Knix Performance Horses

09/03/2024

I have a list of people looking to buy! If you have something for sale let me know!

08/29/2024

What we’ve been up to in August. Showing our family’s percherons, fairs, fairs and more fairs, rodeos, cows, trails and training our youngins!

08/29/2024

Pulled jag out of the pasture after sitting to have some fun and make a nice easy cruise through. She’s so amazing 🥰

08/29/2024

2024 foal update 😍

08/29/2024

After having some weeks off to be a baby Java had a nice cruise through the other night. Excited to see her futurity this fall.

08/29/2024

My other career is forcing me to Downsize. Selling 5-6 personal horses pictures in comments

08/04/2024

!!!!!!!PRICE DROP $5k!!!!!!

2014 AQHA
RCL Coontail Lady

16h bay roan double dash for cash broodmare in foal to a Frenchman’s guy x dash for perks stud
Stud is dun and cream should get some color, size, athletic build and great mind!
Mid-late may 2025 foal
Easy foaler and breeder
Started under saddle.

$6,500 obo

07/26/2024

https://barrelhorseworld.com/Barrel-Horses/386696

Started under saddle has a dozen rides, been hauled for sights and sounds. Very sweet easy going, very in your pocket, been handled since birth full siblings are performing at high levels of barrels and roping.

07/24/2024

He’s a real treasure ❤️

Kenny is the sweetest boy and a long time member of our family. He is 11 years old 17 hands and has been risen, driven single, team, has pulled manure, tires, cart and wagons. He’s given us some amazing babies. He’s easy to handle around mares.

07/21/2024

Benelli

07/19/2024

💥SOLD💥
PROJECT on Consignment
7 year old Paint mare
14.3 hands

Benelli is a stunning dappled grey grulla, super unique coloring. She has very nice correct confirmation with some outstanding feet. Barefoot, easy keeper, sound and quiet. She is great for farrier, vet etc. She is UTD of feet, cogins, rabies, dental, chirpractor and worming. Nelli has been with me for almost 60 days and I have restarted her from the ground up. Owners love her but have decided to put their time into enjoying their other horses. She needs a confident rider that can continue her training. She does great with ground work, I have done a ton of Clinton Anderson ground work with her, worked with desensitizing, ponied her and have ground driven her. I have put 20 rides on her and counting. She gets scooty when I first get on but tends to walk out of it. She will walk, trot, stop and back. The lope will come as her confidence grows. She is quick and catty I think she will make a phenomenal cow horse or even gamer. She would also be a really nice broodmare to add to someone’s program. Papers in work. Videos will be added to consignment album on Knix Performance Horses
Asking 5k obo

07/16/2024

We always tell people it takes almost a year for a horse to settle in.

"New Home Syndrome"🤓

I am coining this term to bring recognition, respect, and understanding to what happens to horses when they move homes. This situation involves removing them from an environment and set of routines they have become familiar with, and placing them somewhere completely different with new people and different ways of doing things.

Why call it a syndrome?

Well, really it is! A syndrome is a term used to describe a set of symptoms that consistently occur together and can be tied to certain factors such as infections, genetic predispositions, conditions, or environmental influences. It is also used when the exact cause of the symptoms is not fully understood or when it is not connected with a well-defined disease. In this case, "New Home Syndrome" is connected to a horse being placed in a new home where its entire world changes, leading to psychological and physiological impacts. While it might be transient, the ramifications can be significant for both the horse and anyone handling or riding it.

Let me explain...

Think about how good it feels to get home after a busy day. How comfortable your favourite clothes are, how well you sleep in your own bed compared to a strange bed, and how you can really relax at home. This is because home is safe and familiar. At home, the part of you that keeps an eye out for potential danger turns down to a low setting. It does this because home is your safe place (and if it is not, this blog will also explain why a lack of a safe place is detrimental).

Therefore, the first symptom of horses experiencing "New Home Syndrome" is being unsettled, prone to anxiety, or difficult behaviour. If you have owned them before you moved them, you struggle to recognise your horse, feeling as if your horse has been replaced by a frustrating version. If the horse is new to you, you might wonder if you were conned, if the horse was drugged when you rode it, or if you were lied to about the horse's true nature.

A horse with "New Home Syndrome" will be a stressed version of itself, on high alert, with a drastically reduced ability to cope. Horses don't handle change like humans do. If you appreciate the comfort of your own home and how you can relax there, you should be able to understand what the horse is experiencing.

