I'm Back! - More Or Less -- And A Storm Report From Indiana

Here I am, typing with both hands again - more or less - and the first thing I want to do is to thank the Sweetest Horse In The World - my Indy - for being so good about posting the updates I asked him to do.

I thought his posts were accurate and he was very careful with my keyboard. Okay, so there were a few carrot bits and a couple of wisps o hay in there, but after all the is a horse. Pretty good typist too, all things considered. I know I couldn't type nearly that well with my upper lip. Thank you, Indy.

Let me tell you, I broken wrist is no fun. Especially since the radius was broken completely in two - closed fracture thank goodness! - and a cast wasn't enough to hold the ends of the bone together properly, so four pins had to be used and I was in a cast for six weeks. Just to make things as difficult as possible, it was my left wrist that was broken, and I am left handed. Some fun, huh?

Even after the pins were removed - which made me a lot more comfortable - I had to wear a brace for three more weeks. At least the brace was a was much more comfortable than the cast and I had better use of my hand. The muscles and tendons in my hand and wrist had gotten stiff during my time in the cast, and of course, they were injured too when I broke the bone.

My wrist is still quite sore if I forget and overdo, and there is still some swelling, but it is getting better day by day, so I really can't complain.

On to the excitement. We were under a severe thunderstorm warning and there were some tornadoes in the mix as well. It turned out that the Weather Service confirmed three F1 tornadoes in the area afterward. We thought we were only hit with straight line winds - which can be just as bad - but when we actually got out and saw the condition of our trees we had to wonder. Amazingly, neither of the horses seemed upset at all considering what had happened.

This is the first thing we saw out the front door. This was an English Walnut tree that we were very fond of. It was just completely uprooted. Plus debris was everywhere. Very depressing.

Until we looked back at the barn.

This is the first downed pine tree we saw. There was an entire row of very large pines just west of the house and barn that had always kept the worst of the west winds and snow off of us. That line now has some big gaps in it because three of those magnificent trees went down in that storm.

I know these pictures aren't the greatest, but Mike was taking them in poor weather and low light. You can see the size of this tree though. The upper branches actually tore big gashes in the steel roof which you can't see in this picture.

This is what the gashes looked like from the inside. Fortunately, the horses' stalls are on the other side of the barn, but these gashes allowed some hay to get slightly wet and a little water also got into the tack room.

Again, fortunately, after I broke my wrist in October, I went ahead and moved my saddle and bridle inside the house for the winter. I don't ride a lot in the winter because we don't have any place to really get out of the wind, and my hands and feet freeze. As little as I ride in the colder months, it's easier just to carry my tack back and forth. I can't leave them in that tack room all winter because the humidity is just too high here, and before you know it, they get covered in mold. Yuk!

This was the real kicker though.

This is an even bigger pine that also came down on the barn - this time right in the middle of the west side. If it hadn't been caught by the even bigger oak tree just outside the window, I hate to think of the damage this baby would have done. But the oak kept most of the weight and branches off the barn roof. I knew I loved that tree! I was truly shocked when I saw this sight though. You can see why Mike and I were amazed at how unperturbed Indy and Ami were about the whole thing. The way that steel roof magnifies the sound of anything that hits it, it must have sounded as if the sky was falling inside the barn or even on the "back porch."

Especially after this big limb landed right on top of the back porch! Of course, they are always free to leave the barn whenever they wish, but I was watching and I never saw either one of them out during the entire storm. Amazing.

 There was some damage to the peak of the roof, but nothing like what would have happened if that oak had not been there.

Here is some debris that landed clear on the far side of the back porch. These were not tiny little branches either.

As you can see, the near side of the back porch was covered in broken pine branches. Really sad.

The destruction of these magnificent trees was heartbreaking.

When this pine came down, it took an apple tree with it.

Fortunately, both the pine and the apple tree just missed my horse trailer.

You can see the big gaps in what was a solid line of huge pines. It sickens me to lose beautiful, healthy trees, but it still could have been worse - a lot worse. It was a lot worse in Illinois.

Related articles

• Afternoon/Evening Severe Storms
• 12 Indiana Counties Report Tornadoes or Damage
• Weather Service boosts Indiana tornado count to 28
• Preliminary reports determine two Indiana tornadoes were EF2
• Indiana residents assess damage from Sunday's storms

One More Reason NOT to Eat Horse Meat - Researchers Find Toxoplasma gondii in Horsemeat | TheHorse.com

Although the disease can be dangerous in
humans, few horses are affected.
Toxoplasmosis rarely causes clinical signs in
horses, but can cause neurologic problems
such as ataxia and blindness in young or
immune-deficient horses. 

