UPDATE 09/15: The saddle has been sold. Thanks.
Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Sidesaddle For Sale
A friend is selling a restored Western-style sidesaddle, without a leaping pommel:
She's asking $350. Leave a comment if you're interested.
UPDATE 09/15: The saddle has been sold. Thanks.
UPDATE 09/15: The saddle has been sold. Thanks.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Well, Whaddaya Know?
There really IS a pony under all that hair.
Note the Labrador Retriever behind him for a full appreciation of Milton The EvilPony's™ size -- or lack thereof.
That's Erin, the oh-so-patient hoofcare professional trimming the little monster's feet, getting down to his level rather than ruining her back.
Note the Labrador Retriever behind him for a full appreciation of Milton The EvilPony's™ size -- or lack thereof.That's Erin, the oh-so-patient hoofcare professional trimming the little monster's feet, getting down to his level rather than ruining her back.
Believe it or not, Milton has actually lost some weight since his 24x7 corn-vacuuming adventure last winter.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Nebraska: They Eat Horses, Don't They?
Nebraska Senator Tyson Larson wants to slaughter horses for human consumption. His 2011 bill LB305 would set up a state meat inspection system, designed as an end run around the federal defunding of horsemeat inspection in 2005. Since all horsemeat sold for human consumption must be inspected, that effectively ended horse slaughter in the United States.
The meat inspection bill is bad enough, but with his companion bill LB306 effectively criminalizing horse rescue in this state, Senator Larson would assure his pet slaughter project a supply of horses with nowhere else to go. Nobody would prosecute a homeless shelter for being full, but Nebraska Senator Larson wants to do exactly that to horse rescues in this state. His justification?
Another lie about slaughter is that it is a humane end for old, lame, and sick horses. But those kinds of horses will not pass inspection for the foreign markets that buy the meat. Only healthy, sound horses are acceptable for slaughter for human consumption. As far as killing the others for "zoo meat," transporting and stockpiling the old, sick, and lame for slaughter is horrific. I've held horses I'd had for many years, who had given me 110% in all things, while they died, both naturally and by veterinary euthanasia. That's humane. Slaughter is not.
The meat inspection bill is bad enough, but with his companion bill LB306 effectively criminalizing horse rescue in this state, Senator Larson would assure his pet slaughter project a supply of horses with nowhere else to go. Nobody would prosecute a homeless shelter for being full, but Nebraska Senator Larson wants to do exactly that to horse rescues in this state. His justification?
"Basically, [LB306] would mandate that humane societies and horse rescue operations would have to accept a horse if one was presented to them, or they would face a class four misdemeanor. I'm giving them an alternative. If they don't want us to process horses, what are we supposed to do?"Senator Larson claims to be a horseman, but has been quoted as saying the horse breeders in Nebraska who were producing horses exclusively for slaughter were placed under a hardship when the horse slaughter plant in North Platte closed. Funny, that sounds like horse slaughter actually ENCOURAGES breeding MORE horses, when overpopulation is used as its justification. You can't have it both ways.
Another lie about slaughter is that it is a humane end for old, lame, and sick horses. But those kinds of horses will not pass inspection for the foreign markets that buy the meat. Only healthy, sound horses are acceptable for slaughter for human consumption. As far as killing the others for "zoo meat," transporting and stockpiling the old, sick, and lame for slaughter is horrific. I've held horses I'd had for many years, who had given me 110% in all things, while they died, both naturally and by veterinary euthanasia. That's humane. Slaughter is not.
When I lived in Illinois, I saw the Cavel plant and a pet-food facility that slaughtered horses very up close and personal, from the inside. I accompanied two different friends who had been convinced by their boarding stable owners that slaughter at Cavel was the best end for their unsound horses. Back then, horse owners could pay for a "private" kill, outside of normal production hours. My visits to the pet-food facility came when I was drafted by another friend to ride along as moral support when he was hired to haul a truckload of crippled livery horses for disposal. After comparing my direct observations with the Canadian Horse Defence Coalition's videos located here, I can unequivocally state that NOTHING has changed in horse slaughter over more than thirty years.
By making horse destruction profitable, slaughter promotes abuse, neglect, and overbreeding. Slaughter also promotes horse theft. Before the horse slaughter plant in North Platte, Nebraska, was shut down, horse theft was surprisingly common in this state. Law enforcement never seemed to take the thefts seriously. Several horses were stolen from a boarding facility where a friend kept her horse. The horses stolen were family pleasure horses, unregistered but priceless to their owners. Their "monetary" value was too low to get any real attention from the sheriff. I found a man on my own property once eyeballing my retired 16.3hh Thoroughbred mare who had been a successful 3-day eventer in our misspent youths. When I demanded he explain his presence, he told me my horse was worth a lot of money for meat. I told him to leave while he still could.
Horse slaughter plants are a management nightmare. No commercial slaughter equipment exists that is made for horses. Horses are bigger, stronger, faster, and far more reactive than cattle. Their smaller heads with longer, more flexible necks make instant kills by gunshot or captive bolt far more difficult with a high percentage of failures. Pound for pound, horses have twice as much blood in their bodies as cattle. A proposed plant in Montana would have required an entire new wastewater treatment plant for a kill as low as 200 to 400 horses a week.
Former Mayor Paula Bacon of Kaufman, Texas, has issued an open letter to state legislatures considering horse slaughter relating her experiences with the Dallas Crown plant in Kaufman.
When I first moved to Iowa, the only job I could get as a woman with an electrical engineering/computer science degree was as a USDA/APHIS brucellosis inspector in a hog slaughtering plant. I worked in the "stick pit" so I got to observe the killing process and what happened immediately before in great detail. I saw frequent and blatant abuse of hogs before and during the kill by employees who treated it as a source of amusement. There was nobody I could report it to who would do anything. When outside inspectors did come in, employees were notified in advance and everything was done perfectly while those inspectors were on site. As soon as they left, it was back to business as usual.
