Tuesday’s Horse

If county supervisors ban Mexican-style rodeo then they should also ban American rodeo, say Charros who claim they’re being discriminated against.

Martin Marquez, 10, from San Juan Bautista, rides his horse Frijolito as he practices criollo during a charreada demonstration at a private ranch in Gilroy Wednesday evening. Photo by Lora Schraft, Staff Photographer

Story filed by SHEILA SANCHEZ, The Gilroy Dispatch

GILROY, Calif. — On Feb. 12, supervisors asked county staff to prepare a study examining whether an ordinance could be adopted that would reiterate state law prohibiting cruelty to animals and prohibit tripping or felling an equine animal, or intentionally tripping, dragging, or felling any bovine animal by the tail. The report is expected to be completed at the beginning of April.

“It’s definitely discrimination again us,” said Martin Marquez, president of Asociaci-n de Charros El Herradero de San Martin. “They’re always looking for ways to bug our culture and molest our tradition.”

And though Marquez and other charros don’t like to point fingers at their American cowboy counterparts, they’re ready for the sake of protecting their sport.

As Marquez puts it: “If we’re not going to steer from the tail then they’re not going to steer from the horn.”

To animal rights activist Alfredo Kuba, president of the Mountain View-based Defend Animals Coalition, charros and rodeo cowboys are the same.

“For the sake of culture they perpetrate atrocities and cruelties toward other creates that cannot defend themselves. You got to be totally stupid not to realize that tripping an animal to the ground is cruel and inhumane,” Kuba said.

Eric Mills, coordinator of Action for Animals, believes supervisors may not consider banning rodeo events because there’s a lot of money involved in rodeo, unlike charreadas, which are conducted by the charros for prestige and trophies. Rodeo has multi-million dollar sponsors, charreadas don’t, Mills said.

Charros feel they’re also without political power. At Armando Castaneda’s 17-acre ranch off Bloomfield Avenue in unincorporated Gilroy, Marquez and others gathered on a recent sunny afternoon to show their sport is not cruel as portrayed by animal rights activists.

“What worries me is they (supervisors) want to take away the charreria,” said Castaneda. “What they’re protesting are tailings, done by tailers. I don’t like tailings.” They’re also here to protest what they perceive as discrimination and bias against specific exercises or events in Mexican-style rodeo or charreadas.

The exercises are known in Spanish as “colas en el lienzo,” and “terna en el ruedo.” Colas en el Lienzo, or coleadero (arena bull tailing) is similar to bull dogging except the rider does not dismount; the charro rides along the left side of the bull, wraps its tail around its right leg, and tries to cause the bull to fall and roll as he rides past. Terna en el Ruedo (team of three) is a roping event in which charros attempt to rope a bull - one by its neck, one by its hind legs and the last then ties its feet together. They have 10 minutes to accomplish the feat.

Charros stress that if these exercises are banned by Santa Clara County supervisors then so should calf roping and steer wrestling events in American rodeo.

“People should be in jail for calf roping. It’s a baby animal. Would you do that to a dog?” Mills said.

Castaneda fears that Santa Clara County could join Alameda and Contra Costa counties in banning rodeo exercises. This summer, Castaneda has 10 new youths participating in his free charreria program, which teaches Gilroy youth about the sport. The 22-year Gilroy resident has been riding since infancy. “Venimos de caballo,” he says, which translated means, “We come from the horse.”

View story and more photographs here by staff photographer Lora Schraft.

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By JEANNA BRYNER
Copyright © 2008 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved.
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Egyptian tomb holds first known domesticated donkeys

One of the earliest Egyptian kings carried his “beasts of burden” into the afterlife.

Paleoscientists discovered the skeletons of 10 donkeys nestled in three mud graves dating back to 5,000 years ago, when Egypt was just forming a state.

The donkey skeletons were discovered in 2003 lying on their sides in graves at a burial complex of one of the first pharaohs at Abydos, Egypt, which is about 300 miles (480 kilometers) south of Cairo.

“There have been very few funerary complexes of the first pharaohs ever found,” said Fiona Marshall, an anthro- pologist at Washington University in St. Louis, “and nobody expected that in some of the highest status graves there would be donkeys; you normally have high courtiers or nobles.”