Photo: Photos.com

 Researchers Find Toxoplasma gondii in Horsemeat | TheHorse.com

By Christa Lesté-Lasserre   Nov 17, 2013
Topics: Slaughter

After all the publicized concern about the presence of phenylbutazone (Bute) in horsemeat, researchers now fear the meat could also carry the organism that causes toxoplasmosis—a potentially deadly human disease. Recent study results suggest that up to 15% of horses in Brazilian slaughterhouses and 30.5% of those in southwest China could be infected with Toxoplasma gondii.

Toxoplasmosis in adult humans—especially the elderly and immune-deficient—can cause fever, pneumonia, heart disorders, muscular difficulties, lymphadenopathy, and death. Frequently, infection goes unnoticed in healthy adults. But the disease is of particular concern in pregnant women, as infected fetuses can develop eye, ear, skin, and nervous system disorders.

In 2011, French researcher Christelle Pomares of the Université de Nice–Sophia Antipolis–Inserm, in Nice, reported three cases of toxoplasmosis infection in humans in France, most likely from consuming horsemeat. The cases included the death of a 74-year-old man and abortion in a 21-year-old woman due to severe fetal abnormalities. The horsemeat probably came from Brazil or Canada, according to the strain analysis, Pomares reported.

Horse meat scandal dominating the front pages (Photo credit: Gene Hunt)

Read the rest of this article here  Note that this story says these infected horses probably came from Brazil or Canada. Given the about 65% of the horse meat exported from Canada actually originated in the US, well, you do the math. Last I heard, we also sell horses to Brazil for slaughter. If this doesn't kill your taste for horse flesh, what would it take?

This is an illustration of the life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii, the causal agent of Toxoplasmosis. For a complete description of the life cycle of Toxoplasma gondii, the causal agent of Toxoplasmosis, select the link below the image or paste the following address in your address bar: http://www.dpd.cdc.gov/dpdx/HTML/Toxoplasmosis.htm (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Toxoplasma gondii (Photo credit: AJC1)

Related articles

• Evidence for Finely-Regulated Asynchronous Growth of Toxoplasma gondii Cysts Based on Data-Driven Model Selection
• Toxoplasmosis and Mood Swings
• Does Toxoplasma Gondii Increase Suicide Risk in Women?

Update From Indy

hi everyone! it's me, indy, again with an update on my mom. remember i told you how she broke her wrist in my first post? well she's letting me use her computer again to tell you about whats happening.

she got the pins taken out last week and she says shes much more comfortable with them out. one of the pins had made a sore on her hand but now it's gone and the pain it was causing her has gone and the sore healed.

she still has a cast though and cant use her left hand much at all still. since she is left handed this is putting even more stress on her right hand and this is the hand she injured doing so much keyboard input when she was working. its bothering her a lot now.

hopefully she will get the cast removed in another week and things can start getting back to normal. it may take a while though and she may not be supposed to ride me for a while. thats ok i guess cause we don't ride too much in the winter anyway - at least not on the really cold and windy days. humans dont seem to be able to stand the cold like we horses can. i think it's because they dont grow a decent winter coat and have to keep putting on and taking off those things they use instead of hair. very strange.

ok thanks for reading. hope to report continued progress. mom does type better than me.

love
indy

An important Message From Indy

hi everyone. im indy, and i have an important message from my mom. you know her as suzanne or morganlvr. shes letting my type this because she really cant type right now. she usually tels me to stay away from her keyboards cuz she says i get hay and carrot pieces in there. 

anyway this is a special case. mom had a very bad fall - not because of me or ami though. she got some pretty bad scrapes and bruises on her face and knees but the worst thin was she broke her left wrist. Yeah real bad and shes left handed besides that.

they took her to the emergency room and xrayed her wrist. she broke the em what did she tell me? radial or radius bone - somethin like that - completely in two just below her wrist joint. kinda like a fetlock I think.

