Anyone getting married soon?

These boots are part of the Mountain Horse 2010 Spring Collection. Mountain Horse should include an audio clip with this image -- "Chapel of Love."



Why is it that I find peanut butter colored boots offensive (see this blog post), but these white embossed boots are intriguing? Would I buy them? No. I'm not sure they're intended for riding to be honest -- and what color breeches one would wear with them?

Now THESE are more like it! These I would own in a heartbeat.


This is from the Mountain Horse 2010 Spring Collection.

Syncopated gaited Zenyatta: I'll take two like her

Thanks Helen for sharing this video of Zenyatta dance moves. It's blog-worthy for sure, so I'm featuring it today.

What a big, beautiful girl. Tall enough for me, too ;-)

Where to begin?

This video made me frustrated and sad -- for the horse and the rider. Watching the gradual decline of this partnership, you can count the signs pointing to a bad ending...

This girl really needed some honest advice when she had this horse. I admire her dedication, and the Parelli segment is touching. But my goodness, thoroughbreds aren't especially easy and sometimes you just need *help*, in this case in form of rider education and skills development.


Oh, and hey, RENOWNED TRAINER -- ever think of wearing a HELMET? To set an EXAMPLE?

Gaits Part 4: Knee action in dressage

Disclaimer: I'm babbling on and on in this series, and I hope I don't come across as a know-it-all. I'm just a lil'ole lower level amateur. Still, I do a lot of reading, I watch a ton of dressage videos, and I try to sponge up everything experts say at breed shows, horse shows, and inspections. I don't think I'm saying anything blatantly inaccurate, and I try to quote sources where I remember them. Thanks for your interest!

If you look at Gifted in 1991, Rembrandt in 1988, and Ahlerich in 1984, none of them have particularly extravagant knee action. In fact by today's standards their gaits are a little quiet. I think Gestion Bonfire was the first horse I remember with that remarkable knee/hock action, and although some attribute knee action to rollkur, I think it is more that the Dutch seem to breed horses that have that round action.

How much is too much?
Well, most of the references to knee action in the dressage world indicate it's *desirable. So I was surprised to find an online discussion of Friesians being marked down for too much knee action. I don't think that judges mark down the knee action per se, but if it interferes with their ability to perform the movements -- like extensions -- they might be marked down. When knees are up, the reach might be limited, I think.

There's more evidence that knee action isn't always a wonderful thing...

• Jane Savoie was quoted as saying that when knees are up, the neck tends to be short. To get a longer stride you have to "let the neck out."
  
• Knee action tends to be more pronounced with an upright shoulder and a choppy gait.
• The showy front end may draw attention away from a lackluster hind end.
• Anti-rollkur folks say that there is research showing that rollkur tends to produce more knee action.
  

Most of the knee action I've seen at the higher levels of dressage is very pleasant to watch. I just hope that horses who are doing correct work aren't overlooked because their gaits aren't fancy.

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*Exception: Totilas and rollkur debate, where some folks maintain it's artificial.

A Prix St. George test: What's missing here?

Tension. Tension is missing, and that's a good thing. This is Heather Blitz and Paragon, my current favorite dressage horse, doing a Prix St. George test.

Heather Blitz and Paragon (by Don Schufro)


At 18 hands and 7 year old, Paragon is probably just now getting his adult musculature -- he doesn't look filled out yet. Donnerhall offspring are often late in maturing, and I think Paragon might lack the strength to sit down and power through the pirouette. What is amazing about this ride is the ease, the beautiful expressive movement, and the lightness of the rein. I look forward to seeing more of this partnership.

Light up the show ring, ladies!

You know how a lot of kids tennis shoes have LEDs (light emitting diodes) embedded in the heel or toe or wherever? Well, now you can get the same light-up feature in equine footwear.

clipped from Shooting Star Light-Up Horse Boots by Bar-F NEW!

I have to say I absolutely love this idea -- for kids, and for schooling. But... come to think of it... Maybe it has a place in equestrian sport. Could you see something in the dressage ring? Maybe a dressage pad or button braid bands with subtle, lustrous shimmering lights pulsing with the music?
No? Oh well, it was just a thought...

Gaits part 3: Gaits ain't all that

I look at videos like this and think "Gaits, schmaits, give me one that wants to do the work." Check out this video of a an Arabian working at Prix St.George (ridden by a 15 year old in some of the footage):



No, he doesn't have purest gaits -- you can see the pacy walk and canter. He isn't an uphill horse. But look at his work ethic and focus, the consistency, and how hard he tries in the trot extension. It's a beautifully rhythmical extension, IMHO. If he is as easygoing as he looks, this is the kind of schoolmaster I would want -- except maybe 2 hands taller for my 5' 10" frame. An awful lot of talented warmbloods never make it past second level. Gaits and conformation make the job easier in some ways, but this video shows that the desire to please is what really makes a dressage horse.

Of course, I may get a comment from the owner telling me that the horse is a total firecracker to ride :-).

Three Riley milestones!

Note extra room on outer edge to encourage hoof to expand.
Horizontal line at the toe is top of defect.

Milestone #1: New, normal shoes
Friday morning the vet met me at the barn and we put Riley on a lunge line -- sound! Well, let me amend that: The vet considers him sound but told me he was seeing a difference in the breakover between the two feet -- the left is very upright, the right is pretty much without a heel. I just saw a horse moving freely and comfortably.

Then the farrier arrived, and he put on two NORMAL shoes. Riley's right hoof has an Equipak gel pad infused with copper sulfate, held in by a mesh liner. The pad will keep the frog in direct contact with the ground. This will hopefully help expand the heel. If you look at the picture on the right, you'll see the outside edge of the shoe is slightly wider than the hoof heel. This is to encourage expansion. See the horizontal line at the toe? That's the end of the hoof defect.

Milestone #2: Drug-free Riley
This was Riley's first sedation-free shoeing (keep in mind he was on stall rest for most of his shoeing experiences). While he was still opinionated, he responded to correction and stood stock still for minutes at a time, or he quietly chewed the chain shank. Not really that bad, especially considering it took an hour to do two shoes (lots of standing, talking, scrutinizing). I can foresee a day he might stand quietly unattended.

Duct tape to protect mesh/equipak
Left hoof in process

Milestone #3: Riley the working man?
Riley's been cleared to go back to work. By work I mean physical rehab, really. He's scrawny. He's gangly. He has no topline. He's on paddock turnout until the spring. It'll be a slow road, but any talk of progress is a little miracle to me. He may be a riding horse after all! After everyone left, I took the bridle into Riley's stall and put it on him.

He remembered.

Youth is fleeting, but thoroughbred is forever

What prompted me to have this thought?

Harvey of course! We had 22" of snow, over the course of several days, earlier this month. I worried that Harv (who is not very sure-footed on packed snow or ice) might fall coming in from or going out to the pasture. What a waste of mental energy.

"I thought Harvey had arthritis"
I ran into of the weekday barn workers shortly after the snowfall. She said, "I thought Harvey had arthritis!" I assured her that he did, thinking of his shuffling walk and his little hitch at the trot. Well, he may be nearly 23 years old, but apparently he's not all that infirmed. Here's the story...

Post-snowfall turnout
The barn worker turned Harv and his buddy out into the freshly fallen, above-the-knee snow. They waded into it as much as they had to, both stood quietly at the gate all afternoon. When they went to bring them in, though, Harv (and only Harv) bolted away in alarm. Who knows why? No one could catch him, and he barrelled through the drifts, lifting his knees and hocks like a saddlebred, tail in the air, snorting loudly. When they did catch him he piaffed all the way back to the barn.

Well, okay it was probably a jig, not a piaffe. Still, I wish I coulda been there. It's cool that he's still got it in him :-).

Totilas: Twinkle-toes or or tarted-up? (Gaits Part 2)

I once had a professor of architecture tell me that you should never use Las Vegas or New York City as examples. I'm pretty sure he meant that both cities are unique and incomparable -- freaks, really, at least in terms of city planning and architecture. I think when you're talking about dressage, Totilas is in the same class.

His movement is so outrageous! It does make you wonder where it all came from. For awhile I pondered whether artificial training methods -- like weighted shoes -- might have been used in his training. When I posted this question, half jokingly, on COTH, one member gave the response that put the question to rest in my mind...

Just for grins, can you promise us that weighted shoes will assure that a horse could have movement such as that which we see in Totilas? :-)

Training methods
There have been suggestions that training methods have made his gaits impure, that he is "all-show" with a flashy front end. In an Equisearch forum posting, Dressage Today editor Patty Laskow offers a perspective on Totilas that rings true with me...

Here is the latest video with commentary of Totilias ridden by Edward Gal. It shows how breeding is producing these amazing athletes. This is really a new mark in excellence. It used to be that horses who had so much knee action often dragged their hind legs and you had to be careful not to be too impressed with the front end. But this horse is beautifully proportioned to support all his work with his hind end. Watch how he steps under his body with them and at the same time get amazing lift with his shoulders. Enjoy the video and commentary.

I've read that his sire Gribaldi in his early years (sadly I can't find a video) had similar movement, and Totilas' mom/mare line was pretty special too. We should acknowledge the possibility that Totilas' breeder just hit the jackpot of crosses. He is uphill, his shoulder is long and sloped, he is compactly built -- the movement reflects his conformation/breeding.

