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5/29/10

2010 NAPHA NATIONAL SHOW



National Show Update: Although a preliminary work-up had been done on the South Point Equestrian Center in Las Vegas as the site of the 2010 Nationals, it was determined by the Board of NAPHA that due to the financial situation of the organization and the proximity of the Las Vegas dates to the Breeders Show in National Show 9/17 - 9/19 Burbank, CA Judge: Raul Risso Texas, the show will be moved to Los Angeles Equestrian Center and held on Sept. 17 - 19. The Board attempted to find a more central location for the show, but most facilities had no dates available on such short notice. In doing detailed financial comparisons between Las Vegas and Los Angeles, it was determined that the Los Angeles facility was half the price of the Las Vegas location and would probably attract at least the same number of horses. Since achieving financial stability is a priority for 2010, it was felt that the most responsible thing to do was to relocate the show to the more reasonably priced facility. The judge for the show will be Raul Risso, an ANCPCPP and NAPHA approved judge.

 


3/ 29/10

 Silverlite Trailers Closing



We regret to inform you that due to the economics of today’s world,
SilverLite Trailers will be closing down its factory and liquidating the
entire remaining inventory (about 50 trailers) effective immediately.
These are great deals so if you are looking for a trailer, now's the
time to buy.

If you have any questions, please contact:
Rick Harne
541-913-3708
rickh@towatoy. com

 


Feb 2010

Humane Society of United States at it again

Remember this is not the humane society you think it is. This one is a left leaning progressive environmental group that seeks to control how we raise animals and grow food. It is NOT the ASPCA (American Society for the prevention of cruelty to animals)

A recent Capital Press article (2/5/2010), states that the Humane Society of United States wants to control chicken and hog farmers in Ohio by introducing legislation banning cages.

If passed, this legislation will probably put many farmers out of business as they will no longer be competitive.

Remember, they have already succeeded in California by introducing legislation (that passed) that banned cages for chickens.

Just how long will it be before they propose legislation that affects us horse owners?
It’s chickens and pigs now. Horses next? I am sure that their goal is to not allow our horses to be kept in stalls or paddocks. That would be another way to eliminate many horse owners and horse breeders.

Here’s an Ohio news article that goes into more depth:  MORE 
Here is another OHIO news link: MORE


 

May 22, 2009

THE DAMAGE DONE
 


In 2006, Dr Halper from the University of Georgia, with the support of our National Organization, released a News Bulletin to the entire equine world. That press release sent to every vet clinic in the United States claimed that Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis was actually a “systematic disorder involving accumulation of proteoglycans” and claimed that “it was most common in Peruvian Pasos” The claim was also made that they had developed a test and that the since the disease “tends to run in families” by simply cutting into the nuchal ligament of horses and looking for proteoglycans.  “Peruvian horse owners can choose not to breed predisposed horses” Dr Halper even changed the name to Equine Systemic Proteoglycans Accumulation…
ESPA                                                                                                                                       Every veterinary clinic in the country now has this information

The only problem with all of this is ……
none of it is true.

Simply by looking at Dr Halpers own charts it became obvious that the data did not back up the conclusions and we stated this in the Misdiagnosis Report in 2007.

Now six Doctors from across the country, in an independent abstract study came to the exact same conclusion. 
Degenerative Suspensory Ligament Desmitis is Not a Systemic Proteoglycan Disease - April 2009, J Gallante, Orthopedic surgery Rush Medical College, Chicago Il. R Poole, Veterinary Pathobiology, Texas A&M University   D Schenkman, Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin. A Armier, Veterinary Population Medicine, University of Minnesota J Williams, , Orthopedic surgery Rush Medical College, Chicago Il R Schultz Pathobiological Sciences, University of Wisconsin.
Taken from their conclusion: “In contrast to the findings of a previous study, proteoglycans deposition was not unique to DSLD horses, and Proteoglycan deposition in aortas and nuchal  ligaments of some control horses exceeded levels of proteoglycans presents in similar DSLD horses. We found no evidence that DSLD is a systemic proteoglycans deposition disease.”

From the Misdiagnosis report 2007

“However, by simply looking at Dr Halper's own charts we can see that the unaffected Peruvian control horse has this accumulation in as many places as the affected horses and five of seven of the unaffected control horses would test positive with a nuchal ligament biopsy”

The fact remains that what people call DSLD is for the most part an accumulation of small injuries that when left untreated become chronic.           To find out more about these injuries go to,
WWW.friendsoftheperuvianhorse.com  and click on healthy horses. To read the full “Misdiagnosis Report”  click on research.

Rich Ovenburg 

 

 


Nov 15, 2008

Springfield horse trailer maker ceases operations


SPRINGFIELD — Silverado Trailers, a Springfield business that has built horse and stock trailers since 1991, has been put on hold by its owner pending the outcome of the nation’s economic crisis.

“I’m just sitting back, waiting to see what the hell’s happening with the world,” Silverado owner Major Defoe said Friday when reached at his Oregon Horse Center, on Prairie Road between Eugene and Junction City.

Defoe acknowledged that the trailer manufacturing and sales operation at 632 Shelley St. in Springfield has been closed since last month. It’s unclear whether the facility will reopen.

“I’m just taking a good vacation, and we’ll wait and see,” Defoe said. “I was disappointed in the elections, and I don’t know what’s going to happen. I don’t have a crystal ball.”

Silverado Trailers was operating from the former site of Defoe’s Blue Water Boats, which manufactured Fiberglas pleasure boats before closing in 1996.

The trailer company designed and produced made-to-order horse and stock trailers for sale directly to its end customers. Its models included everything from a two-stall horse trailer called the “Cascade” to a combination horse trailer/fifth-wheel travel trailer called the “Classic Coach.”

Prices ranged from under $10,000 to more than $100,000, Defoe said.

The design, manufacturing and sales operation employed more than 30 people at its peak, but was down to 11 employees prior to its closure, he said.

Defoe blamed the current economic downturn, saying conditions began deteriorating late this summer and continued to worsen into the fall.

“It pretty much parallels all the other businesses (currently experiencing difficulties),” he said.

Attendance at horse shows at his Oregon Horse Center have been off by 15 percent to 20 percent in recent months, Defoe said. But he said he was encouraged that participation in the National Mountain Trail Championships, held at his Prairie Road facility last weekend, was only 6 percent below a year ago.

“And we are booked for next year,” Defoe said.

“From January to October next year, I bet we don’t have four free weekends, at the most.

“But we are the place in Oregon for horse shows. That’s all we do.”

His 52,000-square-foot indoor arena is the largest privately owned equestrian facility in the state. The 40-acre horse center also houses boarding stables and the Eugene Pro Rodeo grounds.

 


Apr 9, 2008

Activists fight horse exports to Mexico


As slaughter drops off in U.S., attention shifts to live exports

The irony is that more horses are now being shipped to Mexico as the result of horse slaughter bans in several U.S. states, said Tom Lenz, a veterinarian, past president of the American Association of Equine Practitioners and chair of the Unwanted Horse Coalition.

"What's going on today is exactly what we predicted," he said.

Horse slaughter isn't banned at the federal level, but bans in Illinois and Texas effectively shut down the last three remaining plants in the U.S. last year. Since then, exports of horses for slaughter have surged, Lenz said.

About 10,900 horses have been sent to Mexico for slaughter so far in 2008, up from about 4,900 at the time last year - more than a twofold increase, according to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service.

"Nobody is raising horses in this country to be processed. ... These are just discarded horses," said Lenz. "If there were no longer horses being discarded, there would be no horse slaughter in this country."

from a recent article in the Capital Press, Oregon edition
 


Aug 5, 2007

Weed Free Rule


The U.S. Forest Service is gearing up to require riders to feed only weed-free hay to horses and mules used on national forests in Oregon and Washington.

The agency wants to put a stop to livestock consuming weed-infected hay at campsites and then spreading the seeds in their droppings to public lands and pristine wilderness areas.

The Forest Service regulation went into effect Jan 1 (2007) to require riders in the federal wilderness areas of Oregon and Washington to feed only weed-free hay and pellets to their animals.

But it won't be enforced until 2009, when it also will encompass the two states' 19 national forests, said Nancy Phelps, a Forest Service spoke-women in Portland.

Paraphrased from an article in the Capital Press Aug 3, 2007
 


Jun 25, 2007

DSLD News

This letter was written in 2002. Alamo Pintado has once again given permission to pass this letter on to the Peruvian horse world. They have treated hundreds of Peruvian horses since 2002 and still feel the same today as they did when they originally wrote and signed this letter.

Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center, Inc.

To: Peruvian Paso horse owners

Re: Suspensory Ligament Desmitis

Alamo Pintado Equine Medical Center has been treating horses for over 30 years in Los Olivos, California. We see horses of all breeds and of all equine performance sports. We have always seen a large number of Peruvian Paso horses because of our locale to many top Peruvian breeders and trainers in the Santa Ynez Valley and California.

In the last six years we have diagnosed well over 1,000 suspensory ligament injuries in horses associated with racing, jumping, dressage, cutting and endurance events. We have diagnosed approximately 8 Peruvian Paso horses with suspensory ligament injuries during the same time period. Of these 8 injuries in the Peruvian Paso horses, six were determined to be typical overuse injuries and were treated as such at APEMC. Of the other two Peruvian Paso horses that did not fit the typical overuse injury, one was due to being extremely overweight and poorly taken care of and the other horse may have had what has been called degenerative suspensory ligament disease but it was not confirmed with any histologic evidence.

The veterinarians at APEMC have always found it to be curious that this condition of the Peruvian horse has not been described in any equine lameness or surgery text and has not surfaced as a cause of unsoundness in the Peruvian Paso horses that we have dealt with on a daily basis for the last 30 years. On the contrary, we have found suspensory desmitis to be very rare in the Peruvian Paso population that we treat compared to a relatively high incidence in the racehorse, jumper and dressage horses. We feel that these high rates are a factor of footing, training and shoeing problems. We do feel that some of these injuries are related to abnormal conformation in some horses and are not just occupational hazards. Some large breed broodmares that have had numerous foals will often develop a chronic progressive suspensory ligament degeneration and breakdown that is very difficult to treat as long as they remain heavy and continue to carry heavy pregnancies. Once this degenerative process develops it is not possible to reverse and return the suspensory branches to normal with rest or treatment. Weight management in any breed of horse is critical to health and soundness.

I am sure that this condition has been diagnosed and documented in a certain number of Peruvian Paso horses on some farms in the United States, but I have not heard of the numbers and the overall incidence as of yet. We have seen this identical problem in Thoroughbreds and Quarter horses, but these are horses that were poorly conformed and passed the predisposing conformation to their offspring. The simple answer to this problem is to not breed bad-legged horses to bad-legged horses, or to breed any horse with a severe inherited conformation fault. Once that becomes obvious, the problem goes away.

In our experience, the Peruvian Paso, as a breed, is a very tough, durable and sound breed of horse when compared to all the other breeds of horses we see at APEMC. I hope that the excitement and confusion over a small group of isolated horses does not continue to cast irresponsible unwarranted connotations on a very strong and sound breed of horse.

Doug Herthel, DVM Mark Rick, DVM
Greg Parks, DVM Ed Hamer, DVM
Carter Judy, DVM DACV
 


Oct 30, 2003

Verle and Carol's 2003 Trip To Peru