Horses

[summer_jackel]

I started the day pretty sad, and the horses tend to pretty much cure that. Bey is at the usual summer pasture; Tami and Dancer are at a new place that my mom found, which I think will work out really well. It's a seriously funky old place inhabited by seriously funky people, but I can work with that, and the pasture is well fenced and very lush, and the board dirt cheap. My beasts seem happy there. The best part, though, is that it is riding distance to the Russian River, so there's not only a lot of room to ride, it's *pretty* and I have it largely to myself. Riding along the deep green river, watching mergansers, green herons, mallards, kildeer and jackrabbits with the mare who has been my dear companion for 18 years, I felt so incredibly blessed, so happy, and so grateful. It was a fantastic day. I feel like I finally did something appropriately wonderful for Beltane.

I also bridled Dancer for the first time...big, big step, that. He was all 'huh WTF is this thing in my mouth?!' for awhile, but after some ground work just packing the bit he was pretty much ignoring it. Next step is to teach him to listen to it from the ground, but I think I may get him an even gentler rubber snaffle than the copper snaffle I had him in today before I put any pressure on that tender little mouth. I'm waiting for him to fill out a little, but I'm expecting to ride him for the first time in late summer. I am, of course, VERY EXCITED about this, but it's important not to rush a young horse too fast (more on that later). After all, barring disaster and mishap, Dancer will be my steed into my 60's. Last thing I want to do is rush him into work that's too hard for his young body. But yes, Dancer's first experience with a bit was positive and uneventful, which is as it should be. It was a *happy* day.

Then I came home and read of this tragedy: the filly who came in second at the Kentucky Derby today broke her ankles at the finish line and died on the track.

You had a beautiful heart, Eight Belles.

It's a dramatic accident, and yes, athletes of any species can suffer mishaps. Racing horses is not inherently cruel; the thoroughbred is bred to do it, after all, and the good ones, viz. racing, are very competitive animals who love it. I DO have major problems with horse racing as it exists now, all of which I won't outline, but the worst, IMHO, is how *young* they run those horses. Racehorses are started on the track at two; with very rare exceptions, their careers are over at five. As a horse person, I have never, ever understood this. A two year old horse of any breed is a baby. Its bones are still growing. Dancer is *three* and I'm just starting him; he won't be ready for any strenuous riding until he's four, and any riding I do on him this year will be very light. Granted that Arabs (and crosses therewith) are small and slow to mature; a thoroughbred or other big ol' hoss is ready to safely start at two if it's done thoughtfully. By *start*, I mean careful, gentle, low impact work. Racing is about as high impact as it gets. There aren't many more difficult things you can ask of a horse.

Those horses come off the track physically and psychologically broken. Some of them have great careers post-track and can be retrained to do lots of fun stuff, but many of them are ruined. And they don't have to be. Start a racehorse at three or four and sure, maybe it wouldn't be *quite* as fast, and yes the people running them would make a little less profit because they'd have to let the colts pasture for another year...but seriously, you'd see a lot fewer injuries. It's such a small price to pay for the suffering of so many extraordinary and magnificent animals. And come on, two spectacular fatalities in...three years? at the Derby is not good press, and can only harm the sport. You'd have horses with fewer injuries and longer track-time if they were started 3-4 and retired at 7-8!

OK, end soapbox. I'll leave you with the lyrics to Joan Baez' version of 'Stewball the racehorse', with her added last verse celebrating the on-track death of the great Ruffian, as a sort of on-line wake for Eight Belles.

Stewball was a good horse, he wore his head high,
and the mane on his foretop, was fine as silk thread.
I rode him in England, I rode him in Spain,
and I never did lose, boys, I always did gain.
So come all you gamblers, wherever you are,
and don`t bet your money on that little grey mare.
Most likely she`ll stumble, most likely she`ll fall,
but never you`ll lose, boys, on my noble Stewball.
As they were a-riding, `bout halfway round,
that grey mare she stumbled, and fell on the ground.
And way out yonder, ahead of them all,
came a-prancing and a-dancing, my noble Stewball.
Stewball was a race horse, and by the day he was mine,
he never drank water, he always drank wine.

