tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61386925135087181862024-02-20T22:40:33.435-05:00Children 4 HorsesDeclanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.comBlogger624125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-14167039974980460382015-03-13T20:40:00.000-04:002015-03-13T20:40:45.792-04:00Kid Heroes for Animals - Wise Words from a Teenager About Horse Ownership<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Kid Heroes for Animals - Wise Words from a Teenager About Horse Ownership</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Alder has some really great advice and wise words about horse ownership and that makes her my next "Kid Heroes for Animals" story! </b></span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>~ Declan</b></span><br />
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Teen Essay: For those who never gave up wanting a pony</h1>
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BY ALDER JAKOVAC, 13 </div>
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MENDOCINO K-8 SCHOOL</div>
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March 12, 2015, 4:11PM </h5>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;">As posted on </span><a href="http://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/3654347-181/teen-essay-for-those-who" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit;" target="_blank">The Press Democrat</a></div>
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Many of us go through that “I want a pony!” phase. For a lot of us, that dream is never fulfilled. However, there are many horses out in the world who are considered “unwanted” or “extra.” Many of these are perfectly sound, healthy horses. </div>
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When looking for a horse to buy, many good options are not even considered. Rescue horses are most commonly overlooked. This is because rescue horses are usually believed to have problems. These problems could include the horse not being perfectly sound, having small health problems. The horse could even have trust issues or be spooked easily due to neglect from past owners. Their owners may have been unable to give them proper care, and so they gave them up. There’s a chance that the horse just wasn’t able to perform in the discipline their owner rides in. Sadly, even a small problem like this causes careless owners to send their horses away. </div>
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Eighty percent of first-time horse owners reportedly get rid of their horse within 5 years. Many of these horses are sent to auctions, and some are purchased by buyers who intend to kill them. Often such buyers can outbid those interested in giving a horse a good home.</div>
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Horses can be saved from such a tragic fate, however. Horse rescues across the United States work hard to save these animals from being slaughtered. Lots of rescue horses are available to adopt for a reasonable price, and it only takes a little research on the Internet to find one near you.</div>
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When considering a horse, you first have to decide if you are ready to take on the responsibility. Owning a horse is a lot of work, but by taking that work on, you gain an amazing friend and companion. Aside from that, you save the life of an innocent animal. </div>
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Next you have to decide where the animal will stay: on your own property or boarded at a nearby stable. Wherever your new family member is living, make sure to clear up some time in your schedule to spend time with the horse and gain its trust. Depending on the horse’s past and what information the rescue center provides, you may be able to ride the horse after he or she settles in. Even if a horse is not rideable, it is still a great companion for anyone. Just spending time with horses is shown to help people relax and may even lower blood pressure, improving overall health and mood.</div>
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Horses that are not rescued usually end up in the slaughterhouse. Even though horse slaughter has been illegal in the United States since 2008, many horses are sent across the borders to Mexico and Canada, where slaughter is legal. Any horse can be sent to slaughter. Ferdinand, a famous racehorse who won the 1986 Kentucky Derby, was sent to Japan in hopes of having better luck in breeding. When only eight of his 247 foals in the United States became stakes winners, he was sent to Japan. </div>
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What happened to him there is a mystery.</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-9064515370491764322015-03-13T20:30:00.002-04:002015-03-13T20:32:49.661-04:00Kid Heroes For Animals- Kind Boy Saves Horse From Slaughter<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Kid Heroes For Animals - Kind Boy Saves </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Horse From Slaughter</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="line-height: 20.399999618530273px;">Here's another GREAT story for you about a kid hero! Brandon Heyman saved a horse's life.</span></span></span></h1>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 20.399999618530273px;">I</span></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 20.399999618530273px;">'m so glad another boy cares about the issue of horse slaughter! ~Declan</span></span></h1>
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Horse saved from slaughter</h1>
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Kingston, ON, Canada / CKWS TV</div>
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<a href="mailto:newswatch@corusent.com" style="border: 0px; color: #0073bb; cursor: pointer; font-family: inherit; font-style: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank">CKWS Newswatch</a></div>
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March 06, 2015 06:04 pm</div>
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IT’S A 9TH BIRTHDAY BRANDON HEYMAN WILL NEVER FORGET. AS NEWSWATCH’S JONNA SEMPLE EXPLAINS, THE KINGSTON-AREA BOY DECIDED TO USE HIS BIRTHDAY MONEY TO MAKE A MIRACULOUS RESCUE.</div>
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IT’S EASY TO SEE THE BOND BETWEEN 9 YEAR OLD BRANDON HEYMAN AND HIS HORSE KARAZAN.<br />
HEYMAN HAS GROWN UP AROUND HORSES SO WHEN HE SAW HIS MOM LOOKING AT A HORSE RESCUE WEBSITE, DESIGNED TO SAVE THEM FROM SLAUGHTER, HE HAD AN IDEA.</div>
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“I TOLD HIM ABOUT KARAZAN AND WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE HORSES WHEN THEY DON’T GET A HOME. HE WAS QUITE CONCERNED WITH IT AND I COULD SEE IT WAS WORRYING HIM AND THEN HE JUST KIND OF CAME OUT AND SAID MOMMY YOU CAN USE MY BIRTHDAY MONEY TO PUT TOWARD THE HORSE.”</div>
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THE NINE YEAR OLD SAYS IT WAS AN EASY DECISION TO DONATE HIS BIRTHDAY FUNDS TO SAVE THE EX RACE HORSE.</div>
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“WELL SHE LOOKED LIKE SHE WAS AN AWESOME GIRL ON THE CAMERA SO I WANTED TO GET HER AND BECAUSE SHE HAS THE SAME COLOUR HAIR AS ME ALMOST.”</div>
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“BRANDON’S MOM MJ SAYS THAT IF IT WASN’T FOR HIS GENEROSITY KARAZAN PROBABLY WOULDN’T BE PART OF THEIR FAMILY.”</div>
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“SHE WAS THE LAST ONE THAT DIDN’T HAVE A HOME AND SHE PROBABLY HAD ABOUT 15 HOURS LEFT BEFORE SHE WAS GOING OFF TO SHIP AND WHEN HE SPOKE UP AND SAID MOMMY I REALLY, REALLY WANT HER I HAD TO SHUFFLE QUITE QUICKLY TO GET THE FUNDS TOGETHER.”</div>
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HEYMAN SAYS HE LOVES TAKING CARE OF KARAZAN AND LOOKS FORWARD TO THE WARMER WEATHER WHEN HE CAN START RIDING HER MORE. HE’S ALSO LOOKING FORWARD TO BEING ABLE TO HELP MORE HORSES IN THE FUTURE.</div>
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“IF I GET ENOUGH MONEY I’LL MAKE MY OWN FARM AND GET TONS OF HORSES FROM THE SLAUGHTER AND IF I COULD I WOULD GET MOSTLY EVERYTHING THAT’S IN THE SLAUGHTER SO THAT THEY WOULDN’T DIE.”</div>
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A BIRTHDAY GIFT FOR A LITTLE BOY, AND A NEW LEASE ON LIFE FOR ONE LUCKY HORSE. JONNA SEMPLE, CKWS NEWSWATCH – HARROWSMITH.</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-70729315516901960172015-01-24T13:27:00.000-05:002015-01-24T15:53:57.561-05:00Kid Heroes For Animals: Amazing Young Girl Uses Horses to Help kids with Disabilities<div class="title" style="float: left; width: 625px;">
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I know this story is not recent, but I thought I'd share it anyway because it is so inspiring and makes you smile! It is so very kind of Pandora to be brightening the lives of kids who have disabilities. I love reading stories about kids helping other kids through animals, it is inspiring! ~Declan</span></h1>
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The sick little girl saving horses to brighten lives of kids with disabilities</h1>
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As posted on <a href="http://www.aww.com.au/news-features/news-stories/2013/9/the-sick-little-girl-saving-horses-to-brighten-lives-of-kids-with-disabilities/" target="_blank">MSN</a></div>
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<i>Pandora with a horse she helped rescue.</i></div>
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<b>Pandora Humphries suffers a mysterious and debilitating disease that causes her red blood cells to attack each other and not regenerate. As her mother Amber Hendry and her step-father Anthony Swords explain, Pandora's love affair with a pony named Bella has helped save unwanted racehorses from the knackery and brought joy to dozens of children with disabilities.</b></div>
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<b>AMBER HENDRY: </b><br />
My daughter Pandora is a beautiful girl. She's nine and weighs just 19 kilograms but she has a heart as big as the world. </div>
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In 2006, when she was two, Pandora had a bone marrow transplant. She was immune-compromised when she was a baby with haemolytic anaemia, which caused her red blood cells to attack and destroy each other. </div>
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She spent her first two years of life in hospital with cardiac and respiratory problems and needed a blood transfusion almost every day. </div>
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Doctors don't know why this is happening and so she remains undiagnosed. I call it Pandora's Box Syndrome. </div>
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When Pandora was six, she had the bone age of a two-year-old. Today she is a totally different child. Now she has the bone age of an eight-year-old, so she's only one year behind. </div>
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She is still small and doesn't gain weight like other nine-year-olds but she's a bright, bubbly kid. We love people who give blood because without them, I wouldn't have my daughter. </div>
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For Pandora's eighth birthday, we bought her a white Welsh pony named Bella. She loves horses. </div>
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Soon after she got a place in the local Riding for the Disabled program. </div>
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Pandora decided to give her place to another child. She said: "Mum, I can walk and I can talk. I want someone who really needs it to have my place".</div>
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<b>ANTHONY SWORDS: </b></div>
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Pandora also wanted to share her pony with the other kids she had met at the hospital. That touched me. </div>
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I'm her stepdad and I wasn't around when she spent all her time in hospital but what she's been through breaks my heart. </div>
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We noticed that having a pony was having a positive effect on Pandora. She seemed to grow and catch up with the other kids when she was around horses. She has a horse whisperer personality around them. </div>
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At the same time we heard about how racehorses were often sold off at the end of their careers. A lot of times they end up being bought for the slaughterhouse. </div>
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By this time, because of Pandora, I was a real horse lover and I thought maybe we could save some of them. </div>
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I called up some family and friends and we decided that we could do something that might help both the racehorses and the disabled and sick kids that we knew. We started We Were Champions. </div>
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I went along to a horse sale. I intended to buy a horse. I came back with three. We invited the kids from the hospital out to our property. </div>
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You can't imagine the joy they get from being on a horse for the first time. I'm a pretty big fella and I work in the debt collection business. But I don't care how tough you are, you can't see those smiles and not shed a tear. </div>
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We have kids with Tourette's Syndrome, autism and all kinds of conditions. And they are all different people when they are in a paddock with a horse. </div>
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Today, we have 19 racehorses, a couple of ponies as well as Pandora's pony Bella and Amber's horse. When we started We Were Champions, it was just our family and friends. </div>
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Today, we have more than 10,000 members and we're waiting for approval as a registered charity. </div>
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Every weekend we have car loads of kids out here, all with smiles because they're on the back of horse. And none of it would have happened if it hadn't been for Pandora and that big heart of hers. </div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-88501221225934878072015-01-02T19:04:00.001-05:002015-01-02T19:04:31.454-05:00Kid Heroes for Animals: Kind Teens Save Shelter Animals<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: small; text-align: start;"><b style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: large;">Kid Heroes for Animals: Kind Teens Save Shelter Animals</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: start;"><b>Here is my next story for my growing series, "Kid Heroes for Animals" on my <a href="http://www.facebook.com/children4horses" target="_blank">Children 4 Horses </a>Facebook page. In this story from December 2012, 3 compassionate teens are featured doing what they love, helping animals. I really hope you enjoy this story! </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: start;"><b><span style="color: #141823; line-height: 19px;">I will be posting a bunch of amazing stories of kids helping or saving animals from all over the world! You can also help me by submitting or suggesting your own stories by sending me a message on my Facebook page. I am hoping the stories I find inspire people, especially kids to be compassionate and caring towards animals and even to be brave and strong! </span>~ Declan</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: xx-small; text-align: start;"><b style="text-align: start;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Animal Rescue Started By Teenager Has Helped Save 20,000 Animals</span></b></span></div>
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December 3, 2012 Posted by ADMIN in Dog News<br />
As Posted on <a href="http://www.lifewithdogs.tv/2012/12/animal-rescue-started-by-teenager-has-helped-save-20000-animals/" target="_blank">Life With Dogs</a><br />
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He may not be old enough to vote, but he’s making a difference. Lou Wegner is the person behind one of the fastest-growing animal rescues in the country. His Kids Against Animal Cruelty uses social networking to encourage adoptions at high-kill animal shelters. In the past two years it has helped 20,000 pets escape euthanasia.<br />
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A few years ago Wegner believed shelters were safe havens. After he volunteered at one he learned that in fact many dogs and cats have to be put down at shelters. “It was heartbreaking. All these dogs crying in their cages. Knowing they would be put down broke my heart,” he said. Lou started Kids Against Animal Cruelty when he was only 14 years old with some of his friends. His Facebook page started out with just 47 friends and now two years later boasts over 15,000 likes on Facebook.<br />
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Wegner, who is an actor, uses his public appearances to bring awareness to his cause. If he’s attending an event where photographers and paparazzi are likely to attend he’ll try to wear a Kids Against Animal Cruelty t-shirt. His goal is to get more people to adopt from shelters, to spay and neuter pets and to educate them about pet responsibility.<br />
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Wegner efforts have saved dogs like Tommy Joe, an 11-month-old black lab. When Tommy Joe’s photo was posted on the group’s Facebook page it didn’t get much attention, with no likes or comments. “I thought he was doomed,” said Wegner. Tommy Joe was on death row in a rural shelter in South Carolina. Wegner started writing on Tommy Joe’s post and spreading the word about him. Wegner’s extra effort paid off when a group called For the Love of Dogs in Chester, South Carolina saved Tommy Joe.<br />
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Since Wegner’s starting of Kids Against Animal Cruelty, other teens have set up chapters of the group around the country. Wegner hopes to have a chapter in every state eventually and make a bigger difference. “They euthanize just as many animals every day as we have saved. It’s like throwing a Band-Aid in a river,” Wegner said. In addition to trying to save as many animals as he can, Wegner hopes to educate children who commit cruelty to animals. Lou would like to make the children who commit cruelty to animals have to witness what happens in the euthanasia room at a shelter.<br />
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<br />Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-80615257086426906382014-12-19T16:30:00.002-05:002015-01-02T18:54:47.368-05:00Kid Heroes for Animals: Cool Kid Tina Bergmann Helps Animals In Shelters<h1 class="headline">
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Kid Heroes: Cool Kid Tina Bergmann Helps Animals In Shelters</h1>
