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This is a great dose of reality for anybody contemplating riding in the Mongolian Derby – you’ve got to read this entire warning to competitors and their families….you can download the pdf of this from the Long Rider’s page at this link.
Continue reading A warning of the real dangers in Mongolia There has been a lot written already about the upcoming Mongol Derby. I’d like to share a few of those links and also some e-mail exchanges regarding the event between the Long Rider’s Guild and the company that is putting on the event. Racing into trouble: alert from The Long Riders’ Guild Mercy Corps’ Mongolian horse race draws opposition from equestrian groups Tom Morgan You’re the FHOTD Idiot du Jour! At first glance, this event could appeal to a lot of us – it sure sounds like an incredible adventure. I wanted to do it when I first learned about it! My husband says that I wouldn’t have had as much fun though, if I were not riding my own horses. That is true as part of why I enjoy riding long distances and spending long hours in the saddle or on foot with my horses is because of the relationships that I have developed with them. For me, it’s about the journey and not as much the destination or where we finish. I like to think that my horses welfare comes first and that I always make the best decisions in that regard, and when I haven’t I have learned from those mistakes. Fortunately those mistakes have never resulted in the death of a horse or a serious situation – knocking on wood. I have read some info on those that are participating in this event and the one thing that comes through is their naivety. Putting your own life in danger or harms way is a choice we can make. But it’s not right to put the health and lives of all of these horses in so much danger. For what? What will these people do when they find out the hard way how fragile these horses can be. Tough, yes. Our endurance horses are tough too but don’t let that fool you – they ARE fragile. I think that it’s clear from what happened at Catoosa that horses don’t need to go 50 or 100 miles to experience metabolic disaster. Most if not all of the horses that died at Catoosa were in the 15 and 25 mile races and didn’t even make it that far. Read the article! Here are the email exchanges: Continue reading More on horse safety and the Mongol Derby Not too long ago I blogged about the Mongol Derby – when I first checked out their website I thought wow, that sounds like fun! Riders are going to ride 1000 km on Mongolian horses, racing 25 miles on each horse. It sounded like a real adventure. However, since then I’ve learned more about the race. It is the making of another Catoosa. There are few AERC riders that don’t know about the Catoosa Continue reading Ever heard of the Catoosa Suicide Race? Now compare the similarities to the Mongol Derby… Cuyama Oaks XP Ride Start Here are a couple of paragraphs describing this research paper: This study characterized the effect of diet on glucose kinetics in resting and exercising horses using new modeling methods. Horses adapted to a fat-supplemented feed utilized less glucose during low-intensity exercise. Fat supplementation in horses may therefore promote greater flexibility in the selection of substrate to meet energy demands for optimal health and performance. and In conclusion, adaptation Continue reading Dietary Energy Source Affects Glucose Kinetics in Trained Arabian Geldings at Rest and during Endurance Exercise M27 – Photo by Dave Chaton The Dumbbell Nebula (also known as Messier 27, M 27, or NGC 6853) is a planetary nebula (PN) in the constellation Vulpecula, at a distance of about 1,360 light years. This object was the first planetary nebula to be discovered; by Charles Messier in 1764. At its brightness of visual magnitude 7.5 and its diameter of about 8 arcminutes, it is easily visible in binoculars. Continue reading Skywatch Friday – Dumbbell Nebula I just read an interesting blog post at the NY Times called “Can You Get Fit in Six Minutes a Week?” Can humans increase endurance with only a few minutes of strenuous exercise, instead of hours? Could it be that most of us are spending more time than we need to trying to get fit? The answer, a growing number of these sports scientists believe, may be yes. Click here to read the article Continue reading Exercise Intensity – get fit faster with interval training Today is the fifth day that Chief has been on his antibiotics following his eyelid injury last Sunday. Only a couple more days to go! He’s been doing a good job for me being a cooperative patient both in letting me clean and treat his eye with medicine but has also been eating his antibiotic powder in his food each day. Yesterday I could tell that Chief was feeling funky. He is a pretty Continue reading When feeding antibiotics, use a probiotic! Plus some info on what to do if your horse colics. Three days after injury – healing fast, swelling nearly all gone! Blink! I can see more of Chief’s eye each day. Things are healing pretty quickly and he’s been a great patient. He has been really good about letting me clean up the eye and put medication on it without needing to put a halter on him or bring him in. He knows I’m helping him and doesn’t try to get Continue reading Eyelid healing fast! |
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Comment spam, misc. musings about my horses
I find it hard to believe in a way that there have been 14,981 spam comments made here on my blog! One reason why I really like WordPress is because there are so many plugins that do so many things – including filter out spam. It does a pretty good job! But, it’s not perfect – there are times that it spams a comment that shouldn’t be. I try to check on that once
Continue reading Comment spam, misc. musings about my horses