Horse owners have many options when faced with an orphaned foal.

No one wishes for it, but many have to deal with it unexpectedly: the orphaned foal. It’s easy to be scared and overwhelmed when faced with this challenge. So the best course of action is to become educated.

AQHA offers the Orphan Foal Care free report to give you the knowledge to handle an orphaned foal situation. Download your copy today, and add it to your library of helpful horse tips.

In the Orphan Foal Care report, you’ll learn the crucial steps to take within the first hours of an orphan foal’s life. You’ll get an understanding of the unique needs of orphan foals and ways to care for the foal without breaking the bank and losing too much sleep.

Orphan Foal Care details a real-life example of an orphan foal and the steps his owners took to raise him to grow big and strong. It was an intense time commitment, but well worth the effort.

In this easy-to-understand, five-page report, you’ll learn:

• How to ensure your orphan foal receives colostrum

• Milk replacer options

• Bucket feeding advice

• Ways to incorporate a nurse mare

• How to keep your orphan foal from becoming a pet

• The pros and cons of chemically inducing lactation on an open mare

• Plus all kinds of ways to keep your orphan foal healthy and thriving

Dr. Leslie Dykstra at Oklahoma City Equine offers great advice in this report.

“If the foal is just within a few days of life, it’s best to get a nurse mare,” Dr. Dykstra says. “Not only is the foal going to get important nutrients and antibodies from the mare’s milk, but the mare has a lot to teach the foal when it comes to interaction with other horses and giving them the sense of how to be a horse.

“When you put them on a bucket or try to feed them with a bottle, some of that can be lost if they haven’t had time to just learn those important characteristics of interacting with other horses,” she adds. “If they’re a few weeks old or older, it may be easier and more economical for the owners to go ahead and put them on a bucket. We usually have good success with that.”

Do you know how much colostrum a foal needs? Dr. Kykstra explains the ideal amount and the different ways to administer it in addition to nursing directly from the mare.

Be prepared, and gain the knowledge to help if the need arises. Download your copy of Orphan Foal Care today!

Equine viral arteritis in horses is manageable.

Learn why Dr. Joe Manning of Sports Medicine Services in Weatherford, Texas, says, “EVA has significant implications from the standpoint of the breeding business,” in this FREE report from The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal library.

Although EVA is rarely lethal to horses, it can play havoc with your breeding program, as its greatest danger lies in mares aborting their pregnancies. Find out how you can protect your mares and breeding program through this report.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this great FREE report:

• What EVA is

• Symptoms of EVA

• Treatment and Prevention of EVA

• Transportation and quarantine

• Top things to remember about EVA

EVA is passed by direct horse-to-horse contact but can be transferred through indirect means such as shared equipment and handlers. Mares, geldings and sexually immature stallions will be able to shed the virus shortly after they acquire it. Sexually mature stallions can become carriers of the virus, as EVA is a testosterone-dependent virus.

Along with Dr. Manning’s professional advice, he is joined by Peter Timoney, a professor and researcher at the Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington, Kentucky.

“EVA is the only known testosterone- or androgen-dependent carrier state that I’m aware of among mammalian viruses. That’s why it only occurs in the intact, sexually mature male,” says Timoney.

EVA is a resilient virus and can survive and still be transferred through chilled and frozen semen, making it a huge threat when shipping semen for artificial insemination.

How do you find out if your horse is EVA positive? EVA: A Manageable Problem, walks you through the different tests and scenarios of positive and elevated readings. You’ll learn how to determine whether a horse is contagious.

Take the next step and learn how to protect your horse from contracting EVA, therefore preventing any losses in your breeding program from this manageable virus. The FREE EVA: A Manageable Problem report discusses the vaccine by Pfizer Animal Health and proper administration practices.

International horse traffic is also discussed and options are weighted as some countries have stricter regulations regarding elevated levels of the antibodies. Be able to make an educated decision on what is best for your horses and your breeding program.

Become knowledgeable on all proper isolation and quarantine methods and when to apply them within your breeding program to prevent an EVA outbreak.

Don’t let EVA interfere with your breeding program. EVA: A Manageable Problem will bring you up to speed with what this virus is all about, how to keep it away from your horses and what to do if you do come into contact with EVA.

Follow these easy steps to create your own knotted rope halter for your horse.

Practical and inexpensive, rope halters are a time-honored tradition for many horsemen and a wonderful training tool.

Two experts at Columbia Basin Knot Company shared with The American Quarter Horse Journal their 34-step process for making a quality homemade rope halter. In our How to Make a Rope Halter report, each step includes a full-color photo to help guide you through the process.

