HAT Chat Articles – February 2004

A word from our President

2004 is off to a running start!

HAT has several important projects underway! The Scholarship Committee has been hard at work to get this project completed -- what a hard working

group! The Show Committee has also met, and will have more meetings before HAT’s first show of the year.

Spring is just around the corner, so now is the time to clean out those closets and tack room! HAT is having a Garage Sale to benefit the HAT Scholarship Fund! You can help HAT and get your unused items out of your way at the same time! You’ll find more information about how you can donate to the garage sale in this issue.

This year is already going great for HAT, and we are expecting more good things to come!

JOIN US AND MAKE IT EVEN BETTER!

Debby Van Nurden

HAT President

2004 HAT Show Plans

HAT’s Show Committee has been working on the 2004 show schedule, and has added two more shows to its schedule. The very popular Youth Show held last year will be returning this summer, and the Open Weanling and Yearling Futurity has been set for Saturday, October 2^nd at Loy Lake Arena in Denison.

NOTE: Due to a scheduling conflict, HAT’s first show of the year will NOT be held on April 17^th. A new date will be announced later.

HAT shows are open to all breeds and levels of experience. We offer a variety of classes in Halter and Performance for both Western and English disciplines, from Barrel Racing and Trail for the seasoned competitor all the way to Lead Line for the youngest riders.

More details on these events will be printed in upcoming issues of HAT Chat.

HAT Garage Sale March 20th

The first-ever HAT “Clean Out the House and Barn” Garage Sale will be held on Saturday, March 20^th from 8:30am to 5pm at the Lucky G Ranch in Denison. All proceeds from the sale will benefit the HAT Scholarship Fund.

What sort of items could you find at this sale? Pretty much anything – clothing, furniture, household goods, tack and equipment, and toys, just to name a few. Who knows? You might just run across the whatchamacallit or thingamajig that you’ve been looking around forever to find!

Have some extra stuff lying around the house or the tack room that you don’t need anymore? Would you like to get rid of it and help out a good cause at the same time? Donations of goods we can sell are being accepted now through the day of the sale. Items may be brought by the Lucky G ahead of time and stored, but please call (903) 465-4514 first to make sure someone is around to help you unload them.

English Tidbits

Practicing the “Crest Release”

by Linnie Brister

A “crest release” is what you do with you hands over a jump. Whether you go over a pole, a crossrail, or a large jump, if you are practicing jumping and your jumping position, you should also practice your crest release.

A crest release is the forward placement of your hands along the horse’s neck as you go over a jump. The purpose is to “give” with your arms (releasing more rein) in response to your horse’s need to stretch his body over the fence.

In general, your seat should be slightly out of the saddle with your upper body tilted forward and your forearms should be parallel to the crest of the horse’s neck. Your hands should be in line with your forearms and should rest just below the crest – not too far below – your hands should always be above the horse’s mouth. How much crest release - how far forward you place your hands on the horse’s neck - varies with the skills and goals of the horse and rider.

To find your crest release I suggest while you are mounted and your horse is standing, to get into your jumping position – raise your seat slightly out of the saddle and tilt your upper body slightly forward, and then place your hands along his neck, just below the crest. Don’t reach forward – just put your hands where they tend to fall with your normal bend in your elbow, in line with your shoulder. Look where your hands are relative to the length of the horse’s neck, remember that spot, this is “zero”.

Now move your hands 3 inches forward (towards the head of the horse) by just opening your elbows, now 6 inches forward, now 9 inches, now 12 inches, and maybe even further up the horse’s neck. Feel these distances, feel how your position changes as you reach over the horse and your elbows open – feel how when you go for the longer distances you have to pull your body of the saddle and your weight begins to be more imbalanced. Your body is now too far forward and centered over the horse’s neck, when you jump, you should give with your arms, not your whole body.

Now go back to 6 inches, mark it off with a bright ribbon or piece of tape.

In jumping, the first thing a lot of new and old riders tend to do is to not give enough crest release and/or balance themselves over the fence with their hands. We tend to not give ample crest releases cause we just do not think about it or we “feel” we give more than we do.

To practice your crest release, when you go over a fence (or even just a pole on the ground) grab some mane when you go over the fence with one or both hands – grab some mane just above that 6 inch mark. Practicing grabbing mane will come in handy if you get left behind over a fence and taking a moment to grab that mane will train yourself to take a moment to think about your hands in front of every jump.

An “ample” crest release like this with the mane for support is an exercise that will help teach you to carry your own body over the fence and encourage your horse to use his body over the fence and jump uninhibited by your hands. It will also build your confidence to let go of your horse over the fence and you will learn you do not need contact with your hands for control. It will also help an anxious horse build his confidence – he will have no contact over the fence to fight against.

If the exercise seems too complicated – then get into your jumping position and grab some mane and give your crest release a few strides in front of the fence and then just stay there as you go over the jump.

If you find the exercise easy, then stop grabbing mane and lay your hands just below the crest and practice making the crest release without the mane and once it becomes easy, practice altering the length of your crest release – longer and shorter (using more ribbon to mark off points so you do not look down too much). After that gets easy – practice giving different length releases with each hand – the idea is to get you thinking about your hands and increasing suppleness and co-ordination in your arms. When you get really good, do not look at your hands, and tell a helper as you go over each fence which marker your hands are at and see if you got it right!

Thanks for reading!J

Upcoming Events

Rose Hill “Bunny Hop” Combined Test

Rose Hill Stables in Anna will be holding a Combined Test on Friday and Saturday, April 9 and 10. In honor of Easter, this event has been named the “Bunny Hop Combined Test”.

