Uh Oh
Thursday, February 23 2012
This afternoon the USEF announced that it is going to stop playing dumb. They placed Gamma Aminobutyric acid on the Prohibited List, so that if they ever develop a test to find it, and can establish a normal versus abnormal range found in the average horse, they will start prosecuting those whose horses test over that range
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Market For Lemons
Wednesday, October 26 2011
WITH ONE SIMPLE RULE CHANGE, THE USEF COULD DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF THE HORSE INDUSTRY. Here’s How: “The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and The Market Mechanism” is a paper written in 1970 by economist George Akerlof about the used car market. It sounds like another boring paper that no one but the heavy breathers could stay awake for. But it won the Nobel Prize for the author, because of its widespread application for the real world
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Cheaters
Sunday, October 23 2011
“Once a horse figures out he can cheat you, it’s damn near impossible to get him to stop.” These words were spoken by a friend who trains western pleasure horses, talking about how one of his horses “cheats “ the rider in one direction, by contorting his body in a way that makes him more comfortable on that lead. He can tune the horse to go better with some basic dressage, but as soon as the client gets on the horse, it reverts immediately back to its more comfortable way of going, robbing the rider of a decent ribbon. I think the quote can be used in almost every corner of the horse world. Horses “cheat” us in any number of ways: stopping at jumps, not landing on both leads, refusing to load on trailers, the list is almost infinite. In some cases, the horse is just plain being naughty, and needs consistent discipline. In most cases though, I believe there is a consistent underlying cause. 0 Faults I don’t hear it as often as I used to, but some people talk about “one-sided” horses
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Training Races: Part 2
Friday, September 09 2011
Not long after arriving in Louisiana, it became clear that Bobby was the only one who could get along with our best mare, who had been a stakes winner. Perhaps it was because he was too polluted for fear, but Bobby was the only one who could get in the stall with her. So naturally, he was put in charge of her. It wasn’t long before he started calling her Alice, after his ex-wife. She would pin her ears and swing her butt to the door as he tried to duck under the webbing
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Training Races: Part I
Thursday, September 01 2011
As the horses were being unloaded from the trailer, it became apparent that the Hispanic fellas had decided not to make the trip. A couple of years before, a Mexican groom had killed a black racetracker in a knife fight on the backside. At the Fair Grounds Racetrack in New Orleans, it was well known that Mexicans were not safe. I was immediately promoted from hotwalker to groom, leaving my former task vacant. As is customary at the racetrack, we hired the first person to walk in the door asking for a job. It’s an easy business decision: if the new guy doesn’t work out, not to worry.
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Direct Democracy
Tuesday, August 02 2011
Nation! The problem with Washington these days isn’t the sleazy louses we elect. Ok, they’re not helping
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Ducking a Downpour
Friday, July 29 2011
Ducking a torrential downpour, I decided to stay in the covered arena to watch a couple more classes. I had stopped in to the Morgan show this morning, to make sure the horse that I treated last night for a little stall accident went ok. You’ll be happy to know that the horse went great. I saved another one! Or something like that. I go to horse shows all the time, but this was the first time I had been to a gaited horse show since I went on a date to the Shelby County Fair nearly 15 years ago.
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
The Right Thing to Do
Tuesday, July 05 2011
Everyone is a little different. Some want to be there to lend a helping hand, perhaps because they think it’s going to be harder for me than for them, or because they don’t want to be an inconvenience
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Tissue Regeneration?
Thursday, June 09 2011
We’re doing it all wrong. To effectively treat lameness conditions in sport and race horses we need a paradigm shift in how these animals are managed by horsemen and veterinarians. Attending the North American Veterinary Regenerative Medicine Conference here in Lexington last week underscored that belief. Here is the quick and dirty of what I learned at that meeting: Stem cells injected into a joint are not magically finding their way to areas where the cartilage is worn off, and planting themselves there to generate new cartilage. Bummer. I was really hoping there was some possibility here, after other (non-equine) studies showed that stem cells might “home” to injured tissue.
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs
Bugs
Tuesday, May 24 2011
8% of all human DNA is viral in origin . Turns out, your little sister really does have cooties. Some of the genes she got from your parents that make her who she is: blue eyes and brown hair, started not entirely from human origin
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs