smellshorsey

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

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.

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.

Looking for Hay Alternatives

My hay supply is dwindling and although my pasture is green, it isn't enough. I have to feed hay all year. The thought of doing what I have to do -- find hay and stock up for the coming winter -- makes me tired just to think about.

The hay fields have been converted to corn fields to make fuel for me to burn in my car. Other countries are buying up our hay crop. I wonder if this summer will be yet another drought? The price of gas and fertilizer will drive the hay prices up whether or not we have enough rain. Ouch!

The two hay suppliers I consider friends have more friends these days than your average philanthropist. I may start baking cakes for them and other bribes. I do so hate to beg but beg I will. And then pay a fortune.

If you search for "hay alternatives" on the 'net you'll find out all kinds of information that basically says there are alternatives but none as good as hay (except maybe alfalfa cubes). Beet pulp is easy and readily available (and really fattening) but it can only be part of the solution. Shoot.

Many alternatives, such as haylage, apparently carry the risk of botulism. And I don't think I can get my horses to eat ground up peanut shells. I don't even want them to.

Anybody have any success with "alternative fuel" for horses? I hope some feed company is out there working for a solution, because we're certainly ready for one. I've checked several feed manufacturer sites and nobody's talking about developing a hay alternative.

I can't use round bales. Colic, colic, colic. It has to be good hay. Horse quality hay. Hay that was babied from the moment it sprouted to the day it was baled. I feed it to them on a swept concrete pad, which seems to cut down on waste.

Sigh. Since when did dry grass get to be such a rare commodity?

Purina Recalls Horse Feed -- No Public Announcement

I just received an e-mail through our 4-H club that Purina has issued a horse feed recall. I don't feed Purina but in case you do you need the following information, as for some reason the recall was issued to dealers but not the public. When I went to the Purina web site to find their announcement, it was in a .pdf file that I couldn't copy and it didn't have a url I could copy either. I was willing to give them some benefit of the doubt before that. They also closed that "announcement" with wording designed to scare people who don't use Purina, saying that the problem was from one supplier that other feed manufacturers use, too.

Oh. And it's not a product recall. It's a Purina product retrieval.

Here's text from the e-mail I received:

The recalled products are from these 3 East Coast Plants: Guilderland, NY; Harrisburg, PA; Statesville, NC.
The mfg plant codes are: GDL, HAR, STA If these codes are on your feed bags, stop feed and contact your dealer now. Purina Phone number is: 1-800-227-8941

Those who are in Ohio, Tenn, KY, Mississippi and states East of there should all check their feed to be sure it isn't among the recall list.

This is the list of products, but only if from the GDL, HAR, STA plant

Formula No. - Item No. - Description
56AT - 0049098 - Country Acres All Sk 14% Texture
56AZ - 0051858 - Country Acres All Sk 16% Texture
35EX - 0048193 - Country Acres Horse Complete 14
35DR - 0041941 - Country Acres Horse Pellet 10
35DS - 0041940 - Country Acres Horse Pellet 12
35DN - 0041937 - Country Acres Horse Sweet 10
35DP - 0041943 - Country Acres Horse Sweet 12
6514 - 0009876 - Country Acres Layer 16%
3505 - 0034202 - Complete Advantage
35G9 - 0001206 - Equine Junior
35J9 - 0001209 - Equine Senior
5501 - 0001403 - Goat Chow
3531 - 0004984 - Horse Chow 100
35CZ - 0054628 - Horsemans Edge 10:10 TXT HF
35TK - 0065331 - Horsemans Edge Complete 14
35Y5 - 0010610 - Horsemans Edge Pellet 10:6
35TG - 0065244 - Horsemans Edge PLT 12:6 +Lys35TP - 0065356 - Horsemans Edge Sweet 14:6
35TM - 0065354 - Horsemans Edge Sweet 12:6 +LYS3516 - 0001187 - Pure Pride 100
26WK - 0047869 - Sow & Pig Builder OTC 50
61S3 - 0057259 - Start & Gro Sunfresh Recipe

Purina has recalled several horse products including Senior.

On 4/9 they recalled 27 equine products inc. Senior and Platformline.  On 4/21 they recalled another 18 products.to The problem is Aflatoxinswhich can cause liver dysfunction, immune suppression and neurological difficulties.

Thoroughbred Racing is Playing it Stupid

Horse racing needs to change before it's forced to change. Right now, they're playing it stupid, racing too-young horses that have been bred for speed at the expense of soundness. Eight Belles was three-years old and 17 hands high. The average amateur, like me, wouldn't even start jumping her until she was five because her bones haven't finished developing. Am I smarter than the megabuck owners and trainers? I'd have to say "yes." Just look at the outcome

Here Eight Belles was on national TV, running her heart out at the Kentucky Derby, but her legs couldn't take it. Not one ankle broke, but both. A tragedy and a spectacle -- and ample justification in the minds of those who would like horse racing outlawed.