By making horse destruction profitable, slaughter promotes abuse, neglect, and overbreeding. Slaughter also promotes horse theft. Before the horse slaughter plant in North Platte, Nebraska, was shut down, horse theft was surprisingly common in this state. Law enforcement never seemed to take the thefts seriously. Several horses were stolen from a boarding facility where a friend kept her horse. The horses stolen were family pleasure horses, unregistered but priceless to their owners. Their "monetary" value was too low to get any real attention from the sheriff. I found a man on my own property once eyeballing my retired 16.3hh Thoroughbred mare who had been a successful 3-day eventer in our misspent youths. When I demanded he explain his presence, he told me my horse was worth a lot of money for meat. I told him to leave while he still could.
Horse slaughter plants are a management nightmare. No commercial slaughter equipment exists that is made for horses. Horses are bigger, stronger, faster, and far more reactive than cattle. Their smaller heads with longer, more flexible necks make instant kills by gunshot or captive bolt far more difficult with a high percentage of failures. Pound for pound, horses have twice as much blood in their bodies as cattle. A proposed plant in Montana would have required an entire new wastewater treatment plant for a kill as low as 200 to 400 horses a week.
Former Mayor Paula Bacon of Kaufman, Texas, has issued an open letter to state legislatures considering horse slaughter relating her experiences with the Dallas Crown plant in Kaufman.
When I first moved to Iowa, the only job I could get as a woman with an electrical engineering/computer science degree was as a USDA/APHIS brucellosis inspector in a hog slaughtering plant. I worked in the "stick pit" so I got to observe the killing process and what happened immediately before in great detail. I saw frequent and blatant abuse of hogs before and during the kill by employees who treated it as a source of amusement. There was nobody I could report it to who would do anything. When outside inspectors did come in, employees were notified in advance and everything was done perfectly while those inspectors were on site. As soon as they left, it was back to business as usual.
A veterinarian friend working in an Omaha-area beef plant lost his job when he tried to report and stop cattle abuse by employees. According to Dr. Temple Grandin, only about 20% of animal slaughter facilities operate within acceptable humane guidelines. The rest "slip into bad practices" with a full 10% intentionally treating animals cruelly.
Senator Larson and his cronies are liars. Horse slaughter is not humane. Horse slaughter does not reduce "surplus" horses, it promotes more breeding. Horse slaughter is not an appropriate end for those individuals who are old, sick, and lame. The practices and problems with horse slaughter exposed by the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition's videos and veterinary reports are not exceptional but are typical of the process. Criminalizing horse rescue as a way to promote and support slaughter is beneath reprehensible.
I'm sure Senator Larson could watch the CHDC videos and insist it can't happen here. I've been inside slaughter plants, and I don't believe that for a minute. Neither should you.
And I am once again reminded of a very old poem, author unknown:
Senator Larson and his cronies are liars. Horse slaughter is not humane. Horse slaughter does not reduce "surplus" horses, it promotes more breeding. Horse slaughter is not an appropriate end for those individuals who are old, sick, and lame. The practices and problems with horse slaughter exposed by the Canadian Horse Defense Coalition's videos and veterinary reports are not exceptional but are typical of the process. Criminalizing horse rescue as a way to promote and support slaughter is beneath reprehensible.
I'm sure Senator Larson could watch the CHDC videos and insist it can't happen here. I've been inside slaughter plants, and I don't believe that for a minute. Neither should you.
And I am once again reminded of a very old poem, author unknown:
Look back at our struggle for freedom,Trace our present day's strength to its source,And you'll find man's pathway to gloryIs strewn with the bones of the horse.
Friday, November 19, 2010
Absolutely Hilarious
Courtesy of Fugly Horse Of The Day, we have the Shetland Pony Grand National:
I could so see Milton The EvilPony™ doing this.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Zipper Horse 2 And Needle Nose
Last month I had the vet come out to do everyone's annual dental work. Since I always try to get as much as possible out of a barn call, one of the items on the to-do list was examine Sarge's scarring. The vet found a nidus inside a skin button on Sarge's side, so he decided to remove it.
Sarge was on house arrest for two weeks. Thank goodness I only had to do the twice-a-day antibiotics for five days this time instead of ten like Judge. It's amazing how many messy and destructive ways an active four-year-old (of any species) can devise to stay amused.
No sooner did Sarge get sprung from solitary than Milton The EvilPony™ showed up with what looked like a large pimple or small abscess on his upper lip. I found it the hard way when it splurted while I was haltering him. Just dandy: Milton seriously distrusts anything involving physical restraint.
Usually when something like that bursts it drains and heals. No such luck. Instead, Milton quickly sprouted a second oozing hole. I called the vet. Guess what he found?
Those are two huge wood splinters that were buried under the outer skin of Milton's upper lip. An EvilPony™ stick his nose where it didn't belong? No, he'd never do that.
Both equines are doing fine now. My checkbook, not so much. Dentals For Everyone Day ran me $784, quite a bargain considering. I haven't got the bill for Milton yet, but I'm expecting around $300 for that little adventure. Not all that long ago, Judge's tumor removal bill was almost $600.
Which brings me back to one of my perpetual rants. Horses are a huge responsibility. Craigslist and other dumping grounds are overflowing with the helpless victims of people who can't or won't understand that simple fact.
Sarge was on house arrest for two weeks. Thank goodness I only had to do the twice-a-day antibiotics for five days this time instead of ten like Judge. It's amazing how many messy and destructive ways an active four-year-old (of any species) can devise to stay amused.
No sooner did Sarge get sprung from solitary than Milton The EvilPony™ showed up with what looked like a large pimple or small abscess on his upper lip. I found it the hard way when it splurted while I was haltering him. Just dandy: Milton seriously distrusts anything involving physical restraint.
