Some kind people in the New York racing scene are planning a memorial for farriers who live on in the memories of many. Jim Brummit, Bruce Scott and Charlie Campbell were three friends of Hoofcare & Lameness who shod on the NY tracks and had many happy times at Saratoga each August.
In fact, the last time I saw Brummit was next to the Oklahoma Track when he pulled up beside me one day. I'd just been taking pictures of Ray Amato shoeing at Todd Pletcher's barn. How Brummit knew I was there, I'll never know. I think that they have spy pigeons or something at that track. His last words to me were some sort of a curse about the magazine being late again. Now, he's gone; cancer, of course. Ditto for Charlie.
You can read more about Charlie here: www.hoofcare.com/charlie_campbell.html
Charlie was the paddock farrier at Saratoga. I just saw today that they named a race for him; it was run at Saratoga on Labor Day, which I think was the last day of the meet in 2005.
If you've never been to Saratoga, the racetrack is a beautiful park-like place; Oklahoma is the training track, dating back to the 1800s, and the barns around it are wooden. The horses are bathed or walked in the shade under huge old trees. I always think that I have taken beautiful photos there, but they never do it justice when I see them afterwards. The place is beautiful to look at, but part of it too is the sounds, and the smell, and the way you feel because it's only 7 a.m. and you are already so hot. I've been going there since I was 13. I couldn't go to the races in the afternoon until I was older, but in the morning, the backside was all mine.
"Oklahoma" is a perfect place for a memorial. Every track should have a farrier memorial.
I hope they raise a lot of money and I also hope you'll go there and see it. I am sure that contributions would be very welcome but I don't have any details yet.
Watch Hoofcare & Lameness for more details sometime this summer. I plan to be in Saratoga on Tuesday and Wednesdays this year. How about you?
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Horse Beats Humans (Again)
The Welsh held their annual horse vs human cross-country race today; 300 humans showed up and tried to outrun 30 horses. A horse won the 22-mile race.
I read about this race every year and it fascinates me, for some reason. Last year, a human won.
I don’t think I really care who wins, I am just curious why and how they run this race.
More at http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
I read about this race every year and it fascinates me, for some reason. Last year, a human won.
I don’t think I really care who wins, I am just curious why and how they run this race.
More at http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
Health Warning: MRSA Bacteria Infection and Horses
I'm copying this from an Elsevier newsletter received today, just as a reminder....
MRSA -- a vigorous bacterial infection resistant to standard drug treatments - -can be picked up in dirty hospitals, as most people know. But there have been increasing reports of domestic animals transmitting MRSA to humans and the potential for animals to become a reservoir of MRSA.
A new study suggests that it can also be picked up from horses, even when normal precautions are taken. This has wide implications for farmers, the racing industry, recreational horse owners, horse farm personnel, and veterinary practices.
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is resistant to most standard antimicrobials and frequently to a wide range of additional antimicrobial classes. Infections are difficult to treat and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and treatment costs.
A study by Ontario-based veterinary scientist Dr Scott Weese published in Elsevier's journal Veterinary Microbiology reports that a team caring for a new-born foal quickly developed symptoms of MRSA, in the form of skin lesions, almost certainly arising from close contact with the foal.
The foal was under treatment in a Canadian animal hospital for renal failure and septicaemia. Part of the foal's management involved veterinary students providing 24-hour nursing care to individual foals in 4-hour shifts. In most situations, students sit in direct contact with the foal for the entirety of their shift, often with the foal partially on the students' lap to enable proper restraint, feeding and provision of nursing care.
Although glove use is mandatory for any horse-contact, and personnel wear clean coveralls, contact with horse bodily secretions is inevitable because of the duration of contact and the sometimes fractious or excitable nature of foals.
In this case, within less than a week tests on the foal revealed that MRSA had been isolated from the admission nasal swabs of the foal, and checks on the hospital staff quickly showed that some of those treating the foal were, in turn, already developing MRSA skin infections.