The Jockey Club may as well be sending multi-million dollar donations to PETA. How stupid can they get? Ruffian, Barbaro and now Eight Belles breaking down in the middle of high profile races.

I got Lucy, my fat Thoroughbred who flunked out of racehorse training when she was two, on the New Year's weekend when she turned three. I treated her like a baby. She was a baby and didn't finish growing until she was past five. I didn't start jumping her until she was five. This is considered common sense.

I caught a snippet of Glenn Beck's program this morning (I don't care for him as he's just too angry and loud for me). He was talking about how horses don't want to run, that the only reason that they run is that the jockeys beat them every day, and that every horse he's ever seen in a pasture is standing there eating. He's never seen a horse run so therefore horses don't like to run. (He should come here on a chilly morning if he'd like to see a performance. Or we could put him on a TB at the back of the hunting field and see how hard it is to keep the horse from catching up.) Glenn Beck is obviously ignorant, but that doesn't keep him from talking. And he's not the only one.

The way for horse racing to fix this public outcry is .... drumroll .... to fix this situation. Breed for soundness and speed. Race horses when they're older. That's the choice. Fix it -- or be shut down by people who know less about horses but seem to care more about them than the industry.

Here's a more informed and interesting article here.

And here's what my horses like to do in their pasture just to scare me (these are not my horses -- I run out to stop them before they commit suicide rather than run out with my camera to catch them at it).

Rehabilitating Racehorses Rehabilitates Inmates

The headline could read, "Broken Horses Heal Broken People." The front-page story of the local newspaper was about a Department of Corrections program where prisoners work to rehabilitate racehorses and in the process find something good -- and nurture that goodness -- within themselves.

I know my horses do it for me and for Lily. Bonding with a horse can make you a better person. The program has not been an overwhelming success, but it's still going and has helped rehabilitate lots of horses and so far, this one man. He's the first graduate and there are 10 inmates currently enrolled.

Check out the newspaper article, which has great photos and a slideshow. It didn't tell me enough about the horses, but then again, neither did NBC's little snippet about Rolex Kentucky that we just watched (they should have cut the hockey game short, not Rolex). Here's an excerpt from the story. Please go to this link and read the whole thing. You don't want to miss the slide show, either.

HORSE POWER

Joshua Reynolds graduated last week from an innovative program that teaches prisoners to rehabilitate retired racehorses for adoption.

In the process, he hopes he has rehabilitated himself, too.

Reynolds, 26, served nearly a year in Wateree River Correctional Institution in Rembert and four months in a Lexington County jail for a crime that he says stemmed from a longtime drug addiction.

On Wednesday, under a brilliant blue sky, he was released from prison, thinking about what was waiting for him: two children he hadn’t seen since 2007 and a wife willing to take him back.

And the dream of a better life for himself — something he owes, in large part, to a thoroughbred named Little Me Too.

“The horses have helped so much. I feel great,” he said. “My family is accepting me, which is an amazing thing.

“It’s nothing short of a miracle.”

more....

Some Professional Advice on "To Breed or Not to Breed?"

Thanks for all your comments on "To Breed or Not to Breed?" Breeding a nice mare to a nice stallion and wanting to keep the offspring (assuming said offspring lives, etc.) in spite of what Fugly says has many benefits, ranging from just plain fun to learning about life to, as MiKael pointed out, being allowed to follow your dream. Is there anything more important than that?

So, I called my niece, the horse vet, for professional advice on what to do next and her opinion on the whole project. If I was hoping for an endorsement, perhaps I should have called someone else.

"Oh, Anne! You DON'T want to do that," she said. Her passionate, unequivocally negative response surprised me.

"I don't?" I said, shocked and disappointed.

"Absolutely not. I've seen so many bad horses that were raised by mother-daughter owners. Some of the worst horses I deal with.  Not that you and Lily would necessarily ruin the horse, maybe if you had good professional help you wouldn't, but horses raised as pets in the yard usually don't understand that they are horses," she said. "If it's a male you could geld it and cut off some of those problems, but you'd still have to discipline yourselves to treating it like a horse."

Now, she loves me and knows me. On the plus side, this reaction means she thinks that I'm basically a kind (pushover) person whose existing horses are pets but were, fortunately, raised by someone else. So I'm not insulted even if I am shocked. I do indulge my animals, husband and daughter. And myself. (I'm working on denying myself chocolate.)