Usually when something like that bursts it drains and heals. No such luck. Instead, Milton quickly sprouted a second oozing hole. I called the vet. Guess what he found?
Those are two huge wood splinters that were buried under the outer skin of Milton's upper lip. An EvilPony™ stick his nose where it didn't belong? No, he'd never do that.
Both equines are doing fine now. My checkbook, not so much. Dentals For Everyone Day ran me $784, quite a bargain considering. I haven't got the bill for Milton yet, but I'm expecting around $300 for that little adventure. Not all that long ago, Judge's tumor removal bill was almost $600.
Which brings me back to one of my perpetual rants. Horses are a huge responsibility. Craigslist and other dumping grounds are overflowing with the helpless victims of people who can't or won't understand that simple fact.
Yeah, I know, hoping that people will take the time and trouble to learn what's involved before they get a horse is probably a waste of time. Look how many don't consider what they're getting themselves into before they buy cars or houses they can't afford. Look how many give no thought at all before they reproduce.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Everybody's Good At Something
Despite all of his natural obnoxiousness, Milton The EvilPony™ is a trailer-loading champ.
Yes, he uses cute as a weapon.
Yes, he uses cute as a weapon.
Monday, August 16, 2010
Histopath's Back
The histopath results came back for Judge's ear tumor. Surprise, surprise, it was a sarcoid and not a melanoma.
That's kind of good, because sarcoids are technically benign. It's bad in that sarcoids almost always come back aggressively and in many cases can only be managed, not eradicated.
So we'll hope for the best but expect the worst. New treatment options are being discovered all the time that can dramatically change the rules of the game.
Judge can count on one thing, though. While sarcoids are the number-one skin-related condition resulting in euthanasia of horses, typically because the tumors interfere with being ridden or are so unsightly the horse becomes unsaleable, when bad things happen I don't cut my losses and run.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Post-Operative Update
Judge had his surgery to remove his melanomas on Wednesday. Everything went really well.
Since there is no loose skin to suture inside a horse's ear or on the hairless part of the dock of the tail, both sites have to heal as open wounds. Despite the whole ear tumor being bigger than a golf ball, its point of attachment was only about the size of my thumbnail and did not involve the ear cartilage. That spot is nearly healed already.
The site of the tail tumor is not nearly so small and neat. In order to get good margins, Judge has a divot a bit over two inches across that goes well into the muscle. I'm treating it with Granulex V spray, plus Judge has ten days' worth of twice-daily Trimethoprim/Sulfadiazine tablets.
The vet came out to the barn to do the surgery because after all our trailer loading practice, when it was time to haul him to the clinic Judge wouldn't load. He's always been very well-behaved and cooperative, but in recent months he's been aloof and short-fused. Thoroughbreds are more normally reactive than most other breeds, and I attributed the rest of the behavioral changes to his moving up through the ranks in the herd. He's now the dominant gelding and thinks himself to be quite the ladies' man.
According to the available literature, equine melanoma is not painful. I could touch either of the tumors without Judge showing any sign of discomfort. But despite those facts, now that they're both gone Judge is back to his old cooperative self.
When we were trying to get Judge loaded, there was no shortage of "helpful" advice. The horse is being a pig, the horse is disrespectful, you need to get after him and make him mind. I now know those tumors, especially the one in his ear, were bothering him more than I thought. I feel absolutely awful for not doing something about the tumors sooner, despite normal veterinary advice being to leave melanomas alone unless absolutely necessary since surgery can cause otherwise localized masses to metastasize.
So I owe Judge a huge apology. The ear tumor is going in for histopath, since it was an atypical melanoma. It's way too soon to tell how fast the tumors will return, since most melanomas do. But regardless of the tumors' size or appearance, I will take action at the first sign of change from normal behavior.
I broke one of my own cardinal rules here: that horses never do anything without a good reason, and any time a horse is resistant look for a physical cause first. Judge's personality change was from physical discomfort, pure and simple. I won't make that mistake again.
Punishing Judge for being a disrespectful pig would have accomplished nothing except making him more miserable than he already was. He probably would have (justifiably) started avoiding me altogether. Removing the tumors fixed his behavior, not inflicting negative reinforcement and positive punishment.
The horse does not lie. We humans just have to be willing to hear the truth.
Since there is no loose skin to suture inside a horse's ear or on the hairless part of the dock of the tail, both sites have to heal as open wounds. Despite the whole ear tumor being bigger than a golf ball, its point of attachment was only about the size of my thumbnail and did not involve the ear cartilage. That spot is nearly healed already.
The site of the tail tumor is not nearly so small and neat. In order to get good margins, Judge has a divot a bit over two inches across that goes well into the muscle. I'm treating it with Granulex V spray, plus Judge has ten days' worth of twice-daily Trimethoprim/Sulfadiazine tablets.
The vet came out to the barn to do the surgery because after all our trailer loading practice, when it was time to haul him to the clinic Judge wouldn't load. He's always been very well-behaved and cooperative, but in recent months he's been aloof and short-fused. Thoroughbreds are more normally reactive than most other breeds, and I attributed the rest of the behavioral changes to his moving up through the ranks in the herd. He's now the dominant gelding and thinks himself to be quite the ladies' man.
According to the available literature, equine melanoma is not painful. I could touch either of the tumors without Judge showing any sign of discomfort. But despite those facts, now that they're both gone Judge is back to his old cooperative self.
When we were trying to get Judge loaded, there was no shortage of "helpful" advice. The horse is being a pig, the horse is disrespectful, you need to get after him and make him mind. I now know those tumors, especially the one in his ear, were bothering him more than I thought. I feel absolutely awful for not doing something about the tumors sooner, despite normal veterinary advice being to leave melanomas alone unless absolutely necessary since surgery can cause otherwise localized masses to metastasize.
So I owe Judge a huge apology. The ear tumor is going in for histopath, since it was an atypical melanoma. It's way too soon to tell how fast the tumors will return, since most melanomas do. But regardless of the tumors' size or appearance, I will take action at the first sign of change from normal behavior.
I broke one of my own cardinal rules here: that horses never do anything without a good reason, and any time a horse is resistant look for a physical cause first. Judge's personality change was from physical discomfort, pure and simple. I won't make that mistake again.
Punishing Judge for being a disrespectful pig would have accomplished nothing except making him more miserable than he already was. He probably would have (justifiably) started avoiding me altogether. Removing the tumors fixed his behavior, not inflicting negative reinforcement and positive punishment.
The horse does not lie. We humans just have to be willing to hear the truth.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Trauma-Free Trailer Training
Judge's ear melanoma has gone weird, so the vet wants to remove it and send it in for histopathology. As long as he's taking that one, he's going to remove the other melanoma on Judge's tail as well. That necessitates trailering Judge to the vet clinic about 30-odd miles away.
Judge has only been trailered once, when he was moved to where he's living now from the place where he was born. That was several years ago. Since I like to stack the deck for success whenever possible, we spent the day today doing Trailer Loading 101.
We pulled my trailer into a safely-fenced area so I could use free-shaping to get Judge calmly loading himself. I brought some of my other horses in as well, since loading like ladies and gentlemen is an essential skill. Milton The EvilPony™ is a trailer loading champ and could come in handy to give an uncertain horse a lead. Funny how even the worst little snot around has something he does really well.
Judge has only been trailered once, when he was moved to where he's living now from the place where he was born. That was several years ago. Since I like to stack the deck for success whenever possible, we spent the day today doing Trailer Loading 101.
We pulled my trailer into a safely-fenced area so I could use free-shaping to get Judge calmly loading himself. I brought some of my other horses in as well, since loading like ladies and gentlemen is an essential skill. Milton The EvilPony™ is a trailer loading champ and could come in handy to give an uncertain horse a lead. Funny how even the worst little snot around has something he does really well.
By clicking and rewarding the slightest effort made in a positive direction, Judge was soon loading himself with no physical coercion at all. No halter, no lead rope, no drama.
It really helps to have a trailer that's big and airy enough for the horses to feel comfortable. Judge is a solid 16 hands, and in my 7'8" tall, extra wide trailer he has plenty of room.
It really helps to have a trailer that's big and airy enough for the horses to feel comfortable. Judge is a solid 16 hands, and in my 7'8" tall, extra wide trailer he has plenty of room.Sarge was especially fun to work with. In about ten minutes, he would load himself when I told him, "Load up." He would stand in his proper spot, then turn around when asked, walk to the top of the ramp, wait until I told him it was okay, then walk down the ramp and stop at the bottom. Then I had to put him back out with the other horses because he kept loading and unloading himself and getting in the way.
Hopefully Judge will have smooth, stress-free trips to and from the vet, with Milton along for company. Once he gets there, well, I don't expect that part to be so pleasant.
Maybe I'm weird, but I enjoy playing with my horses, seeing how each one learns and the different activities they like over others, and learning how their minds work far more than riding them.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
How To Catch A Horse
Trainers get lots of calls from people who can't catch their horses. I thought I'd post a short video to show how it's done.
Dramamine Warning: This is my very first attempt at video recording. It was made on my phone (Motorola Droid) while walking over rough ground in a high wind. No way to mount a tripod.
Sarge recently skinned up his scar but good, and I have to treat it every day again. That's pretty much all I'm doing with him right now, so he knows perfectly well what's coming when I show up. Even though he's not crazy about being treated, the quality of our relationship is such that he still comes willingly when I call him.
That's the key. If you have a foundation of mutual respect and understanding, everything else just works.
Dramamine Warning: This is my very first attempt at video recording. It was made on my phone (Motorola Droid) while walking over rough ground in a high wind. No way to mount a tripod.
Sarge recently skinned up his scar but good, and I have to treat it every day again. That's pretty much all I'm doing with him right now, so he knows perfectly well what's coming when I show up. Even though he's not crazy about being treated, the quality of our relationship is such that he still comes willingly when I call him.
That's the key. If you have a foundation of mutual respect and understanding, everything else just works.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
And You Thought My Range Bag Was Bad
When I went through my range bag for this meme, I couldn't help wondering if some laws of physics weren't being violated when I packed everything back in. Unfortunately, that's not my only overstuffed crap carrier.
I have horses, and horses require grooming. Grooming requires assorted currycombs, brushes, and other implements. Lots of them.
Behold the horror that is the contents of my brush box:
Believe it or not, I really use all of that on my herd. No two items fill the exact same purpose. All the brushes are natural fibers only, from rice root and union fiber to pig bristle and goat hair. Synthetic brushes don't remove the dirt, they only push it around.
There's a lot of crossover between dog and horse grooming, hence the rakes, English Greyhound-style, and flea combs. Nothing like a flea comb to get the last little crud crumbs out of a horse's ears or armpits.
Just like my ridiculous range bag, everything actually does fit:
There's even room left for the couple of items that escaped and are currently AWOL somewhere inside my car.
"My name is Hecate, and I'm addicted to horse brushes."
"Hello, Hecate."
I have horses, and horses require grooming. Grooming requires assorted currycombs, brushes, and other implements. Lots of them.
Behold the horror that is the contents of my brush box:
Believe it or not, I really use all of that on my herd. No two items fill the exact same purpose. All the brushes are natural fibers only, from rice root and union fiber to pig bristle and goat hair. Synthetic brushes don't remove the dirt, they only push it around.There's a lot of crossover between dog and horse grooming, hence the rakes, English Greyhound-style, and flea combs. Nothing like a flea comb to get the last little crud crumbs out of a horse's ears or armpits.
Just like my ridiculous range bag, everything actually does fit:
There's even room left for the couple of items that escaped and are currently AWOL somewhere inside my car."My name is Hecate, and I'm addicted to horse brushes."
