Tails for the Trails

from the United Horsemen’s Association

“Brothers and Sisters Exemplifying True Horsemanship”

The United Horsemen's Association (UHA) is historically an African-American Western Riding Organization located in the Washington DC Metropolitan area;Membership is open to people of all races.

/ Upcoming Events
The United Horsemen’s Association’s monthly meeting will take place on Friday, July 3, 2009. Members will be traveling on July 4, 2009 to Washington, D.C. for the Independence Day parade on MacArthur Blvd. After the parade, the United Horsemen will be walking horses for the community. In August, the United Horsemen will be hosting a yard sale on Lafayette Blvd. in Fredericksburg, Virginia. The event will take place on Saturday, August 15, 2009. Please come out to support the United Horsemen.

  1. What is a long stripe of white down the front of a horse’s face called?
  2. How long does a mare’s pregnancy last?
  3. How often do horses sleep?
  4. What term is used to describe a horse of poor quality?
  5. What is the normal body temperature of a horse?
(answers on next page)
Summer Horse Care
Here are some things you can do to make sure your horse is comfortable in hot weather.
1. Talk to your vet about which dewormer is appropriate in your area during the summer months. Cut down on worms and flies by picking up piles of manure in your horse’s field and placing them on a muckheap.
2. Don’t roach (clip off) your horse’s mane in the summer. She needs her mane to swish away flies. The same goes for her tail. Don’t cut it any shorter than her hocks. She needs it for fly protection.
3. If your horse sweats a lot in the field, bring her into the barn a few times a week and give her a quick shower with the hose to wash off the dirt and sweat on her body. Dried sweat attracts flies and you don’t want them “bugging” your horse.
4. Horses with white markings on their faces can get sunburn—especially around their noses and muzzles. Prevent sunburn before it happens by using human sun lotion with a high UV protection rating. Protect white markings around the eyes by putting a dark fly mask on your horse.
5. Check your horse’s water trough every day to make sure she’s drinking water. When it’s hot, she needs to drink lots of water to stay healthy.
6. If your horse is barefoot, her hooves may split during the dry summer months. If her feet look bad, schedule your farrier more frequently so she can trim the hoof and rasp smooth any cracks.
7. Always keep a salt block in the field so your horse can lick it when she wants. Salt encourages a horse to drink more water and should be available in her field all year round.
8. If your horse doesn’t have any shade, you should have a run-in shed where she can go to escape the sun.
9. Many people bring their horses inside during the day in the summer to protect them from flies. Before you trap your horse in a stall all day, put a flysheet on her and see how she copes with the flies. She’d much rather be outside wandering around, nibbling on grass, than stuck in a stall for eight hours.
10. If your horse’s eyes get really gunky during the summer, wipe them clean every day with a damp sponge and put a fly mask on your horse during the day. /
  1. blaze

  1. 11 months

  1. about 4 hours out of every 24 hours (not all at once)

  1. hackney
  2. 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit