Horseback riding may be exciting for every horse enthusiast. But for those who understand the requirements to have a safe and enjoyable ride will always consider the right equipment needed to do, including the right saddle for every ride. And as there is no universal measurement for a back of a horse, anyone wanting to have an enjoyable adventure with his or her horse will want to find the most suitable option. But if you have a horse that has a wider back that most horses, you will need to find the best saddle for wide flat backed horses to enjoy the ride.

Choosing the Saddle for Your Horse

The primary factors that you need to consider when looking for an appropriate saddle for your horse is the saddle’s form and the functions that it will most likely serve

Form and function

Fitting begins in the tree. The tree of a saddle is the firm, inner portion (frame) that gives the saddle its stability and shape. It is normally made of plastic or wood and comes in a variety of sizes to fit the different shapes of horses’ backs. You will need to go with one with the tree that perfectly fits the contours of your horse’s back. That means your search for the best saddle starts with a good understanding of tree shapes and how it affects the fit of a saddle on the back of a horse.

The tree acts as the skeleton for the saddle. It provides support and stability, both to the saddle and the rider. It functions to distribute evenly the weight of the rider on back of the horse and also keep the pressure off the horse’s spine. To do this, the tree should conform to the shape of the back of the horse. If not, it could either create pressure points or be covering the inappropriate part of the back of the horse.

Saddle Types

Fortunately, there are many different variations of horse saddles that are available in the market today, including the following:

1. General purpose saddle. These saddles are just the right type for beginners or those who have just bought their first horse and intends to try different forms of horseback riding. They are made to be solid with folds that are forward and forces to the rider to ride firmly. These saddles will be perfect for jumping, dressages, as well as hacks or chases.

 

2. Dressage saddle. These saddles are designed for cutting edge riders who are constantly contend in level work rivalries. Their seats are more like a U-molded bend when seen from the side and is designed to allow the rider to seat more comfortably. These saddles are made with straight folds. A lightweight, dainty material is used in making this saddle, giving the rider closer leg contact for accuracy moves.

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A Pet Gizmos, Gadgets and Solutions Showcase September 2014

You might always want to walk around with your ferret. It is not like a dog that you can let out and then it follows you. Moreover, ferrets are tiny and they might even disappear which needs you to have a harness. With a harness, you will have a way to have a large part of the chest covered and then have the harness tied on a leash that you can always hold as you walk around with your pet. The best ferret harness is said to be the H-style harness.

Having a parrot as a pet can be quite interesting. If you are one who likes to have someone constantly repeating what you are saying, perhaps are easily amazed with the exciting colors and soft features that birds have, keeping parrots as pets will be a very rewarding hobby. And as an owner, you should be responsible enough to know that choosing the best parrot foods is one of the main concerns that you should constantly consider to ensure that your birds will remain healthy and well while under your care.

But as there are so many options available in the market today, you need to choose wisely to get the most from whatever you will need to pay in exchange for the product/s that you intend to buy. Remember that your parrots’ diet is vital to its existence and well-being. If parrots are not provided with the right diet, they will soon fall ill or might display unexpected behaviors.

Whatever they consume can affect every aspect of their health, comfort level, as well as overall development. Just like humans, parrots will feel bad whenever they eat bad food. It will affect not only their mood but their overall well-being. So, it is important that these birds are provided with a diet that they deserve.

Choosing the Best Parrot Foods

When deciding which foods to offer your pet parrots, it is always a better option to consider organic foods for so many reasons as listed below.

1. Organic parrot foods are non-carcinogenic. It may be easy to be persuaded to check out any possible option that you may see listed on the pages of the search results. But don’t be fooled. Many of these concocted or mixed feeds may contain chemicals that may not even been added to improve the quality of the food in the package, including those that are considered as cancer causing or carcinogenic, such as the following elements:

• Ethoxyquin, which is used as a food stabilizer and a pesticide.
• BHA or Butylated hydroxyanisole, which is a food preservative.
• BHT or Butylated hydroxytoluene, which is also a food preservative.
• Menadione , which is a vitamin K supplement, is noted to be toxic for birds.

2. Organic foods do not contain sugar.
3. These foods are great food alternatives for your birds. Organic pellet parrot food can lengthen the life expectancy of parrots since it offers only the good things that your pet bird needs to stay healthy and well.
4. Organic foods are available almost anywhere.