Respecting that horses interpret and process their environments differently from us helps in understanding why your horse is being frustrating and recognising that there is a good chance you were not lied to or that the horse was not drugged.

Horses have survived through evolution by being highly aware of their environments. Change is a significant challenge for them because they notice the slightest differences, not just visually but also through sound, smell, feel, and other senses. Humans generalise and categorise, making it easy for us to navigate familiar environments like shopping centres. Horses do not generalise in the same way; everything new is different to them, and they need proof of safety before they can habituate and feel secure. When their entire world changes, it is deeply stressful.

They struggle to sleep until they feel safe, leading to sleep deprivation and increased difficulty.

But there is more...

Not only do you find comfort in your home environment and your nervous system downregulates, but you also find comfort in routines. Routines are habits, and habits are easy. When a routine changes or something has to be navigated differently, things get difficult. For example, my local supermarket is undergoing renovations. After four years of shopping there, it is extremely frustrating to have to work out where everything is now. Every day it gets moved due to the store being refitted section by section. This annoyance is shared by other shoppers and even the staff.

So, consider the horse. Not only are they confronted with the challenge of figuring out whether they are safe in all aspects of their new home while being sleep deprived, but every single routine and encounter is different. Then, their owner or new owner starts getting critical and concerned because the horse suddenly seems untrained or difficult. The horse they thought they owned or bought is not meeting their expectations, leading to conflict, resistance, explosiveness, hypersensitivity, and frustration.

The horse acts as if it knows little because it is stressed and because the routines and habits it has learned have disappeared. If you are a new human for the horse, you feel, move, and communicate differently from what it is used to. The way you hold the reins, your body movements in the saddle, the position of your leg – every single routine of communication between horse and person is now different. I explain to people that when you get a new horse, you have to imprint yourself and your way of communicating onto the horse. You have to introduce yourself and take the time to spell out your cues so that they get to know you.

Therefore, when you move a horse to a new home or get a new horse, your horse will go through a phase called "New Home Syndrome," and it will be significant for them. Appreciating this helps them get through it because they are incredible and can succeed. The more you understand and help the horse learn it is safe in its new environment and navigate the new routines and habits you introduce, the faster "New Home Syndrome" will pass.
"New Home Syndrome" will be prevalent in a horse’s life until they have learned to trust the safety of the environment (and all that entails) and the humans they meet and interact with. With strategic and understanding approaches, this may take weeks, and their nervous systems will start downgrading their high alert status. However, for some horses, it can take a couple of years to fully feel at ease in their new home.

So, next time you move your horse or acquire a new horse and it starts behaving erratically or being difficult, it is not being "stupid", you might not have been lied to or the horse "drugged" - your horse is just experiencing an episode of understandable "New Home Syndrome." And you can help this.❤

I would be grateful if you could please share, this reality for horses needs to be better appreciated ❤
‼️When I say SHARE that does not mean plagiarise my work…it is seriously not cool to copy and paste these words and make out you have written it yourself‼️

07/12/2024

Will be posting a nice project mare for sale, coming off about 45 days of training with me. Very confirmationally correct, just needing consistency, quick, catty, utd. Stay tuned!

07/08/2024

In person LESSONS and virtual breakdowns!

I have been approached a lot about doing lessons. So I am going to open a few days a week to do one on one lessons, I’d be open to doing groups as well. You must have your own horse at this time. I will be doing barrel/pole lessons, foundation riding and conditioning. You are welcome to haul in or I can travel to you within reason and for a travel fee. Virtual lessons can include run breakdowns, plus drills to help with areas you are struggling with. I have coached many, have a lot of references and years of experience. If you would like more information please contact me. You must be at least 12 years of age and and I will not be doing beginner riding at this time but would be happy to give out contacts who do focus on beginners and youngins.

06/23/2024

Was planning on officially putting this guy up for sale but he was claimed before I had the chance! Congratulations to the new owner may you have many happy trails, so happy Mr. Fifty found a fantastic forever home❤️

Please reach out to me if you are looking many times I never get to post them for sale as I go through my client list first.

06/05/2024

Cruz and Frenchman’s revenge 2024 filly

05/18/2024

We having a training spot available for a 30 day in June. C**t starting, conditioning, or pattern work. May also be opening my schedule up for more lessons. Pm if interested.