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<span style="color: #141823; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Here's the next story I found for you as part of my new series "Kid Heroes for Animals" on my <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=334584363260792" href="https://www.facebook.com/children4horses" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Children 4 Horses</a> Facebook page. I will be posting a bunch of amazing stories of kids helping or saving animals from all over the world! You can also submit or suggest your own stories by sending me a message on my Facebook page. I am hoping the stories I find inspire people, especially kids to be compassionate and caring towards animals and even to be brave and strong!</b></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>This is great! I love doing theses stories, it makes me so happy to know there are lots of other kids out there helping our animals! I can not imagine a world without animals. It is really just awesome that there are kids and adults too who commit themselves to helping animals. ~Declan</b></span><br />
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Cool Kid Tina Bergmann helps animals in shelters</h1>
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By <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"> Danny Romero </span> </div>
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RANCHO CUCAMONGA, Calif. As posted on <a href="http://abclocal.go.com/story?section=resources/lifestyle_community/kids&id=9162050" target="_blank">abclocal.go.com</a><br />
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This week's Cool Kid loves animals. She may not be able to help them all, but she's sure doing what she can in her community.<br />
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Tina Bergmann is especially drawn to helping those animals who end up in shelters. So much so, the Glendora High School senior founded a club called PAWS, which stands for Protecting Animals Within Shelters.<br />
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Members of the club go out and clean local dog parks, but they also gather donations for much-needed supplies for the Rancho Cucamonga Animal Center.<br />
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"Shelters don't have big budgets for small things like blankets and towels or toys. So it's great when people can donate to them," said Tina.<br />
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Tina and her fellow PAWS group members are dedicated to helping in lots of ways. But she says delivering the donations gives them a great feeling of accomplishment.<br />
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"It was really inspirational for me because we just got to see how the blankets and towels we were collecting were helping the animals and how my hard work was paying off to help them," said Tina.</div>
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Her genuine affection for all animals is a feeling she hopes to convey to others.<br />
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"They love you and I love them back. They're just furry little friends. I just love them. I don't know how someone can't," said Tina.<br />
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It's a sad fact of society that so many animals end up in shelters. But Tina Bergmann hopes her efforts make that time just a little more comfortable.<br />
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</section>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-2173036837708138842014-11-29T14:24:00.004-05:002015-01-02T18:55:03.348-05:00Kid Heroes for Animals: 9-Year-Old Built Shelter in his Garage to Help Strays <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaHNtisrs7q0f826HfeuF01Fm7PXOHtmUgnTNsZIrwxx_9q3EqKStH6JjO643KZtWJ3VGZtxYsxQ6WrGgvyxbloscMxrZpRZ3h0JN8cUPQhz5H8DPBMSiNi2Aq7BaRgyR325cGl6NOAK-/s1600/10801910_866097426776147_9171216056866147424_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWaHNtisrs7q0f826HfeuF01Fm7PXOHtmUgnTNsZIrwxx_9q3EqKStH6JjO643KZtWJ3VGZtxYsxQ6WrGgvyxbloscMxrZpRZ3h0JN8cUPQhz5H8DPBMSiNi2Aq7BaRgyR325cGl6NOAK-/s1600/10801910_866097426776147_9171216056866147424_n.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #141823; line-height: 19px;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's the next story I found for you as part of my new series on my <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=334584363260792" href="https://www.facebook.com/children4horses" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Children 4 Horses</a> Facebook page, called "Kid Heroes for Animals". I will be posting a bunch of amazing stories of kids helping or saving animals from all over the world! You can also submit or suggest your own stories by sending me a message on my Facebook page. I am hoping the stories I find inspire people, especially kids to be compassionate and caring towards animals and even to be brave and strong!</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ken is only 9 years old and is from the Philippines. He is a very compassionate boy who has a huge heart! Read here how he is helping strays in his neighborhood. ~Declan </span></div>
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This 9-Year-Old Built A Nonprofit, No-Kill Animal Shelter Out Of His Garage To Help Stray Animals</h1>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 17px;">By </span>Melissa McGlensey<br />
As posted on <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/15/happy-animals-club_n_5324863.html" target="_blank">Huffington Post</a><br />
<span class="posted" style="border-right-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-right-style: solid; border-width: 0px 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px 10px 0px 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Posted: <time datetime="2014-05-15T17:01:02-04:00" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">05/15/2014 5:01 pm EDT </time></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px;"></span><span class="updated" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, FreeSans, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; line-height: 17px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Updated: <time datetime="2014-05-15T17:01:02-04:00" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">05/15/2014 5:01 pm EDT</time></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Ken, 9, has grown up dreaming about someday having a shelter to help the stray animals that live near his home, but he never dreamed he could reach his goal so soon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Ken did his best to help the local stray dogs and cats he came across near his home in the Philippines, he frequently spent time with them and offered them food, but he longed for the funds to open a no-kill shelter where he could really help his furry friends, according to The Happy Animals Club website.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Then, a few months ago, photos of Ken with three strays made their way onto the Internet, and people from all over the world began to donate money. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">"We got enough money to get the dogs I was feeding off the street, feed them high quality canned food, and provide them with veterinary care," he wrote on his website. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Ken and his father were also able to build a temporary shelter for the three dogs, named Blackie, Brownie and White Puppy, in their garage. Ken named it The Happy Animals Club. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">"They gained a LOT of weight, their open wounds healed, and their fur grew back," Ken wrote. "They also learned not to be scared of humans."</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">He plans to put the pups up for adoption soon.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">Thanks to the donations, earlier this month Ken was able to sign a one-year lease for a space where he can continue to create a nonprofit, no-kill animal shelter for street animals. He hopes to have it up and running soon. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738117_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">This is one of the photos that went viral, inspiring people all over the world to send donations to Ken. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738238_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">White Puppy suffered from Mange. This is him before the Happy Animals Club stepped in to help. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738233_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738231_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738230_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738228_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738109_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738107_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent;">"Here's how they look after two months of care at Happy Animals Club. Their names are Blackie, Brownie, and White Puppy and they will be ready for adoption very soon!"</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738103_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://www.happyanimalsclub.org/" sl-processed="1" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMALSCLUB INC.</span></a></span></div>
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<li class="slide_3738226 image slide" id="slide_3738226" style="border: 0px !important; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; list-style: none inside none !important; margin: 68px 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;"><header class="no-number" style="border-top-color: rgb(153, 153, 153); border-top-style: solid; border-width: 1px 0px 0px; box-sizing: border-box; height: 3px; margin: 0px 0px 14px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 560px;"></header><div class="title" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; max-width: 900px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
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<div class="listicle-content" style="border: none; box-sizing: border-box; direction: ltr; margin: 5px 0px 7px !important; min-height: 165px; padding: 0px 0px 5px !important; position: relative; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-color: white;"><img class="image-image" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/349458/slide_349458_3738226_free.jpg" style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; display: inline-block; margin: 0px 0px -6px !important; max-width: 100%; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /></span><span class="credits" style="background-image: none; border: 0px; bottom: -23px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 9px; left: 0px; margin: 5px 0px; padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black;">HAPPYANIMINC.</span></span></div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-39988128290544019612014-11-24T17:13:00.000-05:002015-01-02T18:55:12.039-05:00Kid Heroes for Animals: 15 Year Old Ran Into A Burning Barn To Save 25 Horses.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fs2g4_STQWkrCwuXvs29fBmSqUT87W2Hk1qSXSQVR5ONwY02F_7ZVkO4uHj75pwX1LGlTikQwdDmm1Qd4djMUCA-RFO9LcghISeqQNA9duLeZ3G4_rgGXIByo430lHgVbWrOOwEpyazq/s1600/IMG_0803-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8fs2g4_STQWkrCwuXvs29fBmSqUT87W2Hk1qSXSQVR5ONwY02F_7ZVkO4uHj75pwX1LGlTikQwdDmm1Qd4djMUCA-RFO9LcghISeqQNA9duLeZ3G4_rgGXIByo430lHgVbWrOOwEpyazq/s1600/IMG_0803-001.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am introducing a new series on my <a class="profileLink" data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/page.php?id=334584363260792" href="https://www.facebook.com/children4horses" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">Children 4 Horses</a> Facebook page. It is called "Kid Heroes for Animals". I will be posting a bunch of amazing stories of kids helping or saving animals from all over the world! You can also submit or suggest your own stories by sending me a message on my Facebook page. </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am hoping the stories I find inspire people, especially kids to be compassionate and caring towards animals and even to be brave and strong!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>The first story I have for you is about 15 year old Maddie, who is brave beyond comparison! Wait until you see what she did!! ~Declan</b></span></div>
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15 Year Old Repeatedly Ran Into A Burning Barn To Save 25 Horses.</h1>
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<span class="meta-author">Posted by horsefiles</span> <span class="meta-date">on November 18, 2014 </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">As posted on</span>-<span style="color: #999999;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.horsefiles.com/15-year-old-repeatedly-ran-into-a-burning-barn-to-save-25-horses/" target="_blank">Equine For Life</a></span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif;">A 15-year-old girl is being hailed a hero after dashing into a burning barn and rescuing around 25 horses from near death, against her stepfather’s orders. Taking the reins of each kicking and jumping horse, 4ft-10in Madison Wallraf of McHenry, Illinois guided the frantic animals out of the fire-swept stable and to safety.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, serif;">‘I got kicked in the shoulder by one of the horses in there and I got knocked down a few times, but my adrenaline was so high at the time that it didn’t really phase me.’</span></div>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/9gbWEm9v8Yw" width="560"></iframe>Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-43425789388783059562014-10-19T17:27:00.001-04:002014-10-19T17:32:35.939-04:00Police Horse Training - Extraordinary Animals<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWdijjcTfYNxr8L3J6bH0Fk1JvqIUe45j9SOLu_sI7vf5Wje4d2WXTK6b897iPPoT7vFE8MCelWheIxyFLBa92PXySyDlBYq8Oq9yFkGG3rDUPQG9R_EGXhfkcv1f6WuCJUCTJuEScD5B/s1600/172094_152527271469693_1609427_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEWdijjcTfYNxr8L3J6bH0Fk1JvqIUe45j9SOLu_sI7vf5Wje4d2WXTK6b897iPPoT7vFE8MCelWheIxyFLBa92PXySyDlBYq8Oq9yFkGG3rDUPQG9R_EGXhfkcv1f6WuCJUCTJuEScD5B/s1600/172094_152527271469693_1609427_o.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div>
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is pretty cool. It's really hard for a horse to become a police academy graduate. This is a look at some of their training for the San Francisco PD. Horses are pretty awesome!! ~Declan</span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Police Horse Training - Extraordinary Animals - Series 2 - Earth</span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strong>Published on Apr 2, 2014</strong> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: large;">How are horses chosen to work with the police? With entry requirements more rigorous than the U.S. Navy Seals, only 10% of the horses brought in to the San Francisco mounted police unit will make it through basic training. It takes a very special horse to beats those odds.</span></span><br />
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<br />Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-73278593213808889072014-09-28T20:55:00.001-04:002014-09-28T20:55:22.981-04:00Photos of Extremely Rare Moment - White Camargue Horses Race Along France's Rhone River<h1>
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Beautiful horses! ~Declan</span></h1>
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Just horsing around! Fascinating photos reveal extremely rare moment white Camargue horses race along France's Rhone River</h1>
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<li><strong>Xavier Oretgas Ojuel photographed a herd of rare white horses galloping through saltwater at sunset</strong></li>
<li><b>The animals are native to the region where they've long lived in several ranches along the Rhone River</b></li>
<li><b>Camargue is a relatively remote natural paradise, located near Arles, along France's southern coast</b></li>
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By Katie Amey<br />
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<span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-published"><span class="article-timestamp-label" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">PUBLISHED:</span> 10:44 EST, 22 September 2014 </span>| <span class="article-timestamp article-timestamp-updated"><span class="article-timestamp-label" style="font-weight: 700; text-transform: uppercase;">UPDATED:</span> 09:58 EST, 23 September 2014</span></div>
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As posted on <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-2765293/Just-horsing-Fascinating-photos-reveal-extremely-rare-moment-white-Camargue-horses-race-France-s-Rhone-River.html" target="_blank">Mail Online</a></div>
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A herd of white Camargue horses galloping through a calm delta at sunset made for some stunning photos from Barcelona-based photographer Xavier Oretga Ojuel.</div>
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The Spanish man travelled hundreds of miles to capture this magical moment of the rare animals racing wildly against the setting sun.</div>
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Rushing along the remote landscape, the surf is kicked up and the animals' movements blurred, as they are permitted to run free outside for their ranches along the Rhone River, near Arles, France.</div>
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<img alt="Horseplay: A herd of white horses gallop through the saltwater of the Rhone River in France" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="0" height="397" id="i-cbc5bcee37e53887" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484148545_wps_6_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-1" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>Horseplay: A herd of white horses gallop through the saltwater of the Rhone River in France</i></div>
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<img alt="The animals belong to several ranches along the Camargue, a natural region located south of Arles, France" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="1" height="388" id="i-67922ffb33b72aba" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484156562_wps_7_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-2" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>The animals belong to several ranches along the Camargue, a natural region located south of Arles, France</i></div>
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<img alt="The photographs, taken at sunset, capture the horses between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhone River delta" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="2" height="375" id="i-dc7c23c435181c4c" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484169346_wps_8_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-3" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>The photographs, taken at sunset, capture the horses between the Mediterranean Sea and the two arms of the Rhone River delta</i></div>
