Spiraling Into a Better Ride Horse Color Genetics: The...

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Spiraling Into a Better RideHorse Color Genetics: The Cream GeneHorse Vitamins

ohio university southern equine studies program

balance issues

trailer loading

WinteR • 2013

• CHA Instructor • Winter 2013

The purpose of CHA is to promote excellence in safe-ty and education throughout the horse industry. CHA serves leaders, instructors and riding program directors for youth associations, clubs, riding stables, camps, col-leges and recreational programs with instructor and trail guide certification. CHA also publishes industry standards for group riding programs, accredits riding program facilities and provides the most comprehen-sive variety of program resources for instructional and recreational riding programs.

Winter issue - 2013Certified Horsemanship Association

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Ad IndexEquine Affaire .................................9Blaze Magazine ..............................3

Julie Goodnight ..............................3CHA 2013 Conference .................12

Table Of Contents

Ohio University Southern Equine Studies Program

…ABOuT THE COVER.. .

Horse Desensitization class at CHA Program Member Ohio University Southern Site

FOLL

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Thank you to our CHA Corporate Partners

ColumnsCorporate Office Report ............................................................................3

Teaching Techniques: Spiraling Into a Better Ride .....................................5

Incidentally Speaking: A Fall Worse Than Suspected ..................................7

Program Member Highlight: Ohio U So. Equine Studies Prog – Ironton, Ohio ...10

On the Rail: Balance Issues & Trailer Loading ............................................8

Tricks of the Trade ...................................................................................12

Pet Peeves Around the Barn & Solutions to Solve Them ..........................12

FeaturesHorse Color Genetics: The Cream Gene ....................................................4

Horse Vitamins ..........................................................................................6

Member NewsMembers in the Spotlight ....................................................................13

Regional Directors and Regional Conferences .........................................13

Winter 2013 • CHA Instructor •

By Christy Landwehr – CEO

Hope this issue of The Instructor magazine finds you all doing well around

the continent. We want to take this opportunity to says THANKS to each and every one of you for what you do in the horse industry to educate others. Your safe, effective and fun lessons and horsemanship programs are so important to many families and individuals and horses! Thank you for being a part of the CHA family and doing what you all do so well!

REMInDER THAT CHA MEMBERSHIP DUES AnD CHA RECERTIFICATIOn DUES ARE nOT THE SAME THInGJust a reminder that your CHA membership dues of $55 are due

each year on December 31st and that you need to keep your membership current each year in order to keep your certification current. Every three years your CHA certification expires and you need to turn in 25 hours of continuing education hours, as well as the $75 recertification fee. You can also pay three years of membership at once for $165, so that is expires the same year as your certification.

Remember that all CHA member-ships are annual, so please make sure to get your dues in soon to keep your membership current. Click here to renew online today http://cha-ahse.org/memberapp.htm and check here to make sure your membership is current at http://CHAinstructors.com. Then click here if you need recertification paperwork http://cha-ahse.org/recertification.htm

VISIT THE JOB POSTInGS On THE CHA WEBSITE TODAy!‘Tis the Season to post your jobs for the summer and to find a summer job! Remember that all current CHA Program Members can post free job postings on the CHA website at

http://cha-ahse.org/jobs.htm just email it to [email protected] and make sure it is the same length as the ones already posted.

VISIT HTTP://CHAInSTRUC-TORS.COM TODAy AnD UP-DATE yOUR BIO AnD PHOTOThis is a great way to get the word out about your barn and instruction busi-ness. Please make sure to ask all new leads how they heard about you and if it was from this website, please let us know! CHA is marketing this website extensively and we need to know if we are getting the message out there! Thank you for letting us know.

Hope to see many of you at our Inter-national Conference in New York in October or at one of our many regional conferences being held in 2013.

Ward Stutz, our new CHA President, says that CHA is the “Most Important Association in the Equine Industry!” With that in mind, be proud of your certification and membership with CHA and please help us spread the word about what we do for Safe, Effective and Fun Horsemanship in 2013 and beyond.

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bHorse Color Genetics: The Cream GeneBy Ann Streett-Joslin

the Cream (Cr) gene in horses is responsible for several common coat colors. It is one

of five dilution genes or genes that “dilute” the base color of a horse.

In an earlier article we looked at the Extension gene (Z) and the Agouti gene (A), which combine to create the basic horse colors of black, bay, and sorrel or chestnut. All horses have these genes in some combination, so regardless of whatever additional color modifier genes may be present, underneath there is a black, bay, or sorrel/chestnut coloration.

The action of the Cream gene is complex. The dominant characteristic of the gene is shown as Cr and means no dilution is allowed. The recessive version, cr, allows dilution or fading of the basic color of the horse’s hair in some way. Red pigment is diluted to yellow or tan while there is little effect on black hair.

The Cream gene is also an “incomplete dominant” gene. This means that if only one allele of the gene pair is pres-ent in the cr or recessive state, there is one kind of effect. If both alleles of the gene pair are cr, there is another effect. This table shows the results:

Both single and double dilution horsesone copy of the cream gene or twocan appear as many shades of yel-low or cream. The color may change with the seasons or sun exposure. It may appear completely white. The only way to be sure is a DNA test.

