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*HORSES and About Them
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I love Horses so much.
"You know you are a horseperson when:
-You cluck to your car when you go up a hill.
-Your horse's hair is in better condition than your own.
-You refer to your car as "my portable tack room".
-You are exited when your friend tells you that there is a huge sale at the bridle shop, then you are dissapointed when you realize they mean the bridal shop.
-You have the vet's number but not your kid's pediatrician on your speed dial.
-Your spouse can track dirt into the house all they want, but God help them if they muddy up the tack room."
Author Unknown
Reasons NOT To Slaughter Horses
The seller averages $500.00 per horse sale for slaughtering. It's a profitable business ONLY for the seller and slaughter industry.
The Department of Agriculture opposed domestic horse slaugther for human consumption overseas in 2006 (see BILL H.R.503).
The Department of Agriculture cut off all Federal funding to USDA Ispectors for overseas processing.
SEE: "American Horse Slaughter Protection Act"
It's a controversial and secretive business to exploit and slaughter horses. Even healthy horses are abused this way. Eighty percent of the horses slaughtered are retired Thoroughbred race horses, even a few famous ones. An average of 700 a week are slaughtered for overseas consumption.
Japan is one of the few countries that eat horse meat. They think it is a delicasy when eaten raw in thin strips dipped in a sauce. Japan consummed over 15,500 TONS in 2007. Over 8,800 TONS came from the UNITED STATES.
A barbaric and revolting method of horse slaughter is VIVESECTION. It means that the horse is CUP UP while still ALIVE prior to overseas shipments.
PREMARIN Mares, used only to create a human female hormone medicine, are kept in 4' by 6' stalls and cannot even turn around or lay down ever. They are sent to overseas slaughter when they can no longer reproduce babies which is required to make the medicine. These horses are very abused!! Canada has several of these processing farms. All women on hormone medicine should REFUSE to take PREMARIN and ask for an alternate hormone medicine. They have many to choose from that don't endanger our equine industry. The horses often sway side to side as it's the only movement they can make. Stalls aren't cleaned either.
HORSE TIPS
There's an old saying:
"You can lead a horse to water
but you can't make him drink it."
Always keep clean water available for the horse. Sometime you may run across a horse that refuses to drink the water for whatever reason. He may not be used to the taste of the well water if he has been relocated. It may be that the horse just doesn't drink much water.
I've seen terrible hoof conditions when I've been at the sale barn. Owners that never did anything to care for them right. Don't matter, ridden or not, need daily trimming at least. Can get pretty expensive if there are several horses. Used to be $30 per horse but that price has went up.
Horses in the wild take care of their own & wear them down naturally in the rough terrians. Pastured horses though don't get the same effect.
Lots of hard work and money needed to be a horse owner. You know, lately, many owners are just turning their horses LOOSE since they can no longer afford their care. SAD!! It makes me sick.
The Ferrier:
Between ferrier visits owners have to Pick the horse hoofs often.
Our ferrier made over $100,000 a year back in the the '90's. Of course he was excellent & sought after by many horse owners. It's a profitable profession but also a back breaking one.
He was training our son to learn the ropes so he could assist him on jobs. I Still have all the horse shoeing/trimming equipment necessary, except for 2 anvils which we sold.
Victory, a 30 year old Thoroughbred, has resided in California all of his life. Here he's shown with owner, Carolyn. She purchased Victory from us years ago and boarded him at stables. Just recently Carolyn retired Victory to their Indiana family farm where he happily roamed the spacious pastures until he passed on in 2008 at the age of 29.
FYI: In this photo Carolyn is seven months pregnant.
Here's what I did in the case of Victory.
When we bought him in Apple Valley, CA he didn't drink much water.
We added JELLO (presweetened) to his water pail and he began drinking water often then. We kept doing this daily until he got used to the flavor of our well water at our place in Lucerne Valley, CA..
Victory preferred the Strawberry or Cherry Jello.
HORSES
They gallop, trot, whinny and neigh, capturing our imagination and our hearts. Horses are said to have done more to change human history than any other domestic animal, once upon a time carrying explorers to new frontiers and mighty armies. Many men, women and children dream of riding or of owning their own horse. Sadly many times obstacles prevent this from occuring.