 

the break wouldnt stay together right with just a cast so a couple of days later they did surgery and put 4 pins in that bone to hold it together so it would heal right. she has a big blue cast on her arm.

last tuesday she went to see how it was doing. doc said xray looked real good, and pins can come out in a couple more weeks. but the cast will have to stay on for more weeks after that. I know that cast is driving her crazy because she has to use her right hand for everything and that's real frustrating for her. her left hand has the cast clear up to her knuckles and around her thumb. then it goes almost to her elbow. 

lucky the weather has been great so she can come to the barn every day and groom me. ami doesnt like being groomed much and doesnt always cooperate so well so moms stickin with me. ok by me! i love attention and i try to be very careful of her space. 

mom can brush out my forelock and mane with her right hand and give me a light grooming. thats fine with me - we love just hanging out with each other anyway. 

she just wanted me to post this for her so youall would know why shes not commenting much and that shes really ok but typing is very hard. I told her Id be happy to post all the comments she wanted but she found some hay sticking out of her keyboard and told me i was sweet to offer but this would be fine. Golly, i dont know where that hay came from. 

any way she just wanted to check in. thanks for reading. i hope i got it all typed ok.

love

indy

PCRM | Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act

Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act

The Safeguard American Food Exports (SAFE) Act, a crucial bill to protect both consumers’ health and American horses, was recently introduced in Congress. This legislation will prohibit the sale and transport of horse meat and horses intended for human consumption, thereby keeping toxic meat out of the nation’s food supply.

 Because horses in the United States are raised as companions and sport animals—not for human consumption—they are routinely given hundreds of drugs and chemicals that could cause harm to human health if their meat is ingested. Many of these substances have never been tested on humans, while some are known to be deadly if ingested by people. These pharmaceuticals—steroids, antibiotics, growth promoters, sedatives, artificial hormones, vaccines, painkillers, and others—are often labeled “not for use in animals used for food/that will be eaten by humans,” and more than 50 drugs regularly administered to horses are expressly prohibited by federal regulations for use in food animals.

There is no system in place to track these medications and veterinary treatments to ensure that horse meat is safe for human consumption. Even small traces of these chemicals in adulterated horse meat could pose serious health risks, most of which are completely unknown.

Please click here to urge your members of Congress to keep toxic horse meat out of the food supply by co-sponsoring and supporting the SAFE Act.

 Please follow the above link and support the SAFE Act. Let's keep horse slaughter out of our country!

Related articles

• Canada Bill C-322 Act to amend the Health of Animals Act and the Meat Inspection Act
• ABP settles one horse meat legal action and begins another
• Miniature horses are now recognized as important (and adorable) service animals
• ALDI confirms up to 100% horsemeat in beef products!!
• Current Crisis Evaluation.

Petitioning American Farm Bureau Foundation  

 

Boycott Beef until the SA.F.E. Act is passed

Petition by Habitat for Horses 
   

We tried to reason, we spent our money in courts fighting you, we've taken those we’ve managed to save and watched our government bow to the horse slaughter industry. We’ve filed bills in Congress and watched them die, spent a ton of money trying to stop the roundups and slaughter, yet it continues unabated.

One hundred seventy thousand horses a year, 472 a day, one every 4.8 minutes, die in a slaughterhouse. Year after year, we have sought to bring it to an end. No one listened, most of the cattle industry laughed at us.

It’s time for that laughter to end.

The beef industry  has always been in full support of the horse slaughter industry. You've worked hand-in-hand with the AQHA and the BLM as they push for horse slaughter, and your influence in all 50 state Farm Bureaus has been consistent. You've taken every word from the paid propagandists and force fed them to the Farm Bureau members.

Knowing full well that your facts are pure lies, you have convinced those inside the Beltway to believe that you are the saviors of the horse industry.

You aren’t. You are horse killers, wanting nothing better for the horses of America than you want for your cattle - to be slaughtered and served to the consumer for a profit.

Now it’s time for the 80% to strike back in a way that will force you to listen.

Starting now, we pledge that we will not buy nor consume another bite of beef until the S.A.F.E Act is passed and signed into law. No hamburgers, no BBQ beef, no steak, no fast food with beef. And we ask that every person that is against horse slaughter do the same.

To:
American Farm Bureau Foundation, Executive Director
National Cattlemen's Beef Association

As an American horse advocate, I pledge that I will not buy beef of any kind until the SAFE Act is passed and the American horse is free from the threat of slaughter!

Not a dollar of my money will enter your pocket until you and your supporting organizations take the action necessary to support and pass the SAFE Act.

Sincerely,
[Your name]

Related articles

• Letter to Editor Questions Horse Slaughter Plant in Iowa
• Save the horses from slaughter
• Tweetstorm to Support the Safeguard American Food Exports Act of 2013 (SAFE Act)
• Federally Indicted Horse Slaughter Hauler's Court Docs Available Online
• Navajo Elders Voice Opposition to Horse Slaughter
• Horse Slaughter Compounds Surplus Equine Problem, Doesn't Solve It

The European Commission Has Failed to Stem That Tide of Horse Meat Imports.

The European Commission Has Failed to Stem The Tide of Horse Meat Imports.

