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MiscellaneousFEI Awards – “One in 1.3 Billion Rider” Encourages Equestrian World to Send Nominations
 Alex Hua Tian, Chinese Olympic Eventing rider and winner of the FEI's 2009 HSBC Rising Star Award (photo: Kit Houghton) 10 August 2010 – China’s first Olympic Eventing rider Alex Hua Tian is urging the equestrian community to make its nominations for the five-category 2010 FEI Awards. Hua Tian, whom the Chinese media dubbed the “one in 1.3 billion” in the run-up to the Beijing 2008 Olympics, won the FEI’s HSBC Rising Star Award last year. The award rewards a rider aged between 14 and 21 who demonstrates significant talent and outstanding commitment. The judging panel, chaired by FEI President HRH Princess Haya, selected Hua Tian for his riding skills and the unwavering dedication that enabled him to cope with intense press scrutiny and pressure before and during the 2008 Olympic Games. “I was deeply moved to have been nominated by my instructors, Nicola Ward, a New Zealander who, with her Irish Husband, John, taught me in Hong Kong when I was eight years old and by Tamara Weal, who taught me in England when I was 11,” said Hua Tian. “I am sure that in every Pony Club, Riding Club or community there must be many outstanding young riders, who would be hugely inspired to have their passion and dedication encouraged by being nominated for the FEI Awards. I know I was.” Farm to Fuel Summit on August 12 in OrlandoFlorida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson and U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary Michael Scuse will hold a media availability at the annual “Farm to Fuel” Summit to discuss the future of alternative fuels in Florida. Deputy Under Secretary Scuse is the keynote speaker at the event. The availability will be held on August 12 at 1 p.m. in the Sebastian registration room at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando. Commissioner Bronson is holding his 2010 “Farm to Fuel” Summit August 11-13 to bring together hundreds of industry leaders in agriculture, energy, government, and academia as part of his ongoing effort to promote biofuels and other renewable energy sources in Florida. Bronson started the initiative in 2006. There will be panel discussions on biofuels, feedstocks, biomass power generation in Florida, and energy policy, among other topics. The media are invited to attend any or all of the sessions. For information, visit http://www.FloridaFarmToFuel.com or contact Liz Compton or Terence McElroy at (850) 488-3022. Liz Compton Terence McElroy Hollywood Star Robert Duvall Endorses 2010 FEI Awards
 Robert Duvall, The Road film photocall, Toronto International Film Festival, Toronto, Canada, 13 September 2009 (photo: Canadian Press/Rex Features) 27 July 2010 – American actor and director Robert Duvall has given his support to the annual awards organised by the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the governing body of horse sport. The FEI launched the “Oscars of the equestrian world” last year to reward outstanding dedication to horse sport in five categories. Calls for nominations for the 2010 awards opened on July 16. Hollywood legend Duvall is best known for his roles in The Apostle, Apocalypse Now, The Godfather and Tender Mercies. His performances have earned him an Academy Award, a BAFTA, two Emmys and four Golden Globe Awards. Commenting on the 2010 FEI Awards, Duvall said: “The FEI Awards give you the opportunity to nominate and celebrate those individuals who, without asking for recognition, should be thanked and acknowledged for their own contribution to equestrian sport around the world. As someone with a passion for horses, I urge you to nominate anyone you feel is worthy of the awards and help them to walk the red carpet at the 2010 FEI Awards in Taiwan.” Cut Livestock Subsidy to Fix Agency BudgetsJuly 15, 2010 – TUCSON, Ariz. – Conservation groups sent a letter to the Obama administration today detailing how the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service can meet the president’s June 8 directive to cut 5 percent from agency budgets: reform or eliminate the money-losing, habitat-destroying public lands livestock grazing program. “Instead of trimming the budget, the agencies should start by cutting their losses,” said Greta Anderson, Arizona director of Western Watersheds Project. “The fee has failed to keep pace with inflation, failed to cover even the administrative costs of operating the grazing program, and incentivizes destructive grazing practices on public land. In a time of budget crisis, it makes good economic sense to address these issues.” The two agencies charge a paltry $1.35 monthly fee for each cow and calf that the livestock industry grazes on public land in the West. That’s far below private market rates and far short of providing enough revenue to correct the ecological damage caused by grazing. Madeleine Pickens & Wild Horse Coalition Call for Suspension of All