Green Mountain
Draft Horse Association
of Vermont
|
|
        |
The
Green Mountain Draft Horse Association in
Highlights of April 6 Meeting By Jean
Cross The spring meeting was held at Cathy and Pat Palmer’s on a beautiful sunny day. There were about 25 members present. The first bit of business was to elect two new members to our board. Elected were Ted Russell and Al Myers. Their term will end December of 2011. The other board members are Dave Marcotte until 12/08 and Rick Fletcher until 12/09. Megan Price spoke for the fund raising committee. The ideas were to have a 50/50 raffle, food sales, silent auction, increase parking fees, and raise vendor fees at the auction. Create a lifetime membership, have a raffle at Everything Equine and a dinner with a silent auction at the annual meeting. Josie Ritter also mentioned an opportunity to offer wagon rides to festival goers at Mazza’s farm. Mazza’s have offered us a chance to have two teamsters there, giving rides throughout the day at their Strawberry Festival and Heritage Festival. All they require from us is a commitment on who will be coming from the club. After much discussion it was decided that Al Myers and Ted Russell would be the teamsters that would go and if they made enough money the club would pay them a stipend to cover their expenses. A motion was made to form a long-term fundraising committee, they would hold round table discussions and give updates at subsequent meetings. This was approved and Jean Cross volunteered to chair said committee. We will have our booth at Everything Equine in Essex on April 26 & 27. That is the only presence we will have at the event. If you would like to help at the booth please contact Rose-Ann Lombard at 425-2824. The Draft Horse Auction is coming right up on May 3rd at the Addison County Field Days grounds in New Haven. We are still looking for volunteers to help the day of the auction. We will need help at the barns, consignment check-in, club table clerking and of course grounds clean up when it is finished. If you would like to help, show up and speak to any member of the club and they will be able to help you find an area to work in. The Draft Horse Field Days will be held on July 26 at the Shelburne Farms. To help with that please contact Karen Myers at 802-877-2820. The summer meeting will be held at the Myers’ farm in Ferrisburg. This summer we will be doing something a bit different. Instead of haying we will be going for a fun drive/ride. There are plenty of dirt roads and trails to make for a fun afternoon. If you do not have horses, there will be plenty of room on other’s wagons. Potluck lunch and a quick meeting will start at noon, and the ride/drive will follow. Bring bug spray, suntan lotion and your camera. Dennis Hysko brought to our attention that the Green Mountain National Forest is looking for input on changing the allowed use of existing trails to include horses and mountain bikes. They would like people to submit their comments to David Harloof at 767-4261 or Doug Reeves at 362-2307 by April 22. The club is also looking for anybody that is
interested in helping with advertising. Please contact any board member or
officer about this. You can find their contact information on our website
www.greenmountaindraft.org Everything Equine Booth 2008
Spring Clean-Up Some of the most common questions asked this time of year include what vaccines should I give my horse, what worming protocol should I be on, and how do I acclimate my horse to green grass. The following answers to these questions are general guidelines. You and your horse’s individual needs can be discussed with your veterinarian. Your general spring vaccine protocol may include, but is not limited to, Eastern & Western Encephalitis, Tetanus, Rabies, Rhino/Flu, and West Nile Virus. Other vaccine protocols may include Potomac Horse Fever and Strangles vaccine. Whatever protocol you are on, we recommend breaking the vaccines into multiple administrations to decrease the risk of reactions. Worming schedules can involve purge de-worming or daily de-worming. Purge de-worming involves rotating wormer medications every 6-8 weeks between a Panacur/Safegaurd product and a Strongid product, then twice a year (typically spring and fall) substituting in an Ivermectin product like Equimax or Zimmectin Gold to target your tapes and bots. Daily de-worming schedules involve feeding a small dose of Strongid every day and supplementing with an Ivermectin product two times a year. If your horse is on a daily de-worming schedule, you may be eligible for the Pfizer Preventicare insurance program. Pasture turnout is a matter of creating a timed turnout for your horse. Careful and gradual exposure is recommended to the lush green grass. When turning out into new pasture, you should build up from 15-20 minutes to 1-2 hours over a 10-14 day period to give the gut time to adapt. Once the gut has adjusted, you can increase turn out to ½ days and eventually full day turn out. Special consideration must be given to horses with metabolic conditions, laminitis, and those prone to similar conditions. Rapid pasture turn out may result in acute founder and/or colic. Make sure you consult with your veterinarian if you have special needs horses and or special circumstances. Have a safe and enjoyable riding season. If you are heading out to shows, clinics, or group rides make sure to check the requirements ahead of time so that all your ducks are in a row. This is especially important if you are planning on traveling out of state. Have fun and remember it takes 7-10 days from the time your Coggins paperwork is sent out until it comes back…don’t get left behind! Written by Matt Rose DVM Balanced Rhythms, Inc.