A possible misconception with the cream gene is that if, for example, you breed a palomino to a palomino, you should get a palomino. Here’s what really happens:

By now, you may be thoroughly confused. This is a complicated gene and may be influenced by other genes when present, too. Remember to always look for what the base color may be and then consider the effects of this Cream dilution gene.

Palomino to Palomino = 50% Palomino

About the Author: Ann has been active with horses and the horse industry for over 50 years. From the show-ring, to state 4-H horse awards, to guest ranches, to driving and training youngsters, Ann is well-versed in the business. She is a CHA Master Level Riding Instruc-tor and a CHA Clinic Instructor for English, Western, Equine Facilities Management, and Instructor of Riders with Disabilities. Ann is also a CHA Site Visitor, a therapeutic riding instructor and a Richard Shrake Resistance Free Instructor and Trainer since 1997.


b

Teaching TechniquesSPIRALInG InTO A BETTER RIDE

Use LAterAL Work to strengthen YoUr horse

By AQHA Professional Horse-woman and CHA Master Instructor Carla Wennberg with Andrea Caudill

Spiraling can be done at any gait, and it will help your horse learn to balance himself, to be

steady and trust your aids. By teach-ing your horse to spiral, you can improve transitions, create a more balanced and responsive horse, move a western pleasure horse on and off the wall, and maneuver a roping horse in the box.

Begin the exercise on a 20-meter circle, tracking left at a walk. Let’s take a look at how your aids should work:

• Your inside (left) leg aid should be at the girth, because the ribcage has got to stay moving to the outside.

• The softening rein is your inside (left) rein.

• Your outside (right) rein controls the shoulder and the neck to stay steady and balanced.

• Your outside (right) leg controls the ribcage and the hip from mov-ing too far out.

LATERAL FIRSTWhen we first ask our horse to move away from our leg, his response is usually, “huh?” To help him under-stand, first squeeze your calf. If he steps away from your leg, reward him and release your leg. If he doesn’t respond, don’t reach for spurs – try to teach respect of your leg without that. So first squeeze, then kick him. If he moves away, reward him. If not,

go to a whap! with your leg. Then return to asking with a squeeze. If you have to, you can use spurs or a dressage whip to reinforce your lateral squeeze.

When he understands the cue, we ask for those initial lateral steps. Most horses will want to just go sideways and not keep the impulsion going forward. They say, “I understand what you want – to go sideways!” but they miss the forward part and lose the impulsion.

To keep the hind legs active, you have to combine the two. If your horse is just moving sideways off your left leg, then you’re not using your right leg enough, and not al-lowing enough forward motion with your seat. You have to allow the for-ward movement through your seat and keep your inside leg more active, with your outside leg balancing. The inside rein is the softening rein, and the outside rein is the steadying rein. If a horse feels like he wants to suck back and get stuck, I always ask for more forward.

LET’S SPIRALOnce your horse has got the hang of combining sideways and forward, it’s time to spiral. Your goal is to move between a 20-meter (66-foot) and a 15-meter (49-foot) circle. As your horse progresses in training and col-lection, you can begin to spiral down to a much smaller circle.

• Keep a soft bend to the inside and move laterally for two to three steps. With the correct lateral movement, you will feel the horse moving sideways and forward.

• Spiraling out of a circle gets a horse to soften and relax, while spiraling into a circle teaches collection.

• You will generally find it harder spiraling in, because the horse has to work harder; he has to put more weight over his inside hind leg, and he has to hold his inside bend and make that circle smaller. He has to use his body and his topline more, and he may resist that level of work.

When he reaches the size of circle I want, then I half-halt and adjust my outside aids to say, “OK, now let’s continue forward on this circle.” Then I’ll do it again.

Once you’ve mastered the foundation of spiraling the horse in and out of a circle, begin to increase the difficulty by asking the horse to repeat the exer-cise at a trot (or jog) and eventually a canter (or lope). It is much harder for the horse to be balanced at the canter, so be sure to progress slowly and keep your circles large enough for your horse’s level of training.

Once you’ve mastered the spiral, you can use it to help with other problems. For example, if your horse is stiff in the shoulders, neck or jaw, you can counter bend him and move laterally to soften them, or you can work to improve your circles and transitions. If my horse gets heavy on his forehand in the canter to the right, I spiral in (to the right) a little, then transition down to the trot to put his weight onto that inside hind leg. Make sure the trot stays in forward motion by giving a mini half-halt before cueing the trot, then add leg for forward energy. If he gets too quick, I’ll show his rhythm by slowing my posting.

This is also the first step of leg-yield work. It’s much easier to first train a horse to leg-yield going into and out of a circle than it is going straight.

About the Author: Carla Wennberg has been an AQHA judge for 25 years, and an nSBA and nRHA judge for 23 years. She has judged the AQHA World show ten times. Carla has been teaching in Equine College programs for over 20 years at Colorado State University, University of Georgia and now at St Andrews University in north Carolina. She is a CHA Master Instructor.


Horse VitaminsBy Eleanor Blazer

Did you take your vitamins? My mother asked me that almost every night. It never occurred to

me to ask, “Why?” Of course in that era, children did not question parents. I now know why I have to take vitamins – I have Celiac Disease and don’t utilize nu-trients available in food. (As a child we didn’t know I had the disease.) Humans have other needs for vitamins as well.