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<img alt="The herd is carefree and playful, kicking up water as they splash in the surf" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="3" height="379" id="i-d952520730e613b7" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484193330_wps_9_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-4" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>The herd is carefree and playful, kicking up water as they splash in the surf</i></div>
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This is the third time that the photographer has made the trip to region to photograph these majestic creatures, building up quite a portfolio of images along the way.</div>
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'In these three years, I have seen many horses - usually they can run for ten minutes until the leader decides to quit,' Xavier said.</div>
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'I love seeing horses like this - running free in the wild. They are one of my favourite animals, displaying a combination of power, beauty and water in a great place with magnificent light.' </div>
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He added: 'I remember taking these particular photos. It was a magical moment.</div>
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'The sky was ablaze with yellow clouds when a herd of white horses came running through the marsh.</div>
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'I chose a short lens to capture the beautiful landscape and I believe I took one of my best pictures.' </div>
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<img alt="These Camargue horses are named after the region of southern France they are native to" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="4" height="421" id="i-60522bcd02957355" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484205921_wps_10_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-5" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>These Camargue horses are named after the region of southern France they are native to</i></div>
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<img alt="The images are slightly blurred due to the horses' quick movements" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="5" height="414" id="i-22466f61794d75f" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484213380_wps_11_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-6" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>The images are slightly blurred due to the horses' quick movements</i></div>
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<img alt="The rare white creatures are believed to be ancestors of Palaeolithic era horses, which lived over 17,000 years ago" class="blkBorder img-share" data-track-pos="6" height="289" id="i-3e920361179625bd" src="http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2014/09/23/1411484218913_wps_12_A_herd_of_white_horses_ga.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" width="640" /><div class="share-pictures-overlay" id="share-pictures-7" style="margin: 0px; min-height: 1px; padding: 0px;">
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<i>The rare white creatures are believed to be ancestors of Palaeolithic era horses, which lived over 17,000 years ago</i></div>
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<i>The horses have been running wild in this area for years, but belong to ranches along the remote coast of the Camargue</i></div>
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<i>'I love seeing horses like this - running free in the wild,' photographer Xavier Ortega says</i></div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-36906787777984192342014-09-20T15:07:00.001-04:002014-09-20T15:15:48.393-04:00Horses of Honor in Chicago<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Cool artwork. I love all the colors and designs! ~Declan</b></span><br />
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Horses of Honor</h2>
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<span content="2014-09-15T18:31:34-05:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime" property="dc:date dc:created" rel="sioc:has_creator" style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">As posted on <a href="http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2014/09/15/horses-honor#.VBo-M_EQ67I.facebook" target="_blank">Chicago Tonight</a> | September 15, 2014 6:31 pm</span></div>
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All over the city, Horses of Honor are on display. These life-size fiberglass statues of Chicago's police horses were designed to raise awareness and support for the Chicago Police Memorial Foundation. There are 16 horses currently on display with 40 more expected to roll out shortly. The featured horses will be on display around the city through mid-November.<br />
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-24621385496016446502014-09-19T18:36:00.000-04:002014-09-19T18:38:23.733-04:00Suffolks Down Horses Need New Homes After Track Closing<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: orange;">A VERY IMPORTANT LETTER VIA DOVER SADDLERY!! PLEASE SHARE AND HELP IF YOU CAN!! Read more details about the track closing in the article below. ~DECLAN</b></span><br />
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<tr><td><img src="https://bay169.mail.live.com/Handlers/ImageProxy.mvc?bicild=&canary=2hJOsrpWqdaEYe9wT1gh4rQMOBvJqU9rHNVGIJW7Xtc%3d0&url=http%3a%2f%2fwww.doversaddlery.com%2fimages%2fart%2f091914_EMAILHEADER2.jpg" style="display: block;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td style="padding: 15px 30px 10px 10px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">Dear Fellow Equestrian,<br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" />After a 79 year legacy of horse racing, Suffolk Downs has announced that it will be closing its starting gates at the end of the 2014 Season on September 29th. Many of the Thoroughbreds that have found their first careers at the track will be in need of new homes and jobs after the closing. While there will be a grace period after the track closes in order to allow horses to be matched with new owners, CANTER New England, a non-profit horse welfare group, expects that over 100 horses will need to be re-homed by mid-October. <br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" />For those interested in purchasing one of the Suffolk Downs OTTBs, CANTER New England will be hosting an <b style="line-height: 18px;">Open House at Suffolk Downs on Sunday, September 27th from 8:30am until 12:00 pm</b>. Additionally, a CANTER New England representative will be available at the track on Wednesday, September 24th. If you are unable to attend the open house, please email CANTER at <a href="mailto:adoptions@canterne.org" name="adoptions_canterne_org" style="color: #824d01; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;">adoptions@canterne.org</a> to schedule a time. Buyer resources, such as transportation, veterinarian, and guides to answer questions about transitioning a race horse to farm life, will be available to interested buyers. <br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" />We here at Dover Saddlery have been a longtime supporter of CANTER New England and have purchased horses from Suffolk Downs in the past. In a further effort to help support the re-homing of these horses, we will be provide buyers of these Suffolk Downs OTTBs a starter kit that includes a halter, lead rope and a $20 Dover Saddlery gift certificate.<br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" />If you'd like to view available horses, please visit CANTER New England at<a href="http://links.mkt1152.com/ctt?kn=7&ms=MjE0Nzk0NzcS1&r=Nzk5NjIxNzQ1MzUS1&b=0&j=NDAxMTkyOTcxS0&mt=1&rt=0" name="www_canterusa_org_newengland" style="color: #824d01; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">www.canterusa.org/newengland</a>, and join us for the Open House at Suffolk Downs later this month. Keep following <a href="http://links.mkt1152.com/ctt?kn=3&ms=MjE0Nzk0NzcS1&r=Nzk5NjIxNzQ1MzUS1&b=0&j=NDAxMTkyOTcxS0&mt=1&rt=0" name="blog_doversaddlery_com__EID_X1" style="color: #824d01; cursor: pointer; line-height: 18px;" target="_blank">our blog</a> for updates and special features on the promising Suffolk Downs OTTBs that are in need of a new home to help take them to their next winner's circle.<br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" />Please feel free to forward this email to your fellow equestrians and help spread the news.<br style="line-height: 18px;" /><br style="line-height: 18px;" />Sincerely,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><img align="top" border="0" height="100px" src="https://bay169.mail.live.com/Handlers/ImageProxy.mvc?bicild=&canary=2hJOsrpWqdaEYe9wT1gh4rQMOBvJqU9rHNVGIJW7Xtc%3d0&url=http%3a%2f%2fcdnll.doversaddlery.com%2fimages%2fart%2fsday_sigsml.gif" style="display: block;" /></span></div>
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<br style="line-height: 18px;" />Stephen L. Day<br style="line-height: 18px;" />President & CEO, Dover Saddlery</span></td></tr>
<tr><td align="center"><img alt="Suffolk Downs and Canter" height="132" src="https://bay169.mail.live.com/Handlers/ImageProxy.mvc?bicild=&canary=2hJOsrpWqdaEYe9wT1gh4rQMOBvJqU9rHNVGIJW7Xtc%3d0&url=http%3a%2f%2fcdnll.doversaddlery.com%2fimages%2fart%2fEmail_090014_SuffolkCanter_03.jpg" style="display: block;" width="281" /><br />
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Where 700 Horses At Suffolk Downs Will Go After The Races Shut Down</h1>
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<span class="byline" style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px;">By <span itemprop="author" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span itemprop="name">Delores Handy</span></span></span> <span class="article-publishdate" style="color: #999999;">September 18, 2014 As posted on <a href="http://www.wbur.org/2014/09/18/horses-suffolk-downs" target="_blank">90.9 WBUR</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/1/files/2014/06/0606_suffolk-downs.jpg" style="color: #25408f; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="A Suffolk Downs horse race is seen here in this 2007 file photo. (Lisa Poole/AP)" class="wp-image-144088 size-large" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/1/files/2014/06/0606_suffolk-downs-620x399.jpg" height="399" style="border: 0px; display: block; width: 620px;" width="620" /></a><br />
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BOSTON — There are 700 horses in the stables at Suffolk Downs in Revere.</div>
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In fewer than two weeks, the sounds of their thundering hooves will no longer be heard at the 80-year-old racetrack situated in East Boston.</div>
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“Most of them will go somewhere else to race,” said Osvaldo Rivera, a horse trainer who has been working at Suffolk Downs for 30 years. “The ones who can’t compete will be given away as riding horses or ponies or whatever.”</div>
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<a href="http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/1/files/2014/09/0917suffolk1.jpg" style="color: #25408f; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="Of the 700 horses at Suffolk Downs, those not fit for racing will likely be given up for adoption. (Delores Handy/WBUR)" class="size-medium wp-image-157140" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/media.wbur.org/wordpress/1/files/2014/09/0917suffolk1-300x180.jpg" height="180" style="border: 0px; display: block;" width="300" /></a><br />
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Of the 700 horses at Suffolk Downs, those not fit for racing will likely be given up for adoption. (Delores Handy/WBUR)</div>
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Rivera said that the horses will likely all go to adoption.</div>
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“They can’t go to slaughter. We can’t do that anymore,” he said.</div>
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Suffolk Downs investors have been hemorrhaging money in hopes that a casino licence would turn things around, but that<a href="http://www.wbur.org/2014/09/17/wynn-everett-casino-ahead" style="color: #25408f; text-decoration: none;">license went to Everett</a> instead.</div>
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Chip Tuttle, the chief operating officer of Suffolk Downs, said the track has been losing money since 2006 to the tune of over $50 million.</div>
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Tuttle said that with the financial losses, it’s impossible to continue running the facility. He said the racing track will need to be shuttered by the end of the year.</div>
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The track’s closure would put about 1,100 track employees out of work. Those workers, plus blacksmiths and others in allied fields, could mean upwards of 2,000 jobs impacted, according to track officials.</div>
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Tammi Piermarini is one of those people. Over 30 years ago, she started her racing career at Suffolk Downs. She is now the third leading female jockey in the history of horse racing.</div>
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Jockey Tammi Piermarini speaks to media at the racetrack Wednesday. (Delores Handy/WBUR)</div>
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“I was 18 when I began racing, and I remember coming in my first day riding,” she recalled. “You see where we stand today? You couldn’t move, there were so many people. The crowds. It was almost like being at the Kentucky Derby. That’s how many people.”</div>
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Piermarini had hoped for a return to those golden days of horse racing, but said her hopes were dashed with this week’s casino decision.</div>
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“The loss of the casino is the final straw. That would have helped us out immensely. It would have brought more trainers in. It would have brought more riders in. And it would have brought a different crowd in,” she said. “It definitely would have revitalized the industry and would have saved a lot of people that had farms.”</div>
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George Brown has a farm in Rehoboth. He says closing Suffolk Downs means the end of a family legacy.</div>
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“My farm has been in my family since 1850. I have the original deed. My great-great-grandfather bought the farm for $575. As far as my farm is concerned: with horses, it’s done,” Brown said.</div>
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The final Suffolk Downs horse race is scheduled for Sept. 29. The track will close for good in December.</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-54397494903355461312014-09-13T18:05:00.001-04:002014-09-13T18:05:25.469-04:003D Printed Horse Jump at the Zoetis $1 Million Grand Prix<h1 class="entry-title">
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is really cool! I love the jump - it's just amazing - the technology is unbelievable. This would be fun to make! ~Declan</span></h1>
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3D Printed Horse Jump Takes First Place at the Zoetis $1 Million Grand Prix</h1>
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<em><span class="author vcard"><span class="fn"> By Scott J Grunewald</span></span> On <time class="date time published updated sc" datetime="2014-09-12T12:03:42+00:00">Fri, September 12, 2014</time> <span class="categories sc"> </span> <span class="post-comments sc"><a data-disqus-identifier="32879 http://3dprintingindustry.com/?p=32879" href="http://3dprintingindustry.com/2014/09/12/3d-printed-horse-jump-takes-first-place-zoetis-1-million-grand-prix/#disqus_thread"></a></span> </em> </div>
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Equestrian competition producer HITS Inc recently held the Zoetis $1 Million Grand Prix and featured a horse jump 3D printed to look like a syringe full of the main sponsors veterinary surgical aid product Dormosedan Gel.<br />
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<img alt="syringe jump 3d printing" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-32883" src="http://3dprintingindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/syringe-jump-3d-printing.jpg" height="365" width="700" /><br />
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HITS inc. president Tom Struzzieri also happens to be on the board of the State University of New York New Paltz 3D Printing Initiative. The SUNY Advanced Manufacturing Center director and dean of the School of Science and Engineering Daniel Freedman oversaw the 3D printed horse jump project, which had his team create and assemble it for the race. The only part of the build that wasn’t 3D printed was the barrel of the syringe, which was made of 6” PVC pipe.<br />
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The 3D printed parts were made on a Stratasys Dimension 1200ES, an industrial FDM printer that uses high quality ABSplus thermoplastic. It took Freedman and Assistant Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Center Kat Wilson – who designed the jump and built most of it - about 10 days to print all of the components, and then another four days to paint and assemble the syringe shaped horse jump.<br />
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<img alt="cad horse jump 3d printing" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-32880" src="http://3dprintingindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/cad-horse-jump-3d-printing.jpg" height="224" width="640" /><br />
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Because the 1200ES only has a 10″x10″12″ build plate, Wilson needed to be very clever in designing the jump. It needed to fit together seamlessly, and remain sturdy and durable during an event where it would be subjected to large animals potentially kicking it or stepping on it without going over budget and making it too expensive to produce. As you can see, Wilson ended up breaking the syringe up into 20 individual pieces.<br />
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<img alt="syringe compare 3d printing" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-32882" src="http://3dprintingindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/syringe-compare-3d-printing.jpg" height="434" width="640" /><br />
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While the frame of the jump was a standard 3.5” wood jump rail, there was concern about how well the syringe would stand up if it was knocked off the rail or stepped on by a horse. Thus, Wilson’s primary challenge was to create a jump strong enough to survive contact with a horse. While Freedman told me that he believed it would have been okay if it was simply kicked or knocked off of the rail, he admitted that it probably would not have survived had a horse actually stepped on it.<br />
