As a child I walked the desert floor and found sea shells laying right there in plain sight. “What are sea shells doing here in the desert?” I thought to myself. Well, before it was a desert it was the floor of a sea which stretched from to Gulf of California north into Canada. That is not conjecture or a scientific hypothesis it is geologically proven fact.

With this recent talk of “Global Warming” I remembered my experience and started looking on the internet for things like Ice Ages and ancient seas.

1)    According to the University of Illinois there have been at least seven Ice Ages. They continued to say that “technically” we are still in the last Ice Age.

2)   135 million years ago Florida and other states were under water. Megalodon shark teeth have been found in creek and river beds in Florida. The Megalodon lived in the Neogene period — starting 23 million years ago and lasting until 2.5 million years ago.

3)   I just watched a series called “How the Earth Was Formed” On the History channel. One of the segments was called “How the Grand Canyon Was Formed”. In that segment scientists (geological scientists) said that layers of sand and sediment built up on the Grand Canyon Plateau were sea bed deposits. These geological scientists said that those deposits prove that before the Grand Canyon Plateau was raise it had been a sea floor not once but eight times.

So, scientists are telling us that there have been at least seven Ice Ages and eight floods. Let me do the math here: seven provable Ice ages and eight floods. This sounds like winter followed by spring thaw. Does Global Warming exist? Hell yeah! Is it caused by mankind? Hell no!

The hemispheres have seasons. When it is winter in the northern hemisphere it is summer in the southern hemisphere. Based on the proven repeated Ice Ages and the proven floods wouldn’t it be a reasonable conclusion that the Earth itself has global seasons? The scenario of global seasons is the more likely conclusion based on the repeated global “winter” (Ice Age) and “spring” (floods). The evidence of this scenario is proven whereas the scenario of the current Global Warming theory is unproven.

I was checking the Weather Channel and their forecast for my city was 80% chance of rain. That’s a forecast of maybe 12 hours given all of their meteorological data from several weather program models. It didn’t rain.

Global Warming alarmists are trying to tell us that Man has created Global Warming based on weather patterns and temperature data collected over the past 124 years? Geologists are telling us a very different story based on billions of years of geological evidence.

Our cities have been built up over the past 124 years and temperatures are taken in cities. Of course those temperatures will rise if you increase the radiant heat of cities.

Who would you believe: those who have trillions of dollars to gain if and when their theories are adopted into law or geologists who are only out to discover how the earth was made?

I say investigate, arrest, indict, convict, fine and incarcerate those who are culpable in this fraud against humanity.

Relying on others to do your research and to formulate what you should or shouldn’t think is abdicating not only your freedom of individual thought but your free will too.

Break the shackles of the Global Warming group think religion and adopt a new religion of critical thinking. Stop being a member of the herd and start demanding of yourself to act upon your research and your conclusions based on that research. Live intellectually free or die as a member of the currently acceptable politically correct herd.

For good manners and even tempers, you just can't beat the herd!

I just read the post on horse birthdays and I can’t agree more.

I’m going through exactly what Paul describes with my thoroughbred, who’s only seven years old.

I’ve had him since he was three and a half. I go on his actual birth date, which I researched through Racing NSW’s website.

Though he’d only been in three races, the damage was already done.

Unfortunately, I didn’t realise this at the time.

It has been absolutely heartbreaking. And very costly.

What I’ve gone through (and what many others experience when they buy a thoroughbred off the track) wouldn’t happen if these beautiful animals were given a more natural start to life.

I see such huge differences in health and behaviour between my thoroughbred and my two-year-old (actual age) part-Morgans who’ve grown up in a much more natural environment in a herd.

Amazingly, my filly has taught my thoroughbred how to keep all his manure in one spot!

He never did this before we put him in the paddock with her. He’d just go all over the place, making grazing more difficult (as horses, like humans, don’t eat where they poo).

Now he goes in specific places, which frees up the rest of the paddock for grazing.

I never thought a horse could learn that at an older age, as it’s something foals learn when they’re young - and only then if given enough time to learn it from the mares!

I’ve been enjoying the Good Morgans blog and visit it daily to see what’s been published. I love reading all the different articles.

Keep up the great work!

Amanda Gallen.

Brianna and Sailor. Getting back on the horse is easier when he's this small!

