Dustee Pintos

This information is provided as a guide only. There are many methods that can be used to acheive the same result, these are some of ours. All information placed on this page is written by Dustee Pintos - J Thornton and is subject to copyright protection laws of Australia.

Links may be placed to information we support.

 WHAT TO DO/WATCH OUT FOR WHEN YOU LOOK AT A HORSE 

Arrange a time and day to see the prospective horse, then arrive a little earlier than planned just in case its being worked down or anything else shady before you arrive.

Ask that the horse be left in its paddock or enclosure until you arrive, observe the horse being caught, does it come when called, does the handler take feed to catch it? Does it walk straight up to the handler (ideal), does it walk a few steps away before allowing itself to be caught (so, so), does the handler have to approach its hind end to get a handle on it (bad) or does it run in the opposite direction and require running into a corner or blocking up to catch it (very bad)? Consider the size of the yard, if its quite small ask if possible to have it released into something bigger and recaught. There is nothing more frustrating to someone starting out than not being able to catch your new horse so that you can go for that much anticipated ride!

When being led observe if the horse walks nicely beside the handler (ideal), pulls the handler along or has to be pulled along (not so ideal).

 Ask the handler to lead the horse towards and away for you walk and trot, watch for any uneveness of the gait, front hooves that swing outwards or brush inwards as the horse moves. Watch for back hooves clipping/touching the front ones.

 In general handling does the horse keep out of the handlers space? Does the horse object to being brushed or touched anywhere? Can the handler pick up its tail? Does the handler walk behind the horse to get to the other side of the rump (indicating trust) or walk back to the front of the horse to pass over (possibly indicating distrust of the horse, liklihood of the horse kicking).

 In prospective broodmares can you handle the horses udder and teats with confidence? It is a folly to think that broodmares are ok with a lesser amount of handling education than a ridden horse, if anything it is the opposite. Consider if the mare will not allow the foal to drink and you must help, how can you do so if the mare will not allow you to handle her udder? Or even catch her?

 In prospective stallions can you handle the sheath and testicles with confidence? Are the testicles smooth and of an even size? Are both present?

If the horse is tied up take note whether it is tied to something solid or a peice of baling twine/string. In our opinion a horse that can be safely tied to something solid has the better training but this is something of personal preference, it is also something to be aware of if you end up buying the horse.

Run your hands all over the horse feeling for strange lumps, old scars or scabs. Note if it objects to any of your handling and where you were handling at the. Ask (or have the handler) pick up the horse hooves and tap lightly on the sole with something to simulate the shoeing hammer.

 Watch the horse being saddled, does it stand still? Does it suck wind into its gut or try to bite while the girth is being done up? Does it cow kick or flick its tail (often a sign or agitation, if no flies or similar are present). Does the handler act with normal movements or do everything with exagerated slowness? (later may indicate a green horse)

Is the horse lunged? If so does it listen to the commands it is being given? Does it buck or or pigroot when being lunged? Does it appear tense and hold its head high?

Unlike other horse people we dont beleive lunging a horse before riding to be a bad thing, rather its something we do with our own horses regardless of the length of time they have been broken. Not only does it prepare the horse to be ridden it also lets us judge if they are comfortable with the tack before we do ride them.

Check what kind of bit the horse is being ridden in, generally the more severe the bit the worse the mouth will be! An ideal horse should be ridden and shown to you in a medium thickness loose ring snaffle. A thinner bit may also indicate a hard mouth.

Does the horse readily accept the bit into its mouth or does it try to evade being bridled by putting its head in the air? Is the horse ok with having its ears handled?

While we are on the subject of the horses mouth familarize yourself with the general characteristics of horses teeth at different ages and compare what you have been told about the horses age to what its teeth tell you. A general guide is that as a horse ages the teeth will be longer and have more of a slant to them than a younger horses.

If the horse is ridden with rings, martingale, headcheck or other similar device ask to see it ridden without them.

Observe the horse being ridden at all paces, halted, backed up. If you are intending to buy the horse for a specific purpose ask to have the horses suitability displayed to you - ie childs pony = ridden by a child, campdraft horse = rollback & track something, pony club horse = small jumps/pick up a flag/bend around pegs, showjumping = complete a course of a few jumps, dressage = complete movements of the required level.