But why give vitamins to horses? Vitamins are essential nutrients. This means they must be provided orally – via food, water or a supplement. The body cannot produce enough vitamins internally (synthesized: process of digestion) to support bodily functions, growth or repair.

There are 13 vitamins; four are fat sol-uble – vitamins A, D, E and K. The rest are water soluble. Excess water soluble vitamins are flushed from the body. The fat soluble vitamins are absorbed by fat cells and circulated within the body. It is possible to create a toxic situation if vitamins A, D, E and K are over supplemented since they can’t be “flushed out.” Each vitamin plays an important part in the process of build-ing body tissue and extracting energy from proteins, fats and carbohydrates. They help prevent diseases caused by nutritional deficiencies. Vitamins also play an important part in the healing process. Vitamin A is an antioxidant and is important to the body’s mucus mem-branes (the lining of the digestive tract, reproductive and respiratory systems). It is also needed for the production of sperm and eggs. Vita-min A is very crucial to eye health. It is also important for healthy skin, coat, and skeletal growth.

Vitamin D is important to the absorp-tion and movement of calcium and phosphorus in the body. One hour in the sun provides all the vitamin D a horse needs. Horses kept indoors and foals not exposed to sunlight can become deficient.

Vitamin E is an antioxidant. It is also important to the health of red blood cells and the vascular system. It is pres-ent in all grains and forage. Vitamin K is important to the clotting of blood. Enough vitamin K precursors are available to the horse through his diet, so deficiencies are rare. Precursors are substances that are chemically converted into another active substance which the body can use. Vitamin C is an antioxidant. It is very important to the body in its fight against infections of the respiratory tract. Vitamin C is needed for collagen formation which is important to skin and connective tissues (ligaments, ten-dons, and joint capsules). It also helps transport iron within the body.

Vitamin B1 is important to the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. It is needed by nerves for the transmission of impulses. Some horses experience a calming effect when supplemented with high doses of Vitamin B1.

Vitamin B2 is important to horses that need energy aerobically (with oxygen). It helps extract the energy needed from carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Vitamin B3 is needed for the metabo-lism of protein, carbohydrates and fats. It is also important for a healthy skin.

Vitamin B5 is important to the me-tabolism of fats and glucose. It aids the production of steroid hormones and is needed by the nerves for the transmis-sion of nerve impulses. Vitamin B6 aids the muscles in using energy from stored carbohydrates (glycogen). It is important to the me-tabolism of protein and the production of neutrotransmitters within the brain. Vitamin B6 is needed for the conver-sion of trytophan to niacin. Vitamin B7 (Biotin) contains sulfur. Sulfur (trace mineral) is important to the collagen which makes up hooves, ligaments, tendons and cartilage. Biotin is also needed for growth, glu-cose metabolism, absorption of niacin (B3) and other B vitamins. Vitamins B9 and 12 (folic acids) are required for the production of red blood cells. They are also important for protein metabolism and cell repro-duction. Fresh grass contains more folic acid than hay or grain. Supplementing one vitamin to cure a perceived problem does not work. There must be balance in the diet and a true deficiency to see results. For example, vitamin B1 has a repu-tation for calming nervous horses, but without adequate amounts of magnesium it will not be utilized. And if the nervous horse is receiving a balanced diet with the recom-mended amount of B1 it might be a training or breeding issue. unless your horse has a specific disease requiring supplementation it would be safer and more natural to feed adequate amounts of good quality forage, make sure he gets some turnout time in the sun and eats a good feed designed to compliment the forage. It sure beats swallowing a pill every day…or trying to get your horse to eat an expensive supplement.

About the Author: For information about caring for and feeding horses take the online “nutrition for Performance Horses” taught by Eleanor Blazer. Dis-counts for CHA members on online courses and they count towards continuing education to keep your instructor certification current. Go to http://horsecoursesonline.com for more information.


A FALL Worse thAn sUspected

By Polly Haselton Barger

the IncIdent

four friends at a boarding facility decided to go for a ride to end up 2012 on a great note. All

were very experienced riders: Anne, a highly certified riding instructor, riding her own horse; Ali, a member of the local college equestrian team, riding her personally owned horse; Carrie, who rides jumpers, on her personal horse; and Nicole, a barrel racer, on her own horse.

Anne, Ali and Carrie arrived earlier than Nicole and already had their horses warmed up by the time she was ready to mount. Their plan was to ride in a nearby field, where a trail course was set up. Nicole decided to stay in the arena with her still-green three year old, since she had not rid-den him for a few weeks and she was not ready to leave. She changed her mind at the last minute, saying she thought he needed to be with a group and she didn’t want to ride alone.

None of these women were the “gallop around the field” type of riders. They all walked to the field, where they split up to work on their own things. Ali and Carrie’s horses both had a history of being fresh when ridden in the field, so they were going to work on that. Two of the horses were cantering circles at opposite ends of the field and one was trotting poles in the trail course. Nicole was working on her natural horsemanship training and appeared to be doing okay.