This is not to say I like the LDR/Rollkur/Hyperflexion training approach. As someone who scoffs at the whole heated debate, I was surprised at the dismay I felt watching the young Totilas ridden in an overflexed frame. It doesn't look like good training. My own humble opinion is that Totilas is what he is irrespective of, or in spite of, LDR training. Horses are amazingly tolerant and resilient. I suspect they become what they are meant to become with only a little help, or hindrance, from us.

Still it's fun to wonder what Totilas would be like if he were trained by Ulla Salzgeber, or Imke Bartels, or Steffan Peters.

Damn you Jeffers Equine! More sartorial splendor

Found another great blanket -- turnout sheet, really -- this one by Weatherbeeta for Joules (an equestrian clothing line). Would you be shocked if I told you that the sheet has been ordered, received, and fitted? My fingers tingled as I filled out the order form. Would it be out of stock? Nope. I beat the hordes of would-be buyers to the front of the line and scored this harbinger of spring, a pastel stripey frivolous frock for Riley.
I took it out to the barn and tried it on him last weekend. Another boarder, a twenty-something, peered in our stall. "Are you going to make him wear that?" she asked. I laughed, but inside my head I thought, "Listen, I grew up in the seventies. This is tame." Like most kids of that era I went through a "rainbow period," incorporating that color scheme at every opportunity. Guess this is a remnant of that mind set. Still, I was shocked that she didn't like it. Chacun à son goût...

Why stop there? I could go all matchy-matchy and get this Joules shirt for myself.

A glimpse of young Totilas: Clinic, 2007

I can't take credit for any of the work that went in to *videotaping or **translating this 2007 clinic with Edward Gal and Totilas (then only 6 years old). It's fascinating to see a glimpse of the young Totilas before he became "a big deal," and we also see some of Gal's training methods, which I'm sure are controversial. The clinic is shown in three parts, and **translation for each part is available below.

There's a catch!
I'm assigning homework for readers. Watch Part 1 from 2:30 to 3:15 -- it's what I'll call the "pasture trot." Tell me, would you recognize that as Totilas? I'm not sure I would. Gal has said in interviews that he does not ask Totilas for show ring brilliance in their daily work. Even if this is toned-down-Totilas, you can tell he's really developed quite a bit in the last few years.

Part 1 (view translation for Part 1)


Part 2 (view translation for Part 2)


Part 3 (view translation for Part 3)

---

*The video is courtesy of Horsetribe on Youtube.
**The written translation was posted on a COTH dressage forum thread but the poster doesn't say where she got it. Thanks whoever did it.

Gaits part 1: What is meant by "impure gaits?"

The first time I attended Dressage at Devon, I saw an upper level horse do something very weird. Leaving the ring on a long rein walk, the horse started lifting his front feet unnaturally from the knee/shoulder and stomping down, for about 20 strides. The audience tittered; the rider seemed embarrassed. I'd never seen anything like that action...

Until now...
I found this video posted in a thread on the COTH dressage forum (opinions of this horse).

The walk
There is something going on with the walk, but what? It's a less exaggerated but otherwise identical version of what the Dressage at Devon horse was doing. Is it a riding method, prior use of artificial means (e.g., weighted shoes), something else? I don't know.

The not quite trot/not quite passage
A lot COTH members tore this gait apart; one COTH'er remarked, "it's like watching two men in a horse suit." I agree with the general opinion on COTH -- this horse, who seems to have good natural ability, is not exhibiting pure gaits.

• So much flash in front, with that knee action and toe flick, yet so little energy in back.
  
• This is exactly what is meant when someone refers to a "passagey trot" (it's not a good thing)
• The half pass seemed disunited front to back.
  
• An overall impression of sucking back, even in the still shot at the start of the video.

But back to the walk -- anyone know what causes that high-stepping walk?

Oh, BTW, I'll probably be writing more about gaits, so stay tuned. And hey, if you have any topics related to gaits you're interested in, let me know...

Part 3: Possible harmful effects of Jiaogulan

Great comments from readers of Parts 1 and 2 -- new info on jiaogulan and the pharmaceutical industry. Wish I had access to veterinary databases and journals, but I was only able to search Medline and Google for info on Jiaogulan (and LaminaSaver, which contains the substance). Here are some reports of possible harmful effects...

• A report from Kentucky Equine Research cautions that depending on the underlying cause of the laminitis, Jiaogulan can make laminitis worse instead of better.
• In Jiaogulan: When to try it, what to expect, Dr. E. Kellon emphasizes that Jiaogulan is not a miracle cure. It needs be part of a comprehensive treatment plan of diet, mineral balance, and hoof care. She also notes that the substance can cause a temporary worsening of symptoms, especially for horses with serum accumulation in the hoof.
  
