Tag Archives: Horse Care

AQHA Studies Clenbuterol Abuse, Recommends Action

The American Quarter Horse Journal, December 3, 2010 – Veterinary medical professionals and horsemen gathered at the American Quarter Horse Association’s annual racing conference on November 18 in New Orleans to consider the use – and misuse – of drugs and medications in racehorses. Topics included laboratory testing and procedures, out-of-competition and pre-race examinations, therapeutic and illegal medications, joint injections, acceptable threshold levels and withdrawal time, zero-tolerance policies, public education and the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium.

Once the panelists and attendees started talking, the discussion focused primarily – indeed, almost exclusively – on clenbuterol.

Approved for veterinary use in horses with allergic respiratory disease and for medical use in humans with asthma, clenbuterol acts as a bronchodilator. The problem, however, is how the drug is being misused – both in horses and humans: While it is not an anabolic steroid, clenbuterol has some of the same effects, increasing muscle mass and enhancing performance.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=12657

First Down Dash Dies at Age 26

The American Quarter Horse Journal – American Quarter Horse racing’s most prolific stallion, First Down Dash, died on Thanksgiving Day, November 25, at Vessels Stallion Farm in Bonsall, California. He was 26.

“He lay down and went to sleep peacefully. He was missing Scoop and his sunflower seeds,” said Bonnie Vessels, referring to her late husband, Frank “Scoop” Vessels.

Dr. Ed Allred, the sport’s all-time leading breeder, released the following statement: “First Down Dash is unquestionably the greatest stallion of all time. No horse has had the influence of the great First Down Dash. He was an amazing horse. He was a sire of sires. What an incredible and great career… he was in one word ‘amazing.’”

The stallion was laid to rest at Vessels Stallion Farm on November 26. Bonnie Vessels said that First Down Dash was quietly eating hay in his stall when observed by ranch manager Kevin Dickson at 1 a.m. Thanksgiving Day. Three hours later, the night man observed First Down Dash taking his last breath.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=12652

Speak Up to Protect Cloud’s Herd

Part of Bolder's band including Cloud's grandson Echo, a target for removal in 2011.

Billings BLM Wants to Drug & Further Destroy Historic Herd – Send Letters by Wednesday, Dec. 1st

Dear Friends of Cloud, his family and herd;
Please take a few minutes out of what is a very busy time to year on behalf of Cloud, his family and herd in the beautiful Pryor Mountains of Montana.

We are asking you to comment on the BLM’s Preliminary Assessment, which would allow for five years of infertility drug use (2011-2015) on potentially every mare on the mountain over the age of one! Right now, 54 Pryor mares are currently on infertility drugs, 40 of them on a multi-year drug, PZP-22. Comments are due in writing by December 1st via mail to the Billings Field Office, 5001 Southgate Drive, Billings, MT 59101 or by fax at (406) 896-5281, or by e-mail to info@thecloudfoundation.org where we will fax your comments for you. You can also use the free computer fax service online here. If you email your comments to us, please try to do so by 2 pm MST on December 1st so we will have time to fax them in before BLM closes at 4:30 pm.

You can read the BLM’s proposal online here. Then click on “Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range Fertility Control Preliminary Environmental Assessment”.

Continue reading Speak Up to Protect Cloud’s Herd

Midwest Ranchers Find Gold in Nevada’s Wild Horses

by Valerie James-Patton

November 19, 2010 – A two sentence article appearing in the Nevada Ely Times, November 3, 2010, only stated that “Chairman of the Governor’s Wildlife Commission, Scott Raine of Eureka, has designated a new Nevada Board of Wildlife Commissioners’ Feral Horse Committee “consisting of” what Raine calls “five of the foremost experts on the issue of feral horses in the State of Nevada.” The Chairman is Mike Stremler and members Commissioner Hank Vogler, Wayne Hage, George Parman and Floyd Rathbun.”

The title of the article was “Wildlife Commission subcommittee to oversee wild horse issues”, which begs the question: which horses and what issues?  More importantly, what is the purpose of this committee and what is the goal regarding feral horses?

With no information available on this committee on the internet, a quick search on the committee “experts” revealed rather startling information, although nothing that appeared to qualify these men at experts on wild or feral horses.

Continue reading Midwest Ranchers Find Gold in Nevada’s Wild Horses

Kentucky Veterinarians Curb Unwanted Horse Population

LEXINGTON, Ky. (November 18, 2010) – Several of Central Kentucky’s equine veterinarians are pitching in to help lower the number of unwanted horses bred in the Commonwealth.

On December 4, the Kentucky Horse Park, along with the Kentucky Horse Council and the Kentucky Equine Humane Center, will offer Free Gelding Surgeries for horse owners who cannot afford to have the surgery performed on their stallions.  In addition to rendering a stallion unable to reproduce, gelding surgery often helps horses become easier to manage, train, and if the need arises, adopt or re-home.

Dr. Lori Bidwell of Veterinary Anesthesia and Pain Management Services is enlisting the veterinarians and coordinating the surgeries which will take place at the Kentucky Horse Park.  She said, “As equine practitioners, we make our living from horses.  The gelding clinic is an opportunity to give back to the community and to the animals to which we owe so much.  We are all invested in finding a solution to the unwanted horse dilemma.”

