- Author: rvela@ucanr.edu
"Hay mucho que podemos aprender de un amigo que resulta ser un caballo". – Aleksandra Layland
"Entrenar mustangs es muy divertido", dijo Aubrielle, mientras una yegua de color castaño llamada Zuri acariciaba a la integrante de 4-H del condado de Shasta. Seis meses antes, el equino salvaje desconfiaba de ser tocado. Ahora lucía accesorios en su melena de estilo que combinaban con las joyas turquesa de la adolescente.
En los últimos años, UC Cooperative Extension en el condado de Modoc se ha asociado con Modoc National Forest para proporcionar alcance público y educación para apoyar la colocación y el cuidado de caballos salvajes de Devil's Garden en la esquina noreste de California. La adopción de potros reduce la sobrepoblación de caballos salvajes, lo que puede dañar los pastizales y la salud de los propios mustangs.
Este año, Laura Snell, asesora de ganado y recursos naturales de UC Cooperative Extension en el condado de Modoc, asignó caballos salvajes destetados a 40 jóvenes entre las edades de 9 y 19 años de todo el estado. Los mustangs tenían entre 4 y 6 meses de edad en enero cuando fueron recogidos en Alturas y llevados a casa por miembros de California 4-H y FFA, quienes los alimentan y cuidan.
"El momento en que pude tocarlo por primera vez es probablemente una de las partes más importantes del entrenamiento, así como mi progreso con él", dijo Morgan del condado de Monterey, quien pasó horas en el puesto con Bowie tratando de ganarse su confianza.
"Fue realmente increíble para mí que pude tocarlo el día 5", dijo. "En los videos que vi antes de conseguirlo, la mayoría de las veces tomó de una semana a tres semanas para que las personas en los videos tocaran sus mustangs salvajes. En ese momento es cuando realmente comienzas a hacer ese vínculo con un mustang salvaje".
"El momento en que pude quitar su etiqueta también fue una gran parte porque en ese momento sabes que el mustang confía en ti lo suficiente como para que te permita acercarte tanto para eliminar la etiqueta", dijo Morgan.
Los jóvenes entrenadores enseñan a los caballos a usar un cabestro, a salir y entrar a un remolque de caballos y a navegar a través de obstáculos. Algunos participantes también trabajan en trucos como acostar su caballo, caminar el caballo hacia atrás y caminar debajo del caballo. En junio, los participantes se reunieron en Alturas para mostrar sus progresos.
"Les brinda la oportunidad de buscar mentores adultos que sean entrenadores de caballos, aprender responsabilidad y aprender una variedad de cosas sobre el cuidado de un caballo salvaje y aprender más sobre sí mismos en el proceso", dijo Snell.
"Encontramos que a los jóvenes les va muy bien con los caballos salvajes. Es realmente una calle de doble sentido, con los caballos aprendiendo tanto como los jóvenes en los seis meses que están en entrenamiento", agregó.
Las hermanas Kailey y Maddi en el condado de San Benito adoptaron caballos destete. Quitar la etiqueta después de unas tres semanas fue un punto de inflexión para Maddi y su caballo Fiona.
"La razón por la cual no se le quitaba la etiqueta era que no habíamos podido acercarnos a ella en absoluto", dijo Maddi. "Ella tenía algo de agresión hacia la gente por miedo. Así que superar eso, y llegar al punto en que ella confiaba en mí y yo podía colocarle el cabestro y acercarme lo suficiente como para quitar esa etiqueta fue un gran logro. Después de eso, una vez que confió en mí, comenzó a hacerlo muy, muy bien y a volar a través de su entrenamiento".
"Ha sido increíble poder compartir esta experiencia con otra familia muy cercana", dijo la madre de Aubrielle, Ashley Phipps. "Nuestras hijas han pasado por todo el viaje juntas, comenzando con la visita a los corrales para recoger caballos juntas, hasta el proceso de entrenamiento. Mi hija es mayor que Brooklin y ha sido una gran mentora para ella, enseñando a Brooklin y a su caballo en el trayecto. ¡Ha sido un generador de confianza para mi hija! ¡Nuestras hijas nunca olvidarán esta experiencia! Y me encantó cada momento del proceso, verlos crecer a través de los altibajos. Este programa es una bendición".