Summer Round Ups!First major wild horse roundup of summer proves deadly; critics claim Department of Interior’s public access restrictions censor truth about government wild horse program (July 13, 2010) – Philanthropist and businesswoman Madeleine Pickens was joined today by the million-member ASPCA, the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, and many other organizations expressing their outrage over the deaths of at least seven mustangs in a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) roundup conducted Saturday in the Owyhee Complex in northeastern Nevada. The wild horses died of dehydration-related causes — including brain swelling, colic and acute water intoxication – as a result of being stampeded by helicopters for up to eight miles in 90+ degree desert heat. In a sign on letter addressed to President Obama and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar, Mrs. Pickens and the groups also harshly criticized the agency for cracking down on public access to observe and videotape roundup operations. The advocates released footage of a BLM representative stating publicly that public video of a prior roundup caused the agency to have “a really hard time trying to explain what’s happening.” A Month Long Editorial, Based on Weather & Photos of a Hawk in Our Birdbath One of our resident hawks taking a bath in our birdbath during the heatwave. As I was going to post a new editorial back on June 15th about not having any rain and it being 100 degrees in the shade and bam, we start getting almost daily thunderstorms! We had been averaging 110 heat index at the first of June, which was very oppressive to go outside to do work, much less ride. I was having to water my garden twice a day which was taking up to 2 hrs or more a day, hence I got behind in web work. My beans (or so I thought) and tomatoes are mostly done until I plant again in August, so I should have a reprieve in the harvesting soon. We have a small pool which has been invaluable to being out in this heat. I’m in the AC a large part of the day, so my body isn’t accustomed to the heat like it is. I go out in the evening to work usually, but that is when my husband, Jerry, goes to our J-30 sailboat so I don’t have his help then… bummer. My son is here and he is in charge of cleaning paddocks, feeding horses when Jerry isn’t around, watering other plants around house and doing horse’s feet when I haven’t, plus he is my associate editor so he is kept busy much of the day adding articles. This leaves me to the other yard work that I may want done that my husband doesn’t think is necessary (he hates it, other than mowing with the riding mower). Both of them get bothered by flies more than I do – I have darker skin and I guess it helps in repelling them. I did have to spray myself and horses a lot at the beginning of June when the yellow flies were so bad, but they have died off or it’s because we got the fly predators and stepped up using the Natural Pet Vet Bug Check (HorsesintheSouth is an affiliate). The flies aren’t as bad now and I can deal with a couple of yellow flies landing on me as I harvest the garden. Since the week-long rains at the end of June, I’ve had a second blooming of beans – these are the ones that weren’t doing as well as they were in a shadier area, but that is what probably helped them to reproduce being out of the blaring sun. And, I have a whole bunch of cherry tomatoes blooming and some volunteer tomato plants from last year’s cherry tomatoes that had been plowed under but came back up in different places, are producing. They are so good. I leave them in a bowl next to where I make my yerba-mate tea in the morning and I end up eating a handful while I wait for the tea to steep. Now my website design work for the redesign for the SuncoastBedding.com site is getting in full swing, so another thing to keep me from riding or working on my own website. It never ends, does it? Plus the grass keeps growing more from all of the rain. I use our weed-whipper and push mower which ends up ‘killing’ my arm the next day. Even using the riding mower gets my left arm that had the shoulder replacement. If I would just do this stuff every day, my muscles wouldn’t atrophy so soon, lol. I got some cool pictures of our resident hawk taking a bath in our birdbath, plus my husband, Jerry, did a video and put it on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHVy0ov1kao (there are evidently a lot of YouTube videos of hawks taking baths…;P). These pictures were taken with my Sony digital camera with a 70-250 macro lens through my husband’s office window through the screen, but I think they still turned out really cool. We aren’t sure if these are 2 different hawks taking a bath as in the blog gallery, you can see 1 of the hawks ‘screaming’ for the other one maybe? In the gallery you will see a hawk standing on our grapevine pole and we aren’t sure if that is a different hawk or the 1st hawk (if there is 2 of them – can anyone tell by their feathers?)
