ear, where you will have the biggest reaction from your horse. He will definitely raise his head high, but when he drops it even a little, turn off the clippers and pat him.

Do the same thing with his legs. Again, starting at the elbow and working your way down to the fetlock, lay the body of the clippers against his leg and work your way down. Once he stands still, reward him by turning the clippers off.

5. Now it is time to introduce the clipper blade to your horse. Always start with the muzzle, chin, underside of the jaw, poll (bridle path), and finish up with the ears. Clip a little with the blade. If your horse reacts to the feeling of the blade, revert to desensitizing him again with just the feel of the vibrating clippers.

For the legs, turn the clippers on and start from the elbow move the clipper body down to the fetlock. Once there, initiate the blade on the feathers of the fetlock. If there is any reaction from your horse, move the body of the clippers back up the leg and then return to the fetlock.


Patient consistency will allow you desensitize and train your horse to stand while being clipped. You will, most likely, need to repeat these steps several times before your horse is fully comfortable with the clipping process. However, your efforts will be worth it once you see how nice your horse looks with his new shave and a haircut.

Happy trails!

Teaching Your Horse to Stand Tied

By Darlene M. Cox---darlc5@aol.com

One of the most fundamental parts of training your horse is teaching him to stand tied. Regardless of the discipline in which you use your horse (showing, eventing, trail riding, etc.), standing quietly while tied is universal. I am sure many have heard the adage, "You must walk before you run". Well, in the horse world, your horse must learn to stand before he can be tied.

Throughout my many years around horses and different horse people, I have seen some amazingly dangerous methods utilized to teach a horse to stand tied. From short-snubbing a horse to a rail, or tying the rope to a tractor wheel, these methods invoked fear as the horse fought the rope and tire trying to escape. I have actually seen a horse die by breaking its neck from thrashing around and pulling hard on the rope. This comes as no surprise as one of the weakest areas on a horse's body is where the poll (head) joins the neck.

Before even thinking about teaching your horse to stand tied you must first teach him to lead and stand in hand, because this is where he first begins to understand giving to the pressure of the lead rope. He will have a general understanding of what the lead rope is and that the pressure is off when he moves forward. Pressure can be applied in two methods: pulling down the lead rope and placing pressure across the poll, applying pressure at the side causing your horse to become off balanced, yet taking a step toward the lead. Each time he responds to the pressure remember to immediately release the pressure and praise him.

Once you have your horse leading, you can then move on to teaching him to stand, and from there to stand tied. Up until this point, your horse has been used to following you. Now, he must get used to standing while you move away. This can be effectively taught by leading your horse to a point and asking him to stand. Once he is standing with you beside him, take a step or two away from him. If he tries to follow, quickly correct him by backing him up a few steps and then moving him forward and again asking him to stand. You may have to repeat this several times, and each time move further away. He will understand what you are asking him and will begin to stand quietly. This training method will also effectively work in ground tying your horse.

Once you have taught your horse to stand, he can now be taught to stand tied. Always incorporate a break-away halter while training. It is better to have a broken leather strap than a broken neck. The safest way to incorporate tying is to place a tie ring in a wall stud slightly higher than head level. Put the rope through the ring and hold onto the end. Do not tie it. This will allow your horse to move away from the ring if he becomes scared and will not invoke his fight or flight instinct to battle the rope to free himself. By holding the rope end, you can apply pressure and release it if your horse becomes frightened.

As with teaching your horse to stand, you will want to move away from your horse gradually increasing the distance. With rope in hand, you will still be able to apply pressure or release if your horse becomes combative and frightened.

Once your horse is standing quietly with the rope through the ring and you holding the end, it is time to move on to actually tying the rope. Incorporate a "quick release knot" (illustration above) and provide slack in the rope, but not enough to entangle his legs. You can expect your horse to test the rope. If he pulls back a little on it, move to his side and apply pressure causing him to take a step forward to regain balance, and thus releasing pressure on the rope. This teaches him to step up and remove the pressure. If he panics, quickly pull on the rope to quickly release the knot.


After several sessions, your horse will be standing quietly and you can be assured the training you have successfully finished will remain with him throughout his life.

Happy trails!