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FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 12

Posted on 08/07/2007 7:33:14 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*

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, usually about our horses, sometimes about our dogs, gardens and other stuff we do. :~)

I have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will ping everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list.

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.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: saddleclub
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To: FrogInABlender; HairOfTheDog; presidio9; All
For all FR members who love horses, and the Thoroughbred breed in particular, here's some much overdue news. At long last the Thoroughbred industry, led by The Jockey Club, is taking what I hope will be substantive action to address the problem of the catastrophic injuries in Thoroughbred racehorses.

They have started by admitting the widespread use of anabolic steroids on horses by trainers, as well as the use of toe grabs on shoes, and whip abuse.

Almost immediately after the horrific breakdown of Eight Belles in this year's Kentucky Derby, The Jockey Club formed a Thoroughbred Safety Committee on May 8. Among its members are Dell Hancock, whose family-owned Claiborne Farm stood Secretariat throughout his stud career. Also Dr. Larry Bramlage, the sport's leading track veterinarian.

Today, the committee issued its first three recommendations. (There is no central governing body in Thoroughbred racing as there is in football, baseball, basketball, and most of auto racing, so state legislatures and jurisdictions will have to adopt these recommendations individually.)

Here is a link to their press release as published at Bloodhorse.com today. They are recommending a total ban on the use of steroids in the training and racing of Thoroughbreds, and a ban on toe grabs. They are also recommending a series of long-overdue whip reforms.

Because there is no central governing body for the sport, The Jockey Club has also focused on lining up the support of many of the sport's most influential national organizations, including:

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association
Breeders' Cup Ltd.
National Horsemen's Benevolent & Protective Association
Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association
Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association
Racing Commissioners International
American Association of Equine Practitioners (the national equine veterinary medicine association)
Racing Medication & Testing Consortium
Kentucky Thoroughbred Association
Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders, Inc.
Churchill Downs, Inc.
Keeneland Association
Magna Entertainment Corp.
New York Racing Association

In addition, the current issue of "The Horse" magazine has a report on catastrophic injuries written by Stacey Oke, DVM, MSc. She is a Canadian freelance medical writer, scientific researcher, and licensed veterinarian.

This issue has a photo of Charismatic on the cover after he broke down in the 1999 Belmont Stakes. His left foreleg is being held by his jockey, Chris Antley, who saved the horse's life by pulling him up smoothly, quickly dismounting, and cradling the leg until the vets arrived. Charismatic was saved and is now at stud in Japan. He had won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, and finished 3rd in the Belmont as Chris worked to pull him up.

Tragically, Chris died the following year of a drug overdose. He had battled drug addiction from 1988 to 1990. He was doing great in his comeback a few years later when he and Charismatic lost the Triple Crown in 1999. Chris loved that horse, was extremely emotional when Charismatic got hurt, and Chris never recovered. He was only 34 years old when he died.

8,981 posted on 06/17/2008 12:57:31 PM PDT by Wolfstar (Only a selfish, idiotic coward thinks the way to win in politics is for his own side to lose.)
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To: Wolfstar

Interesting information and progress, and I wish them luck!


8,982 posted on 06/17/2008 1:05:20 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog
Interesting information and progress, and I wish them luck!

They'll need every by of luck to force these changes throughout the entire industry in this country. I hope this is just the beginning. I included Chris Antley's sad story, because the racing powers that be also need to focus on the human toll. Secretariat's famed jockey, Ron Turcotte, suffered a spinal chord injury at the start of a race nearly five years after he rode Red to that spectacular Triple Crown. He became a paraplegic. Ron, who is a wonderful man (I've corresponded with him), has spent the last three decades in a wheelchair.

Ron was immediately inducted into the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame after his injury. As long as Secretariat is remembered, Ron will be remembered. Do you know Red still holds the Kentucky Derby and Belmont records 35 years later? He still holds the world record for 1 1/2 miles on a dirt track. Those memories, and the high regard everyone in the sport holds for him, have sustained Ron all these years.

8,983 posted on 06/17/2008 1:38:34 PM PDT by Wolfstar (Only a selfish, idiotic coward thinks the way to win in politics is for his own side to lose.)
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To: FrogInABlender

Well that’s great:)


8,984 posted on 06/17/2008 6:22:28 PM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: FrogInABlender

Well that’s great:)


8,985 posted on 06/17/2008 6:22:28 PM PDT by PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain
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To: PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain

You can say that again. :~)


8,986 posted on 06/18/2008 6:28:10 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog

So did you ever talk to the store owner to see how that guy that the police were chasing managed to get up in his ceiling without being seen? I thought I understood you to say that there were people in the store when the guy hid in there.


8,987 posted on 06/18/2008 10:11:50 AM PDT by FrogInABlender
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To: FrogInABlender

Yeah - I did... Best I can understand, he ran in, and then into the back storage room, and he wasn’t really in the rafters, he was up on top of the big walk-in cooler... Someplace I’d have thought they would have checked. But it looks like there’s a lot of frap up there he was hiding under, or something.


8,988 posted on 06/18/2008 10:54:59 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: HairOfTheDog

Sounds like scary stuff in any case. Nothing like having a potential shoot-out right on top of your house. I’m glad he went peacefully, but it sure would’ve been fun to see that dog get a hold of him. Those guys don’t mess around!


8,989 posted on 06/18/2008 11:41:48 AM PDT by FrogInABlender
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To: FrogInABlender
BladeRider was talking about having it all over her pasture.

I used Pasture Plus spray that you can use and not have to keep horses off of it and those little yellow flowers are all yellowed and shrivled up now! THis weekend we lime and in 6 weeks we fertilize.

