Monday, May 23
Corporate Sponsor: Justin
Title: Eliminate Risks Farm Kids Encounter
Deck: Eliminate risks and educate your children about farm hazards to prevent injuries
and heartache.
Issue:
Photo: pg 28 AH July 2010
Photo description:
Photo credits:
Author: From AQHA alliance partner Country Living Association
Farm kids may be tough, but they're also accident prone. Approximately 24,000 (65 a
day) children a year are seriously hurt on our nation's farms. The most common causes of
injuries to farm kids come from slips and falls, animals, farm machinery and all-terrain
vehicles. Children are exposed to the same farm hazards as adults, but they are far less
capable of understanding the danger. While parents can't completely childproof a farm,
here are some ways to help keep them out of harm's way.
Tractors and machinery. Never let a young child drive a tractor. They're not developed
enough until about age 14. Post "no rider" decals on tractors and don't allow passengers.
Remove keys when not in use. Secure master shields on PTOs and augers. Always know
where children are when backing up, and double-check blind spots. Helmets and roll-bars
are essential for ATV safety. Never let a child drive or ride an adult-size ATV.
Livestock. Always supervise children under age eight around livestock, even when
outside a fence. Hard shoes are needed. Beginning about age five, teach kids that females
with new offspring are dangerous to approach. The same goes for intact males such as
bulls, stallions and boars. Even when feeding animals, teach children to plan an escape
route.
Grain bins and augers. Never allow children to play in grain, ride in grain wagons or get
into bins or hoppers. Grain may look like fun to kids, but it acts like quicksand. One-third
of all entrapments and suffocation in flowing grain involve children under age 14.
Child care. Regardless of the hassles and hardships, seriously consider finding child care
for kids under age eight when both parents are involved in farm work. Farm buildings Lock farm buildings and don't allow children to enter alone. Fence farm ponds and
manure pits. Cap wells with concrete, and keep firearms in locked cabinets and separate
from ammunition storage. Always remove doors from discarded refrigerators and
freezers.
Electricity. For children under three, cover outlets. Keep cords out of reach to prevent
burns from chewing on the cord, pulling down appliances and strangulation. Shield all
electric boxes and wiring. Unplug tools and appliances after use.
Tuesday,
CP: Ford
Title: One Essential Tool
Deck: AQHA Professional Horsemen reveal the one training tool they can’t live without.
Issue: QHJ Oct 08
Photo: pg 132 longing horse
Photo credits: Christine Hamilton
Author: from the American Quarter Horse Journal
There are many tools used when training a horse, but there is always one that a trainer
can’t live without. The Journal recently asked three AQHA Professional Horsemen what
is their most essential training item.
Chuck Briggs
Azle, Texas
“A longe line. It’s for safety. If they’re fresh, you’ve got to longe them before someone
can ride them.”
Nancy Cahill
Madisonville, Texas
“Big machinery tires. I know that sounds weird, but I use them to tie my horses to. The
tires are big and heavy, weighing about 600 to 700 pounds. I drill a hole in the tire so you
can tie the lead rope into it. The horses can’t move them easily, but the tires will move if
the horse sits back. It’s not like tying them hard and fast to a fence or post. The tires will
give a lot, and it won’t pull the horse’s neck down either. You can take just about any
horse that thinks he wants to prance around, tie him to it like you would to anything else
– short enough to where he can’t get his feet over it. Sometimes we’ll take a big muck
bucket, fill it with water and sit it in the middle, too, so the horse can have water. You
can then leave them as long as you think is wise. It’s a patience builder and teaches them
to be still and be quiet.
Plus, they get to see our circus going on out there. Instead of being in a stall where the
horse doesn’t see anything, he will then have planes fly over him, dogs run under him and
cattle run by. It really, really helps. Plus, the shops that have used tires will usually give
them away because it costs them about $100 to dispose of them.”
Lainie DeBoer
Forest Lake, Minnesota
“My hard hat is essential to me. I never get on a horse without it. I have two little girls,
and I don’t want anything to happen to me and have to leave those girls behind. So I
never get on a horse without it. I make sure my hard hat is approved and that it’s tight
enough on my head to where it I fell off, it wouldn’t go over my eyes.”
What are some of your favorite training tools?
Wednesday,
CP: Ford
Title: Hosting a Horse Show on a Budget
Deck: If you’re hosting a horse show, read these tips on how to build a budget.
Issue: QHJ Oct 08 pg 222
Photo: Emily – use a Journal show pic already in your “My Pictures”
Photo credits: Journal
Author: From the American Quarter Horse Journal
When hosting a horse show, it’s important to have your budget figured out to make a
profit – or at least break even. Before hosting a horse show, do a tentative budget first to
determine reasonable costs for the event. This will help you when you choose your
facility, judges, cattle supplier, and other expenses. The budget will also help you
establish the participant fee.
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Start building your budget by listing expenses. Fill in tentative numbers. Add your
expense categories and come up with the total anticipated expense for your event.
Next, determine how many participants you will need to break event and yet keep
the registration cost reasonable. Average actual costs range from approximately
$100 to $125 per day – without any cushion for unexpected expenses or profit.
