How to groom your horse

Grooming means taking care of the physical maintenance of the horse. The sight of a well-groomed horse gives immense pleasure to true horse lovers. The process of grooming also brings the owner close to the horse, who in turn gets the feeling of being taken care of. The horse is an incredible creature, and if it looks good, there’s nothing like it!

Naturally, horses have a tendency to groom themselves. They do it by their tongue, by scratching, rubbing against trees etc. However, no matter how well a horse self-grooms itself, we as owners have to take care of them, and additional grooming is required from our part as well.

Not only from the beauty point of view, grooming also helps in detecting any physical injuries, or diseases related to the skin. Moreover, a dirty horse would be more prone to diseases and infections than a clean one.

Grooming is not an easy task. It is also time consuming. Grooming involves a series of things to be done including cleaning, taking care of the feet, brushing and so on and so forth.

Before starting to groom your horse, some things need to be collected. These include brushes, hoovepick, sponge, water

Start grooming the horse by the feet. Whether it is a working horse, or a racehorse, healthy legs and feet are very important. Before cleaning the feet, you should be familiar with what a horse’s feet should look like. Cleaning the hooves is important. A hoof pick is the answer to this. A hoof pick is used to remove dirt from the hooves. Clean each and every hoof very carefully starting from the heel, and gently bringing it to the front, at the toe. Clean around the triangular frog. After the cleaning process is over, apply hoof oil to the hooves. Taking care of the feet also involves checking the condition of the shoe. Do that on a regular basis.

The coat of the horse is the main ‘to-be-groomed’ part in the process. To some people, their horse’s shining coat means a symbol of status and pride. A number of brushes are available which serve different purposes.

Polishing is very important if you want to make the horse look good. After cleaning and brushing the horse, polishing is the job to be done. Use a stable rubber to remove additional dust. Use horse grooming mitts to remove the leftover unwanted, loose hair from the body, and then to polish it. Use a wisp to tone muscles of the horse. Use it on thighs, neck, and any other muscular area of the horse.

After this is done, use a damp sponge or cotton to clean the eyes and nose of the horse. Use a separate sponge to clean the rest of the face. Use water to remove any stains that were not possible to remove by normal brushing. Water brushes are available, which do this job very easily. Any stained parts on the body can be cleaned very easily using these brushes.

Special combs are available for the mane and tail. Use these for finishing touches to your horse.

The whole process should take around thirty to forty minutes.

Warning: Proper care should be taken prior to starting to groom a horse. Make sure that the horse is tied up properly. If you do not know the horse’s behavior, be very careful while cleaning the facial parts; the horse might react in an unwanted manner, causing injury to you.

To learn more about “horse care” visit:
http://www.horsecareinformation.com

About the Author

Bjrn T., the owner and operator of the internet site http://www.horsecareinformation.com

How To Discipline Your Boxer Dog

How To Discipline Your Boxer Dog

Most would agree that the day you bring the Boxer puppy home, you must already pick the direction in which you want to go with him.

Disciplining one is a matter of thinking and working a step ahead of your Boxer. Do it with love, gentleness but firmness as well.

Also, a Boxer that is well behaved today may not remain so forever. Dogs behavior constantly changes; new problems can always develop and existing ones could get worse. So make the discipline constant.

Training your Boxer is the most important thing you will do for him and for yourself in order to have a much better relationship together.

A trained Boxer will listen and can safely be allowed freedom more than an untrained one.

A disciplined and well-trained Boxer is more confident and makes a wonderful companion that is smart, soulful, most people-oriented dog and blessed with boundless energy - a pleasure to live with.

A poorly trained dog can be a loud and destructive nuisance around the house that weighs on you more like a commitment and responsibility rather than a blessing.

Teach them young when the Boxers dont know any better rather than stressing them out when they are older and more difficult to control.

It is not fair on your Boxer to let him pull on the leash when he is a small puppy and this doesnt hurt your hand, then to scold and shout at him if he does the same when he is big and strong and makes your arms feel like falling off the joints. It is not fair on the dog and certainly not fair on you.