By Amanda Gallen, a Queenslander with two of our two-year-old Morgans.

Waking at dawn on our first day at Judy Oldmeadow’s farm was very special. I looked out the cottage window to the beautiful valley below. I woke my daughter Brianna so she could also experience the moment.

We had brekky, dressed quickly and went to the paddock to see our horses Sarge and Ava. They’d grown so much since we last saw them!

They were in a paddock with the other foals. We walked in and sat on a log. The herd noticed us and came over – our babies leading the way.

They smelt us from head to toe. So inquisitive! This was something I really wanted Brianna to experience.

Our week was full of adventures; childhood memories Brianna will never forget. Judy put her in charge of the farm’s smallest horse – a Shetland pony called Sailor.

It was just what Brianna needed. She gained so much confidence with a horse that was just the right size for a beginner. She fell a few times, once quite heavily. No broken bones; just one of those needed-to-happen experiences.

Brianna went very quiet after that and returned to the cottage for a rest. But she came back ready to regain her confidence.

I played with my babies and watched how they fitted into the herd. Observing lots of mare behaviour, I decided that human mothers would do well to act like mares. That way, our kids would get what we say first time, rather than wear us into the ground.

While most foals are well behaved, some don’t learn quickly. Sarge is one of them; he’s covered in bites as he just doesn’t move fast enough!

I rode with Judy – right inside the herd of mares and foals. I felt like I was running with the wild horses in The Man from Snowy River! It was an amazing buzz that kept a big smile on my face all night.

Judy worked with Ava and decided she was ready for saddling. Ava’s a clever filly and we even had Brianna sitting on her and walking around.

Though Ava was excited to have Brianna up there, everything was done with the utmost attention to safety and I wasn’t at all concerned.

I’m very happy I bought her.

I could go on and on about our lovely horsey experiences. Suffice it to say the farm truly felt like heaven to me!

Tanjil. You will believe a horse can cry.

By Christi Wales, Accountant and Mother.

For her twelfth birthday, I took my daughter Dana to Judy Oldmeadow’s Morgan Horse Farm.

I never thought it’d be an amazing, life-changing day for me.

We began by bringing all the mares and foals to the round yard to see how they interacted with toys and us. Dana sat in the yard and the foals loved her, perhaps because she’s young too.

Dana and Echo. Connecting with a foal? Priceless!

Judy and I noticed that one mare, Folie, was overprotective of her foal, Echo. The poor thing wanted to play, but Folie wouldn’t let him. So we joined Dana and I spent some time massaging Folie all over – which she loved. Before long, she let me near Echo and encouraged him to interact with me.

I held out my hand and let Echo toddle past me, just brushing his back to get him used to my touch. I then massaged some of the other mares. With three children myself, I figured they’d like their necks, backs and rumps massaged.

After a while, Folie was so relaxed that Echo was able to break away and play. It was a fantastic sight that I was proud to be part of. I kept massaging the mares, plus any foals that approached.

Then Tanjil decided that no other mare could have me.

I’d rub her and try to move on, but she’d come next to me, right near the other horse. Though she didn’t touch the horse, it knew she was boss and walked away.

At first I thought it was funny. Why did Tanjil want me to herself? She did it again and again with every other horse I tried to rub.

My hands were getting sore and Folie was giving her foal a chance to explore. So I decided to wait to see what happened. Well, little Echo headed in my direction with his mum’s full support – a fantastic breakthrough for both of them.

A bit later, Echo was hanging around so I gave him a rub and Tanjil just stood near me. I found it strange; had I done something wrong? Then Tanjil came and stood with her head right over me.

I started rubbing her neck thinking, ‘Why me? Was I was a strong leader? Did she feel I was a strong mother?’

Being a mother is hard. Sometimes I feel I don’t have the strength. But I find it and keep going. If I don’t, no-one else will do the things I must do to keep my family safe, together and running smoothly.

I don’t get a break from being leader of my herd. At times I hate being the one who has to pull rank, keep everyone in line and be tough to be kind in the long run.

At that moment my emotions overwhelmed me. With her fantastic intuition, Judy yelled out that the last time Tanjil had stood this way with her, it’d made her feel like everything was going to be OK.

I glanced at her and nodded; a huge lump in my throat. Then my tears flowed.