Anyway, I will be offering a summer/July 4th birthday (mine Watch for the July newsletter – it’s coming too. We are using a new Email Service Provider (ESP), so I still have to finish designing it; I may just send out something now and let my programmer finish the design. We are using MailChimp and is isn’t as easy to use as Constant Contact (requires that you know some html and design), but it isn’t blocked by spam filters as easily as CC is. Info is on our Sales/Special page. As usual you will get a killer deal. It’s weird, but we are actually cooler here than in the northern states with them being in the triple digits (bummer for the Queen of England’s visit to the UN since she was last here in 1957). But, it’s starting to heat up again and will be in the usual mid-nineties this week, sigh… If you are a Farmville addict like I have become, join me at http://www.facebook.com/TeriRehkopf.HorsesintheSouth, then request to be my neighbor on FV. Also be sure to join my Fan page at http://www.facebook.com/HorsesintheSouth. The TeriRehkopf.HorsesintheSouth FB account is a 2nd FB account. My 1st account is already almost at the 5,000 FB friends limit, so I had to start a new account to accept new friends and add new FV neighbors as this one is at the 300 neighbors limit. Geesh, Farmville is such a ‘time-suction’, but it is also very ‘feng shui’ like. I love their graphics. If only web design was this easy! I swear I going to write a blog about my journey to the addiction on Farmville and seeing so many horse people Facebook friends being in the same boat as me or worse! When I get to this, I’ll post some hints on how to get leveled-up. I love the horses that FV adds for us horse fanatics. They really have recognized our market in that respect Bronson Announces Accreditation of Ag Law Enforcement and Inspector GeneralTALLAHASSEE — Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson has announced the reaccreditation of his Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement (AgLaw) following a rigorous review by the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA). The office first gained accreditation in 2007 and in April was re-evaluated for renewal of that status. For the first time, the department’s Inspector General’s Office has also received accreditation following a full on-site visit. The CFA reviews all aspects of an agency’s policies and procedures, management, operations and support systems to verify compliance with 276 recognized standards of excellence. Accreditation by the CFA is voluntary but considered a significant accomplishment and this status is held in high esteem by the criminal justice community. “This meticulous review of the facilities, personnel and programs within AgLaw measures our professionalism in a meaningful way, ensuring we meet the high standards dictated by law enforcement across the state and the nation,” Bronson said. “The Office of Agricultural Law Enforcement has continued to expand its duties and responsibilities over the years in protecting our citizens and visitors and clearly our peers have determined we are meeting and exceeding expectations.” EU & Canada Poised to Accomplish What US Congress Should Have Done: Ban Horse SlaughterJune 29, 2010 – CHICAGO, (EWA) – Since the 107th Congress (2001), equine welfare advocates across the country have been trying to get elected officials to pass legislation to ban the slaughter of American horses. Polls have consistently shown that the legislation has the support of 70% of Americans, but without fail the bills have been stalled, blocked with secret holds, and left off the legislative calendars. Now it appears the European Union (EU) and Canada may stop horse slaughter before Congress. Strict new traceability requirements will go into effect July 31st, for all horses slaughtered for consumption in the EU. Additionally, the EU is poised to require Country of Origin labeling of all meat. And finally, the EU has begun investigating inhumane slaughter practices in Mexico. Despite President Obama’s promise to not allow lobbyists to run the country and his support of a horse slaughter ban when he was in the Senate, the agricultural special interests have continually been allowed to prevent the legislation from moving forward. Public records reveal donations from special interest groups to the legislators blocking the bills. “When it comes to stopping the slaughter of horses, clearly money talks,” commented Equine Welfare Alliance’s (EWA) John Holland. 5th Annual “Farm to Fuel” Summit August 11th in OrlandoTALLAHASSEE — As the nation’s worst oil spill in history threatens the Gulf Coast and its energy, tourism and fishing industries, Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson is continuing his efforts to promote the production of renewable energy from Florida’s vast biomass resources. Bronson is hosting the 2010 “Farm to Fuel” Summit, August 11-13, at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando to bring together hundreds of industry leaders in agriculture, energy, academia and government who want to make Florida a leader in the production of renewable energy. “Florida has the greatest potential for biomass production in the country, and the technology exists to convert our natural resources to clean, renewable energy,” Bronson said. “This event will bring together all the stakeholders so we can continue working toward the goal of reducing our dependence on foreign oil while at the same time providing another source of income for our farmers.” Mediterranean Fruit Flies Found in Palm Beach CountyTALLAHASSEE — During routine fruit fly monitoring, a trap containing suspect Mediterranean fruit flies was collected in the 6600 block of N.E. Seventh Avenue in Boca Raton, Palm Beach County, by a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services inspector, Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charles H. Bronson announced today. The find was later confirmed to be wild Mediterranean fruit flies by a state entomologist. Since the initial find, over 2,000 additional traps have been set out and more wild flies have been detected. The flies have been found on traps in mango, loquat and sour orange trees. This is the first major outbreak of the Mediterranean fruit fly, Ceratitis capitata, since the nine-county eradication program in 1997 and 1998. The Mediterranean fruit fly (Medfly) is considered the most serious of the world’s fruit fly pests due to its potential economic harm and threat to our food supply. It attacks more than 250 different fruits, vegetables and nuts, including oranges, grapefruit, lemons, apples, guava, mango, tomatoes and peppers. The flies’ eggs are laid in the fruit and develop into maggots causing the fruit to rot. They then emerge as adults once the fruit falls to the ground. Medflies breed continuously when host fruits are available. Population growth may be explosive, as females are capable of producing hundreds of eggs. |
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