If You Liked MOLLY THE PONY, You’ll Love THE GOAT LADY!

Following the incredible success of MOLLY THE PONY through this blog, it's time to add Molly's friend, THE GOAT LADY by Jane Bregoli.

Here’s what THE GOAT LADY is about:

Who’s that funny-looking lady in old clothes down at the end of the street? She walks with a limp and her yard is filled with goats.

On a street of beautiful new homes with perfect lawns, the old farmhouse looks out of place. The children can only wonder what goes on there. But the goats fascinate them.

One of the mothers is an artist, and she sees something beautiful in the goats and the old woman.

When the artist fills the town hall with paintings of the goats and their owner, the new residents in town get an eyeful. Children and adults learn to see the beauty in what they once thought was just a rundown house and a weird old woman in their neighborhood.

They learn that their houses are built on the fields of the old farm, and that the “goat lady” once owned it all. They learn she sold the fields to pay her late husband’s medical bills. And that she donates healthful goat milk to people who are ill, like she is. And they find out that the young baby goats go to poor families overseas, thanks to the Heifer Project, a longstanding anti-poverty program that supplies farm animals to poor families.

And the neighbors learn to start acting like neighbors, the children learn a lot about goats, and the goat lady finds out she has a lot more friends that she thought she did.

WHY PURCHASE THE GOAT LADY?

Teach children that old people have value and something to teach that they can value. That the way someone dresses or the shape their house is in are not yardsticks to their character or value. That animals make a great difference to poor people in other countries. And that people who wear old clothes and live in shabby houses may turn out to be generous and help people in need.

And THE GOAT LADY won the ASPCA's Henry Bergh Award for best children's book about animals!

BOOK DETAILS for THE GOAT LADY

Size: 9.25”w x 10.25” h, 32 pages
Hardcover, laminated cover.
Full color illustrations and paintings throughout.
Written for children in grades 3-6, much loved by many adult readers
Very similar to MOLLY THE PONY in size, shape, length.
And it is a TRUE story!
Cost: $17 publisher's list price

And don't forget Molly!

Update on Molly: MOLLY THE PONY is in its third printing!

Molly (the real pony) continues to do well at Ms Kaye’s farm down in Louisiana. Her fame through the book has not gone to her head at all. She had a tough time when Hurricane Gustave hit, but her barn is being rebuilt and she keeps limping along to schools and hospitals to share her story and her message of hope.

We need to raise enough money (or find a sponsor) for a truck and trailer so Molly can go to places beyond New Orleans, though she has plenty to do right there!

Thank you to everyone who has purchased MOLLY THE PONY and donated to her fund.

Favorite Photo: How an American Farrier Relaxes on Weekends

Lady farrier at the Royal Berkshire Show, Newbury, originally uploaded by Anguskirk.

This farrier was competing in the horseshoe making at the Royal Berkshire Show,in Newbury, England. The photographer, Angus Kirk, didn't know her name but he knew a good shot when he saw one. Most, if not all, of the county shows in Britain host farrier competitions, with the national championship decided at The Royal Show in July. Both Mike Miller and Bob Pethick think that this is American farrier Raleigh Desiato from California.

Zarkava in l'Arc: Unbeaten Filly's Domination Continues As She Captures World's Richest Race

The sacred victory and the mystique of horse racing, French style: this intro to the 2007 l'Arc personifies the confidence the French have that this is THE horse race to win. They might be right! And in true French style, they will celebrate the domination today of one of the world's greatest racehorses, the filly Zarkava.

If you needed an excuse to splurge on a bottle of French champagne, you can justify it tonight: the incredible filly Zarkava has demolished an international field of turf superstars in France's Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe. The filly has won everything in Europe, or so it seems; the Arc was her fifth Group One stakes win.

Zarkava is owned by HH. The Aga Khan, who doesn't even need the $6,243,600 prize money. He both bred and races the filly and said after the victory, "No decision has been made yet concerning her future career. She will not run in the Breeders’ Cup. Today is the apogée for a breeding operation which dates back 90 years and for five generations of my family. I am really amazed by my filly."

The filly won from the #1 post position, and didn't break well. She ran an amazing come-from-behind race over the grueling 12 furlongs. Her trainer withheld the decision of whether she would run or not until the afternoon, so that the condition of the track could be assessed.