If there are other horses on the property ask to see the horse ridden away from them and observe its behaviour, does the horse become decidely "doughier" when walking away from the others, does it put its ears back and refuse to move? Does it rush back at a fast pace when returning from the exercise? When taken out of sight of the other horses does it whinny and carry on?

Ask if possible to have the horse ridden in company, observe if the horse acts sour, squeals or threatens to kick at the other horse/s.

When the horse is ridden ask to have it ridden in the largest paddock available at the time, if after the initial showing you are seriously interested in the horse try to arrange to have the horse taken somewhere unfamiliar and put through its paces for you. A lot of horses will be fine in confined spaces or environments known to them but may misbehave or become unsettled when these safety nets are removed.

If the horse is registered ask to see its papers, take special note as to the listed owners name and compare this with the name of the person who is selling it to you. Check that brands, hair whorls and white markings on the certificate match up to the horse you have in front of you. Check that the person selling the horse to you is a financial member of the society through which the horse is registered, some transfers of registration can only be effected if the seller is a financial member.

Brands can be a great indication of age, if a horse has a number brand as well as its stud brand this will be the year it was born, generally numbers from 0 - 9 indicating the last digit in the year it was born, ie 2000 or 1991, once 9 is reached a stud will start back at 0 again as 10 years between horses makes these horses hard to confuse. If a horse has two numbers one above the other the bottom number indicates year born, the top number indicates the horses order in the branding or foal drop for that year.

When looking to buy a horse it is always a good idea to ask as many questions as possible before veiwing the horse, no question is too silly and a seller who refuses to answer your questions should be passed over in favour of more obliging ones. If you and the seller are online as for photos, basic conformation photos (front, back, and either side with the horse untacked, neck and head in a natural position) and photos that support what the horse is being sold for.

Some basics to have before looking at a horse include its breed, age, height, registration details (most can be checked up online), competition results, training, rider suitability, location and price. POA horses are generally expensive or only for sale to selected few, best to steer clear of these.

Look at buying a horse that is suitable for the use you intend. Although there ARE clydesdales and arabians that can campdraft with the best of them, these horses are exceptions and take a great rider to get them that far.

Be clear in your conversations with the seller as to what you each interpret common selling terms to be. For example we once bought a "well handled" horse that couldnt be caught in a small yard, wouldnt pick up its feet, jumped away from a brush and wouldnt load on a float.  Thats not what we call well handled, thats not even basic handling! We once sold a horse as a "forward moving confident beginners horse", the lady who bought the mare rang asking for a refund several days later, it turns out she really wanted a "kickalong" kind of beginners horse.

Ask the seller if the horse is a windsucker or in male horses a rig. This is information that a seller MUST legally diclose before they sell the horse to you.

NEVER BUY

*A horse because you feel sorry for it.
*The first horse you see.
*A horse just because of its colour.

Remember a true beginners horse is rarely pretty, what it is is reliable and worth its weight in gold. Be prepared to pay for it and keep your "dream horse" ideals for future "upgrades".

ALWAYS GET A RECIEPT, EVEN IF YOU ARE GIVEN THE HORSE, GIVE THE PERSON $1 AND GET A RECEIPT. ITS PROOF OF OWNERSHIP!

If you are a beginner/new to horses take someone with more knowledge along with you when you look at a horse. And finally for an adult beginner we would suggest somewhere around 14 hh, qh/stockhorse x with pony. Something solid and not too tall. For children something around 11 - 12 hh, welsh ponies are ideal.

We dont reccomend thoroughbreds for heavier weight riders, as their growth is already compromised by work when their bones are not fully formed. Also they are accustomed to carrying only light weight riders. They rarely do well without hard feeding.

In fact ponies can generally carry proportionately more weight.

Standardbreds can be a great starting horse for someone on a budget but they pace and make it hard to learn how to properly sit or rise to individual gaits. They are a much more sensible and solid horse than a thoroughbred and have much more breed only classes, clubs and events happening.

Although theres a lot of talk about drugged horses to be honest its not as common as all that! See some of our reasons for changes of new horse behaviour. But in case you do come accross one, heres how to spot it.

