HAT Chat Articles – December
2005
A word from our
President
Well, I’ve reached the end of
my first year as HAT President. It’s
been a very rewarding experience for me, and having been re-elected for a
second year, I look forward to serving our club again in 2006.
With Christmas rapidly
approaching, I’d like to take a quick look back at this past year. We had a lot of things going on…along with
our monthly meetings, we had a Mare & Foal Clinic,
a Stallion Service Auction, three open horse shows, our annual Youth Clinic and
Show, an Adult Riding Clinic, and our Halter Challenge. All of them had one thing in common: the
drive and dedication of our members and volunteers who come out to work these
events. Without them, none of these
could have ever happened, and for that I offer all of them my heartfelt thanks.
I am very proud to be
associated with this organization. The
amount of talent and energy in our members is amazing, and I have learned a
great deal from being here and talking to others. Many of the people I have met through HAT
have become personal friends of Jenni’s and mine, and
I believe those friendships are all the more special because of our shared
interests in horses. I invite everyone
who hasn’t been to our meetings to come out and see what this club is all
about.
Here is wishing you and yours
a very happy holiday season, and I look forward to talking to you again next
year.
Roger Dougan
HAT President
HAT Halter Challenge and Open Show
HAT held its last show
of the year on November 6th at Loy Lake Arena in
In the Halter Challenge,
the Grand Champion of the Challenge went to Ima Show
Off, a yearling colt shown by Chad Bayer of Muenster, and the Reserve Champion
went to Designed Invitation, a weanling gelding shown by Acacia Chouteau of
A highlight of the day
was a singing and yodeling performance by 13-year-old local talent Callie
Maxwell. She entertained the crowd while
on horseback in the arena.
HAT would like to thank
everyone who volunteered their time to work at the show, and all of the
participants who came out and spent the day with us.
HAT Officer Election Results
HAT held officer elections
for 2006 at its monthly meeting on November 3rd. The results are as follows:
- Roger Dougan – President
- Sandra Shiver – 1st Vice President
- Mike Scully – 2nd Vice President
- Donna Franus – Secretary
- Jenni Dougan – Treasurer
HAT would like to thank
our officers who have served during 2005, and congratulate the officers who
will be serving in 2006.
2006 Stallion Showcase in February
It’s time to start
planning for next year’s breeding season.
To help you with making your decisions, HAT publishes an annual Stallion
Showcase. Due to the holiday crunch, the
2006 edition of the Showcase will appear in the February newsletter.
As always, the Showcase
consists of two sections – the Stud List and the Showcase Ads. For advertisers, listings in the Stud List
are always free, and our regular advertising rates apply for the Showcase Ads
(remember, HAT members pay only half-price for their ads!). As an added benefit, the 2006 Showcase will
also be listed online at our website.
Ads for the Stallion
Showcase will be accepted through Friday, January 13th. For more information, contact the HAT office
or visit our website at www.hat-texoma.org.
Kids Corral
To Parents: In what has become an annual tradition here at HAT
Chat, we are pleased to present the poem “’Twas the
Night Before Christmas”, or “A Visit from St.
Nicholas”, by Clement Clarke Moore.
We hope you enjoy sharing this story with your family. Oh, and don’t forget to leave cookies and
milk sitting out for Santa on Christmas Eve!
“’Twas the Night Before Christmas”
by Clement Clarke Moore
‘Twas the night before Christmas, when
all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap,
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects
below,
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;
“Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! on Cupid! on,
Donder and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of
the wall!
Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!”
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St.
Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little
hoof.
As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.
His eyes, how they twinkled!
His dimples, how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,
“HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL, AND TO ALL A
GOOD-NIGHT!”
State/Local News
New
On
sale now through TxDOT, the plate features a version
of artist Orren Mixer’s ideal American Quarter Horse,
a special logo and the words “
“We
are extremely proud to have the world’s most popular breed of horse, whose
roots run deep in
“There
were many people who helped make this plate reality,” said Brewer. “I want to thank the Texas Department of
Transportation for their quick approval of the design and especially thank the
Texas Department of Agriculture, and Commissioner Susan Combs and her staff for
handling the administrative end of plate sales.”
