*New* The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - Who's Who *pics*
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Posted on 01/31/2005 8:31:31 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
*New* The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - Who's Who *pics*
Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?
This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!
I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.
So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
I think he's good, he likes the job, though it's a pretty drastic lifestyle change for him. I feel bad that he has to do it and I don't. Maybe I should get another off-site job too, just part time, to spread the misery. ;~D
You haven't talked about your t-shirt thing in awhile... did you give it up?
We may ride today too.... talked a little about it :~D
Need some more coffee first and for them to digest their breakfast... maybe the fog will lift by then.
Pretty much. Mack and I just decided we really didn't want to build another business at our age. Especially retail. This winter has been a tough one. Like I've said, I think we are still recovering from the empty nest syndrome, and just haven't figured out what to do with the rest of our lives:). But we don't want to spend this time of our life "working" everyday, which retail would require.
Am I lazy, or does this make sense:)
Becky
Sure... it makes sense. You'd have to work a lot of hours to be open enough to sell stuff... You can't hire anyone else to run it and still make money probably.
Makes a lot of sense to me. You both have a chance to kick back and enjoy life - ought to be doing that.
How's your mare doing?
Beautiful day here, maybe she'll get with the program soon. We're thinking that since she was on regumate through most of this pregnancy, it may cause her to go later than she normally would. That may be why she's not foaled yet, because everything seems to be fine.
I just got in from riding Harley. I did get both of them rode today:)
I did arena work on him a while then did a quick trail loop. That was fun, I took all three dogs with me. I think Susie really enjoys going.
Becky
I wish there was a place where I could take the dogs, where I wouldn't run into other riders. They really aren't good on the populated trails up at the state forest... other people bring theirs, but...
We got our chores done.... will go for a ride tomorrow, I think, we don't have time now before ecurbh's ~game~ is on at 3.
Grizzly does pretty good, when we come across other dogs. I rarely take Susie and Nikki. Susie just couldn't go as far as I usually do, and Nikki is old and comes back lame if she has to go to far.
The day I rode with Beth, some dogs came from the one house we have to pass and got after him. He actually acted scared of them, I don't know why. In the past he's been the aggressive one. This time he tucked his tail and took off into the woods. Made a big circle around those dogs and met back up with us further down the trail.
He'll take off after squirrels rabbits and deer when we see them, but always comes back when I holler. I was a bit worried that when he took off today, Susie might follow, I'd worry about her going off trail. But she stayed on the trail and just watched him.
Becky
I'd take mine if I was where you are... They'd love it, and the exercise would do them good. There's one other place, that's real open, where I'd maybe take them, even though there's other riders once in awhile. I don't like it when we pass others with loose dogs when it's tight on trail, and you really can't prevent them from running up under other horses, walkers, or from doing whatever they are gonna do. So I won't take them to state forest. Maybe if we go on private land where we aren't so likely to see other people.
You know around here if you go during the week to state parks you never hardly see anyone. That's when I like to go to other places.
Even riding around here on the weekends you're more apt to run into people, but very rarely during the week.
One of these days, I'd like to let Susie go with me to the creek, when it warms up some. Grizzly and Nikki love to swim, but she seems afraid of water. I thought maybe seeing the others do it might help her to swim. I've only gotten her in water where she had to swim 2 times. She actually wasn't that good of swimmer either. That's one reason I want the water warmer, in case I have to rescue her:)
Becky
Heh... if she got stranded on the opposite side of the creek and feared getting left behind I'm sure she'd go in.
Our state forest isn't exactly packed, there's hundreds of miles of trail up there, but we usually pass a few others in a day. Not uncommon for there to be a large group of 5-6 riders like a club or a family, and a few other bicycles and walkers within a couple miles of the trail head.
The following is from the Ohio Horse Yahoo group. I don't know WHAT to think about it. ....
Subject: update on whisper syndrome
There has been wide spread speculation that Whisper Syndrome is a hoax and I have received many questioning emails, but these have dropped off as the word gets out.
There is also some hysteria.
Please don't panic. We are not talking about an epidemic here.
I want everyone to be acutely aware of the problem and alert, but not paranoid. The earlier you catch this, the quicker they recover.
Just remember that there is often no temperature or a depressed one and that is why it is so commonly misdiagnosed.
I spoke to my veterinarian today and to the veterinarian who is trying to solve the mystery of the horses North of Roanoke Virginia. They both agreed to give The Horse their stories. The mouse test results are still not back, and the vet working on that is still expecting a positive test for botulism. Despite many posts to the contrary, my vet is absolutely convinced that what hit Whisper and our others was not botulism. Therefore, it is possible some cases reported are and some are not botulism since the symptoms overlap. We hope to get Virginia Tech to make some initial statement soon to at least indicate that this is being investigated. We hope they will take over the symptom descriptions soon as well.
The reports have slowed but we still get very compelling descriptions of some of the more unusual symptoms. Unfortunately the reports that have come in have expanded the area. There are now two reports from Texas and one from Missouri, and one from Arizona. Both my vet and I are greatly surprised to see a report from a dry state as the theory has always been this is related to the excessively damp weather in the mid Atlantic this past year. I hope that this single report has an explanation that leaves the theory valid.
There are more survivor stories now, but only one that did not involve antibiotics. Happily, a horse that was in the lock-up stage has recovered through hospitalization and the use of IV Naxcel! The recovery was not fast, but it is back almost to normal. I have modified the symptoms slightly as more data has come in.
