Bells on my horses

"Why do you always have a bell on your stirrup?"

 I get this question fairly often when riding with new people. Nearly every saddle I own has a small bell tied to the right stirrup and its a habit I have kept since I was a teenager.

 My favorite riding instructor, Pam, always had a tiny brass bell on one stirrup. She told me about how it was a bit of superstition to keep the fairies away so they didn't spook your horse. The stirrup bell is pretty much the same idea as a gremlin or guardian bell for motorcyclists and offers a bit of superstitious protection to the rider. I enjoyed her stories so it is a habit I adopted from her.

 While fairies and goblins aren't a problem, the bell does serve a useful purpose. It helps warn other riders or wildlife out on a trail that we are nearby. Should I get dumped and my horse take off in the woods somewhere, the bell sound might make it easier to track them down. I also find it handy to keep track of other riders who might be on our horses with us. If we are out riding in a group and a student is lagging behind on a lazy horse, I can hear them behind me without having to turn around and loose focus on my own mount.

Show me your papers! Coggins Tests and Health Certificates when traveling with horses.

 So you have registered to compete at your first big mounted archery event and paid all your fees. Your horse is trained and you've been practicing so your shots are accurate and your speed loading is coming along well. Exciting, isn't it? With all that work you have put in though, have you remembered to get your Coggins and Health Certificate done in time and given your horse a booster vaccination for equine flu?

 If you are new to horses, you may not know what these things are or why they are required. A Coggins test checks for the presence of antibodies for Equine Infectious Anemia or "swamp fever", which is a disease with no vaccination and no cure. In Texas, you are required to have the test done yearly if your horse is kept with other horses in a boarding facility, attending a horse show, trail ride, training clinic or other equine gathering, or to sell. There are other reasons to do it as well, but these are the most common. for more about the Coggins test and why its necessary, read here:

https://foundationequineclinic.com/blog/2014/3/4/why-does-my-horse-need-a-coggins-test-if-we-dont-travel

The organizers for any local horse show or mounted archery competition should always ask to see your Coggins test before allowing the horse to be on the property. Its a fairly standard requirement and I have started keeping a binder with all of our horses' health records and Coggins paperwork together so I can just take the whole thing with me when we load up and hit the road.

Larger events and competitions should be requiring health certificates as well for any horse coming from out of state. This is a legal requirement to cross state lines into Texas with a horse and is also a way to try to minimize the possibility of an EIA infected  or otherwise sick horse coming in contact with and infecting healthy horses. At our first time riding in an international mounted archery competition, all horses were required to have a health certificate done within 30 days of the event, even if they were coming from somewhere in Texas, where the event was held. There were several horses that came from out of state, and the organizers did a great job of making sure everyone knew the paperwork requirements well in advance.

If a large event with horses coming from out of state is not asking for health certificates, I would be hesitant to attend. All that hard work put in to get ready to compete just isn't worth risking the health of my horse. It also shows that the event organizers might not be experienced enough to run a safe event for horses since these are common requirements. For more on health certificates in Texas, see here:

https://www.tahc.texas.gov/regs/EntryRequirements_Equine.pdf

As an extra precaution, I like to give our competition horses a booster shot for equine flu and rhino virus at least 4 weeks before travel. Giving the vaccine annually doesn't provide long term protection and horses that travel often should be boostered every six months by most recommendations.

If I know its going to be an event where horses from other states are attending, I will ask the organizers of the event which states they expect them to be coming from. This way, I can check to see if the core vaccines recommended in their states are the same or different than what we give our horses here in the Gulf Coast area of Texas. For instance, we don't see Potomac Horse Fever here very often, so it is not one of our regular vaccinations. If I knew a horse was coming in from an area where that was more prevalent, I would vaccinate ours well ahead of the competition to lessen the impact of possibly being exposed to it.

We also keep our horses from drinking water from shared troughs or getting too close to strange horses at events to help protect from communicable diseases. Maybe all of my precautions are overkill, but I will happily take a few extra steps to do what I can to protect the health of my horses. If it means skipping an event because the organizers can't or won't provide enough information, so be it. I'd rather miss out on competing than miss my horse that has become such a beloved teammate.

For some extra interest, you can check this website or follow their facebook page to track where equine disease outbreaks are occurring.

http://www.equinediseasecc.org/alerts/outbreaks

Bella Strega - Jewel of The Texas Khanate

 About 20 years ago (the exact date of her birth has been lost through time and changes of ownership) a pretty little bay filly with a small white star was born from the pairing on an Arabian and a Saddlebred. She was dubbed "Miss A." for her terrible attitude and even as a two year old, had a reputation for trying to murder the vet or farrier when they had to do any type of routine work on her. When I met her as a foul tempered three or four year old, she belonged to a woman who was boarding her and an off the track thoroughbred named Tonka who I later bought and rode for a while. He and I never managed to form much of a bond and he went on to become the eventing mount of a teenage boy. When I bought Tonka, Miss A was sold to a couple who really had no business owning horses and were not prepared for an angry, and untrained mare. They had visions of show ring glory for their fancy bred National Show Horse mare but no money for proper training. Miss A spent much of her time in a 10' by 20' stall where she lunged at anyone walking past and would bite if you didn't get out of the way fast enough. To say she was mean, was an understatement.

