smellshorsey

Shut Down by Lightning

Lightning will strike twice and I'm here to prove it. I haven't been posting or visiting lately because I haven't had Internet access. The first time it struck and knocked out my modem. We have cable Internet, so I had to wait for the repair guy to come out this way. That took a few days. The modem was partially damaged but he connected me a different way and I was back online.

Then, on July Fourth, God put on a tremendous fireworks show with a great blessing of rain and enough lightning to power the U.S. if only we could capture and control that energy. This time the lightning struck us more than once and knocked out our telephone, Internet and cable TV. It took days and days to get a repair, and it's not quite right yet (so I get to wait for the repairman all day Friday). It fried the cable connections down by the street as well as the one leading into our house. We heard it when it hit. Yee ha! That'll get your attention.

But I'm back. And as I type this, I see another storm coming. Our Thunder Hound, who is afraid of lightning, has already stood on his hind legs to look in the window to tell us, "Let me in!" And he's in, probably trembling by my daughter's feet downstairs.

The grass is green and life feels good. One of my hay suppliers has already had a first cutting (which he saves for cows). Soon, surely I'll be getting 2008 hay. When it rains every day the grass grows -- but the farmers can't cut. As long as the grass is growing I'll sit here happy.

And my tadpoles are getting really big. No legs yet. They look like little black shiny whales.

So I'm back -- for now.

Man Jumps off Horse and Drowns

I'm a worrier, and of all the things I worry about with horses, drowning has not been on my list. A man jumped off of a horse and drowned yesterday. Here's the sad but strange story from The State:

MAN DROWNS AFTER JUMP FROM HORSE

MYRTLE BEACH -- A 24-year-old Conway man who trained racehorses drowned after he jumped off a horse and into a pond, according to a preliminary autopsy.

Jonathan Durant, who worked at Nobles stable on Rogers Road, died at 10:24 a.m. Monday after the horse he was riding stepped into a pond on the property, said Horry County Deputy Coroner Tony Hendrick. He said Tuesday that Durant may have panicked once he was in the water after he jumped from the horse.

It's unclear why Durant jumped into the water, whether he could swim or why he could not get out of the pond, which was about eight to 10 feet deep, officials said.

He was pronounced dead on arrival at Conway Medical Center.

"There's nothing suspicious about it. It was accidental," Hendrick said.

"I just am not sure why he was unable to get out of the water."

Officials are waiting for toxicology results, which will take up to 12 weeks, Hendrick said.

Durant trained and rode horses for the Nobles Stables, owned by Bonnie and Leneau Nobles, according to his older brother Corey Durant.

"I couldn't believe that it was him. I went to the hospital. I saw him on the table, looking out of it. And I couldn't take it anymore, I had to leave. It seems like a dream to me," Corey Durant said.

"All he would say was he loved when he galloped and the speed to the finish line," Corey Durant said.

"We always stuck by each other. He was always pushing me to be stronger. I've been through a lot of trouble. He always came to me and said 'chill out' and 'do better.' He was almost a big brother, more than I was to him," said Corey Durant, 28.

Corey Durant will have to celebrate his birthday on Friday without his younger brother. The two had plans to go to the beach.

His mother, Virginia Durant Washington, said Jonathan Durant loved horses as a child, and that he started riding seriously after he graduated from high school.

"Ever since he was small he wanted to be a jockey. He said, 'Mama, I love to ride horses,'" she said.

Jonathan Durant's second cousin Denise Santoro shared his passion for horses. She used to compete in jumping horses over hurdles and dressage.

"He was so excited to tell me, 'Cuz, cuz, I'm a jock,'" she said. "We all have to die. At least he died doing what he loved."

-- The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News

Manure Thieves Welcome

the smoke bothers me so we don't burn our manure pile. It grows and grows until a composting friend or relative comes to get it (and they are always so excited). But after a while, even your friends and relatives don't want your manure anymore.

So, when I read that there were manure thieves on the loose, I was excited. I thought I might put out a sign, "Manure Thieves Welcome. Steal All You Want." But it turns out they're in Germany.

Here's the story, excerpted from Fox News. There were no pictures, which I guess is a blessing:

BERLIN, Germany —  A woman trying to make "manure bombs" using stockings, slipped into a slurry tank and fled the scene naked, German police said on Friday.

   

Two women entered a farm in the northern village of Eberholzen on Wednesday evening and started to fill the stockings with manure.