I looked at Tanjil and couldn’t believe what I saw. She was crying with me! Not just watery eyes; these were full tears, rolling down her face, one after another along with mine.

Was I delusional? No. This magnificent mare was helping me with my doubts as a mother. I thought then that maybe she also felt the pressure of being the leader who kept her herd in line.

Tanjil gave me what I never got from my mother. What I needed to know when I became a mother myself: I’m a good mum. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be OK. We can only do our best. We make mistakes, but that’s OK too.

I then thought that maybe Tanjil also needed reassurance that she was a great mum and leader. Because when I saw her with her foal and the herd, it was exactly how I felt.

I’ll never know if she felt my empathy. I’d not seen a miracle before, but that’s the only word I can use.

I have a horse named Major. When Judy took Dana and me to the rest of the herd, Major stayed with me while the other horses went to the car.

He was so affectionate. I was rubbing his body when he moved – uncomfortable with the slope. I thought he was going to walk away but he simply ambled to level ground and waited for me.

I hugged his neck and said I loved him, that he was a good boy and that I wished I could see him every day. As he wrapped his head around me, a tear rolled down his face.

It was very moving. I remembered that Major had lost his mum when very young. Maybe he perceived my feelings of abandonment.

Had I not experienced my miracle with Tanjil, I wouldn’t have thought a horse could cry.

Now I know they feel pain, sadness and love.

A well-meaning friend asked me the other day if we “got those mustangs broke yet?” I was quick to tell him that we are gentling them, not breaking them.  He didn’t quite understand so I went on to explain that we want to be their friends and you don’t try to break your friends down.  You start by letting them know they can trust you and a friendship starts to build from there.  He still looked a little uncertain of this, so I then asked him how he treats his friends and how his friends treat him.  I think I finally got through to him, but I am not so sure…

It is very unusual for two people to become friends without knowing anything about the other.  Friendships are built by spending a lot time getting to know each other.  You communicate with each other and sometimes you have to learn a new language to do this.  If you are totally committed to this friendship you will do all that you can to learn as much as you can about the other.  You find common bonds and build on that.  Soon you learn to trust each other, knowing that the other will not betray that trust.

Ember and Image

We set out to do just that with Image and Ember.  We knew we had our challenges ahead of us having 2 wild horses to work with.  We knew that they would have a tendency to look to each other for comfort before coming to us.  So we had to get a little creative in our ways of working with them.

Ember's Beautiful Mane

Horses have a very beautiful language in that every body position means something different to them.  Where we are standing in relation to their body.  The squareness of our body to theirs.  What it means if we stand behind them.  It is ALL a part of their language.  And if we had any hope of our friendship with Image and Ember to grow, we needed to realize how important this language is.  Just something as simple as standing in the wrong place could give them mixed signals on what we are asking them to do.  My husband loves to use hand signals, especially when we are out in the field baling hay.  Sometimes I have no idea what he is asking of me with the motions of his hands so I have no idea what he wants me to.  So it is very important for me to learn his language of hand signals.  By thinking in these terms, I can completely understand how important all forms of communication are: whether baling hay or building friendships with a wild horse.

Image and Ember in their paddock area

We needed to keep working with Image in overcoming his fear of the corral.  We knew that he had to have some good experiences in a corral to start overcoming that fear.  We knew the terrors he had faced in the corrals of his not-so-distance past and we did not want him to relive any of those experiences any longer than he had to.  We gently coaxed him in and out of the corral several times and then left the gate open to their paddock area so that he could freely go in and out of the corral on his own.  My heart is happy that he no longer shudders at the thought of going through that gate.  He just walks right on it without any hesitation now.

Me with Image and Ember

Next we started working with a lead rope.  They both got used to having the rope anywhere and everywhere on their body.  Then it was time to learn how to lead.  Image did really well.  With pressure – release techniques, he was soon leading very well.  We were careful to always reward for doing well, even in the smallest of victories.  Sometimes he would get a little stubborn, but by gently coaxing him from the back, similar to what his mom may have done in the wild, he would almost always do as we asked.  If not, we backed up to what he knew he could do and started over.

