December 1999
Husbandry & Management
Editor's Note: This is the final installment of the series. Our thanks to
Leigh Ann Howard and all those who contributed to this valuable series the past year.
by LEIGH ANN HOWARD
Husbandry and management articles dealing with the Thoroughbred industry have been almost universally written by the folks who work and live east of the Mississippi River. California is unique with large geographical barriers separating us from the rest of the States. We ARE different. We have different soils, different feeds, different grasses, different distances to ship, different services available, different land values, the list goes on and on. So much of the published "how to" articles just don't fit.
Last December the CTBA board of directors' Education Committee started this series because it was felt that our California managers, through years of experience, were in a good position to give our breeders helpful information and tips about what actually works in California.
Managing editor, Michael Compton, graciously agreed to publish the Series, undoubtedly amid serious reservations about the writing skills of the contributors. We hope he was pleasantly surprised. What our managers may have lacked in writing skills was WAY over shadowed by the useful information submitted.
We chose subjects that would coincide with the time of year when the events occurred. During this past year we discussed breeding during the breeding season, sales during the sales season, weaning during the time of year when we wean, and so forth.
What follows is a brief look at each month's
contributions. This listing should be helpful to those who might want to find articles to
revisit. The Education Committee's plan is to make the entire Series into a pamphlet that
will be made available to anyone requesting information about California Thoroughbred
Husbandry & Management.
DECEMBER 1998
Bill Nichols, owner/manager of a Northern California nursery named Mare's Nest, outlined the vaccination program that prepares both the pregnant and open mares for the coming foaling/breeding season.
Sue Hubbard, manager of Black Oak Farm in Paso Robles, talked about the nutritional needs of both the open mare and the pregnant mare.
Barbara Prowse, manager of Ladyhawke Ranch, Santa Ynez, gave us a handy method for handling the "light mares" on a limited scale. We referenced Westview Farm's Clydene Boots' article on the same subject in the November 1997 issue of our magazine.
Jane Johnson, Rivendell Ranch in Fresno, wrote about
the paper trail that should follow the mares as they ship to different farms during the
breeding season.
JANUARY 1999
January brought more tips on paperwork from Luanne Lewis, office manager at Harris Farms Horse Division in Coalinga.
Foaling tips were presented by Leigh Ann Howard, manager of Valley Creek Farm in Valley Center, San Diego County.
Dolores Howell, manager of Los Amigos Thoroughbreds
in Temecula, Riverside County, discussed programming and preparing open/maiden mares for
the breeding season.
FEBRUARY
In February the foaling season has started. Leigh Ann Howard, with contributions from many other California horsemen, came up with tips related to foaling and neonatal situations.
Retired veterinarian Jay Rose, head of The Piedra Foundation, submitted "How To Be Pro-Active about Equine Emergencies". A "must read" article for Thoroughbred owners.
Clydene Boots, a commercial breeder, gave us
insightful comments on looking at young yearlings and deciding where they best fit in the
market place.
MARCH
March brought us four articles choked full of helpful tips.
Phyllis Lambert, master of Notjustanother Horse Farm in Chino, a mare nursery located in San Bernadino County, introduced us to the concept of a spring time "half-way house" for mares. Her "drive-by" breeding practice coupled with her excellent conception rate opened new possibilities for the single mare owners.
Myron Johnson, Rivendell Ranch and CTBA board member, gives presentations at colleges in his area covering safe fencing and farm set-up. He graciously agreed to share his expertise with us.
Joy Forehand, long time office manager (now retired) at Golden Eagle Farm in San Diego County, shared her knowledge of the required paperwork from a breeding farm's standpoint.
The arrival of the fly season, and various means of
handling this never ending irritation, was touched on by Leigh Ann Howard.
APRIL
April is the busiest month of the year on the breeding farms. We caught up with Dave McGlothlin, manager of Harris Farms Horse Division, just before he became totally buried in 24-hour workdays. He gave us a very useful article on mare management including the use of hormones on breeding farms.
Chuck Karlin, manager at Mira Monte Farm in Ojai, submitted a piece about varmint control with handy tips on how to deal with squirrels and gophers.
Restraint used in controlling horses was the subject
selected for discussion by Leigh Ann Howard this month. Photos were helpful in describing
what forms of restraint are used on Thoroughbreds.
MAY
Many mares and foals are returning home in May. What sort of protection should
owners/managers use to be sure infection from highly transient populations doesn't spread
to resident horses? Bill Nichols and Shirley McQueeney, in Northern California, Laura
Cotter (Mandysland Farm) in central/coastal California and Ed Bosworth in Southern
California reported on how they handle the homecoming.
