Horses Rescued ~ Scenes To Remember
Racing The Flames of the Southern California Fires
There’s always a way…
With contact number quickly added …
horse is now safe at center.
Home Sweet Home is now a horse trailer in a parking lot
Horses rescued from one ranch stick together.
At rescue centers, names and identification
of each horse are clearly marked on paddocks.
Rescue horses were brought to Laguna Woods Equestrian Center, a horse facility for senior citizens. Many of these riders are well into their 80’s, still caring for their horses.
They didn’t hesitate to take the horses
threatened by the fires.
Coming Home !
One family manages to save their pets
plus those of their neighbors.
Story Link: Here is their story.
~~~
Link: News Rescue Stories
Photos: Los Angeles Times, Orange County Register,
San Diego Tribune
Horses ~ Southern California Fires
For Details:
Strawberry Lane
Horses wait for rescue as fire threatens in San Diego, Ca.
Link: Looking For Mom
Believe me … you don’t care
There is this fascinating tagging game going on. If you are tagged, you are to write unknown details about yourself, things you didn’t include in your blog profile.
Actually, I have found it to be quite interesting to read about the people that have put together my favorite blogs. They’ve told some amazing things about themselves.
It seems it is now my turn. MiKael over at MiKael’s Mania – Arabian Horses sent me this lovely message.
You’ve been tagged with the “Eight Things You Don’t Know About Me”.
Not sure that I can come up with 8 things that anyone would even care to know about me. You already know I love anything about horses, history, rare breeds and fascinating people.
Now, as to what you don’t know? Well here goes:
1. I’d rather clean the barn than the house. Any cobwebs scattered around the rooms are there for … Halloween. They might be there next year, as well.
2. I collect beautiful cook books, old and new, but do not like to cook. I love to read cooking blogs, especially when they include directions. I’ve thrown dinner parties and so far people have survived, everyone except me.
3. I’m a professional musician, started piano at age 3, gave my first recital at age 6. Have performed in both Europe and USA, solos and with symphonies. Have made 6 recordings.
4. I love remodeling houses, have done 7 so far. That means removing windows, doors, ceilings, roof, walls … just about everything except the studs, and even those get moved. My husband and I are the ones swinging the hammers.
5. I built all the stone chimneys on our present house. My bid was the cheapest. We gathered the gray stone from a river bed hours away, transported them home and took on the task. My husband mixed and hauled all the mortar. While working at the top of the scaffolding, a man in a fancy car and suit came by to ask if I would build one for his house. That was frightening, since I assumed that I was now looking like a stone mason.
6. I have installed English hunt prints on the walls of the barn stalls. Fortunately, we have no cribbers. Looks quite nice, if I say so myself.
7. I came home on the final voyage of the Queen Mary sailing from France. I was a young music student in Paris. No, I am not ancient.
8. I live in Southern California, but would rather live in maybe New England, Virginia, or Pennsylvania where I can have a big farm with lots of trees and green … and can collect horses. I collect animals, but you probably knew that.
However, I don’t like to be cold. I’m still hanging on to my wool sweaters and coats from my wonderful years growing up in the Midwest. One never knows.
~~~
If you could possibly, even remotely want to know more about me (which I cannot fathom) … take a look at my profile on my other blog, Strawberry Lane, where I seem to blab on and on about my lifestyle, past and present.
And … if you’re still around, thanks for listening.
Now … it is my turn to do the tagging. How fun!
Stanford University Medical Students Learn From Horses
Medical student, Katalin Szabo, examines Apache
for telling signals of discomfort
~~~
It’s hard to ignore a patient who weighs 1,200 pounds, stands 7 feet tall and won’t hesitate to nip you if she doesn’t like what you’re doing.
But those attributes are precisely why medical students can benefit from working with horses, according to the philosophy behind a new elective course at Stanford Medical School, “Medicine and horses: A communications model for the doctor-patient relationship.”
Not intended for veterinary students, it’s geared toward making medical students more conscious of how they come across when interacting with others.
On the first day of course No. 252 at the Stanford University School of Medicine, a pack of horses were brought down from pasture near Portola Valley and herded into a corral, so the students could lean against the fence like wranglers and study … horses.
They were looking for both leadership and followership in the horse hierarchy, as indicated by ear pinning, tail swishing, nudging and nipping.
Dr. Beverly Kane with “Dream”
For many people, the idea of horses helping medical students hone their communication skills might conjure up images of Mr. Ed, the “talking” horse of TV fame, the bangs of his palomino mane flopping around as he tossed his head while lip-syncing to the soundtrack.
But Mr. Ed would have no place in this class, as horses who can’t speak the language are preferred: The point is to improve nonverbal communication.
Still, why don’t the students just stick to human beings?
“Animals in general respond to people in ways that are so transparent and honest,” said Sam LeBaron, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and director of the Center for Education in Family and Community Medicine.
“They hold up a mirror for students that they may not get from human patients.”
Beverley Kane, MD, added that just because patients can talk doesn’t mean they will. “Human patients don’t always tell you what’s on their mind,” she explained.
“We’ve all been socialized into hiding our feelings and reactions, especially from somebody in a white coat.
Horses will tell you in no uncertain terms how you’re affecting them—if you pay attention to the right signals.”