Start the training some place that is familiar to your Boxer, where there is minimum distraction.

But remember socialization is also an important part of the training because you dont want to end up with a very shy Boxer.

So after both of you are skilled at several obedience commands, start taking him to different areas for practice, where there are increasing amount of distractions present. Examples are near a supermarket, busy parking lot and a busy park on Sundays. This may seems like starting all over again but youll have a superbly trained dog at the end of it. So it’s worth the effort.

Keep in mind Boxers are intelligent. Being an intelligent dog has its own advantages and drawbacks.

They are quick to learn.

It also means Boxers have a mind of their own that would sometimes show up as stubbornness. Thus, they can be harder to train than most other dogs due to their independence.

Understand Boxers intelligence/stubbornness, handle it well, and you can avoid problems in disciplining and training them.

As owners, you must maintain respect between you and your Boxers. Respect goes both ways.

Respect their intelligence. Love them. Set the rules for behavior. Trust them. There is no need for extreme measures to show Boxers that you are the top dog.

Handle their hard-headedness with patient and don’t give up on their training.

And because they are stubborn, conventional obedience training may not be the most effective way to get them to listen to you.

Utilize their high play drive for more effective obedience training.

Conduct “play training” where by the training tasks are made into fun games and the Boxers high play drive is used as motivation. There are a lot of really good books available on this type of training.

Basically Boxers are intelligent and could be stubborn. So you have to outwit them!

While training your Boxer, you have to make him WANT to do what you want him to. You can’t make him do stuff unless it is FUN. Otherwise you are wasting both your time and his.

Your Boxer’s favorite activities should become training, so that training becomes his favorite activity.

Boxers LOVE to play! You will have the happiest Boxer in the world and most obedient if you will just spend some time, giving them your undivided attention everyday. Otherwise they feel ignored, bored and will tear or chew things up and will not listen to you.

Some tried and proven tactics you can use to make your Boxers listen to you more.

* When playing with your Boxer puppy, play at his level.

If play is encouraged at ground level, this builds your role as the dominant or top dog when you are standing and training your puppy. If the puppy is allowed to jump up and initiate play, then this can lead to unwanted jumping up as the Boxer gets older.

* From the very beginning, make sure your Boxers know you are the master.

However, it suffice to teach your Boxer to obey simple commands of raising a paw in a handshake, giving a hand lick for a kiss or doing a roll over to show his submission to you. Most Boxers love performing these simple tricks (obedience commands) for you.

There is no need for extreme measures to prove you are the boss. Obedience training should be fun and rewarding for you and your Boxer.

* Once it is established you are the boss, one owner declared: “Life with your Boxer will be just kidney bean dancin all the way!” Another reported: “My Boxer wanted to be class clown at obedience class until I got serious and showed him I was the boss.”

* The Boxer must always eat after you do.

This is the easiest way to show to your Boxer who is the boss. But this is easier said than done when there are many people in the family and not all would respect the rule.

* Very active young Boxers have short attention span.

It is best to have many short 5 to 10-minute lessons than a single, long 30-minute lesson. Keep the training session short and sweet. Lengthy session easily becomes dull, boring and tedious for both you and the Boxer.

* Start the training at quiet places familiar to your Boxer with very few things and people around to distract him.

Gradually move the training to places with more and more distractions so he will learn to obey your commands despite the distractions.

* Speak to your Boxer strongly but not in an angry voice.

Be kind but be firm while training and never give in to what they want. It seems cruel but in the long run you will have a much better relationship with you boxer.

* Celebrate after every training session for a good job done.

Have a big play by running and throwing his favorite toys. If you give them a lot of playtime with yourself theyd listen to you more.

* Use only one word like “sit,” “down,” “drop” and “stay” when teaching Boxers commands. For example, when your Boxer gets on the lounge with you, say “sit - down” and he should sit then lay down on your lap.

* To keep a Boxer from charging the front door, put up a door/gate that he cant see through or hop over.

Have him wait till people enter and come up the stairs then he gets a treat. This particular owner noticed that even when the gate is left open the Boxers don’t usually go by unless they see a squirrel or cat!