In Colts, Stallions & Geldings their penis will be hanging out, it will hang out even while being worked and if you tap in front of the sheath  or back the horse up a normal horse will retract the penis back into the sheath, a drugged horse will be unable too..

In all horses signs of drugging include, looking as if asleep, loose/droopy bottom lip which remains this way even if you place your fingers in its mouth and later remove them. The horse may drag its feet, stumble or appear off balance.

As sellers we are sick of seeing buyers complain their horse has changed from when it was bought and assuming the worst of the seller. Here are some non seller related reasons your horse might have a change in behaviour.

GAIN IN CONDITION - So your horse was a bit light on when you got it? And being soft hearted as you are you fed it up and didnt ride it for a little while right? Well no wonder its changing, it feels better! Unless the horse is severely underweight any increase in feed should be implemented alongside a increase in activity for the horse. This is a common occurance with "sale" "dogger" or "dealer" type horses.

DIFFERENT FEED - Just like people who have different reactions to some foods, so do horses. Some feeds may "hype" a horse up. Take note of what the seller had the horse on originally and if you want to change its feed do it over a matter of weeks substituting initially a small amount of this feed for your own, increase this substituted portion over a matter of weeks until you are completely feeding what you wanted. Watch carefully for any change in the horses behaviour and if adverse you may want to switch back and try another feed.

OVERFED, UNDERWORKED, CONFINED - As for gain in condition you may have fed your horse more than required, worked it less than usual or restricted its movement which in turn restricts its ability to exercise itself.

WORMS, ILLNESS OR INJURY - Horses suffering from injury, illness or severe infestations of worms may change in personality when they are better.

OVERWORKED, RUNDOWN HORSES - Horses from high work disciplines such as riding schools or trail ride venues will always be quieter when first viewed than when you take them home, they've probably gone from twice daily lessons six days of the week to a ride every second day with a doting new owner!

POOR SADDLE FIT - Saddles or for that matter other tack that pokes, pinches, rubs or otherwise makes the horse uncomfortable may cause unpredictable behaviour.

NEW EXPERIENCES, UNFAMILIAR TERRITORY - I once worked as a stablehand for a race horse trainer, our horses at the show ground were in my care one day and most were totally off their rocker, the army was in town and camping at the showgrounds, they had a mascot camel, it was the smell of the camel that had the otherwise easy to handle horses plunging and rearing in their stalls.

DIFFERENT STYLE OF RIDING - Heres a great example, western, stock and trail riding horses are ridden on a loose rein, if you took one and tried to do dressage on it holding its head in you'd have a mighty cranky horse mighty quickly, this really refers back to buying a horse suited to what you want to do, if you dont then do you and the horse a favour and take the time, spend the money to get the horse trained to what you want. Dont expect it will be able to do it immediately.

YOUNG HORSE, INCONSISTENT TRAINING - A foal, weanling or yearling is a impressionable animal, although it may have had great handling and manners when you bought it you must always insist upon the same everytime they are handled and further its education with new expereinces. Remember a horse is a horse, not a person, not a baby, not just a pet, as something that will end up weighing several times more than you do it is imperative that your young horse be bought up to respect all humans as their betters and masters.

Roundyards are a great training tool and while not essential for breaking in a horse it makes it a hell of a lot easier.

WOOD - If you own the place where you keep your horses you cant go past a solid wood one but they are a lot of work, cost a fair bit of money to have it done right and of course you cant take them with you if you sell up.

STEEL (PERMANENT) - Along the lines of the wooden roundyard you can have a beauty of a steel roundyard constructed using specially shaped livestock rails. But again you cant take it with you!

Your soil type and whether you live in land or coastal will influence your choice of medium for a permanent roundyard.

STEEL (MOVABLE) - A movable steel roundyard is made of portable panels that pin, hinge or lock together with a gate or several gates depending on your needs. The benefits of this yard is that it can be moved wherever you go, you can also buy your roundyard panel by panel as funds allow. They ARE bulky and heavy to move though. When choosing portable panels for your roundyard check that there is more bars on the bottom (or at least an even number) of the panels than the top, check how they fix together and make sure it will not allow a horse to catch a hoof in there if it rears over the panels. Panels must also be sufficient height for a horse to be highly unlikely to leg it over the top of them. Good quality roundyard panels will cost you between $100 - $200 a peice, a gate twice that.

