Author Archives: Katie

How to spend your money – Aperti

11 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Horse Care, How to Spend Your Money

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You’re lucky if your horse will eat his supplements or meds like candy.  Or if you have a horse that doesn’t require supplements or meds.

If you’re not, you need to know about Aperti (it’s trademarked but wordpress isn’t making that easy for me; I can do it but it looks odd).  With a sophisticated, La Dolce Vita kind of name, Aperti is an old-fashioned, simple product from an old-fashioned kind of company, Horsetech.

Horsetech is known for using human grade materials in their products and Aperti is no exception.  It’s made from the same kind of vegetable oil we use in our own food, with natural and artificial flavors.  That’s it.

I recently had a horse on probiotics who turned up his very large nose at his food until I added a dose of carrot Aperti.  It also comes in apple or peppermint flavor, which your horse might prefer.

It’s also safe for insulin resistant horses.  So now, you and your horse don’t have to suffer because you can’t add applesauce or molasses to whatever your horse needs but tries to reject.

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Notes & quotes from a clinic junkie: Buck Brannaman

10 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Notes & Quotes, Training

≈ 2 Comments

I like a horse that’s hot off the leg and sensitive to the hand.

Sometimes, in the course of training, you have to convince a horse that it really will be more pleasant if he or she can carry him or herself.  So you have to refuse to let your hands do the carrying.

Some horses will argue about this rather vehemently, but I’ve never known one that doesn’t actually enjoy it when the conversation is more subtle and they have a part in it.  I’m always amused when a horse that shoots me a dirty look or gives me a cold eye during lessons eventually starts to carry himself and then wants to come up and give me a kiss during a walk break.

I’m working with a horse right now who needs to discover a new relationship with hands during groundwork.  So I’m doing some basic groundwork a la Buck, getting those hindquarters moving and “offering him a good deal” without pulling on his head.  In preparation, I watched Buck’s groundwork tape again and reviewed my notes from his clinic last fall.

There were a few things I starred, including this:

“This is 100% true with a horse.  If the horse is dull to your legs, it’s a guarantee he won’t be light to your hands.  If he’s light to your leg, it’s possible he’ll be light to your hands.  Not a guarantee, but it’s possible.”

The “Trek” of the Trakehner

09 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Uncategorized

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With renewed interest in the War Horse, the story of the Trakehner should be remembered.

The royal stud farm Trakehnen was founded in 1732 in East Prussia and dedicated to breeding the ideal cavalry mount — a fast, light horse that also had no problem pulling a plough.

During World War I, the population of the Trakehner horse was cut in half. After the Russian Army invaded East Prussia, the Trakehnen stud was evacuated, with most of the horses lost to the Russians.  Private breeders and their horses were finally allowed to leave in January of 1945.

In that unforgiving winter, the “Trek” of the Trakehner began.

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Traks in the snow

08 Sunday Jan 2012

Posted by in Sunday Photos

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Photo by Erika Bock

This is a photo of the broodmare pasture along the Skeena River in British Columbia, at Trakehner Hof, the farm of Klaus and Erika Bock.  Erika sent me this photo as a Christmas Card, and gave me permission to share it with everyone as part of my Sunday Photos series.

The Bocks have been breeding and selling sport horses for 20 years and their offspring can be found from California to New York.  As Erika says, their goal is to breed “an athletic and versatile horse with a good disposition and a good mind — a healthy horse with a healthy mind.”

If Trakehner Hof were closer to me, there’s a good chance I’d have one of their horses by now, and I hope some day I do.  I love Trakehners, which is the only true breed (rather than registry) of warmbloods.  There’s no better trot, in my mind, than the trot of a well-bred Trakehner.

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What is it?

07 Saturday Jan 2012

Posted by in How to Spend Your Money

≈ 2 Comments

If you guessed the new Equipak, you’re close.

Give up?

It’s a horse hoof biscuit (Matisu)马蹄苏

A Chinese delicacy with a honey filling, somewhere in between a cookie, a pastry and a biscuit.

I know (and am glad) that my horse’s hooves do not resemble this, and I’m not sure I even want to imagine putting a horse’s hoof in my mouth, but I’m still delighted by the name.  I can’t help it.  It has something to do with horses.

Horses talking

06 Friday Jan 2012

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Some talk more than others, but I bet you’d recognize your horse’s whinny anywhere.

It was important that Joey and Topthorn, the horses in Spielberg’s new movie “War Horse,” had their own voices as well.