The excavators, who expected to at least find human remains and likely those of noble descent, got a surprise when they found grave areas full of donkeys.

But only recently did scientists study the bones in detail to reveal the true significance of the discovery: The skeletons represent the first clear evidence of the domestication of the wild ass.

The new findings are reported online in the March 10 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Dating donkeys

A donkey is a member of the Equidae family, which includes horses, zebras and African wild asses, which are the ancestors of domesticated donkeys. (A mule is the offspring of a male donkey, commonly called a jackass, and a female horse, called a mare.)

Genetic studies and other research point to an African origin for donkeys about 6,000 years ago. The exact timing and location of the changeover from a wild meat source to a docile human helper have been tricky to pinpoint, however.

For one, donkey skeletons from thousands of years ago are rare. In addition, researchers say it’s difficult to see changes that would distinguish wild asses from domesticated donkeys.

Some past research of isolated donkey bones has relied on size as a marker of domestication. Smaller size was presumed to be associated with the crowded, hardworking conditions of domesticated versions compared with the free-foraging wild asses.

The date of burial is also a murky marker.

“Egyptian nobility hunted African wild ass long after donkeys were domesticated, so both occur on Dynastic Egyptian sites,” Marshall and her colleagues write.

Some context

In the new study, whole skeletons allowed researchers to look at the bones in context to paint a picture of what the animals were up to so long ago.

Marshall and her colleagues compared the bones of the Abydos skeletons with 53 modern donkey and African wild ass skeletons.

The results suggested the Abydos donkeys would have looked similar to the Somali wild ass, a subspecies of African wild ass that is still alive today.

That would mean the Abydos donkey would have stood at four feet (1.2 meters) at the shoulder, weighing about 600 pounds (272 kilograms). — much larger than a modern donkey.

For comparison, a zebra is about the same shoulder height and can weigh up to about 900 pounds (430 kilograms).

However, the wear and tear of joints and other boney characteristics indicated the animals carried heavy loads like modern-day donkeys.

Every load-bearing joint of the donkeys showed signs of abrasion, suggesting so much wear and tear that the joints’ protective tissue — the cartilage — had worn away.

The researchers noted arthritis of the vertebra bones just behind the shoulders, where loads are typically placed.

While they weren’t young’uns, the donkeys were not old enough to justify the bone damage, with the donkeys’ estimated ages somewhere between 8 and 13 years when they perished.

Noble ass

The donkeys as beasts of burden would have represented the earliest use of animals (other than humans) to carry humans and their goods.

“This is the first evidence for donkeys carrying loads, which is important because they were the first transport animal,” Marshall told LiveScience, “absolutely the first loads off humans’ backs to create land transport routes, the earliest trade routes between Egyptians and Sumerians and so on.”

The importance of the donkey haulers is supported by the skeletons’ burial location.

The researchers speculate the donkeys were associated with the tomb of either King Narmer or King Hor-Aha, who may have been Narmer’s son.

King Narmer may have been the pharoah who unified Upper and Lower Egypt, founded the first of 30 dynasties and created the world’s first nation-state.

“It certainly suggests they were of very great importance to the pharaoh and the early Egyptian state,” Marshall said. “It’s very likely that having land-based transport of this kind actually helped to integrate the state, which was the world’s first and earliest nation-state.”

Copyright © 2008 Imaginova Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Photograph: PNAS/National Academy of Sciences

By MIKE WALBERT for The Arizona Republic

A horse rescue charity and a topless club join forces this weekend in an unusual pairing aimed at raising money to care for horses.

A silent auction and Wild West-themed dance review, featuring Las Vegas-style costume shows, are planned. Admission is $12.

A portion of the admission fee and all silent auction collections will go toward Wildhorse Ranch Rescue.

“I don’t know if it’s true that sex sells, but people seem to like our provocative stuff,” said Kim Meagher, founder and CEO of Wildhorse Ranch Rescue.

The risqué fundraiser, which is entering its fourth year of existence, is the non-profit’s biggest money generator of the year, raking in funds for food and veterinary care, Meagher said.

Wildhorse, located south of Lindsay and Elliot roads, has saved about 80 horses and adopted out more than 30 since 1995. It costs about $5,000 monthly to care for the horses, Meagher said.

