In the late 1800s mass transit was born.

Multi passenger carriages were constructed to be pulled by the animals of transport. It slowed the speed from an individual’s own carriage, but allowed for the cost of the animal to be shared by the several passengers. This crude form of mass transit evolved by using a larger bus-like carriage and this was called the streetcar.  As with dominant forms of transportation it enjoyed free reign of right-of-way.

High Horse

Get off your high horse comes from ages past, when the steed you rode indicated your rank in society.  From the donkey, used by the peasant and serf, to the Andalusian stallion of an emperor or jousting tournament competitor.  So if you are pretentious and appearing better than you are, it may require pulling you off your “high horse”, even today.

Horse Power

James Watt invented the steam engine in the early 19th century.  The problem was in rating its power.  The only comparison in hauling power was what a pair of big draft horses could pull.  If one of the horses could pull 33,000 lbs one foot in one minute than that was a unit of work which Watt called horsepower.  However, a typical horse could barely raise 20,00o  pounds in one minute.  There lies the debate that lasted for a century as to the measurement of steam power.  But, in time all engines, whether powered by electricity or gasoline stayed with the original Watt unit of pulling power, 33,000 pounds, one foot, one minute, rather than that of the ordinary nag.

Ride Herd

In the days of large cattle ranching in the US, when there were no fences or interstate highways, cattle were driven to market by cowboys.  That journey could be 300 miles or more and required cooks and wagon drivers who worked  early morning to dusk at their jobs.   However, those on horse back had a twenty-four hour day to head off stampedes and to keep the herd together.  Their job was described as,  Ride Herd.

Whoa

Whoa is a word used to stop or slowdown horses. The dialectal variant of 1615-25 was ho. More recently about the 1980s there has been yet another variant in use, for an indication of surprise or delight.  However, horseman across America today still regularly use the command whoa to halt their mount.

Pony Up 

A Pony is of course a small horse and the term has been in use since the mid-1600. Pony up is very much an American phrase and means paying money that is past due or coughing up the money.  It is rarely used in the UK.  But, the Brits and Americans do have some good slang meanings for the word pony:

a small measure of alcohol,                                                                                                              a short crib sheet or study aid,                                                                                               British slang for twenty five pounds,                                                                                             an abridged news report

We can turn back to Psalms 119, for a mention of ‘ legem  pone’ , to pay money or settle debts.  This is traditionally recognized on March 25  and has been recorded as early as 1570 when debts should be paid.

Horseplay

Since the 16th Century the rough play of stallions and gentle romping of  mares has been compared with boisterous behavior of humans.  In centuries past not all beasts of burden such as the donkey or nag felt the need to be frisky, roll on their backs or nuzzle each other.  So the rarely seen  qualities of health and spirit in some horses  have always been noted. The high spirits of people, especially children, even today are labelled horseplay.

Sources:                                                                                                                                            Why You Say It by Garrison                                                                      www.thephrasefinder.com

Copy write:  www.horseflynet.com/blog

It is a scary jump into an unknown cyperspace, which compels the small business man to meet this challenge.  To enter into the town square, and then the parties and conversations, it is necessary to start with some vocabulary.  New words describe the parties that take place on the internet.  Facebook, Twitter, Blogs are a sampling of those offered to the writer and the reader.  Then there is LinkedIn and their groups. These are places that Horse Fly Net attends.  Sharing a dialogue with an interested listener is not only enjoyable, but can educate both parties.  And, for the business person blogs, news releases, online video and viral marketing are the tools to reach the buyer directly.

Facebook has changed the world.  As a program, it started as a fun project with no intention of the possibilities and impact on the history of the world.  There is a young generation that cannot be reached in any other methos.  Try leaving a voice mail for someone in their twenties. You better know how to text them.   It’s a new game and a new party.  Have a good time.