• A study in Sweden found that this herb increased blood insulin levels in humans This may be an undesirable side effect in some laminitic horses.
• Jiaogulan should not be used in conjunction with a host of other supplements, homeopathic treatment, Acepromazine, Bute, Banamine, and other drugs. Kellon lists substances to avoid.
• Dosage for the Jiaogulan is highly individual, varying with the horse, and in Jiaogulan: When to try it, what to expect, Kellon reports that the proper treatment dosage is highly individual to the horse. Yet LS just gives dosage by the weight of the horse.

So what's the verdict?
Well, for one thing, Lamina Saver has some 'splaining to do. The manufacturers don't seem to have formal training (see Part II); the cost of the product is not explained by the ingredients (again, see see Part II); and the product fails to warn consumers about possible harmful effects. Figuerola Labs may be run by well-meaning people but their lack of credentials is a concern. I hope Jiaogulan turns out to be helpful to some laminitic horses but indiscriminate use can be harmful. Bye bye, Bob's bucks (100 of them) -- and Riley's back on MSM.

RESOURCES

Positive articles on Jiaogulan

Horse Journal articles

• "Jiaogulan appears to be a jewel," Horse Journal, August 2006.
• "LaminaSaver lives up to its claims," Horse Journal, June 2002.
• "LaminaSaver Field-Trial Horses Case Histories," Horse Journal," no date available.
  

Articles by Dr. Eleanor Kellon, DVM

• Jiaogulan and Nitric Oxide Protocol from Naturalhorsetrim.com (Dr. Eleanor Kellon's field study information)
• Kellon, E. (March 2006). Use of the Herb Gynostemma Pentaphyllum and the Blue-Green Algae Spirulina Plentensis in the Horse. Third European Equine Nutrition and Health Congress, Gent, Belgium.
• Natural medicines for horses at myhorse.com (By Dr. E. Kellon)
• Jiaogulan and Laminitis reprinted from the Yahoo Cushings list (not an open list)
• Jiaogulan: When to try it, what to expect reprinted from the Yahoo Cushings list (not an open list)

Other positive Jiaogulan articles

• Jiao gu lan and Laminitis: TCM may offer Help for the Laminitic Horse by Gloria Garland L.Ac, Dipl. Ac. & CH. from the wholehorse.com
• Jiaogulan from all-natural-horse-care.com
• Figuerola Labs: The Story in Holistic Horse
  
• Winter laminitis a COTH thread

Articles skeptical about Jiaogulan

• Kentucky Equine Review, a report from Kentucky Equine Research, an international equine nutrition, research and consultation company. Warns that indiscriminate use of jiaogulan has the potential to make a laminitic horse worse instead of better. Before administsering, consult with a veterinarian
• Insulin Resistance Updates from Equine Medical and Surgical Associates. Notes from a conference reported in Updates... "A client asked about Jiaogulan (Gynostemma Pentaphyllum). Do not use it. A study out of the Department of Medical Biochemistry in Stockholm Sweden found it increased blood Insulin levels. (J. Biol. Chem 279-40. 41361-41367. October 2004).
• Robert Oglesby, Horseadvice.com, thread about Jiaogulan and Horse Journal
• Robert Oglesby, Horseadvice.com, thread about LaminaSaver and Horse Journal
  
• Viagra: Will the little blue pill be the next big thing for laminitis therapy? from Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog

On a happier note -- Look what I found!

Sorry about the dream, but I could not get it out of my head. On a happier note, look what I found on my hard drive. I'm pretty sure I haven't shared this one before...

This is Riley, probably about 9 months old. It's funny because when I went to see him tonight, he was exhausted from being out in 22" of snow. I thought to myself, "he looks just like he did when he was a baby." And then this popped up as I was browsing on Picasa...


By the way he is doing well. Next Friday he graduates to a nail-on shoe (no more plate, no more glue-ons). The frog support pads he's been wearing have really helped to expand and "normalize" his heel.

I dreamed a dream, and I'm not Susan Boyle

There's nothing worse than having to listen to the boring dreams of others.

But here's my dream anyway. It's a high anxiety dream and I recall it in surprising detail. Kind of wish I didn't.

The downer dream
In my dream, Riley is being examined by a vet. We're in the wash stall at the farm where I board Riley. The details are still clear to me -- the placement of the hose, the feeling of standing on the mat, the look on the vet's face. The vet is unfamiliar, exotic-looking and young. She has just taken x-rays and she is telling me about some new and awful finding. It was clearly visible on the x-rays -- don't recall what, but it was something that should not have been there. My reaction to the news was anger and frustration -- why did no one see this before now????

The vet is distant and professional. She recommends I take Riley to a clinic three hours away, a place called "Wind Willow Vet."