Joey Weaver, manager of Applebite Farm in the San Joaquin Valley, described the methods he uses in handling "outside mares", as did Leigh Ann Howard at Valley Creek Farm.
Also during the month of May the subject of
castration came up. Dan Schiffer, master of The Hat Ranch in Temecula, gave us his
approach.
JUNE
June brings desperation time in the breeding shed. Many people insist on breeding their mares on the foal heat. After polling several breeding farm managers we came up with a "rule of thumb" criteria that is used to help define which mares have the best chance for a successful outcome from a mating on the foal heat.
The early foals are now old enough to vaccinate and Joey Weaver, along with his veterinarian Dr. Noel Muller, submitted the vaccination protocol used at Applebite Farm.
Leigh Ann Howard, wearing her trainer's hat, talked about new findings with regard to vaccinating youngsters and young racehorses with Influenza and Rhinopneumonitis vaccine.
Horseshoer, Steve Berger, San Diego County, talked
about farrier work on young foals. He provided several handy tips for people who have
their foals at home during the spring.
JULY
July always brings the summer sales season. Nancy
Yearsley, Yearsley Bloodstock, sent us a good piece on marketing sale horses and Phyllis
Lambert gave us a great "nuts & bolts" look at sale prepping yearlings.
AUGUST
August touched on paperwork that was required to complete the registration process.
Also mentioned was the removal of 'wolf teeth' in sales yearlings, including informative diagrams.
Marguerite Eliasson, E.A. Ranch, Ramona, San Diego
County, has been perfecting her "gentle weaning" method for many years. She
offered her description and comments about this method to our series.
SEPTEMBER
September first is the advertising deadline for the
California Stallion Directory. Everyone anxiously awaits word of new stallions. Who are
they and where are they going to stand? We thought this would be a good time to present
stallion owners with tips on how to approach picking a farm for their new stallion. Bill
Nichols (stallion syndicate manager) and Leigh Ann Howard (stallion manager) contributed
to this subject.
OCTOBER 1999
October is 'breaking' season on farms up and down the state. Suzann and Brian Strong submitted an article describing a basic approach to the age-old subject. This has some good tips and is a "fun read".
NOVEMBER 1999
November brings the cooler weather and the risk of
abortion in our mares. Dr. Jean Bowers, Harris Horse Farm resident veterinarian touched on
this subject during her presentation at the October Seminar at Harris Ranch Resort. We
thought the information was important and timely enough to ask her for an article about
how they deal with this problem at Harris Farm.
DECEMBER 1999
One last article on a subject not yet discussed in
this series. One farm manager's observations involved with the later development of club
feet. This a tip that came out of the October Seminar. The presentation was made by Leigh
Ann Howard and condensed for this last issue.
Sidebar
A Later Developmental Problem
Leigh Ann Howard,
Manager, Valley Creek Farm,
San Diego county:
A club foot is often a career limiting development in young Thoroughbreds. And is commonly seen here in California during our dry summers.
Anyone who sees many newborn foals knows that a foal is not born with a club foot. A foal can certainly be born with contracted tendons and the handling of this problem has been well documented in several past articles. For help with this problem read the article entitled 'Crooked Legs in New Born Foals' in the February 1998 issue of the California Thoroughbred.
What I'm talking about are the foals that are perfectly normal until they are a few months old. The farrier or very observant farm person might notice that a foal has one front foot a bit smaller than the other.
The reason one foot is smaller is that it is not carrying the same amount of weight as the other. Something is causing the foal to "get off" that one limb just a little bit. These foals usually will not be lame, in fact, they are rarely lame to even the most observant horseman. They run and play all day with their pasture buddies, 'how could anything be wrong?'.
If nothing is done the foal will eventually have a club foot.
What can be done? First you have to find out what and where the problem is. A good veterinary diagnosis is in order. Start by x-raying the foot. The vast majority of time your vet will see a hairline fracture in the coffin bone.
If the foot is perfect you have to move up the leg. Whatever you find should be dealt with before your foal ends up with a club foot.
If you have a coffin bone fracture, or you find NOTHING, early intervention will result in a normal footed horse. Early intervention means that you:
Limit foal's exercise, put him in small pen.
Be sure pen is at least a foot deep in packed shavings, very soft.
Cut the carbohydrates in the foal's diet.
Re x-ray monthly until the fracture is completely healed before he is turned out.
Be prepared to keep him in pen for several months.
Be sure to turn him out gradually.
Note:
When you see a retired racehorse with a club foot, it was probably the result of an injury to that leg causing him to put more weight, for an extended period of time, on the sound leg. Chances are good that he didn't start in training with a club foot. Same principle as the above mentioned foal.