Thankfully, the syringe-shaped jump never had to be subjected to a horse related stress test and it made it through the entire event completely undamaged. For his part, Struzzieri was very pleased with the 3D printed jump, and even expressed interest in creating more of them for future horse jumping events.<br />
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<img alt="jump complete 3d printing" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-32881" src="http://3dprintingindustry.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/jump-complete-3d-printing.jpg" height="480" width="640" /><br />
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The SUNY New Paltz 3D Printing Initiative has created a unique curriculum for Digital Design and Fabrication aimed at creating an advanced-level workforce. The initiative also offers students the chance to work on projects for local businesses and industries and collaborates with local community colleges and high schools to expand 3D printing education in the region.<br />
Here’s a great video about how 3D printing came to SUNY New Paltz:<br />
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<br />Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-24042009912405045022014-09-10T22:20:00.000-04:002014-09-10T22:21:40.521-04:00Is the Horse Meat Scandal Really Over?<div>
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Warning that horse meat issue could recur</h1>
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<time content="2014-09-09T00:00:00+01:00" datatype="xsd:dateTime" datetime="2014-09-09" property="dc:issued" style="margin: 0px;">Tuesday 9 September 2014 As posted on <a href="http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/warning-that-horse-meat-issue-could-recur.25265221" target="_blank">heraldscotland</a></time><br />
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 20px;">ANOTHER horse meat scandal will emerge as some European countries have made no changes since the "storm" died down, a former Coalition Government farm-ing minister has warned.</span></div>
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David Heath told the Commons some member states opted against taking action as they did not want to remind people what had occurred and hoped the problem would go away once the "press and media furore" had calmed.</div>
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Mr Heath, a minister who helped lead the UK's response, blamed large-scale organised crime based in Europe for causing the scandal, noting the problem will arise again as they were continuing to make huge sums of money.</div>
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Horse DNA was found in frozen burgers supplied to several supermarkets in January 2013.</div>
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Investigations also found other beef products sold by retailers, including lasagne and spaghetti bolognese, were contaminated while meals in schools and hospitals had to be withdrawn after it was found they contained horse meat.</div>
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Asked if he was disappointed no convictions had been brought following the horse meat scandal, Mr Heath said: "I find it enormously frustrating because (former environ-ment secretary Owen Pater-son) and I did absolutely everything we could to mobilise and to energise enforcement agencies across Europe to make sure that this was traced.</div>
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"I believe that at the root of this was large-scale organised crime - European-based organised crime.</div>
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"I believe that more could and should have been done by other member states to get to the bottom of it.</div>
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"But I felt that having raised the issue in European Council meetings, there was then a palpable feeling from some member states that once the media furore had died down then, well, 'let's not push it too hard shall we chaps'."</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-65175648550699498962014-09-09T21:58:00.000-04:002014-09-09T21:58:00.373-04:00Tennessee Walking Horses - A Dying Breed?<br />
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Don't let Tennessee's Walking Horse be a dying breed</h1>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #666666; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;">Published Sunday, September 7th, 2014 As posted on <a href="http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2014/sep/07/dont-let-tennessees-walking-horse-be-a-dying-breed/" target="_blank">timesfreepress.com</a></span><br />
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The dust is finally settling from the 76th Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration and what may have been the worst attended in recent decades of the 11-day iconic Shelbyville event.</div>
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Photographs and videos indicate the 25,000 seat Calsonic Arena held about 3,000 to 5,000 people on Aug. 30, the final night of competition when the grand champion is named.</div>
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Industry diehards blamed rain, but that's a fallacy.</div>
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In 1966 in Shelbyville, the heavens threw daggers of lightning and buckets of rain onto the stadium and show ring during the 28th Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration.</div>
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The towering bleachers were packed and nobody left -- even with lightning strikes flying, witnesses attest. That was the year Shakers Shocker defeated 15 to 20 competitors to win the World Grand Championship.</div>
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But that was before the sport was almost completely corrupted by "professional" trainers and owners who resorted to chemicals and other abusive methods to short-cut training for this steady and beautiful breed.</div>
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That was also before soring -- as we've come to know it today -- forced the horses to step unnaturally higher and further, all to avoid the pain when their high-shod hooves and chemically abraded legs touched the ground. Soring is the use of substances, painful shoeing techniques and objects hidden beneath outrageously sized pads that force the horses to high step around the show ring. Soring is what the world finally saw, up close, in videos secretly recorded in Celebration Hall of Fame trainer Jackie McConnell's stables by operatives of the Humane Society of the United States a few years ago. The tapes were turned over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and then to U.S. attorneys in Chattanooga. McConnell later became the first person in the history of the 40-year-old federal Horse Protection Act to be criminally prosecuted and convicted.</div>
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The upheaval McConnell's conviction caused in the industry and among fans of the walking horse continues to smother the walking horse industry and this beautiful, steady breed of horse. But it hasn't stopped the soring.</div>
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Only three horses entered the ring to compete for the 76th World Championship title. Abuse inspectors -- mostly USDA vets and technicians -- had disqualified the rest of the field. They were disqualified based on evidence the inspectors deemed to be signs of soring abuse.</div>
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The winning horse, named I am Jose, has no soring violation history, but other horses in his bloodline do. So do his owners and trainers, according to USDA violation records in a database maintained by Friends of Sound Horses, a horse organization that has taken a decided stand against animal abuse.</div>
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But the walking horse industry as a whole -- as opposed to horse fans -- has been slow to acknowledge the apparently rampant soring abuse: FOSH's database provides 28 years of Horse Protection Act and soring violations, showing more than 12,500 violations as well as a "Repeat Violators" report with hundreds of single-spaced pages.</div>
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Industry stalwarts have insisted that McConnell and his ilk represented just "a few bad apples."</div>
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For weeks leading up to this year's Celebration, officials touted a new "world class" trio of veterinarians who would oversee inspections to prove the industry's commitment to no cheating. But these officials neglected to disclose that one of the vets had never agreed to participate and wasn't at the 11-day event. Another had ties to the industry dating back years and to lobbying efforts to have the Horse Protection Act amended to be less protective (though it's hard to imagine how a 40-year-old protection act with only the first conviction in 2012 could be much less protective).</div>
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When the Tennessean reported gaping problems in the Celebration veterinarian committee, officials quickly backtracked, saying the vets didn't have to be present to oversee the inspections. Let us guess: Inspections by telepathy? Clearly the vets idea was a public relations stunt to protect the industry, not the horses.</div>
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Now these soring loyalists -- the ones who've ratcheted up the "big lick" with out-sized pads, chains, chemicals and whatever it takes -- are also fighting proposed amendments to toughen the existing law. The amendments are known as the PAST Act, and they would outlaw the pads and chains that hide and exacerbate the chemicals and foreign objects.</div>
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It is clear that fans -- along with plenty of owners of show-worthy walking horses -- stayed out of the arena this year in an effort to get the message across to the industry diehards: Walking horses don't need lumbering "big licks" to be exciting.</div>
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Shakers Shocker and the horses before him proved that when they so electrified crowds that not even lightning kept fans away.</div>
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Bring those horses -- and that natural gait with flat-shod hooves -- back.</div>
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Support the PAST Act. This industry doesn't have to die. It just has to return to its horse-loving, solid footing.</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-66699470460593608542014-09-06T21:42:00.001-04:002014-09-06T21:42:24.909-04:00Gunnison Prison Wild Horse Program Suspended<div class="info">
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<strong><span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">More corruption with the BLM... I thought they were supposed to PROTECT America's horses! ~Declan</span></strong></div>
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<strong><span style="font-size: x-large;">Gunnison prison wild horse program suspended</span></strong></div>
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<span itemprop="creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person">By <span itemprop="name">Amy Joi O'Donoghue</span>, </span><span itemprop="sourceOrganization" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Organization"><span itemprop="name">Deseret News</span></span></div>
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Published: Friday, Sept. 5 2014 5:20 p.m. MDT on <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865610344/Gunnison-prison-wild-horse-program-suspended.html" target="_blank">Desert News</a></div>
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<i>In this 2007 file photo, an inmate works with "Norton" in the round pen with part of the herd in the background as part of the wild horse program at the Gunnison State Prison in Gunnison. T</i><i>om Smart, Deseret News</i></div>
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A disagreement over costs has led to a suspension of the wild horse training program at the Central Utah Correctional Facility at Gunnison, meaning the 1,500 horses stabled there will have to be moved to new locations in the next 30 days.<br />
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<span class="quote-start">“</span>We are not able to sustain the program without losing money. The program was not cost effective and we do not know if it was effective in reducing recidivism. We do know it was not serving a lot of inmates.” ~Mike Haddon, Utah Department of Corrections</div>
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GUNNISON — Disagreement over the costs associated with a wild horse gentling program at the Gunnison prison has led to its suspension, and efforts are underway to find a place for 1,500 horses.<br />
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The program's cessation means the Bureau of Land Management will move about 90 percent of the animals to out-of-state facilities, with a prison-imposed deadline to have that accomplished by Oct. 6.<br />
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"The BLM's Utah State Office has valued our relationship with the Utah Department of Corrections and regret that it has decided to terminate the Wild Horse Inmate Program at Gunnison," said Tom Gorey, acting spokesman for the BLM in Utah.<br />
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"This program has aided in the rehabilitation of inmates and has, through the gentling of horses, helped place animals into good, private care."<br />
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Gorey added that the state agency decision to end the program will complicate national efforts to make sure there is enough off-range holding capacity for wild horses and burros that are removed off public ranges.<br />
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Mike Haddon, deputy director of the Utah Department of Corrections, said the program was losing money and had very little inmate participation. The BLM was informed of the agency's decision on Friday.<br />
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"We are not able to sustain the program without losing money," he said. "The program was not cost-effective, and we do not know if it was effective in reducing recidivism. We do know it was not serving a lot of inmates."<br />
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Since its inception in 2007, the program had 175 inmates who gentled horses for the public to adopt through BLM-managed programs. Of those 175 graduates, Haddon said only 82 of them had been released from prison — too small a number to effectively judge if the program had any viable, lasting impacts.<br />
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Haddon said the differences over money arose in 2012 when the initial five-year contract was renegotiated from a per-head, per day rate to another model of reimbursement.<br />
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"There was a discrepancy and dispute between what the BLM believes the department should be reimbursed and what the department believes it should be reimbursed," he said.<br />
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An audit by the Office of Inspector General released last year shows a more than million-dollar discrepancy between the two entities that raised questions over the costs.<br />
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The Utah Correctional Industries under which the program operated reported costs of a little more than $5.3 million for the five-year contract period, of which auditors said $1 million was "questioned" —or not allowable under the terms of the agreement.<br />
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Of that million dollars, $928,000 was deemed "unsupported," meaning documentation related to the costs was insufficient, the report said.<br />
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The audit concluded that the discrepancy in costs and conflicting reimbursements arose from the use of different accounting systems between the state and federal government.<br />
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In the case of the Utah Correctional Industries — which Haddon said is mandated to be self-sustaining — the audit said its accounting records and financial statements were organized like that of a business enterprise fund and not typical of government operations.<br />
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The BLM estimates that it has overpaid Utah Correctional Industries by about $2 million, Gorey said, adding that the agency is in the process of securing an outside, independent audit to verify this figure.<br />
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-48159176943824107982014-08-19T19:46:00.000-04:002014-08-19T22:10:25.350-04:00Horse Gets Tattoo To Save Eye<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>Interesting story. An unusual way to save the horse, but effective! ~Declan</b></span><br />
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Ace The Horse Gets Tattoo To Save Sunburned Eye</h1>
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<span class="posted-time" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Montserrat, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; text-transform: uppercase;">POSTED 10:31 PM, AUGUST 17, 2014, BY ELLEN THALLS, </span><span class="updated-time" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Montserrat, 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 18px; text-transform: uppercase;">UPDATED AT 12:00PM, AUGUST 18, 2014</span><br />
As posted on <a href="http://5newsonline.com/2014/08/17/ace-the-horse-gets-tattoo-to-save-sunburned-eye/" target="_blank">5newsonline.com</a><br />
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A five-year-old Missouri Foxtrotter horse got a tattoo on Monday (Aug. 11), but it wasn’t cosmetic—it was to save his right eye.</div>
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Ace’s owner Beverly Bundren said she knew when she bought him two years ago that the ulcerations around his eye may turn into cancer one day. She said the connection between her and Ace was undeniable, and she bought him and immediately started treatment. Bundren said Ace’s right eye has too little pigmentation, so every time he is in the sun, his eye becomes burned and he gets sores.</div>
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She said she took him to Dr. Gary France at the Pea Ridge Veterinary clinic to get his opinion on how to save his life.</div>
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“I said let’s do what we have to do, and he said well if we can get it to heal, then we can maybe tattoo it….and I said okay,” Bundren said.</div>
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Fayetteville tattoo artists Jon Ross and Buzz Gaither were called in to work on Ace — the first horse, or even animal, they had ever tattooed.</div>