Me with Image after leading him around the corral

After leading Ember around the corral

Ember was a little trickier and we found that lunging her worked best.  She has a tremendous amount of energy and gets bored very fast if not doing something fun and exciting.  She has been doing very well with leading now.  Every now and then she becomes “Queen Ember” and will not do a thing we ask of her.  I have learned that Ember is a thinker.  She has to think every thing through before she does anything.  She is so different from Image in how she approaches different situations.  I know I have said this before, but it still remains true.  She will come around in her own time.  And we will be here, waiting.  Sometimes friendships are built very quickly and sometimes they take some time to build that trust.  We have the time.

We let both Touchy and our 8 year old mustang, Abi, out with the kids to let them get to know each other.  Touchy, having been out with the kids before, did very well with them.

Image and Touchy

Not knowing exactly what Abi would do when introduced to the kids, we put a halter on her.  Abi was so excited and nervous to meet the new kids, she ran in circles.  In her excitement she kicked and bucked and put on quite a show.  Never once did she aim at the kids.  All of this was nervous energy and excitement.  As soon as she calmed down, she came over to where Terry and I were to get some comfort.  We coaxed her over to the kids so she could start building a friendship.  She was little too keyed up to completely enjoy the situation.

Abi meeting the kids

With both Image and Ember now leading fairly well, both in the corral and out in their paddock, we knew it was time to let them out into the big pasture with the big girls.  We put halters on both Shy Ann and Abi.  And then we put all three older girls in the back pasture so the kids could completely focus on us and what we were asking them to do.  We led them over to the creek to cross it to get to the pasture.  We had thought that this may be a challenge for them.  Even though they were both used to getting in the water holes up on the mountain, running water was a completely different thing.  With a lot of coaxing, one step at a time, I was able to walk Image across the creek.  True to her fashion, Ember had to think about it.  While thinking about it, she stuck her nuzzle in the water and seemed to be blowing bubbles.  She knew what she had to do.  She wasn’t crazy about the idea though.   She chose to jump across rather than walk through the water.

Image saw the green grass and immediately wanted to graze, so I let him.  Ember saw the other horses in the back pasture and thought that getting to them was a higher priority.   After Image got a few good mouthfuls of grass, I led him closer to Ember in the center of our big pasture.

Image and Ember in the big pasture for the first time

We took their lead ropes off and let them graze for a couple of hours before letting the big girls back in the pasture with them.  Ember ran close to the fence that separated her from her new friends.  Everyone got excited by this and were soon prancing around.  Everyone but Image, that is.  He was clearly more interested in enjoying this green heaven he had just been led into.

We were unsure what would happen when our alpha, Shy Ann, met the kids for the first time.  We knew that the area had to be big for them to run in so we waited until this moment to let them meet without fences or corral panels.  Terry stood close to the kids as I opened the gate for the big girls to come back in to the main pasture.

Shy Ann about to meet Image and Ember

Shy Ann trotted down to the kids and sniffed around.  She immediately postured her Queen status, as if the kids didn’t already know the power she holds in this new world.  But just to make sure all was understood, she told them the way it was going to be.

Shy Ann greeting the kids

Image showed no signs of questioning Shy Ann’s authority.  Ember, on the other hand, decided to sass Shy Ann a bit.  She led Shy Ann on a merry chase.   She knows that Shy Ann is the queen of this green castle, but she can still have fun, right?Abi decided to join in the fun. And soon they were all tearing across the pasture.Image brought up the rear.  He is clearly not in to running as his cousin Ember is.Ember was born to run and run she did!  It did my heart good to see her so happy running all over the place. Image stuck to Ember like glue when Shy Ann decided to exude her authority once again and chase them around a bit.Ember soon outran Image and left him behind as Shy Ann continued her chase of Ember.  I was surprised to see Shy Ann snaking Ember.  I have only seen stallions do this in the wild to bring members of their band back into the fold.  They all soon settled down and went back to grazing.  It took a few more hours for them all to get close to each other and graze without any drama.  I was very pleased that no one got kicked or hurt.  These friendships are not being built overnight, but in time we will all learn to trust and depend on each other.

Noddla Nocdar

Black Friday

A set of headlights hopped across the parking lot as a black Escalade hit the entrance from the street. Janice nudged Linda who was sitting in the passenger’s seat of her Navigator.

“This is it.”

“What if they don’t get out right away?”

