Rags to Riches

I am thinking it will be a trifecta of Ginger Punch, Lady Joanne, and Octave.

Rags to Riches has a hairline fracture of her pastern sustained in Saturday's Gazelle Stakes. This made me start wondering what her chances of returning to racing are. What other horses have raced again after a hairline fracture? I can only think of Brass Hat, Personal Ensign, and Mariah's Storm. Are there others? Rags to Riches' connections have said that they hope to race her next year as a four year old. What are the chances she will recover enough to race again?

Her normal temperature is 100.0 to 100.5. Last week a "temperature" of 101.0 caused her team to scratch her from the 7/21 Coaching Club American Oaks. Yesterday during a workout her exercise rider pulled her up after feeling a funny step. The filly seemed fine, a vet check today with full X rays was clean. Yet now she is being shipped to New Bolton for a complete physical. Is this normal care for horses worth millions of dollars? Or is this excessively cautious? Is the memory of Barbaro still lingering in everyone's minds? Will she ever run again?

She was purchased at the 2005 Keeneland yearling auction for $1.9 million. After winning the Belmont what is she worth now?

How many hands high was he? I can't seem to find info on this. Please provide a link to your source, if possible.

MACNA is the Marine Aquarium Conference of North America. I am registered for the full conference and can't wait. Has anyone on here gone to this before (it was in Houston last year). What are the best and worst things about MACNA. What can I expect? Is it worth the $125 registration fee?

I am planning on taking the MCAT in a year or so. Due to personal issues I have been out of school for a couple years while working full time. I know I will need to hit the books hard in bio, chem, o chem, and physics to review for the MCAT. I don't want to pay $1400 for a Kaplan or Princeton review course. Does anyone have any advice or specific strategies for me?

I need a 26" x 20" x 5" media air filter and a humidifier pad for a Honeywell Enviracare 225A whole house humidifier. I have been unsuccessful at finding these at my local home Depot and Wal Mart.

Now, I do not consider myself an especially anxious person. I have never considered myself claustrophobic. In fact, I had a few CT scans in my early 20's and had no trouble with them. Well, let's just say the MRI is a whole different ballgame. I was not expecting such a small, confined space. So, they squeeze me in and I am shocked at how small the space is in there. It was very snug. I had intense panic for about 30 seconds. My biggest fear was not really the small space but I just had this fear of being stuck in the MRI. I am lying there thinking, "I am too fat - I am stuck in here! They won't be able to get me out!"

I spent the time in there using various distraction and relaxation techniques I have learned from woking in mental health. I can only say that I was able to stay in there and lie still for the 75 minutes of my test but I found it to be a real mental challenge.

Is this something others without a history of anxiety or claustrophobia have experienced?

Most of my fellow professionals in mental health argue that personality disorders cannot be changed and that patients with Borderline PD are doomed to a lifetime of recurrent hospitalizations, self injury, and suicidal ideation. I know a patient who had difficulty in her early twenties but improved significantly by her mid twenties and now would not meet criteria for the disorder. Anyone else either feel that they are "cured" or that they are significantly improved? If so, what do you think helped you?

I'm thinking about adopting a retired racing greyhound from an agency. My elderly Mom and I live together (I will be walking, exercising, feeding, grooming, etc). I do work full time and my Mom will be alone with the dog for 9-10 hours a day/5 days per week. My biggest concerns are her being knocked down/tripped by a dog. Her mobility is limited/she is not too steady on her feet. We have owned dogs in the past but not for a few years (last dog died of old age four years ago). We don't want a dog that is too hyper or barky and from what I have read about greyhounds this should not be an issue. We have a large fenced yard with a 5 foot chainlink fence. I want a dog that keeps my Mom company during the day, barks if someone is at the door, and can go for walks in the evening so I have an exercise partner. I have pet birds but I plan on keeping the greyhound out of the room the birds are in and I plan to select one of the dogs the rescue calls "cat safe" for safety. Any thoughts/comments?

My 2.5 year old Congo Grey is biting his toenails. He started doing this 1-2 months ago. He chews them until they are razor sharp! My arm is all scratched up from his sharp nails. It hurts for him to sit on my arm.

He is in a large cage and has plenty of toys (including plenty of stuff to chew on) and I rotate his toys every few days. He is on a good diet of seeds, pellets, fruits, veggies. I do work during the day but try to spend as much time as possible with him. There is no point in filing the nails because he'll just "re-sharpen" them the next day. Is this normal Grey behavior? Has anyone had this problem and been able to stop it?

I have heard of programs that train service dogs for the elderly. I was hoping to find a program that would provide a dog to assist with mobility and balance, fetching the phone, carrying small items, etc. My 73 year old Mom has mobilty issues and needs a cane or walker to ambulate and is alone during the day and would benefit from and be more active with a trained service dog. I was hoping to find such a program in or near the greater Pittsburgh, PA, area.

My Mom and I live together and I will be primarily responsible for the dog. I will be walking, exercising, feeding, grooming, transporting it to the vet, etc., so that is no problem. However, I do work full time and my Mom will be alone with the dog for 9-10 hours a day/5 days per week. My biggest concerns are her being knocked down or tripped by a dog. Her mobility is limited and she is not too steady on her feet. We have owned several dogs in the past but have not had a dog in about four years (our last dog died of old age four years ago). We don't want a dog that is too hyper or barky. I plan on getting the dog from a rescue or shelter. I am looking for a mature dog, not a puppy, since I work. I do have pet birds in the house so I would prefer something with a lower prey drive.