An unusual dinner guest
A woman adopted a stray dog. The dog soon fell in love with her new family. The owner made her a nice bed on the porch with a wooden crate , blankets and a heat lamp over the crate.
After a while , the dog started to climb on top of the crate and stretch out to sleep beneath the warm bulb. As she struggled a little to climb up and down the crate , the owners placed her food dish next to her on top of the crate. She ate and then went to sleep. Eventually the owners began to notice a strange thing: Every night the dog ate on top of the crate , left a small piece of food in the plate and climbed down to sleep inside of the crate.
The next morning the small piece of food was gone and the dog was sleeping on top of the crate again. The owners decided to investigate. They stayed up several evenings watched through the window.
One night they found the answer to their question. Not long after the dog curled up inside of her crate , a field mouse appeared. The mouse ate the small piece of food in the plate and took off. After the mouse had left , the dog climbed back on top of the crate and stretched out to sleep.
To make sure it wasn't a co-incidence , stayed up a few more nights. Every night throughout the winter , the same thing happened.
The dog knew how it felt to be cold and hungry. She must have sensed that the mouse felt the same as she used to feel before she was adopted and reached out a helping hand. It was her way of returning the favour that had saved her own life.
19.09.
Dog saves his humans
One night a man and his wife woke of a lightning bolt that lit up the whole bedroom. It must have been very close. They unplugged their television set and went back to bed. Their dog was in the back yard barking.
In bed , the barks sounded far away so they assumed it was the neighbour's dog. After a while they stood up to take a look around the house. They checked on their two sons , the doors and their windows. They went back to bed thinking the dog must be upset because of the noise of the storm.
Meanwhile the dog , terrified of the storm , ran around in the rain , still barking. He was on a mission and had to make someone understand that there was something wrong. When he saw that his barking wasn't working , he had to think of someway else to attract the attention of his owners. He pawed at the front door and scratched the glass with both his feet. Nothing. He decided to do something he had only done once before in his life: He rang the doorbell.
As the woman sat up in bed wondering who was at the door, she saw an orange reflection in their bedroom window. Their house was on fire! As the fire started on the roof and the heat rose , the smoke detectors didn't detect the fire. They quickly got everybody together and ran over to the neighbor's house.
The man ran back to get the dog and found him on the patio. The dog was still sitting in front of the glass door looking inside, whimpering. The man called his dog. When the dog spotted his owner , he leaped into his arms. The dog must have thought that the family was still inside the house.
When the fire department arrived , the house was one ball of flames. Moments later , the whole house collapsed inward. At the neighbours house , the dog wasn't whimpering anymore. He jumped up and licked everyones faces. He saved their lives. He braved the terrifiing thunderstorm and saved his whole family. He is a true hero.
18.09.
Choosing The Most Suitable Event For You And Your Horse
Competing in events with your horse can be a very rewarding and satisfying experience as it could not only improve your riding skills, but also strengthen the bond between you and your horse. Find an event that suits you and your horse, whether you like to complete intricate dressage movements, jump hurdles or rope calves.
Hunt seat sport is divided into two classes, namely jumping classes and flat classes. The horse's grace and ability displayed while jumping will be judged in jumping classes whilst flat classes judge the teamwork between you and your horse on the ground.
Another competitive event to consider is hunt seat competitions, which requires special clothing for yourself and equipment for your horse. Your attire would include a white riding shirt, breeches, wool riding jacket, riding boots and a hunt cap or helmet. Both the breeches and jacket should be a dark colour, usually black or blue. Your horse would require a snaffle bit, a hunt seat snaffle bridle and a hunt seat saddle.
Dressage events would be a good choice to consider if you really enjoy completing complicated and demanding routines whilst working very closely with your horse. Dressage demands a lot of patience, practice and dedication as it is considered the most challenging event. The rewards compensate for the hours required to achieve a competitive level.
Dressage will require a dressage bridle, a dressage saddle and a snaffle bit for your horse and a white shirt, a stock tie, white breeches, black dress boots, a black jacket and a black derby hat for yourself. Beginners could wear tan breeches and a hunt cap instead of white breeches and a derby hat.
Saddle seat events are ideal for people who have a flashy horse and love to show off. There are two types of classes in these events, equitation classes and pleasure classes. In equitation classes the judge looks at your control over the horse and your seat and therefore you are the one being judged. The horse in turn has to obey commands with enough grace and style to impress the judges. A show saddle and a double bridle for your horse and a white shirt, jodhpurs, saddle seat coat, Jodhpur boots and a derby for yourself is needed for saddle seat events.
Western style riding is divided into classes for Western pleasure, equitation and horsemanship. The rider is judged during equitation events whereas the horse's abilities are emphasised during pleasure events. Horsemanship classes judge the rider's skills in handling his horse from the ground.
