Area Rescue Fund Raisers

SADDLE RAFFLE!  April 9 - July 30
Benefit to raise Funds for Equine Rescue
Brand new 18' Australian Stock Saddle. Anyone not interested in the saddle can choose to receive $100.00 in place of the saddle!!!

Starting at the 2nd annual Turkey Fest at Mitchuson Park in Huntsville. We will have a booth set up not only to display the saddle and sell tickets but also to sell baked goodies and other neat stuff to help us raise money. Flash will be there to meet and greet everyone! We will be in various different locations after this. I will keep the website updated as we make our plans!

All proceeds will go toward the rescue, rehabilitation and general care for abused, neglected and unwanted horses.
 

Win a Western Saddle!! We are raffling off a nice 16" western pleasure saddle, brand new, in plastic, fleece lined, leather, suede seat, brown, QH bars. Chances are only $1 each or 6 for $5. Email for more information.

CURRENT RESIDENTS:
Double G Duke, 15.2H, 14 yr old red roan pinto registered Missouri Fox Trotter gelding, donated underweight with infected lacerations, gaited. Will be available when healed and of proper weight. Needs a sponsor!

AVAILABLE FOR ADOPTION:
Flash, 12H sorrel tobiano pinto proven stud, green broke, well mannered, outgrown, would be great teaser. $250
Baby Doll, 15.3H, 1250 lbs, 21 yr old bay TB mare. Healthy, sound, sweet. Not broke $300 With 30 Days at trainer $600
Wind Dancer, 15.2H, 14 yrs old, OTTB, grey, shy but sweet, proud cut, underweight, needs tooth work, post-legged, stifle hitch, light rider only $400
Ladybug, 18 yr old registered KY Mountain Horse mare, 15.2H, 900 lbs., (CANNOT be ridden, driven, bred), pet, weanling sitter or pasture pal only, must have level pasture, permanently unsound $100 Needs a sponsor
Bo Jangles, 12.3H, 18 mos old, blue roan QH colt, flashy markings, shy but sweet, gd conformation and movement, big boned, will be gelded $400
Dusty, 14H, 15 yrs old, flea bitten grey Arabian stallion, has sarcoids, cannot be gelded due to health reasons $400
 

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youth achievements

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Mindy Davis of Ozark, AR
Mindy is the 2004 NBHA District 7 winner . Shown in the picture is the 2D saddle, 3D saddle reserve, 4D buckle and all around high money winner. Mindy qualifies 4 horses for the NBHA Youth World championships held in Jackson, Mississippi on July 25-Aug 1 2005. Mindy is the daughter of Ronnie and Becky Davis of Ozark and a member of the Ridge Riders 4H club. Good luck Mindy!

Horsemanship provides children the opportunity to experience the special bond that can exist between man and horse.  It also affords them a unique way of developing self-confidence, responsibility and a sense of  accomplishment.  The Equine Newsline would like to commend parents who provide their children with this valuable experience.  If you know of a youth whose equestrian achievement should be mentioned, please submit it to:  equine@uark.edu

Urgent: Hobbs Trails Issues!  Comment period ends June 15!

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Please write to the State Parks Recreation and Travel Commission and help
KEEP HOBBS TRAILS OPEN

To all hikers, bikers and equestrians:

Please be alerted to the public comment period for Park Directive 3070 that would close all designated trails during hunting season. The letters need to be received in Little Rock by 15 June 2005. Please note that there is an email and fax address to send the letters to in addition to the US mail. The space at the bottom of the letter is for personal comments.

Here is additional back ground info about the trails at the Hobbs estate near War Eagle in Benton County Arkansas. The trails at the park have never been shut down for hunting in the past. This is the only state park that allows hunting. Hunting, hiking and horse use were all in the legislation that created the state park. We are not anti-hunting. The Game and fish folks wanted to shut the trails down for about 54 days. Now they want to close the trails down for two 5 day seasons and 15 or more half days (morning till noon) for turkey season. Game and Fish want to close the trails due to safety and hunter satisfaction. The State Parks came up with a compromise that the trails will stay open during hunting season with a 200 foot no hunting corridor along the trail. Game and fish refused this compromise. Ideally, we want a no hunting zone around the Visitor information Center and the designated trails and to let the hunters hunt the rest. There is a 700 acre no hunting zone around the VIC. Another option would to build a trail in the no hunting zone around the Visitor information Center that would be open during hunting season. That trail may take years to come about. If this park directive is passed it would prohibit this option. The current trail is about 18 miles and was promised to be open by the first of this year is still not formally open.