 

Swabe is the European Union Director for Humane Society International. This piece is adapted from the article Scant Progress Made in EU Hors emeat Regulation on Horsetalk. Swabe contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

The horse meat scandal, it seems, is far from over. One only needs to look at the recent case revealing Latvian horse meat in frozen meat-pies sold in the United Kingdom (UK) to see that horse meat fraud is widespread.

Even in the legal horse meat trade, things are not completely transparent. It has been three years since the European Union (EU) introduced strict new requirements for the import of horse meat from non-EU countries, yet meat from horses that should never have been slaughtered for export continues to arrive on the EU market. The European Commission has failed to stem that tide of horse meat imports.

The question is, when can we expect the commission to act?

Officials have yet to explicitly link imports from non-EU countries and the horse meat implicated in the recent UK fraud. However, for those of us working to protect horses, the discoveries of illicit horse meat in beef burgers, lasagne and pies provides a missing puzzle piece: could this be where so much of the horse meat imported into the EU is going?

Food suppliers already lawfully and routinely process horse meat into cheap convenience foods in some parts of Europe without many consumers realizing it (unless they read the small print). It is easy to see how unscrupulous operators have been able to launder horse meat into the food chain by passing it off as beef. The rise of processed meat products explains, in part, the apparent surfeit of horse meat in Europe, because most consumers are not clamoring to eat it.

Indeed, the European horse meat industry has been in steady decline since the 1960s as both culinary tastes and cultural attitudes have gradually changed. Even in France and Italy, traditional heartlands of horse slaughter and consumption, the number of horses killed has waned significantly. Statistics from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization show that in 1961, 333,000 horses were slaughtered in France and 283,000 horses were slaughtered in Italy. By 2011, the numbers had dropped to 15,500 and 62,237, respectively.

Evidently, only a minority of French and Italian consumers are actually going out of their way to regularly consume horse flesh. A survey conducted by Ipsos MORI for Humane Society International in 2012 found that only 50 percent of respondents in France and 58 percent in Italy believed that it was acceptable to eat horses. Moreover, most respondents said they never or only sometimes eat horse meat, whilst a mere 3 percent of Italians and 4 percent of French claimed to eat it frequently.
The fact is, Europe's declining horse meat industry is supplemented by significant global imports. EU import statistics show large quantities of horse meat annually being imported from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Uruguay.

Even when horse meat appears on the label of processed meat products with no question of food fraud, without mandatory origin labeling, EU consumers still have no idea where that meat came from. Why does that matter? Because imported horse flesh that fails to meet EU food safety standards poses a potentially serious health hazard.

The end of July marked three years since the EU introduced stricter import requirements. Only imports of horse meat from horses with a known lifetime medical-treatment history, and whose records showed they satisfied veterinary medicine withdrawal periods, are supposed to be allowed in to the EU. Yet, measures taken by export countries to preclude veterinary drug residues from entering the food chain are not fit for purpose.

Approximately 20 percent of horse meat consumed in the EU comes from Canada and Mexico, but the majority of that meat actually derives from U.S. horses — which are not raised for slaughter, but instead vendors acquired the horses from random sources. This is worrying because, in the United States, the use of veterinary drugs such as phenylbutazone — a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory prohibited in the EU for use in food-producing animals — is widespread, and there is no mandatory, lifetime, veterinary medical record-keeping.

Canada's and Mexico's lack of compliance has been exposed multiple times by non-governmental organizations, journalists and the European Commission's Food and Veterinary Office (FVO), including the problem of so-called "kill buyers," who purchase U.S. horses at auction and ship them long distances over the border to be killed for food. Since 2010, FVO audits have found that Canada and Mexico have failed to ensure that all horse meat meets EU requirements.

In the aftermath of one of Europe's biggest-ever food scandals, the European Commission has consistently failed to act to stop imports of horse meat from third-party countries that do not meet EU food-safety requirements. With consumer confidence at an all time low — exemplified by this recent survey from Ireland — it is the Commission's duty to ensure that meat not considered fit for human consumption by EU standards no longer ends up on EU consumers' plates.

Related articles

• Pace of horse meat probe condemned
• Hungarian Investigation Hints Nõo Was Aware of Horse Meat Mislabeling
• Move over halal: the horse debate is back
• Horse meat cops rapped for failing to prosecute anyone
• The Confusing World of Food Safety
• Ban the Sale of Horse Meat in the U.S.
• Yummy....Horse Meat.....Stand With 80% Of Americans
• "This isn't a horse. It's a goat" - USDA Food Inspector