Monty Roberts, the Man Who Listens to Horses (1:08)

I am guided everyday by my love of horses and what they can teach us. My passion is educating through courses, videos, books and programs about horses and what they can do for people

My discoveries forever changed the way we train horses when I shared the gentle Join-Up® method of ’starting’ horses. They don’t want violence in their lives. They thrive in an environment of cooperation.

This went against the 6000 year old traditional training methods. The horses rewarded me with eleven world championships, across disciplines, validating that horses respond in a silent language of gestures.

My values reflect an understanding of the long term benefits to humans who learn and apply non-violent forms of communication and leadership and to help humans and horses live better lives.

My goal is to change the outdated method of ‘breaking’ horses, and people too.

We honor eachother’s autonomy with non-violent and collaborative ways of being together. Violence, which once favored survival, now threatens our survival as a species.

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Healthy Joints for Years of Happy Trails

As a lifelong barrel racer, Kansas City's Tina Svoboda has traveled all across the Midwest with her Quarter Horse mare, Cee that Booger, whom she fondly calls Bella. With their time on the road, and years owning horses alongside her husband Jim, Tina has witnessed her fair share of joint health problems.

Joint issues can impact all horses, ages and disciplines. And the severity can range from minor to career ending.

"The horses I've known with joint problems have all retired early or were otherwise forced to change careers," Tina said. "To help prevent joint problems, we started Bella as a 4 year old on Adequan Equine. She's 12 now and is the first horse we've had that has never had joint issues."

Adequan Equine is FDA-approved and proven to diminish the destructive processes of degenerative joint disease, while reversing the loss of cartilage components and improving the overall joint health for horses. Heathy cartilage is crucial to the performance of a horse's joints. Using Adequan Equine, new cartilage is quickly produced and any inflammation is decreased.

"When you've had a number of consecutive horses and barrel horses, joint issues are a common occurrence," Tina said. "Bella is the first who hasn't, and I attribute that to introducing her to Adequan Equine early on in her life."

Help horses avoid joint problems by:

• Incorporating a joint health supplement like Cosequin to help maintain joints and cartilage
• Prioritizing hoof care and keeping horses on a regular trim schedule
• Keeping horses at optimum weight and avoiding obesity, which stresses the joints
• Offering quality nutrition for strong bones and healthy cartilage
• Riding on softer footing and limiting work on hard surfaces
• Using Adequan Equine to help prevent and repair joint problems
• Using Equioxx, which is often prescribed by veterinarians for joint pain relief, as well.
• "Adequan Equine has a really good reputation for working on horses, regardless of their discipline," Tina said.

Tina purchased Bella as a green-broke filly, and now riding together for more than eight years, the pair recently switched gears from running the barrel pattern to competing in AQHA ranch riding. "She's one in a million," Tina said, referring to her stunningly versatile grey mare. "Not many horses could have made the transition from a barrel horse to an arena horse so easily. She's willing to try whatever you can do. She's phenomenal."

All photos courtesy of Valley Vet.

This article originally appeared on Valley Vet and is published here with permission.

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Use of Standardized Exercise Tests in Equine Research

By Zoe Gillen and Heidi Lykins, Kentucky Equine Research Interns

In research settings, a standardized exercise test (SET) is a useful tool to assess a horse’s fitness. The test requires the horse to cycle through a succession of gaits using a standard protocol consisting of warm-up, exercise, and cool-down while wearing a fitness monitor. The test has been an incredible asset in many studies conducted at Kentucky Equine Research over the last four decades.

Researchers commonly use SETs to determine the effect of certain treatments or training methods on fitness and recovery. In research scenarios, SETs are usually carried out on a high-speed treadmill, as this enables exercise conditions, such as surface, incline, and speed, to be controlled.

During these tests, exercise intensity and duration are usually increased above the normal training levels, reaching speeds of 12 m/s (27 mph) and inclines up to 5°. This pushes the horse above the lower anaerobic threshold (160 bpm) and can result in significant increases in muscle temperature. The incline allows for both a higher intensity and duration of exercise without the need to increase speed. Exercising on the treadmill is especially beneficial in research as it allows us to control for confounding variables.

This is an example of an 18-minute SET used in a recent study with fit horses, in which researchers observed increases in muscle temperature up to 42° C.

1-min walk (1.6 m/s; 0° incline)

2-min walk (1.6 m/s; 3° incline)

2-min trot (4 m/s; 3° incline)

2-min canter (6 m/s; 3° incline)

3-min canter (6 m/s; 5° incline)

3-min fast canter (8 m/s; 5° incline)

2-min trot (4 m/s; 5° incline)

1-min trot (4 m/s; 3° incline)

1-min walk (1.6 m/s; 3° incline)

1 min walk (1.6 m/s; 0° incline)

Heart rate monitors are commonly used to determine fitness. A lower heart rate at any given speed indicates greater fitness. Another heart rate value commonly used is the velocity at which the horse’s heart rate reaches 200 beats per minute (V200). A horse with a higher V200 is considered more fit. At Kentucky Equine Research, heart rates are collected via smartphone apps that connect to a Bluetooth heart rate monitor, which is situated on a surcingle worn by the horse during exercise.

In addition, muscle temperatures are collected by scanning microchips implanted in the left middle gluteal and pectoral muscles using microchip readers. These muscles are specifically monitored as the middle gluteal muscle contributes significantly to forward locomotion during exercise, and the pectoral muscle is directly correlated with core body temperature.

Blood lactate is another fitness indicator used in research, with lower blood lactate levels translating to improved aerobic capacity and therefore greater fitness. These data can help researchers understand the level of fitness, observe recovery after exercise, and monitor progression over time to ensure effectiveness of training. To record the abundance of data from SETs, the researchers at Kentucky Equine Research created a data collection sheet, shown here with example data.

This article was written by Zoe Gillen and Heidi Lykins, year-long interns at Kentucky Equine Research. As part of the intern program, participants are asked to contribute to Equinews occasionally. Learn more about the internship program.

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Tying the Double Diamond Hitch with Clif Peterson (18:05)

Clif Peterson will demonstrate how to tie the one man Double Diamond Hitch. For more information on Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) contact www.CHA.horse.

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