The horse has long been a symbol of freedom.
The mother horse is called a Mare or Dam.
The father horse is called a Sire.
Baby horses are called foals.
Boy foals are called colts.
Girl foals are called fillies.
Young horses are called colts and fillies up until the age of 3.
Yearlings are colts or fillies who are a year old.
A Mare or Dam is a female horse over 4 years old.
A Stallion is a male horse over 4 years old that has not been cut.
When a horse is born, it's legs are almost their full adult length. Giving them that cute 'long-legged look' we all love so much.
A newborn foal can stand up within an hour of being born. When first born, foals cannot eat grass because their legs are too long to reach it!
In the Northern Hemisphere, (which includes the USA, Canada and Europe), Horse Birthdays are on the first day of the year (January 1st) no matter when the actual birth is. This makes it easier for keeping race, breeding and show records.
In the Southern Hemisphere, which includes Australia, New Zealand and Japan, horses have their birthdays August 1st.
A Palomino is a color and not a horse breed.
Monitor your horse's feet.
Picking them before and after rides should be basic.
No hoof, no horse - and that's no fun.
Basically horses want to please us. Exercise your horse on a regular schedule but not during feeding times.
Horses will eat as long as food is available to them. Actually they will even eat until death if allowed. We don't want to be able to count their ribs from a distance but then again we don't need them fat. It isn't healthy for the horse and is hard on their heart. Feed on a regular schedule as it's very important. Horses may colic or have other health issues when a feeding is late or missed. Colic can lead to twisted intestines which is fatal. If a horse gets colicy, or goes off his feed even, WATCH the HORSE and WALK him in unfamiliar areas. CALL the Vet for advice and a check-up ASAP!! The change in routine and scenery will help the horses digestive tract. Keep fresh water available. We have took turns, and over several hours, walked a sick horse many a late night. Sometimes when the Vet has put a horse on Bute for pain this can irritate the horses stomach and this tends to make some cantankerous. I believe there is a time limit when using Bute but not all Vet's regard it. My theory is that since they don't have to be present to care for the animal daily they might not even have thought much about this becoming a problem.
Horses eyelashes and/or whiskers are sensors for them. Especially in the dark, say when moving around the stall, and the hairs alerts them by feeling objects near them. It keeps them from hurting themselves when they would otherwise bump into troughs,, gates, etc, etc..
Horses use their tails to swat flies, or other bugs, away from their body.
FACTS about Famous HORSES
*The Smartest Horse in the West is Trigger. Trigger's hoof prints share a cement spot with Roy Rogers in the April 21, 1949 dedication at the Mann's Chinese Theater, Hollywood, CA.
Click here to learn MORE about Trigger.
*The horse that starred as Mr Ed, in the TV
series, was a registered American Saddlebred.
HORSE NAMES
Bandido
Bandit
Baron
Baroness
Beau
Beauty
Belle
Blossom
Bigshot
Bojangles
Candy Apple
Cimarron
Comanche
Cowboy
Dixie
Dazzele'n
Duke
Echo
Foxy
Freedom
General
Glory
Gold Dust
Haley's Comet
Honor
Jet
JigSaw
Johnny Angel
JoJo
Majesty
Major
Merrylegs
Misty
Morning Star
Nevada
Pal
Paladin
Partner
Peaches
Phoenix
Pilgrim
Pistol
Pride
Ranger
Rebel
Reno
Rocket
Rocky Road
Roman
Sahara
Shadow
Shortcake
Squire
Sundance
Tahoe
Taffy
Thunder
Trooper
Tornado
Vanilla
Velvet
Victorias Secret
Victory
Yes there are the special names of Trigger, Buttermilk, Champion, Flicka, Fury, Silver, Topper, Man-O-War, Duke, The Black Stallion, Black Beauty, and others
but everyone knows them already.
I think that they are 'One of a Kind'
and dear to my heart
so I don't name my own horses after them.
DONKEYS
Christian tradition stated that donkeys originally had unmarked hides, and that it was only after Christ's entry into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey that they received the dark cross on their backs.
Mule
The offspring of a male donkey
and a female horse.
MORE to be ADDED as things come to me about the subject of Horses.
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