Here’s Step 1 of creating your very own rope halter:

When tying halters for the first time, use 22 to 25 feet of rope. Once you become proficient, you can make a halter with about 20 feet of rope. Take your piece of rope and fold it in half. At the center point, tie a simple overhand knot. Snug the knot up. Then to the left of the knot, tie another simple overhand knot. Now you have two simple overhand knots. The knots should be 11 inches from the middle of one knot to the middle of the other knot. Adjust the knots until they are 11 inches apart, and tighten them up. Then take the rope and fold it with the two overhand knots together.

In this valuable report, you’ll master the fiador knot and understand how to cut and whip the rope with a soldering iron or rope cutting gun.

Making your own rope halter will be a rewarding experience. We look forward to hearing how this free report helped you enjoy your horses just a little more! Be sure to use the comments feature to let us know.

“I have tied rope halters for years. In those years, we have seen several methods of doing it. Some of those methods were very crude! These directions are very much the same as mine, plainly stated and simple to follow.

Now when someone wants me to teach them, I can say ‘Go to americashorsedaily.com, and download the free instructions.’ Good job!”

Neva Christensen

Good luck making your own rope halter!

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Learn how to give your show horse the perfect clipping job.

As a trainer of halter horses, AQHA Professional Horseman Randy Jacobs of Dover, Ohio, knows a lot about clipping horses. He has clipped hundreds, from weanlings to stallions to his daughter’s old pleasure gelding.

In the Horse Clipping Tips report, Randy offers his tried-and-true advice on setting yourself up for clipping success, even if that’s not what your horse has in mind.

Have the Right Attitude

In Randy’s opinion, you won’t get anywhere with your horse, regardless of his attitude, if you don’t have the right attitude.

“It takes a lot of patience,” he says. “So many people want to rush and get it done in a hurry. Take your time.”

If you rush, you increase the chances of having a bad experience.

“Avoid bad experiences,” Randy says. “Like spooking them or getting a horse hurt. And when I say hurt, I mean just something as small as nicking him with the clippers. It hurts, and he won’t want it to happen again.

“Every bad experience only makes the next time worse.”

Get the rest of the story in AQHA’s FREE Horse Clipping Tips report. Download it today, and share it with your horse-show friends!

“This horse clipping article really helped. We have shown a sorrel with lots of chrome for several years. Like it said, patience is a big part of getting a good clipping. I have learned to clip early in the week before the show, have the horse clean, particularly the white stockings, and mostly to take my time. The difference in results and the horse’s attitude is amazing! Being a small-time participant, good free advice is always welcome.”

AQHA Member John Boyd

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“I enjoyed the clipping tips, especially how to maintain a safe clipping environment. It helped me realize I need a clean animal, sharp blades and the right type of clippers. Having help is something we sometimes cut corners on, but I agree when it comes to the right attitude that will carry you far in any endeavor.”

Marilyn Faye Parney

Learn the correct way to tie a rope halter.

The rope halter is a valuable tool, but it needs to be used correctly. A poorly tied rope halter can put your horse in danger, so it’s worth your time to learn how to properly use it and keep your horse safe.

In AQHA’s FREE How to Tie a Rope Halter report, expert tack maker Dennis Moreland explains in simple terms how to tie a rope halter.

“I prefer to use rope halters on my horses. I have to admit, I’ve been too embarrassed to tell anyone I didn’t know how to properly tie them and I would not ask for help. This article, with numbered steps and matching photos, made it so simple to understand and follow. Now I can tie them properly every time. Proper tying is safer for me and my horse and gives me more overall self-confidence working with my horses.”

AQHA Member Janet Hart Brinn, Murray, Kentucky

Dennnis’ method ensures the rope halter becomes a safe and effective way to communicate with your horse.

Download the How to Tie a Rope Halter report for FREE!

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Registering an American Quarter Horse is easy. AQHA’s FREE report shows you how.

Each year, 75 percent of the horse registration applications submitted to AQHA glide through the process without hitches.

Then there are the 25 percent that stall out.

Of those, about 20 percent are delayed due to simple problems such as missing information.

In AQHA’s FREE report, Guide to Registering a Quarter Horse, we offer some hints to make sure your horse’s registration gets through the first time, whether you choose to complete your application online or by mail.

Get detailed information on what you need before you begin your paperwork. We even include a checklist with dates, photos and other important information you’ll need to speed the registration process along.

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Learn the steps for preparing your mare for breeding and get the facts on receiving shipped semen.

