Learn the art of tailing your horse and teach your trail horse to be versatile on steep terrain.

Find out about the advanced skill of tailing your horse in AQHA’s Tailing Your Trail Horse FREE report with AQHA Professional Horsewomen Jenny Lance and Angelia Robinette-Dublin.

Tailing is the art of safely holding onto your horse’s tail from behind when encountering extremely steep terrain while trail riding.

Trusty trail horses can help you make it up extra steep hills that you may not want to ride up. But this is something that takes some ground work to learn first.

Get detailed steps on how to set yourself up for success when training to tail your horse on the flat and on an incline. If you complete each step your horse will become confident and calm enough to eventually be tailed at an incline on a hill during a trail ride.

Jenny and Angelia explain in the Tailing Your Trail Horse FREE report how to introduce your horse to potentially scary objects near his hindquarters. This report will help your horse get used to objects on and around his tail, decreasing your likelihood of being kicked.

“Spend time with approach and retreat of potentially scary objects all around and under your horse’s tail while he is standing still,” the report advices.

Find out how to lead from any position on your horse in the Tailing Your Trail Horse report. Learn the different zones to lead your horse from: normal position, riding zone and end zone.

“Establish a clear ‘go forward’ cue, such as clucking, tapping on the hip or, better yet, a cue based on your horse reading your intention,” Jenny and Angelia say.

And learn the signs of relaxation that will allow you to tail your horse up a steep hill. These AQHA Professional Horsewomen explain horse body language in order to have a relaxed horse before moving onto tailing.

“Always be aware of your horse’s mindset,” Jenny and Angelia say. “Is he uptight and nervous? Or is he relaxed and in a learning frame of mind?”

AQHA’s Tailing Your Trail Horse FREE report will help you learn what to do on adventurous trail rides in case you run into a position where tailing is necessary.

Tack expert Dennis Moreland explains the 10 steps to safely saddling your horse.

In anything you do around horses, it’s always good to have a routine.

Get into the routine of saddling your horse correctly with Dennis Moreland in AQHA’s FREE Saddling a Horse report. Dennis is an AQHA member and tack expert who has been making quality work tack since 1976.

For new horse owners, getting into the routine of saddling your horse properly will put you ahead of the game. If you saddle your horse the same way every time, it will reduce the chances of forgetting a step. From where to place the saddle pad to stepping on, the Saddling a Horse report will ensure that your horse is saddled correctly for a safe ride.

In AQHA’s Saddling a Horse report, Dennis explains saddling your horse in 10 easy steps that will be hard for you to forget.

Ten Steps for Saddling Your Horse

1. Put the saddle blanket or pad on the horse’s back
2. Setting up your saddle before putting it onto the horse
3. Put the saddle on the horse’s back
4. Lift the saddle off of your horse’s withers
5. Release the cinches
6. Fasten the front cinch
7. Fasten the breast collar
8. Fasten the flank cinch
9. Tighten the front and flank cinch
10. Do a final once-over

Horses can be sensitive to where saddles are placed along their back. The Saddling a Horse report will help you find the right spot for your saddle on your horse’s back. Dennis demonstrates where to stand while saddling, cinching and checking your saddle. He also explains where to put the saddle pad and saddle for the best possible fit for you horse.

Do I pull up or down?
Where do I fasten the breast collar?
How tight should I pull the cinch?

All of those questions are answered in AQHA’s Saddling a Horse report. Plus, Dennis explains the parts of the saddle and how to get your saddle prepared for your horse’s back. From latigos to dee rings, make sure you know the parts of your saddle for a secure ride.

Learn how to fasten your front cinch, back cinch and breast collar to prevent sores, while keeping you safely mounted.

At Dennis Moreland Tack, Dennis makes high-quality handmade tack, utilizing the best designs possible.

Dennis writes for America’s Horse magazine and stars in AQHA’s “Tack Talk” DVD. He also has written these other instructional FREE reports:

• How to Tie a Rope Halter
• How to Tie a Leadrope
• How to Tie a Haynet

Stomach ulcers can be a hidden cause of poor performance in horses.

Learn the causes, signs and treatments of stomach ulcers, a common problem in horses.

According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, ulcerations have been found to affect 90 percent of racehorses. Their demanding conditioning routines and travel are just two sources of stress that can lead to ulcers.

The FREE Stomach Ulcers in Horses report dives deep into the issues of this condition that’s more common than you might think.

You’ll learn:

• Causes

• Signs

• Treatment

• Prevention

Horses are unique grazing animals as they only have one stomach compared to other grazing animals, or ruminants, which have four stomachs. The structure of the equine stomach is more sensitive, especially in the upper portion of the stomach, which is where most ulcers are found. The FREE Stomach Ulcers in Horses report explains the biology of the equine digestive tract and why it is more prone to ulcers than other species.

