The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!

[HairOfTheDog]

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.

[Beaker]

I belonged to the Ma horseman's council for a while. It was a really good group.

[HairOfTheDog]

Sounds like he should recover if his overall health is still good, and it's treated.

Treatment

Treatment involves the use of an appropriate antibiotic, such as doxycycline, for at least three to four weeks.

Prognosis

Dogs should begin to show signs of recovery two to three days after beginning treatment.  However, the disease may recur within a few weeks or months; in these cases, the dog will need to return to antibiotic therapy for extended periods.

Source... rest of article including symptoms: Canine Lyme Disease

[FrogInABlender]

I have to differ with you about the clear-cuts. Now, let me say up front that I know nothing about forestry, but I just don't think that taking a mixed hardwood forest and replacing it with a pine monoculture is a sound forest management practice. They could select cut the mature trees and let the rest grow while replacing what they cut with similar species. The pine beetle infestations of the last several years are just one example of too much of a good thing can be a bad thing. When pines are scattered throughout a hardwood forest, if one area gets pine beetles, there's probably not another pine grove close enough to get them too, so the outbreak is confined to just the trees in that area. But when the pines go on for miles, there's no stopping it. It's like a fire in that it jumps from one tree to the next.

And I would agree with you about the clear-cuts functioning in a similar way to the cycles of burning and regrowth that would occur in a natural old growth forest, IF that's what they let happen, but it isn't. They let good timber to to waste in the areas that they don't cut, like the wilderness areas, then suppress naturally occurring fires until the deadwood piles up so deep on the forest floor that you can't even walk through it and if, god forbid, there is a fire at that point, there is so much fuel that it would take the whole forest with it.

I do agree with you about the fact that they don't like the public to have access because it allows them to see what is actually happening on public land and they don't want the hassle.

(Off soapbox now)

[HairOfTheDog]

There is a lot done right and a lot done wrong in forestry. I'm no expert on it either, but here, its a way of life and in terms of ecological damage, between a working forest and a subdivision of homes, I'll pick the working forest with clearcuts every 40 years every time.

I do agree with you about the fact that they don't like the public to have access because it allows them to see what is actually happening on public land and they don't want the hassle.

Doll, I did not say that. I said what closes forests are hoodlums with explosive mobile meth labs, and crooks who dump their trash out there.

I am sorry you have trouble with yours being unfriendly to horses and horsemen, I don't get that sense at all here.

[Beaker]

Thanks :-) He wasn't showing any signs or symptoms, but his bloodwork came back positive for it. So it was caught early. :-)

[estrogen]

Where in Ohio are you? It looks like you live near me (sort of) I'm in Geauga County. Would love to find a trail buddy, my husband is not into horses

[FrogInABlender]

I get your point about forestry being a way of life. Ya'll have lots of trees up there and lots of people make their living off of them, and thats good. I'd rather live next to a working forest than a subdivision too. I just don't like it when the USFS cuts off my access and confines all trail riding activities to just a few miles of trails out of hundreds and hundreds of miles of perfectly good old log roads. If they would let people spread out more, then no one area would get over used like they currently are.

I do think the problem is presently confined to this state. I just hope it's not a shadow of things to come elsewhere. But if they did it here, they could eventually do it in other places. I think the problem here originated with some activist groups taking the USFS to court, trying to ban all logging in the Bankhead and Talladega National Forests. They failed, but they did succeed in almost doubling the size of the designated wilderness area where no logging can take place. That made the Regional Forest Service mad and they over reacted, IMHO. I may be wrong, but that's my take on it anyways. I just hate that it happened. I'm sure those groups were well intentioned, but just like the dumpers, meth-heads and off-roaders, they've managed to ruin a good thing for everyone else.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, you've got big problems with those beetles, I've heard about them all over the south.

[MissTargets]

I am in Trumbull County. Just a few miles from the Mosquito Lake State Park. The Rails to Trails is only a few yards down the road. I really don't have anything here to ride. The Arabian is just getting started and the Quarter horse is just 2. After my horse died,I got into trap shooting competitively, and that ties up my weekends. I am seriously thinking about getting another horse. My period of mourning is over.

[HairOfTheDog]

And I agree completely that it's vital public lands remain open to the public for good uses like hiking, riding, hunting and camping, just like it's vital that they remain working timber and get logged and replanted. I am not a huge fan of off-road bikes, but even they have a part of the forest here designated just for them. It's vital to us that the public forestlands not get gated on us... Many of the private ones here already are.

[FrogInABlender]

They're not as bad the last couple of years as they have been but we've lost hundreds of pines on our property to them. They do really well in dry periods because the trees get stressed by the drought and can't produce enough sap to protect themselves. Lord knows we've had no shortage of water THIS year! We've actually had trees just fall over, roots and all, because the ground was so wet.

[FrogInABlender]

I love Rails to Trails programs. We have one close by and it's really nice. You get to see come country that you wouldn't ordinarily get to see. I wish they'd do more of them.

[HairOfTheDog]

We've actually had trees just fall over, roots and all, because the ground was so wet.

That's what worries me when it is pouring out here for days and they predict high winds like they have. Especially because many of the trees in the yard are Hemlocks, which don't often get much bigger than ours before they rot out and fall over anyway.

I love them for their shade, but they scare me in the high winds that we get a couple times a winter... livin' here in a cardboard house and all.

[HairOfTheDog]

I love Rails to Trails programs. We have one close by and it's really nice.

The one here has terrible footing that I think was the old rail bed... deep pea gravel that was like walking on tiny marbles that moved around under horse's feet. We actually tried to get down off the track bed and ride alongside it was so bad. Is that not what it's like where you are?

[CindyDawg]

No baby yet?

[Duchess47]

No, not that I have heard. Been checking in all day :)

[FrogInABlender]

We have a similar problem with bad footing, but it's the other extreme. The roadbed is made up of big rough chunks of limestone rock, slightly bigger than a golfball. Just the right size to make a really nice stone bruise. I think the railroad just used whatever local rock was available. Yours happened to be pea gravel, mine was small boulders. ;o) Luckily the Parks and Rec dept of the small town where it's located has raised enough money to do some nice improvements like grading and there are plans to lay down a nice thick bed of fine crusher-run or rock dust. I posted pictures of it a while back but I don't remember the post numbers but I think it was on Thread Two.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

No baby yet?

No not yet, but is has been rumbling around all day.

:)

BigMack

[FrogInABlender]

LOOK OUT MEN, SHE'S GONNA BLOW!!!

[Duchess47]

Oh my goodness :)