So, you’re ready to breed your mare. What steps do you need to take to breed her with shipped semen?

Learn the ropes from equine veterinarian Racquel Rodeheaver of Fort Collins, Colorado. In AQHA’s FREE Mare Care report, Dr. Rodeheaver explains the process of preparing your mare, targeting a breeding date, ordering semen, inducing a follicle to ovulate, receiving and evaluating semen and much more.

For instance, did you know that you should never leave a semen shipping container in the sun? Although shippers are designed to maintain a constant internal temperature through a variety of weather conditions, it’s best to keep it in a cool spot.

Did you know that you should NOT warm up the breeding dose? The semen should go straight from the shipper to the mare.

The Mare Care report is a perfect resource for beginning breeders wanting to breed their first mare.

“First things first,” Dr. Rodeheaver says. “You’ll need a breeding soundness evaluation on the mare to understand exactly what your expectations are going to be for her reproductive health. If you can find out previous breeding history, it’s helpful just to know if she’s ever had problems becoming pregnant or how she has performed reproductively. If a history isn’t available, then that’s all the more reason to do a breeding soundness evaluation.”

Dr. Rodeheaver offers advice for mare owners approaching their target breeding date:

“I look at breeding through a couple of different avenues,” she says. “When you’re dealing with fresh semen, the viability and longevity of the semen is longer. Therefore, your time of breeding and your time to ovulation can be a broader window. Usually, you want your time of ovulation to be within 48 horse of your time of breeding with fresh semen. With shipped, cooled semen you have to narrow that window. You want your breeding time to be within 24 hours prior to ovulation. With frozen semen, it’s even narrower. Because that window becomes narrower, and we’re having to time insemination so closely to ovulation, it requires more intensive management of the mare.

“A normal cycling mare has a three-week cycle: two weeks they’re out of heat, one week they’re in heat. When you see that mare come into heat, that’s when we want to be checking her via ultrasound. I monitor the developing follicle. I check the mare initially every other day, and then at least every day as we get nearer to the time of breeding.”

Get more helpful tips in AQHA’s FREE Mare Care report. Download it today, and share it with your friends!

Training for the trailer requires time and patience.

It’s easy to lose your temper when teaching a horse to load in a trailer. Unfortunately, getting impatient is the worst thing you can do.

The late Bill Van Norman insists that you need to take your time and keep your temper when teaching your horse to trailer load.

Bill offers his valuable advice in AQHA’s FREE report, Horse Trailer Loading Tips.

To begin training your horse to trailer load, Bill suggests these tips:

• Send your horse in a circle around you directly behind the open trailer.
• Use a lead rope, not a longe line, so you can keep your horse fairly close to you.
• If your horse wants to stop and smell the trailer or look inside, encourage this behavior and recognize it as a sign that he’s trying.
• When his attention fades off the trailer, ask your horse to move out again and continue circling you.
• Circle in both directions behind the trailer to help him become comfortable with being worked from either side.

“I have a 3-year-old Quarter Horse mare named Channel, and she has always been very difficult to load and I have tried everything. But I tried what you suggested in this article and, like magic, she got right in! It is so great to not have to worry anymore about how I would get her to the vet if she got sick or injured. Last winter, during a snowstorm, she would not get in the trailer so I could take her into town for a vet check of her eye injury. It’s good to know that if something like that happens again I should be able to get that rascal in the trailer! Thank you!”

Daily reader Greg Cooper

Get the full story in Horse Trailer Loading Tips from AQHA – FREE!

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Learn how to tie your horse safely with AQHA’s Free Report.

Tie your horse’s lead rope too high, and you’re asking for trouble. Tie it too low, and your horse could end up in a big wreck.

Tie an incorrect knot, and you won’t be able to release it in an emergency.

A correctly tied lead rope is extremely important, whether you’re tying your horse in a trailer, to a stall wall, to a picket line or to a fence.

Get AQHA’s FREE report: How to Tie a Lead Rope.

In this valuable report, Dennis Moreland explains the bowline knot, which you can untie easily in an emergency. Dennis shows you step-by-step how to create a bowline knot and how to keep your tied horse safe.

He also points out things to look for in a good lead rope.