Once you’ve grasped an understanding of the structure and function of the equine digestive system, learn more as Stomach Ulcers in Horses breaks down the different causes of ulcers, with most common causes resulting from management issues. Find out why common horse nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs or pain relievers), such as phenylbutanzone (bute) and banamine, can actually lead to stomach ulcers. Also learn about acidity levels in the stomach and how they play a role in creating ulcers.

Find expert advice and insight from two top veterinarians: Dr. Martin Ivey, who practices at Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery in Weatherford, Texas; and Dr. Brain Saathoff of Equine Sports Medicine in Cypress, California.

“In general, your more carbohydrate-loaded grains would probably tend to cause ulcers more than your non- or less-carbohydrate, more fibrous grains,” says Dr. Ivey.

Learn how to identify the signs of stomach ulcers in both horses and foals. Weight loss, poor condition, a long hair coat and change in appetite are just some of the common signs of possible ulcerations. But be aware; Many horses suffering from ulcers will not show any clinical signs if the ulcers are not severe enough. Develop an eye for these signs and others before its too late.

The FREE Stomach Ulcers in Horses report discusses practical treatment and prevention methods.

“Some horses, especially upper-level horses, are routinely given GastroGard medication as a preventive. But for other horses where cost might be an issue, we usually recommend scoping to be sure that we make the proper diagnosis and don’t unnecessarily use expensive medication,” Dr. Saathoff says.

Stomach Ulcers in Horses also informs you about research suggesting that horses who suffer from stomach ulcers will also be prone to further ulcers in the rest of the digestive tract. Read more about Dr. Franklin Pellegrini’s study, where he examined more than 200 horses.

“The reality is that the stomach is really just a small part of the digestive system as a whole,” Dr. Pellegrini says.

Speed ratings give another number to compare speed at the horse race track.

How fast is fast? How do you compare different horses at different tracks running different distances? Find out the newest technology in determining the most-accurate speed ratings in this FREE report from The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal’s library, Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings.

The newest techniques, research and calculations that determine the newest TrackMaster Speed ratings are all explained and laid out clearly for you to understand. The next time you go to the track to place a bet or are looking for that speedy stallion for your mare, you will have another rating to help you make the best, educated decision.

How is this superior to the Speed Index system already in place?

AQHA Executive Director of Racing, Trey Buck, has this to say:

“The TrackMaster speed rating is based on formulas and thousands of pieces of data for a more reliable number,” Trey says. “Fans, breeders and buyers can be assured that the numbers they see for a horse are more accurate (than the speed index) and a better representation of that horse.”

Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings, walks you through the history of trying to judge just how fast is fast. Starting with the original letter grade system that was replaced with today’s speed index system in 1970. It also explains how the current Speed Index system works, then goes in depth on how this new speed rating from TrackMaster, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equibase Company LLC, is calculated. TrackMaster’s Quarter Horse speed ratings are broken down into three different components:

• Raw speed rating

• Intertrack Variant (ITV)

• Daily Track Variant (DTV)

Get ahead of the competition and download your FREE copy of Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings to further explore these elements of the new, accurate speed rating, so you won’t be stumped when you go to the race track. Learn about the careful calculations that configure these different factors and how they are compiled for a final speed rating.

In Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings, see what TrackMaster is doing to continually make its ratings the most accurate with product enhancements such as including a wind factor, especially accommodating for the direction and speed of the wind, into their ratings.

“For Quarter Horses in particular, we’ve conducted a detailed study on the effects of wind on the speed ratings,” says TrackMaster President David Siegal.

Download the Racing Journal’s FREE Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings report to see how the new technologies are running away from the competition by producing the most-accurate and up-to-date speed rating system that can be used across any track and at any distance. Don’t be left in the dust.

Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis is one of the most-devastating horse diseases.

According to a 1998 National Animal Health Monitoring Systems study, 60 percent of horse owners were not familiar with EPM and fewer than 10 percent felt knowledgeable about this disease that attacks a horse’s central nervous system.

Don’t let yourself become part of these statistics. Download your FREE copy of The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal’s EPM report to educate yourself and get up to date on EPM for the safety of your horses.

This report will inform you of the following important areas of this disease:

• How EPM is passed
• Maturation cycle of EPM
• How EPM effects your horse
• Symptoms of EPM
• How to test for EPM
• Treatment of EPM

More importantly, the Racing Journal’s EPM report will give you methods to prevent the disease from ever affecting your horse through proper prevention methods. The most important prevention method comes from good horse keeping practices, such as feed storage and management systems. Also, learn about the progress on the S. neurona vaccine available from Fort Dodge.

Dr. Kenton Morgan with Bayer Health gives his knowledgeable insight gained through his experience with the disease.

“Every presentation is a little different.” Morgan said. “It can vary from a horse that’s just not doing right, so to speak, to one that’s got profound neurological disease that is stumbling all around and can hardly right itself.”

Symptoms range from mild to severe and can vary from stiffness, incoordination to paralysis of the face, plus many more.

“I’ve had people report that they noticed when the horse whinnied, it sounded different,” Morgan said about a suspected case of a horse with EPM.

Be a responsible horse owner and train yourself to practice proper prevention and detection methods. It could save your horse’s life, especially if you live where opossums are common. Opossums are the definitive host for the parasite during its protozoa stage. Other intermediate hosts include cats, raccoons, skunks and armadillos. Learn how to take proper precaution from this report if these animals are common in your area as well.

This EPM report will also inform you of treatment actions for the worse case scenario of your horse falling victim to this disease. Approximately more than 50 percent of all United States’ horses have been exposed to the causing organism.

If you are searching for possible solutions to this harmful disease, then download the Racing Journal’s EPM report – FREE. Once a horse has developed the disease, according to studies, approximately only 40 percent are able to come through with a full recovery. Dr. Morgan continues to say that up to 60 percent are able to improve to some degree after undergoing treatment. Learn all about possible treatments currently available and others that are being tested from this EPM report, to rid your horse of the nasty parasite.

AQHA Professional Horseman Ken McNabb teaches the basics in groundwork, collection, shoulder control, sidepass and many other training techniques for horses of all ages and disciplines.

Whether you want to ride off into the sunset along a dusty trail or down the rail, there are some essential handles that you first need to have on your horse.

In this FREE report, Horse Training Fundamentals, AQHA Professional Horseman Ken McNabb walks you through his process of how to train a horse.

Ken, a clinician and RFD-TV series host, was the featured colt-starter at AQHA’s 2010 QuarterFest. For Ken, building a strong relationship is crucial when training a horse.

“When I start working with any horse on the ground, I want to make sure that the horse develops a respect for who I am and sees me as qualified and trustworthy to lead in the relationship,” Ken says.

In this six-part FREE report, you’ll learn:

1. From the Ground Up: When Ken starts working with a horse, he first wants to make sure that the horse develops a respect for who he is and sees him as a qualified leader. For that to happen, the horse needs to know that Ken can cause the horse’s feet to move, and the simplest way to approach that is through groundwork.
2. The First 30 Days: Whether it’s a colt that he has just started or an older horse in for a tune-up, there are a number of things that Ken reinforces during the first 30 days that he puts on a horse who is new to him. Among these homework items are softening to the bit, disengaging the hindquarters and stopping straight on two reins. Ken shows you how to properly accomplish each of these while training your horse.
3. Obstacle or Opportunity: If you’re going out on trails – or even out on ranch work – it’s important to be able to cross obstacles, whether it’s a creek, a bridge or anything else that is scary from the horse’s point of view. Ken looks at things from his horse’s perspective and recognizes that the horse’s fears are real. His goal is to remove as much stress as possible and encourage the horse to try for him. Learn how Ken encourages his horse along every step down the trail.
4. Calling for Collection: Ken stresses that being able to collect your horse is an important handle that every rider should have. If riders can collect their horse instantly, that means that they can stop their horses on a dime – and that might be what riders needs in the show pen or what keeps them safe out on the trails.
5. Shoulder Control: Ken says that lateral control gives him the ability to put his horse’s body where he wants it when he needs it to be there. Shoulder control is useful in developing lead departures, creating rollbacks or spins and even simple things like opening and closing gates from horseback. Find out the different steps that Ken uses to achieve this control.
6. The Sidepass: When Ken rides a horse, he wants to know that the horse is completely under control. One way he can test this is with a sidepass. If Ken can ask his horse to move right or left off his leg and keep the horse’s body straight, then he knows that he has developed control over all four corners of the horse’s body. But how do you perfect the sidepass? Ken says that teaching to sidepass is a gradual process and is a reiteration of the previous exercises.

In Horse Training Fundamentals, you’ll see that a strong foundation is key when training your horse, and you’ll learn exactly how to build this foundation with the help of AQHA Professional Horseman Ken McNabb.

“Once I have the sidepass working nicely, I know I have developed control over all four corners of my horse,” Ken says. “With that control, I’m ready to go tackle all kinds of other maneuvers. I’m ready to start developing a good spin. I’m ready to start working on haunches in, which will eventually lead to lead changes. All of a sudden, there’s a huge door that has been opened.”