“Nuh-uh; no you don’t. Get out. We were here first; but we have to—”

“It’s cold though; and wet.”

Janice grabbed her extra-large-regular. She was upset they didn’t have what she wanted as a free sample of Dunkie’s that early in the morning. It was advertised.

“Get out Lin, or they’ll be first.”

The girls got out. Janice fobbed the car as they double-timed it to the doors of what used to be a K-Mart. Those letters had been replaced with DOMINIC’S DISCOUNT ELECTRONICS. She could still see the cleaner parts of the building where the K-Mart name had been.

They beat out the couple from the Escalade by a few steps and then exchanged awkward greetings. One of the new arrivals looked to be the daughter of the other. They had the same shoulder length black hair.

Janice glanced at her watch; it was three-thirty. “According to the flyer I got in the mail, the doors open at four AM on Black Friday.” She sipped from her coffee and said, “I wouldn’t mind if they opened a little early.” She cupped a hand to her temple, trying to see inside. The glass door had been blacked-out so she could see nothing.

Linda said, “I never get up this early. This is kind of crazy.”

Janice looked at her while sipping more coffee. “No it’s not. Think of it: forty percent off GPS navigation, thirty-five percent off 52” LCD televisions, and they carry a line of Coach at fifty percent off.”

The older woman next to Linda said, “They have Coach? Wow.” To her daughter she said, “Did you hear that sweetie?”

“Yes mom.” She was looking at Janice as if Janice had just punched her mom. A black cloud formed over her.

“Sorry,” Janice said. “I spilled the beans, didn’t I?”

Other cars were showing up in ones and twos. The people coming to the door were mostly women. At first they formed a line, but as more showed up at the door from different parts of the parking lot, the line turned into a mob.

Someone next to Janice stepped on the lace of her sneaker and it was untied. She said, “I have to tie my sneaker. I’m going to sit. Hold my coffee Linda?”

She sat with her back against the building, trying to tie her sneaker with her oversized purse still on her shoulder when it happened.

The doors unlocked and swung in.

The herd began to move. Janice pressed her feet against the concrete, pushing her back into the building so she wouldn’t get knocked over and trampled. Several shoppers tripped over her feet but stayed up. As the doors swung shut she caught a glimpse inside.

It was dark; very few lights were on. The man who opened and closed the door had a ponytail and a week’s growth on his face. He wore a black leather vest. As he closed the door, something swung from his shoulder. It looked like a gun. It looked like a fake gun because it was all black; a movie prop perhaps.

Janice was the only one outside. With her sneaker tied, she rolled to her side and got up. After straightening her jacket, she tried the door. It was locked and her heart sank. She was alone. Several ramp trucks pulled into the parking lot and positioned to carry away cars that had only just arrived.

Janice began to worry. Linda was inside and the doors were locked. Her Navigator was in the lot and cars were being hauled away. Everything was wrong.

Suddenly, what could only be the sound of gunfire erupted on the other side of the doors. There had to be several guns from the sound of it. Janice lurched back, whimpered, and then got down to a crouch.

The gunfire dwindled down to single shots here and there and Janice fled from the front of the building. Fobbing her car door after a frantic search in her purse, she got in. Her eyes welled up and a tear turned black with mascara before it raced to her jaw line. She didn’t understand what was going on. The one thing she understood was that a lot of people were on the inside when the guns were being fired. Linda was inside. She was supposed to be in there as well, but she stopped to tie her shoelace.

She noticed two men in black reaching from the roof of the building. They were removing the black letters that spelled out DOMINIC’S DISCOUNT ELECTRONICS. The last car to be hauled away was the black Escalade the mother and daughter had arrived in.

Janice was found alone in the parking lot later that day. She couldn’t say what happened. She couldn’t say anything at all for quite some time.

Did you notice the Dunkie’s link in the story?

Photographed by Eduardo Amorim

“…Decerto não morreram, os meus fletes,
e vivem nos rincões dos intermúndios…
Um dia irei fazer a recolhida,
hão de reconhecer a minha sombra
e o velho amigo que, como eles e com eles,
- campo afora –
esquecia a dor da vida
nos desesperos das atropeladas…”

Trecho de “Os fletes”, de Aureliano de Figueiredo Pinto
Bagé, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil

– License

3100605    การจัดการสุขภาพโค 1    Bovine Herd Health Management I

ฝึกปฏิบัติการจัดการลูกโคและโคสาวทดแทนเกี่ยวกับการตรวจ การวินิจฉัย การรักษา การป้องกันและการควบคุมโรคของโค ตลอดจนการผสมเทียมเพื่อการปรับปรุงพันธุ์

(Practice in the management of calves and heifers: examination, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and control of cattle diseases as well as artificial insemination for breed improvement.)

