I love horse people…especially those who blog on horses too.
J
Category: The Studs/ Breeds of horses
I found this great article on Yahoo. news today about where theThoroughbred horse got his speed and how it may hope find the genetics to diseases. Really cool. Thank you Mr Potter.
J
All Thoroughbreds Have Same Ancestor
By Ned Potter | ABC News – 8 hrs ago…
“The Bazzani Scully Brand Lawyers Handicap race, Melbourne, Australia, Jan. 26, 2012. Scott Barbour/Getty Images
All the great names in thoroughbred horse racing – from Secretariat to Man O’War, from Seabiscuit to Seattle Slew – they’re all related, and a team of geneticists has now traced their talent for speed back to a single ancestor. The “speed gene” that made them all so fast was apparently a genetic aberration, and it probably started with one British mare who lived in the mid-17th century.
Emmeline Hill of University College Dublin led a team that analyzed DNA in 593 horses from 22 modern breeds, as well as museum specimens from 12 historically famous stallions. Modern genetics have become sophisticated enough that they could tell, with considerable precision, what the horses had in common.
“The results show that the ‘speed gene’ entered the thoroughbred from a single founder, which was most likely a British mare about 300 years ago when local British horse types were the pre-eminent racing horses, prior to the formal foundation of the thoroughbred racehorse,” said Hill in a prepared statement.
She and her colleagues published their findings in the journal Nature Communications.
Lest this seem like some arcane animal study, it does involve a big-money sport and, more important, questions about how genetic characteristics can be inherited and traced. If you can decipher the genes that make thoroughbreds so fast, say the researchers, you can also find clues to genetic diseases in people. Thoroughbred horses are useful for study because the records of their ancestry are – forgive the pun – really, really thorough, going back centuries.
The great speed horses all shared two genes associated with muscle development. The combination did not show up in regular farm horses, or donkeys, or zebras.
Horses with the two genes were consistently top sprinters. It’s no accident that the Kentucky Derby is a mile and a quarter, usually won in just more than two minutes. Other genetic combinations were found in horses that were slower but able to run longer.
Place your bets.
Like this:
“LAFAYETTE, N.J. (AP) — Authorities say a fast-moving fire destroyed a barn, killing 22 show horses owned by a noted New Jersey equestrian family and worth tens of thousands of dollars each.
State Police Sgt. Brian Polite says the barn was engulfed in flames when troopers arrived around 2 a.m. Saturday in Lafayette. The blaze was soon extinguished, but all the horses inside were killed.
Polite says the animals were valued at $10,000 to $60,000 apiece.
Betty Hahn, whose family owns the horses, tells a local newspaper that no hay or fuel was stored in the barn, so she’s baffled about how the blaze began. Hahn says her family has competed and won awards in equestrian competitions along the East Coast.”
Man of Integrity…the Big Horse.
Man of Integrity aka 'the big horse'
A horse I owned died in a barn fire like this one. His papers said his name was Man of Integrity. We called him ‘The Big Horse’ because when he put his head up I think it towered over the Eiffel Tower. He was fifteen hands tall, chestnut, an American Saddlebred gelding. But boy could he lift his head to the clouds.
I remember trying to clip the winter hair out of his ears once. Footstool or no, couldn’t reach them. You know that thing race horses wear that covers their face and cups the eyes so they can’t see behind them? Well I had one and for some odd reason I thought about using it that day. Oh, ‘The Big Horse’ let me put it on. No problem…no buzzing clippers. So, I put this racing mask on and had to sit on the ground to clip his ears. Yes, he thought up was down. I’ll never forget that. I still laugh thinking about it.
Before me, most of The Big Horse’s training was in harness. Slap a saddle on the ol’ boy and he was miserable. He loved harness. Even my mother, who feared horses, could drive ‘The Big Horse’. But here’s the thing, Fine-harness show horses are not allowed to break into a canter. They get disqualified in the class for that. So, for at least ten years ‘The Big Horse” was never allowed to canter.
He didn’t make it in the show ring as the Fine Harness , so they clipped his mane and made him a Three-gaited show horse. That meant cantering. He was all screwed up now. And yeah, I bought him…cheap.
He and I struggled with canter leads. He just didn’t know how to break into one. He always hesitated like he would be punished or something–a back lash from his harness days. Once he even reared up and fell over on me . He reared. I lost balance. Over we went. I survived by the grace of God. We both saw stars.
So, I figured out the real problem. You see, one winter I decided to turn the Val and ‘ The Big Horse” out for the winter instead of working them out in the cold. Brilliant idea huh? I brought ‘em in at night, fed ‘em, let ‘em out each morning.
