Strangles (and sorry, a bit on martingales).

[Jennifer Hixson Layman <jlayman@leland.Stanford.EDU>]

Something that no one has mentioned, and maybe I'm the only one that feels
this way... Personally, I feel a bit of a responsibility to have my horse
vacinated not only for my horses sake, but also for the sake of other
horses I come in contact with.  I ride at many public parks and my horses
drink out of many public water troughs...  this, to me, is a case of "do to
thy neighbor as you would have them do unto you".

I am not saying that others should decide whether or not you vaccinate your
horse, but I do think you have to consider others when you are
participating in this sport.  If you have health certificates that state
your horse is clean without vacinations then by all means I will camp next
to you (not that I ask my camp ground neighbors for health certificates ;)
).  Maybe this is all mute... after all my horse is vacinated so what do I
care if yours is or isn't (should I?).

Can an unvacinated horse be a carrier of Strangles and never get the
symptoms (Heidi?) ?  If they can, this would be something someone
(especially a traveling endurance rider) should consider when deciding if
they should vacinate for strangles or not.  If not, then one less thing to
consider.

I am very excited about the intranasal option.  Both my horses get very
stiff necks, and are rather punk for a week after their strangles
vacination.  I will definitely ask the vet for this option the next time
they are due.

Ok, now for my personal experience with running martingales (move on now if
your tired of this subject):

My mare flings her neck around like a whip.  I invite any of you to come
visit my mare when she is running loose and happy.  If you want to tell me
that her head flinging is due to a problem, and not out of sheer joy, I
will tell you that you are an extreme generalist and can't possibly look at
horses for the individuals they are.  My mare is like a rubber band and
incredibly loose.  She flings her head left to right as hard as she can
because SHE LOVES TO!  Fortunately, she no longer does it when I ride her
thanks to some help with a running martingale. I can, AND DO ride this mare
without a the running martingale, but she is much funner to ride with one
on, and personally I feel much safer with one on.  Mine is adjusted very
loosely and truthfully probably useless, but she knows it is there, and she
knows when it is not.  I do work on my riding skills through lessons, and
probably will continue to through out my life.  My husband keeps asking...
don't you know how to ride yet?  We all have a lot too learn, but many who
posted about martingales took too severe an approach.  Not all things are
learned immediately (I have yet to have a horse learn something
immediately).  Yes, I felt many of the posts on this subject were
demeaning... one reason I so rarely post on ridecamp. Many replies to my
questions or suggestions are so venomently responded to.




Jennifer Layman & Goose (who is terrified of needles and will be relieved)
                & Hoosannah (No stiffness??... commence neck flinging!)