So, which are the foods that you should consider for your pet parrots, then?

There are many options when it comes to foods that you may offer to your pet parrots. As each food group offers certain benefits, you should consider serving

Seeds. Seeds serve as the main source of nutrition for parrots. When thinking of serving seed mixes for your pet parrots, consider higher end brands, however. Note that regular seed mixes of best parrot food normally contain sunflower seeds which are a good source of fat, hence will not be good for your pet bird. Higher priced bird seed mixes, on the other hand, contain a good variety of seeds that provide most of the nutritious elements that parrots need.

Pellets. Pellets contain more vitamins and minerals that your parrots need to live healthy. They are best served with fresh vegetables.

Fresh vegetables. Fresh vegetables provide the most nutrients for parrots. When combined with pellets, will provide the most energy for your parrots. (more…)

Many love to have pets around the house, primarily to provide companionship, protection, and entertainment. Most kids would enjoy hours of play time with soft and cuddly pets. And one of the choices, when it comes to a pet bird, is a parakeet. In case you are thinking of owning one or more of these lovely song birds, you need to consider how you can provide proper care for the bird. Make sure you have everything that it will need to remain healthy and satisfied, including the top parakeet toys to be on your list.

These amusing birds are loved by many bird owners for some good reasons, as follows:

1. Parakeets can talk. Won’t it be nice to have a pet that can talk back if you want it too? Sure thing this bird can! Proper training and enough time devoted to teaching your bird will soon make it talk back to you.
2. Parakeets do more than just talk, they can even whistle tones, perhaps even sing. These amazing birds are noted to have remarkable memories. Train them right, and they can surely whistle on demand soon enough.
3. These remarkable pets can be quite friendly. Parakeets are sociable like other animals. Once they have been trained well enough, you will soon find your pet birds to be even charming your friends with their presence. They also show their fondness to their owners when they rest on their arms, shoulders, or heads. They do enjoy nibbling on fingertips as well as random head pats.

Parakeets also enjoy the company of other birds. You’ll hear them chirping in harmony. There are always exceptions to the rule, however. Whenever you notice signs of aggression in your pet bird, it might just be the right time to separate it from the crowd and let it be alone for some time.

Fun Time with Parakeets

Parakeets are very interactive and remain active for the most part of their time. Providing soft best parakeet toys can be quite stimulating and can help relieve stress. It will be a great idea if you can provide a playpen with a lot of space outside of their cages where it can play, explore, and do anything that can keep the birds stimulated. Consider toy items that promote foraging activities, preening, and shredding as these can provide hours of activity for your birds.

There are simple things that can keep your pet parakeet occupied. Toys made of safe materials and also are designed with the safety, and entertainment of the parakeet should be placed in their play area or inside their cages. A quick search on Google will provide you with some of the best options. (more…)

Birds, like hummingbirds, can liven up any space. Whether they are just perched quietly on a branch of a tree or hovering over every flower that they had drunk honey from, and when they are lively chirping their hearts out. These remarkable creatures, though looking frail and rather small, have their own way of amusing anyone. They won’t remain lively all the time if they are sickly and won’t find their sources of feed that their bodies need at the right time. The law prohibits owning a native North American Hummingbird. But as they migrate to the south every year and also choose the same spot as their feeding ground, you can still provide food for them any time you want. With the best hummingbird food recipe that is just so easy to prepare, you can feed all the hummingbirds that you want anytime.

Hummingbirds Crave Sweets

For those who have blood health concerns, too much salt or sugar is not advisable. But for hummingbirds? Never. Give hummingbirds some sweet feeds and they will adore you. This is due to the fact that these interesting birds feed on nectar. They hover from flower to flower to find the kind of sweet that they love to eat. And if you love watching these birds, you can make them stay a longer in your own garden by just hanging the right hummingbird feeder and provide the right feed for them.

If there are hummers that frequent your place, you will notice that they zoom and zip constantly from one spot to another. Such an activity gives them quick metabolism. Because of that, they will need replacements to the used up energy. They need a lot of protein, but they also need nectar that will fuel them up as they find their source of protein, such as small spiders and gnats.

If you plan to welcome more hummingbirds in your place, you have to constantly supply them with the sugar that they need to survive each day. All that you need is a feeder (or feeders if you plan to have more hummers flocking your garden, porch, or garage) properly setup and a simple nectar recipe that you can do in no time. Just have the feeders hung where you see those hummers frequent and they will soon enjoy some homemade nectar which you can prepare in no time.

