:: HorsesDiaries.com ::

From your days at the Fair Hills Training Center, to the
entry of your spirit, this morning, into the fair hills of
eternity, Barbaro, you were a reminder, to all of us who
love horses, of why we do, and why we will keep on loving
them in spite of the inevitable heartbreak that love will
bring.

We, as humans, do not, and cannot, understand the mystery
of the horse; how even in the confines of a stall they carry
within them all the vast open spaces of the earth; how,
although we may saddle them in arrogance, without their
strength and swiftness, we, as a species, may not have
survived; and how to mount a horse is to embark on a
journey of mastering not the horse, but oneself, and then
the world.

And when we lost you, Barbaro, who were the symbol of
courage, endurance, patience, and a desire to overcome, we
lost a being who, for a short time, became a bridge between
those of us who cannot imagine a world without horses and
those who, before you, had known nothing of them.

I will never forget you, Barbaro, as I will never forget
the images I have seen of the great Ruffian, and Go for
Wand, and Landaluce, and Pine Island, who were all taken
from us before their time. And I hope, if there are
stallion and broodmare bands in heaven, that you have them
all in yours.

In another troubling setback, Barbaro underwent his second
medical procedure in the past month, to treat a bruise and
abscess on the right hind leg which he shattered in the
2006 Preakness Stakes.

Barbaro’s laminitis-stricken left hind foot, until
Saturday, had been the focus of concern for his doctor Dean
Richardson, DVM, Dipl. ACVS, and owners Roy and Gretchen
Jackson. He had seemed to be recovering well from having
80% of the hoof removed last July, but earlier this month
had to undergo a surgery to cut the tendon attached to the
coffin bone and relieve pressure on the hoof.

Barbaro was fitted with an orthotic brace on the right hind
foot, both to support the hoof and allow his handlers
access to the area of the drained abscess.

While neither of the problems in Barbaro’s hind legs, when
taken separately, is, according to Gretchen Jackson,
life-threatening, they are, in combination, cause for
serious concern. Dr. Richardson has, from the time he
began caring for Barbaro, said that the colt had a sharply
uphill battle ahead, and it appears that he has yet to
reach its summit.

And, while the U.S. horse community is being confronted
with the issues of the U.S. Horse Slaughter Bill and,
should it pass, finding alternatives to care for the
estimate 90,000 horses sent to slaughter each year, the
Saddlebred Rescue group, which found homes for some one
hundred animals in 2006, is asking for help.

The group normally gets its horses at auction, but they are
sold without papers. Christy Parker and pat Johnson,
members of Saddlebred Rescue, say that, if the animals
could be properly identified, they would qualify as show
horses, and their chances of adoption would be vastly
improved.

So Saddlebred Rescue, by posting photos of its rescue
horses on its website, is reaching out to all Saddlebred
owners, breeders, and trainers, hoping that anyone who
recognizes any of the animals will contact them with that
horse’s date of birth, pedigree, and, if any, performance
history.

Saddlebred Rescue is saving some beautiful animals from
slaughter, and offers some in-depth descriptions of
them—including their temperaments and way of going when put
under saddle after who-know-what kind of treatment in their
pasts.

Because the organization is constantly rescuing new
horses–sometimes as many as five a week–they ask that
those who might be able to help visit their website at
www.saddlebredrescue.com/identify.html to look over the
photos on a regular basis.

If the U.S. Horse Slaughter Bill passes, there will be
thousands of animals needing care, and organizations like
Saddlebred Rescue certainly deserve all the support they
can get!

Here are some of the latest Barbaro pictures:

To update on an article we posted last week, the Calgary
Sun reports that as of January 24, four more of the
Alberta wild horses had been found shot to death near
Sundre.

While out riding on January 23, some members of the Wild
Horses of Alberta Society discovered the remains of a wild
horse family, including the stallion, one mare, a
yearling, and a foal.

The remains, spread over a distance of some 200 meters,
had been scavenged by wolves, and were located about six
kilometers from those of three other Alberta wild horses
discovered shot to death earlier in the month.

RCMP’s David Heaslip, who is overseeing the investigation
into the ongoing wild horse killings, says he has received
several tips on the identity of the shooter, and believes
the same party is responsible for the latest deaths.

Heaslip has temporarily put his other investigations on
hold so that he can focus on finding the shooter, and will
be using DNA evidence to help.

The Wild Horses of Alberta Society, in the meantime, has
increased to $6500 the reward it is offering for
information that leads to the apprehension of the party
responsible. You can read more about their efforts here:

http://northernhorse.com/wildhorses/

Because the Alberta wild horse herd is descended from
domestic horses used in lumber camps generations ago, the
government neither considers the two hundred horses in
the foothill of the eastern Rockies to be, nor offers them
protection as, wildlife.

In a more uplifting, and somewhat personal vein, an
article by Meghan Low of the Quebec Suburban is advocating
the idea that horses might be more comfortable if we
stopped shoeing them.

Alisha Viglas of Baie d’Urfé, who boards her horse Jet at
the Rappenhof Barn in St. Lazare, tends to Jet’s hooves
by using the “Barefoot Performance Trim” method, which
simply means that she trims the bottoms of Jet’s hooves
before they have a chance to overgrow.

The theory behind the Barefoot Performance Trim is that,
in the days when horses were used for transport and
industrial purposes, they often stood in dirty bedding for
long periods of time, and horseshoes were necessary to
keep the bottoms of their hooves elevated and germ-free.

But shoeing them also prevents the natural expansion and
contraction that occurs as the horse’s weight, during
movement, comes down on and is removed from, the hooves.
The shoes force the hooves to be in a permanently
contracted state, impeding blood circulation to the
horse’s legs. My family’s horses, kept on a ranch by the
Pacific, were always allowed to go barefoot.