Bob is there, did I mention that? In real life Bob is weary as hell of Riley's rehab, and in real life he doesn't know anything about clinics in the area. Yet in the dream he says "What's wrong with Mid-Atlantic?" (a well-known and nearby facility). I can see he won't be very keen on the 3 hour drive, and I want to take Riley somewhere familiar to me.

I tell the vet we can't go to Wind Willow. On hearing this, she then turns to her truck and starts sorting through a box. I look in the box, and see a jumble of horse prosthetic devices -- hooves, hocks, knees, it was just awful. I ask the vet to tell me why this clinic is so special, but she doesn't seem to hear me.

I run into the barn to tell Bob we have to go to Wind Willow. Bob is leading Riley down the aisle, away from me. Riley's gait stops me in my tracks. His right front leg is winging out exaggeratedly as he walks, and he is putting all of his weight on the inside edge of his hoof. Then I wake up.

Needless to say, I'm done taking Nyquil before bed.

And Riley is fine. He's fine. He's fine!

Entrecarders: Response about ghost dropping

Regular readers: This is not horse-related and probably not of much interest to you. Sorry. We'll be back to our regularly scheduled blogging tomorrow.

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Hi Entrecarders,

A blogger who writes Cornyman's Money blog wrote a post accusing a group of bloggers of "ghost dropping," or getting Entrecard credits by playing outside of the rules. He listed the blogs of those he thinks cheated based on a faulty test he conducted. I'm one of the ones he has listed. Oh, my goodness, the hits and comments this guy is accumulating -- no wonder he decided to make it a public outing rather than just reporting it to Entrecard. Well, here is a response from someone in the minority -- someone who blogs because they like to write, not to make money.

I like Entrecard
The intent of Entrecard was originally to build a community of bloggers who support each other by visiting one another's blogs and advertising on one another's blogs through a little token economy, rather than actual money. I support Entrecard and the idea behind it. But here are my observations as an Entrecard member...

• Not enough real bloggers. Many of the blogs on Entrecard are not "real blogs" in the real sense that the blogger wants to write and be read. They're choked with ads, infrequently updated, and have very little content (listening Cornyman?). These are blogger posers and they are clogging the Entrecard system. The quality blogs -- the ones that are nurtured and updated by thoughtful writers -- are buried in the avalanche. I speak as someone who posts new, original content DAILY.
  
• Dropping can be risky. Many Entrecard blogs run scripts, popup ads, auto-play sound effects/music, and processor-intensive junk that at best, hose my browser. Some have malware or viruses that have infected Entrecard members. These offenders are not warned or weeded out. I have to remember and track who they are so I don't visit those blogs.
• Badge placement. The Entrecard requirement that the badge be near the top of the page is unenforced, and number of the blogs don't have badges at all. It takes a certain amount of time to load the page, and then I can't find the badge or there is no badge.
  
• There's nothing new to see. The requirement that pages content be updated semi-regularly is unenforced -- in some cases I don't even see any content, it's just a bunch of ads.
• Dropping (as it now stands) is boring and monotonous. It's a well-intentioned concept -- supposed to be a fun process of exploring new blog topics and writing. But as it stands now, it's a zombie's chore. Everyone just wants to get their credits, and most Entrecarders admit that pretty openly.
  
• The toolbar is a slippery slope. The Entrecard toolbar was designed to make dropping easier, but it's much like "ghost dropping" in practice. No one is looking at content, it's just a rote task. BTW, do you all realize that dropping the way most people do it is "bouncing" that actually reduces your page rank in most search engines? So much for SEO.
• Cheating is hard to define. Some bloggers outsource dropping to their kids, or set up sites with the blogs in iframes, and all other kinds of workarounds to keep from havng to do a task that is mind-numbing. These folks get the benefit of credits but never see the blog -- isn't that cheating?
  

The idea behind Entrecard is wonderful, but the process is bastardized. The actual practice of dropping is a wretched activity because there's no content out there. Cheating? I'd argue ghost dropping is adaptive behavior. It's the same reason we use vacuums insted of brooms. Entrecard, please, please, please put some resources into quality control on the blogs in your system -- there needs to be a spring cleaning.

Oh, and has anyone taken a look at the Cornyman blog -- the guy who is calling me a cheater and a scammer? To for all the finger pointers out there, take a step back and soak up the irony.

Deep, cleansing breaths...
I'd like to thank, and to show my appreciation to, the REAL bloggers on Entrecard: Daisy the Curly Cat, Five 'O Clock Somewhere, A Bay Horse, I Do Things, Margie and Edna's Basement, and many bloggers who actually write. You make communities like Entrecard worthwhile.

Lamina Saver: The scoop on this supplement Part 2

So if you read Part 1 of this story, you know I made an impulse purchase of the product LaminaSaver (LS)^TM. Here is what I learned about it post-purchase. There is a lot of info so this will end up being a three part series, with a full reference list at the end of Part 3.