The
American Quarter Horse plate joins a prestigious list of nearly 150 other
specialty license plates for colleges, military veterans, organizations and professional
sports teams offered to
If you
would like a plate for your home, office or barn, anyone (including
out-of-state residents) can order a souvenir plate featuring the American
Quarter Horse through TxDOT. The fee for a single souvenir license plate
is $20. If the souvenir license plate is
personalized, the fee for the plate is $40.
For information on ordering a souvenir plate, visit
www.dot.state.tx.us/vtr/spplates/souvenir/souvenir.htm.
National News
USDA Designates Counties in
Decision
Allows Farmers and Ranchers to Apply for USDA Assistance
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has
designated counties in
The following 11 counties in
Wilbarger –
Rains –
Hunt –
Foard –
Jim Wells –
Additional Texas counties which are
eligible because they are contiguous to these designated counties are Archer,
Baylor, Brooks, Camp, Cass, Cottle, Dallas, Duval,
Denton, Fannin, Franklin, Grayson, Hardeman, Hopkins, Kaufman, Kenedy, King, Knox, Lamar, Live Oak, Morris, Nueces,
Rockwall, San Patricio, Smith, Titus, Upshur, Van Zandt, and Wichita (note that
some of these counties have been included in multiple declarations).
In
Alfalfa Cotton Hughes McClain Pushmataha
Atoka Craig
Beckham Creek
Caddo Dewey Le Flore Okfuskee Tillman
Canadian Ellis
Carter
Choctaw Garvin Love Payne Woods
Coal Grant
Comanche Haskell Mayes Pottawatomie
Additional
The counties listed were designated as
natural disaster areas, making all qualified farm and ranch operators eligible
for EM loans, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers and ranchers
in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the designation to
apply for the loans to help cover part of their actual losses. FSA will consider each loan application on
its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available
and repayment ability. FSA has a variety
of programs available, in addition to the emergency loan program, to help
eligible farmers and ranchers recover from adversity.
USDA has also made other programs
available to assist farmers and ranchers, including the Emergency Conservation
Program, Federal Crop Insurance and the Noninsured Crop Disaster Assistance
Program.
Interested farmers and ranchers may
contact their local USDA Service Centers for further information on eligibility
requirements and application procedures for these and other programs. Additional information is also available
online at: http://disaster.fsa.usda.gov.
Legislative Update
American Horse Council Press Release
Contact:
NLamoureux@horsecouncil.org
Horses
Made Eligible for Federal Emergency Funds
Language making horses eligible for various federal disaster
assistance programs was included in the final USDA FY 2006 appropriations bill
passed by Congress and signed by the President.
The horse industry has been working on this effort for some time. The provision was added by Senator Mitch
McConnell (R-KY), with the support of Senators Jim Bunning (R-KY), Blanche
Lincoln (D-AR) and Thad Cochran (R-MS).
The provision is the same as the language regarding federal
assistance in the Equine Equity Act (S. 1528) introduced in the Senate last
July by Senators McConnell, Bunning and Lincoln.
There was no similar provision in the House-passed USDA
Appropriations bill. Nonetheless, the
Conference Committee formed to work out the various differences between the two
bills accepted the Senate version with the new federal assistance program,
which is effective
The provision will include horses within the scope of livestock
eligible for various federal programs provided for in other statutes governing
emergency federal programs. Importantly,
it repeals the language in the outdated Agricultural Act of 1949 limiting
emergency funds to horses “used for food or the production of food.” This limitation has been a major stumbling
block to making horses eligible for federal assistance.
Broadening the current emergency assistance programs to include
horses will rectify the unfair economic situation now facing horse owners and
breeders versus other livestock producers in the aftermath of disasters.
The AHC is preparing a more detailed explanation of the effect of
the new provision to be made available in the near future.
FHWA Clarifies Horse Access to Certain Trails
The
American Horse Council reports that the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
has publicly clarified that equestrians are allowed on shared-use paths and trails
that use Federal-aid transportation funds.
The notice, posted on the FHWA website, is a positive step forward in
acknowledging equestrian activity on public land.
“Under
current federal law, equestrians are not specifically listed as potential users
of shared-use transportation paths. Many
riders believe that some land managers use this to deny equestrians access to
these paths, even though that is not the intent of the federal law,” said AHC
President Jay Hickey.
During
consideration of the recently-passed SAFETEA-LU legislation, the Omnibus
federal highway funding bill, the AHC attempted to include language that
specifically provided that horses were allowed on shared-use paths and trails
that use Federal-aid transportation funds.
The Senate version of the highway bill included this language in a broad
section that listed equestrians, among other users, as permitted shared-use
trail users. The House version of the
bill did not include this provision.
Unfortunately, it was removed during negotiations in the Conference
Committee formed to work out the final bill sent to the President, despite the
industry’s efforts to have it retained.
“When
that occurred, the AHC met with the FHWA, which had strongly supported the
legislative clarification, to discuss other ways to clarify the original intent
of the statue, which was meant to include horses among other non-motorized
users,” said Hickey. “We discussed ways
for this clarification to be distributed to land managers at the state and
local level. One solution proposed by
FHWA was to post language on their website specifically addressing equestrians
on shared-use paths. That statement was
recently posted by the FHWA and the language strongly supports our goal of preserving
and expanding the right of horseback riders.”
The
FHWA notice also states that the Recreational Trails Program encourages trail
management practices to serve a wide variety of trail users, including
equestrians. This philosophy of trail
sharing should extend to other trail projects using Federal-aid highway program
funds.
The
FHWA notice can be found at
http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/environment/bikeped/allow_uses.htm
“We
appreciate the FHWA working with the horse industry on the legislation and this
clarification,” said Hickey. “We will
continue to work with the FHWA and other federal agencies to promote long-term
efforts that support equestrian use on federal land.”
Extension Service News
by Eddie Baggs, CEA-Agriculture
Agriculture Relief Efforts
How much more can the local agriculture industry
withstand? With the drought continuing its strangle hold on North Central Texas, what lies down the
road?
Rainfall to date is 40% below normal, which has
created a serious shortage of hay and grazing forages. The Farm Service Agency (FSA) has confirmed
losses of hay, crops and grazing pastures in
This loss was reported to the United States Department
of Agriculture (USDA), while the
In addition to the drought, crop failure, cattle herd
reductions and outrageous hay prices (if you can find any between here and
When agriculture producers go to the bank to secure an
operating loan to meet these higher production costs, they will find that the
Federal Reserve Bank, in its efforts to fight off inflation, have increased
interest rates. In other words, it will
cost more to pay more.
How does the drought and production
costs affect our local economy?
Herd reduction means less animals, smaller numbers of animals equals
less feed purchased, seed, fertilizer, fuel, hay equipment, tractors,
herbicides, trucks, trailers, fencing materials, anything related to
agriculture, including the person behind the counter will feel the effects
economically. But one thing is for sure:
a drought always ends with a rain!
Educational programs conducted by the
Ask The Vet
by Dr.
Katie Hayes, DVM
Supplements
The
supplement industry is not regulated by the FDA or any organization, so
anything goes. Check the creditability
of the company, purity and source of ingredients, and quality control. Companies that are members of the National
Animal Supplement Council perform quality control testing, adhere to label
requirements, and hear reports of adverse reactions.
Minerals
Minerals,
especially trace minerals, are the most important supplement. All feed and hay are grown in
mineral-deficient soil, and this year with our drought the hay quality is not
good. Pregnant broodmares need minerals
for the skeleton and cartilage of the developing fetus. Many horses that crave minerals eat wood,
trees, dirt, and other objects trying to obtain the minerals they need.
The
addition of free choice loose minerals is the cheapest way to improve
health. The commonly used mineral block
is 95% salt and a few minerals. Loose
minerals are better, but check the label.
Given the choice between salt and minerals, the horse will choose to eat
minerals. Some mineral supplements
include Purina 12/12 and Dynamite (Sandra Shiver distributor, 903-819-3669).
Vitamin
Mineral supplements are more expensive but the horse will get the minerals it
needs. Some vitamin mineral supplements
are TDI (can be purchased at Don Glenn Feed) or Grow N Win (can be purchased at
Bucks Farm Supply) which has two formulas, one is to be used if you feed
coastal hay and one if you feed alfalfa hay.