Suddenly the other riders heard Nicole yelling “Whoa, whoa” and turned to see her horse galloping

across the field. It had spooked, leaving her be-hind the motion, and she soon fell off, landing on her hip. The other riders immediately followed all of the normal emer-gency procedures, including a first aid assessment. Nicole, a registered nurse, felt she was OK and the others agreed. She got up slowly and walked back to the barn to do some ground work with the horse. She worked with him in the arena for about 15 minutes, and then took him back to the field where he spooked to continue ground work. Soon she began to feel bad and barely made it back to the barn. Her friends helped her sit down and called family to come pick her up.

Later that evening Nancy felt faint when she sat up, so her husband took her to the emergency room. It turned out that she had severed an artery in her pelvis, and had to have an arteriogram to repair the artery and stop the bleeding. She required 4 units of blood. She had also broken 4 ribs. This seemingly ordinary fall could have been deadly if she had not received the medical care when she did.

AnALYsIsThe first thing that struck me here was Nicole’s decision to go to the field with the others even though her initial decision was that she and the horse were not ready yet. In hindsight she stated that she should not have taken her horse to the field without its normal warm up. It was a good decision to not ride alone and she had done some ground work before she mounted. The horse appeared calm and focused, so she chose to go with the others. This

could be a classic case of always needing to listen to your gut feelings.

The point was to have her horse with the group, but when they all split up to do their own thing it is possible that her horse felt some anxiety because it was not actually with the other horses. It may have been focused on the other horses rather on Nicole and that could have led to the spook.

While Nicole’s fall was not particu-larly unusual (falling from a running horse and landing on the hip) it is never a good idea to take the word of the fallen rider. No matter how medically qualified, they might be in shock and not thinking clearly. The other friends also realized in retrospect that they should have been more demanding in assessing Nicole’s condition. It is a good idea to at least have a fallen rider remain quiet for a while and then reassess. In this particular case, as it turned out, it would have been good to call EMS.

It is a somewhat old fashioned idea that a fallen rider should get right up and get back in the game. Whereas it is true that it might be a good idea for the training of the horse to immediately put it back to work, the wellbeing of the rider is more impor-tant than the training of the horse. Please be very cautious if you are helping a fallen rider. It is far better to err on the side of caution. It could save a life!

Incidentally Speaking


On The Rail

Question:I’m having trouble keeping my balance while making fast turns with my horse. If you have any advice for me, that would be a major help!

Answer #1:Make certain your stirrups are a length to support your balance on a turn. Try shortening them a couple holes and see if that helps. Work on stepping into both stirrups with your legs underneath you where it will help balance you (like when you’re standing or walking on foot) rather than letting them get way out in front or behind you. Once your stirrups can support your bal-ance, try to “look” around the turns with your collar bones and not collapse your outside (of the turn) ribcage and fall into it. A little lean at speed is manageable but better balance helps everything, including your final time!

Next I would ask - does your horse lose balance and drop its shoulder into the turn? If so, work the turns at a walk, then ever increasing speeds over a couple of months to help your horse gain better balance, asking it to move off your inside leg so it can eventually turn around your inside leg instead of leaning on your leg. While the forces of a turn at speed are different, the mechanics of all turns need to be established at slower speeds, and gradually increased, and that’s true for both horses and riders.

Anne Brzezicki, CHA Master Instructor & Horseman-ship Director at MTSU

Answer #2:

I would suspect if you are losing your balance in turns at speed, then it is not firmly established at slower paces either yet. Speed simply magnifies the problem that is there throughout the riding.

First, we need to consider what hap-pens to the horse’s balance in turns, and how it affects the rider’s balance - and vice versa. When riding at speed, the tendency is to lean forward. And this does indeed enable and create MORE speed, because placing the weight over the horse’s shoulders makes the horse carry weight on the front legs. That has the same effect on the horse as we feel if we are (on our own two feet) walking down a signifi-cant slope and lean forward at all. The force of gravity pulls us down in the front, and in order to avoid falling on our faces, we have to keep putting our feet out forward under our shoulders to catch ourselves. And we start praying that we reach level ground BEFORE gravity mandates we catch ourselves with forward steps so quickly that we just can’t keep up any more.

A turn at speed CANNOT be done safe-ly and in balance if the horse is on the forehand. The weight MuST be shifted back over the hocks, and the hocks and hind feet must move under the horse’s center of gravity, NOT to the outside of the turn. Then we have to add to those facts the information that turns or circles have centrifugal force that the rider must counteract with position in order to keep his or her and the horse’s balance. Speed magnifies the problem.

Quick turns have centrifugal force, and so tend to slide the rider’s hips to the outside of the saddle. To compensate, the rider will instinctively lean with their shoulders to the inside, like riding a dirt bike. That will cause the horse to shift its weight onto the shoulder on the inside of the turn, and its hind legs will drift to the outside of the turn and not be under the horse. BuT if a horse loses its hind legs to the outside of the turn far enough, you can actually tip it over. Feeling on the verge of that hap-pening is definitely unnerving!