About the manufacturer
The manufacturer of LS, Figuerola Labs, was founded in 1992 by a husband/wife team. The company is featured in a Holistic Horse article. It's a little alarming to read the biographical info of the Veterinary Science Division President (the wife). She carries the title Dr., but neither the article or web site say what doctoral degree is held. In fact no professional credentials are given except to say she has been a fashion model and jewelry designer. Are you scared yet? I am.

A Chinese herb
Lamina Saver (LS) doesn't reveal its ingredients but lists a goofily-named proprietary substance Restaurex -- sounds like a cleaning agent for food service. Anyway, according to those involved in testing LS, the main ingredient is Jiaogulan. Jiaogulan (a Chinese herb) can be purchased for $13/lb from health food stores, while LS costs $100/lb. Maybe LS offers a more complex or potent formulation -- but they ain't tellin.'

What does Jiaogulan do?
Jiaogulan, or Gynostemma pentaphyllum, is a Chinese herb that has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and other beneficial properties. It is thought to help release nitric oxide which enhances circulation, relaxing the blood vessels to facilitate blood flow. Some researchers feel that circulation in the laminitic foot is compromised, so in theory Jiaogulan could help. From the databases I have access to and the sources consulted, there are no published, controlled studies of Jiaogulan use in horses.

Dr. Eleanor Kellon and Horse Journal
A veterinarian in PA, Dr. Eleanor Kellon (see bio), has done some field/case studies on Jiaogulan -- no control group, all volunteer subjects. Such studies can be tough to interpret, and the results (to me) are not that compelling without a control group for comparison. Kellon, who specializes in natural remedies, is fairly reserved in her recommendation for Jiaogulan. She promotes Jiaogulan as one part of a comprehensive care plan for laminitis, and she advises clients to use care in determining the proper dosage. What seems odd to me is that she is on the editorial board of The Horse Journal, where both LS and Jiagulan have been touted repeatedly as treatment for laminitis. Here are some quotes from reports in Horse Journal about LS:

“LaminaSaver lives up to its claims.”
“We’ve never seen anything like it for treating chronic laminitis.”
“We had incredible results with LaminaSaver.”
—Horse Journal, June 2002—

Those quotes are pretty much a ringing endorsement, aren't they? I wonder that Kellon didn't exercise some editorial control over these articles. And did Horse Journal investigate the credentials of the manufacturer, Figuerola Labs? That would seem to be part of due diligence.

Horseadvice.com/Dr. Robert Oglesby commentary
Not everyone in the veterinary world agrees with Horse Journal's methods for reviewing products. In the veterinarian-moderated HorseAdvice.com forum, both Jiaogulan and Lamina Saver were discussed in two separate threads. In a thread on Jiaogulan, Robert N. Oglesby DVM was skeptical of the herb, and he advised readers to be cautious about the medical reporting in the Horse Journal. He writes, "The lack of careful control and double blinding makes the reporting subjective." In a thread on Lamina Saver he referred to Horse Journal's study of the product as "sloppy medical reporting."

New Bolton commentary
In Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog article on new drugs for laminitis, Jurga reported on research looking at Viagra as a laminitis treatment. Dr. Dean Richardson at New Bolton was interviewed about the research, and his response was unenthusiastic. He spoke out against indiscriminately trying out substances on horses when little is known about how they work in the body. Jiaogulan was mentioned briefly in this context (in the comments).

It's not sounding too good, is it? There is more on this subject than I expected. Stay tuned for Part 3...

Not every round is a winning round

This is an interesting round, although not one the rider would care to repeat, I bet. The horse seems immensely talented, and the rider capable and gutsy. What happened? You can hear some of the conjecture, that the horse wants to go through the out gate. To me it looks like something about the jump, or its placement.

The spectators who are videotaping note that the rider walks away from the horse, leaving him with the trainer. It's a situation I might be tempted to walk away from too, but I suppose it doesn't look too sportsmanlike from where the spectator sits.

Lamina Saver: A case study in irrational shopping

At my request, Bob got me a horse supplement for my birthday -- a product called Lamina Saver.^TM Now I admit I contemplated this product in a wave-of-worry about Riley and his recovery. It wasn't a rational decision, and I don't recall what caused my mini-panic attack. Bob, who hates to shop, was glad to have "marching orders" for my birthday gift.

What I knew before the purchase

• I read that Riley's lamina was traumatically injured (albeit months ago), and that Horse Journal reported “We had incredible results with LaminaSaver.”
  
• I knew there were testimonials on COTH and other bulletin boards.
• I knew it was almost $100 in cost (one month's worth).
• I did not know what the heck was in it. Lamina Saver doesn't share its ingredients except to say it had a proprietary formulation, Restaurex.