Para calificar para el programa, los solicitantes deben completar una solicitud que incluye estar inscritos en un programa de caballos como el Proyecto Equino 4-H, demostrar que tienen instalaciones y alimento para los animales, designar un mentor y tener la aprobación de sus padres.
Los entrenadores y sus caballos compitieron en el Devil's Garden Colt Challenge el 18 de junio en Alturas, compitiendo por premios en halter, showmanship y carrera de obstáculos con la participación de jóvenes de 13 condados. Los premios totalizaron más de $ 3,000.
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- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
“There is much we can learn from a friend who happens to be a horse.” — Aleksandra Layland
“Training mustangs is just so much fun,” said Aubrielle, as a chestnut-colored filly named Zuri nuzzled the 4-H member from Shasta County. Six months earlier, the young wild horse was wary of being touched. Now she was sporting accessories in her styled mane that matched the teenager's turquoise jewelry.
Over the past few years, UC Cooperative Extension in Modoc County has partnered with Modoc National Forest to provide public outreach and education to support the placement and care of wild horses from Devil's Garden at the northeastern corner of California. Adopting foals reduces overpopulation of wild horses, which can harm rangeland and the health of the mustangs themselves.
This year Laura Snell, UC Cooperative Extension livestock and natural resources advisor in Modoc County, assigned weanling wild horses to 40 youth between the ages of 9 and 19 from all over the state. The mustangs were 4 to 6 months old in January when they were picked up in Alturas and taken home by California 4-H and FFA members, who feed and care for them.
“The moment when I got to touch him for the first time is probably one of the biggest parts of training as well as my progress with him,” said Morgan of Monterey County, who spent hours in the stall with Bowie trying to gain his trust.
“It was really amazing to me that I was able to touch him on day 5,” she said. “In the videos I watched leading up to getting him, most of the time it took one week to three weeks for the people in the videos to touch their wild mustangs. At that moment is when you really start to make that bond with a wild mustang.”
“The moment when I got to remove his tag was a huge part as well because at that moment you know that the mustang trusts you enough that he is letting you get that close to remove the tag,” Morgan said.
The young trainers teach the horses to wear a halter, to load and unload from a horse trailer and to navigate through obstacles. Some participants also work on tricks such as laying their horse down, walking the horse backward and walking under the horse. In June, the participants gathered in Alturas to show their progress.
“It provides them an opportunity to seek out adult mentors who are horse trainers, learn responsibility, and learn a variety of things about caring for a wild horse and learning more about themselves in the process,” said Snell.
“We find that the youth do very well with wild horses. It's really a two-way street, with the horses learning just as much as the youth are in the six months they are in training,” she added.
Sisters Kailey and Maddi in San Benito County both adopted weanling horses. Removing the tag after about three weeks was a turning point for Maddi and her horse Fiona.
“The significance of getting the tag off was we hadn't been able to get near her at all,” said Maddi. “She had some aggression toward people out of fear. So getting past that, getting to the point where she trusted me and I could get that halter on her and get close enough to get that tag off was just a huge achievement. After that, once she trusted me, she started doing really, really well and flying through her training.”
Because wildfires are part of life in California, she taught Fiona to step over flames so she won't be afraid if they need to evacuate, Maddi told KSBW reporter Brisa Colon.
“It has been amazing to be able to share this experience with another very close family,” said Aubrielle's mother Ashley Phipps. “Our daughters have gone through the entire journey together starting with visiting the corrals to pick horses together, all the way through the training process. My daughter is older than Brooklin and has been a great mentor to her, teaching Brooklin and her horse along the way. It has been such a confidence builder for my daughter! Our girls will never forget this experience!!! And I loved every moment of watching them grow through the ups and downs. This program is such a blessing.”
To qualify for the program, applicants must fill out an application which includes being enrolled in a horse program such as the 4-H Equine Project, show they have facilities and feed for the animals, designate a mentor and have their parents' approval.
