|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
 |
|||||||
|
|
|
|
|||||||
| And finally, an option that many of you may personally choose not to consider but one that requires mentioning as part of this research, is to have your horse shipped to a packing plant. Considering shipping your horse is a subject that is thought extremely touchy by many. I hope that you will keep an open mind as I write about this topic. I am not for or against shipping a horse as each person must make her decision in regards to her own horse and their situation. There are many practical reasons not to ship a horse - it is in poor condition or injured and may suffer through the trip, it is grey in colour and the plants don't accept greys (higher cancer risk), it has been on lots of medication in recent weeks and should not be used as a food product, and so on. There are also emotional reasons - it was your first horse, or was the best horse you've ever known, and so on. Those are all good justifications not to ship your horse but instead to deal with the problem at home. On the flip side of the coin, however, there are also practical reasons to ship a horse that doesn't meet those above situations. For one, it removes all difficulty of disposing of a large body, and takes away the final pain of having to put your horse down. It also leaves you with a small financial compensation for the loss of your horse. That financial compensation can be looked at as your chance to help another horse who can benefit from your care and attention where your old horse no longer could. You can think of it as a sacrifice to rescue another horse, if you wish. There are some concerns about the quality of transportation for horses that are being shipped. There are the horror stories we have all heard about horses with broken legs being trampled in double decker trailers (cattle liners) and so on. The key then is to control what you can of the situation, which is to ensure (the best you can) quality transportation for those horses that are being shipped. If possible, transport your own horse - the nearest plants to us in northern BC are Edmonton and Fort McLeod, Alberta. It is a long trip, so it may be more advisable to pay someone you trust to transport the horse for you. It does cost more to ship this way, as allowing more space per horse means less profit for the hauler. Be sure to specify that you wish there to be as much care taken as possible during transport and the putting down of your horse. Sending your horse through an auction may sound easy, but of all the methods used, this is the least responsible. You have no idea what happens to your horse, and while you can romanticize that your horse found some special caring home, the chances are that your horse ended up on one of those cattle liners or other crowded trailers. If you do decide to consider shipping your horse and you don't want it go to a home (ie, if it is no longer ridable, or unsafe, etc), specify on the paperwork that the horse is being sold for meat only. This could save someone else from buying your castoff - especially important if there are hidden health or safety issues. Controlling the transportation method to the packing plant or having your horse put down at home are the more responsible ways of dealing with a horse at the end of his life - but ultimately you have to choose what method you use. Any time we have to make a life or death situation with a beloved animal, it can be extremely difficult and painful to deal with. Next week I'll share some ways of coping with the grieving process. |
Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.
All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigour. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind. They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart. Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.... Author unknown...
|
Last week I mentioned the pangare gene, and I imagine many of you are wondering just what on earth pangare may be. Pangare is a coat modifier, which means that it acts on the base coat of the horse. Pangare is most often identified on dark bay horses, but can also be found on standard bays and sorrels. I haven't personally seen pangare act on other coat colours but I imagine it would. Pangare is the gene that is responsible for lightening areas of a horse's coat. These areas are usually the muzzle, behind the elbows, and underneath the flanks. Ever heard the term "mealy mouthed"? This doesn't refer to a horse that has been eating oatmeal, but instead to a horse that has a lighter coloured muzzle. The rest of their face will be comparable with the body colour, but the muzzle will be much lighter. This is usually also true of the elbow and flank areas. While many horses do show a slightly lighter underbelly (especially in the sheath or udder area) this is not the same as pangare. On a black horse, the appearance may be changed enough that it will be registered as a brown instead, or black-bay in the cases of some registries. Pangare acts quite obviously on a dark bay, or even on a medium bay, but as I mentioned before, it can also be seen on a sorrel coat. In fact, the lightening makes these horses appear almost a quirky shade of red dun, and are often misidentified as such, although they don't have dun factor. If you add countershading to a sorrel horse with pangare, though, you can see why you could think the horse was actually a red dun! Flaxen (totally unrelated to pangare) is responsible for putting the blond manes and tail on a sorrel. Masked completely on a black pointed horse, the flaxen gene can be passed through several generations of blacks and bays and then crop up when a sorrel or chestnut horse is born. Flaxen manes and tails will be anywhere from slightly lighter than the base body coat, to almost completely white. A horse with a sorrel coat and a nearly white mane and tail can actually be misidentified as a palomino (in fact, there is a purebred Arabian registered with the Palomino Horse Association which is not a true palomino - there is no cream gene and therefore no palominos in the purebred Arabian). The genetics behind pangare and flaxen are unknown at this time, but one day I'm sure we'll know more about them! More intriguing colour genes next week. |
|||||||
|
If you have tips or questions you'd like to share with other local equestrians, please mail them to kristi@hiway16.com
|
|||||||||