In all the above options it is ideal to line the bottom third of the roundyard with conveyer belting to keep roundyard fill in (sand is usual but we have used sawdust and much prefer a mixture of the two, there are also dearer recycled rubber options that a person with a large budget could look into) and to prevent hooves from getting stuck between the bars/rails.

TYRES - A cheaper option to make a roundyard on your own land or somewhere you will be staying a while is old tyres, because tyres take a bit to dispose of you can usually get them free from tyre places, be sure not to get any that have exposed wire though. To make a tyre roundyard simply lay tyres down in a circle (with space for gate left out) where you want your roundyard, the next layer of tyres should be overlapped so each tyre of the second layer is laying on half and half of two tyres in the first layer. Continue in such a way until you have the required height. When setting out this roundyard if you have measured for a certain size make sure you place the tyres around the outside of your line as tyres will take up much of the size and you will end up with something much smaller than intended. As we have never used this kind of roundyard ourselves we cant help you too much with a gate but I imagine two posts and proper swung gate wouldnt be too much of a hardship to install, or alternatively a 44 gallon drum with some water to give it stability could be shuffled into a space left for it to act as a gate.

DRUMS - Ideally if you chose drums for your roundyard you would secure plastic ones and half fill with water to stabilize them in position but metal drums would also suffice in a pinch. The problem with drums is that a single layer is a bit low and a second layer would be a bit dangerous. Best used by those who are after something to work an already broken horse in or to work a horse on a lead in.

STEEL PICKETS/WIRE/HOSE/HESSIAN/SHADECLOTH/FEEDBAGS - This is the least favourable solution to solving your need for a roundyard, in fact we hessitated to put it up here, but as the information is available freely other places on the net we decided we would and hope to instill in you the reader that this type of yard MUST be used with caution. To contruct this type of roundyard extra height steel pickets can be banged into the desired border line of your roundyard (dont forget steel picket caps!), after which there are a variety to ways to fill the gaps;

*run the wire through cut lengths of hose/pvc pipe between each picket.
*run the wire as normal and run a length of hessian or shadecloth around and secure to the wires.
*run the wire through the top and bottom of feedbags between each picket.

HAY BALES - If you have spare bales of hay, you can align them in a circle to make your roundyard and again use a 44 gallon drum for a gate or put in two posts with a gate. Best not to leave a horse in this one unsupervised though as you may soon find your yard looking a little or a lot worse for wear!

Written by J Thornton.

SETTING YOURSELF UP IN RELATION TO YOUR HORSE

First imagine there is a 90 % angle from the horses shoulder to its the line of its head and therefore body. Now imagine cutting that 90 % angle into half, stand on this line your toes should be pointing at the front set of your horses hooves. Stand far enough out on this angle that should you move towards the horse you will pass its nose without touching it.

KEEPING CORRECT WHILST MOVING POSITION

As the judge moves around your horse you will need to move so as never to be presenting your back to the judge and/or impeding the judges view of your horse.

When moving from a position there are several guidelines to follow, firstly any move should be done in 3 steps or less, preferably one. Secondly a move should always be started with your OUTSIDE leg and it should always move accross IN FRONT of the stationary leg.

NEARSIDE -> OFFSIDE

Standing correctly at the nearside of your horse (position a) move your  right leg (outside leg)  accross in front of your left leg to the corresponding foot print on the offside of your horse  (position b) in the diagram.

Follow this by moving your other leg as per the diagram.

OFFSIDE -> NEARSIDE

To move from offside (position b) to nearside (position a) repeat the steps above remembering to move your outside leg accross in front of the stationary leg and then follow it with the remaining leg. Do not REVERSE the steps to nearside -> offside, this would be incorrect.

So you would move left leg accross in front of right leg, follow with right leg.

STEPS DIAGRAM

This is pretty straight forward, a repeat of above, from a different view.

LEADING THE HORSE

We beleive you should teach your horse to be led with you at its shoulder, if possible match your strides and foot falls to the horse thereby presenting a cleaner line and movement for the judge.