The trainers and their horses competed in the Devil's Garden Colt Challenge on June 18 in Alturas, vying for awards in halter, showmanship and obstacle course with youth from 13 counties participating. Prizes totaled over $3,000.
- Author: Rebecca Ozeran
A few months ago, I was asked about the toxicity of various plants in a horse pasture after the death of a miniature horse using that pasture. While many of the identified plants were chemically harmless (such as filaree [Erodium spp] and some native clovers), the pasture did have fiddleneck (Amsinckia spp) and popcorn flower (Plagiobothrys spp), two native forbs with potentially toxic chemistry.
Popcorn flower (above) has small white flowers. Fiddleneck (below) has slightly larger yellow flowers. Both plants have similar overall shapes: slender flowering stems, relatively small leaves, and hairs on all parts except the flowers themselves.
Fiddleneck is a known alkaloid accumulator and popcorn flower is similarly suspected to accumulate alkaloids. There are no cases that I have found where popcorn flower was identified as a cause of toxicity, however. Most research on popcorn flower chemistry focuses on insect herbivores which like to eat plants with alkaloids, to protect themselves against predation (e.g. Hartmann et al. 2004) – but that's a topic for another blog!
Alkaloids are secondary organic compounds produced by many plants. Different types of alkaloids have different interactions with animal biology, some of which are benign or beneficial, and others which are harmful. Some alkaloids you may have heard of include morphine, nicotine, and quinine. Pyrrolidizine alkaloids, the type found in fiddleneck and popcorn flower, have harmful effects. Toxicity often occurs when animals eat feed or hay contaminated with fiddleneck seeds, and some cases have been documented from animals grazing the plant in a pasture. Fiddleneck alkaloids can cause liver disease and death of horses, cattle, and pigs, but sheep seem to be less vulnerable (Craig et al. 1985).
Both fiddleneck and popcorn flower may also accumulate nitrates. Nitrates convert into nitrites once the animal eats the plant. Nitrites then react with hemoglobin in the blood and make it unable to carry oxygen. This oxygen deficiency can cause death in a matter of hours depending on the concentration of nitrates in the animal's diet. Sheep, pigs, and horses seem more resistant to nitrate poisoning while cattle are most vulnerable (Tucker et al. 1961).
How to avoid livestock poisoning by fiddleneck and popcorn flower
The best way to prevent livestock poisoning by these forbs is to make sure there is plenty of good forage available. Livestock don't typically seek out fiddleneck or popcorn flower. Fiddleneck and popcorn flower have more stem than leaf, so they aren't very palatable, and they are densely covered in hairs that tend to discourage grazing. In a pasture with plenty of grasses and desirable forbs, then, animals will easily avoid these harmful plants.
The risk of poisoning arises when there is little else for the animals to eat. As a pasture that has been overgrazed or a pasture experiencing a drought therefore might have too few plants for the animals to be able to avoid popcorn flower and fiddleneck. When possible, having more than one pasture can help keep animals safe. Animals should be moved out of pastures where the only available plants may be toxic.
Body size is also a factor in many cases of toxicity. A fully grown 1,000-lb animal may be unaffected by a small amount of these toxins in their diet (such as this horse, pictured above, who ate a mouthful of grass plus a single fiddleneck plant right in front of me), while a young or small animal might become seriously ill after eating just a few plants. Whether an animal develops clinical signs of toxicity or poisoning depends on the concentration of toxin in the forage, the quantity of forage consumed, and the animal's size. However, any amount could be harmful and if you notice your animals are consuming toxic plants, please contact your veterinarian.
Can fiddleneck and popcorn flower be controlled?
You are not likely to eradicate them, but there are ways to control these plants if you are concerned about them.
Both fiddleneck and popcorn flower can be hand-pulled – gloves recommended to protect against the hairs – if present in small patches. On small acreages, mowing an infested pasture before the plants produce seeds in the spring can help reduce the population. Some herbicides can also help kill these plants; generally speaking, you will need to apply herbicides when the plants are young and small, to prevent seed production for the year. Contact your local UCCE office for more specifics if you want to consider chemical treatments.