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“It was such a humanitarian cause,” Ross said, “To be able to bring this skill and crossover into the livestock world, and to actually help an animal.”</div>
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Ross said they tattooed black around Ace’s eye so light would be absorbed and not reflected, much like athletes put black paint until their eyes to not be blinded by stadium lights. The procedure took only 40 minutes.</div>
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“It looks absolutely natural,” Ross said, “Ace hasn’t had any problems since the procedure, so we are going to say it’s a complete success.”</div>
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Bundren said while her horse was under the needle, she could only think about how excited she is for Ace’s future.</div>
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“The fact that he can not have to stay in the shade during the heat of the day, and hopefully this will completely keep him from having the ulcerations anymore…if not, we will tattoo some more,” Bundren said.</div>
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She said she hopes the procedure done on Ace will give hope to other horse owners who may have a similar problem. Bundren said if a drastic procedure like tattooing had not been done, she may have one day lost her best friend to cancer.</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-66925608117042130852014-08-19T13:07:00.000-04:002014-08-19T13:13:22.365-04:00Horses Help Teach Inner-City Kids <br />
<b><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a GREAT story to read and share!! Thank goodness for teachers like Ms. Almagor, who see the potential in EVERY kid to be AWESOME!! And thanks to the horses who helped them see that too :-) ~Declan</span></b><br />
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Horses teach inner-city kids to 'get right back on'</h1>
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As posted on <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2014/06/03/9915369/" target="_blank">USA Today</a><br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;">These high school students are fulfilling a dream that once seemed out of reach. Students at inner-city KIPP DC charter school are learning not only how to ride horses but also important life lessons. </span><span class="credit" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; line-height: 18px;">VPC</span><br />
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<strong><span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">AWESOME horse with an amazing story!! ~Decla</span><span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">n</span></strong><br />
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<h1>
Meet the only horse to become a Marine sergeant</h1>
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By Robin Hutton</div>
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As posted on <a href="http://nypost.com/2014/08/10/meet-the-first-horse-to-become-a-marine-sergeant/" target="_blank">New York Post</a></div>
<div class="author-flyout robin-hutton" data-author-name="Robin Hutton">
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August 10, 2014 | 12:25am</div>
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<em>Sixty years ago, a barrier was broken for the US military — the first animal ever was promoted to sergeant. But Reckless the horse was no ordinary beast. Serving with valor in Korea, she saved the lives of fellow Marines and was decorated with presidential citations and two Purple Hearts. In this excerpt from the new book, “Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse” (Regnery History), writer Robin Hutton tells her story.</em><br />
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In the spring of 1954, as the Korean War was winding down, Navy Corpsman Robert “Doc” Rogers decided to buy a Marine a drink.<br />
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“I heard stories about the guys. Marines would come in drunk off of liberty and they’d go down and say, ‘Let’s go down and let Reckless out.’ And they’d do it — just to see what trouble she’d get into.”<br />
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<img alt="" class="size-nypost-small-post wp-image-6590894" src="http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/screen_shot_2014-08-06_at_3-22-07_pm.jpg?w=231" /><br />
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<i>Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse by Robin Hutton</i></div>
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That Reckless was a horse didn’t really matter. She loved beer — and camaraderie.<br />
“Sometimes the guys would be standing around talking and she’d walk right up to us and just stand there,” Doc Rogers said. “And somebody would be talking and she would look at him. And the other guy would start talking and she’d look at him. And another guy would talk and she’d look at him. It was like, ‘Hey, I’m a Marine. I’m one of you.’<br />
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“One night a bunch of us were all standing around in a circle, talking. There was a Marine lieutenant there. Lieutenant Louie was his name. And while we were talking, Reckless came up behind this one soldier and muzzled the back of this guy’s neck. Nipped him on the back of his neck. It scared him half to death and he screamed, ‘What the f—!’ and jumped and turned around. And he’s right face to face with Reckless, and shouted, ‘Get that motherf—–g nag out of here!’<br />
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“And Lieutenant Louie exploded on the guy and said, ‘That horse has done more for the United States Marine Corps than you have, or ever will do. And besides that, she outranks you. And if I ever hear you talking to that horse like that again, I’m going to have you written up and court-martialed.’”<br />
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<div class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_6590885" style="width: 660px;">
<img alt="" class="size-nypost-large-desktop wp-image-6590885" src="http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/p49-3.jpg?w=680&h=450&crop=1" /><br />
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<i>Reckless is trained not to be spooked by the noise of rifles. <span class="credit">Photo: Command Museum, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego</span></i></div>
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<br />
‘Reckless ! Let’s call her Reckless!” a voice cried out from the crowd of Marines gathered around their newest recruit. The name might have seemed ill-suited for a small, chestnut-colored horse with a blaze down her forehead and three white stockings.<br />
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But to the Recoilless Rifle Platoon of the 5th Marines, the moniker was perfect — it was their radio call sign and captured the toss-caution-to-the-wind attitude of men who relied on the “reckless” rifle.<br />
The little Mongolian mare was born Ah-Chim-Hai, or “Flame-of-the-Morning,” and raised to race at a Seoul thoroughbred track. She officially joined the Marines on Oct. 26, 1952, after the commander of the Recoilless Rifle Platoon, Eric Pedersen, bought her for $250.<br />
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<i>Marines lace canisters of ammunition onto Reckless<span class="credit">Photo: Command Museum, Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego</span></i></div>
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Not as a mascot, but because his unit desperately needed help hauling heavy guns and artillery over Korea’s rugged terrain. Trucks simply couldn’t negotiate the steep, rutted mountains, especially in frigid, icy conditions. Pedersen realized a horse would make the ideal ammunitions carrier.<br />
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Because it had no wheels and sat on a tripod, the 75 recoilless rifle, at 6-feet-10 inches long and weighing nearly 115 pounds, was awkward and challenging to carry; moving it in the field usually required three and at times four men, though sometimes two could manage. It could throw a 75 mm shell several thousand yards with extreme precision.<br />
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Reckless was put through “hoof camp,” learning how to get on and off a trailer, carry the rifle and ammunition, and not stand behind the gun as it was fired. The horse was even taught to lie down or kneel in case she needed to crawl into a shallow bunker for protection from incoming fire.<br />
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After much experimentation, the platoon found Reckless could safely and easily carry six rounds of recoilless rifle ammunition in canisters without much trouble. Yet in the heat of battle, they found she could tote eight to 10 rounds, if necessary.<br />
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<img alt="" class="size-nypost-large-desktop wp-image-6590903" src="http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/p44-2.jpg?w=680&h=450&crop=1" /><br />
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<i>Reckless on a hill with the gun crew.<span class="credit">Photo: USMC History Division, Quantico, VA</span></i></div>
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The day of Reckless’s long-awaited “baptism by fire” finally arrived in late November 1952. The intended firing line was the colorfully nicknamed “Hedy’s Crotch,” a valley between outposts Ingrid to the south and Hedy to the north (the Marines named the hills after famous actresses), in the center sector of the Jamestown Line.<br />
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The Jamestown Line was a series of defensive positions occupied by UN forces stretching about 35 miles from the Imjim River near Munsan-ni, to a point east of Kumhwa, South Korea. The distance from camp to the firing site was 2¹/₂ miles. Part of the way could be traveled by Jeep, but the final five hundred yards was a steep climb to the ridgeline.<br />
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Three trucks were sent out at 10-minute intervals. The squad, led by Lt. Pederson and Sgt. Ralph Sherman, and weapon went out first, followed by Reckless in her trailer and finally the ammunition.<br />
When they reached the base of the ridge, Reckless sensed something was up. She clambered out of the trailer, and headed straight to Technical Sgt. Joe Latham’s pocket, sniffing for chocolate.<br />
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But her trainer stopped her. “No pogey bait ’til this is over,” he said as he strapped on six canister rounds of high-explosive shells on her and slapped her backside for encouragement. (“Pogey bait” is Marinespeak for non-issued food or drink, especially sweets.)<br />
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<i>Reckless loaded with a reel of communication wire<span class="credit">Photo: Nancy Latham Parkin</span></i></div>
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Pvt. 1st Class Monroe Coleman, a Utah native who was Reckless’ minder, took the horse’s lead rope and started up the steep hill.<br />
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The key to a successful mission was speed and teamwork. And now they were about to see how their newest recruit would handle the pressures of battle.<br />
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Reckless and Coleman had just returned to the firing line with their second load when Sherman began blasting away.<br />
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The roar of the weapon echoed through the hills and dust exploded from the back of the gun.<br />
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Even though Reckless was laden with six shells totaling about 150 pounds, the force of the blast frightened the horse right off the ground. Coleman saw the whites in her eyes and moved quickly to calm her.<br />
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The second shot roared just as loudly.<br />
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Again, Reckless went airborne, although not as high this time. Coleman managed to talk her down. As she shook her head trying to stop the ringing in her ears, the third round left the tube. This time, Reckless stood closer to Coleman and shook from the concussion of the blast.<br />
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That third time was the charm for the rookie recruit because she didn’t jump and was breathing more easily.<br />
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She watched the gun crew fire the fourth shot and hardly jerked her head.<br />
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“The whole idea of what that horse was able to do was remarkable . . . ,” observed Sgt. Ralph Sherman, “and she did everything they expected her to do.”<br />
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As an adjective, “proud” didn’t do justice to how the Marines felt about Reckless’ first battle performance. When they returned to camp, they offered her a can of beer to celebrate with her comrades. She gulped it lustily and naturally wanted more.<br />
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<img alt="" class="size-nypost-large-desktop wp-image-6590936" src="http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/82-cp_-_reckless_and_latham_sep-1.jpg?w=680&h=450&crop=1" /><br />
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<i>Reckless with TSgt. Joseph Latham<span class="credit">Photo: Nancy Latham Parkin</span></i></div>
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From then on, Reckless was an indispensable part of the unit.<br />
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In just one day of battle, Reckless made 51 trips carrying 386 rounds (almost 5 tons) of ammunition, walking more than 35 miles through rice paddies and up steep mountains through enemy fire.<br />
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“They would tie a wounded Marine across her packsaddle and she would carry them out of there with all of this artillery and mortars coming in,” said Marine demolitionist Sgt. Harold Wadley. “The guys down at the bottom would unload the wounded off of her and tie gun ammo on her and she would turn around right on her own and head right back up to the guns. She was always moving and unforgettable on that skyline in the flare light.”<br />
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<i>Reckless is loaded with recoilless rifle ammunition<span class="credit">Photo: Leatherneck Magazine</span></i></div>
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On one trip, Reckless shielded four Marines heading for the front line. They returned the favor, throwing their flak jackets over her for protection, thus risking their own lives. Reckless sometimes looked like a “prehistoric hump-backed monster covered with large scales” wearing flak jackets head to tail, but the Marines valued her that much.<br />
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On one trip to the guns, Reckless suffered a shrapnel cut just above her left eye. Blood oozed down into her white blaze, but she kept going. Arriving at the guns, Pedersen checked her out, cleaned the wound with iodine and sent Reckless on her way.<br />
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Later that day, she was wounded a second time when another shard of hot, sharp shrapnel struck her left flank, behind the ribcage and in front of her hind legs. Again, the wound was dressed and she returned to work.<br />
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Neither gash slowed the horse even one step, and she was honored with two Purple Hearts.<br />
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<img alt="" class="size-nypost-large-desktop wp-image-6590945" src="http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/072613koreanwarhorsekc-18.jpg?w=680&h=450&crop=1" /><br />
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<i>A life-size statue of Reckless at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Triangle, VA.<span class="credit">Photo: Kris Connor</span></i></div>
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On April 10, 1954, Reckless was officially promoted to sergeant — an honor never bestowed, before or since, on an animal.<br />
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There have been animals, especially dogs, which surpassed their roles as military mascots and were recognized with awards and even medals. For example, in World War II, an Army German shepherd named Chips attacked an enemy pillbox in Sicily and took four startled prisoners. Chips was awarded a Silver Star and Purple Heart for valor. (The medals later were revoked following complaints that presenting service medals to a dog diminished their prestige.)<br />
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In World War I, a pit bull mix named Sergeant Stubby served with the 102nd Infantry, 26th (Yankee) Division, in France. Stubby was on solo patrol in the Argonne when he heard something in the bushes and found a German spy mapping American positions.<br />
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Stubby charged, the spy ran, Stubby gave chase, tackled his prey and bit him in the leg. When the patrol followed Stubby’s barking and a man’s cries, they found the German on the ground, Stubby’s steely jaws clamped emphatically onto his rear end.<br />
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The commanding officer of the 102nd reportedly was so impressed that he “promoted” Stubby to sergeant. But it was an honorary promotion, not an official one.<br />
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But honorary Sergeant Stubby wasn’t actual Sgt. Reckless, who was held in the same high esteem as any human Marine of the same rank.<br />
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No other animal has ever held any legal, officially sanctioned US military rank and been genuinely respected for that rank, except for Reckless.<br />
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Reckless would survive the war and come back to the United States a hero. At Camp Pendleton, she was promoted again, to staff sergeant, by the commandant of the Marine Corps. She bore three colts, one of which was promoted to private first class. She died on May 13, 1968, at the ripe age of 20. A statue of her stands at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico, Va.<br />
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Her proudest day was the day they promoted her, Corpsman Doc Rogers recalled. “They broke us all out in formation,” Rogers said, “and they had Reckless there. And they had her corporal blanket on — had corporal stripes on the side of it, had all of her ribbons on there — and they promoted her to sergeant.<br />
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“They took the old blanket off and put the new blanket on her that had the sergeant stripes on there. And, of course, the same ribbons. It was the most beautiful horse blanket I ever saw.<br />