Continue reading Kentucky Veterinarians Curb Unwanted Horse Population

Freedom Fund Benefit Auction

Stallion painting by David Gonzales

Dear Supporters,
The Cloud Foundation’s “Freedom Fund Benefit Auction” is now underway with many beautiful pieces of artwork as well as an exclusive wine tasting/tour at Durell Vineyards and more! Thank you to all who donated items to this auction and thank you for looking. The bidding ends Friday at 6pm MST. Please call the Cloud Foundation office at 719-633-3842 with any questions. Click here to visit the online auction and learn more about America’s wild horses and what you can do to protect them.

Introducing the Cloud Collection of Pendants

Photographer Deb Little created a wonderful set of eight glass pendants featuring Cloud and other horses of the Arrowhead Mountains. These exclusive pendants make wonderful presents for horse lovers of all ages and are available on handmade horsehair necklaces (no horses were harmed of course).

"The Defender" Cloud fine art print by Deb Little

Check out the new collection today!

The Cloud Foundation

107 South 7th St

Colorado Springs, CO 80905

To Deworm or Not to Deworm

Parasites, both internal and external, have been around as long as man and beast.  But are they all bad?

There is current evidence that some parasitic load is beneficial for developing the immune system, decreasing the incidence of allergies, and balancing the gut flora.  However, too many parasites can lead to colic, anemia (lack of blood), weight loss, and damage to various organs.  Age, overall health, risk to exposure, and geographical location all need to be considered when developing a deworming schedule.

Requesting your veterinarian to run fecals and fecal egg counts can help determine the frequency of deworming for your specific horse or herd.  Realize that all dewormers have a very low risk of potential side effects, including diarrhea which can be offset by administering pre & probiotics.

Continue reading To Deworm or Not to Deworm

Tip of the Week: The Asymmetrically Built Horse

[singlepic id=567 w=200 h=150 float=] As with humans, the dominance of a horse being one-sided creates uneven lateral musculature. A rider often spends more time on the weaker side of the horse, working on lateral balance.

When a symmetrical saddle is placed on an asymmetrically built horse, the saddle is going to fall into the weaker side. This may not be an issue for men, who have narrowly placed sitting bones, and can merely sit slightly to the stronger side for lateral balance. For most women though, with a much wider base, they often have to sit further to the stronger side to get that same feeling and often have to collapse their upper body to laterally balance – this starts a chain of compensations.

Whereas a man’s centered position seldom interferes with the horse’s biomechanical movement, a woman’s cantilevered position will force the horse to brace on the rein of the stronger side for his or her lateral balance. This promotes additional muscling on the stronger side of the horse, and other compensations including inward lateral tracking on the passive hock.

Because of those compensations, the saddle should be fitted so the rider’s position does not negatively affect the biomechanical movement of the horse, and allow the rider to sit evenly in the saddle having full use of his or her relaxed core strength – the asymmetrical fit.

-By George Gullikson – Master Saddle Fitter – to view this article in full visit www.equineinspired.info.

This tip was brought to you by KAM Animal Services, now offering the Cookies with a Clue Holiday Gift Bucket, the perfect gift for anyone that loves and owns horses. The treats can be ordered from now until the end of December by going to www.kamanimalservices.com or by calling 519-463-9640. It’s only $29.95 and the cute bucket is loaded with wonderfully wrapped baggies of delicious, all organic, sugar-free supplement cookies.

Unwanted Horse Coalition Media Roundup

November 3, 2010 – Edition 14 – This Unwanted Horse Coalition news summary is provided as an educational service to those interested in the issue of the unwanted horse. The articles do not reflect the opinions of the Unwanted Horse Coalition or any of its employees. The listing of events does not constitute an endorsement of a particular event. If you see an article or event that may be appropriate for inclusion in Media Roundup, please e-mail it to ecaslin@horsecouncil.org.

Unwanted Horse Coalition’s Operation Gelding Clinics Taking Place across the U.S.
The Unwanted Horse Coalition’s (UHC) Operation Gelding program is off to a successful start. The program, which was launched in August 2010 with the help of seed money from the American Association of Equine Practitioners Foundation and the UHC, is designed to offer funding assistance to organizations, associations, and events that wish to conduct a public gelding clinic under the name and guidelines of Operation Gelding. An organization that has completed an Operation Gelding clinic will receive funding of $50 per horse, $1,000 maximum, to aid in the costs associated with the clinic.
Read More…

Continue reading Unwanted Horse Coalition Media Roundup

Save 50 Nevada Mustangs from Roundup and Convince BLM to Adopt Humane Standards

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a roundup of 294 wild horses in Nevada’s Augusta Mountains Herd Management Area (HMA). Unlike other capture plans, the BLM’s Winnemucca District Office intends to treat mares with PZP fertility control and release all horses captured from within the HMA back to the range.

However, approximately 50 horses living outside of the HMA need your help to stay with their families free on the range. The horses are living in an area that was once designated as wild horse habitat but “zeroed out” for wild horses to accommodate grazing of privately-held farmed animals.

The agency is accepting public comments on this plan. Please urge the BLM to cancel the removal of any horses, while making the treat-and-release plan as humane as possible. Click here to submit your comments before the Friday, November 5 deadline.

In Defense of Animals
3010 Kerner, San Rafael, CA 94901
Tel. (415) 448-0048 Fax (415) 454-1031
idainfo@idausa.org