Others beleive you should teach your horse to lead with its head level with your shoulder, please choose on the method you are most comfortable with.

WHERE TO STAND WHEN BEING JUDGED AKA "QUARTERING"

As already mentioned, where you stand depends on where the judge is in relation to you and your horse. This page is intended as a guide only and you will find different people will have different ideas on where to stand and when. This is how we see it.

In the following diagram the coloured quadrants of the horse (lettered A - D) are where the judge is located in relation to your horse and the corresponding coloured dots indicate where at that time you should be, please note the judge may be close enough that they could easily touch your horse or several horses away, this position guide does still apply.

The points marked O are transitional positions where the judge is moving from one quadrant to another, the corresponding dot is transitional only, this is roughly the point on the horse you should be passing in moving from one position to another as the judge passes those points marked in orange with a O on them.

Practise this at home, make a game of it to the kids, let them see if they can "catch" you out by pretending to be the judge, and remember the judge may stop, and reverse direction AT ANY TIME. Be on your toes!

SQUARING UP OR SETTING YOUR HORSE UP

Squaring or setting up your horse means imaging there is a rectangle (yes we know its called squaring up but truly its more a rectangle!) under your horses hooves, each hoof should be placed on a corner of the rectangle (for western square). Take care not to use too big of a rectangle, your horses legs should still be straight up and down not over stretched or not stretched far enough.

Never back your horse into a square or set up position as this tends to make the back legs look off. Also never turn your horse and square or set it up without walking forward a few steps, you will end up with a horse thats looking east but its hooves may still be pointing south.

Generally when setting up the order to arrange feet is off side hind, near side hind, offside front, near side front but whatever works best for you is acceptable.

When asked judges have told us that they would prefer to see a horse standing on all 4 feet and not square to one that is square but resting one foot.

BANDING, MANE & TAIL CARE

Banding is simply a long line of small pony tails along the horses neck, the more you have the longer the horses neck will appear, the less the chunkier it will appear. Grabbing a section of suitable size shape it whilst holding the ends down towards the ground, slip the band on so that it is touching the underneath of your section, keeping the section still pointing towards the ground finish attaching the band. Once your mini ponytails are in go along the line gently pulling the hair of the tail that is closest to the horse while holding the pony tail at the base, this will pull the ponytails down to sit snugly against the horses neck. Now you can use hair spray to keep them neat and set in position.

If you are new to banding or not too confident in your abilities use a band colour that will blend in with the mane, if you are confident in your abilities and would like to stand out a little bit use a colour that will contrast, ie white on a chestnut horse.

Depending on the horse breed and the style in which it is being shown it may also be permissable to show your horse with free flowing mane, plaits, net style banding or even hogged!

Manes and tails can be kept in good condition by brushing, washing and conditioning once a week and plaiting loosely while still dry (the tail from the dock down only). A tail bag can also be used to keep them free of grot and protect the tail from hairs being pulled out on fences etc. There are a variety of tail bags around including ones that do not require rugging and simply tie or velcro in to the horses own tail. These generally should have a fringe of some description on the end of the bag to make up for the loss of the horses fly shooing properties of its tail.

OTHER LINKS TO SHOW TRAINING, SQUARING/SETTING UP YOUR HORSE, QUARTERING, BANDING ETC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_showmanship

http://www.myhorse.com/training/performance/square_up_your_horse.aspx#top

http://www.wikihow.com/Prepare-for-a-Horse-Show

Height of horses and larger ponies is measured in hands.

For a rough guide 1 hand = 10 cms or 4 inches.

Cant quite get your head around working it out, heres an online converter to convert hands to other measurements and vice versa.

ESTIMATING MATURING HEIGHT

Method 1 - Take a measuring tape and measure in inches and parts of from the line where hoof meets hair (coronet band) on the front of a horses front leg up along the leg to the middle of its knee. Of these measurements taken each inch = 1 hand, 1/4 of an inch = .1 of a hand.

Method 2 - Take a peice of rope and run it from the horses elbow down to its fetlock, now still holding rope on elbow pivot the fetlock end around 180 degrees and this is how tall your horse will grow.