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“But, you know, I think back on that and I think she just acted like she knew everything that was going on. She just stood still. They read off everything and it was almost like she was just a part of it. She knew what was happening. She was a proud Marine.”<br />
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<img alt="" class=" size-nypost-large-desktop wp-image-6590958" src="http://thenypost.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/reckless_2.jpg?w=680&h=450&crop=1" /><br />
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<span class="credit"><i>Photo: Gwenn Adams</i></span></div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-78147848883157753622014-08-14T23:55:00.001-04:002014-08-14T23:55:48.185-04:008 Reasons To Love Horses<h1 class="title">
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Some really great reasons to love horses even more! ~Declan</span></h1>
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8 Reasons You Should Learn To Love These Under-Appreciated Animals</h1>
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<span class="thirdparty-logo"> The Huffington Post </span> <span class="name fn"> | By Alena Hall </span></div>
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<span class="name fn">As posted by <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/08/10/how-horses-help-humans_n_5634554.html" target="_blank">The Huffington Post</a></span> </div>
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<!-- Entry Text --> "If you are not a horse person, it might be hard to understand why some people love their horses so much," writes HuffPost blogger, bestselling author and relationship expert Margaret Paul, Ph.D. "There is something about a horse's energy that creates a powerful shift in me. Whenever I'm at all tense, I have only to hug Stryder and I can feel my whole system coming into alignment. His heartbeat slows my heartbeat until the stress completely leaves my body. His soft eyes bring me into the present moment and I can barely contain the love I feel."<br />
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While this kind of experience is far from universal, there's a lot to recommend spending time with horses. For the people who love them, time riding and caring for these animals is full of natural, organic interactions and a deep sense of fulfillment. <br />
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Luckily, you don't have to be a horse owner to spend time with them and reap the accompanying benefits. Horse stables nationwide often accept grounds volunteers enthusiastically, and as well as offer riding lessons and trail rides -- and not all of these opportunities are restricted to rural areas. In fact, you just might be surprised by the unexpected places where quality time with horses is an option.<br />
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<strong>Here are 8 ways horses can help us truly thrive each day.</strong><br />
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<strong>They can help us find common ground.</strong><br />
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<a href="http://instagram.com/p/q27tmsFr7R/?modal=true" sl-processed="1" target="_hplink"></a><a class="pinitshareimage pinhidden" data-pin-config="above" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-hover="true" href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F08%2F10%2Fhow-horses-help-humans_n_5634554.html&media=http%3A%2F%2Fi.huffpost.com%2Fgen%2F1947160%2Fthumbs%2Fo-HORSE-570.jpg%3F6&description=horse" style="display: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><img alt="horse" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1947160/thumbs/o-HORSE-570.jpg?6" /><br />
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When spending time with horses -- from brushing their manes to guiding them along wooded trails -- we naturally sense a connectivity and closeness to them that, turns out, is rooted in science as well as our intuition. <br />
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“There are striking similarities between horses and people,” Dede Beasley, M.Ed., LPC, an equine therapist at The Ranch, told <em>Elements of Behavioral Health</em>. “Like people, horses are social beings whose herd dynamics are remarkably similar to the family system. As a sophisticated herd animal, horses immediately begin building relationships with people as members of their herd.”<br />
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<strong>They can help keep us calm.</strong><br />
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<a class="pinitshareimage pinhidden" data-pin-config="above" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-hover="true" href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F08%2F10%2Fhow-horses-help-humans_n_5634554.html&media=http%3A%2F%2Fi.huffpost.com%2Fgen%2F1940808%2Fthumbs%2Fo-HORSE-HUG-570.jpg%3F6&description=horse%20hug" style="display: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><img alt="horse hug" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1940808/thumbs/o-HORSE-HUG-570.jpg?6" /><br />
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Pets have the incredible ability to reduce our stress and boost our sense of Zen by simply looking at us with those beautiful eyes -- and that power isn't limited to just dogs and cats. One of the many psychological benefits of spending time with horses is the tranquil nature they encourage within us. A Washington State University study suggests that teenagers especially are impacted by a horse's presence -- frequent time in the pasture makes them less likely to suffer from stress. <br />
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<strong>They can help us learn.</strong><br />
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A pioneering 2013 study from the University of Kentucky discovered that spending time with horses can help people develop a sense of empathy as well as enhance their social and leadership skills. The small group of nurses from UK Chandler Hospital who participated in the study noted the importance of self-awareness and non-verbal communication during their time in the stables. <br />
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"If horses can increase our ability to understand ourselves and others better, then the healthcare industry is a perfect place for studies like these," study project manager Lissa Pohl said in a statement. "When nurses and doctors benefit from collaborating with horses then ultimately their patients also benefit."<br />
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<strong>They can keep us healthy. </strong><br />
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<img alt="horseback riding" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1940761/thumbs/o-HORSEBACK-RIDING-570.jpg?3" /><br />
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Research suggest that equine therapy, a method of integrating horse-related activities and their environment to assist people suffering from a variety of health problems, can promote physical, occupational, and emotional growth. A study commissioned by the British Horse Society in 2011 confirmed that regular horse riding and horse riding-related activities like mucking out stalls counts as moderately intense exercise and can help keep a person healthy. Additional research associates equine therapy with lower blood pressure and heart rate, reduced stress, and fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression.<br />
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<strong>They can help relieve symptoms of Alzheimer's disease.</strong><br />
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<img alt="happy on horse" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1940636/thumbs/o-HAPPY-ON-HORSE-570.jpg?3" /><br />
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While spending time with horses can provide physical and mental benefits to people suffering from a variety of illnesses and conditions, those who struggle with Alzheimer's disease find their time with these majestic creatures especially therapeutic. The disease is mainly associated with memory loss, but patients also find their personalities changing as the condition worsens, often leading them to feel more moody and withdrawn from others. Equine therapy seems to help them find a sense of calm and ease the frustration that comes along with living with Alzheimer's. A new study from Ohio State University researchers found that such an experience helps lift patients' mood and reduce incidents of negative behavior.<br />
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<strong>They can be our best therapists.</strong><br />
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<a class="pinitshareimage pinhidden" data-pin-config="above" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-hover="true" href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F08%2F10%2Fhow-horses-help-humans_n_5634554.html&media=http%3A%2F%2Fi.huffpost.com%2Fgen%2F1940868%2Fthumbs%2Fo-HORSE-HUG-570.jpg%3F2&description=horse%20hug" style="display: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><img alt="horse hug" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1940868/thumbs/o-HORSE-HUG-570.jpg?2" /><br />
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Equine therapy activities, including everything from grooming and feeding to walking and riding, can substantially improve psychological health -- particularly in people who don't feel comfortable with the more traditional verbal therapy methods. Alongside a licensed therapist and horse professional, people can <span style="color: black;">find relief </span>for behavioral issues, attention deficit disorder, substance abuse, eating disorders and abuse issues, to name a few.<br />
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"The horse is the perfect mirror, they are very emotional beings; we're only starting to realise how intelligent they are," Gabrielle Gardner, a therapy counselor of Shine For Life, told <em>The Guardian</em>. The benefits of working with horses are also being increasingly recognized by therapists who work with autistic children.<br />
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<strong>They can help us live the present.</strong><br />
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<a class="pinitshareimage pinhidden" data-pin-config="above" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-hover="true" href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com%2F2014%2F08%2F10%2Fhow-horses-help-humans_n_5634554.html&media=http%3A%2F%2Fi.huffpost.com%2Fgen%2F1940747%2Fthumbs%2Fo-HORSEBACK-RIDING-570.jpg%3F3&description=horseback%20riding" style="display: none;" target="_blank"><img src="http://assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pin_it_button.png" /></a><img alt="horseback riding" src="http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1940747/thumbs/o-HORSEBACK-RIDING-570.jpg?3" /><br />
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In an open clinical trial published in 2007 by the <em>Journal of Human-Animal Studies</em>, researchers explored the potential effectiveness of equine-assisted experiential therapy. Afterwards participants reported feeling more oriented in the present, better able to life more fully in the here-and-now, less burned by regrets, guilt and resentments, less focused on fears related to the future, more independent and more self supportive. <br />
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<strong>They inspire a sense of wonder in all of us.</strong><br />
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<em>"There is something about the outside of a horse that is good for the inside of a man." - Winston Churchill</em><br />
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Horses have played a prominent role in mythology, inspired countless books and stories, and served as some of the most beloved family members of people across the globe. Many argue that there is no better example of both gentleness and power in nature, a combination that instantly leave us feeling lighter in their presence and free to explore the world we live in. Science aside, there's no denying this magical and moving quality they possess.<br />
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-34382207204770643022014-08-13T11:46:00.001-04:002014-08-13T11:51:04.206-04:00North Carolina - Corolla Wild Horses At Risk<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBk5bwGwb5BBfy6UqyqO0NZ3xlUm345LrbILg14kPg4lE9e_3LBixFrRiqafORVrvGSZt7-74EhSRKGvQ8fZsktusivOc2q0oyBWKtJ_tUOIZv82EYC-of1eH_BMwgutskCShbjVhQPcK/s1600/17hRdc.AuSt.91.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggBk5bwGwb5BBfy6UqyqO0NZ3xlUm345LrbILg14kPg4lE9e_3LBixFrRiqafORVrvGSZt7-74EhSRKGvQ8fZsktusivOc2q0oyBWKtJ_tUOIZv82EYC-of1eH_BMwgutskCShbjVhQPcK/s1600/17hRdc.AuSt.91.jpeg" height="300" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="caption_text" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">A wild horse on the beach near Corolla, N.C. (Sean Cockerham, McClatchy ) </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"></span><span class="photo_credit" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">SEAN COCKERHAM — McClatchy<div style="border: 0px; color: black; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal; height: 1px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; width: 1px;">
<br />Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/12/236016/wild-horses-maimed-by-isolation.html?sp=/99/200/#storylink=cpy</div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: orange;">Thank goodness for people like <span style="color: #333333; line-height: 20px;">E.T. Smith, who are trying to help the wild horses of Corolla, NC. ~Declan</span></b></span></div>
<br /><br />Wild horses maimed by isolation, corralled by controversy</span></h1>
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BY SEAN COCKERHAM</div>
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<span class="creditline" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">McClatchy Washington Bureau</span><span class="grd" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">August 12, 2014</span> As posted on <a href="http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/12/236016/wild-horses-maimed-by-isolation.html?sp=/99/200/" target="_blank">McClatchy DC</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="caption_text" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">A wild horse on the beach near Corolla, N.C. (Sean Cockerham, McClatchy) </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"></span></i><span class="photo_credit" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>SEAN COCKERHAM — McClatchy</i></span><br />
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<span class="photo_credit" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/12/236016/wild-horses-maimed-by-isolation.html?sp=/99/200/#storylink=cpy</span></div>
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<span class="dateline" style="border: 0px; font-family: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">COROLLA, N.C.</span> — Retired Washington, D.C., police Officer E.T. Smith patrolled the beach in his four-wheel-drive truck on a recent morning, keeping an eye out for wild mustangs and the drunks who like to harass them.</div>
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The horses have survived on this narrow barrier island for some 500 years, thought to be descendants of Colonial mounts that swam to shore when Spanish galleons ran aground on the shoals and sandbars of North Carolina’s Outer Banks. They’ve withstood centuries of hurricanes and nor’easters on this isolated spit of sand, marsh and woods, and became a huge draw for visitors.</div>
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But the horses now face serious threats, say those who manage the herd: a boom in McMansion-style vacation homes on this once-pristine stretch of coast and federal policies that are leaving the mustangs severely inbred and starting to suffer from genetic deformities.</div>
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“Mass interaction with people is a killer,” said Smith, after stopping to pick up a “Happy Birthday” balloon that a tourist had left behind on the beach.</div>
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The government has described the herd, some of the last remaining wild horses in the Eastern United States, as pests that compete for resources with federally protected birds. The battle over the herd on this island comes as horse advocates and the Interior Department clash nationwide. On the other side of the country, the government is rounding up wild horses in the West and confining them at the urging of cattle ranchers who say the animals deplete the range.</div>
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In North Carolina, the mustangs are left dodging tourists, developers and birth defects. Gus Cothran, an expert in equine genetics at Texas A&M University, published a DNA analysis in 2012 warning that the Corolla herd was becoming dangerously inbred.</div>
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Two of eight foals born last year had birth defects, according to the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, which manages the herd through agreement with the local and federal governments. One, with multiple fractures in its legs and fetlocks, was so severely crippled it had to be euthanized.</div>
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Two foals have been born this year in the herd of 101 horses. One had a genetic defect of severely contracted tendons that forced him to walk on the tips of his hoofs.</div>
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Medical treatment saved that horse _ which the herd managers named Vivo, a gangly dark colt with a star on his forehead whose name is Spanish for “alive” _ from being crippled and euthanized. Vivo, though, can no longer live free.</div>
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Once a wild horse is removed from the beach and exposed to domestic horses as part of veterinary treatment and recovery, there’s a risk of bringing back disease to the herd. So Vivo and his mother are confined to a facility on the mainland, near Grandy, N.C., poking their heads through a fence as visitors approach.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span class="caption_text" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline;">Wild horses on the beach near Corolla, NC (Sean Cockerham, McClatchy) </span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"></span><span class="photo_credit" style="border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 15px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: right; vertical-align: baseline;">SEAN COCKERHAM — McClatchy</span></i></td></tr>
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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/12/236016/wild-horses-maimed-by-isolation.html?sp=/99/200/#storylink=c</div>
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“We have one of the highest levels of inbreeding and lowest levels of genetic diversity of any wild herd anywhere. We are down to one maternal line, which is very dangerous,” said Karen McCalpin, the executive director of the Corolla Wild Horse Fund.</div>