During every class, the students encounter a new horse, so just like a doctor with a new patient, the first task is always the introduction.
On one particular day, the task was to listen to the heartbeat. Kane said a common complaint is that doctors come at patients with a cold stethoscope, without taking time to establish rapport.
Medical student, Szabo, with her hand on the horse’s side, gently applied the stethoscope, sliding it down to the belly, behind the foreleg, to the heart.
After a few moments, she said she could hear the heart as well as a good amount of “digestive rumbling.” But the real measure of success was her patient’s calm—no ears laid back, no fidgeting, no walking away.
Fifth-year medical student, Tracy Dooley, said “I became a lot more conscious of how I behaved in certain situations. “What my body language would be telling a patient, or in this case what it was communicating to the horses, as opposed to verbal signals.”
But the class is about more than just making students aware of how their behavior affects a patient. Many medical students who don’t have experience dealing with horses are intimidated when they have to approach such a large animal, which LeBaron said is another thing of which doctors need to be aware.
“We want to become more mindful, as doctors, how we behave when we feel a little stressed or a little intimidated,” LeBaron said. “That’s something that virtually is never talked about, and the truth is doctors are as human as anybody else.”
Last spring was the first time the course was offered at the medical school. At the end of the session, Kane and the students hoped to see the class continue. It’s an elective and is completely supported by donations, so the future wasn’t guaranteed.
However, the latest word from Stanford University is that the classes have proven so popular and successful that the funding has been provided and the classes will continue.
So now, the lesson horses are on notice that herds of med students are about to stampede onto the ranch again.
600 Clydesdales From Across America Display Horsepower At World Clydesdale Show This Weekend
”Angel “and “Missy” prepare for World Class Show
with Ken and Sonja Airgood
In an American first, the annual world showcase event for Clydesdale horses — the big, stylish breed of draft-style animals made famous by the Budweiser hitch — will be held Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wisconsin.
“Jake” of the Budweiser Team
gets beauty treatment.
Organizers said they would have felt the show was an unqualified success with 500 horses. Well over 600 stallions, mares and geldings of all ages and from all across North America have registered to be shown in a variety of classes.
“Flower Girl” and “Penny” arrive from Alberta, Canada
with owner, Allen Gordeyko.
“It’s really a terrific opportunity to have a show of this quality here,” said Ken Airgood of rural Marshall. He and his wife, Sonja, have been breeding and raising Clydesdales for almost 10 years
Classes at the show will range from halter classes, which are like beauty pageants, to pleasure riding classes to genuinely exciting driving classes where elegant rigs pulled by the powerful animals compete against each other.
The carriages and wagons are powered by as many as six of the huge, high-stepping horses harnessed together, driven by expert drivers who handle up to 40 pounds of reins.
There’s little room for error, and drivers need to be strong, capable and confident to handle horses that average about a ton each.
As they wait for the shiny show harnesses to be carefully attached to the cart, carriage or wagon they will be pulling, the towering horses fairly dance with excitement, eager to be off.
“The breed has a reputation for being tractable. They are bigger than the light horse breeds, of course, but you handle and train them the same way you’d train any other breed, with consistency, discipline, rewards and praise. It’s important, though, not to be intimidated,” Airgood said.
“The draft horse people are so welcoming and really helpful as you begin to learn about the horses,” he said.
“If you are at a show, and you have something break on a harness, for example, three guys will trip over themselves to help you get it fixed or replaced, and these are the same people you’ll be competing against in the next class.
It’s a great community.”
Airgood believes the popularity of all the draft breeds is increasing.
While there are several other popular draft breeds of horses, including Belgians, Percherons and Shires, the Clydesdales are undoubtedly the best-known heavy horse breed, thanks to the buzz surrounding the Budweiser hitches.
“They have really made the Clydesdales, which originated in Scotland, instantly recognizable.”
Ken and his wife have always loved the Clydesdales’ appearance.
“They’re just classy-looking to me. They have so much presence and personality,” he said.
Draft Horses Make Dream Come True
Amos and Andy
~~~
At 82 years old, you might think that “Harry,” a resident at ManorCare Health Services – Lebanon, Pennsylvania, might want to spend his time relaxing.
After farming until he was 24, and eventually retiring from a local macaroni factory, Harry had done his share of hard work.
But when asked what his Heart’s Desire was, he thought back to those simpler days when he was working the farm with horses, mules and single tractor.
He told the staff at ManorCare that he would once again like to drive a team of mules. The staff at ManorCare worked with a local farmer and an Amish driver to arrange a wagon.
But instead of mules, they arranged for two black Percheron draft horses named Amos and Andy.
According to Harry, that was okay because horses were easier to drive than mules, and he remembers that sometimes mules would run away from him and he would end up just “holding on.”
With the help of a step stool, Harry climbed into the wagon and took a 15-minute lap around the farm, and then returned to pick up some friends from ManorCare and several reporters for the second lap.
He reminisced about growing corn, oats, wheat and barley when he was younger, and kept the gentle giants Amos and Andy, who stood 17 hands high, under control.
According to ManorCare Lebanon’s admissions director, the event was a wonderful example of how the residents at ManorCare, and nursing homes around the country, still get a kick out of reliving simple pleasures.
The staff looks forward to fulfilling more wishes in the near future.
ManorCare Heart’s Desire