It just made sense because they were free ranging
animals for eight months every year, and Mother Nature
as she does for wild horses, kept their hoofs trimmed.
Because they were healthy, they didn’t experience any
hoof cracking, and the riding we did during the summers
was sufficient to keep their hooves from becoming
overgrown until they were turned loose again.

do question, however, the wisdom of the Barefoot
Performance Trim, both for horses which have to compete,
and those ridden over long stretches of asphalt roads or
in wet or icy conditions. Proper shoeing, on a correctly
trimmed hoof, can offer them extra support and traction,
and perhaps, the confidence to put that little extra
effort into their work.

I love, during the summer, to go barefoot on the grass,
but having to do it today, on the icy ground of late January,
would be a “horse of a different color”!

The first step in stopping the slaughter of horses for human
consumption seems to have been taken this past Friday when
the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit ruled
that two Texas companies, Dallas Crown, Inc., and Beltex
Corporation can be prosecuted under a 48-year-old Texas law
against slaughtering horses and selling the meat abroad.

The Texas Legislature, in 1949, made it illegal to sell,
possess and transport horsemeat for human
consumption.

Because the law has been amended several times, Dallas Crown
and Beltex filed an injunction in Federal Court arguing that
it had been repealed and supplanted by Federal law, so that
they could not be prosecuted under it. The U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of Texas upheld their
argument and enjoined Tim Curry, the District Attorney of
Tarrant County where the facilities are located, from
pursuing legal action against them.

The Society for Animal Protective Legislation, which had,in
2001, asked District Attorney Curry to institute legal
proceedings against the slaughterhouses, appealed the
ruling, and on Friday the ruling was overturned.

The Court of Appeals said, in its decision, that ending
horse slaughter will not only protect horses; it will stop
hoses in American from being stolen and sold for slaughter.
The Court also strongly disagreed with the district court’s
reasoning that Texas has sufficient alternative measures to
oversee the welfare of horses.

The Texas ruling comes directly on the heels of the
re-introduction, in both houses of the U.S. Congress, of H.
H.R. 503, and S.311, federal legislation which would not only

put an end to horse slaughter for human consumption within
The U.S., but would make illegal the transportation of horses
to other countries for slaughter. There seems to be widespread
support for the bills.

But on the other side of the issue is the reality that, this
past weekend, twelve of the slaughter-bound horses which
survived when the trailer they were being shipped in
overturned on a U.S. Interstate last November were put up
for adoption this past weekend. Thirteen more are still
recovering at Longmeadow Farm in Union, Missouri.

The plight of these horses has been broadcast
internationally, but the fact remains that Longmeadow Farm,
before it took them in, had another one hundred rescued
horses for which it is still caring and trying to find
homes. Horse slaughter is unconscionable. But the most effective
way to put all horse slaughter facilities out of business is
to take away their profit incentive.

And as long as breeders, especially breeders of sport and
pleasure animals, insist on overproducing, we will see a
ready supply of unwanted animals being sold at low prices for slaughter.
Until that supply dries up, there will be both money,
and people willing to make it, in the horse slaughter business.

Well, I looked out the window this morning, and sure enough, it’s still winter. It seems like it has been winter forever, and if I, a human being well-adapted to spending time indoors, am feeling stir-crazy, think about what long indoor winters can mean to horses meant for the outdoors?

In spite of how unappealing the thought of getting out there and giving your horse some fresh air can be on sub-freezing, gray, wet days, if your equine buddy is stall-bound most of the time, you need to stop looking for ex-er-scuses and make the sacrifice.

If you’ve seen your horse start exhibiting signs of stall-souring, like cribbing, kicking, or constantly pawing its bedding, you are looking at a bored animal. And if you don’t have the option of turning your horse out for pasture exercise, then please schedule a ride (that sounds strange, doesn’t it, to those of us who in fine weather can’t wait to climb aboard?) or training session–anything to get your horse out and moving.

Horses who do not exercise regularly are prone not only to boredom but to all types of unsoundness. Exercise keeps their muscular, skeletal, and circulatory systems toned and flexible, improves their appetite and digestion, and, by stretching their ligaments and tendons, vastly decreases their vulnerability to lameness.

Just as importantly, daily exercise will keep horses mentally sharp, and when it’s time to get back to regular business with the return of warm weather, they will be in much better condition and less in need of schooling to get with the program.

But because it’s winter, you may have to adjust your horse’s exercise to accommodate the weather and shorter daylight hours. You’ll need to extend both your horse’s warm-up before beginning vigorous activity, and cool-down after you are through.

You’ll be able to tell from your horse’s motion if it has warmed up enough to begin a more vigorous workout. If it’s taking short strides and appears to be “hunched”, keep leading it around until its stride and posture open up, and then mount and gradually step up the pace of the exercise.

One of the perils of winter exercise is that a deep-snow workout will exhaust your horse much more quickly than you may realize, so watch for signs of leg-weariness; you don’t want over-exertion to lead to lameness.

When you are finished with the exercise session, you’ll help your horse to cool out faster by running a towel over his thick winter coat to get the hair separated so that the moisture will evaporate more quickly, and then using a wool blanket to “wick” the moisture away from your horse’s skin. Don’t think that you can make up for putting a damp horse away by blanketing it; the blanket will only trap the moisture and leave your horse colder than he would have been without it.

So, because of the longer warm-up and cool-down periods, make sure you begin the exercise well in advance of sundown.

A horse which has been sufficiently exercised over the winter will be a much better-conditioned, and manageable, when warm weather does arrive, so just remember that the sacrifices you make to keep your horse active now will pay you back handsomely in a very short time!