Friday, May 23, 2008

Great New Trail Riding Newsletter!

Check out the NEW On the Trail newsletter from equisearch.com

There are some great articles in here for trail riding enthusiasts!


Trail Rider's Forum Trail Riding articles Shop

Welcome to the Equine Network's On the Trail monthly e-newsletter, an online resource to help you enjoy the great outdoors with your horse. In each issue, we'll share tips for making the most of your trail outings and links to articles and videos on EquiSearch.com.

If you would like to keep receiving this newsletter, sign up here.


Hot Topics

Build a Better Trail Horse
Seasoned veterans and novice trail horses alike will benefit from our time-tested strategies for crossing water, going single file, maintaining a good pace and meeting other animals and people on the trail without spooking. Read more here.


Trail Tips

Don't Leave Home Without...
Take along the following necessities even for trail rides of an hour or less:

  • watch
  • pocketknife
  • hoof pick
  • basic first-aid kit for horse and rider
  • identification on your person and attached to your horse
  • halter and lead rope so that you can control or tie your horse should your tack break
  • cell phone

How To

Keep Your Horse Cool On The Trail
For some advice from an expert on how to prevent your horse from getting overheated during summer trail rides, click here.

Beware of Humidity
Moist air makes hot weather more dangerous because it slows the rate at which sweat evaporates. Here's a rule of thumb: Any time the temperature and humidity numbers added together total 130 or more--for example, 80 degrees Fahrenheit with 50 percent humidity--there's a serious risk of overheating. And if that total is 150--for example, 80 degrees Fahrenheit and 70 percent humidity--conditions are hazardous.


Great Gear

For Night Riders
If you'll be out on the trails after sundown, let a Saddlelight show you the way. Mounted on your horse's breast collar or saddle, the Saddlelight is specially designed to help you see better without interfering with your horse's night vision. Click here to see the Saddlelight in action.


Destinations

Tennessee Getaway
At East Fork Ranch in Jamestown, Tennessee, you can enjoy organized rides on scenic trails through the Cumberland Plateau. Cabins, campgrounds, stalls, and paddock facilities are available for vacationing equestrians and their horses. Get more information here.

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Thursday, May 22, 2008

TB Slaughter Rescue with Happy Ending


What happens to a TB race horse when they can no longer race? Hopefuly, they are lucky enough to find good homes, but the racing industry... okay, so the entire Horse Industry... can be a cruel place!

Read this story about Little Cliff, a successful racehorse who originally had owners whom cared for him. Through time and a few sales, he ended up in the kill pen DESPITE the original owners having a sticker on his papers indicating on his papers to CALL IF THIS HORSE NEEDS A HOME ONCE RETIRED. Even still, no-one cared enough to contact the owners. Luckily, a good Samaritan came to his rescue. This type of complacency really fires me up in the horse industry... absolutely NO EXCUSE for the sale- New Holland, not to pay attention to this horse's papers!!!

Little Cliff rescued from slaughter

by Ed DeRosa

Little Cliff, one of two horses owner Robert LaPenta named after the late turf writer and chartcaller Cliff Guilliams, was rescued from slaughter on March 11.

Christy Sheidy, co-founder of Another Chance 4 Horses rescue in Bernville, Pennsylvania, discovered the five-year-old Gulch gelding in a direct-to-kill pen in New Holland, Pennsylvania. He had last raced in a $10,000 claiming race on March 1 at Philadelphia Park, finishing seventh of nine and earning $170 for owner LA Buzz Stable. Trainer Ramon Preciado had claimed the horse from Jimmy Moran Jr. for $10,000 on January 13.

Sheidy ran the gelding’s tattoo and had Diana Baker, formerly of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation, pull a race record, which is when the connection to LaPenta and Racing Hall of Fame trainer Nick Zito appeared. Zito’s wife, Kim, is involved in horse rescue efforts as well.

