Re: Eating, Pooping, the Frog and Picking

["Glenda R. Snodgrass" <grs@theneteffect.com>]

I just HAD to respond to such fun questions! :))

> Do you guys pick?

I do, before & after every ride, and once a day when I don't ride, because
Lakota seems to have a special poop magnet in each of his feet, which
enables him to fill every crevice of his foot with the maximum amount of
available horse poop.  This creates a warm, moist, bacteria-laden 
environment which is perfect for thrush.   We also live in the Mud Belt, 
which only makes it worse.  Stones are a rare problem for us, but 
packed-in poop is a daily struggle.

> Horses poop on the run?

Yes, Lakota is known quite well for his ability to push out one or two 
perfectly-formed horse apples every 5 minutes for hours and hours and 
hours ....  If ever we get lost, we can follow the trail back to the 
barn. :)  He rarely poops an entire pile at once, and never stops to poop.

> Horses eat on the fly?  I KNOW the riders do :-)

I have tried (and continue trying) to teach Lakota that he can eat
anything he can grab without changing gait, but I don't let him stop or
wander too far off the trail to graze.  He can easily graze at the walk
and trot without slowing down, and is getting better about grabbing
mouthfuls at the canter.  He still wants to stop or wander off trail
sometimes, and then I firmly push him on.  It's not nearly as irritating
once you get a pair of 10' long reins and learn to let them slip through
your fingers when he dips his head, and gather them up when he raises his
head, so that he can graze without you having to change your posture at
all.  Made a HUGE difference to me. 

Hope this helps.

Glenda & Lakota
Mobile, AL