Comment

Comment by Sherry Cassetori on November 18, 2009 at 7:49am

Hey guys I guess I am the young one in this group I am turning 55 in Dec. However I do ride with a woman that is 70

Comment by Popcorn on November 17, 2009 at 5:43pm

Lots of us are over 60... I'm turning 61 on Thursday .... Happy Birthday to you!

Comment by Linda White on November 17, 2009 at 5:17pm

Well I'm 63 - and bragging - and I've found the over 50 group great for my interests and concerns. Give it a try.

Comment by Gail Morse on November 17, 2009 at 3:41pm

There may be a lot of horsey people in the over 50 group but they are not as creaky as we are. Gail.

Comment by Shirley on November 17, 2009 at 8:32am

The federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has issued its 2010 Round-up Schedule which provides for the capture of a staggering 12,000 additional wild horses and burros, at the cost of 32 million of our tax dollars! Given BLM?s recent handwringing over the number of horses in government holding, this announcement is simply baffling. More than ever, America?s wild horses are under siege, their long-term survival increasingly threatened.

Nevada?s Calico Complex, with over 2,500 horses slated for removal next month, is high on the list of questionable removals and another example of BLM?s out-of-control behavior. This herd was last rounded up in 2005, when BLM left an estimated 575 horses on the range and gave the mares a contraceptive vaccine. Yet, BLM now claims there are over 3,000 horses in that same area, a preposterous number, even by BLM standards. Locals familiar with the herd are adamant there are far from that many horses left on that range. Indeed, only BLM?s creative accounting could find that a herd has quintupled in size in less than five years, let alone a herd under a contraceptive program!

Interesting background information: last year, BLM authorized a 300% increase in cattle grazing for the area, and the building of a fence that BLM itself admitted might cut wild horses from their winter range and cause them to die. Wild horses would also be locked out of the best pasture with the most abundant water during the driest time of the year. At the time, BLM justified its decision by arguing that wild horse populations in the area were minimal. A couple of months later, it came out with its puzzling claim of population explosion, setting the stage for this massive round-up.

Clearly, something here is amiss. Where did these 3,000 horses come from?

Comments to BLM regarding this round-up must be provided by Thursday, November 12, 4:30 pm PST to Jerome Fox, BLM, 5100 E. Winnemucca Blvd., Winnemucca, NV 89445; Fax: (775) 623-1503; Email: NV_WFO_Webmail@BLM.gov (please be sure to include the following reference #: DOI-BLM-NV-W030-2010-0001-EA)

More importantly, the Department of Justice, which is currently investigating BLM for other misdeeds, must be made aware of another instance of this federal agency running amok. Please express your concerns over BLM?s questionable practices and continued mismanagement of our wild horses to:

John Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice, Room 2141
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
Email: john.cruden@usdoj.gov
(note: letters to the DOJ are not subject to the Nov. 12 deadline)

On behalf of America?s wild horses, thank you for your support,

The AWHPC Team
American Wild Horse Preservation Campaign
www.wildhorsepreservation.org

Comment by Ann Hatfield on October 16, 2009 at 6:41pm

I wear both my helmet and a protective vest always. I also wear gloves when riding on the trail (to knock aside tree branches and because I have fallen off several times and scraped my hands thoroughly). Before having to wear prescription glasses I always wore safety glasses when trail riding, after taking someone from an endurance ride to the hospital as she got a swat in the face with a branch. My prescription glasses are as tough as I could order them. Riding is dangerous, and I am getting so I go splat instead of sproing. As new technology comes along why not take advantage of it?

Comment by Linda White on October 14, 2009 at 11:55am

I know we had an earlier discussion about helmets and most people were in favour. Well, considering the current discussion, maybe we could talk about protective vests. I used to think protective vests were reasonable for eventers, but the rest of us didn't need them. Then I started seeing videos of British kids riding in horse shows and wearing vests, and I began to wonder. A 76 yr old friend I ride with always wears a vest, but I thought - sure, makes sense for her, but I'm a mere 63 - why would I need that? Then I started to think about the times I tear through the woods ripping over (small) jumps. What if I came off and slammed into a tree? So, long story short, I have started to wear a protective vest if I'm going to be jumping or cantering/galloping. It's incredibly light weight and isn't hot at all. I know it's not for everybody, but as Linda Dennis said, old bones are just not as supple as young ones. Just something to throw into the mix for discussion.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on October 14, 2009 at 11:48am

Yes Linda, we do have to leave a lot of horses to be ridden by younger folk! Give them a chance to pay their dues just like we did when we were younger--LOL.

Comment by Linda Dennis on October 14, 2009 at 11:24am

I thank you all for your suggestions and sympathies on my unfortunate event! But I have been riding since I was a small child, with the exception of a few years in NYC where I couldn't more recently. In those years, I got older and heavier, and less fit for riding though I walked allot! I am getting more and more riding fit as I go, and usually can roll fine when I fall - have for all my riding life - and no harm done. In fact, I am not that easy to expell for most horses! But this one caught me very unawares, I didn't respect the gravity of his reputation - he seemed so small and sweet to me - well, it was a very high, head deep between the ankles, very rodeo-nasty buck from a standstill and two times in immediate succession, and I did a complete flip over onto my back from way up high. I am not sure if I would have been able to affect that fall if I was trained to the way it happened. I did get up and lunge the horse afterwards, and was not injured to the point of incapacity, but I could feel when I fell and now still, that age had allot to do with the more damaging affects. I am a super healthy eater, but old bones are just not as supple as young ones, and that is a reality I have to face honestly. I have to be more careful about taking on serious offenders - and let the younger people tackle those - as I did when I was under 50. I can still train a horse that is unschooled, or a little difficult, but rank bucking and rearing is a job for the cowboys and girls out there with more bounceable bones!

Comment by Lee Kelly on October 13, 2009 at 7:46pm

ouch sorry to hear of your unscheduled dismount Linda. I have to agree with Sit the Trot, I personally witnessed a gentleman in a lesson I was watching, doing a course of jumps. The horse he was on stumbled badly off the jump and went down rolling almost completely over. This fellow test drives atv's and snowmobiles for a living and had been taught how to fall an roll away from the vehicles if there was a problem. This training came in very handy as he was catapulted over the horses head he tucked and rolled and was on his feet and back standing at the horses head by the time the horse got to his feet, unhurt! I have to say I was amazed!
It might be a great thing to learn... how to do the tuck and roll. JMO

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