Oh the grey mare was a racehorse, and her heart it was gold
She lies dead on the infield
but her story's been told.

Comments

[dreamaria.livejournal.com]

You know, an interesting thing to try (depending on Dancer) is to start him in a hackamore :D I actually trained a horse that had some teeth problems or something in a hackamore, and she did great! Like I said though, it really depends on the horse. I usually started training my horses at 2/3. Started getting them used to a saddle on their back at 2 (no rider), then worked our way up a bit after they turned 3. Again, depends on the horsie. :3

I've been yelling at people on that community all day...they're just so STUUUUUPIDDDDD when it comes to horses. I got too frustrated to continue my conquests there.

I miss working with horses so much. Once I graduate, seriously, I'm going to start looking into getting another horse.

[tailypo.livejournal.com]

Improper use of hackamores can be harsh (and permanently damaging, I've personally seen a horse with a broken nose), so if you do choose to use a hackamore, choose wisely for fit and make sure you're skilled in its use. I'm sure you guys both know what you're doing, but I've seen so many horses hurt by them I feel the need to say something for the world at large. XD

In terms of bits I definitely think rubber is the way to go with babies, and I use a KK bit for my trained horses.

Starting horses young does NOT make sense to me. In Germany they don't teach baby horses anything but manners until they're at least 3, don't even put them in a circle. (I happen to know a filly whose owner was round penning at 2 and it fell and broke its neck and died.) The program I work in and the instructors/staff get full vet checks on horses at 3 or 4 before they're started to make sure their knees are closed and they're solid for riding or even lunging. Aside from the worldwide racing business, Americans in general seem to be in a kind of hurry to get foals trained and working. I guess that's just a byproduct of our instant-gratification culture.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I started Bey in a hackamore way back when...it was a fleece-padded mechanical hackamore intended for ponies, and it worked well, no harm done to Bey, though it didn't give the degree of control of a bit. Since then, I've read that mechanical hackamores are gentler, whereas the bosal/vosal type can really hurt the horse. I've never used one of those, wouldn't even know how to put it on right, so I'm not planning on using one any time soon.

Dancer remains, for the moment, a stud (contingent on my having a safe place to keep him as such; so far so good) so I think I'm going to want that bit control, even though, stallion or not, he is one of the most well-mannered babies I've ever worked with. I'm glad you concur on the rubber bit thing; I've never used one, but it seems like a really good idea.

Makes sennse that in Germany, the Dressage country (heh) they would typically start them late...or should I say, at the right time. Even a minor injury can keep a horse from being able to do higher level dressage stuff, and if you're planning on having a horse sound for a long life, it makes no sense to work them as babies. Got to agree with you on our culture...we consume and throw away, racehorses being only a blatant example.

[tailypo.livejournal.com]

There are a kabillion different mechanical hackamores; you can get severe ones or gentle ones. Like with curb bits, the shorter the shank, the gentler it is, and the angle of the shank also makes a difference (curving back is less severe than straight up and down). Curb chains often make them much more severe, as well. Wide, flat, padded nose pieces are gentler than narrow, hard nosepieces (like rope or rawhide ala the bosal). Hackamores provide a buttload of stopping power but not much of a lateral (steering) signal. A hackamore with 8 inch shanks is going to translate 20 lbs of pressure into 160 lbs, so you can see how that could have a lot of potential for problems. I think there are some mechanical hackamores that constitute animal abuse, just like there are some severe bits that are cruel. There are some mechanical hackamores which are much more gentle.

For bitless bridles there are some very gentle ones these days. Some sidepulls are also gentle, though they won't give you much "stopping" power (they are better for steering). I've seen some harsher sidepulls (with narrow, hard nosebands, or that apply curb pressure), although they don't come close to severe hackamores. All of our program horses are in gentle sidepulls (made of all soft nylon) or reins on a halter (not much difference between the two); only experienced riders are allowed to ride with a bit. When we do bit the horses, it is with only gentle snaffles.

A horse is considered extremely young at 10 in the dressage world. Heh. When people refer to their 20 year old horse as "old", I have to stop for a minute. We just retired, last month, a 35 year old horse in our program. The poor used up race horses (I've known quite a few) make me so sad.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

I wrote about hackamores below, and yeah, I wish I still had the one I started Bey in; it was nice and very gentle. I'm thinking bits right away on Dancer, albiet very gentle ones, because he IS a stud and I do expect at least some fireworks from him at some point. I've been working with him since he was born and as a result he rarely questions my authority, but one has to keep a realistic mindset about the comparative safety of stallions. Dancer wore a saddle and a bareback pad at 2, and I've gotten him used to pressure in the stirrups, so I'm hoping I don't get a bucking spree when I first climb aboard. /crosses fingers/ I'm not QUITE as fearless as I was in my late teens/early twenties. Still fearless enough to want to ride a stallion, though...

You TOTALLY need a horse as soon as you can manage it. I think it would make you so happy. :) Plus I want photos of you in all your flashy clothes, on a horse. ;)

[archteryx.livejournal.com]

I'm no expert, but it's far worse then you think. Eight Belles was lame even as she was led out -- someone who WAS expert apparently caught that and reported it to rec.equestrian. From what *I* saw, her forelegs looked like they were gone long before she took her tumble. She ran herself quite literally to death.

I come down on the side of cruelty here, I'm afraid. She never should have been run in that race, because she was dead pretty much the moment the gate opened.

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

Ugh---I did NOT know that. That's so awful...and demonstrates the great heart and determination of a thoroughbred, I'm afraid, albiet in the worst way possible.

That team should be barred from racing for awhile, I think, just as cyclists are who are caught doping, at the very least. That poor filly. :(

[archteryx.livejournal.com]

They won't be. Money drives everything in thoroughbred racing, as far as I have ever seen (and I am not a racing insider, so I realize that is a generalization). The only exception I'd ever seen is Barbaro, and even there, money was a factor: if he lived, he would have brought in as much in stud feeds as winnings, I suspect.

For fairness, her jockey had a different story: http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2008/05/eight-belles.html. She was running fine until her legs gave out after she crossed the finish line. Perhaps both accounts are the truth.

But it's a great illustration of why my horse-whisperer friend won't go anywhere near racing any more.

[marphod.livejournal.com]

So, what I want to know is why is a broken leg/ankle fatal in horses? Why is it they cannot be rehabilitated?

[summer-jackel.livejournal.com]

There are a few reasons, unfortunately. The main one is that a horse is a lot of weight balanced on fairly delicate legs, so any unbalance tips over the proverbial house of cards. A horse putting weight on a broken leg, even if it is cast solidly, is liable to rebreak the leg or make it worse. If he isn't putting weight on the broken leg, he will be stressing the other three, possibly to the point of making him lame in them or even spraining or breaking them like the twigs they resemble. :P

Even worse, if a horse can't get up for a long period of time, he is likely to colic or suffer one of the other bad GI problems horses, which have rather sensitive guts, are prone to. So you can't 'bed rest' a horse; if she can't stand up, she won't live long.

It used to be, broken leg--->put the horse down, but advances in vet science have been made. If you have a break in one leg, ideally a minor fracture/sprain, you can try casting the horse and confining him to a small stall for the months it takes to heal. (of course, try explaining why you're doing this to the horse, who may try kicking her way out of prison, with predictable results to the leg...). There are many potentially fatal secondary problems that can come of this, such as laminitis, a rather dreaded hoof disease. (This was what ultimately happened to Barbaro; he was put down for the secondary problem). Even if the horse makes it through, she will almost certainly never be sound to ride again.

Eight Belles didn't even have that chance...because she broke both fore ankles, there was just nothing to be done. Nothing for her to stand on while she healed.

I hope I never have to deal with a broken leg. :(