Download Horse Training Fundamentals for FREE to get started on building a stronger relationship with your horse.

Learn all of the approved American Quarter Horse colors and the infinite possibilities for your future foals.

Learn the difference between a buckskin and a dun, a red roan and a blue roan, a cremello and a perlino and many more. Download AQHA’s Free Coat Color Genetics report today.

This stylish, full-color report is loaded with easy-to-understand coat-color genetics information, with explanations of each of the 17 AQHA recognized colors.

This report is helpful when determining a new foal’s color, and it’s great for science projects and school reports.

Full-color photos of horses with all 17 colors will help you train your eye and become a coat-color expert.

Download your copy today!

Keep your horse safe from injury with this handy free report.

As much as we love them, our horses have a way of finding trouble.

An accident can happen in the most unlikely of situations.

So it’s important to use good judgement around horses to keep them safe and out of harm’s way.

One simple thing any horse person can do: learn how to properly tie a hay net. Learn today with AQHA’s free report.

We use hay nets all the time, in our horses’ stalls and trailers. And, if they’re tied incorrectly or too low, we’re setting our horses up for potentially serious injury.

AQHA wants to help you keep your horse safe. Get AQHA’s FREE report: Tie It Right. This full-color, downloadable report shows you exactly how to tie a hay net correctly and safely. Horseman Dennis Moreland takes you step-by-step through the process with easy-to-follow directions.

Also in the Tie It Right report, Dennis shows you how to safely tie your horse’s buckets. It’s easy to do, but it’s often overlooked.

So do your horse a favor and download the Tie It Right report today. And share this FREE resource with all your friends who care about their horses’ safety!

Download the Tie It Right report for FREE!

Just enter your name and email address below.

Name:

E-mail:

Learn about a new treatment option that may help horses cope with arthritis.

Your faithful babysitter horse limps a little in the mornings, and he has a hard time getting up if he’s been laying down. You dread it, but you know the reality is that arthritis might be setting in or getting worse.

You’ve tried joint injections, and while that might have worked for a while, he’s in pain again. So now what?

In AQHA’s FREE Horse Arthritis Treatment report, you’ll learn about a new treatment option – IRAP – that is gaining results in horses with osteoarthritis.

Your first question might be, “What the heck is IRAP, anyway?” You’ll get the answer to that question and others when you download this free report.

IRAP stands for Interleukin-1 receptor antagonist protein, and it might be able to help decrease inflammation and pain in joints affected by arthritis.

Your FREE Horse Arthritis Treatment report will show you:

• What IRAP is

• What the treatment can do

• How IRAP is used as a treatment

• The uses of IRAP in humans

• What conditions IRAP may not be able to help

• The importance of proper diagnosis in the treatment of osteoarthritis

• The costs associated with IRAP procedures

IRAP is still a new treatment, and more extensive testing is currently underway. In horses that have been treated with an IRAP procedure, results have been promising in terms of reduction of joint pain and inflammation. In general, after treatment with IRAP, test subject horses moved with minimal lameness, if not completely soundly.

The Horse Arthritis Treatment report addresses:

• What procedures are involved in IRAP treatment

• What types of joint pain may be most responsive to treatment

• Where IRAP treatment originated

View a video about horse arthritis on America’s Horse TV!

Stem cell therapy is helping horses with tendon and ligament injuries.

New medical research and improvements in technology are giving hope to horses that suffer from bowed tendons, an injury that typically puts an end to a race horse’s career.

Find out more in the FREE Stem Cell Therapy report.

This report will explain the research from studies coming from prestigious institutions such as Cornell University and leading researchers and experts such as Dr. Linda A. Dahlgren, an assistant professor at Virginia Tech University. Also, hear from Dr. Robert Harman, the veterinarian who founded and runs Vet-Stem Inc.

This report takes you through the following topics of stem cell therapy:

• What stem cells are

• Bone marrow stem cells

• Adipose stem cells

• Treatment and recovery of stem cell therapy

• Other uses for stem cell therapy

• Future of stem cell therapy

• Other options to stem cell therapy

See for yourself, with detailed pictures, how stem cell therapy compares to traditional methods, such as saline treatments, in the healing process. Other pictures show harvesting of adipose stem cells and the injecting of stem cells into a tendon with the assistance of an ultrasound for guidance.

Get up to speed by reading the FREE Stem Cell Therapy report.

“It’s a very big misconception both in the medical community and the lay community that a stem cell just makes tissue. They recruit new cells into the area, produce growth factors and they manage the healing process in a very different manner than we thought five or 10 years ago,” Dr. Harman says.