For more information, contact Rose Hill Stables at (972) 924-2549 or e-mail felicia@rosehillstables.com. You can also visit their website, www.rosehillstables.com.

A Bit of Humor

Glossary of Horse Terms, Part 1

Hock: Financial condition of all horse owners.

Stall: What your rig does at rush hour in an unfamiliar city on the way to a big horse show.

A Bit: What you have left in your pocket after you've been to your favorite tack shop.

Fence: Decorative structure built to provide your horse with something to chew on.

Horse Auction: What you think of having after your horse bucks you off.

Pinto: Green coat pattern found on freshly washed light colored horses left unattended for 2 minutes.

Well Mannered: Hasn't stepped on, bitten, or kicked anyone for a week.

Rasp: Abrasive metal tool used to remove excess skin from ones knuckles.

submitted by Claudia Provin

Ask the Vet

New West Nile Vaccine

By Dr. Katie Hayes, DVM

The new Merial West Nile DNA-based vaccine, Recombitek®, is available now. Studies show that it is a better vaccine than the Fort Dodge West Nile vaccine, so I will be using the Merial Recombitek vaccine this year. Recombitek has a faster, better, and longer duration of immunity.

The Fort Dodge vaccine is a traditional “killed virus” vaccine that stimulates the production of circulating antibodies in the blood. However, West Nile virus is different from the Venezuelan, Eastern and Western Encephalitis viruses in that West Nile invades and lives inside the individual cells of the spinal cord, which prevents circulating antibodies from getting to it.

The Merial Recombitek vaccine uses a process called recombient vaccine technology to combine canary pox virus with West Nile DNA into a modified “live virus” vaccine. This modified canary pox “attacks” the individual cells, allowing them to develop their own immunity against the West Nile virus (called cellular immunity). The Merial vaccine also stimulates the production of circulating antibodies (called humeral immunity).

Safety

Because the canary pox virus is an avian (canary bird) virus, it does not multiply in mammals and so it is a safe carrier for another virus’ DNA. There is a flu vaccine using canary pox recombient technology that has been used in the United Kingdom (36,000 doses, including pregnant mares) with no adverse reactions. Actually, of all the major horse vaccines (EWT, West Nile, Rhino, Flu, Strangles, Rabies, and Rotovirus), only Rhino and Rotovirus are approved for pregnant mares; but, these vaccines have been used in pregnant mares for years with few side effects. The safety studies of 736 Recombitek-vaccinated horses showed 8% of the horses were depressed, 7% had swelling at the injection site, and one had hives. All of these side effects resolved themselves without medical treatment. This vaccine technology has been used by Merial for years, and has been especially successful with their oral Rabies vaccine meat-drop program in South Texas, which stopped a coyote/dog rabies epidemic there 4 years ago. Merial also has other recombient virus vaccines for dogs and cats.

Protection

The Recombitek West Nile vaccine has a more rapid onset of immunity and a longer lasting immunity. Studies show that horses who received one dose of Recombitek had 88% protection when challenged with West Nile-infected mosquitoes 26 days after vaccination; by comparison, the Fort Dodge vaccine has little protection after one dose. Horses who received a second dose of Recombitek 3-6 weeks after the first had 100% protection when challenged by West Nile-infected mosquitoes 14 days after the second vaccination, while the Fort Dodge vaccine has only 85-90% protection 14 days after the second dose. The Recombitek-vaccinated horses also had 90% protection one year after vaccination, while the Fort Dodge vaccine’s antibody levels decreased dramatically one year later.

Vaccination Schedule

The Merial Recombitek West Nile vaccination protocol is the same as the Fort Dodge vaccine, which is two initial shots 3-6 weeks apart with a yearly booster. The good news is that if your horse has had the two shots of West Nile vaccine, you only have to give one shot of the new Recombitek vaccine as the yearly booster. The other good news is that because of longer lasting immunity with the new Recombitek vaccine, you will only have to give one booster shot per year instead of the twice a year (spring and fall) recommended schedule for Fort Dodge vaccine.

Here in Texoma, I see West Nile cases in horses from September 15^th to November 15^th when the birds migrate and bring it to our mosquitoes, who then bite humans and horses here. Because West Nile cases start in the summer and peak in late September and October, I recommend giving your annual West Nile vaccination from March-September, except for pregnant mares who need it 1-2 months prior to foaling. Foals will need their vaccine series starting at 5-6 months of age. Yearlings that have had a series need a summer West Nile booster, while non-vaccinated yearlings and horses need a series of two shots 3-6 weeks apart this spring/summer.

Cost

The price of the new Recombitek vaccine is about the same as the Fort Dodge vaccine at $20/dose.

West Nile is here to stay and we will see it every fall, but now we have a more effective vaccine to protect our horses.

This Month’s Recipe

Shepherd’s Pie Serves 4-6

1 lb. ground beef 2 tbsp flour

1 large onion, chopped 1 cup beef stock

2 cloves garlic, minced 6-8 cups mashed potatoes

1 cup frozen kernel corn 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated

3/4 cup frozen peas salt and pepper (to taste)

1 tsp dried thyme parsley, chopped

1 tsp dried oregano

· Preheat oven to 350° F

· Brown ground beef in large skillet on medium-high heat and drain off grease. Push the beef to the sides of the pan, and add the onion and garlic. Cook until the onion is tender and slightly brown.

· Add the corn, peas, thyme, and oregano and stir well. Sprinkle the flour over the entire mixture and cook 2-3 minutes. Add the beef stock and bring the mixture to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

· Pour the beef and vegetable mixture into a casserole dish. Cover the surface of the mixture with the mashed potatoes, and sprinkle the cheddar cheese on top.

· Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the cheese has melted and the casserole is cooked through. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley.