SLA

should a worker in private industry be required by federal government regulatory agencies, to meet BMI requirements of 28 or less to stay employeed? That means a female at 5'3" female must weight less than 150 pounds, and a man 6' tall has to weigh less than 183 pounds to be employeed in this branch of private industy. What do you think? Do we WANT this level of government dictation?

I have heard there are helmet requirements in some states for equine events including clinics? Is this true and if so where do I find more information?

I have also heard there is a 5-year "expiration" on helmets and no helmet over 5 years old is considered "safe" according to law. Has anyone got any information on this?

Also, where do I find more information on the insurance requirements for riding instructors?

Thanks

Was doing some research and discovered there's a lot of wild information out there. What sort of insurance does someone who is giving riding lessons or horse clinics carry and who regulates that? Also, who or what agencies regulate the horse show/clinic industries?

Was doing some research and discovered there's a lot of wild information out there. What sort of insurance does a clinician actually HAVE to carry and who regulates that? Also, who or what agencies regulate the horse show/clinic industries?

Where do you think your greatest weakness is in your riding skills?

Looking for ideas with links to info for an essay. I've got quite a few, but the net is a big place and I thought it might be interesting to see what other sites people might know about that I missed.

An elderly mule man told me this week that my 3 yo mule Tilly's stifle problem may be caused

by a mineral imbalance.

He's recommending copper sulfite(ate) and a magnesium supplement. He says that

has worked for years to help with stifle problems that don't seem to have a

strong basis in conformational unsoundness.

He caught my attention because we live in a VERY high selenium area and selenium

ties up copper and sulfur, but I don't know about magnesium. I have been

supplementing copper, sulfur and phosphorous to my goat herd for years to

prevent bone/joint/connective tissue problems and increase fertility rates. I

feed a mineral blend specifically designed by a local feed mill for cattle in

this area as most commercial minerals are too high in selenium and quickly push

livestock in this area over into toxicity.

Tilly is a little straight in the hind legs, and hinges a bit further back than

I would like to see, but neither of these things is exaggerated enough to be

causing her significant stifle problems. And she was sound until about

mid-winter. That would mean she was here almost two full years before we saw any

sign of a weakness in those stifles. That would be time for the selenium to have

replaced enough of the other minerals to cause problems.

So, has anybody else ever heard of this for treating "sticky" and/or

"loose" stifles, or stringhalt?

I'd like to hear the reasons people have for and against hobble training.

I am equine sitting for a few weeks while a young local family deals with cancer in the breadwinner - with no insurance. Tough deal. I have their horse and pony here. Neither are old. Pony is about 10 from teeth, and mare is 11 according to registration papers.

This woman called me a couple months ago and said they were a bit thin. I told her to up the hay a bit and worm them. She did that and I didn't hear any more from her. And they've been over twice to buy hay, so I know what these horses are eating - good quality alfalfa and enough of it. They have doubled the animal's consumption from last year and they looked good last year.

My horses are eating hay from the same stack and are FAT and sassy.

The shetland is actually thinner than the mare. His backbone is sticking up and he's lost muscle over his hips and shoulders. His urine is not off colored, and I'm not seeing any of the usual wads associated with bad teeth. The mare is not running him off feed. I fed them in two piles and they shared both of them, eating first one then the other. Neither acted starved. They ate good, but not like they would have if they were this thin from no feed.

They pony is bright, and nickers at you, and followed his young owners at a trot on a loose leadrope when the caught him to bring him to the trailer. So he's not acting sick or lethargic. They did not drink an unusual amount of water, and do not look or act dehydrated.

The pony has an unusually thick and slightly longer than normal coat that seems a bit curly, but it is shedding off. I'm not seeing any other signs of cushings.

What bothers me is BOTH these horses walk slightly odd on their hind end. Their hoof fall pattern seems off. I tried crossing their feet to test for sensation, and neither would allow me to do that, although both did let me handle their feet willingly. Unlike the gelding I was given with EPM. He would stand with his feet crossed for minutes before he realized it and corrected the problem.

They're going to the vet (at my expense!) on Wednesday. He's going to look at teeth, and I'm going to draw his attention to that odd hindend thing. Anybody got any other things I might look for? Anything you've run into with similar symptoms?

This isn't neglect or abuse, something is wrong.

I've been out of the combined driving loop for awhile, but I just stumbled across a HOT little half arab 2 yo filly that's going to be light, fast, and athletic. WAY too much for a kid to handle, she is hot and excitable, but would make a STUNNING driving pony. And she's got the mind to be VERY competitive. Get this, she's completely back - not a white hair on her - with blue eyes. And she's not blind. She's in a bad place right now, but before I pick her up and risk my neck getting her started in harness, what's the CDE large pony market look like?

We are building a barn style house. It has a fairly rustic inside - knotty pine cabinets (as soon as I finish them!), knotty pine ceiling, cedar post fence-style railing on the edge of the loft, knotty pine doors, mismatched furniture, and so on.