"Hello, Hecate."
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Equine Melanoma Update
The worst winter in memory (damn global warming) took a heavy toll on my ability to keep up with Judge's ear melanoma. It grew quite a bit, more than doubling in size.
Now that I can get out there regularly again, the frankincense essential oil is doing a good job. I was surprised to see the pure oil is much more effective than when some DMSO is added. I expected the penetrating agent would improve the results.
Another surprise was finding the interior of the tumor is pinkish-white instead of black. My vet said that's normal, though, and only some melanomas are black throughout.
In the clinical protocol, the oil is applied and/or injected into the tumors multiple times per day. With Judge, rubbing the oil into the surface of the tumor and then giving it a day or two to work seems to give the best results. The surface becomes hard and crumbly, and can be easily and painlessly removed.
So far, the treatment is easy, inexpensive, and seems to be getting results.
Now that I can get out there regularly again, the frankincense essential oil is doing a good job. I was surprised to see the pure oil is much more effective than when some DMSO is added. I expected the penetrating agent would improve the results.
Another surprise was finding the interior of the tumor is pinkish-white instead of black. My vet said that's normal, though, and only some melanomas are black throughout.
In the clinical protocol, the oil is applied and/or injected into the tumors multiple times per day. With Judge, rubbing the oil into the surface of the tumor and then giving it a day or two to work seems to give the best results. The surface becomes hard and crumbly, and can be easily and painlessly removed.
So far, the treatment is easy, inexpensive, and seems to be getting results.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Oh Yeah, It's Spring All Right
The hair, the hair is everywhere.
That's what I got with one swipe of the rubber curry.
That's what I got with one swipe of the rubber curry.
Monday, March 29, 2010
A Call For Justice
Three years ago, a piece of subhuman scum named Tony Meyers bought a little mare at auction for $37. When she would not load into a horse trailer, Meyers attacked her with a level of violence that is almost impossible to comprehend. He beat her in the face, wrapped barbed wire around her halter to try to drag her into the trailer, finally did drag her behind the trailer, backed the trailer over her, and then shot her in the head.
Rescuers had to remove the trailer from on top of the mare where Meyers left it before they could try to save her life. (Warning: graphic photos)
She survived but it has taken almost three years for Tony Meyers's case to come to trial. It will be heard starting on Tuesday, March 30, at the St. Martinsville Court. The case number is 07-00009229.
Tony Meyers needs to go to jail for his actions, but without sufficient media attention, there is a very real chance he will be let off with a slap on the wrist. There are still many who say "it's just an animal." Even those who believe animals cannot feel pain or suffer should care about the incontrovertible link between violence toward animals and violence toward humans.
I'm willing to bet that Tony Meyers's anger management issues are not limited to other species.
Here are the folks to contact to ensure Tony Meyers gets what he truly deserves:
WBRZ is the local Baton Rouge ABC affiliate: 225-336-2344
WAFB is the local Baton Rouge CBS affiliate: 225-383-9999 or e-mail news@wafb.com
WGMB is the local Baton Rouge Fox affiliate: 225-766-3233 or on their website http://www.fox44.com/info/contact
Something else I find extremely disturbing about this whole incident is that there had to be witnesses who saw what Meyers was doing to this mare. Why did nobody step up to stop him? While it can be argued that the apparent mugging just might be a scruffy undercover cop taking down a white-collar criminal, I can think of absolutely no circumstances under which obviously abusing an animal or child is allowable.
Oh, yeah, I should have asked Kitty Genovese for the answer to that question. Sorry.
UPDATE: There isn't going to be a trial. Meyers caved in, bawled like a baby before the judge, and pled guilty to felony animal abuse. For this felony, he was sentenced to three years at hard labor, sentence probated. Effectively, he got probation for three years. He is not allowed to be around horses for the three years of his (non)sentence until he completes a psychological examination and pays all court costs plus a $50 per month probation fee.
Sounds like a freakin' slap on the wrist to me. I guess as a convicted felon he's now a prohibited person, so at least he can't "legally" shoot a horse through the face again.
So you can beat a horse nearly to death, drag her by a halter wrapped in barbed wire, back a trailer over her, shoot her in the face, and get three years' probation for the felony conviction in Louisiana. But having a spent .22 casing stuck in the sole of your boot in Massachusetts without an FID or LTC ia a felony with mandatory jail time.
Rescuers had to remove the trailer from on top of the mare where Meyers left it before they could try to save her life. (Warning: graphic photos)
She survived but it has taken almost three years for Tony Meyers's case to come to trial. It will be heard starting on Tuesday, March 30, at the St. Martinsville Court. The case number is 07-00009229.
Tony Meyers needs to go to jail for his actions, but without sufficient media attention, there is a very real chance he will be let off with a slap on the wrist. There are still many who say "it's just an animal." Even those who believe animals cannot feel pain or suffer should care about the incontrovertible link between violence toward animals and violence toward humans.
I'm willing to bet that Tony Meyers's anger management issues are not limited to other species.
Here are the folks to contact to ensure Tony Meyers gets what he truly deserves:
WBRZ is the local Baton Rouge ABC affiliate: 225-336-2344
WAFB is the local Baton Rouge CBS affiliate: 225-383-9999 or e-mail news@wafb.com
WGMB is the local Baton Rouge Fox affiliate: 225-766-3233 or on their website http://www.fox44.com/info/contact
Something else I find extremely disturbing about this whole incident is that there had to be witnesses who saw what Meyers was doing to this mare. Why did nobody step up to stop him? While it can be argued that the apparent mugging just might be a scruffy undercover cop taking down a white-collar criminal, I can think of absolutely no circumstances under which obviously abusing an animal or child is allowable.
Oh, yeah, I should have asked Kitty Genovese for the answer to that question. Sorry.