Long-term, re-seeding bare patches in pastures and ensuring moderate grazing can also help outcompete these species. Because they have relatively small leaves, popcorn flower and fiddleneck rely on plenty of open space and sunshine to grow. As a result, they are less common in pastures that are densely populated by desirable forages that shade smaller plants.
For more on establishing a healthy pasture, even if you have dryland pastures or pastures with animals other than horses, the free guide here is a great place to start: Establishing and Managing Irrigated Pasture for Horses.
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If you are concerned that your animals may have been exposed to toxic plants, contact your veterinarian. If you have concerns about plants in your pastures, feel free to contact your local UCCE office for assistance with plant ID.
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Check out CalFlora to see the geographic distribution of these and many other plant species in California
References:
Craig, A.M., L.L. Blythe, E.D. Lassen, and M.L. Slizeski. 1985. Resistance of sheep to pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Israel Journal of Veterinary Medicine 42:376-384.
Hartmann, T., C. Theuring, T. Beuerle, L. Ernst, M.S. Singer, and E.A. Bernays. 2004. Acquired and partially de novo synthesized pyrrolizidine alkaloids in two polyphagous arctiids and the alkaloid profiles of their larval food-plants. Journal of Chemical Ecology 30(2):229-254.
Tucker, J.M., D.R. Cordy, L.J. Berry, W.A. Harvey, and T.C. Fuller. 1961. Nitrate Poisoning in Livestock. California Agricultural Experiment Station. Circular 506, 12p.
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: I'd like to feed my horses with Orchard Grass Hay. I'd like to be assured that it is "safe" for the horses and get it tested and analyzed to assure that it is "safe". Can you point me to labs that do that type of testing?And does UC do that type of testing like other states do?
Help Desk Response: Thank you for calling the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk. You asked about finding a testing facility for your orchard grass hay. The University of California does not provide this testing service outside of their own research, but here is some information below that may be helpful to you.
The National Forage Testing Association has a list of certified labs, some of which are in California:
http://animalrangeextension.montana.edu/forage/documents/2016_Certified_Labs.pdf
Here is an article from the Western Farm Press listing the California labs.
https://www.farmprogress.com/12-california-labs-certified-national-forage-testing-association
Also, an internet search 'Hay analysis for horses' came up with a number of good sites, including those from horse journals and university extension websites, with information on this subject.
If you contact one of the above certified labs, they will advise you on how to collect and submit the samples.
I hope this is helpful, and that your horses are in the best of health!
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SMW)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ignore.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.
- Author: John M Harper
Post fire inventories include a lot for ranchers, e.g. stock, forage, fence, buildings and equipment losses immediately come to mind. Equally important is an inventory of potential sediment sources from hill slopes, fire cut roads and riparian areas that will need mitigation to prevent soil loss and sediment movement into streams.
Rice straw as mulch, in bales for check dams and in the ubiquitous waddles all come into play for the recovery process. Sometimes the mulch is also used in reseeding sites too. The following sources of rice straw were put together by Rachel Elkins, pomology advisor and were forwarded to me by Greg Giusti, forestry and wildlands advisor - emeritus.
Paul Buttner of the California Rice Commission (https://twitter.com/PaulTheRiceGuy). His website is: http://www.ricestrawmarket.org/index.html. It is a buyer-seller website. His phone number is (916) 206-5340. His twitter page links to http://calrice.org with more contact information.
Ken Collins, a rice grower in Gridley (Butte County) is a large rice straw dealer. His phone number is (530) 682-6020.
EarthSavers makes straw wattles. They are in Woodland: http://www.earth-savers.com/.
Once you have an inventory of potential sediment sources identified, contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for technical help with mitigation and design of erosion control structures. I've included Carol Mandel's contact information below. Many of these mitigation techniques will have cost share programs to help.
Carol Mandel
USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
1252 Airport Park Blvd. Suite B-1
Ukiah CA 95482
Bus: (707) 468-9223
Email: carol.mandel@ca.usda.gov
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