05/12/2024

Cruisers baby shocked us all! A little red dun filly out of youdontknowjackiete and our home grown Frenchman’s got perk both babies were born within 3 days of each other

05/06/2024

Already making laps Epically Famous son

05/06/2024

8:45 pm our Epically Famous c**t was born and he’s huge!!! Ice was a pro once again, what an amazing mare and mom.

05/05/2024

Horses NEED access to forage and water at all times!!!

https://www.facebook.com/share/p/pNzm2YkT88z4k953/?mibextid=QwDbR1

What is the longest a horse can safely go without food?

More and more I see horses and ponies stood for long periods of time with no hay or haylage. Usually under the guise of a “weight control diet”. So how long can a horse be without food before damage is done? And what damage is done?

For those with a short attention span, I’ll give you the answer to begin with - 4 hours, maximum.

Why?

Horses are grazers. They are designed to eat constantly. They have no way of storing their acids and digestive enzymes, they’ve never needed to. They have no gall bladder to store bile and their stomachs release acid constantly, whether or not there is food in the stomach and intestines.

A horses stomach only holds approximately 8-15 litres. Depending on the substance eaten, it takes on average 4-6 hours for the stomach to completely empty. After this, the acids and enzymes start to digest the inside of the horses stomach and then the intestines. This causes both gastric and intestinal ulceration. It has been estimated that 25-50% of foals and 60-90% of adult horses suffer from ulceration. But I won’t go into detail about this, there is a lot of information around about ulcers.

So is that it? Are ulcers the only concern?

No, having an empty stomach is a stress situation for a horse. The longer they are starved, the more they release stress hormones, cortisol predominantly. Cortisol blocks insulin and causes a constantly high blood glucose level. This stimulates the body to release even more insulin, and in turn this causes fat tissue to be deposited and leptin resistance. Over time this causes insulin resistance (Equine Metabolic Syndrome). All of these mechanisms are well known risk factors for laminitis and are caused by short term starvation (starting roughly 3-4 hours after the stomach empties). Starving a laminitic is literally the worst thing you can do. Over longer periods, this also starts to affect muscle and can cause weakness, and a lack of stamina so performance horses also need a constant supply of hay/haylage to function optimally.

Let’s not forget horses are living, breathing and feeling animals. We talk about this stress reaction like it’s just internal but the horse is well aware of this stress. Door kicking, box walking, barging and many other stable vices and poor behaviour can be explained by a very stressed horse due to food deprivation (we all have that Hangry friend to explain this reaction). Next time you shout or hit a horse that dives for their net, remember their body is genuinely telling them they are going to starve to death. They know no different.

But surely they spend the night asleep so they wouldn’t eat anyway?

Not true. Horses only need 20mins REM sleep every 24 hours (jealous? I am!). They may spend a further hour or so dozing but up to 22-23 hours a day are spent eating. So if you leave your horse a net at 5pm and it’s gone by 8pm, then by 12am their stomach is empty. By 4am they are entering starvation mode. By their next feed at 8am, they are extremely stressed, physically and mentally.

Now I know the cob owners are reading this mortified. I can almost hear you shouting at your screen “if I feed my horse ad lib hay he won’t fit out the stable door in a week!!”

I will say that a horse with a constant supply of hay/haylage will eat far less then the same horse that is intermittently starved. They don’t eat in a frenzy, reducing the chance of colic from both ulcers and over eating. Cobs included.

However I’m not suggesting you sit your cob in front of a bale of haylage and say have at it! There is a difference between ad lib and a constant supply. There is much we can do to reduce calorie intake and control weight whilst feeding a constant supply.

The easiest is small holes nets. There are many. Trickle nets, greedy feeders, nibbleze, trawler nets etc. My personal favourite is the Shires Soft Mesh 1”. They don’t cost the Earth, they are easy to fill and they don’t have knots so are much gentler to the teeth. Now often I suggest these types of nets to owners and the owner tells me “Oh no, *** won’t eat out of those” 🙄 this is nonsense. If he was left it, he would. Remember, you can give a normal net and one of these for them to nibble at after. Better than leaving them with nothing at all.

A few other tricks, hang the net from the ceiling/rafters, it’s harder to eat out of a net that swings. Soak the hay, a minimum of 4 hours to be effective. Mix with straw but be sure to introduce the straw slowly and make sure it’s top quality and a palatable type eg Barley or Oat, otherwise they won’t eat it.

