enlightened horsemanship through touch

“We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.

— Tom Stoppard

I found this video over at Fran Jurga’s Hoof Blog. I went all the way through her post, the video and to the site before I finally understood that the boots are real. No kidding.

You’ve seen the commercials about that guy who runs his entire shoe company from his cellphone? I still can’t figure out how he does that. I din’t think anyone over the age of 40 can use a tiny device to manage everything. Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe the cutoff is 30. That guy is Tom from Tom’s Shoes.

Tom has an interesting new product, demonstrated in this video. We all know that equestrian fashion is high fashion, so it’s no surprise that footwear manufacturers and fashion designers periodically take a stab at incorporating the equestrian theme into their collections. Tom’s has taken this crazy far. See for yourselves.

Why wear ‘em? They’re for charity! Kids living barefoot in dry climates can fall prey to the disease podoconiosis also called “dust in the feet”, similar to elephantiasis. For every pair of Tom’s, a child in Africa receives a pair of shoes, which can prevent a multitude of ills, including the painful and debilitating podoconiosis.

Colonel Carde, image courtesy www.ecuries-de-penfrat.fr/

Message de soutien à Gerd Heuschmann de la part du Colonel Carde

Cher Gerd,

Vous avez été invité à participer à une réunion le 9 février à la FEI. L’hyper-flexion de l’encolure sera au cœur des débats. Je tiens à vous dire que, comme de nombreux entraîneurs, de nombreux juges et des milliers de cavaliers, je serai avec vous ce jour là par la pensée. Il faut que le Roll Kur soit déconseillé dans la pratique équestre, et interdit en compétition:

• parce qu’il n’a pas sa place dans une philosophie de l’action qui conduirait à faire du cheval un athlète heureux,

• parce qu’il est contraire aux principes classiques de dressage des chevaux dans toutes les Ecoles,

• parce qu’il est dangereux pour la santé des chevaux lorsqu’il est mal employé c’est-à-dire dans la plupart des cas.

Dans les compétitions de Dressage il faut qu’il soit interdit sur toute la durée du concours. Pour que ceci soit appliqué il est nécessaire, au moins, que la détente des chevaux soit surveillée par un juge, au mieux, qu’elle soit notée et que la notation compte dans le classement final des concurrents.

Bon courage, nous comptons sur vous.

Colonel Christian Carde

Ancien écuyer en chef de l’Ecole Nationale d’Equitation et du Cadre Noir de Saumur

and now in English:

(Letter from Colonel Carde to Dr. Heuschmann in preparation for the FEI Feb. 9th discussion)

Dear Gerd,

You have been invited to take part in the FEI roundtable discussion scheduled for February, 9th.
At the heart of the debate will be the hyperflexion of the horse’s neck. I want to personally let you know that like many trainers, judges and thousands of riders, all my thoughts will be with you on that day.

Rollkur must be strongly discouraged in riding/training and banned from competition:

• Because it has no place in a philosophy of training designed to develop horses into happy athletes.

• Because it is contrary to the classical Dressage principles applied in all the Schools.*
•  Because it is dangerous to the horse’s health when badly executed – which is the overwhelming majority of cases.

In Dressage competition, it must be forbidden for the entire duration of the competitions. In order to implement this rule, at the very least, the warm-up should be monitored by a judge and at the very best, it should be scored and that score should be included in the competitors’ final ranking.

Good luck, we are counting on you.

Colonel Christian Carde
Ancien écuyer en chef de l’Ecole Nationale d’Equitation et du Cadre Noir de Saumur
(Former Head Rider of the French National School of Riding and of the Cadre Noir in Saumur.)

*The term Schools refer to the German and Latin Schools of riding.

(Translated from the German)

Originally Sent Feb. 3 2010
Federation Equestre International
Avenue Rumine 37
CH – 1005 Lausanne Rosendahl
SWITZERLAND

February 3, 2010

Dear Sirs and Madames:

We submit herewith some comments concerning your upcoming roundtable discussion, scheduled for February 9th, at which you will be establishing a final plan for the handling of the topic of Rollkur/Hyperflexion.

Those of us who have signed this letter wish to point out sharply that new or amended rules with regard to the accepted classical precepts of riding, which are contained in the guidelines written down in your Handbook, are absolutely superfluous and therefore unnecessary. These precepts, which the FEI has up until now felt obliged to uphold, are already fully developed, tried and tested! They are already recognized world-wide as authoritative, and as fair to the horse. Based on centuries of experience, they offer a stable and secure foundation even for today’s riding.

