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E-Quine E-Tips Free educational newsletter for horse enthusiasts! http://Equinetips.HaveYourOwnHorseShow.com June 15,2004 You are receiving this because you subscribed. If you have changed your mind, and would rather not receive it, there are instructions for discontinuing at the end of the newsletter. Questions or comments? Send them to dusty@duo-county.com Contents 1. Welcome 2. Article 3. Resources 4. Fun 5. Privacy Policy 6. Subscribe and unsubscribe 7. Disclaimer 1. Welcome to Equine E-tips. It has been warm here, and pleasant enough to spend more time with the horses. With only occasional bouts of thunderstorms, we have managed to get a few things done around here. Hope you have enjoyed the same! If you would like to contribute an article, resource, or anything we would be happy to consider your submissions. Send them to dusty@duo-county.com Do you show your horse? We have a certified judge ready for any questions you might have. Send questions to dusty@duo-county.com with judge in the subject line by the 10th of the month to be published in the next available space. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this issue. I'm sure you will find something you were looking for! 2. Guest Article What do Energy, Intention, Horses and Leadership have in common? Copyright 2004, Jean Starling I recently attended a horsemanship clinic as a spectator where I was able to observe a variety of interactions. In one such interaction, I watched as a woman tried to calm her horse down with the intent to get the horse to listen and follow direction. I noticed that the woman, lets call her Eve, seemed to be full of energy, you know the kind of energy that you see in children sometimes where they just do not know what to do with themselves. She kept moving the horse around, trying to get him to focus to do whatever it was that she wanted done. No matter what Eve did, the horse only seemed more agitated, upset and confused. Eve was getting very frustrated and so was the horse. As a believer in leadership and communication skills training, I was quite fascinated and kept watching to see what was going to happen. Eve seemed to be giving the right cues to the horse but she was clearly not succeeding in getting what she wanted for herself or the horse. As I observed Eve's actions, I couldn't help but think of all the times I had watched leaders and managers in organizations exhibit high energy with no clear direction. They would walk into a meeting or an encounter with their subordinates while exuding that same kind of intense energy. They would demand something and then release that energy and frustration on their subordinates by creating an unjustified sense of urgency, and then leave without further clarification. These actions ensured that the next several man-hours or days were spent with everyone running around "like chickens with their heads chopped off," trying to get whatever it was that the manager had asked for. Then after all their efforts to produce deliverables, the workers would find out that the manager, put the fruits of their labor on his or her desk and never examined it, nor referred to it and surely had no real use for it. I have often wondered how much valuable time and resources are spent in organizations on such useless endeavors. Back to the horse and Eve. I could not keep my eyes off her and the horse. You know how sometimes you get a feeling and you recognize that you have had that feeling before? Well, I felt it in the pit of my stomach, and it reminded me of, long ago, when I was that subordinate--asked to do something that clearly made little sense with no direction or real meaning and I immediately felt sympathy for the horse. I wondered how many times I might have done the same thing to one of my horses, my children or others that I took responsibility for as a corporate leader and it was not a happy thought. Finally, when I thought I could stand it no longer, the instructor took pity on the horse (and maybe Eve) came over and calmly took the horse and asked him with clear mind, heart and intention to do the maneuver and the horse did it instantly. Eve stood perfectly still for a minute with a look on her face that had to be one of those "aha" moments and I could see her take several deep breaths. It was clear to me that she had now balanced herself and had become focused. She now knew (clearly in her mind) not only on what she wanted from her horse, but exactly how to ask him for it. Then in one beautiful purposeful step, she asked and he obliged, gracefully and flawlessly. What kept ringing clearly in my heart, mind and soul was. High Energy with no clear Intention only brings chaos to any situation and to the people in that situation. This experience helped to reinforce what I teach in my workshops. LEADERSHIP requires energy, communication, purpose and skill. All of these are critical for those in management and supervisory positions and all of these can be learned. (c) 2003-2004 Jean Starling - www.TheSpiritOfLearning.com About the Author: Jean Starling is a speaker, consultant/coach with mastery in various disciplines including Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Experiential Learning and Relationship Management, with 20 years of corporate management, consulting and training experience and is also founder of the Equine Experiential Education Association, promoting interaction with horses to develop human communication skills. Contact jean@TheSpiritOfLearning.com [Phone: 360-668-1954] or visit http://www.TheSpiritOfLearning.com Second Guest Article! Breeding Myth-Information By Jos Mottershead I often hear breeding-related "theories" that make me chuckle. Included here are some with explanations, and I will be adding to them periodically as I hear more, I am sure! X-rays kill sperm when shipping transported semen There is no research that supports this hypothesis; There is research ("The effect of X-radiation upon the quality and fertility of stallion semen" G.C.W. England and M. Keane; Theriogenology, Vol. 46 (1) (1996) pp. 173-180 - abstract available for viewing by "clicking here") that indicates that sperm exposure to x-rays does not reduce fertility; Frozen semen longevity of fertility has been evaluated using x-ray exposure techniques, thereby proving that x-rays do not reduce fertility! My mare had a reaction to the semen extender As semen extenders themselves are most commonly composed of non-fat dried milk solids and sugars (all comparatively inert), the likelihood of a reaction to the extender is minuscule; It should be remembered that a uterine inflammatory response is a perfectly normal sequela to any form of breeding (fresh, cooled or frozen semen); "The mare reacted to the extender" is a reason often heard when there seems little other plausible explanation for pregnancy failure, or the situation has not been fully explored; A reaction to the antibiotic in the extender is a possibility, albeit a remote one; The use of an alternative antibiotic is suggested, providing the stallion has sperm that are compatible with it; Alternatively an extender without antibiotics can be used, or no extender at all if the semen use is on-farm. It is strongly suggested that all other areas be evaluated before moves to a different extender are requested or performed. "Knocking off" a follicle May be commented on as occurring during transport of a mare to a breeding facility; The mare is seen to be in estrus at home and transported to the stallion's location with a report that she has just come into estrus, but when breeding is attempted 2-3 days later she is found to not be in estrus; This is actually because the mare was not entering estrus when seen to display at home, but was close to, or in the process of ovulating; She hadn't displayed estrus behaviour until she was extremely ready to be bred. There is no reduction of the follicle as a result of the transport or any other stress. Old Mares experience menopause While it is true that older mares tend towards being less fertile, there is no age of "menopause" such as is seen in humans. Some mares do "shut down" when they are older (typically greater than 20 years or so), but it is not universal! Old mares have eggs that are not as good and will produce foals with problems such as bad legs, deformities etc. It is true that the oocytes that are present to be fertilized in a 20+ year old mare are also 20+ years old (mares are born with all the oocytes they will ever have); It is true that some of those oocytes will not be as viable as a result of age-related deterioration; It most decidedly is not true that if fertilised those occytes will result in "bad legs, deformities"! DNA is DNA and it is DNA which causes the presence of bad (or good!) legs etc. You breed 2 crooked legged horses that are 5 years old and you will stand as much chance of a crooked legged foal as you will if you were to breed them at 25 Genetics and environmental issues causes problems such as that, not "old" oocytes! Mares have a 28 day estrous cycle This confusion arises as a result of the human cycle being 28 days; The typical mare's estrous cycle is 21 days from ovulation to ovulation (for more information "click" here). It should be noted that not all mares experience the same regularity, so the 28-day cycle may exist - but not routinely! Having a mare around a stallion will cause a mare to go into estrus This myth stems from a mare not displaying estrus without the presence of the required stimulus (a stallion). The mare is undergoing all the normal hormonal changes associated with estrus - including ovulation - but does not display normal estrus behaviour; When the stimulus in the form of the stallion is introduced, the previously absent estrus behaviour becomes apparent, hence the origin of the myth. My mare can't be bred by AI and must be bred live cover to become pregnant There can be a variety of reasons why this may apparently be the case, but the most likely is that the mare has a delayed uterine clearance or uterine fluid problem, and that during teasing prior to or following breeding, when endogenous oxytocin is released, the fluid is cleared. The same results could be achieved using AI and the oxytocin protocol that can be found at this location on this site. Pregnancy rates in the wild are better than those in managed breeding