Don’t forget exercise. The best way to get weight off a horse is exercise. Enough exercise and they can eat what they want!

And lay off the bucket feed and treats! Horses on a diet require a vit/min supplement in the form of a balancer but that’s it. The odd slice of carrot or swede won’t do any harm but no licks, treats, treacle, molasses, cereal based rubbish. Even if it says low sugar or the marvellously misleading “No added sugar”! Your horse would rather have a constant supply of hay, I promise.

Written by Vikki Fowler BVetMed BAEDT MRCVS

A few edits for the critics-

Firstly, feeding a constant supply does not mean ad lib feeding. It means use some ingenuity and spread the recommended amount of daily forage so the horse is never stood with out food for more than 4 hours. I am not promoting obesity, quite the opposite, feeding like this reduces obesity and IR. This can be done whilst feeding your horse twice a day as most horse owners do. Just think outside the box for your own situation.

Secondly I am in the UK and this post is UK specific, use some common sense when reading. Yes in warmer climates, soaking hay for 4 hours is dangerous and studies show 1 hour is plenty in hot weather but in the UK’s arctic climate, a minimum of 4 hours is required. Equally the UK feed exclusively grass hay. I can not comment on other types.

Thirdly, yes every horse/pony and situation is different, but this is a law of nature and all horses have this anatomy and metabolism. How you achieve this constant supply is individual, the need for it is not.

Fourthly, the use of hay nets in the UK is very very high. I’d estimate 95% of horses I see are fed this way and very very few have incisor wear or neck/back issues as a result. Yes, feeding from the ground is ideal, but a constant supply, I feel trumps this. Again with ingenuity both can be safely achieved.

Finally, straw can be fed to horses safely, introduced very slowly, with fresh water always available, plus a palatable and digestible type of straw which will depend on your area. Again many horses in the UK are bedded on straw and most of them eat it. This is not a new concept to us.

Final finally 🤦‍♀️ and I feel I must add this due to the sheer number of people contacting me to ask, feed your horses during transport!!! I am astonished this is not normal in other countries! Again in the UK, we give our horses hay nets to transport. We don’t go 10 mins up the road without a haynet and a spare in case they finish! Considering we are a tiny island and we rarely transport even 4 hours, we never transport without hay available. I have never seen an episode of choke due to travelling with hay available. If you are concerned, use a slow feeder net so they can’t take too much in at once.

If you get to the end of this post and your first thought is “I can’t do this with my horse/pony, they’d be morbidly obese”, you haven’t read the advice in this post thoroughly.

05/04/2024

True statement I try to live by with my program. A great horse can be made.

05/02/2024

Had these 2 super nice horses in for a 30 day tune up owned by Danyelle Vickers. Thank you for the opportunity to work with a couple of great horses! Happy trails! 🐎

05/02/2024

!!!!!

This post is something I have very strong feelings about...
TURN OUT!!!!
Turn your damn horses outside!!!! They were not made to live in your 12x12 stalls for 23 hours a day!
Do you realize how important mental health is for a horse? Do you realize you are creating other issues keeping your horses stalled up all the time?
I cringe when I hear and see horses being stuck in stalls their whole lives!
I'm not saying your horse shouldn't come in a stall. But they don't need to live in that stall their entire life.
Don't want your horse getting dirty??? Get over it... it's part of owning a horse. It's part of them being happy and having fun! They make water and hoses and brushes everyday -- They will clean up if you put a little of your own elbow grease into it.
Afraid to turn them out because you spent too much money on the horse.... That's not your horses fault. Get insurance if you are concerned. Make sure you have safe turnout. But good grief, stop torturing your horse.
This filthy, muddy horse in this picture is HAPPY, HEALTHY, and he gives me his all when I ask for it!

05/02/2024

We are so thankful to have found miss squigs the perfect retirement home. She has a new man in her life who lost his life partner not long ago, and I think he’s ecstatic to have a new lady. Squigs will be apart of some horse yoga and possibly be a volunteer for some PTSD rehabilitation classes. I am so blessed to have found this home for her she will be so missed but everything happens for a reason and I’d like to think her late mother had something to do with this fairytale ending. Thank you Dena for giving her a wonderful home and a new best friend (he will win her heart eventually).

05/02/2024

We are still on baby watch 👀 but we finally have wax at 351 days!!! We cannot wait for this Epically Famous baby