 Around 2001, when she was about four years old, she was started under saddle by a friend of her owners. Ground work seemed to progress well but a falling out between the woman starting her and the owners stalled her training for a bit so I was asked to step in and finish her. I was in my early twenties at the time and was hesitant to take the job because I knew the owners weren't great with actually paying on time. I agreed to work with her in trade for a sidesaddle and cash. I got the saddle but never saw any money from the deal. Angry Miss A turned out to be surprisingly easy to work with as long as the owners were not present. She never offered to buck when I started riding her and had a very willing attitude under saddle. I could do just about anything to her, including handle her feet but she still had to be sedated for the vet or farrier to work on her. I wish I had photos from back then but there are none that I am aware of.

 When the owners could not pay, I quit training her. She was green broke at the time. I believe the woman rode her less than a dozen times and only at the walk. I would see them take her out of her stall on occasion to turn her out with their other horse, or watch the husband "work" with her on her manners (this involved mostly screaming at her and trying to hit her while she tried to stomp him into the ground). I was pleased every time she managed to kick him successfully. At some point during this time, Miss A foundered. Her owner's dreams of show ring glory seemed unlikely now, so she was mostly ignored in her stall. The pain in her feet made her attitude worse, but it slowed her down a bit when it came to attacking horses or people walking past her stall.

A few years later, my family moved our horses away from the boarding stable when my mom finally fulfilled her dream of owning property to keep them on. In 2008 Miss A showed back up in my life unexpectedly. Her owners were several months behind on their boarding fees and asked to move their three horses out to our property. I was against the idea since I knew they would not pay but my mom felt sorry for them and allowed them to bring the horses out. The three horses (a gelding, Miss A, and an old appaloosa mare) were thin, lacking in vet or farrier care, and the old mare was crippled from an injury. Miss A was sound but her feet were in bad shape. They arrived on May 21, 2008. The check for their board bounced as soon as it was deposited and the woman who owned them promptly died unexpectedly the next day. We paid to have them updated on everything and after several months of non payment, the three horses became ours through a stableman's lien. I started training Miss A to drive with the plan of selling her to recoup some of the expenses from rehabbing all three horses.

Living in a pasture with other horses did a lot for her attitude. She became much easier to work with on the ground and remembered a lot of her early training with me. I had always had a soft spot for the mean witch mare and renamed her Bella Strega. I joked with my mom one day that she had never given me a pony for Christmas and came out to find Strega with a big red bow on her head as my Christmas present that year. So much for selling her, she was mine forever. I rode her a lot for a few years and then my mom died in 2010 from cancer. I rode less and less after that due to a bad marriage and having to be the only provider for my family. For several years, Strega and the rest of the herd were just pasture pets. every now and then I would find enough time to throw a halter on and take her for a little bareback jaunt around the pasture but that was about it. I was working full time at my day job and also putting in several hours a week sewing for the custom clothing business I had with my ex husband. Strega was used in a photoshoot with a gown I had made in 2011. Even though she had not been ridden much then, she behaved beautifully with a model who had never been on a horse and a strange flappy dress brushing up against her sides.

She was starting to get swaybacked due to genetics and lack of exercise. Certain lines of Saddlebred horses are prone to this and its gotten much worse over time. Her life as a pasture ornament continued for a few more years and her attitude continued to soften. She was never the horse that would come looking for affection but she would tolerate it when forced on her.

Strega was brought out of retirement in August of 2017. I had kicked my ex husband out and picked up a few new hobbies, one of which was archery. I had found an old cheap fiberglass Scythian style bow that belonged to my mom and started learning to shoot it with a couple of friends of mine who were heavily into traditional archery. John and Rob had both done some riding when they were younger, and after watching a mounted archery demonstration one day, we decided that we needed to learn to ride and shoot.  Strega seemed like a good match for John so I paired them up. After a few rides, we decided to see how she would react to the bow. She was surprisingly calm about the new weird things we were doing and took to it immediately.

This was the first day a bow was shot off of her in September 2017. We started her off just standing and then progressed to shooting at the walk. Soon after, she was happily cantering alongside the driveway where we had a target made from a feed sack stuffed with old clothes. We were hooked on this new adventure and started The Texas Khanate soon after. We put together a 90 meter lane, cobbled together more targets, and started riding and shooting as often as possible. I started training Alpo while John and Strega built a genuine bond. In March of 2018, they competed in the South Texas Archery Riders International Competition and took first in the Polish course.

Photos by Georges Schemagin 2018

 This was Strega's first time being asked to ride anywhere aside from home and she performed beautifully. She is about 19 or 20 now, swaybacked, still cranky and once foundered but has finally found her calling as an archery horse. As long as she is sound and happy, she will continue on her adventure but no one else gets to ride her since she and John have formed such a great team. Some day she will go back to her life of leisure as a pretty pasture ornament but she will always be the jewel of the Khanate.