A Little History

The story of civilization is a story of migration and survival, one that includes not only humans, but plants and animals and all species on down to the microscopic.  It was our horses and later ships that transported the most efficient migration of domestic plants and animals.  However,  geography in Africa presented a challenging land mass.  The north-south axis interrupted the movement of horses and limited water transportation.  It was the position on the globe of the African land mass that  impeded the domestic plants and animal along with their humans to migrate.  And, here is why.

Over 2000 years ago Khoisan people who had acquired domestic animals from the Northern hemisphere displaced Khoisan hunter-gathers on this large continent. When horses were made available to tribes of hunter-gathers in West Africa, they transformed into a warfare kingdom.  Cavalry in West Africa north of the  Sahara  were given a huge advantage.  It is similar to the pattern in the 19th century in the Western hemisphere where escaped European horses were acquired by native hunter-gathers.

In Africa, however,  this advancement from West Africa could go no further south in the continent.  “The 2000 miles of tropical conditions between Ethiopia and South Africa posed an insuperable barrier.” The spread of horses and all domestic animals, which includes the camel, was halted by the climate and disease.  Most noteworthy was trypanosomiasis, Glossina,  carried by the tsetse fly and the horsefly, which threatened both man and beast who were defenceless.  Wild species, such as the zebra and its stripes, had developed their own immunity to such threats.  Did the stripes of the zebra  confuse the fly?  Or was it the white stripe that repelled the fly?

The Tsetse Fly Life Cycle

the tsetse fly and illustration of actual size

The tsetse fly is the size of a large house fly and crudely resembles it.  Both the male and the female fly feed on a blood meal of wild vertebrate animals.  These predators inhabit the tropical waterways of the continent where the equator lies, making a diet of animals in the region.  These flies carry with them an invasive microorganism which causes trypanosmiasis, most commonly known as  sleeping sickness in humans and a tribal word in Africa, nagana, in animals. A variation of the subspecies of trypanosmiasis  evansi is transmitted among camels who have been bitten.

Once injected, the saliva-borne parasite of the tsetse fly enters the victim’s blood stream and attacks the nervous system.  Large domestic animals,  such as the horse, cow,  goat  and also the camel which migrated from North Africa, have no immunity and cannot survive the tsetse fly’s attack, when it carries this trypanosome organism.  When man is bitten he, too, cannot resist the illness,  African Sleeping Sickness.  Death may occur.  Even, today, it  claims  thousands of cases a year.

It cannot be overstated that the impact of this small creature, the carrier of trypanosomiasis, who attacks our beast of burden, the horse and the camel  slowed development of an entire continent by enormous proportions.  It stopped man and beast in their tracks for centuries and altered  history.  But, the zebra who grazed the plains of Africa also needed access to water.  And, here swarmed the tsetse fly.  But, the zebra developed a shield to the fly.  A recent study from Lund University in Sweden seems to have given merit to the theory that black and white stripes are an advantage.  These stripes create multiple light patterns and seem to deter the fly who is attracted to black. This experiment was carried out by scientist who used plastic horses painted with stripes of different colors to verify landing patterns of flies.  As of this date the experiment has not been done on Zebras in the wild.

Sources;                                                                                                                                       Wikipedia                                                                                                                              University of Utah Education Network                                                                                   Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond                                                                             Brian Hursey,  Food and Agricultural Org. of the United Nations                                       The Journal of Experimental Biology  

Croome & West Warwickshire opening hunt 2011.

I had the privilege,  while on a recent trip in England, to attend opening meet of the Croome & West Warwickshire Hunt.  It was held in the Midlands of the UK and was  attended by 100 riders and many following on foot.

It is with this  experience, fresh in my mind, that I researched the history of the hounds in the pack,  better known as Fox Hounds.  And, beauties these canines are.

In the book, Why You Say It, by Webb Garrison I found a nice summary of the origin of the term, Hound.

“Before the Norman conquest of England, French hunters bred a keen-nosed dog which they called the St. Hubert.  One of their rulers, William, took a pack to England and hunted deer by following the dogs on foot.