* Finally, no matter how well trained you think your Boxer is, he has an attention span of seconds!

Dont let him run away because hell just keep going and going. Always keep him leashed outdoors if not in a fenced area. He can run faster than you and you will not catch him if he runs for the road!

Boxers and Obedience Class

Discipline is one of the most important aspects of owning a Boxer.

Puppy school is not an option, it is a necessity to train owners, including children in the family, how to manage the Boxer and nurture it into becoming a well-adjusted member of the family.

Puppy school is for the Boxers to help develop good habits right from the start. Wait until your Boxer is at least 6 months old before putting him through any serious work.

Trainers with extensive experience and knowledge can deal with just about any behavior problems your pup might come up with.

Choose a trainer who is purposeful and patient. The well-trained Boxer is a sight to behold going through his paces in the class. Their innate intelligence makes many Boxers great successes in the obedience ring.

Of more importance is for you as owner to continue to practice the obedience lessons with your Boxers.

They will best remember the lessons when you incorporate them into your everyday routines with your dog.

For example you can tell your pup to “heel” while he follows you around the house, and to “sit” and “stay” while you prepare his dinner. As your wake up greeting in the morning he can do a “roll over”. Tell him to “go find the ball” while you get dressed and “go get the leash” before you go for walks together.

Need products and supplies for your dogs? Visit http://www.mypetanimals.com/Dogs/ today!
This article is provided courtesy of MyPetAnimals.com - http://www.mypetanimals.com - a large site devoted to helping you find all the pet and animal products you need! This article may be distributed and published on any website, as long as this statement and URL remain intact, and the website address is linked properly.

About the Author

This article is provided courtesy of MyPetAnimals.com - http://www.mypetanimals.com - a large site devoted to helping you find all the pet and animal products you need! This article may be distributed and published on any website, as long as this statement and URL remain intact, and the website address is linked properly.

How to Choose a Pet

Do you know that in the United States pets outnumber people?
Recent statistics show that there are about 380 million pets opposed to 290 million people? 62 % of the households own a pet, and 46% of all households own more than one pet.

The most common pet in the USA is the cat (of which there are 78 million pet cats), next comes the dog (there are 65 million dogs), the third most popular pet is birds (18 million). The other top pets are small animals and fish, but there are a lot less of these than cats and dogs.

More and more people are buying pets because they realise the great advantages of having a pet, a pet is a great companion, a loyal friend and a part of the family. Since a pet has such an important role to play in your life it is important thinking hard to pick the right pet for you.

Careful research before allowing the new member in can save a lot of frustration later. If you and your pet are not compatible, your coexistence will not be peaceful and eventually you may have to expel the poor creature, because it is you, who made the wrong judgment.

If you are choosing a pet the real choice you are probably making is whether to get a dog or a cat, perhaps you are considering a pet that requires less effort such as a fish or bird also. If you decide to opt for a dog you must then choose what breed of dog toget, with over 150 breeds you are spoiled for choice!

Dogs are considered to be more of a companion or friend than a cat, however dogs require more care than cats. Cats are far more independent - they tend to spend a lot of time off by themselves, they also tend to form more of bond with the home where they live than with the people they live with.

It is very important to figure out how much space the pet needs and whether you can provide it. If you live in a small flat and there is not enough room, think about whether a dog will be happy in that confined space. Even a cat might feel imprisoned. Probably in this case the best selection is birds or fish, because they do not need much space.

If you are away from home often and live alone you have to think about who would mind a dog if you got one, dogs cannot be left alone at home without someone to check on them occassionally, to feed them and walk them. There might be a neighbour or pet hostel who would take care of your dog while your away, if not then maybe a dog isn’t a good option. Cats do not like being left alone either, despite their independence.

If you choose a dog you must remember they need to be walked once or twice a day and that they need space in which to live. This is particularly true of large breeds of dog such as St Bernards. Large dogs also eat a lot which must be factored into your costs.

