Horses on parade in Washingdon DC. St Patrick’s Day 2008. Photo: Vivian Grant Farrell.
“Lay off the horses, Mr. Obama.” That is the referenced article’s title, not ours. However, neither of the presidential candidates seem to have a clue about horses. How sad, considering how much equines have benefited mankind. Horses also fought, injured and died in battle by the millions in the U.S., and are still used in critical strategic maneuvers.
What’s all the fuss about? President Obama’s reference to “horses and bayonets” lit up Twitter last night.
Cross-posted from Washington Post blog
Written by MARTIN AUSTERMUHLE
During yesterday’s debate on foreign policy, President Obama scored what may have been the zinger of the night when he mocked Republican challenger Mitt Romney for thinking that when it comes to military hardware, quality matters more than quantity. “Well, governor, we also have fewer horses and bayonets, because the nature of our military’s changed,” Obama quipped.
Sure, but how about the nature policing the capital? Officers are more and more likely to be seen on bikes, motorcycles, cars and even Segways, but that doesn’t mean that local police forces have rid themselves of the horses that used to be part and parcel of maintaining order in District.
In fact, the Metropolitan Police Department went in exactly the opposite direction in 2001, when Police Chief Charles Ramsey reinstated the House Mounted Division that had been abandoned some 70 years earlier.
Northstar, a 6 year old horse is suffering terribly after being intentionally set on fire in a horrible act of animal cruelty in Crawford County PA.
Police are still seeking the suspects and are actively seeking leads on the case. In the meantime, Northstar needs help for his medical costs on his long road to recovery.
Watch video below.
If you have information on this horrible act of cruelty, call PA State Police at 814-663-2043.
For those who believe in the power of prayer, we ask you to bring your healing thoughts to the story below. Thank you.
Cross-posted from San Jose Mercy News
by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif. (Oct 5, 2012) — Someone fired 58 BB pellets into a Southern California horse named Calamity Jane.
The wounded 10-year-old mare wasn’t expected to survive when she arrived at a Castaic shelter last month.
KCBS-TV (cbsloc.al/PVIre8) says the horse had also been neglected by her owner and was taken by animal control officers to a shelter.
Stacey Cohen, who lives in Redondo Beach and keeps horses at Rancho Palos Verdes, says she was moved to adopt the horse two weeks ago because the shelter planned to put down the horse.
The mare’s BB wounds are still bleeding and there’s fear the lead pellets might poison her bloodstream.
Veterinarian Larry Kelly has offered to remove the BBs for free. Surgery is planned on Tuesday.
AMY J. CORRENTI | RRSTAR.COM A broodmare and her colt walk in a pen Friday, Sept. 21, 2012, in Dixon during a preview for the upcoming auction of Rita Crundwell’s horses.
DIXON — The U.S. Marshals Service will sell the remainder of the Rita Crundwell herd of quarter horses — more than 300 — via a live and Web simulcast auction in Dixon on Sunday and Monday, starting at 11 a.m. each day.
The auction will be held at the RC Ranch in Dixon, where a news conference was held today to showcase the horses.
Crundwell, 59, was among the leading breeders of quarter horses in the U.S. Formerly the comptroller of Dixon, Crundwell has been federally charged with wire fraud in U.S. District Court in Northern Illinois. Crundwell’s indictment charges her with fraudulently obtaining more than $53 million from the city since 1990 and using the proceeds to finance her horse breeding business and lavish lifestyle.
Auction details
Live auction: Sept. 23-24 at Rita Crundwell’s farm, 1556 Red Brick Road, Dixon. The auction is open to the public. Information on the horses being put up for sale will be made available ahead of the auctions.
Contact: Professional Auction Services, 800-240-7900 or professionalauction.com.
Horses have always played an integral part in the history of the United States. Following the terrorist attack in downtown Manhattan on September 11, 2001, horses have contributed so much, from healing those left behind on the homefront to carrying our courageous soldiers on the battlefront.
Here are introductions to two stories, related racehorse trivia and that touching Clydesdales video.
First up, healing horses.
by LORIE RUSSO GREENSPAN
Cross-posted from The Progress
In the 10 years since the terror attacks of Sept 11, 2001 killed John Salamone, his wife, MaryEllen and her three children have tried to find a way to heal.
A chance afternoon spent at a friend’s farm in New York, riding horses, gave the family their release.
The experience led Salamone to Christianna Capra, CEO of Spring Reins of Hope-Growth in Pittstown, which provides equine assisted services using horses as “teachers” and “therapists” under the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association model.
After the horse-riding experience with her children, Salamone came to believe that “just hanging out with horses” helped to center her kids and allow them to experience a moment of peace. Soon after 9/11, all three Salamone children began to ride horses but her daughter Anna, then 3, in particular, bonded with the experience.
“The special relationship they formed with the horses became a life metaphor for them, and enabled them to realize that they had the ability to gain control and earn acceptance with the horses, something much bigger, as the events of 9/11 were in their life,” Salamone said in a press release. “While many people offered help after 9/11, the horses were their best “therapists.” Continue reading >>
Horse Soldier Sgt Bart Decker Afghanistan. It was this unit the inspired what has come to be known as the Horse Soldier Statue which now resides at Ground Zero, downtown Manhattan. Image from sgtmacsbar.com.
