“They are a symbol of the American West, but do we need 35,000 symbols of the American West?” Nathaniel Messer, professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Missouri, quoted in the NYT in September 2010. Horses are well habituated to much of the North American landscape. After all, it was in the forests …
Continue reading “The Mustang Problem: $67 Million a Year to Keep Wild Horses in Pens?”
Billionaire Roman Abramovich has purchased Pringle, one of the best showjumping ponies in the UK, for his daughter Irina. (Daily Telegraph) Mustang round-ups in the US are halted after video evidence of abuse of the horses is presented (Salt Lake Tribune) The owner of a pit bull that chased a police horse for a mile-and-a-half …
A young Scottish showjumper who’s only been riding for three years has been sponsored by Euromillions lottery winners. (Horse and Hound) Meanwhile a nineteen-year-old started a millionaire’s fund of his own when he became the youngest ever winner of the showjumping CN International via Karen K. (Spruce Meadows) Corrective surgery for thoroughbred yearlings before auction. …
Carol sent me a blogpost about a herd of Arizona horses who have been reclassified from “wild” to “feral” and now face a round up, which some suspect will result in their eventual slaughter. The leader of the band, Champ, was an internet hit last year when he was pictured rescuing a filly from the …
Ponies: the fatter they are, the naughtier they be. Thelwell proved correct by science. Cheap gelding clinics are becoming a reality in the US. Here’s one in California. Jane Smiley on National Velvet. A fell pony riding holiday in Lancashire. A swimming race for horses that commemorates a Venezuelan battle of 1819. A wild stallion …
This week a horse that pulled tourist carriages in New York dropped dead in the middle of Manhattan, provoking cries of cruelty and mistreatment. I’m aware that there’s a long-standing campaign to end the practice of using these horses in the city, and that the only other equines in central New York, at the Claremont …
This is not so much a post as a string of links to some interesting, thought-provoking essays elsewhere and a question: what is “pure blood” and should it matter? Let me explain. Roughly speaking, until the nineteenth century and even the twentieth century, the vast majority of horses and ponies in the West were not …
Continue reading “Salvos Across the Equine Gene Pool: a Reader”
I’ve blogged a handful of times about the round-ups of wild mustangs that are occurring in the US just now, and the furious debate over them. I haven’t kept fully up to date, although I did get an excellent grounding in the history and issues from Deanne Stillman’s Mustang: The Saga of the Wild Horse …
O to be in Washington! The Washington International Horse Show and the National Museum of the American Indian are putting on an exhibit called A Song for the Horse Nation, opening the last weekend in October. There will be pony rides, war paint demonstrations and displays by the local mounted police. There’s more detail of …
Continue reading “How Much Does it Cost to Fly to Washington?”
From the Herald News: The owner of the bay mustang taken into the town’s custody last week insists her horse has never been neglected, but several months ago fell into a funk and stopped eating the way she should. Ellie Rose, of 27 Marshall St., said she has been working diligently to get the horse, …