A big dog can be useful, it can be trained to act as a gaurd dog for example and is a highly visible (and audible!) deterrent to potential burglars. Small dogs have unique advantages also - they take up less space, are usually very friendly and love playing, and they do not need long walks so are ideally suited for children and the elderly.

Whatever your final decision, the most important thing is to do your homework — research the facts and consider what will suit you best — because if it doesn’t suit you, your new pet will be unhappy also.

Alyssa Hallam is the webmaster of
AH Pet Her site has a comprehensive collection of information on all different kinds of pets, including a free newsletter, pet resources and articles. For great pet information, go to:
http://www.ahpet.com

About the Author

Alyssa Hallam is the webmaster of
AH Pet Her site has a comprehensive collection of information on all different kinds of pets, including a free newsletter, pet resources and articles. For great pet information, go to:
http://www.ahpet.com

“HOW TO ADOPT A SHELTER CAT - YOUR NEW CAT WILL THANK YOU FO

If you are thinking of adding a feline to your family, consider adopting a cat from your local animal shelter or humane society. The animals have been carefully screened for adoptability and have usually been worked with to enhance sociability.

Unfortunately, many people think that only “bad” animals wind up in shelters. Actually, the opposite is true. People relinquish their pets to shelters when they are no longer able to care for them. Sometimes this is because the owner was unprepared for the responsibility that comes with caring for a pet.

If there is no indication of ‘reason for surrender’ on the cage at the shelter ask - a cat that has been given up because of bad behaviour may not be the best choice - no matter how cute she is.

Often, however, caring owners struggling with life-changes or trying to cope with family tragedy realize their pet would be better off with someone else. They bring them to the shelter because they know the animal will be well-cared for and placed in an excellent home.

Shelter staff carefully evaluates each animal for physical and behavioral soundness. They make note of quirks, and work with specialists to eliminate negative behaviors. Most shelters have adoption counselors who interview potential adopters to understand their needs and lifestyle so they can make the perfect match.

Your first contact with a shelter cat will probably be when she is in her cage. Don’t be put off if she ignores you completely. Keep in mind that many new people pass by her cage each day, and she has to cope with all the noise and stress that accompanies that. A shelter worker can arrange for you to meet the cat in a quiet room. Again, she may not pay much attention to you, but watch how she acts towards the staff person. This is who she is more comfortable with. While you observe the cat, talk with the staff member and learn all you can about the cat’s likes and dislikes.

Take a cat carrier with you to the shelter - much easier than having your new cat running around the car as you take her home.

Bringing your newly adopted cat home is exciting for you, and a little overwhelming for her. Have things prepared before you pick her up from the shelter. This includes having small area for her to call her own. A bathroom or extra bedroom works well. Furnish it with a bed, food and water bowls, scratching post, toys and a litter box. Spend some time with her in the room with the door closed. She may totally ignore you while she explores her new surroundings. Keep her confined to this room until she seems relaxed in your presence. Then you can allow her to roam the rest of your home.

Some cats take longer than others to adjust to new situations. Your cat has gone from a home to a noisy shelter to another new home. Change is stressful for cats. You can help her adjust more quickly by establishing set routines. Begin feeding, grooming and playing with her at the same times each day, and she’ll feel at home much sooner.

About the Author

Pet Medication Supplies http://www.pet-medication-supplies.net can help you get the best possible pet health supplies. Advantix, Arthramine, Cosequin, Frontline, Heartgard - find the best deals in pet medication for flea and tick control, arthritis and lyme disease. Upto 50% discount everyday on brand names.

Health Insurance Policies for College Students

It is easy to ignore health insurance while planning a college education. Most students are at an age where health insurance is the very last thing on their mind. When you are in your teens you will typically tend to think that you will be alive forever and of course you will not develop any illness.

However, irrespective of how well an individual might seem, this is no way to guarantee their continuing good health. Inexpensive medical insurance is not merely for the rich, it is an essential.

For those students who are lucky enough included in a parent’s policy, generally most family policies should cover a student up to their twenty third birthday. For anyone who does not currently have coverage via their parent’s plan, a fundamental part in budgeting for going to college must be researching affordable health insurance.