“Saxons had never before seen a dog fierce enough to “seize” its prey, so they named William’s animals ‘hunts’, meaning ‘seizure’.  Altered over time to hound, it was long applied to all hunting dogs.  Then the meaning narrowed to stand for breeds that follow their quarry by scent.

“Many medieval noblemen kept large kennels that included deer hounds, boar hounds, and hare hounds.  Though they varied in size and appearance, all hounds were noted for their tenacity.  A pack would follow a scent for miles.  If the trail was lost, dogs would often double back and find it again.  The animals were admired for the way they pursued game with such singular determination.

A human who engages in relentless pursuit of a goal or plan, dogging the footsteps of someone else, is still compared with a hunting dog and is said to “hound” his or her quarry.”

Best wishes to all good hounds and dogs in my life and yours.

a happy relaxed pack ready for day of hunting in England

The Horn Fly

Where do all of these nasty flies come from?  These little guys are half the size of the stable fly which

Horn flies can bother horses the most

blood suck their diet from the back and belly of the horses.  They will remain on their host day and night.  But the most important fact is that they are breeding in freshly deposited manure during hot and humid weather of late summer. At this time the Horn Fly life cycle is 10 days.

Another  important fact to remember about these flies is that they are most often found on horses who are pastured in regions where cattle are raised.  The regular manuring of cattle gives the horn fly its continuous supply of breeding material.  The pupae overwinter under cow patties. Cattle suffer these bests as well and show up as blankets of flies on their backs.

Controlling Horn Flies is difficult for pastured horses.  If possible move horses away from cattle.  It helps to keep paddocks and stalls free of manure and cover the stock piles to reduce breeding of the Horn Fly.

This is not the fly that bothers the horses face therefore face masks are a nuisance, putting them on, keeping them on.  Dragging fields to break up the manure pile will help and using a small buckets to pick out stalls quickly will help.  But, manure stockpiles should be covered, mulched and taken away.  Horse Fly Nets on run-in-sheds and fly spray will ease horses while they are in the field.  Horses who live out with little attention can be so bothered by the swarms of biting Horn Flies that they will loose weight and condition.

Horse Fly photo by Jim Kalisch, University of Nebraska

It’s that time of year.  The weather is getting cooler for trail riding.  So, guess who arrives late summer, the Horse Fly?  Now, he is that big guy, one of the world’s largest flies and with 350 species of fly in the North Americas we have to be specific.

We know this pest as she, yes the female, bites with a bayonet-like mouth piercing the skin for a blood meal.  And, it may take her many bites to get a full meal.  She will do this during the day and prefers sunny areas.  That meets the  description of most fields and riding areas that are habitat of our horses.

The Horse Fly prefers moist wet areas for breeding. It is here that the female Horse Fly lays her eggs in the spring where the larvae thrive in wet vegetation, pupate in spring, then hatches.

I posed a question to a group I am in on Linked In.  I got a great response from fellow trail riders around the country about products and ideas for warding off these big bombers that attack our horses.  I am  listing  their opinions, some are creative, to   “Shoo fly don’t bother my horse”.

• 2 parts Equicare Flysect Super-C and 1 part Skin so Soft from Avon.
• Bounce dryer sheets, tied in strips around saddle and bridle.
• War Paint Insecticide Past, but keep it away from the face.
• Antiseptic Mouth Wash but keep it away from under the saddle as irritating
• 98%DEET which can be purchased from www.harveysenvironmental.com
• Endure roll on and spray
• Fly whisk, dressage whips and Carrot Sticks.
• Pyranha or a less expensive solution is 16% Skin so Soft mixture with alcohol and 1/2oz. permethrin.
• good heavy branch
• Neem oil (about a tablespoon)  It must be high quality cold press and is available through www.neemtreefarms.com
• ear nets wet down with fly spray which is particularly helpful to gray horses who are so susceptible

It would be unfair to my company if we did not add our  Croup Cover™ to the list. Its economical, made in the USA and works.  You may order on line http://horseflynet.com.