Why the concern? First of all, the inside post position meant that she would break over the most cutup section of the track, and it had also rained during the night.

Second, the filly has a racing style somewhat like Big Brown's, with an off-on switch controlling a superhero-like surge of ground-eating speed. That means that she likes firm ground, so she can skim over the surface without using her energy to pull her feet out of the ground with each stride. Remember that grass racing (and all racing in France) is done with totally flat shoes. In the USA, rain on race day often means switching a turf race to dirt; in France, they don't have that option, so the trainers watch the weather and the tracks have a system for rating the condition of the track.

What might have been: We can only wonder. Earlier this summer, American superstar Curlin was being aimed to race against the filly in The Arc, but his career on grass was short, and he went back to the dirt. Now he is being switched again, this time to Cushion Ride, the newly-installed artificial surface at California's Santa Anita racetrack. If he likes it (how do you tell without a race?), he'll take on leading three-year-old Big Brown in the Breeders Cup Classic on October 25.

A cadre of European invaders are expected at Santa Anita to take on Curlin and other top American horses. Many grass horses (almost all racing in Europe is on grass) switch well to artificial surfaces, but rarely dominate when switched to dirt.

Zarkava is not expected to make the trip to the Breeders Cup, but there's hope for next year, since she is only three years old.

You can watch videos of the race on YouTube.com, but the voiceovers seem to all be in Japanese, since there was a Japanese horse in the race. The effect, however, is the same in any language: Zarkava is incredible!

Note: This year, it is remarkable that two of the leading horses in the world are both fillies, both are undefeated, and both have names starting with the letter "Z". We have Zenyatta racing in the USA and headed for the Breeders Cup in 18 days, and Zarkava in Europe.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. This post was originally published on October 4, 2008 at http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a free daily email through an automated delivery service.

To subscribe to the Hoofcare and Lameness Journal, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Working with Horses: Veterinary Practice Acts Defended in Courts

What color is your state? Blue states allow non-vet equine dentists to work on horses; orange states allow non-vet equine massage therapists to work on horses; striped states allow both professions to work independently of veterinarians; white states have either not modified their veterinary practice laws to allow dentists and massage therapists to work or have possibly not adopted the AVMA's newest model veterinary practice act, which tightens restrictions on the definition of veterinary care of animals. Some states may be more permissive, others may be tolerant but have restrictions, such as IAED certification for non-vet dentists, but charges against a non-vet are often based on complaints from horse owners or veterinarians, so everyone is still subject to discipline. In most states there are high fines and criminal statutes for practicing veterinary medicine without proper licensing. Even a a person with a DVM degree is subject to prosecution or discipline if he or she is not licensed to work in a given state. (Map: JAVMA)

An article in the upcoming October 15th edition of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) summarizes the ongoing legal confrontations going on in Texas and Maryland between state veterinary medical boards and legal consultants defending equine massage therapists and horse dentists.

A third lawsuit, questioning the legality of the veterinary practice act in Minnesota, resulted in a court decision in favor of the vet board in that state, and against the rights of an individual to earn a living as a horse dentist.

In each case, the non-veterinarian practitioners have been represented by the Institute for Justice, a civil liberties law concern in Arlington, Virginia. At question is the right of individuals to continue to earn a living, when their occupation has been redefined as within the scope of veterinary medicine under the new vet practice acts adopted in some states.

Five states--New Hampshire, Georgia, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Oregon--have amended vet practice acts that allow non-vet dentists and massage therapists to work legally.

In many cases, the affected parties have held up horse shoeing (and trimming) as examples of an unregulated field that is allowed to continue without interference by state veterinary boards.

In some other states, horse owners have organized to legally challenge state veterinary boards, charging that they have the right to hire whatever practitioner they wish to care or treat their animals. In Florida, a proposed state law allowing horse owners to choose their practitioners failed to pass the state legislature.

In the case of the Minnesota dentist who protested the law, he would have been allowed to continue working if he had become certified by the International Association of Equine Dentistry (IAED), but he did not want to go through the certification process.

The Institute for Justice defends the rights of individuals to pursue their chosen professions.