What is fundamental in medical insurance aimed at college students? Deductibles: This is a minimal annual sum you must pay before the medical benefits begin, comparable to an auto deductible. To use an example, if the deductible is five hundred dollars, you must to pay that sum prior to applying for benefits from the plan. What precisely does co-pay mean? When your deductible is met, generally for every doctor’s visit, medicinal drug, and procedure you’ll have to pay a part of the cost. This, in a nutshell is a co-pay. What will your health insurance policy extend to? Nearly all plans are HMO and Partnership for Prescription Assistance. Basically this means particular physicians may be omitted from your approved health providers and might not be included on the medical insurance policy. A directory of approved health providers are included with almost all insurance plans, before making your decision be sure to consider the alternatives with care. What is catastrophic coverage? Limitations are commonplace in college student health insurance policies particularly as far as critical illnesses are concerned, in nearly all student insurance policies, the cover is normally significantly lower than a standard insurance policy.

What are the limitations? Limits are very frequent in college student medical insurance. Study your policy and see what is and is not included.

Have any medical insurance papers safe no matter where you go. Accidents and illnesses are not just not possible to plan for, but they are most likely to happen when least anticipated. Familiarise yourself with the ins and outs of your plan, whether you are included with your parents or you have taken your own plan.

Housebreaking Your Dog

Dogs are creatures of habit; and once they develop a habit, breaking it can be a long, frustrating process. Your dog needs guidance and encouragement from you to develop a toilet habit you can live with. Animal behaviorists have learned a lot about dogs over the last couple of decades-including tidbits that will make housebreaking your pet a less frustrating task.

It might be difficult to believe (considering some of the things your dog will roll in or put in her mouth), but dogs have specific sanitary requirements. They will go to great lengths to avoid soiling near where they eat and/or sleep. That means any “accidents” an un-housebroken dog has will be far from its food dish and bed. To a dog, “far” in this case means about 6-10 feet. This leaves lots of “fair game” space in your home, unless you guide her to identify a suitable spot.

Whether your dog is a puppy or an adult dog, new to your home, the process is the same. Every few hours, as well as 30 minutes after she has eaten, take your dog outside to a designated “bathroom” spot. Stay in the vicinity, and praise her lavishly when she finishes relieving herself. If she fails to “go,” take her back inside, and keep her confined and under careful watch for about 15 minutes, then take her back outside. During the interval, if you see her circling and sniffing intensely, take her outside immediately. Sniffing and circling are signs she is about to empty her bladder or bowels. By recognizing the signs and taking her outside, you are helping her connect the urge to go to the bathroom with going outside.

How quickly your dog becomes housebroken depends partly on her personality (is she eager to please or a rebel) but mostly on your diligence in taking her outside at the right time. If your puppy is less than four months old, you should plan on getting up during the night to take her outside. Puppies over four months of age can usually “hold it” through the night, but if your dog cries to be let out, it is best to get up and let her tend to her urge. It is vital that you give your dog every chance to succeed during this time. Positive reinforcement of the proper behavior is the fastest way to teach your dog anything.

Accidents happen, and when they do, your response will affect how quickly your dog learns to “go” outside. If you catch your dog in mid-squat, clap your hands or call her name loudly. Your goal is to distract her. Once you have her attention, quietly and calmly take her outside. Be sure to praise her when she finishes relieving herself. If you find a wet spot or droppings on the floor when your dog is not around, simply clean it up. If your dog approaches to investigate what you are doing, ignore her. Do not talk to her or pet her at this moment. Above all else, avoid yelling at her or physically punishing her. She will not connect your rage to the mess she made, but your violence will make her afraid of you-and that’s not what you want from your canine companion.

About the Author

This article courtesy of http://www.dog-training-methods.com

Housebreaking A New Puppy

Although it doesn’t sound like the most appealing job in the world, housebreaking a new puppy will play an important part in bonding with the newest member of your family. It will teach you patience and leave you with a better understanding of what your puppy wants once he has learned. In addition, he will learn acceptable behaviors and exactly what is expected of him to live happily and comfortably in his new home.