No changes may be made that constitute a burden to the well-being of the horse, either physically or mentally. If you accept riding in hyperflexion as a permissible training method, you legitimize aggressive riding. We protest that in the strongest possible terms!

As horse people, we expect the FEI to maintain unaltered their regulations, which have until now been valid, resting as they do upon the classical precepts of riding – for the good of the horses and the continued good repute of international equestrian sport.

The undersigned support this statement:

Klaus Balkenhol (Olympic medalist)

(Joined by, in alphabetical order)
- Laura Bechtolsheimer (British Record Holder, 3. Europameisterschaften 2009)
- Wilfried Bechtolsheimer (Trainer)
- Ingrid Klimke (Olympic medalist)
- Ruth Klimke (Vice President of the German Riders Union)
- Beezie Madden (Olympic medalist)
- John Madden (Trainer)
- Debbie McDonald (Olympic Bronze medalist)
- Susanne Miesner (Trainer)
- George Morris (Chef d’equipe USEF show jumping team, Olympic silver medalist)
- Martin Plewa (former German national Three-Day Event trainer, Director of the Riding and Driving School of Westfalia)
- Michael Putz (Trainer and judge)
- Klaus-Martin Rath (Trainer, member of the Dressage Committee of the German Olympic
Committee)
- Matthias Alexander Rath (German Meister 2009)
- Hinrich Romeike (Olympic medalist)
- Hubertus Schmidt (Olympic medalist)
- Günter Seidel (Olympic bronze medalist)
- Christine Stückelberger (Olympiic medalist)
- Paul Stecken (Trainer)
- Hans Günter Winkler (Olympic medalist)
- Harry Boldt, Dressur. Doppel-Olympiasieger, früherer Bundestrainer Dressur, GBR
- Beatrice Büchler-Keller, Swiss, FEI O-Richter
- Nadine Capellmann, Dressur, Olympiasiegrin
- Carsten Huck, Springen, Olympia Bronze-Gewinner
- Michael Klimke, Deuscther Meister, Dressur
- Ann Kathrinne Linsenhoff, Olympiasiegerin, WElt- und Europameisterin, Mitglied im FN-Präsidium
- Michael Robert, Olympia-Gewinner Bronze, Trainer

On 9 February 2010, more than 20 experts will attend an FEI meeting in Switzerland to discuss once again whether the so-called hyperflexion (“Rollkur”) is an adequate method of training a horse. In order to support the opponents of this method and offer them further arguments, a petition has been initiated at www.no-rollkur.com. We’d like to invite you to support this action against hyperflexion – time is short!

You were so kind as to sign our own petition calling for reforms of the FN rules, which was initiated in May 2009. This obviously bore fruit: The German FN eventually invited Philippe Karl for a meeting in Warendorf, Germany. They now have to find an appropriate date. We will of course keep you informed about the outcome of this meeting.

Thank you very much again for your support!

Cordially,

Philippe Karl & his team

We Love Lucy from Brian Reid & Brenda Lee on Vimeo.

PRESS RELEASE:
From
Jane Pritchard
Public Health Veterinarian
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Lands
1767 Angus Campbell Road
Abbotsford, BC. V3G 2M3
(604) 556-3066
jane.pritchard@gov.bc.ca

Dear readers: please tell every dog owner you know. Even if you don’t have a pet, please pass this to those who do.

Over the weekend the doting owners of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in the garden. They loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep pests away. Their dog Calypso decided that the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times, which was typical after eating something new, but wasn’t acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Halfway through the walk, Calypso had a seizure and died instantly.

Although the mulch had NO warnings printed on the label, upon further investigation on the company’s website, this product is labeled as HIGHLY toxic to dogs and cats.

Cocoa Mulch is manufactured by Hershey’s, and they claim that

It is true that studies have shown that 50% of the dogs that eat Cocoa Mulch can suffer physical harm to a variety of degrees (depending on each individual dog). However, 98% of all dogs won’t eat it.

Visit the Snopes.com article.