 

"One of them slipped into the manure tank, right into the cow muck," said a spokesman for local police. "The other one helped her out. We found their clothes in a field. One seems to have run off completely naked, the other in her underwear."

 

Police said it was unclear what the women had intended to do with the "manure bombs," but added the incident could be linked to victory celebrations surrounding the Euro 2008 semi-finals on Wednesday evening, when Germany beat Turkey 3-2.

 

"The women can get their clothes back from the local police station — unwashed," the spokesman added.

    

Looking for Good News in a World Where Starving Horses are Left to Die on the Side of the Road

I'm down to two bales of hay but know where I can get some more -- if they don't sell out first. We've had some rain so surely somebody will be cutting soon.

I'm happy to report that my two horses are in good shape. Lucy is, in fact, overweight. She looks like a big orange pumpkin. A shiny, cute, fat pumpkin. All is well at my place. (Except for the stupid whining cat stuck in the hayloft.)

I'm telling you all this because sometimes it feels like horses all over America are starving and being left on the side of the road. And it feels that way because -- guess what -- it's true. I'm sad to report that some lowlifes left a horse to die on the side of the road in Clarendon County, S.C., yesterday. Yes, they trailered it there and left it to die. Guess they were too ???? (poor? heartless? on drugs? couldn't be bothered?) to feed it and too worthless to bury it. The horse was 500 pounds underweight and was too weak to walk onto the trailer when animal rescue came to save it. They had to put it on a board and lift it.

When they got it to the vet's, the horse ate a little, drank a little, then died.

Now, if that horse's owners had enough gas and a trailer to take the poor creature to the side of the road to leave it, why didn't they take it somewhere 400 pounds ago?

If you can stand it, you can read the story and view a video from WIS-TV here.

Time Magazine Reports on Growing Abandoned Horse Problem

The growing problem of horses being abandoned because their owners can't afford to keep them has caught the attention of Time magazine. I'm not sure you'll learn anything you don't already know, but here's the link.

Big Brown Snubs Racing After Being Offended by Hooters Tie-In

Nothing bad happened in the Belmont today, as far as we can tell. Big Brown didn't want to run, and he didn't. When his jockey couldn't get anything out of the horse, he pulled him up. According to the AP story,

Big Brown was rank at the start and failed to respond when Desormeaux asked him to run in the last turn. At that point, Desormeaux eased him up.

The loss hit Desormeaux especially hard.

"This horse is the best I've ever ridden," he said. "Something's wrong, and I took care of him."

Thank you, Desormeaux. Bless you. Something was wrong, and you did take care of him.

Will we ever know what was wrong? Already the announcer-pundits are speculating. Big Brown's owners hadn't dosed him with steroids since April. Were the steroids why he won before? Was it the quarter crack? Is he bleeding internally? Was he struck by another horse? Does he have a mucous problem? Was it just too hot?

They'll be checking him in and out. Who knows what they'll find. I hope nothing serious.

The announcers kept saying before the race that Big Brown is an intellectual horse. (And just what is that?) Maybe an intellectual horse decides he's had enough -- especially when he heard that his owners were signing him up with Hooters -- and he calls it quits.

Big Brown just said, "No." He way outclasses his owners.

 

Big Brown Turning NASCAR?

When I heard that Big Brown was named Big Brown, I didn't think UPS. I thought "big brown horse." Which, while not exactly poetic or inventive, will do. Then I found out that one of his minority owners has Big Brown (UPS) for a client. Whoop de do.

I like UPS. They bring me stuff in spite of the fact that the dog tries to run them off. They do a good job. Then I hear that there's a whole marketing campaign waiting on Big Brown's Triple Crown win (if he wins Belmont today). Hmmm. I'm in marketing. I wish they wouldn't, but I could see how they would. And truthfully, I would enjoy seeing pictures of Big Brown on their brown trucks. They can put his picture everywhere. He's a beautiful horse and so long as they don't run him into the dirt and break him down because he's no longer a horse but a commodity, I won't flinch with disgust when I see him in their corporate imaging.

Here's a horse with his hoof stapled together running (and winning?) a race. Could be a good motto for a delivery company. "Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor not having any hooves (tires?) to run on, or even good sense for that matter, will keep us from delivery on our appointed route."

They're even going to have some UPS logos here and there at the Belmont. Well, it can't be any worse than Rolexes all over everywhere at Rolex Kentucky. Which doesn't set the standard for taste. Just because the watch is expensive doesn't make it tasteful to stick it all over jumps and everywhere else.