Barrel racing, pole bending, reining and calf roping are option available for the more active horses and riders. Close teamwork between horse and rider is a prerequisite for these events. Western events will require a saddle and a mechanical hackamore or traditional bridle for your horse as well as a Western shirt, jeans, chaps and cowboy boots for yourself.
Should none of the above-mentioned competitive events appeal to you, you may consider cross country jumping, show jumping, eventing and competitive driving classes. These classes are challenging in their own way, but eventing is probably the most difficult, requiring horses and riders to have plenty of stamina and be well rounded.
The most important is to find the event that best suits you and your horse as this will result in quality time spent with your horse.
This article was produced by Horseback Riding Vacations, your leading operator in high quality trail riding vacations and training clinics.
05.09.
Cat Saves Her Kittens
One morning firefighters were called to an abandoned warehouse that was on fire. As they had previous had fire calls to this perticular building, they were fimiliar with it that if there would be someone inside the building, it would mean bad news for them.
When they got there , the whole building was up in flames and they knew any rescue attempt would probably be impossible. They didn't know that there was already a rescue attempt underway right under there noses.
While busy working , one fire fighter heard faint cries for help. He followed the sounds and found three terrified stray kittens on the sidewalk. Their fur was scorched and their mother was nowhere in sight. The firefighter found a box and nestled the kittens inside it and carried it a few yeards away.
After returning to the firehoses , he heard more cries. He went to take a look and found two more kittens near a building across the street. They were also all alone , and their fur also scorched. He took them to the box and nestled them in with the other three kittens.
When the fire was put out , the fire fighter went to search for the kittens' mother. Finally he found her behind a pile of rubble in an abandoned lot not far from where she left the kittens.
At first glance, he thought she was dead. He gently picked her up and she let out a soft whimper of pain. She was badly hurt. Her face was badly scorched , her paws blistered , her earflaps and wiskers were gone and there were large patches of blistered skin showing through her fur.
He realised that she must have braved the burning building five times to save her kittens and afterwards collapsed of total exhaustion. He took her to the box of kittens. The kittens started mewing when they realised there mother had come back. The mother couldn't open her eyes because of the swelling but she pressed her nose against each of the kittens sniffed them, and counted five. After she was sure all five were there , she collapsed inside the box , curled herself protectively around the kittens , and started to purr.
Mother and kittens were treated for shock and infections. The tiniest kitten sadly did not survive. The rest reacted well to treatment. Nearly 4 months after injuries they were all healthy enough to be adopted. The kittens were adopted in pairs and the mother went to a woman who was seriously injured in a car accident. Today she loves to cuddle and play and her owner describes her as the most lovable cat in the world.
04.09.
Keeping your horse healthy
Regular vaccination and preventative health care is just as necessary for horses as for any other pets to keep them healthy. Health examinations by a veterinarian should be given regularly, even if your horse seems healthy. Illnesses or diseases often causes minor changes in your horse's physical appearance or blood work that needs to be observed by a veterinarian.
Common illnesses, like flu, can be prevented by immunization and therefore all horses should receive a flu vaccine at least twice a year. Horses that compete in events should be revaccinated four times per year, as this vaccine does not protect horses for long periods of time.
Yearly vaccination can also avoid equine encephalomyelitis, which is a deadly virus spread by mosquitoes. Mosquitoes in different areas spread different forms of encephalomyelitis and therefore horses travelling to competitions should be vaccinated for several different strains of this virus.
Mosquitoes also spread the West Nile virus, a lethal disease, and therefore it is essential that horses should be vaccinated at least annually against this virus. This vaccine does not protect the horse for as long as other vaccines and therefore it is advised to have your veterinarian immunize twice a year.
Horses infected by the tetanus disease usually die a painful death although some may recover with sufficient medical care. Tetanus vaccines are essential on a yearly basis and can prevent this lethal disease from even occurring.
Horses are susceptible to worms as they graze on land where other animals have been and therefore needs to be dewormed on a regular basis. Untreated worms can even be deadly for horses and that is why the dewormer should be used effectively. De-worming medication should be rotated since worms can build up immunity against the products.
Horse-owners should also have knowledge of colic, the most common problem that horses can suffer from. Be aware of the signs of colic and how to treat colic until the vet arrives. The most common symptoms include signs of pain, kicking or biting at his stomach area, sweating, pacing, lying on its side or pawing the ground. The first step to follow is to take its food away from him and then call a veterinarian immediately. Put the horse on a lead and let him walk around as much as possible until the veterinarian arrives and starts the treatment.
This article was produced by Horseback Riding Vacations, your leading operator in high quality trail riding vacations and training clinics.
03.09.