Probiotics
Probiotics
are active cultures of beneficial bacteria or fermented products that along
with active cultures will rebalance the pH level of the intestinal system. This improves the environment for the normal
healthy microbes and bacteria of the intestinal tract. The microbes absorb minerals and synthesize
vitamins. Some probiotics
come in paste or powder such as Fastrack or Probiacin.
I put
any horse with digestive problems, colic, diarrhea, or weight loss on a probiotic such as Fastrack. Beneficial microbes of the intestine are
killed by antibiotic use, so a dose of a probiotic
would help once you have completed the antibiotics. Studies have also shown that NSAID drugs like
Antioxidants
Antioxidants
work against free radicals made by damaged tissue and help the immune
system. Some antioxidants are Vitamin C,
Coenzyme QID, DMG, Vitamin E/Selenium, and Zinc. Vitamin C helps with stress, immune system,
and respiratory. Mom was right when she
said to load up on Vitamin C when you have a cold. The dose of Vitamin C or ascorbic acid for a
horse is 5 grams per day orally. Ten
grams a day can be used for horses with heaves, reactive airway disease, and
upper respiratory infection. When shipping long distances for racing or showing, use 4 grams per
day for 10 days before and after the event.
A Bit of Humor
Equestrian Definitions, Part 3
Mustang: The
type of horse your husband would gladly trade your favorite one
for...preferably in a red convertible and V-8.
Overreaching:
A descriptive term used to explain the condition your credit cards are in by
the end of endurance/ show season.
Parasites:
Occasionally used to describe small children that get in your way when you work
in the barn. Many gather in swarms at
horse shows.
Pinto: A
colorful (usually green) coat pattern found on a freshly washed and sparkling
clean grey horse that was left unattended in his stall for ten minutes.
Pit Crews: Absolutely
indispensable people occasionally noted for their ability to get lost, be in
the way, eat all the food, or be sleeping in the camper when you finish a 100
mile ride.
Pony: The
true size of the stallion that you bred your mare to via transported semen that
was advertised as 15 hands tall.
Proud Flesh:
The external reproductive organs flaunted by a stallion when a horse of any
gender is present. Often
displayed in halter classes.
Quarter Cracks:
The comments that most Arabian owners make about the people who own Quarter
Horses.
Quittor: A term trainers have commonly used to refer to their
clients who come to their senses and pull horses out of their barns.
Race: What
your heart does when you see the vet bill.
Rasp: An
abrasive, long, flat metal tool used to remove excess skin from the knuckles.
Reins:
Break-away leather device used to tie horses with.
Ringworms:
Spectators who block your view and gather around the rail sides at horse shows.
Sacking out: A condition caused by Sleeping Sickness (see below). The state of
deep sleep a mare owner will be in at the time a mare actually goes into labor
and foals.
Saddle: An
expensive leather contraption manufactured to give the rider a false sense of
security. Comes in
many styles, and all feature built-in ejector seats.
Saddle Sore:
The way the rider's bottom feels the morning after an endurance ride weekend.
Sleeping Sickness: A disease peculiar to mare owners while waiting for their mares to
foal. Caused by nights of lost sleep,
symptoms include irritability, red baggy eyes and a zombie-like waking
state. Can last several weeks.
Splint: An
apparatus that can be applied to various body parts of a rider due to the
parting of the ways of a horse and his passenger.
Author
Unknown
This Month’s Recipe
Quick Ham Crostini
Party Appetizers Servings:
24
1 loaf (16
oz) French bread
1 pkg (6
oz) sliced smoked ham
1/4 cup horseradish
sauce
12 slices Swiss
cheese, each cut into 4 strips
·
Preheat broiler.
Cut bread into 24 slices and cut ham slices crosswise in half.
·
Spread bread slices evenly with horseradish
sauce. Top each with one ham piece and
two crisscrossed strips of cheese. Place
on rack of broiler pan.
· Broil 4 to 6 inches from heat for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted and edges of bread are lightly toasted.
Variations:
- Substitute smoked turkey for the ham
- Substitute honey-Dijon dressing or pesto sauce for
the horseradish sauce