Our trip to the Amish was a great success too. We came home with all sorts of stuff and have other stuff ordered to be made and picked up later by some of the Old Farts who go up there all the time to have their horses shod.
The thing I was most tickled with was the biothane breast collar I had made while we were there. It's just like my Ortho Flex one only it has stainless steel hardware instead of brass. I carried my old one up there so they could see how it was made and he kept it about an hour and made two of them, one for me and one for Kari, while we shopped somewhere else. And they only cost $20! The only catch was that he didn't have the neoprene to make the tubes to cover the shoulder straps, but we carried them to another guy who did and he made those while we waited and they were only $10, so we got the whole breast collar made for $30. They would cost $170 if you order them from Ortho Flex!
I also ordered a 22” nylon and neoprene english girth to be made for that treeless saddle I've got. It's got a dropped rigging and the 24” elastic Wintec girth that I bought for it is just too big and stretches too much. You just can't find that small of a girth in most catalogs so having one made was about my only option. I also had some more nylon bit straps made for my trail bridles, and some nylon throat latch straps to use on the muzzles. Kari got a snap added to her existing leather breast collar and had some broken hardware replaced on her existing leather trail bridle. She also ordered a couple of new biothane trail bridles in some loud colors. I like basic black myself. ;o) Then we just picked up miscellaneous other stuff like brass snaps, bucket straps, some new black nylon saddle bags for BladeRider, a new 28” western Weaver Smart Cinch for me and a couple of small straps of brass harness bells for Kari and I to use in the Christmas parades. I think that's all, but I'm not sure. We had the back seat full in any case. So as much as I would have liked to have ridden, I guess I'm glad we got rained out because I sure enjoyed the shopping trip.
I may be skunked on pasture mowing today... it started raining on me just now. I did get this weedy stuff tidied up in the paddock though.
That yellow flowered stuff is Buttercup, and is supposedly toxic, though I've never seen a horse eat it, I don't think it should be encouraged. It would be hard to eliminate, it's all over the back forty, wherever it's shady. Do you have that in your wet areas down there?
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.