Reading this article, and perusing the map of US states that have granted concessions to non-vet dentists and massage therapists is recommended for anyone who makes his or her living working with horses.

What's especially interesting is that the problems seem to be centered on horse care rather than all species of animals.

From the court documents in Minnesota, as quoted by the AVMA: "The state may legitimately exercise its police power to protect public health, safety, or welfare through the regulation of occupations that require specialized training or skill and the public will benefit from assurance of initial or continuing occupational ability ... Veterinarians are the natural group to provide education and training with respect to the overall health and anatomy of animals."

Click here to read the upcoming JAVMA article.

Click here to visit the International Association for Equine Dentistry, whose certification is recnognized in Minnesota.

Click here to meet Mercedes Clemens, the certified massage therapist in Maryland who is no longer allowed to work on horses.

© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. This blog post was originally published on 3 October 2008 at http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com.

Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service.

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com.

Comments to individual posts are welcome; please click on the comment icon at the bottom of the post.

Happy Birthday to Mr. Edward Martin

Edward Martin Portrait
© David and Charles Publishing (UK) and Hoofcare Publishing 2008

Today's post is a personal one.

I thought I heard music outside the office, but it was two Scottish people having a chat. Their voices were so musical, I went outside to say hello.

The Quinns, as they introduced themselves, had set sail from Kirkcudbright in Galloway, one of the border counties of Scotland. I knew the place, I told them, because I had visited that lovely seaside village with my friend Edward Martin from Closeburn, near Thornhill in the neighboring county of Dumfries.

The Quinns, as I came to know them, were aghast, as they went to Scottish dances in the village hall in Closeburn.

And so it goes. It's a small, small world. We spent some time telling Scotland stories and Edward Martin stories, and Mr. Quinn of course recited some Robert Burns poetry for me. I was charmed.

Then they got into their dinghy, rowed out to their sailboat, and sailed away to make the tide through the Cape Cod Canal. I felt like I had been visited by Scottish pixies or something.

And today, it turns out, is Edward Martin's birthday. The godfather of the modern international farrier scene turns 83 today.

Edward is a victim of Parkinson's disease, but very alive in our thoughts, and still bringing people together, even if he has hung up his tattered passport.

Wherever you are, give a thought for the grand farrier from Closeburn. And maybe a wee dram for a toast.

We miss you, Edward.


© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. This post originally appeared on Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog on October 2, 2008: http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com.

New Extreme Hoof Makeover Video: Ian McKinlay and Conny Svensson Combine Glue, Nails, Adhesive and New Shoe Designs for 11th Hour Pre-Race Hoofcare

In July, a Standardbred named Before He Cheats needed major hoof renovations before he could race in a big stakes at The Meadowlands. Harness shoer specialist Conny Svensson and hoof repair specialist Ian McKinlay went to work and, when they were re-done, rebuilt and reshod all four feet.

Luckily, Ian had his video camera and he created a start-to-finish documentary of the process and is allowing the Hoof Blog to share it with you.

The segments are roughly nine minutes each, since YouTube.com has a ten-minute limit for clips. So, settle back and watch this horse's feet change shape. Remember that this is an 11th hour makeover. In reality, the horse should not have been allowed to get to this stage. Conny and Ian were asked to transform it for a race a few days afterwards. This is stop-gap therapy. Hoof triage. It certainly could have been prevented.

Here's part one:



And here's part two (with a very happy ending):



© Fran Jurga and Hoofcare Publishing. No use without permission. All images and text protected to full extent of law. Permissions for use in other media or elsewhere on the web can be easily arranged. Fran Jurga's Hoof Blog is a between-issues news service for subscribers to Hoofcare and Lameness Journal. This blog may be read online or received via a daily email through an automated delivery service.

This post was originally published on October 2, 2008 at http://www.hoofcare.blogspot.com, with the permission of Ian McKinlay and www.tenderhoof.com

To subscribe to Hoofcare and Lameness, please visit our main site, www.hoofcare.com, where many educational products and media related to equine lameness and hoof science can be found.

Questions or problems with this blog? Send email to blog@hoofcare.com. Comments to individual posts are welcome; please click on the comment icon at the bottom of the post.