Now that we have analyzed what is going wrong, let’s talk about how to fix it! FIRST, practice doing these rid-ing techniques at the walk, then the slow trot, then the controlled canter or lope, and make SuRE you have consistent body control and both you and the horse have achieved balance BEFORE doing it at speed. When you are ready to add speed, only do as many strides as you can keep your bal-ance with, and do a down transition to rebalance and regroup before doing a few more strides… Here are the techniques to use to improve your balance through correct positioning: first, be SuRE you are sitting up straight, shoulder-hips-heels in alignment; then, to counteract the centrifugal force of the turn or circle, move YOuR hips to the inside of the circle and your shoulders to the outside of the circle while you are sitting in the saddle. This will feel like you have your outside hip over the center of the horse’s back, and that is the hip where the majority of your weight should be. Your inside hip will be to the inside of the circle (to me, it feels like my inside hip is in the air over my inside heel, and rather like I am standing in a motorcycle sidecare next to the horse on the inside) and there will be weight in that inside heel as well as in your outside hip. It SOuNDS like you are being asked to contort yourself, but in reality, all you are doing is counteracting the centrifugal force (which exists not only in the turns, but in the canter itself because of the shift forward of the horse’s leading side shoulder and hip), so that your spine remains centered over the horse’s spine and over the horse’s balance point. to further help, each time the horse’s shoulder rises in front of the saddle in the canter or lope, give a gentle squeeze with your inside calf to encourage the inside hind to step further under the horse’s center of gravity (balance point), which is right under your seat.

Any time things start to lose quality and security, slow down, go back down the training scale to reestablish founda-tion, and don’t work on more difficult


askpects until the foundational ones are solid and consistently correct.

BEST solution: get a knowledgeable instructor with an excellent eye for position and timing to coach you from the ground, as it can be very difficult to know from the saddle where your body parts actually are and what they are doing in the middle of a problem.

Jo-Anne O. Young, CHA Master Clinic Instructor & Houghton Col-lege Equestrian Program Director

Question:My horse has never been a problem to load. He’s started something new. He walks in, and before I can tie him and move past him to close the divider he decides he’s leaving and pulls back. He can’t get loose because of the panic snap, then if I untie him he bolts backwards out of the trailer. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Answer:You mentioned your horse has no problems loading, so I will assume he is comfortable in the trailer. He has developed a habit that is escalating to becoming a dangerous situation and he needs to know you are in control of his speed and direction of movement. This will also teach him patients and to wait for your cues once you’re ready to ask him to back out of the trailer.

My first suggestion is to practice control-ling your horse’s feet, moving front and hind feet in all four directions. For this use a halter, a 15’cotton lead rope and dressage whip to be used only as an extension of your arm and to help direct your horse’s movement. Then, only once you feel you have total control of his movement and he’s accustom to the sensations of the whip, should you head to the trailer to practice this exercise.

Before starting, prepare your trailer with everything you’ll need, such as a feed bag, tie inside and secure your door open, so it doesn’t close on your horse. using the back stall in your trailer with all other dividers closed. Stand off to

the side of your trailer door, facing your horse. Direct your horses head into the trailer door with your left hand. Holding the dressage whip in your right hand, gently tap your horse’s rump un-til he takes one step, immediately stop tapping. Move the whip to his chest to discourage any forward motion and if necessary tap his crest back until he takes one step back. Doing this slowly will relax your horse making it easier to control your horse’s movement.

Next time, you ask, you will let him put just his front feet in the trailer. Once again, move the whip to his chest, wait a moment, then tap his chest and slowly back him out. Repeat, until he does it slow and relaxed. Then allow him in all the way. If, he decides to back out, let him. But, immediately send him back in the trailer, since you hadn’t asked him to come out yet.

After he relaxes, willingly staying in the trailer on his own, and starts eating from his feedbag, take the slack out of the lead rope, while still standing off to the side of the trailer door opening (out of the kick zone). Don’t worry if you happened to drop your lead during loading-no big deal. use your whip to retrieve it or wait until he comes out on his own and start over because your safety comes first. Once the slack is out of the lead, touch your horse on his rump with the whip, so he knows you’re there and softly make a clucking sound. Making sure each time you ask him to back out, you use the same cues, what-ever you decide you want them to be. Just make sure you are consistent, using the same ones in the same order, this is his signal that you are

ready and it’s okay for him to come out. If, he’s backing out too fast next time, only allow his back feet out onto the ground. Then, tap his rump to send him forward into the trailer again. Remember to stay relaxed, so your horse doesn’t get panicky. When he does this in a controlled, calm manner, then you can start closing the door.

Once the door is closed, you can go to the window and from the outside tie him. After he stops stepping around and stands quietly, go back to the window and untie him, but don’t open the back door to unload, if he starts dancing around again, wait. This way he will learn how to be patient and won’t anticipate as soon as the trailer stopped he can bail-out. Once he’s quiet again, open the back door, retrieve your lead from the floor and give him your cue to unload.

This takes practice, but is well worth the time to help keep you safe.

Darla Rathwell, CHA Instruc-tor and Board of Director

www.EquineAffaire.com

Equine Affaire Inc.2720 St. Route 56 SWLondon, OH 43140 • (740) 845-0085

A Unique Celebration of the Horse Offering Unparalleled Educational and Shopping Opportunities; Entertainment; and Breed & Youth Pavilions.

