The cream dilution gene causes some of the most sought-after horse colors in the business.

The Midas Touch Kid, owned and bred by Kimberlee Brown of New Richmond, Wisconsin, is a cremello.

By Andrea Caudill

The color of a newly minted gold coin, the palomino horse is the stuff of dreams. Immortalized by Roy Rogers’ Trigger, it’s a popular color and often demands a pretty penny (no pun intended). Palomino, along with buckskin, cremello and perlino, is caused by the cream dilution gene.

The cream gene is incompletely dominant, which means that it is always expressed when present, but affects the horse’s color differently depending on if it has one or two copies. If a horse has one copy, it will be either a palomino (red-based), buckskin (black-based with agouti) or smoky black (black-based). If there are two copies present, the horse’s coat color will be further diluted into a cremello (red-based), perlino (black-based with agouti) or smoky cream (black-based).

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Is this plant safe to feed your horse?

By Dr. Thomas R. Lenz

A horse owner recently sent The American Quarter Horse Journal a column from a horse magazine pointing out potential toxic effects of feeding flaxseed to horses. Because flaxseed is commonly fed as a supplement, I thought it would be a good idea to look into the issue. Here is what I have learned.

The Plant

Flax is a small, blue-flowered plant that grows throughout the United States. The plant contains cyanogenic glycosides that can produce highly toxic hydrogen cyanide (prussic acid) if the plant cells are damaged. This occurs most frequently when a cold snap freezes the plans. Read the rest of this entry »

Ask your horse to back up lightly and willingly with the halter.

Margaret Bellville and GPF Legal Version perform the backing portion of their showmanship pattern at the 2008 Bayer Select AQHA World Championship Show.

Backing your horse is a common maneuver in showmanship classes, so it’s important to do it correctly and seemingly effortlessly.

AQHA’s Fundamentals of Horsemanship books offer this advice.

Objectives:

• To cause your horse to back up with very light action on his halter

• To obtain positive responses and flexion

How will this help me?

If I can get my horse to back up in response to a very light action on his halter, I will diminish his “opposition reflex.” The natural reflex of all horses is instinctively to oppose pressure instead of yielding to it. Having a horse that yields to the slightest demand will allow me to gain respect and safety, increase control and obtain a light, vertical flexion that will prepare my horse for collection and improve his stops.

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Horses have a special stress-relieving power.

Me and "Junior" riding last summer with Whistler the faithful Weimaraner.

A quick update: For the last two weeks, my family and I have been camping at the hospital, watching over a family member who suffered a massive heart attack. The good news is, he is now out of the woods. He is going to survive, although there’s still a long road to recovery. And with that development, our vigils will become somewhat less round-the-clock. Life for us will regain some semblance of normalcy, although of course there will still be frequent hospital visits. Read the rest of this entry »

Tips to get your horse through the next haul safely.

If your horse is a first-time hauler, and he’s a young horse, give him enough slack in the rope that his butt hits the back of the trailer when he pulls back, so he doesn’t pull back and get scared.

If you’ve got him so short he can’t hit the back end, it scares him, and then he starts rearing up and pawing and striking. He could get a leg over the rope and wrap it around his neck. Then you’re off to a bad start. It takes just one bad experience to create a bad hauler.

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It’s important to hitch up to your horse trailer safely and correctly.

From Featherlite

When you’re hitching up your horse trailer to a towing vehicle, safety should be your first consideration. Make sure the area between your tow vehicle and trailer is clear of people, especially children.

And don’t let hitching up become a mindless process. Especially if you travel on a regular basis, it has probably become routine to you and is approached with a relaxed attitude. But never forget about the precious cargo – and people – involved in your towing expedition. Take care to perform each step carefully and safely.

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Knowing what horses to cross takes special knowledge.

Veterinarian Steve Fisch

Equine specialist veterinarian, AQHA breeder and former president of the Florida Quarter Horse Racing Association Steve Fisch knows the importance of the outcross in his breeding practices. After scanning and dissecting pedigrees for possible breeding, Steve will go see the horses in person.

“We cull 90-95 percent of possible breedings based on conformation alone,” Steve said. “We are looking down the road for soundness – that mare or stallion (in our program) is going to be producing generations of babies for the track or in the arena, and they have to be able to perform for the long haul.”

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Know what actions to take if your horse gets hurt.

From our friends at eXtension

Wounds require immediate attention and first-aid treatment. The seriousness of a wound depends on the location, depth, type of cut or tear, amount of tissue damaged and type of tissue affected. Serious wounds should be treated by a veterinarian.

All cuts and tears should be cleaned thoroughly and all foreign debris removed. Apply nitrofurazone or an antiseptic ointment to the wound.

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An America’s Horse Daily reader submitted a question about a horse who eats bark. Tom R. Lenz, D.V.M., M.S., Dipl. A.C.T., offers some sound advice that can apply to many horses who eat unusual things. Dr. Lenz is an American Association of Equine Practitioners member veterinarian and a regular columnist in The American Quarter Horse Journal.
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“If I’ve Told you Once …”

Don't clean your horse's hooves like this!

Time and again, your parents, barn buddies or riding coaches have nagged you about these horse safety rules.

But it won’t hurt you to hear them again.

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It was an abrupt entrance, but “Zen” is now a graceful presence in our lives.

Welcome to the world, little girl! (Note the white circles around her eyes. That's how we knew she would eventually be gray.)

Sleeping in a room full of people, I had my cell phone set on silent. When I roused at 6 a.m. and saw about a dozen missed calls, well, let’s just say that I very quickly became fully awake.

It was April 2006, and I was attending a young-horse handling class led by AQHA Professional Horseman Brent Graef, staying in the bunkhouse with other students. And now, all of a sudden, I had a very young – as in hours-old – horse of my own to tend to.

My husband was the one on baby-watch, but we had bought our mare already bred, and it was a pasture breeding, so no one knew exactly when the baby was due. Not that you ever do, but this one was more nebulous than usual. Before leaving for a week, I left Hubby with very specific instructions: Watch for the bag to fill, watch for wax or milk beading on the teats, watch to see if her hind-end muscles start to relax – all the usual warning signs. He swore he saw nothing – until the dog started nonstop yapping about 4 a.m. Read the rest of this entry »

Saddle up for the Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch World Championships this month.

Jacey Watt and Watts Twisten Badger competed last year.

Sixes Pick and Peppy Chex Your Gun were the first two.

Who will be the second two?

At the Fort Dodge Versatility Ranch World Championships on January 14-15, able ranch horses and their exhibitors will gun it out for the top spots in open and amateur versatility.

To be eligible to compete at this month’s championships in Denver, open horses had to earn four points, and amateur riders had to earn one. The horse-and-rider teams will compete in ranch conformation, working ranch horse, ranch riding, ranch trail and ranch cutting.

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