Thursday, May 8th, 2008
stall or pasture?
I date this entry because I found myself coming to this opinion late in 2007 and feel like I may have moved into the past a bit.
When I started riding (a long time ago), horses didn’t go outside…..EVER. Your horse lived in a stall 24/7 and in the barn they stayed; warm, dry, safe, and ready to ride. It was normal. I never questioned it. I was a little kid, and it seemed to make sense to me. I rode my pony 6 days a week, and when I rode my pony, I mean I RODE my pony for hours. You literally had to pull me off my pony. This posed a problem when he was “wild” and in such good shape you couldn’t wear him out with 10 straight hours of lunging if you wanted to. He was one fit pony. But, he didn’t see daylight unless I was riding outside; along with every other horse in the barn.
Maybe this was confined to the hunter/jumper world, but horses did NOT go outside. You could walk them outside to graze. There were pastures; they were really green and full of grass, mostly because the horses never went out in them.
Give the horses some time to stretch their legs….but not too much time for them to hurt themselves.
Then, shortly after I moved into a small junior horse, turnout became an option. I moved to a barn that had all day turn-out. Still not really understanding the thought behind horse turnout, I figured, “well that’s good”. Of course I wasn’t accustomed to scraping large amounts of mud before a ride, but it was nice to see the horses outside playing, grazing, or in some cases, running like maniacs. They must be doing what they want to be doing.
Then I moved yet to another barn that had many more “high level” show horses. They offered minimal turn-out. Most horses were turned outside from 1-2 hours a day, with split boots and bell boots. This seemed like a nice compromise. Give the horses some time to stretch their legs….but not too much time for them to hurt themselves. A few people, some with VERY nice, expensive horses moved to another show barn that offered more turn-out. I, on the other hand, still thought “well, they get worked and none of the horses seem unhappy”. Now, there were a large amount of horses that wore cribbing collars (red flag) and even more that would weave in their stalls (another red flag). But, most of that I thought was because they were Thoroughbreds off the track, and they all have some nervous wacky habit from being in that atmosphere.
Once I started having a little more forethought and tried to learn more about horses’ behavior, physiology, and overall “natural” state, I realized horses should be outside as much as possible. By all means, bring them into a stall at night or if the weather is bad, but let them be horses. They should be in a herd during the day, relaxing, living as they would in the wild.
Then I had a mare, a mare who REALLY liked other horses. She liked other horses so much that if she was on a fence line with the same horse two days in a row, you couldn’t ride her because she would panic without being able to see the other horse. Now, throw her in a herd, and you can only imagine the monster she would turn into.
At this point, I wanted to give this mare the ability to be a horse. But, I was spending a lot of money so I could ride and show her. This now made it so I was spending a lot of money for her to have friends and I was only able to ride when all the other horses were in the barn and never at a horse shows.
That, didn’t make sense to me. Luckily, the barn(s) we cycled through over the years ended up having rotating turnout for a few hours a day. She didn’t get attached, and was still able to get out a little bit every day (weather permitting).
As a limited turnout routine became commonplace for my mare, more and more “research” came out about the benefits of turnout for the horse’s brain and body. More turnout meant sounder minds and bodies. This too, made sense. Of course, not only does a horse’s digestive system work better because they are moving as they “graze”, but horses are more sound because their joints are moving frequently so they don’t go from standing in their stall, to working, then back to standing in their stall.
I have always, and will always, think horses without jobs (or high level jobs), young horses, horses with special needs, arthritic horses, or horses that are downright bonkers NEED turnout of some sort. But, is all day turnout, every day turnout, the answer for EVERY horse?
I think not only is that an important question for your pocketbook, but an important question for your horse’s overall wellbeing.
I have aspirations for “us”. I also love this horse to death, so I want him to be happy and healthy.
Not EVERY horse actually WANTS to be outside all day. There are many horses that have higher anxiety when outside all day. Maybe the anxiety is from being used to a stall, or even being used to the barn. But, how do you gauge your horse’s happiness?
Every horse is unique, every turnout situation is unique, and it’s important to remember your goals for you and your horse and the pros and cons of turnout in relation to those goals.
Right now, I have an 11 year old Holsteiner gelding, upper level jumper, and he is at the peak of his performance. With this in mind, I will let you know his turnout history so you understand what he is accustomed to in his life.
From birth-1yr ,he was outside all day and brought in at night. From 1-2yrs, he was outside 24/7 (weather permitting) with other horses of all ages. This was in the Midwest, so if it was really cold or thunderstormy, he came in at night. From 3-4yrs, he lived outside 24/7 in all weather (with shelter of course) with no friends. From 5-8yrs, he lived in a run w/shelter and daily turnout with one other horse (he isn’t always that friendly), weather permitting. From 8-10, he lived in a stall with daily turnout. He didn’t like to be outside all that much and would run the fence line to come inside (not every day and for no apparent reason (bugs, weather, feeding, other horses).
