A collection of articles in which I have been featured in or contributed to
“One of the skills that has served me well in my professional career is something that was drilled into me during my time in Pony Club: the ability to accurately take and interpret a horse’s vital signs. Temperature, pulse, respiration (TPR), gut sounds (all four quadrants), capillary refill time, etc. It is so important to be able to gather that data to see if your horse isn’t feeling 100% and to be able to effectively communicate that data to the vet so you can come up with a plan.
When I am hiring barn workers that is one of the first things I ask if they are capable of doing. If they do not know how to do it, it’s not a deal breaker but I teach them how to do it. I have had lifelong horse people and horse owners that I have hired that didn’t know how to take TPR’s and it was shocking. I was happy to teach them because not only did it help them care for my horses and the client horses better but it developed their personal horse management skills as well. One of the first things my employees were shown was where the well stocked equine first aid kit was located so it was easy for them to grab a thermometer, the stethoscope, etc. to be able to take TPR’s.
Now that I am freelance teaching, I have been shocked at the amount of times I have shown up to a barn to teach and some horse on the property is not quite right and there’s been no way to take a temperature because the barn doesn’t have a thermometer. I’ve almost been tempted to start carrying a rudimentary equine first aid kit in my car!” -Janna Bankston
“Overused: Any piece of equipment or gadget that is used to stop an undesired behavior without getting to the root cause of the behavior. For instance – just using a flash, figure eight, or drop noseband for a horse that opens its mouth without investigating the reason why the horse is opening its mouth or evading the bit.
Underused: Correctly fitting saddles. The more horses I meet and the more I learn, it seems that an alarming amount of horses are being ridden with saddles that do not fit. Use an independent saddle fitter (not a saddle seller or brand rep!) and have an ongoing relationship with them. Have them out every few months to evaluate the saddle fit. Bonus points if you choose a wool flocked saddle that can be tailored and fitted to your horse as its back changes. So many behaviors are physically rooted and it is up to us to do our due diligence and make sure the horses are comfortable!” -Janna Bankston
“Obviously it depends on the horse and rider pair, but I strive not to overdo it—which is tempting. I’d say that 99% of the jumps I have them jump in warmup are more for the rider than the horse! I am a fan of a few trot fences just to help the rider and horse stay patient and settle, and I find them more forgiving especially when nerves may be a factor.
When they are trotting a x-rail or small vertical quietly and softly cantering away, then I have them canter a small vertical off of both leads. Then, I like to have a little walk break on a long rein if time allows and let them settle. It is easy to have the rider feel hurried or pressured when you have a ring steward yelling in the background. If that is going well, and the rhythm and rideability is satisfactory, I’ll then put the vertical up to height and we will jump it off of both leads and work the oxer in (usually a few holes lower than height to start with then I’ll bring it up to height).
I try to have them mimic any particularly tricky turns that they may have on their course (a short approach or a quick turn after for instance). We are usually under 10 efforts at this point if I had to put a number to it. I like to have another quick walk break then pick up one more fence at height right before the rider heads to the ring. There is certainly a sweet spot for the ideal number of warmup fences—you need enough to be sure the horse is rideable and the rider’s eye is accurate but not so many that the horse starts to get dull or flat.” -Janna Bankston