But now Big Brown's owners have crossed a line -- and been chased back over it. One corporate sponsorship wasn't enough for Big Brown's ever greedy owners. A horse worth $500 million (and more than that if he wins today) needed to run not only for them and UPS, but HOOTERS. How low can you go?  That would gag a maggot, as my brother used to say.

I'm so far on the outside that I can't even guess what is going on, but the New York Racing Association has told Hooters that they can't be a sponsor because of a conflict of interest with an unnamed sponsor. Hooters' response? "That's just plain mean." (See story here.) Maybe it's just plain good taste, though that would be a surprise. Since when does propriety and taste count when there's money involved?

My response? Thank God they can't paint logos on horses. They're trying to turn Big Brown into NASCAR.

I hope Big Brown and the other horses stay safe today. I'm not sure I want him to win. Well, I'd love it if he won. But only if he had different owners.

The Toronto Star has an informative story about the history of the Belmont (Winston Churchill's mother, Jennie, attended the first race) and about the sorry doings of Big Brown's owners:

BB's connections have histories racing is properly ashamed of, starting with his loud and obnoxious trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., who guaranteed a Triple Crown win for weeks and badmouthed the other horses in the race as unworthy of a challenge – which they might well be. Michael Iavarone, one of Big Brown's principal owners who presented himself as a Wall Street banker seeking to raise $100 million for investing in racehorses, was recently revealed as a penny-stocks hustler who ran afoul of securities regulators for making illegal trades.

Meanwhile, the horse, which obviously has talent and ability, has been turned into a corporate shill for a delivery company (UPS), with the Hooters girls signed on as official T&A.

From Winston Churchill's mother to the Hooters girls. Things have changed at the Belmont.

If the Grass is Green, Can Hay be Far Behind?

Praise the Lord! It's raining. Pouring. We need it. (This photo is not local.)

I'm down to my last five bales of hay. My friend and hay supplier is bringing me 10 more square bales in the hope that it will last me until first cutting. The only hay that's been cut in my part of S.C. is hay grown in irrigated fields. The farm where Lily takes her lessons is out (but they have large grass pastures). A wholesaler we rely on in the next county is out. I paid $12.99/bale for two bales of alfalfa a few days ago, hoping to stretch out my coastal (I really don't know what I'm doing here, but I wasn't going to buy the timothy for $16.99. Not yet at least). I guess alfalfa cubes might be a better choice -- and I do know to soak them.

It will be a few weeks still before first cutting from my supplier. Somehow, we'll make it until then.

And yes, I know not to stock up on first cutting -- too many weeds. But after the past couple of years, it will be hard not to stock up on anything I can find.

But I'll try to be strong, have faith, all that. I'm just glad I only have to feed two horses.

And you've never seen people more grateful for the rain than S.C.'s horse owners. If it weren't lightning right now, I'd go dance naked in the rain.

Big Brown Has a Quarter Crack but Will Still Race

Big Brown, whose owners are hoping will win the Triple Crown after his wins at the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, has developed another quarter crack. They're giving him two days off, then fixing the quarter crack. They plan to run him in the Belmont. Here's a quotation from the referenced article:

"This is a very, very minor crack," hoof specialist Ian McKinlay said, adding the fissure was about five-eighths of an inch long. "We will put a set of wires in and patch it up."

"Ian keeps telling me it's nothing and he'll be fine in a couple of days, that he will be able to fix it up by Thursday," Dutrow said. "I am sure he will be 100 percent, yes. If we get to breeze him Tuesday or Belmont week, or even Wednesday, we can live with that."

Big Brown has had problems with quarter cracks before. In fact, he had to take the month of January off to heal a quarter crack. Here's an excerpt from a Suite 101 report dated two days ago about how Big Brown has been free of quarter cracks since then:

McKinlay treated Big Brown's first quarter crack by lacing the crack together with wire. Curl used the same technique in the colt's second quarter crack, which developed in his left foot. After Big Brown' s first race this season, Curl told Dutrow he thought rubber cushion Yasha glue-on shoes, developed by McKinlay, would work for the colt.

A set of Yasha glue-ons were anchored to Big Brown's feet 21 days before the Kentucky Derby. Dutrow says the colt's feet went cold within 24 hours of the shoe-fitting. Although the Yasha glue-ons are expensive, as much as $550 a pair compared to regular nail-ons at $25 a pair, Big Brown hasn't had any further problems with his feet.

