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I hate to kill the mood in this thread but if you haven't already, you might want to have that mare checked by a vet for DSLD/ESPA. She has that swollen, dropped fetlocks, post legs, and "ouchy" stance. Some horses just look like that conformationally, so I am not trying to diagnose her over the...

Definitely feed him based on his condition, not his behavior.

Hah, don't worry about it, I know the feeling.

I was always told that a runny nose with clear snot is fine. My horses have it happen occasionally and nothing has ever come of it.

I'm so sorry. I can't imagine how hard it would be to make this decision. Kudos to you for not passing the problem along to someone else. All anyone can do is try. You gave her a chance, and that's what counts. People on message boards are oftentimes quick to judge. It's easy for a person to...

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Thanks for all the info on the cavalry riders. I had wondered if using a halter to tie was seen as a modern-day worrywart thing - good to see it's not. And I had never heard the curb strap thing before, but it makes perfect sense. If the halter got hooked wrong on the bit, the leverage between...

It sounds like there are some reasons you think you SHOULDN'T get a horse. If you really want one, make a list of the problems and decide how serious they are, and how you are going to resolve them. You have a big pasture, but does it have horse-safe fencing? Are there any hazards in there...

:welcome The curb bit might not have anything to do with your horse being beginner-safe. Some people do use them solely to increase the force of the bit, rather than going back and working on training issues, but many others use them properly and it may have just been a horse/rider preference...

michickenwrangler, what a gorgeous NSH.

I like the humiliation theory.

Seconded. I also strongly disliked their advice on curing a horse of biting. (Basically, wait for the horse to bite, and have a carrot ready in place of your tender flesh; they'll be pleasantly surprised by the carrot and never bite again!) I don't think it was actually given by one of the...

What the heck? That poor horse. Whether it had full vision or not, that was confusing and frustrating to watch. Can't imagine how much worse it was for the horse.

Last fall I cleared years' worth of thorny bush growth off of one of the horse fences. They weren't blackberries, but were similar to what you are describing. It really wasn't that bad once I got started. Loppers worked a lot better than the overpowered weedwhacker I tried at first.

http://www.habitatforhorses.org/rescues/bodyscoring.html I couldn't find a completely illustrated one, but that's a good starting point. A perfectly healthy, average horse is generally considered a 5. Some breeds' ideal weight is closer to a 4. You won't be able to get a completely accurate...

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He is probably a cryptorchid - one testicle never descended. As far as I know, that's a lot more common than genuinely having only one testicle. But like Nicki said, even if he only has one, that's more than enough to cause this kind of behavior. He's a young stallion, and he's testing you. In...

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Just to clarify, did you actually see blood in his urine as it came out, or are you looking at pee spots? It's normal for horses to have a lot of protein in their urine, and it will turn snow/shavings/etc pink as it sits there and reacts with the air. I almost had a heart attack the first time I...

Milking is actually pretty easy (well, the motion itself... not the part about getting the goat to stand still). If you just squeeze the teat, the milk will flow back up into the udder instead of coming out. You need to "close" the teat at the top by clenching your thumb & forefinger around it...