It’s important to remember that, just like a small child, a puppy’s attention span is very short. When you teach a young child not to hit, he likely won’t learn the lesson the first time, but instead, gradually after you’ve shown him repeatedly that it’s not okay. Similarly, you will have to be consistent with your dog when training him. Also, when housebreaking your puppy, keep in mind that he is not intentionally being a bad dog; he just has not yet learned what behaviors are acceptable!

Start housebreaking your puppy with a simple feeding schedule. Give him breakfast, lunch and dinner, just as you would yourself. By doing this you will be helping him become regular with his bowel movements. Once he has eaten, wait 20-30 minutes and then take him outside. Watch how long it takes before he is able to void. This will give you an idea of how long to wait the next time you take him out. (Within about a week, you should have his schedule down.) Try to never let him eat at free will, leaving food in his bowl all day, because it will cause him to have accidents and make housetraining all that much more difficult.

Despite the old rules of training a puppy, you should never hit, rub his nose in his messes, or yell at your puppy. By doing this, you are telling him it is bad to relieve himself at all! In addition, most dogs respond negatively to aggressive and mean behavior and it has the opposite effectthey regress in their training rather than advance. Instead, while housebreaking your puppy take him straight outside when he has an accident. In addition, don’t forget the praise! Every time he “goes” where he’s supposed to, praise him lavishly, and soon he will begin to understand exactly what brings praise, and what brings that disappointed face. During the process, don’t forget that full control of the bladder and bowels won’t happen until 16 weeks of age, so don’t expect too much from your puppy in the beginning.

Also helpful in housebreaking a new puppy is to buy a stain remover/ odor relief spray. Household cleaners and sprays cannot be smelled by dogs; only those made for animals will work. When an accident happens, clean the mess and spray immediately. This will cover the odor left and your puppy will not try to mark his territory there again.

Remember that housebreaking a puppy is a big responsibility that can lead to you and your puppy sharing a special bond. Giving encouragement and lots of love will make all the time spent worth your while!

About the Author

This article courtesy of http://www.train-your-pup.com

Improved Prostatic Well-being the Herbal Way

Healthcare professionals term an enlarged prostate benign prostate hyperplasia, or BPH. Put simply this means that the prostate, a gland the size of a walnut sited just beneath the bladder and wrapping around the urethra, enlarges and this can impair and even stop the stream of urine. As males age, their prostate grows and may result in symptoms such as problems passing urine, diminished urinary stream, and an impression of not evacuating the bladder fully after urination. Frequent urination interrupting sleep and inflammation of the urinary pathway are some additional symptoms that can result from a swollen prostate gland.

What Is BPH?

Men over 60 commonly develop an enlarged prostate gland. It’s advocated that men over the age of fifty be examined by their physicians annually, even should no problems present, to help maintain improved prostatic health. Get medical treatment immediately if blood appears in the urine or you are unable to micturate.

Surgical operations or medicines are common treatments for benign prostate hyperplasia. Regrettably, surgery can lead to further troubles for example impotence or incontinence. An alpha blocker and medicines to shrink the prostate gland may also be given for better prostate gland function, however, medicines frequently have undesirable side effects. What herbal options are available?

Suffering From an Enlarged Prostate? Discover Herbal Therapies to Gain a Healthier Prostate Gland: — To encourage better prostatic function and reduce the symptoms brought on by prostate enlargement, several treatments may be indicated. African pygeum cuts inflammation, easing a lot of the symptoms. The herb African Pygeum has been regularly utilized for quite a few years by Europeans as a formula for better prostate health, it is made from a plant native to Africa. Dietary factors such as cutting back the intake of fat can help, so will excercising more, frequency of ejaculations may ease pressure in the prostate gland, it is also useful to try to avoid remaining seate d for a long time. Consuming over the counter anti-histamines or even decongestants may worsen the problems associated with a swollen prostate gland, take these medicines with care. Cut down on caffeine and alcoholic drink, avoid drinking near retiring to cut back multiple urges to urinate during the night.