Best Hummingbird Food Recipe

This is a very simple recipe that you can prepare in less than five (5) minutes. All that you will need are the following ingredients:

1 part white table sugar (this is the kind of sugar used for baking)

4 parts warm water (or regular tap water)

Using warm water helps dissolve the sugar. I use the tap water that comes out of my sink.

Bowl or glass

Spoon

Procedure:

Mix water and sugar in a bowl using a spoon until it dissolves. Now you have a best hummingbird nectar that you can serve anytime using an appropriate feeder. Some likes their hummingbird feed boiled instead. Either way is safe for these birds.

I mentioned that it is the best hummingbird food recipe, right? You can serve them right away and just have any excess or leftovers refrigerated. This can help lengthen the shelf life of the mixture for even up to a couple of weeks. (more…)

If you have decided to have a Cockatiel for a pet, you need to understand what it takes to provide the best care for this bird. Although this bird does not really need high maintenance when it comes to cost of anything that will make the bird’s life acceptable. You will need to make sure that you have enough time and energy to devote to provide adequate care and create quality moments with the bird. One of the firsts that you need to consider is selecting the best cage for Cockatiel.

Proper Care for Cockatiels

Caring for this bird requires daily commitment of providing several hours of affection and undivided attention. It may seem quite demanding, but if provided properly, you will reap the rewards many times over.

One of the primary tasks to consider to ensure that you will be able to provide the best care for your Cockatiel is to ensure that you create the most appropriate conditions and environment. You can start by finding the best cage for cockatiel. The pet’s cage is a good spot to start. Remember that the cage that you designate as your bird’s next home will affect its overall health drastically if you won’t be able to get an appropriately sized cage for Cockatiel.

Before heading out to check a local pet store or even online, however, you need to make sure that you know enough about the product that you intend to purchase. Instead of relying on the sales staff at pet stores for possible cage suggestions, it is still best that you understand quite well what your pet needs to be able to make the right decision. Take note that most well-known chain pet stores hire employees who know very little about birds nor choosing the best cage for cockatiel. All that they could probably been required to read on is the selling and customer service guidebook that they might have been provided with.

It is highly recommended that you turn to forums for guides from breeders. It is a great way to share your concerns with experts and be provided with the right information that will help you make a wise decision later on.

Selecting the Best Cage for Cockatiels

To ensure that you will be choosing the best option for a bird cage, you will always have to go with a cage that is of the highest quality. Look for cages made with stainless steel or wrought iron powder coated cages as they are safer and more durable than those made with wire or plastic materials. They are also easier to clean. Considering about maintenance, a cage that has a pull out tray at the bottom, will be a great option.

You might be tempted to choose round or cylindrical cages, but birds actually these types of cage can restrict the birds movement and can cause insecurity for your Cockatiels. Find one with enough flying clearance and one that has a secure latch that will keep your bird locked up securely. (more…)

It is not that easy to tame a horse. If you are one of those who fancies of having one or more of these fillies to care for, you need to understand proper horse care.

Horses are majestic animals. They are so powerful and possess great beauty and amazing power that you will be proud of while riding one of them, perhaps, by just looking at them. It will be an exhilarating, yet an enjoyable one. It will be like conquering a beast at the start. Later, you will realize that you are just experiencing a different feeling of happiness with a conquering beauty that all that you would want is to have that thing with you to continue to astound you for as long as it lives.

It may prove to be a challenge for first-time owners, nonetheless. But once you have learned the basics, it will be a lot easier to provide these beauties the proper care that they need to stay healthy under your care.

Horses require much attention like many other animals. They also have a specific diet and need more spaces than other pets that you may already have at the moment. So, if you are planning to take on the challenge, you will need to take on yourself to understand and implement the best ways to nurture your equine’s health. Once you do, it will not only be your horse that will benefit from the experience, but you will also find it a very rewarding one.

To help you with the challenge, consider these tips to ensure that your horse will remain healthy and happy while it is under your care.

1. Make sure to provide adequate food for your filly. It may sound like a cliche, but, yes, your horse need proper nutrition to maintain its good health. Horses need more than your ordinary house pet. They like to graze constantly. That means you will have to establish regular times throughout the day for feeding to train your horse to get used to that feeding pattern. Hay is a staple diet for horses and this should be given to them to fill in as much fiber that they need.

