All the Creatures

On several of the horse message boards that I frequent, a new, as yet not developed, website was being discussed. The domain is ratemyhorsepro.com  At first glance it looks like many of the dozen or so websites that have popped up over the years to let people rant over the bad and good horse trainers, sellers and breeders. I thought that both the Fugly Blog and Horse Trainers from Hell had the horse industry pretty well covered when it came to the scum of the horse industry but I could be wrong.

I did a bit of digging around about this new website and found out on the COTH message board that a Debbie Hanson has the website in her signature. A bit more digging around and I found this article about Debbie (if indeed it is the same Debbie Hanson on the COTH board). The article is about a woman who got taken by 2 horse dealers that ripped her off for about $28K. She ended up getting the FBI involved and now there is legislation in the works to help expose horse dealers. If indeed this new website is this Debbie’s idea, all I can say is more power to her. I just wonder how the website will be done and how if any checking will be done on the contributors. I would like to see more of a clearing house of criminal records online so you can see who you are dealing with in any venue without having to pay for the information.

All the Creatures

Horse owners and other livestock owners should be aware of what plants can kill their animals. For example did you know that just one leaf of an oleander plant can kill a horse in a matter of hours? Yet most unaware horse owners have those plants growing as ornamental bushes in their landscape. I have a friend that almost went ballistic when a neighbor or hers trimmed his oleander bushes and threw the trimmings into her pasture. Her neighbor certainly got educated later that day by her and her husband the deputy sheriff.

If you own livestock, you must educate yourself to the dangers of poisonous plants that your animals might come in contact with. Get yourself a good book on plants with lots and lots of full color photos like, “All About Poisonous Plants.” Most feed stores have them and of course you can find them on sale all over the internet.

Livestock owners that feed their animals baled hays should also be able to identify poisonous plants that have been dried and baled in their hay. Some plants are harmless at certain stages of their growth so you need to be aware of the plants poisonous life cycle.

Protect your animals and get educated about poisonous plants.

All the Creatures

Horse have been known to shed out excessively. I have owned 2 horses that one spring both of them shed out their winter coats even before their summer coats were fully grown in. That resulted in some large bald patches of skin on both of them. Thankfully I did not worry about finding a hair loss cure for them, I simply waited until their summer coat grew in. Sometimes their hormones just get a little out of sync with nature and bald patches appear.

When a horse starts to shed, most people don’t realize that the shorter summer fur is already grown and in place when the longer winter coat sheds out. I guess they think that the long hairs are breaking off to produce the summer coat. That is not true.

If your horse sheds out their winter coats excessively then simply wait a few weeks for their summer coat to grow in.

All the Creatures