These photos were taken on May 13, 2018 to show the custom clothing and leather armor made by Ananda Keator of https://www.anandacostumes.com/

John's velvet bow case was made by Rob of The Flying Hun Archery and Leather. Strega's bridle was custom made for her by John. He rides her bitless with an Australian saddle with a built up keyhole pad and is shooting a fiberglass Turkish bow by Alibow with bamboo arrows.

New practice date scheduled! Information can be found on the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/200785314049526/

If Facebook isn't your thing, we are holding a practice on June 24 at Little Moon Farm in Needville, Texas. Start is at 10 am and goes until 2 in the afternoon or longer if there is enough interest. We do not have loaner horses but we do have loaner archery equipment and will help you get started.

If you are bringing in horses, please make sure to have a current negative coggins on hand. Riders of all skill levels and all ages welcome. No archery experience necessary. Minors must wear a helmet and anyone riding at practice must be a current member of the Mounted Archery Association of the Americas. We will be doing ground archery as well.

Coggins Tests and Equine Infectious Anemia

You see it all the time in horse sales ads and in information about various equine events, the words "current negative coggins" or some variation of that, but what does it mean? A coggins test is a blood test performed by a veterinarian and it shows whether a horse has antibodies for Equine Infectious Anemia or EIA. EIA is potentially fatal, is incurable, and there is no vaccine available for it yet. It is a virus spread through blood to blood contact in all equines. Keeping blood sucking insects under control and making sure that any dental or medical instruments used on your horse are clean and sterile are the best preventative measures. We use Equi-Spot on our horses which is a spot-on fly repellent as well as using regular horse fly spray during the warmer months (which is just about all of them here) to keep the bugs off of our horses and test yearly as required by law.

Legally in Texas, any horse for sale, traveling to shows or competitions, or moving to a new facility must have proof of a negative coggins test within the past 12 months. Boarding facilities are required to make sure that every horse on the property over 8 months old is tested yearly. If a horse tests positive, it must be quarantined away from other horses for the rest of its life or euthanized by a veterinarian. The property the horse is on and any horses sharing that property will be quarantined as well until all are retested and proven to not have the virus.

In 2017, Texas had 25 confirmed cases of EIA as reported by the Equine Disease Communication Center here: https://equimanagement.com/news/texas-2017-equine-infectious-anemia-report

As of April 10, 2018 one horse in Texas has tested positive in Liberty County and has been euthanized. You can sign up for this and other equine disease outbreak alerts here: http://www.equinediseasecc.org/alerts/outbreaks

While no one wants to euthanize a horse that may not show any signs of illness, (some EIA infected horses appear to be fine) euthanasia or quarantine are the only options. Horses are herd animals and for their mental health and happiness they should not be kept alone. In some cases, the horse can be donated to a facility for study of the disease, however the horse will still be kept in strict quarantine away from other horses and euthanized at the end of study.

For more information on EIA in Texas, see here:

http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/news/brochures/TAHCBrochure_EIA.pdf

The Texas Khanate

Hello world! The Texas Khanate is an affiliate chapter of the Mounted Archery Association of the Americas (or MA3 for short). We are a mounted archery club located in Needville, Texas which is just outside of Houston. We will be holding mounted archery practice on a monthly basis except for March and April when we are busy at Sherwood Forest Faire. We practice on foot at X10 Archery every Wednesday evening and are usually there from 6-8 pm. Right now, most of our internet activity can be found on Facebook at www.facebook.com/texaskhanate or follow us on Instagram @TheTexasKhanate

Chapter leader John on Strega at the South Texas Archery Riders International Competition 2018. Photo by Georges Schemagin

We are looking for members! At this time, we do not have regular loaner horses. Anyone is welcome to join and attend practices but you MUST be a current member of MA3 in order to ride at any practice, clinic, demonstration, or competition. Membership information can be found at www.mountedarchery.org and we do not charge a separate fee other than your MA3 membership to join our chapter. Just be sure to pick The Texas Khanate as the home chapter you are joining when you sign up.

No previous mounted archery experience in necessary to join. We can help you get started even if you have never picked up a bow! If you do not have any riding experience, we recommend finding a reputable instructor to teach you the basics of equitation. Look for instructors who specialize in dressage for what we feel is the best core foundation of riding skills to begin with. Any and all riding styles are welcome in mounted archery as well as all breeds of horses. Under MA3 rules, only traditional bows with no shelves are allowed. You may shoot thumb release or mediterranean style.

Chapter leader Michelle on Alpo at the South Texas Archery Riders International Competition 2018. Photo by Georges Schemagin

 

We currently use fiberglass Turkish bows from Alibow with bamboo arrows from the same maker and add Y-nocks from Vermil but are experimenting with other styles and makes of bows all the time. There are several highly recommended bow makers who provide bows for the mounted archery community. Our advice is to try out a few different ones before buying your first bow to find out what works best for you. If you come to one of our practices, we will have bows in the 18-45# range available to try.