So, during the last year he has had some “soundness” issues. He has not been LAME, just off. X-rays all clean, most likely narrowed it down to soft tissue. Stall rest was his prescription. 4 months total. He was walked every day, and generally he seemed very happy in his stall. I got him toys he enjoyed very much. He had a few outbursts of bucking in his stall, but for the most part…he was alert, happy, maybe a little bored, but no more than when he was outside.
Unknown as to how he injured himself, I question turnout for him at all now that he will be coming back into work. I have aspirations for “us”. I also love this horse to death, so I want him to be happy and healthy.
Our need for soundness and his need for “normal” horse behavior poses a conflict of interest…or does it? He likes his job; I would say he loves his job. He has always loved to jump. Flatwork, he could do without, but he loves jumping. He REALLY likes people, he likes interaction with people, he acts like he is a people sometimes. He doesn’t have any bad habits such as cribbing, weaving, chewing. He doesn’t have any health problems that could pose a problem to not going outside (COPD, colic, ulcers, arthritis, tying up). He always seems content in his stall, especially when he is in a work program.
So, I have decided that I am going to keep him from turnout. This means I will probably try to hand-graze him as much as possible and get him out 6 days a week. But, I don’t think in any way I am being cruel. Additionally, I’ve always worried about his focus when consistently turned out, and especially with a friend. He doesn’t scream for his friend, he doesn’t act agitated that he is away from his buddy, but I do notice that he is a little more “nonchalant” about work.
This being said, I think turning horses out is good, but keeping a horse in a stall isn’t bad. It depends on the circumstances of the horse and owner. No, a horse should not remain cooped up in a stall 24/7 with no chance of seeing sunlight. But, a horse that gets consistent work, is showing, could get injured, or could become unable to focus on “work”, maybe should be considered limited to no turnout.
That’s just my opinion of horse turnout in 2008. Maybe that will change. We will see….
Tags: horse, injury, mare, turnout, warmblood
Posted in horse care | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 22nd, 2008
love isn't a good enough reason to breed your mare
* * editors note: this is the first in a series of four articles aimed sport horse breeding * *
People love to breed things. I don’t understand the mentality, but this goes for dogs, cats, horses, and the obvious….people. Just because a living thing has a reproductive system doesn’t mean said living thing should be reproducing.
“I love my mare”. That, along with many other statements, does not qualify your mare to reproduce. I realize breeding seems tempting with the availability of quality stallions, but just because you have a mare doesn’t mean that you should breed her. Most mares are not that nice, and most nice mares need to be bred carefully.
Example #1: A woman owns a mare, she’s a cute mare. Let’s say the mare had done some hunters in the past, the big shows, let’s even say the mare did pretty good in the adult amateur ring. Now, the mare is doing dressage. Let’s say the mare is doing okay at 2nd level, but the mare is definitely not going to be progressing any further than 2nd level. The woman has seen all these fancy Grand Prix dressage stallions in the magazines. She loves her mare. Her mare is a 15.2 hand TB mare, 12 years old, chestnut, small frame, cow hocked with very small hocks, has Navicular but is sound with corrective shoeing (hence the inability to jump anymore), very small, shallow feet with no heal. Cute head, downhill, pretty straight shoulder even though she moves better than she is built to; pretty flat gaits, short neck, and long back (not extreme). But, she is a sweet mare, not mare-ish, very nice temperament, not “hot”.
This woman wants a Grand Prix horse. She rides at a pretty nice dressage barn. Most of the other boarders have Warmbloods. There are a few exceptional Thoroughbreds that are doing some of the upper level stuff, but this woman is definitely one of only a few to own a horse that isn’t going to go much further than 2nd level (we aren’t talking about rider ability at this point). Finances don’t allow this woman to buy a “going” Warmblood with upper level potential, nor is she able to fork out 10-20k for a young horse. So, she figures “I’ll breed to one of those REALLY fancy Warmbloods in the magazines that are doing Grand Prix dressage and I’ll have my next star!
Most mares are not that nice, and most nice mares need to be bred carefully.
Let’s examine this scenario. First let’s start with this woman’s “experience” in breeding. None, she has none. Her trainer knows of two younger “up and coming” stallions that aren’t approved yet, but are “gorgeous”. Her trainer also, has no experience breeding. So, the woman starts calling stallion owners. I’m not going to cut on stallion owners (at least not in this segment), but the woman hears nothing but rave reviews about each of these stallions. She picks one, a 17 hand Hanoverian, big boned, fluid movement with lots of impulsion, rhythmic gaits, has a large head though it fits him, long neck, average back, sloping shoulder, uphill build, straight legs, big feet (all from pictures and from inspection results), but all in all a very nice looking horse.
What is she going to get out of this breeding? A Grand Prix dressage horse (chances are much less than 1%)? Is she going to get the equivalent of her mare? Now that is much more realistic. But, with the conformation of the two, there is a much better chance that she is going to get much less than she had in her mare. There is a chance of course, slim, but a chance that she could get a tad nicer than her mare. But, with the clash of conformation, build, & movement, the chances are she is going to get a 16h horse with a long neck, long back, big head, big body, small frame legs, terrible feet, that doesn’t have much for athleticism. Of course, this horse has a good chance of being sweet (though we didn’t discuss the stallion’s temperament), but is this woman going to be happy with something less than her mare? If so…..great. But with the money this woman spent breeding her mare, raising the foal, and paying for training, she has probably already spent 15-40k when it is ready to be ridden.