(3100605 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3100606    การจัดการสุขภาพโค 2    Bovine Herd Health Management II

ฝึกปฏิบัติการจัดการโคก่อนคลอดและหลังคลอด เกี่ยวกับการตรวจ การวินิจฉัย การรักษา การป้องกันและการควบคุมโรคของโคนม ตลอดจนการประเมินผลทางเศรษฐกิจ

(Practice in examining, diagnosing, and curing animals of various species in the hospital, on farms, and in rural areas; medicine, obstetrics, surgery, and pathology; disease control and prevention; animal health and client relationship.)

(3100606 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3100611    การจัดการสุขภาพสุกร 1    Swine Herd Health Management I

ฝึกปฏิบัติการตรวจ การวินิจฉัย การรักษา การควบคุมและการป้องกันโรคหรือความผิดปกติของสุกร การวางแนวทางเพื่อเพิ่มผลผลิต

(Practice in examination, diagnosis, treatment, control, and prevention of pig diseases or abnormalities; planning for increasing productivity.)

(3100611 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3100612    การจัดการสุขภาพสุกร 2    Swine Herd Health Management II

ฝึกปฏิบัติการทดสอบความสมบูรณ์พันธุ์ของสุกร การแก้ไขความไม่สมบูรณ์พันธุ์ การคัดเลือกพันธุ์ การผสมพันธุ์ การทำคลอด ตลอดจนการประเมินผลทางเศรษฐกิจ

(Practice in testing fertility in pigs, infertility solving, breed selection, breeding, parturition as well as economic assessment.)

(3100612 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3107403    การจัดการสุขภาพและผลผลิตปศุสัตว์    Herd Health and Production Management

การจัดการผลผลิตฝูงปศุสัตว์ กล่าวถึง เทคนิคทางสถิติ เศรษฐศาสตร์ ตลอดจนการเก็บและการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลการผลิตด้วยโปรแกรมคอมพิวเตอร์ การดูแล และการติดตามประเมินสุขภาพฝูงปศุสัตว์ การป้องกันโรคติดต่อที่สำคัญในการผลิตสัตว์

(Management of livestock animals; statistical techniques, economics induding computerized recording and analysis of production data; herd health medicine and monitoring; prevention of the important infectious diseases in animal production.)

(3107403 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3108711    การจัดการสุขภาพในฟาร์มโคนม    Herd Health Management in Dairy Cattle

การจัดการลูกโค โครุ่น โคสาว แม่โคทางสุขภาพเพื่อเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการผลิต การป้องกันโรค การให้อาหาร การสืบพันธุ์ และการนำคอมพิวเตอร์มาใช้ช่วยในการจัดการฟาร์มโคนม เพื่อเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการผลิต

(Health management of calves, heifer and cow in order to maximize production effciency, diseases prevention, feeding reproduction and introduction of computer programme for improving dairy farm management.)

(3108711 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3108712    การจัดการสุขภาพในฟาร์มสุกร    Herd Health Management in Swine

การจัดการพ่อแม่พันธุ์สุกร การบันทึกข้อมูล การวิเคราะห์ข้อมูล การป้องกันโรค การให้อาหาร การเตรียมแม่สุกรสาวทดแทน การจัดการพ่อสุกรในการผสมพันธุ์ การใช้คอมพิวเตอร์ในการจัดการฟาร์มสุกรเพื่อเพิ่มประสิทธิภาพการผลิต

(Health management in swine breeding herd, data collection and analysis, prevention programme, management of replacement glits, mating management of boar and introduction of computer in field health managment programme in order to maximize production efficiency.)