Find out where different types of stem cell therapy are being used around the world and learn their status on becoming approved in the United States. Discover other leading companies such as VetCell Bioscience Ltd. and their contributions to this state-of-the-art medical treatment.

“It is the horse’s own tissue,” Dr. Harman says. “It is just moved around and concentrated where we want. It’s about as natural as you can get for the horse, so they usually have the opposite of a reaction to the inflamed area.”

Discover how stem cell therapy can also be applied to repairing and treating fractures, intra-articular joint therapy, arthritis and OCD (osteochondrosis dissecans).

“Rather than speeding the process, if we can just improve the healing process, we’re further ahead,” Dr. Dahlgren says. “If we can make the end product better, the tendon will be better able to hold up to the training process like a normal tendon.”

Get started in the exciting sport of dressage.

In AQHA’s FREE Riding Dressage report, the industry’s best horse trainers show you how to get started in the exciting sport of dressage. Plus, they explain how the fundamentals of dressage can help you in other horse disciplines.

In the Riding Dressage report, you can prepare to show dressage with these nine lessons from AQHA Professional Horsewoman Carla Wennberg, with The American Quarter Horse Journal’s Andrea Caudill:

1. Enter at A: What is dressage, and how can its basics help all riders?
2. Proceed Working Trot: Improve your departures.
3. At C, Medium Walk: Improve your horse’s self-carriage in downward transitions.
   
4. Circle Left 20 Meters: To ride a circle, your horse has to be straight.
5. At E, Circle Left: Use lateral work to strengthen your horse.
6. At A, Down the Centerline: Turning a corner means improving your horse’s flexibility.
7. HXF, Free Walk: Teach your horse to stretch.
8. At X, Halt and Salute: A correct halt is all about being balanced .
9. At A, Down Centerline: Preparing to show a dressage test.

Dressage horses aren’t the only equines who can benefit from these lessons.

If you have a horse that pulls on the bridle, tosses his head, rushes or throws up his head during transitions, the exercises in the Riding Dressage report can help those problems.

The dressage lessons can also help:

• Sharpen your horsemanship or equitation patterns.
• Get rid of trot steps in a reining lope departure.
• Balance a young colt just starting under-saddle training.
• Show horses that try to dive into the center of the ring.
• Hunter under saddle horses that need to stay straight on the rail.
• Canter circles in any discipline where horses might try to drop a shoulder.
• Maneuvering around obstacles on the trail. (It will help you keep your horse between your legs, not leaning on them.)
• Improve transitions
• Get your horse more balanced and responsive, and more!

AQHA’s free Guide to Wagering on American Quarter Horse Racing will help you win at the racetrack.

It’s a brand of excitement that only America’s Fastest Athlete can deliver. Ours is an adrenaline-pumping sport, a classic confrontation of speed that you’re sure to love. These muscular, American-bred speedsters are the sprinters of the racing world.

Almost every race features a thrilling stretch run and a heart-stopping photo finish. Handicapping America’s Fastest Athlete is equally as thrilling and usually provides racing fans with a good return on their investment.

If you’re a fan of Thoroughbred racing, you won’t be disappointed with our American Quarter Horse events. The excitement is real. And if you’re experienced with handicapping the Thoroughbreds, you’ll find yourself on familiar ground here because the similarities between the two breeds greatly outnumber the differences. Class, a prime factor with Thoroughbreds, also is important in handicapping American Quarter Horses. The major difference between the two is pace.

Straightaway American Quarter Horse racing is an all-out burst of speed from the starting gate with every horse trying to put a head in front at the finish. There is no time to maneuver for position or come from behind in the final stretch run as in Thoroughbred racing. Therefore, the experienced handicapper can concentrate on speed, class, jockey/trainer combinations and track conditions without having to spend time trying to predict how the race will be run.

AQHA is proud to offer The Guide to Wagering on American Quarter Horse Racing, an information-packed, 48-page downloadable report, FREE to you! Although you may find our sections on the elements of handicapping and wagering of primary interest to you, we urge you to read through the entire guide.

We’ve included a lot of information on certain factors in American Quarter Horse racing that will influence your success at the wagering window.

The Guide to Wagering on American Quarter Horse Racing will give you a rich understanding of the exciting sport of horse racing and allow you to have even more fun at the race track.

Download this free report today, and share it with your horse racing friends!

See you at the horse races!

Visit www.aqharacing.com to find background information on various racetracks around the country as well as charts on leading trainers, jockeys and sires. Also included are articles by experts dealing specifically with the art of handicapping the American Quarter Horse.