(via UniqueDaily)
Showing posts with label horses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label horses. Show all posts
Fashion for horse lovers
These knee-length and ankle-length shoes were commissioned to celebrate 100 years of the famous National Hunt festival in Cheltenham, UK. A carbon-fiber hoof and up to 5,000 individual horse hairs make up the $2,081 shoes.Source
Can horses fly?
In 1872, former Governor of California Leland Stanford, a businessman and race-horse owner, had taken a position on a popularly-debated question of the day: whether all four of a horse's hooves are off the ground at the same time during a gallop.Stanford sided with this assertion, called "unsupported transit", and took it upon himself to prove it scientifically. Stanford sought out photographer Eadweard Muybridge and hired him to settle the question.
A series of photos taken in Palo Alto, California, is called Sallie Gardner at a Gallop or The Horse in Motion, and shows that the hooves do all leave the ground — although not with the legs fully extended forward and back, as contemporary illustrators tended to imagine, but rather at the moment when all the hooves are tucked under the horse as it switches from "pushing" with the back legs to "pulling" with the front legs.
Muybridge used a battery of cameras lined along a track. The first camera had to be triggered manually, but the rest were automatically triggered by an electronic apparatus he designed.
This series of photos stands as one of the earliest forms of videography.
Source
A beauty contest ... for horses
Once prized by Alexander the Great for their speed and stamina, Turkmenistan's thoroughbred horses are being groomed for a series of beauty contests, ordered by a presidential decree published Monday.President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who enjoys sweeping powers in this desert nation of 5 million and is known for his deft horsemanship, said national beauty contests for the ancient Akhal Teke breed should be held every April.
The best horses of the breed, distinguished by shimmering coats, long delicate necks and legs and popularly revered as "the wings of the Turkmen," will be chosen "to promote the glory of the heavenly racehorse worldwide," the decree said.
Source
Pet Roundup
Welcome to Monday Pet Roundup!*What about the horses? Thought-provoking article on Pet Connection. If you care about horses, you'll want to read this.
*Some airlines allow small cats and dogs to travel in crates under the passengers' feet. This is good news for pet owners, however bad news for allergy sufferers. New York Times cites an editorial in the Canadian Medical Association Journal calling for a ban on pets in airline passenger cabins. The doctors write, "Pets can be accommodated comfortably and safely in airplane cargo holds, which is where they belong." I disagree. I don't know the solution, but living creatures are not cargo.
*Looking for a "green" pet? Consider a rabbit! The Palo Alto Daily News informs us that rabbits "eat green kitchen trimmings" and their waste can be used for garden compost.
*Recently I wrote a post for Guideposts.com, about presidential pets. While dogs were the most popular, John Quincy Adams owned the most unusual pets: an alligator and silkworms. Forbes magazine reports on some more bizarre "house pets"--a hippo that sleeps on the porch, a black bear that grew to be more than 100 pounds and put holes in the wall, and sharks owned by celebs Nicholas Cage and Ice-T. Most wild and exotic animals, however, do not make good pets.
*Over at The Healing Art of Pet Parenthood, here are top ten reasons to attend BlogPaws conference!
* Did you enjoy the winter Olympics? Dogster for the Love of Dogs blog catches us up with the canine side of the Olympics--the team of dogs trained to rescue victims buried in the snow, in the event of an avalanche. Love those images of the digging dog, nose in the snow!
Looking forward to your thoughts.
A horse is a horse, of course, of course
In an effort to stop vets' drugs from entering human diets, the nations of continental Europe, where two million horses are reportedly eaten every year, will be enforcing a new law requiring horse owners to sign a pledge that their horses will not be eaten.The new regulations come into force on July 1. Horses born after this date, and those born before June 30 who have not been issued a horse passport, will also have a microchip implanted.
A spokesman for the Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs said: "Horse passports will clearly identify those horses which are not eligible for the food chain if they have been treated with substances which are potentially harmful to humans.
Source
Photo: PA
Cheryl Davis' horse Remington may turn out to be the world's tallest horse. Davis, of Princeton, Texas, hopes to get Remington into the Guinness Book of World Records as the tallest living horse.The current record holder, Radar, is a Belgian draft horse from Mount Pleasant, Texas.
Remington, a Clydesdale, measures 6 feet, 8 inches from hoof to shoulder, says Davis — only a quarter of an inch or half an inch taller than the reigning horse.
But the formal measurement, she says, will be done by a vet on Friday and Saturday, one with his shoes on and one with his shoes off.
Photo credit: Bunny Morrissey
Source
Ban urged on horse-drawn carriages in Rome
Tourists love to view the Colosseum and other famous landmarks in Rome from the back of a horse-drawn carriage but animal rights activists said Tuesday it's time to ban the practice.Traffic, pollution, heat and heavy carriages expose the horses to health risks, the activists said, adding that the animals rest in dark and humid stables.
The activists have appealed to Rome's city hall to stop the service, proposing that the coachmen be rehired as cab drivers.
The coachmen reject accusations that their horses are overworked or abused.
Source: AP
Molly, an amazing horse
Molly is a gray speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Katrina hit southern Louisiana, USA.
She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died.
Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her.
Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.
Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. The other important factor is having a truly committed owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.
Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.
The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.
(via reddit)
She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled. While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier, and almost died.
Her gnawed right front leg became infected and her vet went to LSU for help. But LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case. But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her.
Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.
Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails, but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain. The other important factor is having a truly committed owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care required over the lifetime of the horse.
Molly's story turns into a parable for life in post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight, her mane felt a comb. A human prosthesis designer built her a leg.
The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life, Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.
(via reddit)
Horse visits hospital patient
“I’m coming up to see a relative.”
That’s what a Kauai man said at Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai—before taking a horse three floors upstairs.
Hospital security stopped the reportedly intoxicated man and his steed. He’d already trotted the horse through the hospital’s lobby and into an elevator, all to cheer up his relative.
But when he saw the stallion, the ailing patient said, “That’s not my horse.”
Source: Hawaii Magazine
That’s what a Kauai man said at Wilcox Memorial Hospital on Kauai—before taking a horse three floors upstairs.
Hospital security stopped the reportedly intoxicated man and his steed. He’d already trotted the horse through the hospital’s lobby and into an elevator, all to cheer up his relative.
But when he saw the stallion, the ailing patient said, “That’s not my horse.”
Source: Hawaii Magazine
Mustangs of Las Colinas
Mustangs at Las Colinas is a bronze sculpture by Robert Glen, that decorates Williams Square in Las Colinas in Irving, Texas. It is said to be the largest equestrian sculpture in the world.
The sculpture commemorates the wild mustangs that were historically important inhabitants of much of Texas. It portrays a group at 1.5 times life size, running through a watercourse, with fountains giving the effect of water splashed by the animals' hooves. (wiki)
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Photo: SmugMug
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