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“People often ask me where I learn the many tips I suggest to them. All I have to say is that I am an avid reader of Americas Horse Daily. Americas Horse Daily has proven to be a great resource for me. I especially enjoy the training and showing tips. I am one of those people who likes learning and trying new things with my horses. I love how I can print out the free reports and have a written copy to take out and use in the barn. The articles and tips are brief but detailed enough for anyone to use. This is ideal for my busy lifestyle. I often find myself sharing the free reports with my daughter and her 4-H friends at clinics and other events. The greatest reward is to place in the show ring, and I find satisfaction in knowing that I did the work all by myself, without the use of a costly professional trainer. It just goes to show that you can be successful with good information and the ambition to see it through. The difference between try and triumph is a little ‘umph!’ “

Julie Kunz
Clear Lake, MN

Learn how to develop a simple horse betting system.

AQHA’s free report, Horse Handicapping 101, gets you on track to having a great time at the races.

You’ll learn the basics of betting and different strategies for playing the odds.

This guide is divided into three sections:

• Elementary School – Getting Acquainted With Your Track covers track accommodations, types of wagers and some easy wagering options

• Middle School talks about exotic wagers that are easy for beginners

• High School familiarizes newcomers with more sophisticated methods for making selections.

Download Horse Handicapping 101 today. Share AQHA’s FREE report with your friends!

Stay safe on the trails!

Trail riding is one of the most rewarding and relaxing activities you can do with a horse. It gets you both out of the arena, experiencing new sights, and breaks up a monotonous training routine. But it is not without its dangers.

AQHA’s FREE Trail Safety Tips report will keep you and your Quarter Horse out of harm’s way when you’re on the trail.

Experts on three different areas of trail riding offer tips and advice on how to better enjoy trail riding while keeping your horse’s health and the environment in mind.

Veterinarian Rick Hill discusses how to deal with emergencies on the trail such as cuts, thrown shoes, colic and infection.

“You are not going to take the same things for a one-hour trip like you would if you were going to be gone for three or four days. It’s going to depend on how long a ride is, and how far you are going to be away, the more you are going to want to be able to handle anything you might be facing,” Dr. Hill says.

Hoof care is extremely important when you are trekking out in the open, and Doug Butler, professor of equine sciences at Colorado State University and renowned farrier, has advice to keep things moving smoothly.

“One thing all trail riders are concerned with is what to do if their horse throws a shoe while on the trail,” Doug notes.

The FREE Trail Safety Tips report guides you through your options for shoeing your horse so he can negotiate the trail better.

Finally, we must protect our precious wilderness areas so that future generations can enjoy them as we have. Mark DeGregorio of the Rocky Mountain National Park explains minimal impact trail riding, more commonly known as “Leave No Trace.”

“What we mean by minimal impact is you are going to try to do your best to have the least impact you can on that land,” Mark says.

Learn helpful tips for leaving your favorite trails as beautiful as when you found them.

Mark sums up his thoughts on minimal impact with a quote he calls the horseman’s creed, ‘When I go into the back country, I will leave only hoofprints, take only memories.”

This report is a must-have for all trail riders. Download, print and share it today!

How to be prepared for and deal with a horse affected by HYPP.

Hyperkalemic periodic paralysis is a serious muscle deficiency in horses that causes muscle twitching, weakness and more.

Learn all about this dominant genetic disease in AQHA’s FREE HYPP Survival Guide report.

In 1996, AQHA designated HYPP a genetic defect and undesirable trait. Two years later, the Association added that all Impressive-descendent foals born after January 1, 1998, were required to be tested for the disease, with the results placed on the registration certificate. Since 2007, any horses tested as H/H are not accepted for registration with AQHA. Find out why in the HYPP Survival Guide.

Also in this detailed report,  you’ll learn:

• Definitions of HYPP’s three designations: H/H, N/H, and N/N.

• Symptoms of HYPP

• Prevention tips

• Signs of an attack and what to do to keep your horse safe

• Feeding suggestions for HYPP-positive horses

• How to test your horse for HYPP

The most-common symptoms of HYPP include muscle tremors, weakness, muscle cramping, yawning, depression, an inability to relax the muscles, sweating, prolapse of the third eyelid, noisy breathing and/or abnormal sounds or whinnies.

HYPP cases usually start with muscle weakness and prolapse of the third eyelid, sweating and minor tremors most commonly in the flank, neck and shoulders.

More severe attacks can involve severe weakness, high heart and respitory rate, staggering, dog sitting and collapse. In its most extreme form, HYPP can lead to collapse and death, usually from a heart attack or respiratory failure.

Be prepared for situations involving HYPP-positive horses by downloading the HYPP Survival Guide today. This FREE report will give you the knowledge to identify symptoms and react accordingly to a horse experiencing an attack. You’ll also learn steps to preventing HYPP attacks, such as stopping frequently on road trips to give your horses a break and reduce their stress levels.