Day One: I let Val out. He took off lickety-split down the lane to the pasture, took the right angle turn like a barrel horse, and off he went kicking and bucking like a spring colt.
I took The Big Horse out. Let him go. He stood there. Didn’t know what to do. Saw Val. Wanted to join him. He wanted to hurry. Tried to canter. His legs were as stiff as toothpicks. He bounced down that lane like a cartoon character. Came to the turn. STOPPED. WALKED AROUND IT. And peg-legged it out to the pasture.
I was totally dumbfounded . He couldn’t remember how to canter!!
Spring: Both horses raced around the right angle turn to the barn at a neck breaking speed like teenagers in a car race. Yeah, The Big Horse had figured out what he had forgotten. And the canter became easier between us.
I had another great moment with him happened in a Three-Gaited Class. Here we were, a girl against a bunch of trainers. Four of them. Three showing and one judging the class. The Big Horse and I had all the applause all through the class and took fourth. Real shocker here isn’t it? The crowd booed first place, second and third, then cheered when I left the arena. hee hee
And then my parents and I sold him to a lady in Chicago. I had decided to marry and move on. And her trainer’s barn went up in smoke. Other horses besides The Big Horse died that night.
You see, horses won’t leave their stalls even if the stall doors are open. Smoke is out there. Flames are out there. Won’t go. That’s why you have to blindfold them. And usually a barn is wood and the floors are covered with straw or wood chips. In some cases, hay is kept in the loft too. So please, keep anything like cigarettes away from a barn, any barn.
It still breaks my heart that I sold The Big Horse. He was a beautiful, wonderful, kind animal with more integrity than most people.
The Big Horse and my dad doing their tricks
I’m in the background
The Big Horse
The Big Horse was… a Man of Integrity
Like this:
Let me introduce you to Claire Ashgrove, a mother, a rider, writer and a lady who is wild about horses. She has also spent a lot of time and money on rescuing these beautiful animals on her farm. As a writer and a rider she knows the challenges of owning, caring for, breeding as well as writing about them. So I hope you enjoy getting to know her and her horse world both in reality and her stories….
Hi, Judy! Thanks for having me on your blog today!
About me, huh? I really hate talking about me. Let’s see, I’m a former sport horse breeder who lives on a small farm in Missouri . I’ve always written, although I didn’t always know I wanted to write professionally. I wrote for entertainment and to live out girlhood fantasies about being a rock star. Even had my own band in my books who I knew by heart – talk about bonding with characters! Now I write romance. All kinds of romance. As Claire Ashgrove I write steamy contemporaries (most often involving horses in some way) for The Wild Rose Press, paranormal romance for Tor, and historical romance. I also write erotic romantic suspense as Tori St. Claire. Why do I write? To answer the question, What if?
What brought me to horses… well, that’s easy. I was not paying attention in Nobel Lit my Junior year of High School and browsing the school’s job listings. A local stable advertised help in exchange for riding time or riding lessons. I was suckered from there. Shortly after I purchased my first horse, an Arabian gelding. And, as with every horse owner, from there it was all downhill! For the first five or six years of my horse involvement I learned about show life for Arabians and Saddlebreds, I went on to compete in jumping and dressage, and I sucked up every bit of knowledge I could find on a lot of other breeds and disciplines. After college and family I began raising and training sport horses, primarily Arabians, Thoroughbreds and Oldenburgs . I still dabble occasionally – this year I have one foal expected any day now – but the business end of horses is pretty much part of my former life.
What’s my favorite? That’s hard. Very hard. I would have to say above and beyond, the Arabian is. However, many of the Arabians I have loved, worked with, and owned weren’t physically able to do some of the sports that are my passion – such as cross country jumping. (In particular, water jumps. And anyone who’s had an Arab ought to understand that remark!) Which pushed me into bigger, more powerful movers, such as the Warmbloods. I’m pretty partial to the Hanoverian breed – and my Oldenburgs are founded on Hanoverian lines.
As to how I incorporate them? Pick a way. Really. I’ve written on the racing lifestyle, on a breeder’s struggles on pursuing the Arabian dream. You won’t see horses so much in the background, but as key elements to the plots in the stories I put them in.