(3108712 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3142506    หลักภูมิคุ้มกันของฝูง    Principles of Herd Immunity

องค์ประกอบสำคัญของระบบภูมิคุ้มกันในฝูงสัตว์ การติดต่อของโรคในฝูงสัตว์ และการเพิ่มระดับของภูมิคุ้มกันในฝูงสัตว์เพื่อเป็นหลักในการวางระบบการป้องกันโรคในฝูงสัตว์

(Major components in herd immunity, methods of disease transmission in herd and means to increase the level of herd immunity as principles to design disease prevention programs.)

(3142506 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3144401    การจัดการสุขภาพฝูงสัตว์เคี้ยวเอื้อง    Herd Health Management in Ruminants

โรคและความผิดปกติที่สำคัญในสัตว์เคี้ยวเอื้อง ระบบความปลอดภัยทางชีวภาพ การป้องกันโรค การเฝ้าระวังโรค การประเมินสมรรถภาพทางระบบสืบพันธุ์และ การเจริญเติบโตระดับฝูงโดยการวิเคราะห์ข้อมูลผลผลิตและมูลค่าทางเศรษฐกิจ การประเมินและวิเคราะห์ปัญหาสุขภาพที่มีผลกระทบต่อปริมาณและคุณภาพของผลผลิต ตลอดจนประสิทธิภาพการผลิตสัตว์เคี้ยวเอื้อง

(Important diseases and abnormalities in ruminants, biosecurity system, disease surveillance schemes, reproductive and growth performances on herd basis; evaluation and analysis of production and economic data, in order to signify the health problems affecting the quality and quantity of products and production efficiency.)

(3144401 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

3144402    การจัดการสุขภาพฝูงสุกร    Swine Herd Health Management

การประมวลความรู้ในการจัดการฟาร์มเพื่อปรับปรุงด้านการผลิตและสุขภาพสุกร ระบบการจัดการด้านพันธุกรรม ด้านอาหาร และการให้อาหาร วัสดุและอุปกรณ์โรงเรือนในฟาร์มสุกร การควบคุมสิ่งแวดล้อม วงจรการผลิต การแก้ไขปัญหาด้านสุขภาพและความผิดปกติ การควบคุมป้องกันโรค ระบบความปลอดภัยทางชีวภาพ การวิเคราะห์ผลผลิตฟาร์ม เศรษฐศาสตร์และการตลาดของธุรกิจสุกร

(An integration of various aspects in swine herd health management resultingto a better production, genetics, feed and feeding techniques, housing and equipment, farm environment, production cycle, interventions to improve health and disorder correction, control and prevention of diseases, biosecurity, production analysis as well as economic and marketing aspects of swine business.)

(3144402 จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย)

I read an article on Epona.tv called “Horses Get “Jealous” Too”. For those of you who haven’t read it, it basically says that equine jealousy is more about their social standing than their need/want for attention. And this got me thinking.

What if horses think this way of us, their humans. I wonder if this would explain why some horses are a “one person” horse. Could it actually be that they don’t feel any other human could get them higher on the social scale than one. Could it mean that when we say “Oh they’re just jealous.” when they chase another horse away, that they are actually threatened by the other horse. That they feel if the other oppenent makes it’s way through that they will be cast out. If this is the way that our horses actually think, then this sheds a whole new light on the way a horse thinks. It would most certainly explain a lot about equine behavior since we know that they are by nature social animals, it just really shows the depth for that social need.

Just some food for thought to think about the next time you’re out with your horse.

After several months of taking care of our 3 fiber (non breeding) females we felt we were ready for a breeding female. We had our hearts set on Carmelita with her ET-Whoville looks and superior lineage.   She was pregnant  when we purchased her and within several weeks of having her cria, so we took our mentor’s advice (Lynn and Jim Roy of Klamath River Alpacas) and waited until after the birth to move her.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 We got the call in early June that our cria had been born and Carmelita had a smooth labor and delivery. We could hardly wait to see the new baby girl! We went to the ranch and met her and decided she looked like topaz. We name our crias after rocks, so Topaz it was!

We were very happy to have a female since we had no males at the time and it would simplify things to not have to figure out what to do with a male in 6 months when it was weaning time. It was a long 3 months while we waited for Carmelita to recover from the birth and then get bred again. It sounds crazy, but alpacas seem to enjoy being pregnant. Within 2 weeks or so of Topaz’s birth, Carmie was flirting and ready for breeding. We had a “breed back” coming since we just purchased her, so we chose the amazing Seiad to do the honors. Seiad is a beautiful, regal, rose gray male and is an experienced herdsire, so the job got done fairly quickly.

