Conference noted::equitation

An article from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer dated 20-AUG-87

Walla Walla, Washington
=======================
INMATES WON'T BE WILD HORSE TAMERS AFTER ALL

A program that would have allowed minimum-security inmates at the Washington
State Penitentiary to tame wild horses has fallen through.

The Bureau of Land Management, which manages public lands in 11 Western
states, has discussed such a program with the state Department of Corrections
for more than a year.

BLM Officials were hoping to sign a contract with the Corrections Department
in June, but pulled out because of the high cost and high number of horses
associated with the program, Rick McComas, a BLM natural resources specialist
in Spokane, said yesterday.

Plans called for the transfer of about 300 wild horsed, mostly form Oregon,
to specially built facilities at the Walla Walla prison by fall.  BLM was
to pay the prison $2.50 a day per horse, with the prison assuming housing
and other cost.

    It seems that horses were in the news quite often this week.
    I will share this with you, maybe others can elaborate more since
    the paper did not give more detail:
    
    12/1 MAINE:
    
    Among the casualties for the hunting season was a horse who
    was shot dead because a hunter mistook it for a deer.
    
    12/1 DEERFIELD N.H.
    
    A horse ride landed 2 people in the hospital Friday when a pack of
    dogs started attacking the horses as they walked on the road's edge.
    	The police could not be reached for comment but their report 
    stated that a 6 year old girl and a 45 year old man were riding 
    their horses on Currier road when several dogs went after the horses.
    	Both the girl and the man, who were not identified, were thrown
    from the horses. They were taken to Elliot hospital, but the extent
    of their injuries were not mentioned.
    	The SPCA took some of the dogs.
    
    12/2 DEAR ABBY:
    
    The following letters are in response to a letter from a woman whose
    2 year old child was killed when driving by a pasture, spotted some
    horses, and stopped so the child could pet the horses.
    
    Abby, in reference to the child who was killed when kicked in the head;
    you have no idea how stupif some people are around horses. 
    	Once, some people asked to take pictures of our colts - a pair
    of totally untrained yearlings. I said yes. The next thing I knew,
    each of these idiots placed a small child on colts and then stepped
    back to take the picture!
    	I was paralyzed with fear, but fortunately, the colts were so
    suprised that they just stood there until the kids were off of them.
    
    
    Here's another:
    
    Dear Abby,	I too have horses, and live near a public bike trail.
    We have had people park in our yard, climb the fence, pet the horses,
    feed them candy, jump up and down on the fence, break branches off
    our trees and shake them at the horses!
    	I came home one day to find a stranger pitching hay over the fence.
    He said he thought the horses looked hungry!
    	Another day, a mother sat her 15 month old child on the fence 
    with the child's legs inside and both were patting my horse!
    	A prominent Lexington KY., horse breeder lost a court case when
    a man climbed his fence to pet some thorougbred stallions. The man
    was severly injured and sued the breeder, despite the signs posted
    PLEASE DO NOT PET THE HORSES. The breeder lost the case!
    
    	T

    
    
    	That is why I believe in useing Hot Wire along the top of a fence
    that is `open to the public'.  And a big sign that says,
    "CAUTION--ELECTRIC FENCE"  Even if the fence isn't on, people think
    twice about climbing over it or even getting near it.
    
    My .2 worth.
    
    Virginia
    

    This was enough to scare the heck out of me!
    
    My neighbor heard car doors slam, and walked around to the front
    of his house to see 4 gun toting hunters getting out of the truck
    that they had parked ON HIS LAWN!  He asked them what they were doing,
    and the leader of the group told him they had permission from the owner
    to hunt here, and that they didn't have to tell him who, and so there!
    
    Yikes!  These 4 bozos were lost, and had intended to hunt IN MY AREA!
    
    My neighbor called the police, and when the bozos realized they *might*
    be in the wrong place, got in the truck and left.
    
    

    It never ceases to amaze me how stupid and unthinking people can be.
    
    I live right in the middle of "Apple Country" and every fall people
    drive out to Harvard from Boston and other cities to pick apples and
    cruise the town.  And every fall I have to politely ask people to 
    please not feed apples to my horses.  A standard response is "But we
    do this every year."  It's all I can do to keep from telling them off!  
    
    So I have to explain that if every person who
    drove out to pick apples stopped and fed some (not just one!) to my
    horses, I'd have dead horses.  People are just stupified by this
    information.  I think next year I'll just offer to let them pay some
    of the bills or do some of the work and they can feed all the apples 
    they want...especially if they'd like to come out and do it at 5:30
    every morning!
    
    I've seen people sit their children on the fence, let their toddlers
    walk unchecked along the fence and in the street (and cars drive much
    to fast up my street), hand apples to my horses unmonitored, and on
    and on.
    
    So this year I just closed the gate and kept the horses off the front
    pasture on the weekends.  I guess if I had a functioning brain I would
    have done that years ago...
    
    gwen
    

    
    	Well, this isn't really 'in the news', it's more 'on TV':
    
    	Did anyone else catch the commercial with the Budwieser 
    	horses playing a game of football?? It was WILD!! I saw 
    	it yesterday evening [one of the network channels] and
    	it just gave me chills, it was so well done... 
    
    	Sherry
    

Re: <<< Note 375.6 by SBUOA::ROBINSON "you have HOW MANY cats??" >>>
    
>>    	Did anyone else catch the commercial with the Budwieser 
>>    	horses playing a game of football?? It was WILD!! I saw 
>>    	it yesterday evening [one of the network channels] and
>>    	it just gave me chills, it was so well done... 

Yes, a fantastic commercial!  For those Colorado folks, the Bud team is at the
National Western Stock Show right now.  Where the Clydes are stabled they have
an endless loop of the commercial running.  You wouldn't believe the subtleties
you can catch when you watch it back-to-back a few times!

It's hard to find the stables because they're very, very poorly marked. 
Literally they have an 11x14 inch sign and that's it.

To find the stables go to Portal 11 (entrance to the Arena) in the Coliseum and
face outward. About in front of you you will see the woman's rest room.  Walk
toward the rest room and to the right of it and you'll end up in a corner with a
staircase leading downstairs.  The Clydes are down those stairs.

Trivia for draft fans:  After the center puts his foot on the ball, it cuts to a
horse chin, then cuts to two horse faces in slow motion dropping down.  The
horse on the right has a blaze with a funny "spike" or projection that comes to
a point to his right (our left).   That horse's name is "Master" and is on the
team here in Denver and can be seen if you go to the stables.  He's right out
front.

BTW, the team performs during the Rodeo.

                        I-heart-drafts-Roak

    
    I know this is not a good reply to this topic, but I am very sad.  I
    missed some of the news cast, but their was a truck pulling a horse
    trailer with 2 horses inside.  Something happend and the truck and
    trailer fell/slide into the water.  The horses drowned inside the
    trailer. :-(
    
    I just could not imagin this at all.  I would be devistaed. I have been
    very depressed for the last few days once I heard this.
    
    Lou