The study warns that occupational or recreational exposure to horses might be an important risk factor for MRSA infection or colonisation. This needs to be considered when managing animals with MRSA infection or colonisation, either in a veterinary hospital or on farms. The authors also suggest that human medical doctors investigating skin and soft tissue infections should check for prior contact with animals, particularly horses.
MRSA -- a vigorous bacterial infection resistant to standard drug treatments - -can be picked up in dirty hospitals, as most people know. But there have been increasing reports of domestic animals transmitting MRSA to humans and the potential for animals to become a reservoir of MRSA.
A new study suggests that it can also be picked up from horses, even when normal precautions are taken. This has wide implications for farmers, the racing industry, recreational horse owners, horse farm personnel, and veterinary practices.
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is resistant to most standard antimicrobials and frequently to a wide range of additional antimicrobial classes. Infections are difficult to treat and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and treatment costs.
A study by Ontario-based veterinary scientist Dr Scott Weese published in Elsevier's journal Veterinary Microbiology reports that a team caring for a new-born foal quickly developed symptoms of MRSA, in the form of skin lesions, almost certainly arising from close contact with the foal.
The foal was under treatment in a Canadian animal hospital for renal failure and septicaemia. Part of the foal's management involved veterinary students providing 24-hour nursing care to individual foals in 4-hour shifts. In most situations, students sit in direct contact with the foal for the entirety of their shift, often with the foal partially on the students' lap to enable proper restraint, feeding and provision of nursing care.
Although glove use is mandatory for any horse-contact, and personnel wear clean coveralls, contact with horse bodily secretions is inevitable because of the duration of contact and the sometimes fractious or excitable nature of foals.
In this case, within less than a week tests on the foal revealed that MRSA had been isolated from the admission nasal swabs of the foal, and checks on the hospital staff quickly showed that some of those treating the foal were, in turn, already developing MRSA skin infections.
The study warns that occupational or recreational exposure to horses might be an important risk factor for MRSA infection or colonisation. This needs to be considered when managing animals with MRSA infection or colonisation, either in a veterinary hospital or on farms. The authors also suggest that human medical doctors investigating skin and soft tissue infections should check for prior contact with animals, particularly horses.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Clones Fail to "Kick Ass"
It was nature vs nuture in Winnemuca, Nevada yesterday...and nature prevailed. It wasn't even close. The two cloned mules, first ever to race, and genetically identical to each other, finished third and seventh in an eight-mule race yesterday.
(See yesterday's post for more on this story.)
Wait a minute. Maybe the story here is that there were eight mules entered in one race at all. Around here, eight horses entered in a race would be big crowd.
(See yesterday's post for more on this story.)
Wait a minute. Maybe the story here is that there were eight mules entered in one race at all. Around here, eight horses entered in a race would be big crowd.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Hoofcare and Lameness Publishing's First Book Sale (EVER)
 |
| A few nice old horse and vet books seen on a shelf in the library at Tufts vet school in Massachusetts. Photo by Amit Gupta. |
Ok, here we go! I have started to list some of the farrier, veteirnary and horse books we are offering for sale. Most of these are LEFTOVERS, USED, or DAMAGED books, cd-roms, dvds, or videotapes. Most are drastically reduced in price. Storage space here is limited, and I have been meaning to do this for a long time.
Check back soon and often, as I will try to add a few more each day. It takes a while to do each one. Thanks!
Here's the link:
http://hoofcarebooksale.blogspot.com/
Mule clones: But do their feet match?
 |
No two alike: Australian riders raced mules at Gaza (then part of Egypt) in a military post entertainment during World War II. Taken in 1942 by Dvr Tom Beazley. Photo courtesy of AussieJeff.
|
The news this morning is about the two three-year-old racing mule clones who ran for the first time yesterday in Winnemuca, Nevada.
It seems each won his qualifying heat, and now the two will race each other in the final heat today. Or race himself--that might be more accurate.
I'm not sure I really care who wins (does it really matter? is this an exercise in equine existentialism?) but I would like to see the right front foot on each of them, to see if they developed the same. Could you pull a racing plate off one (if indeed racing mules are even shod) and nail it right onto the other?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)