Brands are visible marks made into/on the hide of a horse or cow as a means of identification of the animal, its owner, its origion, its breeding, its age and a deterent against theft.

In Qld before using a brand you must apply to register your brand with the DPI (there is a fee) and once approved complete a brand return every year to keep your registration current (no fee). Initially you must register a three peice brand, once this is done you may if you require, register in addition a symbol brand (further fee involved).

SEARCHING

To search the Qld DPI Registered Brands CLICK HERE!

Once you have found the brand on your horse or livestock what do you do? Usually a name and location will be given in your results, if no direct contact details are visible a quick search on White Pages usually yeilds possible matches or a letter can be sent to the physical address listed. If neither of these options bring forth information for you at least you know who to start looking for and where.

BASIC DESCRIPTION OF A THREE PEICE BRAND

A three peice brand is a brand comprised of three characters, being numbers, letters or special characters such as a love heart, peices of the brand can appear to have fallen backwards or forwards. More info on three peice brands can be found HERE.

BASIC DESCRIPTION OF A SYMBOL BRAND

In Qld symbol brands are just that, a brand made up of a symbol or symbols, to distinguish a symbol brand from a three peice brand look for a small dot or fullstop to the lower right corner of the brand, this denotes a symbol brand - but it is not part of the actual brand so when searching leave this character out. More info on symbol brands can be found HERE.

BRANDS & NUMBERS

In addition to a three peice or symbol brand an animal may be branded with numbers, usually below the brand or in the same position as the brand but on the opposite side of the animal. These are commonly known as "year brands" or "drop numbers".

A quick guide to deciphering these numbers is as follows;

ONLY ONE NUMBER = The year of birth.
TWO NUMBERS = The top is the number/s the animal is for the stud and the bottom is the year of birth.

Generally there will ony be one number for the year as it is accepted that the difference of 10 years should be fairly obvious even to an untrained eye, so for example a animal year branded 0 may be born in 2000, 1990 or 1980.

Written by J Thornton.

Ideally before attempting to load your horse on a float it should have basic handling such as lead, pick up hooves and touch all over...

Here are a few things you can try to get that horse on your float, ranging from easy cheats for one off "get out of trouble" times to establishing a solid education in float loading.

INTRODUCE YOUR HORSE TO THE FLOAT - If you own a float and have sufficient access park your float in the paddock with your horse for a few days to weeks. When your horse can be comfortably walked past or tied to your float its time to move up a step.

FOOD - Restrict your horses grazing and withhold feed for one day, the next day with the float secured to a suitable vehicle drop the door and place your horses feed container inside the float and if you feel necessary make a small trail of feed from ramp to feed bin for encouragement purposes. When you horse confidently enters the float for its feed move onto approaching the horse in the float to fit a lead to its halter and ask someone to gently close the tailgate. Reassure your horse by talking calmly to him/her and rubbing the neck or ears. Allow your horse to finish its feed and let it out of the float. Repeat procedure the following day but upon secure the tailgate remove the feed (maybe keep a handful for reward purposes) and ask that your helper take you on a small journey around the paddock or block again using verbal and physical cues to reassure your horse and allowing a treat for good behaviour.

FOOD #2 - Food may also be helpful as a followup to the above method by offering a handful just out of reach of your horse encouraging it to take a step forward and up onto the ramp.

CREATE A SENSE OF "SPACE" - Where possible when only floating one horse create a sense of space by removing dividers, canvas covers on windows and leaving the front people door open for light. More sucess in floating a horse can often be gained by floating in a open top float or stock crate through which a horse can clearly see.

MAKING USE OF OTHER FIXTURES - In aid of float loading for the first time or difficult loaders you can position your float in a gate way or against a solid fence (panel or wooden NOT wire) to provide the horse with more direction and reduce the occurence of your horse stepping around or off the side of the float. Portable panels are very helpful in this regard.

COACHING - Coaching is especiall helpful for teaching foals, weanlings and long term paddock mates where one horse is known to be a good floater. This can be carried out with or without dividers in place, dividers may keep your coach well over their own side of the float but the lack of dividers with foals may allow them to press against mum and gain reassurance from her body.