Someone saw an old saddle I am cleaning up for a friend of mine (yeah, the moldy one!) and said, "OH! You're going to make saddle stools for your bar! What a great idea!"

Okay, I've never heard of saddle bar stools before, but I DO have on antique side saddle, an old english saddle, a western saddle with a broken tree, and another one that has never fit any horse I tried to put it on. None of these saddles should ever be put on a horse, so it's not like I'm ruining usable tack.

So what do you think? Saddle bar stools to go along the breakfast bar down the center of the main room? They would be about the first think you saw when you walked in the front door. I would need 5 or 6 (and I've already got 4). Too much? or really cool?

Oh, and there are 6 other chairs, plus 3 couches, and a whole pile of folding chairs if needed, so it's not like anybody would HAVE to sit on a saddle.

Thanks for your opinions.

We are building a barn style house. It has a fairly rustic inside - knotty pine cabinets (as soon as I finish them!), knotty pine ceiling, cedar post fence-style railing on the edge of the loft, knotty pine doors, mismatched furniture, and so on.

Someone saw an old saddle I am cleaning up for a friend of mine (yeah, the moldy one!) and said, "OH! You're going to make saddle stools for your bar! What a great idea!"

Okay, I've never heard of saddle bar stools before, but I DO have on antique side saddle, an old english saddle, a western saddle with a broken tree, and another one that has never fit any horse I tried to put it on. None of these saddles should ever be put on a horse, so it's not like I'm ruining usable tack.

So what do you think? Saddle bar stools to go along the breakfast bar down the center of the main room? They would be about the first think you saw when you walked in the front door. I would need 5 or 6 (and I've already got 4). Too much? or really cool?

Oh, and there are 6 other chairs, plus 3 couches, and a whole pile of folding chairs if needed, so it's not like anybody would HAVE to sit on a saddle.

Thanks for your opinions.

I was just asked to clean up an old saddle, and one stirrup leather has some blue/white and green mold on it. I live in a very dry area, so dry rot is what I'm used to dealing with, but this saddle sat in a basement and this part of it has molded. I know people in high humidity climates have a terrible time with mold on tack, so please advise me how to fix this. It's an heirloom to the woman who owns it, and she didn't realize it was in the condition it is - it wasn't at her house.

I've been offered a side saddle, but I have NO clue how to fit it to my horse. Does anybody have any experience with them? And yeah, I've been looking on the internet, but I'm not finding a whole lot except - "Buy my book to find out all about . . . ." I always find those a little suspect.

I scrubbed and scrubbed on that 10 gallon aquarium with the brown algae scum and was just about to take the advice of the person who pointed out that 10 gallon aquariums are cheap (didn't know that because I've never priced one before!) when in frustration I dumped in 1/4 cup of Iron Out. PRESTO! The scum was gone in seconds.

Now for the question? I'm going to rinse it really well and let it dry and rinse it again. Do I need to be concerned about residue from the Iron Out? I'm wanting a terrarium not an aquarium, but I do want to put tree frogs in it.

I was given a 10 gallon aquarium tank, but apparently the water was allowed to evaporate out of it. There is a brown scum on the side I can't seem to scrub off with soap. I sprayed it with clorox (yes I know I have to give it a few days to air out now!) and it's still there. Ideas for cleaning this stuff off? I don't want to scratch the tank.

I found this interesting, and would like some feedback from other people about it. In summary it says relationships for urban women are dictated far more by their physical appearance than relationships for rural women.

How about some thoughful responses to this idea and why you think it is or isn't true?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20100108/sc_li...

Has anyone seen the new "carbon" regulations proposed by the EPA? It sounds like producers are going to have to buy "credits" to offset fossil fuel use in tractors, combines and other equipment. Also for fertilizer and weed control.

Has anyone else read this stuff? What's your take?

I was given a Parelli pad and tried it out on a horse today. Horse had never

bucked before and we spent fifteen minutes arguing about it. First I tried just

the Parelli pad, then the Parelli pad over a gel pad I normally use, and

finally, I let ALL the air out of the Parelli pad while it was over the gel pad and the horse accepted it -

kinda.

My other gelding who is more dependable than the first one, didn't like

it any better, but I gave up quicker because he's normally a good boy. He rode

fine once I let all the air out and it was over the top of his gel pad.

I'm not thinking I want to try it out on my green mule at this point. We haven't

had any bucking fits yet, and I'd rather we didn't. Has anybody else had

problems or is this something I'm doing wrong?

How do I tactfully explain to people that it is not their farrier's job to train their horse to pick up its feet?

And that it's not their vet's job to teach their horse to lead or stand tied for medical work?

I assist both a vet and a farrier and since so many people know it, I get the front line of questions. I'm not a tactful person by nature - I prefer just to tell the bald faced truth, but that's not received well. How would YOU tell people these two truths?