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Fear alone stops most people from becoming connected with their horses. This describes how one person's fear affected a horse and how that changed wit…
This is a testimony from a horse owner who took the 2 week no-grain challenge. "No longer reactive ground work is really getting so much better. I fee…
Doc T discusses the portions of the brain responsible for the horses identifying danger, analyzing the threat and then responding to the go / no go fo…
I discuss how we can change ourselves in a way that doesn't complicate our life but enhances our ability to connect with those horses who would not ot…
Daniel Dauphin is a horseman from Lafayette, Louisiana with a passion for training horses using horsemanship skills he learned from mentors. His websi…
This is a very dangerous situation to be in. Walking into a field of horses with a bucket of grain can lead to your death. It has happened. Horses are…
Never turn out horses together in a field when any horse has hind shoes on.
If I punched you in the jaw with my fist you will remember how much it hur…
Horses are like humans in the way they express themselves as blends of four basic personalities. When working with horses, it is important to understa…
There is a point where the pain we are experiencing is beyond our ability to control our reaction to it. This point is our pain threshold and it is di…
This is the second part of a discussion I started in episode #030. I continue that discussion of relating the brain of the horse with the human brain …
This is a testimony from a horse owner who took the 2 week no-grain challenge. THIS IS A MUST SEE VIDEO "6 months before this video, this owner said h…
Remember Law 1, "A horse can kill you." Never be afraid as this is reflected in the horse. Follow a few guidelines and know that this can be achieved …
Back in the Spring when Doc T and Melissa came to my farm to float my two boys, my mini, Houston, was impossible to handle. He is usually fresh, but this Spring he was out of control. I chocked it up to the horses being stuck in the barn for 9 weeks because of the 118 inches of snow that fell here in New England, but Doc T had a different take on Houston’s behavior.
Houston was fed 2 cups of grain (Purina Miniature Horse feed) and 2 pounds of hay per day. Once turnout was no longer possible, I switched him to a “lite” feed (Triple Crown Lite). It really didn’t help his behavior. Because of the snow the only exercise the horses got was a twice daily 5-minute walk up and down the driveway. The longer winter wore on, the worse Houston’s behavior became. His walk up and down the driveway turned into a 2-minute battle.
By the time Doc T and Melissa came in March, Houston was impossible to handle. It took the three of us to halter him so Melissa could work on his teeth. How she managed to float him that spring day is still a mystery to me!
Knowing Houston for 5 years, Doc T knew something was really off with the little guy. He suggested I take him completely off all grain and only feed him hay (plus water and salt). It was also important to get him exercising again as he gained too much extra weight over the winter.
I followed Doc T’s suggestion that day in March and immediately took Houston off all grain. The change in Houston’s attitude was miraculous. Within 2 days of removing grain from his diet, he calmed down, was quiet when being groomed (instead of prancing around and moving away from the brush), picked up his feet for cleaning, walked like a good boy, and was much calmer in his stall.
It is now September and I am extremely pleased to announce that Houston is back to his “normal” self. Doc T and Melissa were just here and Melissa had no problems working on Houston….a big change from last time!
I am amazed how such a small amount of grain could turn Houston into the “mini from hell” and how stopping the grain could, in just 2 days, bring him back to the wonderfully fresh little guy we love so much.
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