BJ _www.bjshorserescue.org_ (http://www.bjshorserescue.org/) _bjshorseheaven@yahoogroups.com_ (http://www.bjshorseheaven@yahoogroups.com/) horserescueandadoption@yahoogroups.com
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Message: 7
Date: Sat, 5 Mar 2005 15:38:26 -0500
From: "Suzanne Howard"
Subject: Whisper Syndrome final report. It is now in the hands of the veterinary world
-----Original Message-----
From: John Holland [mailto:hollandtech@earthlink.net]
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 3:23 PM
Dear Friends and Fellow Horse Lovers,
As you all know, the few days since I made my first post labeled "Watch your horses closely", the internet has generated a huge response. I have received countless emails and among them have been many with the unique symptoms I described. I want to thank everyone who took the time to write me about what was a painful and emotional experience. Almost mercifully, our yahoo group Whisper_Syndrome locked up yesterday and I have been able to catch up.
I have never said what my education or background is because I do not have a medical background. I am in fact a 59 year old electrical and software engineer and technical writer and have worked in science all of my life. I will not say more about my business as that would give critics room to say I have ulterior motives. As to those who believe this is related to my advocacy for ending horse slaughter, it is. It simply springs from the same deep love of horses and the people who share my feelings that brought me to make this effort. That is the connection and the only connection. I do not sell horses or horse related products, nor have any stock or interest in a pharmaceutical company.
What we have done is initial enquiry. It is not science. Since this initial inquiry has sparked awareness in the veterinary world, that is all we could possibly have hoped to accomplish. I have published a synopsis of the information simply to fill the void while we wait for the results of real science. Bombarding the medical establishment with more speculation will simply cause an "immune response" which has predictably already begun to occur. Real science takes time, so let's let it run.
Altogether I found about 125 cases that I thought looked very compelling. Because I provided the symptoms, some of these could have been the result of suggestive recall. Still others could have been botulism or other diseases, even though I did my best to separate out any that did not have a strong combination of key symptoms. Many of you know that I have told you your case does not look compelling or even likely. Even if these 125 cases were all Whisper Syndrome, this is clearly still not an epidemic.
Furthermore, the involvement of round bales and ground feeding, the possible link to Listeriosis in Icelandic horses, and the clustering since early January lead me to hope and expect that these infections will begin to abate rapidly with the onset of warmer (and hopefully dryer) weather. This should give us all a break and give science time to work. We should continue to watch for horses that show a loss of appetite, and if it does abate then next Winter we should all remember to become more vigilant again, and we should all try to keep feed off the ground.
From this point on the veterinary community will have no interest in circumstantial and retrospective data, but hopefully they will begin to look at undiagnosed cases in the light of what we have found. All we can do now is wait. The information is now on all the veterinary lists. If you sent me a compelling case, or believe you have one, please take the time to ask your veterinarian to address these lists with his or her findings. You should understand that it will take courage for him to do so. As we all predicted there are those who will not want Whisper Syndrome to be anything other than the expected diseases. Those are not scientists, nor are those who are not at least somewhat skeptical. True scientists are open minded skeptics.
If you suffer the loss of a horse to any unknown cause, please have a necropsy performed. This will make it far less likely that someone else will suffer the same loss in coming months and years.
Please send me no further case data or theories as to what this might be. If you want to send me an email saying your veterinarian has reported an interesting case, please do so. I obviously still have an intense curiosity but I will be a bystander now. For those who's vets agreed to be contacted, I have not been able to forward their names so they will need to take the initiative.
The Virginia Tech Veterinary School is declining to make a statement at this time, but my veterinarian has agreed to release his findings as to what occurred at my farm. These will confirm my earlier posts as to our experience. He has asked not to have his name released as he must earn a living. I also must earn a living. At this point we all need to take a breather and get back to business. If we can do this without having generated a conspiracy theory or a cult, then we may have set a new precedent for the use of this wonderful medium.
Out of this I have come to realize how very fortunate I am to have the veterinarian I do. He has been open minded and helpful and I credit him for the fact that I only lost one of my three infected horses.
Thank you and may all your horses know only health, happiness and joy,
John Holland
Is this guy posting any names so we can call them and ask? No, he isn't. The people named that are supposedly investigating, namely the AAEP, says it's all internet garbage. John Holland, who started this ruckus, says the Virginia Tech Vet School declines to comment.
I did a google search and the small amount of information I found was about this guys involvment as an animal rights activist. On one of his posts he said that because of this outbreak, horse slaughter for human consumption should stop for at least 50 years for studies. (I think this explains the "outbreak")
Of the only credible sources named, one says it's a hoax, the other declines to comment (per john holland, I haven't called the vet school but I will Monday) I did talk to the AAEP's head office in Kentucky, they say it's a hoax and if there were as many horses dying across the country as what's being reported on the internet, the USDA would be all over this.
I'm quite sure this is not a hoax, he has no secret agenda, and apparently approximately 100-125 horses have died with similar symptoms.
Dr. Moore @ Bold Springs Vet Service saw his horse Whisper, their number is: 540-552-1991.
Whisper was referred in to VMRCVM by Dr. Moore for necropsy. Contact him for more information.
Congratulation:) !!!
I just got up and saw your post on "my comments" page and knew it was an announcement.
He is beautiful. Isn't he colored like you wanted:)
Were you there for the birth, or just find him?
Becky
Good morning.
Above you will find pictures of Duchess47's new colt born early this morning.
Becky
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