What do I like to see in books with horses… accuracy. Not so much technical accuracy (although that’s important) but behavioral accuracy. For instance, historical romances, where the hero on his mighty stallion goes for an afternoon jaunt with the heroine and her pretty mare. Then, the mare and stallion are tied nose to nose, or wandering around loose. Drives me crazy. It’s very common, but the natural behaviors there aren’t going to allow for the hero/heroine to have an intimate moment under the tree while their horses pretend each other doesn’t exist. Or if a horse is acting up and someone is in danger, that the “savior” comes rushing in yelling, and doing things that puts the possible victim in more danger, because that seems logical to a non-horse person – also drives me crazy. I’m not such a huge stickler on having the appropriate parts of a bridle listed off, but the logical interaction between human character, horse character, and authorial control needs to be logical. Otherwise, I toss the book aside.
Gosh horse books. Honestly, I can’t answer this question. My reading time is so limited that the books with horses that stand out to me are often the ones with bad horse depictions. However, I can say that movie-wise two of my favorite portrayals are in Lord of the Rings – Shadowfax and the Ring Wraith’s horses. Both of those, although fantasy completely, were very awe-inspiring when on the screen / in the text. And Tolkien built the world so believably that Shadowfax and Gandalf’s relationship was completely plausible. Gladiator also has a very powerful, very realistic cavalry scene in the opening.
I have three books, presently, that incorporate horses.
The first: Waiting For Yes, just released on April 20th. This book is very special to me as it was inspired by my former Straight Egyptian stallion’s bloodlines. And he’s on the cover! If you like beautiful horses, I have some very nice critters in the book trailer on my website.
Gabrielle Warrenton gave up everything to pursue her dream of a first-class Egyptian Arabian breeding farm. Her future lies in her new stallion’s success. Though she possesses an exceptional eye for horseflesh, she lacks the training knowledge, and Bahadur Mamoon has a date with the nation’s most affluent show in three weeks. Nothing that would present a problem given his previous credentials. Only, the sellers disguised one critical fact—he’s crazy. Jake Lindsey-Sullivan was once part of an exceptional Arabian training team. Under his mother’s guidance, he developed an instinctual talent, but she was the star, the cornerstone of his life. Until she met a premature death. Grief-stricken and plagued by guilt, Jake abandoned the world of horses. Now an over-the-road truck driver, he evades the memories. When a snowstorm throws two Arabian professionals into close-quarters, they discover an engulfing passion. But will Mamoon rip open emotional scars, or forever seal them shut?
The second: A Christmas To Believe In, released November 2010. This book pulls on the dream of horses that so many of us hold dear to our hearts.
Struggling Thoroughbred breeder, Clint King, hasn’t been home for Christmas in five years. This year, his prize mare’s due to foal any day, and in the wake of his father’s death, Clint can’t stand the idea of returning. Except, Alex is getting married on Christmas Eve, and their mother’s put her foot down. With his mare in tow, Clint prepares to meet a sister he’s never known, and Alex’s unexpected triplets. The one salvation he looks forward to is childhood companion, tomboy Jesse Saurs. Yet when he reunites with Jesse, he uncomfortably discovers she’s become all woman. Jesse Saurs has everything she needs – financial security, a home, and a foster child who’s about to become her son. With Ethan’s final hearing scheduled just before Christmas, her dreams will come true. When she learns Clint and his brothers are returning, she anticipates a holiday reunion that’s sure to entertain Ethan. But on the night of Clint’s return, the ‘brother’ she expected leaves her trembling after a hug. Even worse, Ethan makes it clear Clint’s not welcome. Will Christmas destroy hopes and dreams, or will it become the gift they’ve all been longing for?
The third: Seduction’s Stakes, released October 2009. This was my first book, and is a very unique view on the world of elite horseracing.
McCleery Racing didn’t become a Thoroughbred racing powerhouse by betting on longshots. Maddie McCleery made it a multi-million dollar player through hard work, logical decisions, and a commitment to never involve herself with men who lived on the sport of kings. But when she sets her sights on a two-year-old colt her rival owns, she never imagines the lengths she’ll go to, to bring the future champion home. Riley Jennings wants unobtainable Maddie almost more than the Triple Crown. After his Kentucky Derby win, however, he sees a way to sure-fire victory. His proposed wager stacks the odds in his favor – if her horse wins the Preakness, he’ll accept her terms. If his horse comes in first, they’ll negotiate his way. When the dust settles on the wire, will love claim final victory, or will unexpected tragedy stop them in the gates?
For more information, and the other titles I’ve written with horses – including what’s coming down the pipe – please drop by my website: www.claireashgrove.com
Claire Ashgrove
Dark, Sexy, Timeless RomanceComing To TOR Books January, 2012! — Immortal Knights Templar,Waiting for Yes – April 20, 2011A Christmas To Believe In — OUT NOW!Seduction’s Stakes – 2009 LASR Best Book of the Year Nominee, Night Owl Romance “5 Stars”www.claireashgrove.com
