16 May, 1962
You Can Help This Column Win Space In Your Own Paper
( Note— Subscribers to the Voice can help get a fine“ horse column” started in their hometown newspaper. One of our new-found great friends is Charles Goldswig, a summertime resident of Route 1, Clayton, O., near Dayton. He spends winters in St. Petersburg, Fla. and recently organized the Florida Tennessee Walking Horse Assn. Says he was inspired to do this by reading Chapter 10 of our Biography book. Ask your favorite newspaperman if his newspaper doesn ' t want a horse column and if he answers“ yes " tell him to write Charles Goldswig, Rt. 1, Clayton, O. This may get something started. Here’ s a sample of Charlie’ s column reprinted from the St. Petersburg Times. It ran once a week there all winter. Here’ s a great person in the Tennessee Walking Horse Crusade. BAG)
THE HORSEY SET By Charles Goldswig
Much of our mail has been in die form of questions about show horses, inspired no doubt by the many shows which have been held in this area recently.
Two outstanding horsemen from different parts of the country, Lee Fahey of Kansas City, Mo., an authority on saddle horses, and Horace Young of Lewisburg, Tenn., an expert on walking horses, were judges at the horse show in Largo a few weeks ago and we were able to collaborate with them in obtaining some answers to the following questions:
Question: How long is the pre-natal period? Eleven months.
Question: At breeding time, is the mare taken to the stallion or is the stallion taken to the mare? The mare is taken to the stallion.
Question: What are the sleeping habits of horses?
Some horses sleep standing up; some lie down.
Question: What type food and how often are horses fed?
Generally speaking, horses have their breakfast between 6 and 8 a. m. About a gallon of oats is the average feeding. A permanent hay rack in the corner of the stall is kept filled with timothy hay, with a sprinkling of clover and occasionally red top to give the necessary roughage. Vitamins also are given because the soil in some parts of the country does not provide grain and hay sufficient nutrients. Lunch, between 12 and 2 p. m. and dinner between 5 and 7 p. m.; are about the same as breakfast. The amounts of oats and hay vary depending upon the horses weight.
Question: How often are horses ridden or exercised and for what period of time?
Horses are ridden or driven for about 30 minutes daily, six days a week. They are put through their regular gaits to be kept in form for the show ring.
Question: What happens if the horse is heated up after his exercise?.
They are completely covered with a blanket known as a cooler and walked until they are thoroughly cooled out. Three or four times a week they are given a bath with warm water to which a bracer or astringent has been added. After the bath they are dried with a rough towel and the hair is well brushed. Then they are covered with a light blanket and returned to their stall.
Question: How often does a horse need new shoes?
About every 4 to 6 weeks a blacksmith examines the shoes and resets them to conform with the hoof. Sometimes one pair of shoes will last six months to a year as they seldom wear out.
Question: What care is given to bed or stall?
While the horse is out for his exercise the bed of straw or shavings is completely turned over and new bedding added. About once a week all the bedding is removed and a fresh supply put in.
Question: Is there any special treatment to the coat to make him so shiny? How about his mane and tail?
Elbow grease with a linen or burlap rag will do the job. However, occasionally flax seed meal is added to his diet which helps develop a glossy coat. The mane and tail are never combed. There are oiled and picked by hand so as not to lose or pull out the hair.
Question: Are show horses ever turned out to pasture?
Yes. About once a year some show horses are given a vacation. Shoes are taken off, hoofs are trimmed and they are allowed to run die pasture.
Question: How about feeding carrots, apples or sugar to horses? This is avoided for it has a tendency to spoil SHOW horses.
Question: Are there horse hospitals? Yes. Three come quickly to mind, Iowa State University, Colorado University and Oklahoma University. Usually a local veterinarian treats the horse in the barn and if the horse might have an illness that is contagious, he is removed to an isolation stall.
Betty Sain
( Continued from Page 15) as wobbly as could be. And so it has gone until you came out to see us today and took pictures.
“ Look how strong she is, and how she loves me. I ' m pretty certain she will live now— and we are all praying for her,” said Betty as the Voice Editor left to return to Shelbyville where he works at a newspaper office( the Times-Gazette). Then The Telephone Rang But on Monday the telephone rang.
The voice of Betty Sain said:“ Mr. Green. My Little filly died. Dr. Thomas was here again on Sunday and he tried to save her. But she had a septic poisoning just like her dam has and also she developed pneumonia. The Doctor says she could not possibly have lived. He performed an autopsy to find the reason for her death. We think the dam will live. Please save the pictures you took. I want to keep them.”
So Betty hung up. The newspaper story was shortened to just cutlines. Newspapers do not have space for long stories like this. But the Voice does have space and we believe Voice readers will have the eyes and the hearts to share this experience with Betty Sain. That’ s why such breed magazines exist.
Tuesday night, April 24, the Voice Editor called Betty on the phone to double-check these facts.
“ Yes, Mr. Green, those are right,” she said.“ But the dam, Blackley ' s Mae Allen, died too four weeks after the filly. She became so sick and was in such pain that Dr. Thomas had to put her to sleep.”
So the story ends in all details— but Betty Sain still plans to become a breeder-trainer of Tennessee Walking Horses as she grows up. She is already training several on one of the three farms owned by her parents.