Horsewoman Debra Smith earns her 5,000-hour riding award.

Debra Smith with Upper Dimensional and Shez In Vogue

By Kristin Syverson

Blessed. That’s how 5,000-hour award winner, Debra Smith, of La Cresta, California, feels about her life with horses.

Debra and her husband, Tom, had always toyed around with the idea of buying horse property. When the Orange County barn where they had boarded for 12 years was sold to developers, their idea suddenly became a priority.

After Debra attended a barbeque in La Cresta, what she calls “a wonderful horse community in Southern California,” she decided to saddle up and check the trails. The ride sold her, and Debra knew La Cresta was the place she had always been looking for.

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Solid training advice to get a troubled horse headed toward recovery.

An America’s Horse Daily reader submitted the following question regarding a very nervous, untrusting horse. AQHA Professional Horsewoman Julie Goodnight offers her expertise toward a solution.

Question:

I have a 17-year-old Quarter Horse that has obviously been abused. On the ground he is very respectful and sweet, but he has a very tender mouth and any hand movement while in the saddle causes him to bolt. After taking a serious fall last autumn, I thought to have a local trainer who is gentle-handed ride him for a week so he could become used to being ridden again. When I went to pick him up, he really wasn’t there (in his mind). He had gone somewhere safe and it took him a couple days to get back to normal. The trainer rode him, but it was very difficult for him to get the horse to walk. He was nervous and waiting for the ball to drop. I tried riding him once, but it was so scary. He was ready to blow in any direction. He is so worried he won’t please and will be punished. Is there any hope, or is he just a beautiful Quarter Horse pasture ornament?

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Have you ever seen a horse get an MRI?

By The Journal’s Christine Hamilton, with contributions from Kristin Syverson

MRI technology expands veterinary understanding of many lower limb and hoof lamenesses by giving vets an in-depth view of structures that X-ray and ultrasound can’t show. The diagnoses that vets are now able to make using MRI can have a significant impact on the end result for many horses.

The key to using MRI is to know the lameness location: a standing MRI can only be used on the hoof and lower leg. A veterinarian must first use nerve blocks to pinpoint the lameness and then decide whether an MRI would help diagnose the problem.
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Our animals can teach us a lot if we watch how they live.

For the most part, us horse lovers are animal lovers. And when you’ve got all sorts of creatures in your life, not only will you wear plenty of hair on your clothes, but you’ll also learn lots and lots of lessons. I know I have … about humility, about budgeting (vet bills come in all shapes and sizes, don’t they?) and about living life to the fullest. Read the rest of this entry »

Prevent an accident by installing your trailer hitch properly.

By The American Quarter Horse Journal intern, Brittania Cassiday

Headed home to Ohio from a show in Oklahoma, Fred and Sue Mazzarini had been on the road for almost 500 miles when they decided to pull off at a truck stop in St. Louis to switch drivers.

The Mazzarinis’ friend, Justin Billing, was following them in his truck and trailer and decided to pull off as well. After they parked, Justin thought that the Mazzarinis’ trailer was sitting low to the ground. Read the rest of this entry »