Firstly halter both horses and load the "coach" into the float, encouraging the second horse to walk up either at the same time or after loading the coach. A key to this method is to be patient and to rely on the bond between the horses to do a lot of the work for you. This can be combined with a lot of other methods also mentioned on this page.

STEPPING/LEG ROPE - Get a long length of thick cotton rope (or alternatively thick marine rope with fleece sleeves) with an eye in one or both ends and by pulling the body of rope back through the eye to form a slip loop place the horses front hoof through this and settle the rope around its pastern. Pressure on this rope  can be used to get the horse to "step" up onto the ramp. Fitted to a front hoof/leg each end it can then be used with pressure one side then the other to "walk" the horse up or accross something. Practice along a flat open area before attempting to use this for float loading is always a good idea.

BUM ROPE - A bum rope can be made out of a length of soft cotton or marine rope with an eye on one end. Run the plain end through the eye to from a large loop similar to that of a lasso, now standing at the horses shoulder with lead and excess bum rope in your left hand grasp the loop and place it over the horses back and around its bum underneath the tail, it should sit loosely about as far down the horses butt as the dock extends and the point where the rope length passes through the eye sit upon the horses spine. Run the long end of the rope through the lead rope attachment on your halter and coil both ropes in your hands. By applying pressure to both the lead and bum rope you will acheive a greater forward motion than can be achieved by just a halter and lead. As with any new thing it is advisable to try this in a area free of obstructions before using it to aid float loading.

CRADLING - For this excercise a minimum of two handlers is required, three is preferable. To cradle a horse two handlers should stand at opposite sides of the horse level with the horses hip and each extend one arm out and behind the horses rump about the point of where dock ends in the tail and grasp the others hand or preferably upper arm, this is your "cradle", by standing more to the side of the horse and having cradle firmly against the horse the risk and possibility of being kicked is minimal. With two handlers it is benificial for each to have a lead attached to the horses halter in their free hand to provide direction for the front of the horse, with three handlers the third can control a single lead and provide some forward pressure whilst the cradlers can use their free hands to help guide the progress.

LUNGE - If your horse knows how to lunge on a lead in an open paddock you can use this method to get him/her to self load on a float. Start behind the float lunging in a small circle moving it gradually closer to the float until the ramp falls within your horses path at which point you should encourage his motion in a forward tangent off the lunge circle. Remember nobody is perfect but practice helps.

USING PRESSURE - With a horse that is used to leg aids and moving off of pressure it is possible to load a horse on these signals alone, by applying appropriate pressure to the front or rear of the horse he/she can be aligned straight up the ramp and a gentle prod slightly back from the girth should encourage forward motion.

SECURING YOUR HORSE IN THE FLOAT - We secure our horses in the float by looping around the chest bar and then tying solid onto the D most floats have for the purpose, this way they are in less danger if you use good strong ropes and halters (check out the ones we make!) of going up and over and can still be far enough back to get a sense of security and solidness from the tail gate.We feel it is better overall for them to gain a few scratches from them fighting that to breaking twine they have been tied to and possibly turning around to jump out the back of the float.

FLOATING ACCESSORIES - Such as float boots or rugs should only be used on horses that are accustomed to them well before the day. They should be well fitted and secured without being tight. A haynet may be fitted in the front of the float to keep your horse happy and amused while in transit.

REST STOPS/WATER & FEEDING - Remember that travelling in a float can be tiring to your horse and that regular rest stops are essential, preferably find a enclosed area away from traffic with a good supply of water to unload your horse and allow it to stretch its legs, have a drink of water and where the trip is greater than one day a feed.

Although unloading is recommended IF you beleive your horse will be difficult to reload it is better to leave the horse on the float for a break and provide water/feed there.

Time your trip so that you are travelling during times of less traffic or when the outside temperature is neither excessively hot or cold.

IF ALL ELSE FAILS - pay some one else to do it! 

Written by J. Thornton.

HORSES ARRIVING WITH OBVIOUS LACK OF CONDITION - This one never fails to amaze me, that people who have a horse transported over several hundred kms and days expect it to arrive in the exact same condition it was put on the truck and when it doesn't they blame the transporter. So heres just a few reasons you horse might not arrive quite like it left the last place;

* Did you buy your horse sight unseen?