Croup Cover™ by Horse Fly Net®

American Equestrian Trade Association show

Maybe you have wondered why your tack store or feed store is choosing some products that you like over others.  How do they acquire all of the catalogues of the companies with which they do business?  AETA, http://www.aeta.us puts on huge trade shows through the year and encourages ATEA members to register as buyers and to attend the show free of charge. Vendors may spend thousands of dollars to display their products and supply information. Orders are taken at this time for the helmets and britches and saddles that you may choose from  your tack store.  And,  buyers move through the show with rolling suitcases stuffed with samples and catalogues and ideas for new products, such as a new riding shirt out by San Soleil with a sun screen in the fabric.

I attend these shows for various reasons.  I am an on-line retailer with http://www.horseflynet.com and I am a buyer of advertising from magazines who have booths at these events.  This is a chance for me to talk to editors and management of the magazines. It is great meeting them face to face. Therefore, I come to the show as a buyer with a large ID around my neck telling the world who I am.  We get an AETA gift bag filled with goodies.  Best product this year, in my opinion, were the new plaid socks given to us by http://www.tuffrider.com.  They are cozy and warm but pretty for winter.  Kerrit did a well positioned style show right in the middle of the front of the building that was easy to view and Kerry was there to answer questions, http://www.kerrit.com is featured in the picture above.

The other draw for attending a show such as AETA is the seminars.  This year the trade association offered two excellent presenters.  They did a Social Media Marketing course for the horse industry.  This is the wave of the future, yet it is not easy to find coaching on the subject much less classes on that subject.  I would like to thank Lisa Kemp, http://www.kempequine.com and Chad Mendell, http://www.cowdogmedia.com for 4 and 1/2 hours of inspiring information and ideas on social media. Yes, I learned one or two things. One suggestion was don’t make your blog too long.  So I am finised.

6 Labradors, three yellow and three black

This is the beginning of life in the big world.  It is not just the canine beginning of life but it is the beginning of life for a person  with difficulties mentally or physically who will benefit from canine assistance.  The careful breeding, nurturing and training by many volunteers is the first ingredient in a successful service dog development.  It takes years of work to select and guide these dogs into their careers.

volunteer with one of the puppies

We are told by one organization Saint Francis Service Dogs (a non profit organization that raises and trains service dogs for children and adults) that the two years of training can cost $25,000. ” Ultimately these specially trained dogs can help by retrieving objects that are out of their person’s reach, by pulling wheelchairs, opening and closing doors, turning light switches off and on, barking to indicate that help is needed, finding another person and leading the person to the handler, assisting ambulatory persons to walk by providing balance and counterbalance,  and many other individual tasks as needed by a person with a disability. “

Service dogs are not trained for the hearing or sight impaired person which requires different criteria.

Careful selection of the parents and dogs temperament are necessary as well as confirmation.  This is done to insure that the dog is fully qualified and will tolerate the demands both physically and mentally to meet the challenge for years to come.  The facility and the skill of the breeder is the first hurdle in achieving good results.

Dr. Pam Hand with a pup in training

Dr. Pam Hand of Free Union, VA has devoted herself  as a retired vet to providing the best puppies available.  After breeding, she keeps them for 8 weeks and then they go to a center such as Saint Francis where the dogs continue their rigorous training.  After the second stage of training the dogs are ready to work in partnership.  At Saint Francis a team must pass 4 levels of test before the ownership of the dog is passed to the recipient in need.

Pam has provided a healthy environment with years of experience to this indevour. Horse Fly Net is happy to volunteer and assist in providing the shade for the kennels in the intense Virginia sun.  Fresh air in a secure space is achieved at her kennel by attaching nets over the dog runs.

comfort for the breeding females from the sun

Please volunteer your time or your monetary donation to assist with  this wonderful program by contacting:

Saint Francis Dogs or    Service Dogs of Virginia

Both are accredited by Assistance Dogs International.

Beebop and Sam's pups 14 month old in training