Cocoa Mulch, which is also sold by Home Depot, Foreman’s Garden Supply and other garden supply stores, contains a poisonous ingredient called Theobromine. It is lethal to dogs and cats. It smells like chocolate and it really attracts dogs. They will ingest this stuff and die. Several deaths have occurred in the last 2-3 weeks. Theobromine is in all chocolate, especially dark or baker’s chocolate, which is toxic to dogs. Cocoa bean shells contain potentially toxic quantities of theobromine, a xanthine compound similar in effect to caffeine and theophylline. A dog that ingested a lethal quantity of garden mulch made from cacao bean shells developed severe convulsions and died 17 hours later. Analysis of the stomach contents and the ingested cacao bean shells revealed the presence of lethal amounts of theobromine.

This credit card helps fund equine research!

In this economy, the last thing I want is another credit card. In fact, I rarely use the one I have, and I consider myself lucky that I am able to pay the balance in full each month. If it didn’t negatively impact my credit rating, however, I would scrap my existing card for this one. I wonder about balance transfers, etc. It would be worth having, knowing that I might be contributing to this valuable resource.

The Horseman’s Card, a Visa created in 1991 to help support the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center in Lexington, Ky., contributes to equine research with every purchase.

The University of Kentucky’s Department of Veterinary Science created the Gluck Center in 1987. One of only three centers in the world dedicated exclusively to researching the diseases and physiological problems of the horse, the Gluck Center’s scientific findings benefit people as well, including investigations into arthritis, aging and immune response, and bacterial and viral infections.

In addition to supporting the health of the horse, this program offers savings on merchandise and services chosen especially for equestrians. Here’s how it works: when you use the Horseman’s Card, mention the Horseman’s VIP Benefits discount, and automatically receive savings from nationally recognized equestrian retailers.

Every time you use the Horseman’s Card for a purchase, a contribution is made to the Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center. On the website, they don’t happen to mention what percentage of your purchase goes toward to Gluck Center’s research.  I think this is important to find out before applying. 

Researchers at the Gluck Center

A fascinating array of research projects is under way at the Gluck Center.
They include work on:
• Equine herpes virus type 1
• Streptococcus equi, Streptococcus zooepidemicus and Leptospira interrogans (vital to humans as well)
• Development of the horse gene map and DNA sequence
• Molecular epidemiology and pathogenesis of equine arteritis virus (EAV) infection of horses, development of improved recombinant vaccines to prevent infection of horses; and improved tests to diagnose the infection.
• International Reference Laboratory for equine influenza
• Studies of Equine Infectious Anemia Virus (EIAV) a lenti-virus closely related to Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) that has the capability to infect all members of the horse family. Currently working with a group at the Irish Equine Center on the molecular characterization of the strain responsible for the recent outbreak of this virus in Ireland. When completed, this will provide valuable information about the variability of this virus at the global level and so aid in the design of potential therapeutic agents. (This work could have cross-over implications for humans)
• Clinical research involving bio-security and equine infectious diseases
• Identification and characterization of equine cytokines and their role in protective and pathologic immune responses in the foal’s immune system deficit and identifying the ways to increase foal resistance to Rhodococcus and other infectious agents. Identifying methods to improve the immune function in geriatric horses.
• Molecular studies of the Coccidia, which are a very significant group of protozoa. The title of our federal project (Hatch) is: Molecular mechanisms, ecology, and control of natural infections of equids and ruminants by drug-resistant internal parasites and pathogens that include the human parasite Toxoplasma gondii and the domestic animal parasites Neospora spp., Eimeria spp., and Sarcocystis spp. (again, human benefits are possible)
• Equine infectious anemia — identifying protective immune mechanisms in attempts to define effective vaccines for EIA. Developing better testing policies.
• Federal project : Molecular mechanisms, ecology, and control of natural infections of equids and ruminants by drug-resistant internal parasites.
• Biomedical research on articular cartilage primarily focused on the cell biology of chondrocytes and pathogenesis of osteoarthritis.
• Two ongoing studies addressing problems of endophyte infected fescue in horses. The first study involves looking at non-invasive methods to determine which mares in a herd are adversely affected by the fescue so proper treatment can be initiated before major health problems arise. The second study is investigating potential adverse health effects in pregnant mares grazing pastures that have been treated with some of the herbicides that are frequently used kill fescue in pastures.
• Bacterial infections of the horse with emphasis on diseases caused by the pathogenic streptococci and leptospira.
• Equine arteritis virus and the disease, equine viral arteritis.

That’s a lot of valuable research. If you’re looking for a new card, it is worth checking this one out. Benefiting our equine friends with every transaction has great merit.

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