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Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has taken up the cause. The U.S. House of Representatives unanimously passed his bill in 2012 and 2013 to allow the herd to grow to 130 horses and to let the Corolla Wild Horse Fund bring a few horses from the Shackleford Banks, on another island at the far southern tip of the Outer Banks, in order to infuse some fresh genes into the herd.</div>
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But the bill has been opposed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and it goes nowhere in the Senate.</div>
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The issue is that at least some horses cross into the island’s Currituck National Wildlife Refuge, although the most sensitive parts are fenced off. Flocks of endangered migratory waterfowl and nesting sea turtles use the refuge, and the government calls the horses a “nuisance.”</div>
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The Fish and Wildlife Service “considers the horses to be non-native, feral animals and not a natural component of the barrier island ecosystem,” the Currituck National Wildlife Refuge website reads. “These animals compete with native wildlife species for food and fresh water. Their activities degrade and destroy habitat, which negatively impacts native species.”</div>
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Pressure is growing for a solution, and the Southeast regional refuge manager for the Fish and Wildlife Service, David Viker, struck a conciliatory tone in a recent interview. Viker said the agency was going to work with equine geneticist Cothran on a new study to look at the potential for bringing fresh genes into the Corolla herd and how many horses the habitat could support.</div>
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He said the Fish and Wildlife Service hadn’t wanted to make horses a focus of the refuge at the expense of caring for other animals. But the agency will look for answers because the Corolla herd is “such an important icon in that part of the world,” he said.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 12px; line-height: 15px; text-align: left;"><i>E.T. Smith, a retired Washington D.C. policeman and volunteer patroller for the Corolla Wild Horse Fund, picks up a "Happy Birthday" balloon littering the beach. (Sean Cockerham/McClatchy)</i></span></td></tr>
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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/12/236016/wild-horses-maimed-by-isolation.html?sp=/99/200/#storylink=cp</div>
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<span class="ng_subhead" style="border: 0px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">‘Don’t Tread on Me’</span></div>
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Nowhere else can someone rent a vacation home, have a cup of coffee on the porch and watch wild mustangs frolic in the surf. Figuring out how the horses can coexist with the intense Outer Banks development could end up even tougher than the genetics problem, though.</div>
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There was once estimated to be as many as 6,000 wild horses roaming along the lengths of the Outer Banks. As the barrier islands were developed in the past century, those numbers dwindled to a few hundred, with two main herds remaining in the wild.</div>
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One is at Shackleford Banks, on federal parkland at the far southern edge of the islands. The other is the Corolla herd, on 7,500 acres near the Virginia border, a tourist draw featured on billboards and supporting nine tour companies that bring visitors to the beach on Jeeps or Hummers.</div>
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“For as long as people have been coming down here to the Outer Banks the horses have been a big attraction,” said Mike Clasing, a guide who leads tours of the wild horses and supports their protection. “It is one of the few places you can see anything like this.”</div>
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The herd’s habitat includes over 700 houses and thousands of people. The beach is considered a public road and rows of four-wheel-drive vehicles jam the shore. Huge vacation homes line the dunes. One of them, named “Wild Horse,” boasts 23 bedrooms and 20 full bathrooms. Construction sites abound, with some homes standing three-quarters finished as a developer races to start the next one.</div>
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Vacationers set up lawn chairs on the beach, drink beer and soak in the sun as they watch the waves come in. They don’t always respect the local ordinance that tells them to stay 50 feet from the horses, which the Livestock Conservancy considers critically endangered.</div>
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Corolla Wild Horse Fund director McCalpin said it had become almost impossible to recruit volunteers to patrol and make sure the horses have their space.</div>
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“People have gotten so ugly. The volunteers don’t want someone getting in their face saying, ‘I paid $5,000 to rent this house and I am going to take a picture of the horses,’ ” she said.</div>
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Retired Washington cop Smith isn’t easily intimidated, and he volunteers to patrol the beach for the organization. He hands out fliers describing the rules, talks to vacationers about the horses and occasionally totes a rifle with contraceptive darts to control the growth of the herd.</div>
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He once found a horse tangled in fiber optic cable. Last month a Great Dane and an Irish wolfhound chased down a foal, separating it from its mother, as the dogs’ owner stood and watched the entertainment, then screamed obscenities at Smith when he told him to control the dogs.</div>
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Patrols have come across <strong></strong>vacationing college students who were bouncing beach balls off the horses. A 3-year-old mare, Charlotte, had to be euthanized this summer after a roofing nail lodged deeply in her foot. A colt died of intestinal blockage after tourists fed him watermelon rinds a couple of years ago.</div>
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For Smith, it’s personal.</div>
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His wife deeply loved the horses. They planned to retire on the Outer Banks, and they bought a house where the paved road ends and the beach begins. It all imploded when his wife died last year after 46 years of marriage, leaving the former cop and Vietnam veteran adrift and in search of meaning. His daily patrols to protect the horses have become his refuge, although too often they lead to confrontation.</div>
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Smith said there had been an increase in what he called the “Don’t Tread on Me” crowd coming to the beach, people who don’t care much for rules or horses.</div>
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“I tell them to put their pet on a leash and their response is, “Who the hell are you?’ ” Smith said.</div>
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Still, he continues. The horses offer a needed sense of the wild in a country that’s increasingly giving way to development, he said.</div>
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“People are being crowded into corners,” Smith said as he drove, occasionally spotting a horse eating grass in the shadow of a giant vacation home.</div>
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Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2014/08/12/236016/wild-horses-maimed-by-isolation.html?sp=/99/200/#storylink=cpy</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-21804934788731405702014-08-10T11:45:00.000-04:002014-08-10T11:49:35.263-04:00Abattoir Intervenes To Help Save Donkey Duo<h1 class="post-title">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: large;">A Feel Good Sunday story! ~Declan</span></h1>
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Abattoir intervenes to help save donkey duo</h1>
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By <a href="http://horsetalk.co.nz/2014/08/09/abattoir-intervenes-help-save-donkey-duo/#axzz39lVlzjhG" rel="author" target="_blank" title="Posts by Horsetalk.co.nz">Horsetalk.co.nz</a> on Aug 09, 2014 </div>
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<i>Jack and Sam are now settling into their new digs at The Donkey Sanctuary in Britain. Photo: The Donkey Sanctuary</i></div>
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The intervention of an abattoir has helped save two young and healthy donkeys from slaughter.<span id="more-57963"></span><br />
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Jack, 10, and Sam, 5, who are both described as fit and healthy, are now safe in the care of The Donkey Sanctuary in Britain.<br />
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The Devon-based charity said it was contacted by an abattoir that was reluctant to destroy such young and healthy animals.<br />
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The sanctuary said it was the first time a slaughterhouse had ever sought its help, and it was glad to be asked to intervene.<br />
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Following the tip-off from the abattoir, the donkeys’ owners agreed to relinquish their animals to the charity’s care, where they now have a home for life.<br />
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The donkeys were unwanted since their owners wanted to use their land, in Wales, for other things.<br />
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Donkey welfare adviser Tamlin Watson said she was thankful the abattoir called the charity for help.<br />
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“We took a call from an abattoir concerned that they had been asked to dispose of two such young healthy animals.<br />
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Thankfully, we managed to talk their owners into signing them over to us and they are now safe in our care.<br />
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“It’s sad the owners didn’t want them and just wanted to get rid of them, but we’re very grateful to the abattoir for contacting us rather than destroying such fit and healthy animals with so much life ahead of them and so much love to give.<br />
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“They’re very sweet and gentle and could make great family pets in the future through our foster scheme.”<br />
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Jack and Sam were uplifted in Wales and taken to the charity’s headquarters in Sidmouth, Devon. They may be considered for fostering to a private home in future.<br />
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-83099487085736928032014-08-07T15:26:00.000-04:002014-08-07T15:26:25.718-04:00Wild Horse Groups Challenge Wyoming Roundup<br />
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Wild horse groups challenge Wyoming roundup</h1>
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<i>Photographers and members of the public gather at dawn about 35 miles southwest of Milford, Wyo., on July 28 to observe the The U.S. Bureau of Land Management rounding up wild horses in Blawn Wash, a remote area of basin and range that straddles Beaver and Iron counties. The BLM plans to remove up to 140 horses from the area, mostly by helicopter herding. </i></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span class="pubdate">August 04, 2014 11:00 pm</span> • <span class="byline">Associated Press</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;">As posted on the <a href="http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/wyoming/wild-horse-groups-challenge-wyoming-roundup/article_b2e9aa98-fef5-58d1-a545-2f07730006e5.html" target="_blank">Billings Gazette</a></span></div>
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CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wild-horse preservation groups are challenging the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s plan to remove about 800 horses from areas in southern Wyoming.</div>
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The federal agency recently announced plans to start removing the horses from lands within the Great Divide Basin, Adobe Town and Salt Wells Creek herd management areas later this month.</div>
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The agency said it planned to remove the horses at the request of private landowners and to comply with a federal court order that ended a lawsuit brought by the Rock Springs Grazing Association against the federal government.</div>
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The grazing association, a group of private livestock operators who own some of the land where the horses roam, filed a lawsuit in 2011 seeking to force the government to remove all wild horses from an area of roughly 2 million acres. The suit covered private lands in a so-called “checkerboard” area, a swath of mixed federal and private land that runs along the old railroad route across southern Wyoming.</div>
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Suzanne Roy, director of the American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign headquartered in North Carolina, said Monday the groups intend to ask a federal judge to grant an injunction blocking the roundup.</div>
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“The current problem is that they’re proposing this roundup in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act,” Roy said. “They haven’t done any analysis or allowed for any comment. They’re going to bring these populations down below the established level, which is in conflict with their own land-use plans and the Wild Horse Act.”</div>
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Roy said that if the horses were rounded up, a few could be placed for adoption, but probably would end up at BLM’s long-term horse holding facilities that already hold tens of thousands of animals.</div>
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Congress in 1971 enacted the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act establishing protections for the animals.</div>
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“Congress recognized them as living symbols of America’s historic past and western heritage,” Roy said. She said the populations that would be affected by the planned roundups are about half of Wyoming’s remaining wild horses.</div>
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The following groups and individuals filed a federal lawsuit Friday in Cheyenne challenging the roundup plan: The American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign, the Cloud Foundation, Return to Freedom, Carol Walker and Ginger Kathrens of Colorado, and Kimerlee Curyl of California.</div>
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“We would like the BLM to explore alternatives to completely eliminating wild horses from the Wyoming Checkerboard, which is over 2 million acres of public and private land, and to explore alternative solutions, which could involve land swaps to create contiguous habitat and accommodations for these horses instead of wiping them out,” Roy said.</div>
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Tom Gorey, spokesman for the BLM in Washington, D.C., said Monday the agency had no comment on the pending lawsuit.</div>
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An attempt to reach a spokesman for the grazing association wasn’t immediately successful.</div>
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Wild Horse Roundup </span><span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Associated Press </span></i></h1>
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<i style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">A helicopter rounds up a herd of wild horses across Blawn Wash about 35 miles southwest of Milford on July 28.</i></h1>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-79437932863762949722014-08-05T11:33:00.002-04:002014-08-05T11:35:33.242-04:00Tennessee Walking Horse 'Dutch' Saved From Slaughter<br />
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<span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif;">Another horse who gained a second chance! ~Declan</span></h1>
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Tennessee Walking Horse 'Dutch' saved from slaughter</h1>
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<span class="asset-metabar-author asset-metabar-item" itemprop="name">By Heidi Hall, </span><span class="asset-metabar-time asset-metabar-item nobyline">9:49 p.m. CDT August 3, 2014</span></div>
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</section>As posted on <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2014/08/03/tennessee-walking-horse-dutch-saved-slaughter/13557647/" target="_blank">The Tennesean</a><br />
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<span class="js-caption-wrapper"><span class="cutline js-caption"></span></span> <i><span class="cutline js-caption">Dutch, a Tennessee Walking Horse who showed up at a slaughter auction in Pennsylvania with evidence of soring, greets Valerie Pringle, an equine protection specialist with the Humane Society of the United States.</span><span class="credit">(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)</span></i><br />
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The battle for loyalties around the Tennessee Walking Horse becomes feverish this time of year.<br />
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On one side, the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration is starting to pepper media with announcements about what it will do to make sure there are no abused horses in its show ring at the end of this month. The horses will face blood tests for agents used in soring — injuring their legs on purpose to make them step higher and longer — and X-rays to check for hidden irritants.<br />
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And on the other side, the Humane Society of the United States last week rolled out its latest weapon — Dutch, a scarred Tennessee Walking Horse that, according to a <a href="http://hsus.pr-optout.com/ViewAttachment.aspx?EID=NvaywPcwjyp0DRoI7Ig6MIOKESSdVxx7TvQLw1IEvZ8%3d">U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation</a>, appeared at auction in New Holland, Pa., still wearing the tall front shoes that mark the breed's performance class. A livestock dealer who typically supplies Canadian slaughterhouses sold him to a horse rescue.<br />
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Dutch is a Tennessee Walking Horse that showed up at a slaughter auction with evidence of soring, according to the Humane Society of the United States. The horse is now recovering at a farm in Middle Tennessee.<span class="credit">(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)</span></i>