UPDATE: There isn't going to be a trial. Meyers caved in, bawled like a baby before the judge, and pled guilty to felony animal abuse. For this felony, he was sentenced to three years at hard labor, sentence probated. Effectively, he got probation for three years. He is not allowed to be around horses for the three years of his (non)sentence until he completes a psychological examination and pays all court costs plus a $50 per month probation fee.
Sounds like a freakin' slap on the wrist to me. I guess as a convicted felon he's now a prohibited person, so at least he can't "legally" shoot a horse through the face again.
So you can beat a horse nearly to death, drag her by a halter wrapped in barbed wire, back a trailer over her, shoot her in the face, and get three years' probation for the felony conviction in Louisiana. But having a spent .22 casing stuck in the sole of your boot in Massachusetts without an FID or LTC ia a felony with mandatory jail time.
Friday, March 12, 2010
You Ride Like A Girl
You wish.
And halfpassgal/Shannon's piece de resistance:
Breathe
I've been riding twice as long as halfpassgal's been alive, and wish I had half the velcro-seat she does. When I work with horses who were messed up by ignorance and/or arrogance, I make sure I've stacked the deck way more in my favor before ever getting on them.
Even so, like the mare in the first video, sometimes they flash back to past bad memories and revert to old behaviors they developed way back when to save themselves. When that happens, the only way out is through. You have to stay on, stay calm, not punish, and straighten things out.
No funky sticks, magic ropes, waving flags, or endless circling. Just good classic horsemanship, pure and simple. As the late Col. Alois Podhajsky said, "Riding forward is the essence of correct training."
Calm, straight, and forward beats all those funky sticks, magic ropes, and round-penning ad-nauseam every time.
Breathe
I've been riding twice as long as halfpassgal's been alive, and wish I had half the velcro-seat she does. When I work with horses who were messed up by ignorance and/or arrogance, I make sure I've stacked the deck way more in my favor before ever getting on them.
Even so, like the mare in the first video, sometimes they flash back to past bad memories and revert to old behaviors they developed way back when to save themselves. When that happens, the only way out is through. You have to stay on, stay calm, not punish, and straighten things out.
No funky sticks, magic ropes, waving flags, or endless circling. Just good classic horsemanship, pure and simple. As the late Col. Alois Podhajsky said, "Riding forward is the essence of correct training."
Calm, straight, and forward beats all those funky sticks, magic ropes, and round-penning ad-nauseam every time.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Melting
Temps are finally starting to get back up to "normal," and the tons of Global Warming are melting. As much as we got this year, I'm amazed Milton The EvilPony™ didn't high-center.
The dogs' yard is still fence-to-fence ice, but they don't have any problems getting around. Me, when picking up poop, not so much.
As usual, the amount of mud on my horses varies directly with how light in color they are. The two grays are beyond gross and disgusting, while the chestnut, bay, blue roan, and black are nearly spotless. I tried to get some pictures, but it was already getting dark. No problem, I'm sure I'll have plenty of other chances to get pictures of filthy horses before the mud dries out.
Sarge's scar made it through the winter in great shape. I was concerned how all that hairless skin would tolerate the long stretches of double-digit-subzero days and nights, but it did just fine. Sarge will be four years old on June 1, and it looks like he's grown over the winter.
Early spring is flood season, when ice breaks up, floats down the rivers, and forms ice jams. They're calling for rain on four of the next five days. Neither my property or the barn is in a floodplain, but more wet is not what anyone needs.
At least the horses are starting to shed. Hope they're right.
The dogs' yard is still fence-to-fence ice, but they don't have any problems getting around. Me, when picking up poop, not so much.
As usual, the amount of mud on my horses varies directly with how light in color they are. The two grays are beyond gross and disgusting, while the chestnut, bay, blue roan, and black are nearly spotless. I tried to get some pictures, but it was already getting dark. No problem, I'm sure I'll have plenty of other chances to get pictures of filthy horses before the mud dries out.
Sarge's scar made it through the winter in great shape. I was concerned how all that hairless skin would tolerate the long stretches of double-digit-subzero days and nights, but it did just fine. Sarge will be four years old on June 1, and it looks like he's grown over the winter.
Early spring is flood season, when ice breaks up, floats down the rivers, and forms ice jams. They're calling for rain on four of the next five days. Neither my property or the barn is in a floodplain, but more wet is not what anyone needs.
At least the horses are starting to shed. Hope they're right.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Gray-Horse Melanoma
Gray horses are born dark and grow lighter over time. They also account for nearly all of the melanoma cases that occur in horses. Roughly seventy percent of grays have at least one visible melanoma by the age of ten. By fifteen, the rate is up to eighty percent.
Many years ago, I saw several aged gray horses die very unpleasantly after their melanomas suddenly went crazy, growing and multiplying wildly. I told myself I would never own a gray, so of course now I have two.
Beau is 14 years old and has the same five tiny tumors that haven't grown at all in the six years I've had him. Almost-10-year-old Judge was cancer-free until two years ago. His first melanoma on his tail grew from about the size of a 00 buckshot to over an inch in diameter since then. A second one appeared down inside his left ear back in April, and rapidly grew to about half an inch.
Based on the rate of cancer growth, my vet said Judge would need to go to a university teaching hospital for treatment. None of the currently available treatments are particularly successful though, none effecting a cure. All too often, they only "wake up" the cancer which then returns far more aggressively, leading to death.
While searching the web for any new progress with equine melanoma, I found references to research at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine using frankincense essential oil to treat this frustrating disease.
My holistic vet gave the idea of treating Judge's tumors with topical frankincense oil a thumbs-up. The oil is non-irritating to normal tissue, and the worst it would do is have no effect on the cancer while making him smell nice. She said if the straight oil proved to be well-tolerated I should add some DMSO to help it penetrate better.
In the clinical environment, researchers treat the tumors as many as five times a day. There was no way I could match that schedule, so I tried once a day for starters.