SECRET MISSION: THE HORSE SOLDIERS OF 9/11
In the wake of September 11, 2001, the 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne), also known as the Legion, was called upon to play a major role in our Nation’s defense. Within hours of the terrorist attacks, Soldiers from the Group were deployed in support of the Global War on Terror.
From October 2001 through April 2002, Special Forces Operational Detachments – Alpha (SFOD-A), or A- teams, from the 5th SFG (A) conducted Unconventional Warfare against Taliban and Al Qaeda forces.
Individuals from these Green Beret A-teams have been recognized as “Horse Soldiers” due to their requirement to advise and assist their Afghan counterparts, formed under the moniker of the Northern Alliance, while riding horseback, a form of transport not used in the U.S. military since the cavalry of old.
In less than six months the 5th SFG (A), a regimental-sized force, effectively destroyed the popular base of the Taliban government and toppled the terrorist-sponsoring state of Afghanistan. Read more, view video >>
Racehorse Trivia
Even racehorses are woven into the fabric of this event such as with this bit of trivia.
Don Kaplan writing for the New Daily Post reported last year that:
What are the odds?!
On the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the first three winners at Belmont on Sunday were horses wearing the numbers 9, 1 and 1.
The fact that it happened at a local track that served as one of the staging areas for workers and emergency vehicles in the days following the destruction of the World Trade Center made the outcome even more stunning.
“The odds were probably about a million to one,” said David Jacobson, the trainer at Drawing Away Stable, which owns Say Toba Sandy and Wishful Tomcat, the day’s first two winners.
“It’s unimaginable,” he said. “We were amazed.” Read more >>
What are the odds indeed?
The Clydesdales
Finally, what would the memorialization of the September 11th attack in New York City be without the powerful, healing grace of horses.
For this, we return to the Budweiser video featuring the world famous Clydesdale horses, paying tribute in their very own unique and majestic way.
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There are so many other ways horses have been a part of September 11th, and we are so very grateful for them. We hope the examples of their strength and courage have uplifted you in some way today.
(Aug. 28, 2007) — Horses are key figures in the pomp and circumstance that surrounds royal events in Great Britain, and have always been central to British royal life.
The carriage carrying the Prince and Princess of Wales passes along Trafalgar Square on its way from St. Paul’s Cathedral to Buckingham Palace after the royal wedding. AP Photo.
Horses were therefore quite naturally a big part of Diana’s life as Princess of Wales, from the handsome greys who delivered her to and from St. Paul’s for her wedding, to the beautiful bays who drew her carriage around the racecourse at Royal Ascot.
10 years ago on September 6, 1997, horses of the King’s Troop were called on to carry out a final and solemn royal duty, conducting Princess Diana’s casket from Kensington Palace to Westminster Abbey for her funeral. London’s Metropolitan Police Mounted Branch also accompanied the cortege.
According to the Associated Press, the day before Diana’s funeral, soldiers screamed and hurled newspapers at the six gleaming bay horses assigned to pull the gun carriage bearing her coffin, to ensure they could remain calm.
“Obviously, they didn’t like it, but certainly in training they did not react and kept going,” said Maj. Keith Brooks, commander of the King’s Troop. “We have been training [them] for all contingencies, such as people jumping over barriers or throwing items such as flowers at the carriage.”
A gun carriage bears the coffin of the Princess Diana, draped in the Royal Standard, as it leaves London’s Kensington Palace en route for the funeral service at London’s Westminster Abbey. The princess was killed in a car crash in Paris on Aug. 31. Photo Credit: BEN CURTIS / AP
On the day of Diana’s funeral, an estimated two million mourners lined the route and two and a half billion viewed the procession worldwide on television.
The only sound was the clatter of horses’ hooves and the peal of a church bell.
Growing up on a country estate, Diana developed an affinity with animals, and loved her childhood pony. However, when Princess Diana came to the royal family, she was not a keen rider, something she shared with only one other member of the royal family, the Queen’s sister, Princess Margaret. A teenage mishap with a horse had put Diana off having anything to do with horseback riding.
Knowing how important learning to ride was for her boys, it was Diana — not her polo player husband Prince Charles — who made sure Princes William and Harry received instruction at an early age. Their teacher was Capt. James Hewitt. Hewitt eventually coaxed a hesitant Diana to take lessons as well, to build her confidence, and she became a capable rider.
According to Hewitt, one of Diana’s greatest pleasure was learning to be genuinely comfortable around horses for the first time in her life. She found she liked visiting the stables simply to enjoy their company. The Princess commented there was something about horses that was “quite profound.”
The presence of horses was quite profound on the day of Diana’s funeral.
The only sound was the clatter of horses’ hooves and the peal of a church bell.
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Vivian Grant Farrell is the founding President of the Int’l Fund for Horses, and a native Brit.