As they have a hearty appetite, these majestic steads also need to have plenty of fresh water available to drink.

2. Keep your horse reasonably fit by making sure that it gets enough exercise. The amount of exercise that stabled horses need will be dependent on its breed, the work that you require your filly to accomplish regularly, as well as the type of environment that it inhabits.

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One of the most important things that a horse owner needs to keep it in top condition is proper feeding. As a responsible horse owner, you will not only need to offer the best horse feed for weight gain, but you also need to provide it the right way, however. Overfeeding grain feeds to a horse may cause colic. This is very serious condition and can be fatal.

Rules For Proper Feeding

Consider these rules to make sure that you provide the right nutrition to your horse.

Feed a small portion but often. A small tummy that a horse has will need only as much as it can be filled. You will only need to feed your horse a small amount at regular intervals. The longest period that one can have without food should not go more than eight hours.

The general rule when feeding a horse is that the total weight of feed eaten should be between 1.5% and 2% of the horses’ body weight.

Offer bulk feeds. For your horse to live well, you will need to feed bulk feeds to fill his ever hungry stomach with hay or grass.

The amount and type of feed that you need to offer your horse will depend on several factors, such as the horse’s type, age, weight, health, workload, the climate, time of year, age of the horse, and other local elements. Remember that if you fail to provide just exactly what your horse needs, whether feeding too much, too little, offering feed that it should not have, may cause physical and mental problems.

Provide good quality feed. Anything that has past a sell date is not a good thing to offer your horse. Feeding high-quality hay free feed in addition to pasture is more than enough to provide the horses’ nutritional needs. That means you will need to know what these various forages can actually provide to your horse. (more…)

Like other domestic animals, horses are prone to diseases and parasites that affect their well-being. Both the internal and external parasites are likely to affect the horse.

A low number of parasites in the horse’s body may not have severe effects on the animal. However, a high number of parasites has serious health implications on the horse.

Types of Worms That Affect the Horses

• Pinworms-They harbor in the large intestines or the rectum of the horses. They cause hair loss and severe itching of the tail.
• Bots-The bots are flies that lay eggs on the skin of the horse. The horse ingests the eggs when it licks its horse. They cause inflammation of the harbor, skin and stomach ulcers which brings about colic or perforation of the intestines.
• Stronglyes (Cyathostomins)-Both the large and small redworms cause serious health problems to the horse. They cause severe weight loss, colic and diarrhea. In severe cases, it leads to death.
• Tapeworms-They causes less damage to the horse. However, in severe cases, they cause blockage in the large intestines causing digestive problems and colic.
• Roundworms-These affects the liver, the digestive system and the respiratory system. In severe cases, it causes permanent damage to the digestive system. Also, they block and cause rupture of the gut resulting in death.

How to Control Worms in Horses

The horse owner has to follow a specified worm control method and exercise proper pasture management which is done by:

• Picking up the horse droppings from the grazing area as soon as possible. During the warm weather, animal waste should be picked at least twice a week.
• Avoid overgrazing. Overstocking the animals in a small grazing area increases the chances of worm infestation in the horses. The droppings will be more, and the horses will eat the pastures close to the ground where there are a high number of the eggs and larvae of the parasite.
• Practice pastures rotation in the grazing paddocks within a period of six to eight weeks of grazing.
• Cross-graze, the horse with other farm animals. Some of the worms affecting the horse may not survive in other animals. If the grazing area has parasites, the other animals will help reduce the rate of infestation in horses.
• Harrowing helps in spreading the worms across the grazing field.
• Feed the horses from the feeding tubs to avoid the contamination of the hay with the manure.
• For a new horse, do not keep it with other horses. First, evaluate the parasite burden on it.

How to Treat Worms in Horses

If administered correctly, oral chemical medicine is the most effective method of treating worms in horses.

• First, weigh the horse to help determine the right dosage for the animal. If you at the farm, use the weight tape as gives a rough estimate of the weight of the horse. Alternatively, use a weighbridge or the veterinary hospital.
• When administering the wormer for hosre, ensure it has reached up to the throat. Tilt the head of the horse upwards to ensure the horse does not spit it out.
• Ensure the horse does not spit even the slightest part of the dose. If the treatment is incomplete, the parasites will become resistant to the drug.
• Give all the horses and ponies the wormer at the same time using the same medicine.

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