But I'd never thought about this pitfall before. "You'd need to treat the foal like a horse, treat it like its mother treats it. Train it and ignore it," she said. But it's so cute! How could we do that? I guess that's her point.

So I said, "What if we got professional help and didn't ruin the horse?" So we talked about who could help us, how it should be done, the perils of pregnancy and birth and the heartbreak that can happen. We talked about the expense and the stallions under consideration.

She said, "I don't think you or Lily could handle it if something went wrong. Bad wrong." She's the one I called when the hamster needed to be euthanized. She's the one who's seen us at our crazy worst with our pets. She has a point. But we're several dead cats and hamsters under the bridge, so to speak. And isn't this part of the learning process about following your dreams? That sometimes bad things happen and you have to take a detour, redirect, redream and try again another way? So I got her to go along with that.

But then we got to the thing that's probably going to stop me. Lily is 13. If we breed Lucy tomorrow and she foals next year, Lily will be 19 before she can start jumping the foal and really using him/her.

Sure, at 19 Lily could still be riding like a fiend and could somehow win enough scholarships to afford to go to college AND take a horse. But there's so much important in life that needs attention at that age. School, college decisions, boys, a social life. Will she still be my horse-loving girl? And if not.....? I guess we could sell the horse. But this isn't part of this dream.

Lily and I discussed the timing of all this, the foal's age and development and while she believes she will be riding and competing at Rolex in the near future -- and I hope she will but think her schedule is too optimistic by a decade or more and is certainly out of our budget -- she understood that she her goals and the foal's maturation rate don't coincide. Yes, she can be riding and training the baby before it's five, but she can't really be asking for hard physical  work.

More thinking to come, but that's today's state of mind.

She hasn't done all that Buddy can do. Or Lucy, either. I think I'm going to get her to sit down with one of her former trainers who competed at Radnor with an affordable QH and understands dreams and finances. Maybe if we set goals for this year, and next year, etc. Lily is a talented, dedicated rider, but doesn't know quite as much as she thinks she does.

This is tough and I don't want her life lesson about horses to be that it's all about the money. I want it to be that if your dream is big enough, you'll find a way.

To Breed or Not to Breed

Lucy's a smart girl. Here she is hoping for something. Food. An adventure. Maybe a boyfriend?

True, she's got Buddy to boss around. But perhaps she'd like somebody more studly. Like a real stud.

Lily has been dying to breed Lucy for several years. And now I wish we'd done it last year. At some point, Lily is going to want something fancier than Buddy. That could be Lucy, since Lucy is a lovely mover (though not fancy fancy). And she is as athletic as a cat, and way too smart. Lucy is 9, I think, and Buddy is 10. Or maybe they're both a year older. Lily is 13.

I don't know if I can or should convince Paul, but I'm looking into some of the studs in our area. Right now the leading contender is a lovely Hanoverian. Lucy is a nicely bred TB mare. I think this would make me a backyard breeder and on Fugly's bad list. Though breeding a registered, nice TB to an approved Hanoverian probably would keep me out of that category, though it still wouldn't mean I know what I'm doing. (I need to quit reading MiKael's blog or looking at all my neighbor's foals.)

My father, who would legitimately be on Fugly's bad side for all the mixed up horses he bred (and took care of and thought they were beautiful and useful, to his credit), said that having foals was one of the most fun things he remembers doing and what's wrong with us for not already having done it?

Paul ain't into extra horses. Vet bills. Random events, like taking a gamble on the gene pool and the birth process. He's also not into paying $$$ for a nice horse after Buddy has taken Lily as far as Buddy can go. So maybe there's hope for talking him into it.

It would be fun to raise a baby. I used to help my father. One of them was a cross between a Tennessee Walking Horse and a five-gaited mare. That horse was like a ten-speed. He could do any gait, though sometimes he got his feet tangled up. I made him walk, trot and canter (only) and taught him to jump. To my eyes he was a handsome thing. Here is one of the only photos I've got. Click to enlarge, if you wish. His name was Snuffy and he was a good sport. Because he was a mixed breed and wasn't at all delicate, he once stepped on a giant nail that went all the way up through his frog and the point stuck out above his pastern. He wasn't even lame. But back to the issue of breeding Lucy.

Lily has been forced to save money in a savings account since third grade that she can one day spend on something she really wants. She says this is what she really wants. I'm afraid the foal won't mature fast enough for her ambitions for it. And what if it's born with three legs? Fugly? Etc.?

I guess that would be a good life lesson.

And if we don't talk Paul into it? Well, there's always trickery. We simply don't know HOW Lucy got pregnant. Somebody must have hopped over the fence.

I would never do that. I don't think.