November 8-11, 2012Eastern States ExpositionW. Springfield, MA

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April 11–14, 2013Ohio expo centercolumbus, Oh


the Ohio Horse Park, located in Ironton, Ohio, is the facility of the Equine Studies Associate

of Applied Science Degree at Ohio university Southern (OuS). The Equine studies program began in the early 1990’s and has seen increased growth and improvements since its inception. The early program was more of a generalist approach with students given the opportunity for one program of courses. As the Equine Industry grew and changed, our faculty realized our program need to grow and reflect the changes of the current equine industry.

Our 180 acre facility features the main riding barn, two large outdoor arenas, a therapeutic riding center, and two indoor arenas. Twenty eight horses serve our university students, therapeutic riding participants, and community lesson riders. Our thera-peutic riding center is a Professional

Association of Horsemanship Interna-tional Premier Center. The OHP offers boarding for student horses, a vet-erinary teaching clinic, a classroom, welcome center, and show arena. We host events not only for students and university functions, but also open up the facility for community members.

Our newly designed curriculum offers our students a choice of specialized degree options: riding instructor (in-cluding therapeutic riding), training, farm management, and pre-animal science. Our most popular track is the riding instructor track. Our numbers in this track have doubled in the two years we have offered it. This gives our graduates an opportunity to begin working for established teaching facili-ties or start their own business. With this goal, we felt our program would be stronger and improve our gradu-ates’ employability by offering two certifications in riding instruction.

We have been a PATH, Intl Premier Center since 2008 and joined the Higher Education membership in 2010. We are one of only three universities who qualified for the highest level and can currently certify therapeutic riding instructors. This definitely was an added attraction to our students. Our numbers doubled the second year this was offered.

Our next goal was to become a CHA certified site and to offer certification to our students. Our program became a CHA accredited site and was approved in August as a college program and we have ten instructors in training who will participate in the certification in spring semester. With the addition of these two governing associations, our students are receiving their coursework with the guidelines of CHA and PATH to prepare them for certification. Our first class will go for their CHA certifica-tion in the spring of 2013.

Program Member highlightOHIO UnIVERSITy SOUTHERn EQUInE STUDIES PROGRAM – IROnTOn, OHIO

by Bradie Chapman


Our students have many opportuni-ties for hands-on learning experience throughout their time at OuS. In courses, our student’s role play in teaching situations, evaluate horse selection and movement, assess nutritional programs, among other activities. It is our hope that our students focus on an individual area, but that they are also well rounded equine professionals.

The Ohio Horse Park Center of Therapeutic Riding is located at the farm and offers our students the experience of a PATH Intl Premier Center. Our students help work in the office, act as side walkers and leaders, exercise horses, and teach in the program. Participants who benefit from our program include children, teens, and adults with chal-lenges such as autism, developmental delay, traumatic brain injury, cerebral palsy, post-traumatic stress disorder, and cardiovascular accident. We serve the community by working in collaboration with mental health and foster care agencies, the Veterans Ad-ministration, hospitals, local schools, and many other organizations.

Outside of the classroom the OHP offers community and therapeutic riding lessons that allow our students to get teaching hours with both individuals and groups while also

receiving feedback from certified instructors. The teaching veterinary clinic, located on the grounds, is utilized by local horse owners and provides additional learning oppor-tunities for our students on cases that would not necessarily be seen on our program horses and will help them in future positions.

The horses housed at the OHP are governed by the Institutional Animal Care and use Committee (IACuC). This process helps us determine our husbandry program and the daily care of the equines here at the farm. The IACuC require documentation on all husbandry practices, which includes daily care, usage, and health care. With the IACuC program and PATH Intl site accreditation being in place, our process for CHA site accreditation was an easy transition since all three programs are looking for safe facilities for human and equine, recordkeeping and safe prac-tices, and welfare of the horses. These programs also help our students prepare for the necessary recordkeep-ing that may be expected of them at their career.

Our students can also participate in extracurricular activities offered at the OHP. Our IHSA Western and Hunt Seat teams allow students to show in their respective divi-

sion on the host college horses in horsemanship and equitation. This enhances their skills in team build-ing, adaptability between horses, show management, and show ring etiquette. We also have a dressage team that competes in local school-ing and uSDF shows, riding our horses to compete. This provides our students with the opportunity to learn how to travel with horses, groom and prepare them for show-ing, and working as a team to be in the arena on time. We encourage all of our students to be on one or all of the teams for the experience that they will gain. We also have an Equine Student Ambassador program that allows students to help with promoting and recruiting for our program. This program builds social skills, office and organizational skills, and time management which can be used in their future employment for promotion.

Our program offers a variety of learn-ing opportunities and experiences resulting in an Associates of Applied Science Degree along with national and international instructor certifica-tion for those pursuing the teaching track. Students who enroll in and successfully complete our program will have a broad variety of experi-ences while focusing on the specialty of their choice.


f o r m o r e i n f o : http://cha-ahse.org

cha InternatIonal conferenceoctober 17 – 20, 2013

859-259-3399

at the showplex fairgroundshamburg, new York

Tricks of the TradeBy Julie Goodnight

LIngo - VentrAL edemAA horse showing signs of ventral edema may have compromised health. Swelling is typically seen on the ventral midline of the horse’s belly and is characterized by puffi-ness, bumps or fluid build-up. Often in geld-ings, sheath swelling or puffiness can also be seen. These signs can be indicators that a horse is fighting infection (maybe from an unseen puncture wound), having metabolic issues-- allergies, snake/insect bite, or toxic reactions, circulatory issues, parasites, Poto-mac Horse Fever and other issues.