To my delight and amazement, the tumor inside Judge's ear began to respond immediately. The tumor had originally been very hard to the touch with a smooth surface. After I started applying the oil, its consistency became much softer. The surface is becoming crumbly and starting to flake away.
The much larger tumor on his tail hasn't shown any noticeable changes yet, but now that I've added the DMSO, I'm hopeful. If only one is going to improve, I'm glad it's the one inside his ear. The tail is a much easier surgical site if it eventually comes to that.
Frankincense has been used in medicine from the first milennium BCE. So-called "modern medicine" likes to denigrate anything outside itself as harmful at worst, quackery at best. If that were true, we never would have survived as a species to this day.
Many years ago, I saw several aged gray horses die very unpleasantly after their melanomas suddenly went crazy, growing and multiplying wildly. I told myself I would never own a gray, so of course now I have two.
Beau is 14 years old and has the same five tiny tumors that haven't grown at all in the six years I've had him. Almost-10-year-old Judge was cancer-free until two years ago. His first melanoma on his tail grew from about the size of a 00 buckshot to over an inch in diameter since then. A second one appeared down inside his left ear back in April, and rapidly grew to about half an inch.
Based on the rate of cancer growth, my vet said Judge would need to go to a university teaching hospital for treatment. None of the currently available treatments are particularly successful though, none effecting a cure. All too often, they only "wake up" the cancer which then returns far more aggressively, leading to death.
While searching the web for any new progress with equine melanoma, I found references to research at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine using frankincense essential oil to treat this frustrating disease.
My holistic vet gave the idea of treating Judge's tumors with topical frankincense oil a thumbs-up. The oil is non-irritating to normal tissue, and the worst it would do is have no effect on the cancer while making him smell nice. She said if the straight oil proved to be well-tolerated I should add some DMSO to help it penetrate better.
In the clinical environment, researchers treat the tumors as many as five times a day. There was no way I could match that schedule, so I tried once a day for starters.
To my delight and amazement, the tumor inside Judge's ear began to respond immediately. The tumor had originally been very hard to the touch with a smooth surface. After I started applying the oil, its consistency became much softer. The surface is becoming crumbly and starting to flake away.
The much larger tumor on his tail hasn't shown any noticeable changes yet, but now that I've added the DMSO, I'm hopeful. If only one is going to improve, I'm glad it's the one inside his ear. The tail is a much easier surgical site if it eventually comes to that.
Frankincense has been used in medicine from the first milennium BCE. So-called "modern medicine" likes to denigrate anything outside itself as harmful at worst, quackery at best. If that were true, we never would have survived as a species to this day.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
I'm The Fun Police
After over forty years with horses, I have been well-trained in how to behave around them. My instructors were merciless in demanding strict attention to safety around the barn. Failing to give these large, powerful, highly reactive animals the respect they deserve can be very dangerous.
Now, though, the vast majority of horse owners don't have the benefit of proper training. Oh, it's still available all right, but they either do not know or do not care. They know little to nothing about the huge responsibility they've undertaken. Somehow, neither they, their barbarian children, nor their hapless horses get killed for the most part. Damfino how they accomplish that.
Today was a perfect example. It was a nice day, albeit windy, and I hoped to work with Sarge on Foot Handling 101. He's still a very green three-year-old who can be quick with his heels, and needs to know how to stand like a little gentleman for hoof trimming.
But no sooner did we go into the barn to start training than several other boarders showed up. Ignorant boarders. Ignorant boarders with ill-mannered children and loose dogs.
Enter four running, screeching, arm-waving little girls and a bouncing sawed-off little rat-dog-thing. Fortunately I was working on Sarge's front feet at the time, and thanks to the trust we've already built up, reflexes honed by much defensive training, and a lifetime spent with very quick critters, I managed to keep the situation from going seriously pear-shaped.
Now if I had ever acted like that in public at their age, I would not be alive today. My parents did not tolerate such behavior at all. But with the exception of one still-memorable scene when I first encountered a down escalator at about age four, I knew how to conduct myself in a polite, respectful manner.
The kids continued to run around, jump and shriek, throw things at each other, open trash cans storing feed that belonged to other boarders, and (only once) tried to play with my plastic tote full of grooming tools outside the stall.
That was when stopped I gritting my teeth and told them quite firmly they had better stop fooling around with other people's property, settle down and be quiet around horses, and take their noisy games outside. They froze in their tracks, wide-eyed, and hustled their butts out the door where they switched to throwing screaming tantrums when they all couldn't ride the same horse at the same time.
And the parents' reactions to the noisy play and tantrums? Absolutely nothing. Obviously this crap is perfectly normal and expected to them.
News flash, people. You're the grown-ups. The whole world is not your children's playground. There's a time and a place for everything, and it's your job to teach this to your precious darlings, not mine.
You chose to have horses. Nobody forced you to do this. Learn something before you take on a potentially dangerous activity. HORSES ARE HORSES, not Disney cartoons. The 230 grain +P Hornady XTP I keep in my carry gun delivers 461 foot-pounds of energy out of a five inch barrel. A thousand-pound spooking horse can hit you with well over 7,500 foot pounds of energy.
And I will not hesitate to put the heavy thumb on your offspring to protect myself, and them, from experiencing that first-hand.*
* I've already been splattered by horses plenty of times during the aforementioned forty-plus years when being as careful as humanly possible. Every experienced horse person knows of somebody who was killed or nearly killed doing everything right. I am in no hurry for a repeat.
Now, though, the vast majority of horse owners don't have the benefit of proper training. Oh, it's still available all right, but they either do not know or do not care. They know little to nothing about the huge responsibility they've undertaken. Somehow, neither they, their barbarian children, nor their hapless horses get killed for the most part. Damfino how they accomplish that.