Generally stalls, wood shavings, stall stripping, lodging and social events are not
“hard” expenses. These expenses are optional to your contestants.
Choose a break-even participant number that you think you can realistically draw
to your event. Should more participants register over that break-even number,
your profit will increase.
Having a mark-up percentage built into your minimum number of participants
allows for unexpected expenses without creating a loss for your event. It is also
helpful in assuring a profit for your association or club. Depending upon your
participant fee, this mark-up percentage might be between 5 and 10 percent.
Decide in advance what your association or club will do if the minimum
contestant number is not reached within a week or two of the competition date.
Cancel? That might appear to be the easiest answer, but what about the expenses
you have already paid, such as facility, awards and deposits?
Other Budget Hints
 Each time you revise the budget, change the date at the top of the budget form
(“Revision Date: ___”). This detail will ensure that your management is working
off the same information.
 You will usually receive your agreements back in a timelier manner if you
enclose two copies of the agreement (one for the supplier and one for your
records) and a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
Competition Checklist
- AQHA approval
- Budget
- Organization
- Date
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Facility
Judges
Cattle
Announcer
Volunteers
Class patterns
Scoring and score sheets
Participant packets, including schedule/agenda
Insurance and release of liability forms
On-site concessions
Lodging
Social event, if applicable
Advertising
Photography
Awards
Emergency medical services
On-site veterinarian
On-site farier
Clean-Up
Participant evaluation form
Post-event evaluation
Thursday, May 26
CP: Pfizer
Title: Pfizer material
Deck:
Issue:
Photo:
Photo credits:
Author:
Emily –
E-mail Tawanna Walker and ask if Pfizer has material and a photo for this day. She
works with corporate sponsors, and sometimes they provide material (especially Pfizer
and Adequan).
If not, find other material.
Health article ideas
“Keep Him Going” about old horses, keeping them healthy – QHJ May 2010 pg 113
“Snakebite” – QHJ Aug 09 pg 10
Friday,
CP: BOFA
Title: Foal Rejection
Deck: A good defense ensures mare-foal bonding.
Issue: QHJ July 10, pg 14
Photo: I saved one in Emily’s folders
Photo credits: Journal
Author: By Patrick McCue
Rejection of a foal by its dam can take several forms. The mare might avoid the foal,
prevent the foal from nursing or become aggressive toward the foal. Mares in the latter
category might assume a threatening posture, pin their ears back when the foal
approaches, charge or chase the foal, squeal at the foal, or in more serious cases, might
kick at or bite the foal. Mares on rare occasions have seriously injured or killed their foals
in the first few days after giving birth.
Rejection is most likely to occur in mares giving birth to their first foal. Mares that have
rejected a foal in the past have an increased chance of rejecting a subsequent foal. In
addition, mares that are separated from their foal for a prolonged period of time in the
early postpartum period have an increased risk of foal rejection.
Mares that reject their foals are not likely to express normal maternal behaviors in the
early postpartum period.
Failure to allow nursing will result in an inability for the foal to acquire the maternal
antibodies from colostrum necessary to protect itself against pathogenic disease
organisms. In addition, affected foals are deprived of important nutritional support in the
neonatal period.
Although you might be exhausted from staying up nights waiting for the foal to arrive,
mares exhibiting a tendency toward foal rejection should be monitored closely for the
first 48 hours or more after foaling. The vast majority of rejection behaviors occur within
the first 12 hours after birth. Therefore, with at-risk mares, it is best to avoid interrupting
the bonding that occurs naturally between mare and foal early in life.
Management of foal rejection might include restraint of the mare by hand, use of a
twitch, hobbles or cross-ties or by placing the mare behind a bar or nursing chute to allow
the foal to have an opportunity to nurse. In mild cases, distraction of the mare with grain
might be sufficient to allow the foal time to nurse without the mare becoming nervous
and moving away. If the foal does not or cannot nurse, colostrum from the mare should
be milked out and fed to the foal by bottle or nasogastric tube.
In some instances, the mare might need to be muzzled to prevent biting of the foal. The
mare might also need to be tranquilized periodically during the first few days postpartum
with a medication, such as acepromazine, to decrease aggression. Administration of
Regumate has also been used in many cases of foal rejection in an attempt to suppress or
moderate aggressive behavior. Treatment of the mare with an analgesic, such as
Banamine, might be indicated if the mare appears to be rejecting nursing attempts by the
foal due to post-foaling pain or mammary gland discomfort. Inflammation of the
mammary gland might contribute to refusal of a mare to allow nursing.
If other techniques are unsuccessful, some breeders advocate that a mare exhibiting mild
foal rejection behavior turned out into a paddock with her foal along with another mare
and foal in the hope that maternal instincts will enhance the acceptance of her own foal.
It might take several days of patient, diligent work for the mare to accept her foal.
However, if the process is unsuccessful, the foal might be fostered onto a nurse mare.
Hand-rearing the rejected foal as an orphan is a labor intensive alternative if a nurse mare
is unavailable.