Monitor the edema, check vital signs (check-ing for signs of fever) and look for other signs that may indicate the horse’s health and vigor such as appetite, soreness and alertness. Inspect the horse from nose to tail for signs punctures or sores. Exercise the horse lightly to see if the edema is reduced after exercise. If the horse shows signs of fever or other signs of sickness, if the edema persists over a long period or gets worse, call the vet.

herd – the Frog sLoUghs!The frog of the hoof grows continuously and is an important structure of the foot. Traditionally, farriers would trim the frog back, keeping it very neat and trim, but increasingly farriers are leaving the frog natural so that it provides better cushion-

ing and support for the foot and better circulation. When left natural, the frog will periodically slough off, either in many little pieces or in one frog-shaped piece. The sloughing is perfectly normal, but may be alarming to people that have never seen the frog in its natural state.

tAck –cheek pIeceFor many horses, particularly in the winter when the hair coat is very thick, pulling the bridle over the ears is a tight fit and can cause a lot of momentary discomfort in the horse’s mouth. If you drop the cheek piece down a few holes before you bridle, it is much easier to pull the headstall over the ears and then it can be adjusted back up to the right place. It only takes a few seconds to loosen then readjust the cheek piece but it can make a huge difference in the horse’s comfort and may help prevent bridling problems.

teAch – rIde At WILL tIme dUrIng A LessonRiding lessons are all about imparting information and developing rider skill, but sometimes students are over-loaded with information. It’s helpful to plan practice time in each lesson-- either at the end of the lesson for about 10 minutes or after each topic or exercise. During this time, your students can ride at will, practicing the things you worked on in their lesson. Often this is when questions arise, as students process the information on their own. I always tell riders at the end of each session to practice on their own, ask questions if they have them and that I will just watch and offer suggestions as needed. I think this “soak in” time is really important in the learning process.

Pet Peeves AROund THe BARn

& Solutions to Solve Them

Right-sized Horses, Riders and SaddlesOver the past few decades, riders as a whole have gotten bigger and heavier and as a result, most riding operations have moved toward bigger and bigger horses. The rule of thumb for knowing if the rider is “right sized” for the horse is that the weight of the rider should not ex-ceed 20% of the weight of the rider. So in a perfect world, a 1000 pound horse can carry a 200 pound rider. Having the right-sized horse for the rider is the first step, but having the right-sized saddle is just as important. Often I see heavy riders with a horse that is of adequate size, but the rider is using an English saddle which is often too small for the rider. Keep in mind that the English tree is much smaller than the Western tree and it is the job of the tree to distribute the weight of the rider over a larger area. Therefore, with heavier riders, horses will often be more comfort-able in a Western saddle because of better weight distribution. you can pretty much do anything in a Western saddle that you could in an English saddle at lower levels, so why not make your horse more com-fortable and prevent back soreness? Make sure the saddle is also right-sized for the rider and consider using a Western saddle for greater comfort for the horse.

Farrier MannersIt drives me crazy when people let their horses sniff and nuzzle the farrier’s back while he or she is bent over underneath the horse, in a very vulnerable position. no matter how sure you are that your horse won’t bite, it is rude to allow your horse to put his mouth on the farrier and also distracts the farrier and makes him or her uncomfortable. It is a proven fact of horse behavior that lipping leads to nipping which leads to biting. If you let you horse put his lips on you or on the farrier, eventually he will nip. Teach your horse proper manners and treat your farrier with some respect and make sure your horse keeps its nose where it belongs while the farrier is working.

Julie Goodnight - CHA Master Clinician


REGIOnAL DIRECTORS AnD COnFEREnCES AROUnD THE COnTInEnT

region 1 (British Columbia, WA, Western MT, ID, OR, Alberta) Teddy Franke: Regional Director (541) 544-2149 or [email protected] in OR. Jessica Mohr: Regional Director Assistant (706) 338-1400 or [email protected] in OR. Tereesa Went-land: Regional Director Assistant (509) 765-7808 or [email protected] in WA. Region 1 Conference –– February 2014

Region 2 (Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Eastern MT, nD, SD) Tara Reimer: Regional Director (204) 392-6308 or at [email protected] in MB. Carole Marshall: Regional Director As-sistant 204-290-4545 or at [email protected] in MB. Region 2 Conference – April 12-14th in Brandon, Manitoba with the Horse 3 Conference

Region 3 (Mn, WI, Western Ontario, Upper MI, IA, IL) Laura Jones: Regional Director (807) 577-3630 or at [email protected] in On. Jen-nifer Willey: Assistant Regional Director (612) 669-7564 or at [email protected] in Mn. Kathy Findley: Regional Director Trainer (262) 895-6978 or at [email protected] in WI. Region 3 Conference – with the Illinois Horse Fair, March 1 - 3 at the Illinois State Fairground in Springfield. http://horse-menscouncil.org/horsefair/