There are many further alternative supplements taken for better prostate gland function - such as saw palmetto, starflower oil, the chemical element selenium, and also lycopene, which can be obtained from tomatoes. Before you start that holistic therapy make sure you check with your healthcare professional.

Horse Training Secrets For Busy Horse Owners Short On Time

Picture this. You’re late for work one day. You look at your watch and notice you have about three minutes to feed your horse before you have to leave. Plus, it seems to worsen every day. You notice your life getting busier and you have little time, if any, to spend with your horse.

Should you sell him? Should you keep him? What do you do.

It depends. If you only want a pet that eats a lot of hay, then you can keep him if it is affordable. If you want to ride him but you know you won’t have time then consider selling him. (Ouch!)

However, if you know you will eventually have time to ride then you can keep your horse “tuned up” by doing some “quick and easy to do” horse training maneuvers on him.

For instance, you have about two minutes to feed your horse before you go to work. So you rush outside and get some hay for him. Just before you feed him you get beside him and practice his backing up.

Backing him up is a great way to keep him “tuned up”. Why? You get your horse to move. When you get your horse to move you earn more and more of his respect. Getting a horse to move is using the horse’s psychology to get it in his brain that you are the boss. The chief. The head-honcho.

There are more exercises to do than just backing.

Say you have a horse that won’t come to you. The reason he won’t is likely because of fear or doesn’t trust you.

But for the next few weeks go feed your horses with a halter and brush in hand. Horses love to be brushed. Once you get it in his head that seeing the halter means pleasure you will almost never have trouble getting him to come to you.

Here’s a good one many people don’t know. When you go to feed your horses whistle loudly if you can. If you whistle a certain way and if you’re consistent in the way you do it…then you can usually call horses in from an open field and they’ll come a runnin’.

Want another tip? Try this.

Before you feed your horse, approach him and pet on his withers. Assuming you are standing on his left side poke your finger into his flank (around the rib/hip area). Hold it there. If he doesn’t move, increase the pressure and hold it. If he doesn’t move, increase the pressure even more and hold it. Repeat this process until he moves away from the pressure.

When he moves reward him with a petting on the forehead. Do it a couple more times then repeat on his right side.

Doing this teaches the horse a couple things. First, it teaches him to move away from pressure. Since pressure is a tool we use to communicate with the horse, we want him to know how to move away from it.

Secondly, you are doing ground work of teaching your horse to move his hindquarters away from you. Thus, when you sit on the saddle and apply pressure with your boot in that same area, you have primed him to move away from that pressure - he moves his rear end away from your foot.

This is a tremendous tool to not only disengage a horse’s hindquarters, it is also part of how to teach a horse to sidepass.

There are more “quick to do” horse training tips you can do. These are but a few examples of what you can accomplish even if you have just minutes a day.

About the Author

Andy Curry is a nationally known horse trainer and author
of several best selling horse training and horse care books.
For information visit his website at www.horsetrainingandtips.com.
He is also the leading expert on Jesse Beery’s horse training
methods which can be seen at www.horsetrainingandtips.com/Jesse_Beerya.

Hackers Get a Free Ride on Virgin Media’s Superfast Network

Hackers have found a backdoor to connect to Virgin Media’s new fibre optic broadband service. The service, which is also known as Virgin Media XXL, has been facing about a thousand such hackers connecting to it for free.

The hackers are employing modems that have had their configuration modified to enable access to the Virgin Broadband superfast fibre optic network. They are thus duplicating Virgin Media’s new broadband modems. The modems that have been given by the company to the new subscribers were closely studied first by the hackers who then figured out a way to hack into the service. However, the hacked connections work at a lower speed of about 30Mbps.

The website TechWatch has published a report on how the provider suddenly woke up to find that over a thousand users were connecting at 30Mbps even though the users’ subscribed packages offered speeds that were much lower than this speed.

No announcement has come from Virgin Media on the issue and it seems that the company has not yet decided on a course of action against the hackers. It is understandable that this sort of a decision cannot be an easy one. There are over a thousand users involved, and dragging them to court could draw a lot of negative attention. However, the law does provide for fines and even imprisonments in such offences.

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