Is she going to get the equivalent of her mare? [Not with the] conformation combo; she’ll probably get much less than she had in her mare.
Example #2: A jumper mare maxes out at about 3’6”. This mare is pretty fast and has done pretty good in the AA jumpers with several owners. She has never been able to get a lead change and has had many lameness problems. This mare also is a bitch. She HAS to be on Regumate. The only reason she has done well in the AA jumpers is because it took her 10 years to get there. She is 16 years old now. She has only been doing the AA jumpers for about 4 years. Before that she went from owner to owner because she is such a pain to train, ride, and generally deal with. She is spooky, she is hot, she is nervous, she is herd bound, she has a nasty buck AND rear. But, now she is a little better. I mean, she doesn’t like to be brushed, or tacked up. She pins her ears, swishes her tail, and often gives you the warning hind leg in the air when you have done anything more than she can tolerate. You cannot use spurs, but a crop is okay. She has never been “abused”, she is just that mare….the one that is just a bitch!
But, it might be retirement time. The woman who owns her is moving up in the jumper ring and she can’t part with the mare. She has bought a nice warmblood gelding that she is hoping to show in the A/O jumpers in the next year or two. So the mare, an appendix quarter horse, 16.2 hands, with great conformation throughout the body; nice shoulder, nice croup, nice back and neck, nice head, great topline, kind of falls apart in the legs. Not terribly, but she has sickle hocks, toes in, has terrible “tube” quarter horse feet (surprisingly no Navicluar detected YET), long cannon bones, short, and very short pasterns (astonishing that she can jump 3’6”).
The woman decides to breed the mare to a stallion that was shown in Grand Prix jumpers. She wants the mare to have something to do in retirement and she would either like another horse once her Warmblood gelding has to retire, or she will sell the foal. Either way it will be a great horse…right?
No, of course not. Why would you breed this mare? This mare has a terrible temperament, which WILL get passed on at least a little bit to the foal, and the conformation ALONE is not okay to breed. Worse case scenario, you get a horse that is WORSE than the mare! Best case scenario, you get a horse that is equal to your mare! You cannot improve on BAD faults. Sure, every horse has its conformation and temperament “imperfections”, but if there are blatant FAULTS, NO! Don’t breed!
Through equine reproduction, you cannot improve on BAD faults.
Example #3 (this is my all time favorite and probably the most common): Mare, lame, career ending (but not from an accident); Navicular, Ringbone, Sidebone, OCD, Torn Suspensory (over at the knee being the cause), Bowed Tendon (poor lower leg conformation causing the weakness).
Of course, this mare was not proven in sport in any way. She were started and then had lameness issues because of poor conformation. This is the exact reason NOT to breed, but the most common reason for a person to breed. “Well, she’s retired and only 8 years old, I can get 7 foals out of her.” NO!!!!!!!
Basically, what it boils down to is that a mare isn’t for breeding unless #1 she has proven herself in sport (upper level, dressage or jumpers) or #2 she has an outstanding temperament with equally outstanding conformation. Of course, conformation alone doesn’t qualify an upper level performance horse, nor does temperament, but it’s a good start. Also, not every rider is riding at upper levels, and there is a huge market for the middle of the performance scale, along with the lower end of the performance scale. But, you still want to be producing a physically sound horse that is also mentally sound.
Lameness is the exact reason NOT to breed, but also the most common reason given for breeding.
There are plenty of horses that qualify for the lower level without the need for you to breed to this level. There are also enough horses that performed at the upper levels and are done with that caliber of performance due to age, wear and tear, and rider ability to be passed on to the middle levels. You should not try to breed a lower level horse, or even a mid level horse.
And hey, two high level performance horses (mare and stallion) don’t always add up to offspring that perform, win, and hold-up at the upper levels, but you definitely have a much better chance.
Of course, there are always the horses that beat the odds; terrible conformation, terrible temperament, but manage to overcome those obstacles and win in the Grand Prix ring. But, odds are against those horses. And don’t forget, a horse still need heart, good training, and good riding. But guaranteed, starting off breeding with sound, sane horses and proven athletic abilities is a step in the right direction towards breeding quality offspring.
Let’s try to keep breeding to a minimum. Let’s breed quality, not quantity. Let’s REALLY figure out the costs involved with breeding and buying. If you own a mare, have someone who is knowledgeable, honest (brutally), experienced, and unbiased take a look at your mare and give you their opinion.
I would suggest taking your mare to a breed inspection, but I am unsure how strict they are these days. Anymore, American Warmblood, ISR, and a handful of other “registries” allow anything in their “books”. An evaluation from one of the TRUE, Warmblood breed associations would be a better start; though I have not been to a breed inspection in years.
Tags: breeding, equestrian, equine, horse, mare, reprooduction, sport horse, thoroughbred, warmblood
Posted in breeding | 3 Comments »