The nutraceutical industry depends on consumer hope -- hope for a sound horse, a horse that breathes better, a horse that ages well. It's self-regulating, which means it's unregulated -- I've written about this in the past.

So after my impulse purchase, as I was spooning it into Riley's supplement baggies, I wondered what I'd actually bought -- trivial questions like what's in it, what does it actually do, what does the research say ;-). Belatedly I did the post-purchase research and got the scoop on these scoopfuls of powder.

Coming up next!

Costs of running a barn: Spinoff on hay discussion

My posts about hay (part 1 and 2) made me want to crunch some numbers on costs of operating a barn -- to put things in context. Take a look at these numbers for a 20 horse barn. Am I close? What's missing?

Hay costs
This is a pretty granular analysis. If you assume a $5 bale of hay has ten flakes, each flake is 50 cents. If you feed six flakes a day (the least I would want to feed most horses), that's $3/day per horse. For a barn of 20 horses, that is $60/day, or $1800/month.

Well, I've covered hay concerns in other blog posts -- many people are anxious about hay. If some boarders "self-serve" their horses -- say, ten flakes a day total -- that's $5/day or $150/month, for a total hay cost of $1950.

Shavings costs
If a bag of shavings costs $6, and a horse uses 1/2 bag a day (conservative estimate), a barn of 20 horses will use $1800 of shavings in a month.

Grain
Lets assume a bag of grain costs $14 for a 50 lb bag, and the avg horse eats 5 lbs grain a day. That's 3 bags of grain per horse, per month, and a barn of 20 horses would go through 60 bags or $850 worth of grain.

Labor
Figure 5 hours to clean 20 stalls, 2 hours to handle horses, and 3 hours for feeding, watering, sweeping. If you do 1/3 the work yourself, as the barn owner/manager, you'll pay for 6 hours labor per day. If you pay $8/hour, you'll pay $50/day (conservative estimate), or $1500/month.

Facility rental or mortgage
For simplicity, I'm going to assume the manager leases stalls at a rate of $100/stall, or for our 20 horse barn, $2,000/month.

COST	ITEM
1950	(hay)
1800	(shavings)
850	(grain
1500	(labor)
2,000	(barn rental)
$8100	(Total)

Divide 8100 by 20 horses and the cost per horse is $405/month per horse, NOT INCLUDING utilities and maintenance and equipment and gas for the equipment and insurance and other stuff I've forgotten.

What I can't account for are utility costs, maintenance costs (ring, barn, etc). So if you charge $500/month, the gross profts are, well, pretty marginal.

Moral of the story
You don't make money on boarding.

How to fall off a horse

"Flying is simple. You just throw yourself at the ground and miss." Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

I've known a couple of adult riders who have injured themselves badly from what should have been a minor fall. Here are some hints to prevent injury:

• Keep your appendages close to your body (tuck and roll). The most common in injuries are in the wrist, elbow, and shoulder
• Roll away from the horse
• Ride (and drive, for that matter) on an empty bladder to avoid bladder damage.
• The two best places to land are on your rear end or your feet. Bend at the knee as you land if you land on your feet.
• Wear a helmet of course!
• Don't hold on to the reins.
• Make sure your boot size and stirrup size are compatible.
• Avoid clothing that will "catch" (I always wonder about hoodies).
• Remember that 20% of injuries occur on the ground (not riding-related).
  

One tidbit that I have heard, but not read in any article, is do not "fight" the fall. Once you become unbalanced, let go. Of course in show jumping and eventing you see counter-examples of this every day.

RESOURCES

Strides Rider and Volunteer Newsletter (focus on falling?), May 2007 issue

Learn how to fall off a horse from Equisearch.com

Falling off a horse from youngrider.com

Horseback riding injuries from Hughston Health Alert

Okay, so I like watching horses acting up...

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Michael Gill update: Now PETA is involved (Lord help us)

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It's fun to watch them misbehave as long as no one is hurt...

My Uggs: No I didn't win them (dammit)

You may have noticed an Ugg boot promo (non-paid) on my blog recently. I was hoping to win a pair of Uggs to give them as a Christmas gift to my niece.

Believe me I was not an Ugg fan -- far from it. At the university where I work, it pained me to watch perfectly attractive young women parade past the reference desk in those shapeless clubfeet. What is up? This generation watched Sex in the City in their formative years. They should be wearing Manolo Blahniks, but they're clad in Uggs -- the footwear equivalent of a moo-moo. Forget shape, forget style, just sew around the edges.

The Aha! moment
When I was home over Christmas, my niece got Uggs (from someone else, not me). She compelled me to try them on. What can I say? The holidays had softened my resolve. I put my feet in her chestnut suede Uggs.