programs While of course in a poorly managed program this may be true, but in well managed programs it most decidedly is not! One would do well to consider that in managed programs, mares with all manners of reproductive problems are bred, but in the wild, the poor reproductive quality mares are driven from the herd and not bred - hence the overall greater pregnancy rate; Those mares driven from the herd in the wild are usually eaten by predators! It is worth considering that in the wild, reproductive conformation will tend to be healthier as there is a natural selection for the reproductively sound mare; In domesticated breeding programs there is a greater likelihood of reproducing poor reproductive conformation! In the wild stallions often breed their own daughters, so "inbreeding" is natural In the semi-feral pony herd used in research at The University of Pennsylvania, New Bolton Center in 8 years of research into herd-situations there has never once been an "inbred" foal born; When fillies become sexually active, they leave the herd to seek another herd or bachelor stallion with whom to breed. "Inbreeding" is therefore not natural, but rather a man-made phenomena. Impending foaling can be predicted by evidence of "waxing" on the udder This is a totally unreliable predictor!! Do not use it - instead evaluate the milk as outlined in this article.http://www.equine-reproduction.com/articles/predicting.htm Some mares may wax up as much as 3 or 4 weeks prior to foaling; Others may not wax up at all! Mares normally have a 340 (or 341) day gestation There is no such thing as a "due date" in the equine! The range of "normal" pregnancy is 320 - 370 days; There can still be healthy foals born outside this time frame, although prior to 320 days, the foal must be considered premature. Foals born before 300 days will not be viable as the lungs will not be formed; The longest pregnancy duration (with a live foal) on record is 417 days. Long-term foals often have a tendency to be small rather than large! This is often thought to be as a result of retarded uterine growth. By Jo Mottershead of http://www.equine-reproduction.com/index.html @~@~@~@~ Thought about having your own show? It's not as hard as you think! http://haveyourownhorseshow.com @~@~@~ 3. Resources Safety around horses and horse related activities is something that needs to be learned early in the life of a horse fan. If you are in a position to be held responsible for potential harm it may be of even more interest to you. The following link offers in depth safety training for about any situation you can think of. I only wish I would have known about it sooner. Highly recommended for anyone who has anything to do with horses. Very interesting and easy to read and understand. Please check it out! http://www.whmentors.org/saf/safety.html Recently, we had a situation at our barn that required extensive intramuscular injections for one of our horses. As a nurse, I have been well trained in giving injections to people. Horses are another story, and you don't usually learn how to do that until there is a problem that requires lengthier treatment than what the vet administers during his visit. Since our horse needed several injections a day, I was uncomfortable using the same sites I had used in the past. I found an excellent explanation of everything you would ever want to know about giving a horse an injection at http://www.aces.edu/pubs/docs/A/ANR-1018/ANR-1018.pdf . It is a pdf file. You can right click on the link and save it, or just open it to read. It sure made me feel better about giving her what she needed, although it is never a fun thing. She did really well, and doesn't appear to hate me any more! Hope you find it helpful. There has been a number of foals lost this year in our area. It seems the most suspected cause is Fescue. The following link explains. http://www.arabians-international.com/fescue1.html Need some training tips? The following link has a great introduction, a set of really good Commandments before you start, and a large selection of articles on training. I spent a good while reading here. http://horsetraining.8k.com/index.html 4. FUN! Here is a site with word find, jigsaw puzzles, coloring, free horse e-cards and more. http://www.equihex.com/fun.htm Check out these educational games on CD Rom! http://members.aol.com/dsaur/page4.html Do you like what you got in this newsletter? If so, tell a friend! They might like it too! 5. This is a strictly optin list. We value your privacy. Your details will never be sold, traded or exposed in any way. 6. To subscribe send a blank e-mail to 85168-subscribe@zinester.com . To unsubscribe there are instructions below. 7. The contents of this newsletter are for the purpose of information and entertainment only. E-Quine E-Tips is not responsible for any results, good or otherwise, from the use of any information contained. Please use good judgment and practice safety precautions when you are exposed to potentially harmful situations. Employ the services of a qualified professional when the need is indicated. Terry and Mary Porter 855 Melson Ridge Road Jamestown, Ky. 42629 |
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