“Mr. LaPenta and [Zito] sent a very generous check to Christy that more than covered [Little Cliff’s] expenses,” Baker said. “We couldn’t have asked for a better or more generous response than what we received.”

In a cruel twist of fate, Moran and Guilliams both died within a week of Little Cliff’s rescue but not before Nick Zito had a chance to tell Guilliams that one of his equine namesakes had been rescued.

“The Cliff’s Edge and Little Cliff were both named after [Guilliams],” Kim Zito said. “Nick had dinner with [Guilliams] just recently and told him what had happened to Little Cliff. [Guilliams] got very emotional and very upset.”

LaPenta purchased Little Cliff for $250,000 at the 2004 Keeneland September yearling sale and bought him back on a bid of $350,000 at the 2005 Fasig-Tipton Calder sale of selected two-year-olds in training.

Little Cliff finished sixth behind eventual Grade 1 winners and Central Kentucky stallions Political Force and Flashy Bull in his second career start before winning his next two races by a combined 6 1/4 lengths to close out his two-year-old season. At three, he finished third in both the Leonard Richards (G3) and Sir Barton Stakes. He won three of 27 starts and earned $202,762.

Although Little Cliff had changed owners four times throughout his life before being rescued, one thing that followed him from Kentucky to New York to Florida to Pennsylvania were his Jockey Club papers, papers that Kim Zito had affixed with a white sticker that says, “If this horse needs a home when he retires, please call.”

“The tragic part of this story is that Little Cliff had this sticker on his papers, and that breaks my heart because it proves that there are people in this industry who don’t give a [darn],” Kim Zito said.

SOURCE: Ed DeRosa and TheThoroughbredTimes.com

Thursday, May 08, 2008

IMPORTANT Purina Feed Recall

Major Feed Recall

Land O Lakes/Purina has issued a feed retrieval for a number of brands.

Land O Lakes/Purina has issued feed recalls, or "retrievals," for a variety of their brands manufactured between the dates of November 3, 2007, and March 10, 2008. These feeds were identified to contain greater than 20 ppb of aflatoxins, originating from a single ingredient from a single supplier. Only specific manufacturing plants and dates are involved. The recalled products also vary.

As of May 6, 2008, the contaminated feeds had been distributed in the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

The manufacturing plants involved, and dates, are:• Statesville, North Carolina: Feeds manufactured between November 3, 2007, and February 8, 2008.• Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: Feeds manufactured between January 1, 2008, and February 8, 2008.• Guilderland, New York: Feeds manufactured between January 8, 2008, and March 10, 2008.

If you have purchased a Purina feed and live in one of the involved states, check the bottom edge of your feed bag for a date code. The date codes on Purina feeds are in this format: 7NOV03STA

The first number is the year. "7" = 2007, "8" = 2008. The next code is the month. "NOV" = November. Next two digits are the day. "03" = 3rd (of November in this case). Last three letters are the plant code. STA = Statesville. HAR = Harrisburg. GLD = Guilderland.

If you have feed from one of these three plants manufactured within the recall dates, call your feed dealer to see if your specific brand is involved in the recall. If you purchased feed during the time frames listed for the recall but no longer have your bags, call your dealer anyway to see if the feed you use was involved in the recall.

If your horses are having health problems of unknown cause, call your veterinarian and let him/her know you may have fed aflatoxin-contaminated feed. Feed, urine or liver biopsy tissues can be tested for aflatoxin and aflatoxin metabolites. Your state’s Department of Agriculture should also be notified if your veterinarian suspects feed related health issues.

Note: As of May 6, this was an ongoing issue. Further recalls could be issued. Details are still very sketchy. Other feeds could also be involved but no details are available. Signs range from acute liver failure to stunted growth in young horses, poor hair coat, abnormal liver enzymes on blood chemistry, jaundice (yellow eyes and gums), feed refusal, unexplained loss of condition, poor immune system function. Fetal abnormalities have been reported in other species.

This information comes from Eleanor Kellon, VMD
Horse Journal Veterinary Editor