Finally the day came for Topaz to come home. She and Carmelita fit right in and they adjusted to the move easily. Carmelita and our fiber females were from Lynn and Jim’s ranch so they already knew each other. Topaz was a very active cria. The first morning after her arrival I was lying in bed about ready to get up when I heard a BANG! Topaz had broken out of the night-time paddock and was running free. The ranch is fully fenced but we still wanted to get her back in as soon as possible. Now this was totally unexpected because we had always heard that alpacas do not challenge fences. Well evidently, Topaz was absent the day they covered that because she continued on with her “don’t fence me in” attitude. While Topaz ran free the “Aunties” and Carmelita stood in the paddock watching her without even attempting to take the opportunity to escape the enclosure. We got Topaz back in and reattached the fence. That was the first time she fought with a fence and won. She has been successful in a couple of other attempts as well. She would go on a run about almost every evening when it was time to go from the daytime pasture to the night paddock. She is not doing that quite so much any more and is growing into a  beautiful, yet still independent yearling. We look forward to breeding her next year and will expect her first cria in spring of 2011.

The herd at the Earth Dancer Ranch has come into full swing.  Paisano has been here less than a week and we already have a routine established.  I wake up, get ready for work and go out to say good morning to everyone.  Each one of them gets a good scratching and an alfalfa cube.  Then I fed them a little and go to work.  I get home and try to get one of them into the round pen for a short training session.  With the girls we work on the basics, developing a strong ground foundation.  If  I’m with Paisano, I will lunge him a little and then get on and work on talking to each other.  We communicate pretty good but we are still getting to know all the little and subtle things.  He is so patient with everyone and we couldn’t have a better mentor in Paisano.  He doesn’t even chase the dogs around   As a matter of fact I don’t even think he cares too much about them.  After our training session, I feed them all.  I give Paisano his oat/flax mixture and he usually shares it with Rosie.  Lil’ Miss is still being proud and won’t even give it the time of day.  I give them all hay and some alfalfa cubes.  They definitely know when it’s feeding time, ha ha ha.  If I’m running late in the morning, I can count on Rosie to be standing at the gate staring at the house whinnying.  The other two are there as well but she is the most vocal about it

We are working on getting my stadium lighting put up on the round pen and should be able train after hours soon!

What a man!

Keep Your Eye on Factory Farms, China, and the Birds

Huffington Post/David Kirby—On Monday, the USDA reported that pigs in a commercial swine herd at an Indiana factory farm had tested positive for novel H1N1 influenza virus. It was the first time that pigs raised for meat in the US had been found with signs of the bug. Last month, show pigs at the Minnesota State Fair also tested positive for H1N1.

This time, 3,000 “finishing hogs” being fattened for slaughter were suspected of contracting the disease. “Information points to a recent exposure of the pigs with facility caretakers who were exhibiting influenza-like symptoms,” said the website PigProgress.net. “Recovered healthy pigs are being sent to slaughter through normal marketing channels and State public health officials have been notified of the situation.”

Agriculture and health officials have adopted a low-key posture toward the outbreak, noting that herd surveillance is working, and that the pigs in question cleared the virus and recovered on their own. They insisted there was no threat to public health.

The USDA has long pointed out that H1N1 cannot be transmitted by eating or handling pork products, and that US pork is completely safe. And though it would appear that people can infect pigs with H1N1, it is not clear whether live pigs can infect people. For now, officials are far more worried about the former than the latter.

More @

WWW.FLU.GOV

502572     การจัดการสุขภาพฝูงแพะและแกะ     Sheep and Goat Herd Health Management

การจัดการสุขภาพและผลผลิตในฟาร์มแพะและแกะ ปัญหาโรคและความผิดปกติที่สำคัญที่เกิดกับแพะและแกะ สาเหตุ พยาธิกำเนิด อาการ การวินิจฉัย การรักษา การป้องกันและควบคุมโรค

(Health and production management in sheep and goat farms. Important diseases and disorder in goat and sheep emphasizing on etiology, pathogenesis, clinical signs, diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control.)

(502572 มหาวิทยาลัยเกษตรศาสตร์)