Horse Gestation

Archive for the ‘Horse Articles’ Category

I recently posted a link on the About.com Horses Facebook Fan Page to my eight week email course "Learn to Ride". One of the first people to comment on the link said that anyone who promised to teach you to ride a horse by an email course was probably out to get your money. I wish she had actually followed the link and read the email course description, because she would have found I agreed with her.

You can't really learn to ride well from a website, book or video. There are no secrets to learning to ride a horse and the best and safest way to learn to ride is with the guidance of a competent instructor or coach. A coach or instructor can help you start out right, catch bad habits before they become ingrained, prevent you from making possibly dangerous errors and give you encouragement and support. Perhaps you can't afford weekly lessons, but I have found that even the occasional lesson leaves me with lots to work on and think about. My completely free, without obligation Learn to Ride Email Course however, will introduce you to horseback riding and prepare you with knowledge of what to expect as you learn to ride with an instructor.

More Resources For Learning About Horses and Riding

• Have fun and learn with the Test Your Horse Savvy Email Course. Enjoy six weeks of quizzes that test your horse knowledge.
• Receive my weekly newsletter with tips and information for beginner horse riders and owners.

Can You Learn to Ride a Horse With An Online Course? originally appeared on About.com Horses on Tuesday, May 15th, 2012 at 09:40:58.

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Released May 11, 2012

LONDON -- A genetic study of horses across Eastern Europe and Central Asia has traced the domestication of one of man's most powerful animal allies to wide-open grasslands shared by Ukraine, south-west Russia and Kazakhstan, researchers said this week.

Researchers generally date domestication to about 6,000 years ago, but genetic evidence taken from modern-day horses has suggested a wide variety of ancestors, raising the possibility horses were tamed independently in several different places.

--continued on http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/study-shows-where-horses-were...

Saddle fitting can be difficult, but it's worth taking the time to make sure you've found the best fitting saddle for you and your horse. Even though my saddle fit Trillium well, the padding inside had shifted, forming hard lumps. After the saddle had been adjusted, little problems like being unwilling to travel in frame for anything but a short time, or refusing to do a rein back were almost instantly solved. Now because her muscles have changed again, I need to have the saddle adjusted to fit her  new shape. But I've learned that it is money well spent.

How much do you know about saddle fitting? Take the Saddle Fit Quiz quiz and test your knowledge. Did you know you can get horse quizzes delivered to your email inbox? Sign up now for the Test Your Horse Savvy quiz series.

More Horse Quizzes

• Horse Quiz - Are You Really Ready for a Horse ?
• What Comes Next Horse Quiz

Horse Quiz of the Week: Saddle Fit Quiz originally appeared on About.com Horses on Thursday, May 10th, 2012 at 08:47:22.

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Most horse owners obsess about what they put into their horses and good nutrition is essential to good horse care. But we also need to pay attention to what is coming out of our horses. All that hay and grain needs to go somewhere, and if not, you've probably good a bad case of colic on your hands.  Horses poop about eight times a day, which means that manure can pile up very quickly, especially if you have several horses. Manure management is important for more than aesthetics. Manure attracts flies, contains environment damaging nutrients and can spread parasites so it's important to have an effective strategy for dealing with your horse's manure. Here's how to manage manure, whether your horse lives outside 24x7 or lives at least some of the time in a stable.

Read More About Stable Management:

• Clean a Stall
• Make Your Barn Fire Safe

What Goes In, Must Come Out... originally appeared on About.com Horses on Tuesday, May 8th, 2012 at 15:34:00.

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There are a lot of excuses for not wearing a helmet when you ride. But there is no good reason. The quietest, most well trained horse can cause injury if it is startled or hurt. Ask anyone who has accidentally ridden over a nest of ground wasps, or were riding calmly along when a car backfired. A helmet won't make you invincible, but it will help protect the one part of your body almost impossible to fix -- your brain. Please don't use these excuses and do use an ASTM approved riding helmet every time you ride.

Read More About Riding Safety:

• Care for a Horse Riding Helmet
• How to Choose a Horse Riding Helmet
• Staying Safe Around Horses - Safety Working With Horses
• Horse Safety Quiz - Take the Horse Safety Quiz

Top Reasons Not to Wear a Riding Helmet - And Why They Are All Excuses originally appeared on About.com Horses on Monday, May 7th, 2012 at 08:32:50.

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