As a connoisseur of comfortable shoes, I'm not easily impressed -- I've known the pleasure of the Ariat footbed, the Naot cork soles, and Dansko clog. Yet as I eased into the cocoon of lambswool I confess my feet soared to a new level of pedal comfort. Am I wearing boots or are my legs resting on pillows? I couldn't tell. Never MIND that they are not waterproof. Never MIND that they have no traction. Never MIND that they pick up dirt and are hard to clean.

Ahh, feel the love...
Pictured left/above are my feet in their club-footed comfortfest -- my new Pewter Uggs. I ordered them from Ebay from a seller in China (where ironically the Australian Uggs are manufactured). About half -price. My colleagues laugh at me, I look like a circus clown, but I care not. If your feet feel good, you almost always have a good day.

Or should I say, G'day!

Sidesaddle dressage

I guess riding sidesaddle a couple of times is on my bucket list. It looks like it would be incredibly difficult, and how impressive that women at one time foxhunted sidesaddle! It reminds me of the quote about Ginger Rogers doing everything Fred Astaire did backwards and in high heels :-). Here is a lovely sidesaddle dressage test...

Update: See Riding Aside! A blog

Click to go to Riding Aside

Michael Gills' interviews: The guy's got gonads

The latest news is that Michael Gill has been ejected from the Penn National Racetrack (by the PHRC I think). The PHRC sent a mixed message, though, saying that no charges are being made against Gill. His presence was just "disruptive." Gill had a horse entered in race on Wed (today), inviting a showdown with jockeys who threatened to boycott races where his horses were entered. When Gill told officials he would not pull his horse out of the race, they sent him an ejection notice. Gill has threatened a law suit, he says he's getting out of racing, but he maintains that he is being used as a scapegoat. The breakdowns, he maintains, are from the track's poor surface. You can see a rather sympathetic interiew will Gill here:

There is also a sympathetic radio interview. I'm trying to keep an open mind as all of this unfolds, but this guy is so self-righteous and indignant his interviews actually make me a little ill.

Are we picking on him?
Maybe Gill is right that the track conditions weren't great when Laughing Moon went down (windy, cold/icy), but then why is his horse in the race? Saying that you're persecuted because others are jealous of your success is never a convincing argument. These interviews are revealing -- Michael Gill shows you who he is.

Hints and allegations
But the real issues go beyond Laughing Moon and his unfortunate end. Here are some stories about MG from blogs and discussion lists. Some of the stories are from credible sources, but admittedly a lot of the "buzz" is unsubstantiated. Take it with a grain of salt.

• A New York Times article reported that in 2003 at Gulf Stream Park, one of Gill's horses broke down and was euthanized. The veterinarian removed the injured leg -- as in severed it -- reportedly to "hide evidence" of mishandling an injured/sore horse. Apparently in a necropsy they look for signs of a pre-existing injury or assault to the broken down area. The vet was later suspended for a different infraction.
• Stats reported on a COTH thread allege that Gill has 7 breakdowns for 800 starters, about 2.5 times the national average. The talk on the track is that Gill's horses recover too quickly from injuries (back on the racetrack a little too fast) given that Gill has no high-end rehab facility. Alternatively, some folks report that he uses shock wave therapy just before the race to numb the injured area just to get through the race. I don't know about this -- who can confirm or deny the effects of this therapy?
• The Paulick Report talks about the "gang of misfits" that Gill surrounds himself with -- people at the margins of the sport.
• One trainer commented that Gill did not give horses time off to recover from minor wear and tear. "When Gill claims a horse, I know it will be run into the ground, usually in a very short period of time. He takes a lot of good, older horses out of circulation."
• There are many, many allegations that he sends his ex-racers to slaughter in Canada. Like, by the truckload. There is a list of horses of Gill's that have gone AWOL. The problem with this allegation is that there are a ton of anonymous sources, heavy on verbal detail but light on actual proof. There are verified anecdotes of his horses ending up in bad circumstances, but that's hardly new.
• Gill now says he is leaving racing -- which he said he was going to do in 2006. Although he reduced his stable, he has gradually built it back up since then.

The racing industry is not a horse-friendly world, and it has more than its share of sleazebags. I think about the natural class and nobility of the horses under their care. It makes me sad.

Pilates for dressage riders in less than 2 minutes

I almost didn't watch this promo video -- heck, what can you learn in two minutes? Yet it's worth a look -- there are some great sound bytes and tidbits of knowledge to take away with you. I won't summarize a 2 minute video, but I'll mention that I like the predator analogy. No wonder Harv spooks so much.

Just watch it!

Something's gotta give

And in this time of Riley-forever-maintenance, what gives is the any semblance of organization in my life. Witness the interior of my 2008 Toyota Yaris hatchback...


Those of you who have been with me since the inception of my blog know that this is hardly a new problem. But now it's worse, and it's in my brand new car.