Curl's philosophy is when the feet are right, the rest of the horse does well also.

So now, Big Brown has his third reported quarter crack. Fortunately, my knowledge of quarter cracks is all academic. To refresh my memory, I went on a search. First I went to my out-of-date Illustrated Veterinary Encyclopedia for Horsemen, which gives you a summary of things with pretty good illustrations. It didn't educate me much other than to learn (1) a quarter crack is not a good thing and (2) it must be pretty serious if they're having to wire it together.

What causes quarter cracks? The Suite 101 article says:

Curl notes that quarter cracks are not unique to the Thoroughbred racehorse. Any breed can develop quarter cracks. The causes of quarter cracks range from running on hard surfaces, to concussion, to thin hoof walls, to imbalance of the medial lateral foot.

Big Browns' quarter cracks were atypical, says Curl. A hoof wall separation initiated the cracking. Possibly a bruise on the bottom of the foot prompted the beginning of a separation, Curl explained. This leads to an abscess which can't drain. The abscess pushes infection up the hoof wall. That, in turn, separates the hoof wall (the fingernail) from the laminae (the membrane that is at the core of a laminitis infection).

The separation of the fingernail is difficult to detect since it can't be seen. A horse can run a race, or perform workouts, and cause the infected area to heat up, but if it cools back down, a problem won't be detected. If a problem is susptected, and the horse is suspended from workouts for a short time period, his next work, or breeze can cause the abscess to break out through the top of the hoof.

Ian McKinlay, who is based in New York, and treated Big Brown's first quarter crack, said he sees the condition more frequently in Standardbreds. He believes tracks becoming harder may be a root cause of the trouble. Curl and Dutrow believe that a wall separation developed over time in Big Brown's case because he has always trained on good surfaces.

And another source says:

"A quarter crack is a stress fracture of the hoof wall and it is telling you that the horse has been overworked and needs a rest. But trainers know that these products are available and that they can, if they're used properly, keep a racehorse working. I'd only repair a wall injury if the wall is in such disrepair that it is not weightbearing or if the horse is standing on its sole. Then build the wall up, by all means, so the horse has something to stand on until the foot regrows." From www.hoofcare.com

What does this mean for Big Brown? Amateur speculationist (I made that up) that I am, I can only figure that his owners will do absolutely everything that they can short of killing him to give him a chance to win the Triple Crown. Will running on a quarter crack kill him? Not unless it indicates that the horse is breaking down in other places.

I assume he will get doctored on enough to run, and he might just win again. Then he'll spend his life getting to meet lots of lady horses, and we can only hope he's not passing on  genes for more bad Thoroughbred feet.

And if all does not go well in his future public races (after what happened to Eight Belles), as I have said before, the racing industry is handing their future to anti-racing forces. No one will defend them when they become indefensible.

Race sound horses in a safe environment, all will be well. Race unsound horses until they break down in tragedy on national television, you deserve what you get.

UPDATE May 26: The New York Times is running a story on this now, which you can read here.

And here's a photo of a quarter-crack repair of the type Big Brown has received.

Student Not Allowed to Graduate Because He Rode Horse to School

Okay, so maybe we all won't be riding our horses places to save money on gas (and to justify spending all that money on hay).

With a hat tip to Instapundit, here's a story about a high school student who wasn't allowed to participate in his high school graduation because he rode a horse to school. I'm a little confused by the presentation of facts. It appears that the student rode a horse to school to save money on gas and the principal wouldn't allow that, so the student missed an exam. His grades were high enough to where this didn't prevent him for qualifying for graduating. Then, because the student planned to ride the horse to graduation, the principal wouldn't allowed the student to participate in the ceremony. The student's uncle planned to ride a horse to school in protest. And in an unrelated story, another uncle died.

I think this story demonstrates a lot of problems with using horses for transportation. I didn't like to see the horse being ridden on pavement or kept in a small, uncovered enclosure by the school building. However, I think it makes a fine statement about current affairs. If you go to the first link, you can see videos and get updates on the story.

And one last thing. According to the pre-graduation story, horse droppings are considered litter, so you have to go back and pick them up. Does that mean that you drive to where your horse left a pile? Not much of a savings in that. I guess the solution would be to get your horse to wear a "diaper" like the carriages horses in Charleston.