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Named for the Pennsylvania Dutch country where rescuers found him, Dutch's exact location is a secret to the general public. He's convalescing in a horse paradise south of Nashville — in open, grassy pastures and clean, roomy stalls, with rubber mats laid out over gravel so he can comfortably stroll to his grazing area on still-tender hooves.<br />
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"Dutch has an important story to tell," said <a href="http://www.humanesociety.org/about/leadership/executive_staff/keith_dane.html">Keith Dane</a>, the Humane Society's vice president of equine protection. "He's an example of what happens to the horses in this industry. When they're no longer able to get through inspection because the scarring has gotten so bad, the owners dump them."<br />
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Celebration CEO Mike Inman said he was baffled why the media would pay any attention to Dutch. He suggested Dutch isn't even a walking horse — that he's some other breed that the Humane Society put tall shoes on as a publicity stunt.<br />
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"It could be a a fabrication to raise more money and cause more controversy," Inman said. "There's no credibility."<br />
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He points to the Humane Society's involvement in a recent <a href="http://bigstory.ap.org/article/animal-groups-agree-pay-nearly-16m-ringling-0">$16 million court settlement</a> in a case against Feld's Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus over unproven allegations it mistreated elephants. In March, the Oklahoma attorney general issued a consumer alert against the Humane Society, saying he's received complaints that the group raised funds by indicating the money would go to shelters affected by last year's <a href="http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/state-ag-s-office-issues-alert-against-humane-society-of/article_8924aaa0-aa4f-11e3-90a2-001a4bcf6878.html">Moore, Okla., tornadoes</a>.<br />
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Dane dismisses the credibility argument. "There was no admission of guilt or wrongdoing found" in either case, he said. "That's contrary to the ongoing and repeated findings of wrongdoing evident in the walking horse industry."<br />
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Dane and his group's supporters have gained ground with the Prevent All Soring Tactics Act, co-sponsored by <a href="http://whitfield.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/violators-of-the-horse-protection-act-selected-to-judge-walking-horse">U.S. Reps. Ed Whitfield</a> of Kentucky and Steve Cohen of Tennessee and more than 300 other representatives and 57 senators. It would eliminate those tall pads and other equipment that mark the breed's performance division, plus strengthen penalties for soring.<br />
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A frequent refrain in the industry is that the PAST Act will "end the breed." The bill's supporters say it will clean up a breed plagued by incidents that horrify and alienate fans.<br />
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<aside class="wide single-photo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"><img alt="NAS-WALKINGHORSE-03 (2).jpg" src="http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/ff6287a21a4def581567495f3127136a4f505d87/c=0-286-2055-1833&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/Nashville/2014/08/03/nas-walkinghorse-032.jpg" itemprop="url" width="540" /></aside><aside class="wide single-photo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"><i>Dutch, a walking horse rescued from slaughter, has visible scars on his feet from years of soring abuse.<span class="credit">(Photo: Shelley Mays / The Tennessean)</span></i></aside><aside class="wide single-photo" itemprop="associatedMedia" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/ImageObject"><span class="credit"><br /></span></aside><br />
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Among those is the 2012 federal conviction of former Celebration Hall of Famer Jackie McConnell of Collierville, Tenn., caught on undercover video abusing a walking horse.<br />
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More recent is the ongoing criminal case of former AAA-rated horse show judge Larry Wheelon of Maryville. Facing multiple counts of animal cruelty after his stables were raided last year, Wheelon was again <a href="https://acissearch.aphis.usda.gov/HPASusp/faces/Suspension_Search.jspx;jsessionid=7f00000130db4bd49e61c66141fda830e71d3b7ca4c1.e38Obx8Sb3yQby0LbN8SaxqQchuKe0">cited for soring</a> at a <a href="http://www.walkinghorsereport.com/calendar.aspx?d=12&y=2014&cid=4894&m=7">July 12 show in Chestnut Hill</a> and is on suspension through Sept. 12.<br />
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And now there's Dutch, stripped of anything that would identify his original owner, sold at auction and eventually rescued. The USDA investigation said the original owner was never found and so couldn't be charged under the Horse Protection Act, which makes it illegal to transport or sell a horse that's been sored.<br />
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These days, Dutch's walking horse show background seems most evident in the way he turns and poses for the click of a camera and calmly endures strangers feeling around on his ragged front legs and hooves. He trots closely next to his caretakers but breaks away to steal a visitor's unattended, half-eaten apple.<br />
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Someday, they say, he might be recovered enough to ride.<br />
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The details on measures to be sure there are no sore horses at the Celebration won't be announced until the event begins, said Tom Blankenship, spokesman for the three-veterinarian panel advising Celebration staff about animal safety. Both the panel and the tests are in addition to the local and federal inspections show horses must pass.<br />
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"This reflects the Celebration's desire to have only horses in compliance with the Horse Protection Act participate in the show," he said.<br />
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Blankenship has a history with how wrong the Celebration can go when rules aren't followed. He was an attorney for the Walking Horse Trainers Association in 2006, the year the event's grand championship was canceled after USDA inspectors disqualified seven of 10 horses for signs of abuse.<br />
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Days later, he was arguing against the federal Horse Protection Act's scar rule — which keeps horses with scars from past soring out of competitions — because he said it wasn't being applied reasonably.<br />
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<b>New rules</b><br />
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The Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration runs Aug. 20-30 in Shelbyville. New this year:<br />
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• Horses must be stabled on the Celebration grounds for 48 hours before championships.<br />
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• Each participant must present his or her horse's registration papers, current health certificate and negative test for equine infectious anemia.<br />
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• Participants agree to random digital X-rays and blood draws on-site.<br />
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-72441289777343816602014-08-05T11:28:00.003-04:002014-08-05T11:30:05.924-04:00How Do Horses Communicate? New Signals Found<strong><span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="background-color: orange; font-family: "Trebuchet MS", sans-serif; font-size: large;">Fun story - very captivating!! ~Declan</span></strong><br />
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<article class="post-140034 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-animals-2 category-featured category-natgeo-news-watch category-science category-weird-and-wild category-wildlife-2 tag-ears tag-eyes tag-horses tag-humans tag-social-communication tag-visual-cues post-full clearfix" id="post-140034"><header class="header"><h1 class="title entry-title">
How Do Horses Communicate? New Signals Found</h1>
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By <span class="fn">Carrie Arnold</span> on <abbr class="published" title="2014-08-04T12:00:09+00:00">August 4, 2014 As posted on <a href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2014/08/04/horses-animals-pets-communication-science-ears/" target="_blank">National Geographic</a></abbr><br />
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<strong>Forget talking horses like Mister Ed—when it comes to horse communication, the ears have it. </strong><br />
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A new study revealed that a horse’s large, highly mobile ears can help tell another horse where to direct its attention, which may help the observing animals locate food and evade predators.<br />
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<figure aria-labelledby="figcaption_attachment_140090" class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_140090" style="width: 610px;"><a href="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/files/2014/08/horses-communication-expression-01.jpg" sl-processed="1"><img alt="A photo of working horses nuzzling." class="size-medium wp-image-140090" src="http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/files/2014/08/horses-communication-expression-01-600x450.jpg" height="450" width="600" /></a><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="figcaption_attachment_140090"><i>Horses nuzzle in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Photograph by Glenn Jacobs, National Geographic Your Shot</i></figcaption></figure>As one of the first studies to examine communication avenues that humans lack—movable ears, for example—it’s an important step in understanding how social animals interact, said study leader Jennifer Wathan, a Ph.D. student at the University of Sussex in the U.K. </div>
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Traditionally, Wathan explained, scientists studying how animals communicate with one another focused on traits that humans also have, such as body language. (<a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/video/player#/?titleID=animal-minds-1-aristide&catID=1" sl-processed="1">Watch a video that explores the minds of animals</a>.)<br />
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But by thinking about the world as a horse experiences it, Wathan said, scientists can gain more insight into how these animals share information.<br />
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Like humans, horses are social animals. While living in large groups of other members of your species has its downsides, the arrangement also has benefits. Animals can watch each other’s backs, keeping a lookout for potential predators while others are busy eating or looking for food.<br />
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To make this system work, however, animals have to have ways of communicating information to other members of the species.<br />
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“Horses have really good vision—better than dogs or cats—but the use of facial expressions has been overlooked,” Wathan said.<br />
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So Wathan hypothesized that horses could use ear direction as a cue for where to look and if they should pay attention to something in the environment.<br />
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<strong>Horse Senses</strong><br />
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To test this idea, Wathan and her adviser Karen McComb first photographed horses in a pasture looking at one of two buckets of food.<br />
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In one set of photographs, the horse’s ears were covered by a mask. In a second set, the horse’s eyes were covered. A third group of photos showed the horse’s head as normal. Then, Wathan and McComb turned these photos into live-size pictures for a horse to look at as it chose between one of two buckets of food.<br />
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Preliminary experiments established that the horses were able to recognize that they were looking at another horse in the photo. (Read <a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2014/03/horse-tribes/larsen-photography" sl-processed="1">“People of the Horse” in <em>National Geographic</em> magazine</a>.)<br />
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When horses looked at a photo from the third set, where both eyes and ears were uncovered, they picked the bucket of food the horse in the photo was looking at about 75 percent of the time.<br />
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When either the eyes or ears were covered by a mask in the photo, the observing horse selected between the two buckets of food more or less randomly. However, the horses performed slightly better when the photo showed the ears uncovered than when it showed the eyes uncovered, according to the study, published August 4 in <em><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.%20cub.2014.06.023" sl-processed="1" target="_blank">Current Biology</a></em>.<br />
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“The horses actually looked at the photographs of the [horses with masked eyes] less, which <br />
indicated there was less information there, and not enough to change behavior,” Wathan said.<br />
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<strong style="line-height: 1.5em;">Helpful for Horse People</strong><br />
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The study represents the first evidence that horses can signal information about food to each other, even though they evolved in an environment where “one blade of grass is as good as any other,” said <a href="http://www.vet.cornell.edu/faculty/houpt/" sl-processed="1">Katherine Houpt</a>, an emeritus professor of veterinary medicine at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and a horse expert. <strong><br /></strong><br />
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Since the study provides such a unique insight into how the animals think, ”these results are really important to anyone who works with horses,” Houpt said. (Read <a href="http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0305/feature4/fulltext.html" sl-processed="1">“Kentucky Horse Country</a><span style="text-decoration: underline;">“</span> in <em>National Geographic </em>magazine.)<br />
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“Experienced riders know to pay attention to a horse’s ears to help figure out what it’s thinking, so I’m not surprised that the ears were the most important cue,” she added.<br />
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6138692513508718186.post-20105808071916390992014-08-04T18:34:00.002-04:002014-08-04T18:36:32.984-04:00Teenager's Memory Lives on Through a Horse Named Graphite<br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b style="background-color: orange;">This is a great story of how a horse is helping everyone heal after a tragedy. Horses are such wonderful teachers and healers. ~Declan</b></span><br />
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School shooting victim's memory lives on through horse (VIDEO)</h1>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.74902); color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-style: italic; line-height: 16px; text-align: start;">(Photo: KUSA)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 14px;">Elissa Koehl, <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/08/01/inspiration-nation-school-shooting-victim-memory-horse/13469395/" target="_blank">USA TODAY</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; font-style: italic; line-height: 14px;"><span style="color: #444444;">2:39 p.m. EDT August 1, 2014</span></span><br />
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It's been seven months since <a href="http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/07/31/claires-horse-guided-by-a-friend/13445457/" style="color: #1990e5; text-decoration: none;" title="http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/07/31/claires-horse-guided-by-a-friend/13445457/">Claire Davis</a> was tragically shot and killed during a shooting at Arapahoe High School in Colorado. Since then, her family and friends have worked to cope with the loss of the 17-year-old.</div>
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One thing getting them through is Claire's horse, Graphite.</div>
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"She loved him with all her heart. She would make cards and pictures of him," says her mom Desiree Davis.</div>
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The family faced a big dilemma: What to do with Graphite now that Claire was gone? The answer turned out to be simpler than they imagined.</div>
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Erica Blair was the new kid in town when Claire befriended her on the first day of school.</div>
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"She made me feel included, which was really, really special," says Blair.</div>
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Over time, they discovered their mutual love of horses. Both friends competed in riding competitions and often wished their horses could be housed in the same barn.</div>
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After she lost her best friend, Blair was hit with another blow. Her horse was sick and needed surgery. At a loss, she reached out to Claire's mother who offered the perfect solution: Blair should ride Claire's horse.</div>
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While this friendship between girl and horse is new, it is growing beautifully. Between rides in the paddock and brushes in the barn, the pair have bonded over their love for their best friend Claire.</div>
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Watch the video above to see Blair and Graphite riding.</div>
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"I feel her most when I'm at the barn, because he meant so much to her," Blair goes on to say.</div>
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For Claire's mom, it offers a feeling of peace to see her daughter's best friend take over caring for Graphite.</div>
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"It felt so perfect. It finally felt right, what to with him," says Desiree.</div>
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Declanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01693309964371515524noreply@blogger.com0