Saturday’s fundraiser is for those 21 years and older, and will feature nudity.

“It’s more of a show rather than just a girl going on stage and taking her dress off,” said Jaynie Wiseman, Christie’s entertainment supervisor. “It’s more a salute to the burlesque shows.”

The club became involved with the fundraiser because it’s for a worthy local cause, Wiseman said.

“They do good work,” she said. “They save a lot of animals.”

Silent auction items include jewelry, gift baskets, hand-painted glass, Easter baskets and paintings donated by artist Eve Plumb, who famously portrayed Jan Brady on the television show The Brady Brunch.

And what about the folks who prefer to shy away from the racy event? Wildhorse hosts other fundraisers throughout the year, Meagher said.

“We are open to anyone that will help donate money to feed the horses, whether they are naked or not,” she said.

Christie’s Cabaret is at 44 N. 32nd St.

For more information, visit www.mudpony.com

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Virginia L. Clark filed a story for The Taos News entitled “Alternative Exercise” in which she extols the virtues of horseback riding. The headline grabber, however, is weight loss.

Anyone spending time around horses knows caring for them is work, and there is usually plenty of it. Caring for horses also teaches you discipline and responsibility, among many other virtues. I for one awaken every day at 5:00 a.m. no matter what time I went to bed. This is from years of getting up plenty early so I could muck out the horses, do the hay and water, and sweep out the barn before I went to school/work.

In her article Clark states:

Riding stimulates seldom-used muscles in the dorsal and abdominal regions and, besides core health benefits, the rider gets fit without actually having to do anything. Just letting the big creatures walk you around can melt away calories and heal the deepest of wounds, both physical and emotional.

Not quite sure about Clark’s statements that horseback riding requires one not having to do anything. Let’s just say it is possible to stay aboard a horse by doing very little if the horse is too.

On the healing of powers of the horses, Clark is spot on. In her article, she tells us about the wonderful work being done at Equine Spirit Sanctuary.

Here’s the rest of the story:

Equine Spirit Sanctuary, founded by Taose-a Ruth Bourgeois about three years ago for the betterment of human-horse relations (often involving interventions to prevent abuse and unnecessary slaughter), has a number of horses at the sanctuary, both recovering and some for equine assisted therapy, the foundation of a volunteer-intensive program.

Horsing around burns calories

A 155-pound person will burn 176 calories an hour, riding and letting the hay burner stroll amiably along. Even better, the same 155-pound person, just grooming a horse burns a whopping 422 calories an hour, which is probably what the majority of horses at Equine Spirit Sanctuary are going to be needing, given that many rescues need healing and fattening up before anyone ever considers getting on their backs.

The sanctuary has partnered with Karen Evans of Horseplay Therapeutic Riding, to produce therapeutic equestrian services, starting with a recreational therapeutic riding program beginning in June 2008.

Equine-assisted therapies

The program will be operated within the standards of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). Horse activities with clients and volunteers will be taught by Evans, a NARHA certified instructor since 1998, who is also certified at the advanced level in physical and cognitive disabilities.

Because horseback riding gently and rhythmically moves the rider’s body in a manner similar to a human gait, riders with physical disabilities often show amazing improvement in flexibility, balance and muscle strength.

Evans has owned and operated HorsePlay in Aztec, N.M., since 1996. Among her many achievements, she designed and implemented the Spirit Horse Therapeutic Riding Program, Central Consolidated Schools, in Shiprock, and was also Program Director for Cadence Therapeutic Riding in Durango, Colo., a nonprofit corporation offering professional therapeutic equine assisted services to disabled individuals.

Mandy’s love of her chicken makes her a good candidate for Delta, the animal-assisted program at Equine Spirit Sanctuary (Photo by Ruth Bourgeois)

Win-win situation

Since not as many people have riding skills as want to get up close with horses, just volunteering at the sanctuary to groom and side-walk rescues and therapy horses will burn calories away effortlessly, a win-win situation for horse and horse lover. For more therapeutic riding details, however, see www.equinespiritsanctuary.org or contact Evans at info@horseplaytherapeuticriding.org.

Equine Spirit Sanctuary

HC 68 Box 20F, Taos 87571 283 Cuchilla Road, Ranchos de Taos (formerly Thal Equine) (575) 779-3431

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