8,990 posted on 06/18/2008 2:33:27 PM PDT by BladeRider
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To: Wolfstar
They have started by admitting the widespread use of anabolic steroids on horses by trainers, as well as the use of toe grabs on shoes, and whip abuse.

That is great news. I also wonder if rasing the racing age up to 4 year olds instead of 3 would give the horses more of a chance to finish growing. I am not that familiar with Thoroughbred horses but with most breeds I did not think they started breaking them until 2. I have a friend that rasises Arabs and she won't start putting them under saddle until they are 3 because she says their legs can withstand it better at 3. I have raised sporting dogs for 35 years and we refrain from heavy exercise until the dog is fully mature at the age of 2 because of possibly bone related health issues.

8,991 posted on 06/18/2008 2:45:34 PM PDT by BladeRider
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To: BladeRider
That is great news. I also wonder if rasing the racing age up to 4 year olds instead of 3 would give the horses more of a chance to finish growing.

Thanks for your reply, BladeRider. It is great news, although long, long overdue.

I don't think there's any doubt that, at the very least, not racing 2-year-olds would help a lot. But it's out of the question, unfortunately. Racing Thoroughbreds have started their careers at the age of 2 for well over 100 years, perhaps far longer than that, and it's one thing the sport probably will never change.

Especially not these days. We live in the age when the commercial breeders dominate the sport. Their interests are to sell as many yearlings as possible for the highest prices possible. So their breeding approach is stuck on what's fashionable at the moment. What this increasingly means is that stallions whose progeny tend to mature later are quickly out of fasion, as are those who tend to produce stamina rather than pure speed.

In addition, because of the widespread use of anabolic steroids in young horses, probably even yearlings (so they look great in the sales ring), who knows what kind of damage is being done genetically to the colts and fillies who eventually do go on to be studs and broodmares.

For way too long, no one in the sport even admitted to that kind of powerful drug use on horses. So at least something positive came from the horrific breakdown of Eight Belles moments after this year's Kentucky Derby. I just hope this time the powers that be in the sport really mean it, and yesterday's announcement was not just window dressing for public consumption.

8,992 posted on 06/18/2008 3:19:38 PM PDT by Wolfstar (Only a selfish, idiotic coward thinks the way to win in politics is for his own side to lose.)
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To: FrogInABlender

Absolutely! I realized when we were both standing there, feeling like spectators while all that went down, that we were actually in the middle of a fairly risky situation!


8,993 posted on 06/18/2008 4:26:51 PM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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To: Wolfstar
I don't think there's any doubt that, at the very least, not racing 2-year-olds would help a lot. But it's out of the question, unfortunately. Racing Thoroughbreds have started their careers at the age of 2 for well over 100 years, perhaps far longer than that, and it's one thing the sport probably will never change.

It is a shame, yes they have raced 2 year olds for over 100 years but the worlds of horses and verterinary medicine have come a long way in those 100 years. Stressing young bones with drugs and extensive exercise before growth is complete is not good for the horse in the long run, I wonder if growth plates are even closed by the time they start training. Hopefully at leat the banning of steroids will help some but I still believe that even adding one more year to mature would make a big difference. I have a 6 year old and to me he is in his prime right now. JMHO.

8,994 posted on 06/19/2008 6:38:31 AM PDT by BladeRider
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To: FrogInABlender

Jake has started coughing. Seems a little earlier this year than last. I wonder if there are any homeopathic remedies I can try on him.


8,995 posted on 06/19/2008 6:46:19 AM PDT by BladeRider
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To: BladeRider

I have no idea. I don’t know anything about that kinda stuff and wouldn’t even know where to begin to look. All the vet ever recommended for Tennessee was the Tri-Hist and some cough medicine and neither one of those worked very well because he wouldn’t eat it. I think there are other alternatives, like inhalers, but I imagine they are pretty darned expensive. I’ve heard of people giving horses Benadryl, but I think I read that it takes about 10 a day for a horse. That’d get kinda spendy too. :-/

He’s allergic to something, and whether it’s specific to your place or not is the question. Is there any other place you could keep him to see if that would help?


8,996 posted on 06/19/2008 8:57:42 AM PDT by FrogInABlender
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To: FrogInABlender
He’s allergic to something, and whether it’s specific to your place or not is the question. Is there any other place you could keep him to see if that would help?

We have been working on the small pasture and it is a lot lusher than the big pasture. I thought about putting him in there, he sure would hate to be there alone though. I am researching some holistic drugs to try. One called Funtima elastica. I found one place that makes it for horses but it is pricey.

http://www.equinawellness.com/prod_equinabine.htm

8,997 posted on 06/19/2008 10:34:44 AM PDT by BladeRider
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To: BladeRider

I would try the small pasture then and hopefully it will help. He may not like it at first, and I’m sure the others won’t either, but he’ll get used to it. As long as he can see the others he’ll do fine. I’m sure Tennessee would rather be out in the pasture with the rest of the horses but it’s better for him to be in his little lot than to be out there and founder. Sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do.


8,998 posted on 06/19/2008 11:13:10 AM PDT by FrogInABlender
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To: HairOfTheDog

Well I dropped in on the kitten thread over on the Horse.com forum and saw where you had found a home for 2 of the kittens. Have they picked them up yet?


8,999 posted on 06/19/2008 11:15:00 AM PDT by FrogInABlender
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To: FrogInABlender
I would try the small pasture then and hopefully it will help.

I wonder if they make a mask I can attach to his halter to filter out all the pollens and mold sporres? LOL.

9,000 posted on 06/19/2008 11:54:14 AM PDT by BladeRider
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