Many people do this, did you buy sight unseen beleiving the horse was in "generally good condition" or from photos? Look carefully at your photos and your horse, can you see a difference such as the horses bridle path is freshly clipped in photos but when it gets to you its 2 inches long? Was the horses hooves freshly trimmed and now resemble elf boots? Was the photo taken at an event, research when this event actually took place. Look carefully at the background of the photos, what season is it in the photo and what season should it be?

* Did you pay your new purchase off over several months before getting it transported?

Were you paying for feed and do you know it was actually receiving the feed for which you paid? To avoid being dissappointed by your show pony becoming a skinny horse during the time since you saw it and received it after payment terms ask for weekly update photos.

*Water

Horses like humans get used to things tasting a certain way, so in transport of a few days your horse might be exposed to a variety of different tasting water, it may refuse to drink or drink very little. A large percentage of a horses body weight is compromised of water which is also necessary for daily function, if your horse refuses to drink it will therefore appear to have lost condition and weight. Horses being transported rarely have free access to water at all times, so if in doubt ask your transporter how often they stop to water the horses and at the end of the journey whether your horse drank normally or very little.

*Feed

Like water a horse gets accustomed to certain feeds and may refuse others, normally when transported your horse will be fed the same as every other horse on the trip. If your horse is offered less than normal or eats less than normal it may appear to have lost weight on the trip. This is due to the lesser bulk it is carrying within its gut. Again ask your transporter what they feed, how much, how often and whether your horse did eat the feed provided on the stops.

* Has your horse travelled before and how well does it normally travel?

If your horse is an accomplished traveller it may well arrive in the exact same condition it left the previous place in, but on the other hand if your horse has never been transported or fidgets for the whole journey it is reasonable to expect a small loss of condition due to stress and/or the rigours or steadying itself during transportation (in transport your horse must use its muscles to stay upright and balance its weight against the sway of the truck/float).

Written by J Thornton.

We usually start with the horse loose in the roundyard, have a whip or waddy (long peice of poly pipe with flag/rag/bag atached to end, NOTE it is a visual not physical aid!!) to encourage them to move forward you step more in line with the hip and wave your waddy. Once they get going you return to level with their body (middle of roundyard) and when you require them to stop step more in line with the head and place you waddy out in front of them.

Hope the following little picture I drew up in paint helps. Black is start position the little triangle on diagonal line is the waddy with flag, the other line is your lead if you are using one. The green represents your body, lead and waddy positions when wanting the horse to go or speed up the red when you want to stop, slow or turn the horse.



We do it all off lead and a horse must turn in to the centre of the circle when changing direction, if the horse turns the wrong way it is roused on and made work hard, if it does it right you tell it so and reward with simply continueing the gentle work. While teaching when a horse does it right allow them some time to just stand and think about it all.

When you want the horse to stop, firstly position yourself towards the horses head and signal with flag out front of horse for a stop (start of turn) (and in learning some pressure on the lead) it should turn to face you, if you are wanting a stop as the horse moves into this position lower the flag waddy to your side and take a step back, the horse should take on step towards you (in teaching ask for this with pressure on the lead whilst stepping back), you may then chose to place your flag waddy or hand out in front of you and say "whoa" which is asking the horse to stay where it is or let it walk up to you. Either way it should receive a pat, kind words and/or treat.

When getting the horse to change direction it should do so in two steps, firstly give the stop/turn signal with flag out front of horse (and in learning some pressure on the lead) it should turn to face you, as it does so take a step to the side you wish to see when its lunging and wiggle your flag which should still be out to your side and now the horses.

We use voice commands also when asking for these things;

Whoa - stop
Steady - slow down, (trot to walk etc)
Giddyup or clicking sound - start in motion, speed up (walk to trot etc)
Face up - used in conjunction with whoa to make the horse understand you require it to face towards you.

We actually teach our horses to be caught and haltered this way. Once they have learnt to do this in the roundyard with lead on you should then progress to a bigger yard and ask for them to lunge on the lead rather than the shape of the yard (by shortening and lengthening the lead at various times) and once they can do that progress on lead to open paddock.