Horses are flight animals. If something frightens them, they will run away faster than some owners can even blink. There are many possible triggers: a large green tractor while out riding, posters in an indoor riding arena, or children playing in the yard. However, with the right exercises, you can help your horse become more calm over time.
You've probably experienced this before. Your horse sees an object and refuses to go near it. It may even try to turn around and run away as fast as it can. Whether you're sitting on the horse's back or holding the other end of the lead rope, your job as a human is to remain calm and keep an overview of the situation. As a flight animal, the horse is reacting out of instinct.
Since you and your horse form a small herd, it is important that you fulfill the role of the lead animal and remain calm so that your horse can relax again. Horses can become fully agitated and frantic within seconds, but they can calm down again almost as quickly. The horse senses your own stress level and will use this as an opportunity to take a deep breath or become even more agitated.
You can take advantage of this in composure training. Composure is the basis for good cooperation. Composure training should also be a regular part of the training plan for sport horses.
To calm and motivate your horse and let threatening situations pass, you must be relaxed yourself. If you are not, you must convincingly act this out to your horse. Here is a short list of rules of conduct:
Situations that require composure can be practiced. It is even advisable to repeatedly introduce your horse to new objects that it initially perceives as dangerous ghosts. If you have the opportunity, build a small training course in the riding hall or on the arena. There, you can calmly approach obstacles of varying degrees of difficulty within the safety of the fencing. Use tarpaulins, umbrellas, balloons, barrels, poles, flags, rattles, and anything else you can think of. You could even ask friends to stand at the edge and make loud, uncoordinated movements. Anything you feel comfortable with is possible.
Besides, you know best what your horse still needs to work on and what it already does well. Increase the demands gradually. Calmness training is a project that takes weeks, months, or even years, not just a few hours.
The most important thing for you is to follow a plan. This means that you also need a framework in which you can stay safe and really guide your horse. This includes praising the horse at the right moment or rewarding it with treats. Always praise it when it calmly takes a step toward a previously very large ghost and especially when it shows its nose to the monster and touches it.
Of course, you can also start the composure training as a walk and explore the surroundings with your horse in hand. Here, it is essential that you keep an eye on the safety of both human and horse.
You probably often see your velvet-pawed friend licking themselves thoroughly, vigorously working on one spot or another of their fur. Cats groom themselves. Nevertheless, it is useful to help them with their fur care, not least to find and remove any parasites. The coat change will also be more pleasant for your cat if loose hairs are brushed out regularly. Especially with certain breeds such as Angora or Persian cats, you should stick to a daily routine to keep your pet well-groomed and healthy.
Are outdoor cats or indoor cats healthier and happier? What are the respective advantages and disadvantages, and what suits my cat and my lifestyle best? Here you will find useful information to help you make your decision.
Rotz, often referred to as skin rot or skin worm, is one of the longest known diseases affecting horses. It is a bacterial, epidemic infectious disease characterized by purulent skin and mucous membrane ulcers and a mostly chronic course. While the disease is still widespread in Asia, Africa, and South America, it has been considered eradicated in Germany since 1956, although it was detected in a horse for the first time again in 2015. Due to the danger it poses to humans, the disease is still notifiable.
If your horse is rubbing itself more than usual, you should take a closer look, as itching can be a key symptom of many skin diseases or allergies in horses. However, some metabolic disorders can also cause itching in horses. This condition is very stressful for your animal and should therefore be examined and treated by a veterinarian as soon as possible.
It is a dramatic sight for us as owners when our own horse suddenly cannot bend its hind leg and can barely walk. In many cases, the kneecap dislocation resolves itself and the horse runs normally again. If the dislocation does not resolve, a veterinarian must remedy the situation by skillfully manipulating the horse and leading it backwards or sideways so that it can walk normally again. A brief digression into the anatomy of the knee joint provides a simple explanation for this phenomenon.
It is often a dramatic sight for owners and riders: from one day to the next, your horse suddenly shows severe lameness. The affected limb is increasingly rested or no longer placed properly on the ground. Occasionally, but not always, the affected hoof feels warmer than the other hooves. It is obvious that your horse is in severe pain and you suspect the worst. However, it is often just a hoof abscess. The colloquial term "hoof abscess" is misleading, as it is not an abscess or tissue growth, but a purulent inflammation in the form of an abscess. In such a case, please call a veterinarian immediately who can examine your animal, confirm any suspicions and treat it immediately.
As in many other sports, doping plays an important role in equestrian sports when it comes to competitions and performance comparisons. Unlike in athletics, however, it is not the human being who tries to enhance their own performance by taking certain substances, but the animal whose performance is to be enhanced by administering these substances. Since the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, the issue of doping in equestrian sports has also come into the public spotlight due to numerous proven cases of doping, which has resulted in considerable damage to the image of equestrian sports.
Rabbit plague, or myxomatosis in medical terms, is a dangerous viral infection of domestic and wild rabbits that is widespread throughout Central Europe. The disease is highly contagious and can take on epidemic proportions in unprotected populations. An effective vaccine is available as a preventive measure. Hares, on the other hand, are virtually immune to the pathogen.
The horse's mouth is a sensitive area. Healthy teeth are important not only for eating, but also for riding with a bridle and bit. Many instances of head shaking or restlessness under the saddle can originate in the horse's mouth.
Phlebitis is an inflammatory change in the vein wall. In horses, the jugular veins, which are located on either side of the neck in the jugular groove, are often affected. These veins transport blood from the head to the heart. Due to their location and easy accessibility, they are most commonly used for injections, infusions, or the insertion of intravenous catheters.
In order to truly understand this disease, which has been known for 2000 years, it is first important to understand the structure of the hoof roll. Riders often say, "My horse is lame, it has hoof roll." Strictly speaking, however, every horse has a hoof roll; this term refers only to the anatomical structure consisting of the navicular bone, bursa, and deep flexor tendon. The navicular bone is a small, elongated bone shaped like a shuttle, which lies transversely at the back of the hoof joint under the deep flexor tendon. Between the tendon and the navicular bone is the navicular bursa, a small fluid-filled sac that prevents pressure and friction between the tendon and the bone. Only the term navicular disease or podotrochlose describes the actual condition, which can affect all three components.
Mitral valve disease (MMVD) is a chronic degenerative disease of the heart valves. It is the most common heart disease in dogs and mainly affects older dogs of smaller breeds. An exception is the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, which often develops the disease at the age of 1.5 to two years.