Shelburne
Farms Beginner's Clinic
March: a Month of Trips I started the month of March by going to the Driving Forum in Springfield Ma. It was a lot like other March weekends. Snowing… I left so early the horses wondered why they were getting fed when it was clearly still the middle of night The 4th year of the Driving Forum, “The Premier Driving Conference and Trade Show” was very well attended. Most of the seminars were full, standing room only. At first glance a beginner like me might think that the seminars were too advanced but that was not the case. I went to seminars that covered topics such as Exercises for Your Upper Body; The Essence of Dressage; To Shoe or Not To Shoe; How To Be a Good Navigator; Tips from the Driving Box and Equine Rehab. Every session I went to taught me something. Here are some tips I picked up. Working with a horse is a team sport. How many times do you go out to your barn thinking about something that happened at work? You go in to clean the stall and your horse is in the way. How do you ask it to move? Do you ask the way you want to talk to your boss or do you remember that the horse was not to blame for your day thus far and ask it nicely to move over? Your horse is your teammate. It will work well with you if you work well with it. Don’t forget to breathe. When you don’t breathe adrenaline travels down the reins right to the horse. I have to remind myself to breathe. Not only when I am driving, but also when I am working with my horse in any way. When I am relaxed enough to breathe my horse is relaxed enough to listen. I had not seen carriage dressage before. Andy
Marcoux talked about getting your Jerry Trapani spoke about whether a horse should be barefoot or shod. It depends on what work the horse will do, what kind of terrain he will be on, and how sound he is without his shoes. Jerry works as a farrier on Long Island and with the NYC police horses. Of course the best looking foot he showed was on a Percheron that works in NYC. I spoke to Jerry for a long time after the clinic and found him to be extremely friendly and open about the way he treats some ailments. The first session on the second day
was titled Gator-Aide. It turned out to be about the crazy people that are
navigators on the back of marathon racing carts. They are flying around trees,
rocks, over bridges, through water, all at breakneck speeds. The navigators keep
the cart from flipping. They make sure that the race is done within the right
time frame. They watch many clocks on the cart, know when to turn, and when to
adjust their weight to make it easier for the horses to get around safely. This
is not a sport for the faint-hearted.
For more information or questions on the web site contact Jean Cross
|
|
|
Vermont was formed to establish friendly communication and to encourage the
exchange of ideas for the purpose of assisting its members in the areas of
breeding, exhibiting, buying, selling and promoting the varied uses of draft
horses, and also including mules, ponies and oxen. 
horse ready for dressage using six levels of training. He reminded us many times
that a supple horse that bends well is the result of all the steps. You need to
teach your horse to accept contact on the bit, move with rhythm and be relaxed.
Once you and your horse have rhythm and relaxation you ask for more impulsion.
They should be swinging or dancing into the steps. The horse needs to use the
ground as a launching pad, not a landing pad. When your horse goes straight like
an arrow you can start teaching it to go around curves.