That’s the job of the sound man, as Melena Ryzik reported in the Awards Season Blog of The New York Times.  Sound designer Gary Rydstrom shared some of his trade secrets:

“Our first instinct as a sound man is, if I just take a walrus and an otter, and speed them up, it’ll make a great Joey vocal!  Spielberg tried to warn against that.  He wanted the horses to sound like horses.  We recorded many, many horses to find the voice for Joey.

My favorite was the miniature horses.  They sound different, they have a different emotional range — they’re a little closer to dogs.

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Danger – what to do?

05 Thursday Jan 2012

Posted by in Equitation, Training

≈ 2 Comments

I’ve been enjoying the dialog that’s been ongoing since Tuesday, following my post on the importance of verbal rewards.

On that same Tuesday, one of my fellow bloggers, who lives in the French Midi-Pyrenees (I am squelching envy, I am, I am) had an adventure on her horse which was suitable for the cinema, which she wrote about, and which you can read about here.

I hope I’m not spoiling anything by saying that both she and her horse survived the ordeal unscathed.  But in reflecting on what she did, and what else she might have done, she decided to ask me if I had any tips.

Reading her blog, I’m guessing that, like me, she asked because she wants to hear new ideas and to learn new things, and you never know where those will come from.

It was fun for me to compile a list of tips for riders who find themselves in a potentially explosive situation while on a horse.  They’re readily available to readers who choose to wade through the thread of comments following Tuesday’s post and actually make it to comment #9.

Which is why I thought it might be useful to reprint them, in a new post. You’ll note that these suggestions are particularly applicable to those potentially explosive escapades that involve loose horses in addition to the one you’re riding:

1. Remember to breathe. That will help calm you and your horse.

2. Sit deeply and try to envelop your saddle but don’t grip with legs or hands.

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Dressage4Kids Weekend

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

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There was good news in my inbox.  An announcement of the Dressage4Kids (D4K) Tenth Annual Weekend Educational Program in Southbury, CT on the weekend of January 21st.

Hilary Clayton, whom I’ve referred to here and here, is the Keynote Speaker. There is a special forum for instructors only on Saturday (I’m going) and a forum for judges only on Sunday.

On Sunday, too, there will be an eventing and USEA Area 1 Young Rider Program.  There will be peer roundtable discussions for parents, for professionals and for youth heading toward the North American Junior/Young Rider dressage and eventing championships.

Margaret Freeman will be talking about “How to Get an 8 or Higher,” and “First Level, the Black Hole” (she does have a sense of humor).  Karen Withstandly is giving a talk on “Using the Thermal Imaging Machine for Saddle Fitting.”  Emily Harrison, DVM will be discussing “Volunteering as a Vet in Morocco.”  There is something to interest everyone who’s interested in horses, from performance plateaus to winter survival tips, from vaulting to equine cruelty investigations.

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Why didn’t I think of this?

04 Wednesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Horse Care

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Last night, I saw an ad for a new device in The Horse magazine.

It’s called GaitCheck.  It looks like a walkie-talkie.  It uses sensors to detect and monitor lameness.  And its creators claim that its perception is five times as fast as that of the human eye, so it can “see” lameness far sooner than we can.

I know this sounds selfish of me, but I’m not sure I want to see any more lameness than I already do.  And I wonder whether some of the gait irregularities the device might pinpoint will be considered abnormal when, in fact, they fall within the range of “normal” irregularities for a particular horse.

I can definitely see the use of such a device to establish a baseline for a horse, and to monitor that baseline.  This could be especially useful for a horse considered “serviceably sound.”  By catching the deterioration of the gait sooner, we could take action to address a potentially career-ending lameness sooner.

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The two (or three) most important words in the horse world

03 Tuesday Jan 2012

Posted by in Language, Training

≈ 16 Comments


“Good boy!“

“Good girl!“

There we have the two (or three) most important words for horsemen (and horsewomen).

If, when your horse does something well, you say “good boy” or “good girl,” you’ll find your horse not only happy at being good but becoming better. Maybe even eventually, his or her best.

Do you give your best to someone who doesn’t say anything when you try?  I don’t.  Maybe that’s a weakness in my character, but it’s a weakness I share with the horses.

Naturally, when you say it you have to mean it.  Your tone is important.  But you don’t have to be boring.  You can vary what you say.

“That’s a good girl!”

“What a good girl!”

“You’re a very good girl.”

“You are such a good girl.”

“Good, good girl!”

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