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.

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

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse
has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.

If the horse has one front leg in the air,
the person died because of wounds received in battle.

If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died
of natural causes

Now we know.

Well, we made it. A new year is here with all the plans for an even better year than last. And I hope it is for everyone who stopped by and all who left a note and said howdy. You are all appreciated for sure.

My goals here is to continue to help those of you who write using horses. That’s my goal.  Horses are such wonderful creatures and my adventure in helping you has only made me even more aware of how this is true.

I miss having that ‘dialogue’ with a horse . I was raised, “You don’t have a horse unless you can take care of it.’ To my dad, that wasn’t just leaving a horse in the pasture. It was training, riding, and caring everyday. Boy do I miss that.

For me that is the perfect workout. Think about it. Twice a day. Morning and Evening. You move at least for one hour if you just clean stalls, groom, feed, carry water, sweep floor. Now add exercising the horse…who also gets exercised? Every day.

That’s the glitch for me around here. Joe and I have dogs and that alone is a responsibility. Fortunately, when we have to go outta town, we have friends who can come out and stay here. But to expect them to care for horses…a bit too much to ask. And we don’t have a barn or the money to build one. On top of that, just dogs alone are expensive. Horses can be as expensive as kids. That’s not adding to the expense of showing. That can add up quickly enough to a college education in time.

So I live through you and your stories.  So thank you. It means a lot. If you EVER have any issue in your story regarding horses. Let me know. I’ll do what I can to assist.

Also, this year I plan to publish a pictorial guide to Writers Riding. I hope to make your research easier and more accessible. I’ll keep you posted on how it’s coming along. I know this stuff but getting the layout right, wow. Not easy.

And I’ll keep coming up with connections for you to check out as it interests you orf something ‘horsey’ that maybe you can use in your stories maybe. And I’m planning on helping you connect with horse people too. You’ve helped me discover a bunch that you should know too.

Well, keep writing and riding,

My best to you all and again, thank you for a wonderful year

J

I saw War Horse.

And it was well worth it. Lovely story of loving horses and horses loving back. And they do.

There was little I failed to like. Barbwire is always bad. And how could you not have death scenes in a war movie and it was WWI.  “War is Hell”

But then as life, there is lots of beauty. A mother’s love of family…a father’s, son’s and friends’. There will always be beauty in that. Beauty between enemies even. There is the beauty of horses both young and old. Both playing together and working together. Beauty and friendship between horses. And they do have friendships as we do.

And the surprised beauty in how life comes in circles by some miracle or divine right.  So, be sure to go see this heart warming story of a boy and his horse.

Move over Black Stallion…new kid on the block.

J

Wow.

This is a fantastic LITTLE KNOWN horse story that should be made into a movie too.

I will never get tired of seeing horses. Enjoy and may you be able to capture some of this animals beauty in your stories.
Have the best of Christmases and may your new year be beyond your dreams
J

No matter how you play with horses, it’s fun.

Wordles.com Thank you

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and an even better 2012

J

I have no doubt that I am gonna cry in this movie. WWI was a horrible affair and there were so many horses left behind and so many people starving. It is any wonder horse meat is treasured. This animal did more than help win this war.. It also kept it alive.

Now I just learned Congress is going to use tax dollars to slaughter horses in the USA again. I agree with the anti-slaughter in the way of…just put the horses down. Don’t slaughter. It is cruel and heartless. And don’t use my tax dollars for this without any profit return. Their meat will be sent overseas and sold there for profit. It’s wrong all the way around. Obama has okayed this bill. Now it’s before Congress. Please write them.

According to Luigi Gianoli, Horses and Horsemanship through the Ages,  about 60 million years ago horses roamed the western plains of the North American continent. They “became extinct in the wake of cosmic upheaval, so that when the Spaniards arrived in the New World, they could find no trace of a horse.” These little guys were about the size of a little dog and ran in herds.  Back then, man hunted them for food and drove these little creatures over cliffs. Then, in 1882, professors of Columbia University found the bones of these  mini horses “in the Mississippi Basin and at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.” So horses were here.

Then,  around the 1600′s, when the Spaniards met the Aztecs, they brought horses with them. When the conquistadors left to return to Spain with the Aztec’s  gold, they left  their horses behind. Once again, the horses gathered in herds and became the stock of the American mustang.

So, if you are writing a story before the Spaniards arrived in the Americas, remember, the Native Americans did not ride horses back then. Native Americans walked everywhere they went, carrying their belongings or using the domesticated wolf as a pack animal.

Eventually, the Navajo, Pueblo and Apache heard of these “great dogs of the white man” through the trader’s stories or from the few who managed to actually  see this animal. By this time the horse had evolved to the size of a large pony and now had a hoof instead of  four toes.  The Native American tribes had no idea how this curiosity would impact their future.

But the horse did.

From 1600 to today, the horse has been and is revered by all the tribes of the Native Americans. Some came to believe that the sun had herds and blessed earth with them. They were associated with the moon. Or, according to Laverne Harrell Clark in her book ‘They Sang for Horses,” these magnificent creatures  have gods riding them or being gods themselves. (I can’t say enough about Ms Clark’s book if you want fantastic details about the coming of the horse to the Native American Indians.)

Young braves soon became adept at stealing horses anywhere he could find them. This theft gave this young men status in the tribe because when they returned home with their prizes, they gave these stolen horses away to tribe members. Imagine a father approached by a successful brave seeking the man’s daughter as his woman. If the young man presented him with many horses, the father would know the young brave could care for his daughter and the father could now give these away as gifts.

The tribes swiftly  incorporated the horse into their lives as quickly as we have computers.  Horses provided better hunting as well as protection and the tribes could travel farther distances for shelter and food because they ride and could  use these ’big dogs’ as pack animals. Needless to say the Native Americans quickly came to love and honor this animal in their ceremonies as well as become experts on riding bareback (No stirrups !) That is until they met the American cowboys and they learned of saddles and such.

Put all this on a time line of American history. By the time of the Westward Expansion and the Civil War–barely two hundred years, the tribes had just mastered horses. Then, the automobile was invented, changing lives for everyone.

You know the history from here. But regardless of whether the truck or car have replaced the necessity of horse, the horse is still revered by the Native Americans. To own one is to have a gift from heaven.

J

Thank you Picturedepot.com for the horse picture.