Region 4 (Lower MI, In, OH, Tn, Ky, WV, East-ern Ontario) Ingrid Poissant: Regional Director (517) 403-7628 or at [email protected] in MI. Terry Williams: Regional Director Trainer (513) 850-5397 or at [email protected] in OH. Region 4 Conference – TBA

Region 5 (ny, nJ, Washington DC, VA, DE, PA, MD) Jo-Anne young (585) 567-8142 or at

[email protected] in ny. Region 5 Conference – none in 2013 due to Interna-tional Conference being held in ny

Region 6 (nH, VT, ME, MA, MD, CT, RI, new Brunswick, Quebec, newfoundland) Lori Maciulewicz (774) 259-1004 or [email protected] in MA. Lisa Broillard (603) 556-1021 or [email protected] in ME. Region 6 Conference – TBA

Region 7 (nC, GA, FL, SC, AL) Ken najorka (407) 721-9711 or at [email protected] in FL. Region 7 Confer-ence – TBA

Region 8 (OK, TX, MS, AR, LA, nM) Charla Bundy Regional Director (405) 627-4919 or [email protected] in OK. Amanda Eck Regional Director Assistant (979) 618-6182 or [email protected] in TX. Pat Leach Regional Director Assistant (817) 295-5009 or [email protected] in TX. Region 8 Conference – TBA

Region 9 (Wy, nE, CO, KS, MO) Ashleigh Hamill: Regional Director (970) 416-8944 or [email protected] in CO. Julia Her-shey: Regional Director Trainer (719) 440-4979 or [email protected] in CO. Region 9 Conference – TBA

Region 10 (CA, nV, UT, AZ, HI) Cheryl Rohnke-Kronsberg Regional Director (714) 693-4886 or [email protected] in CA. Dallas McClemons Regional Director Assistant (760) 349-9404 or [email protected] in CA. Lori Hall-Mcnary Regional Director Trainer (760) 741-1179 or (760) 224-2483 or [email protected] in CA. Region 10 Conference – TBA

Region 11 (AK & yukon) This position is open. Contact CHA for more information. Region 11 Conference – TBA

gerrie (CHA Western Level 4) and Jeff Barnes were awarded with the Colorado Horse Council Horse Persons of the year award for 2012. Congratulations!

raina Baker and Jessica neeley were inadvertently left off the list for Clinic Staff facilitating 3 or more clinics in 2012. Thank you to them both!

get Well soon!

CHA Clinician Mitzi Summers had an accident where she shattered her knee. She is mending well and will be back in the saddle again soon.

new chA Life members!

Tanya Kinnard of Marietta, GA

Carol Parker from new Fairfield, CT

In memory

Woody, the 2004 CHA School Horse of the year, passed away last month. He would have been 35 in 2013! He will be remembered by many students as a remarkable teacher! Jennifer Willey – CHA Clinic Instructor

chA program member in primetime!

“I was watching the SAG awards last night and at the beginning they always cruise around the room and have a few actors/actresses say a little ditty about how they became an actor or when they first got their SAG card,” says Terri Weaver CHA Member-ship Services Director. “Hal Holbrook had a spot and said “When I was at the Culver Mili-tary Academy, they told me that if I majored in Drama I wouldn’t have any homework so, I’m an actor.“ Very cute and nice shout out to our program member!”

c LAs s i F i e D sGirl SCOUtS Of COlOrADO needs donations for riding program: western saddles & tack, pack equip., also $ donation for feed/hay. Please email/call for details Julie Fischer [email protected] 303-747-2512

HOrSebACk riVer trAilS OrDerS: all year round, lessons, trail rides in “narnia” themed forest, summer camps, equine therapy for all levels of dis-abilities. http://horsebackrivertrails.com

enrOllMent OPen for January & Spring semes-ter classes at C-Bar Horsemanship, Shawnee, OK of-fering Horsemanship and Therapeutic programs. In-formation at http://cbarhorsemanship.com.

riDe HOrSeS On PACk triPS in AlASkA! Enjoy camping out, day rides, and Dutch oven cook-ing? Look up Victory Bible Camps at 907-745-4203.

SUMMer rAnCH MAnAGer neeDeD. FT/Seasonal. Room and Board avail. $400-$600/week. Equine Facility Manager Lvl 3 preferred. Camp Oakes - (909) 585-2020. http://lbymca.org/campoakes/ [email protected]

AVAilAble iMMeDiAtely: Natural Hoof Care Practitioner/ CHA Riding Instructor / Parelli Trainer looking for riding school/ training program to work under. Willing to relocate. [email protected], 608-339-2975.

fUll tiMe HeAD WrAnGler neeDeD at Quak-er Ridge Camp in Colorado. Applicants must be ministry minded Christians with solid references. Contact Larry at 719-687-9012 or [email protected]

COlOrADO SUMMer CAMP WrAnGlerS neeDeD: Applicants must be ministry minded Christians with solid references. Salary plus lodging and meals. Contact Larry at 719-687-9012; x1 or [email protected]

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