Today was a perfect example. It was a nice day, albeit windy, and I hoped to work with Sarge on Foot Handling 101. He's still a very green three-year-old who can be quick with his heels, and needs to know how to stand like a little gentleman for hoof trimming.
But no sooner did we go into the barn to start training than several other boarders showed up. Ignorant boarders. Ignorant boarders with ill-mannered children and loose dogs.
Enter four running, screeching, arm-waving little girls and a bouncing sawed-off little rat-dog-thing. Fortunately I was working on Sarge's front feet at the time, and thanks to the trust we've already built up, reflexes honed by much defensive training, and a lifetime spent with very quick critters, I managed to keep the situation from going seriously pear-shaped.
Now if I had ever acted like that in public at their age, I would not be alive today. My parents did not tolerate such behavior at all. But with the exception of one still-memorable scene when I first encountered a down escalator at about age four, I knew how to conduct myself in a polite, respectful manner.
The kids continued to run around, jump and shriek, throw things at each other, open trash cans storing feed that belonged to other boarders, and (only once) tried to play with my plastic tote full of grooming tools outside the stall.
That was when stopped I gritting my teeth and told them quite firmly they had better stop fooling around with other people's property, settle down and be quiet around horses, and take their noisy games outside. They froze in their tracks, wide-eyed, and hustled their butts out the door where they switched to throwing screaming tantrums when they all couldn't ride the same horse at the same time.
And the parents' reactions to the noisy play and tantrums? Absolutely nothing. Obviously this crap is perfectly normal and expected to them.
News flash, people. You're the grown-ups. The whole world is not your children's playground. There's a time and a place for everything, and it's your job to teach this to your precious darlings, not mine.
You chose to have horses. Nobody forced you to do this. Learn something before you take on a potentially dangerous activity. HORSES ARE HORSES, not Disney cartoons. The 230 grain +P Hornady XTP I keep in my carry gun delivers 461 foot-pounds of energy out of a five inch barrel. A thousand-pound spooking horse can hit you with well over 7,500 foot pounds of energy.
And I will not hesitate to put the heavy thumb on your offspring to protect myself, and them, from experiencing that first-hand.*
* I've already been splattered by horses plenty of times during the aforementioned forty-plus years when being as careful as humanly possible. Every experienced horse person knows of somebody who was killed or nearly killed doing everything right. I am in no hurry for a repeat.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Firsts
Sarge is reaching the point in his training where he trusts me enough to give me the benefit of the doubt. I can present new things for him to learn, and because I haven't hurt him, his immediate reaction is calm curiosity instead of fear.
Today, I decided to try girthing him for the first time. With the scarring in his back, he might not be able to wear a girth comfortably. If so, he would be permanently retired at the ripe old age of three. I seriously doubt he'll ever be able to handle a saddle with the weight of a rider, but driving in harness might still be a possibility.
I used a training surcingle, first letting him look it over and then just laying it over his back. He thought that was okay, so I let down the off side, reached under him, and brought up the buckle end on his near side. Just holding against him was okay, too, so I buckled it on the longest hole.
No objection, so I took it up one notch, then another. The surcingle was girthed as snugly as if it was part of a driving harness. And Sarge's reaction to this? Yawn.
There was none of the excitement that used to happen back in the bad old days, when terrified horses were snubbed to posts as saddles were strapped in place. No bucking, no resistance, no pain, no fear. There was no halter, no rope, no physical restraint at all. And it took less than five minutes from start to finish.
After Sarge wandered around for a while looking bored by the whole thing, I figured why not introduce him to the round pen and longeing? After all, so far so good, and a chance to move out more would test how comfortable the surcingle really was for him.
So I put his halter on and led him out to the round pen. Once inside, I took his halter off to avoid any possibility he could catch it on the fence. Using a longe whip only to wiggle along his side as a suggestion to stay out on the circle instead of right next to me, he walked and trotted calmly in both directions for about ten minutes or so. Plenty of time for a first attempt.
Then we went back to the barn. I groomed him, told him he was wonderful, and turned him back out. Thus endeth the lesson.
Good horse training appears very boring, because nothing seems to be happening. A horse should walk off the very first time he wears a saddle the same as if it's the thousandth time. If anything more spectacular happens, it's my fault and not the horse's.
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Sound familiar?
Today, I decided to try girthing him for the first time. With the scarring in his back, he might not be able to wear a girth comfortably. If so, he would be permanently retired at the ripe old age of three. I seriously doubt he'll ever be able to handle a saddle with the weight of a rider, but driving in harness might still be a possibility.
I used a training surcingle, first letting him look it over and then just laying it over his back. He thought that was okay, so I let down the off side, reached under him, and brought up the buckle end on his near side. Just holding against him was okay, too, so I buckled it on the longest hole.
No objection, so I took it up one notch, then another. The surcingle was girthed as snugly as if it was part of a driving harness. And Sarge's reaction to this? Yawn.
There was none of the excitement that used to happen back in the bad old days, when terrified horses were snubbed to posts as saddles were strapped in place. No bucking, no resistance, no pain, no fear. There was no halter, no rope, no physical restraint at all. And it took less than five minutes from start to finish.After Sarge wandered around for a while looking bored by the whole thing, I figured why not introduce him to the round pen and longeing? After all, so far so good, and a chance to move out more would test how comfortable the surcingle really was for him.
So I put his halter on and led him out to the round pen. Once inside, I took his halter off to avoid any possibility he could catch it on the fence. Using a longe whip only to wiggle along his side as a suggestion to stay out on the circle instead of right next to me, he walked and trotted calmly in both directions for about ten minutes or so. Plenty of time for a first attempt.
Then we went back to the barn. I groomed him, told him he was wonderful, and turned him back out. Thus endeth the lesson.
Good horse training appears very boring, because nothing seems to be happening. A horse should walk off the very first time he wears a saddle the same as if it's the thousandth time. If anything more spectacular happens, it's my fault and not the horse's.
Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast. Sound familiar?
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