Your Voice Is Needed!  Letters must be received by June 15, 2005!  Hikers, cyclists, equestrians, please request that the designated trails at the Hobbs State Park remain open year round.

Sample letter attached (click here)
Email: sandy.birch@arkansas.gov or Fax: 501-682-1364

Scott Mashburn, MS
Fayetteville, AR
(479)443-9571 / s.mashburn@sbcglobal.net

vesicular stomatitis detected in arizona

News Alert
Texas Animal Health Commission
Box l2966 • Austin, Texas 78711 • (800) 550-8242 • FAX (512) 719-071
Bob Hillman, DVM • Executive Director
For info, contact Carla Everett, information officer, at 1-800-550-8242, ext. 710, or ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us\

Vesicular stomatitis (VS) has been detected in a horse on a premises in Maricopa County, Arizona. (Maricopa County is located in the south-central portion of the state and is home to Phoenix.) The owner of the five-year-old gelding reported that the animal was purchased about three weeks ago. Sores appeared in the horse's mouth in mid-April, and tests run at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, IA, confirmed the infection. Arizona was "spared" in the 2004 VS outbreak, when Texas had 15 cases, New Mexico had 80, and Colorado 199.

One premises in Grant County, New Mexico, remains quarantined where two horses are recovering from the viral blistering disease. Infected and susceptible animals remain under movement prohibition until at least 30 days after all lesions heal, and a state or federal regulatory veterinarian examines the livestock.

VS can cause blisters and sores in the mouth, and on the tongue, muzzle, teats or hooves of horses, cattle, swine, sheep, goats, llamas and a number of other animals. Lesions usually will heal in two or three weeks. Because the signs of VS mimic those of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), animal health officials strongly urge livestock owners and caretakers to report potential cases of VS to their private veterinary practitioner or state livestock health officials. Laboratory tests run at no charge to the producer will differentiate whether infection is caused by VS and not FMD, a dreaded foreign animal disease.

To report suspected cases of VS, owners and private veterinary practitioners should call their respective state's livestock health regulatory agency:
Texas Animal Health Commission -- 1-800-550-8242 (operational 24 hours a day)
New Mexico Livestock Board -- 1-505-841-6161
Colorado Department of Agriculture, State Veterinarian's Office -- 1-303-239-4161
Arizona Department of Agriculture, State Veterinarian's Office -- 1-602-542-4293

Prior to moving livestock from Arizona or New Mexico, check with the state of destination to ensure all VS testing and inspection requirements have been fulfilled. The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) requires livestock from affected states to be accompanied by a valid certificate of veterinary inspection (health paper) on which the accredited veterinarian certifies the animals are not from a quarantined premises. The TAHC web page is at http://www.tahc.state.tx.us.

Kentucky embargoes livestock and wild or exotic animals from counties that include and surround the infected premises, and place strict entry requirements on animals from the remainder of the state, or even other states that share a common border with an infected county. To access specific Kentucky requirements, go to: http://www.kyagr.com/state_vet/ah/vsv_embargo.htm.

Florida animal health officials require susceptible animals coming from VS-affected states to have prior permission for entry and a negative test for VS within 10 days prior to entry. The certificate of veterinary inspection also must include a statement that the animals are free of clinical signs of VS and have not been exposed or located within 10 miles of a positive premises within the previous 30 days. The Florida Department of Agriculture web site is at: http://doacs.state.fl.us/.

texas joins states with vesicular stomatitis in 2005

News Release
Texas Animal Health Commission
Box l2966 • Austin, Texas 78711 • (800) 550-8242 • FAX (512) 719-071
Bob Hillman, DVM • Executive Director
For info, contact Carla Everett, information officer, at 1-800-550-8242, ext. 710, or ceverett@tahc.state.tx.us

For Immediate Release---
And Now There are Three…
Texas Joins States with Vesicular Stomatitis in 2005

Texas, on Friday, May 20, joined New Mexico and Arizona as states with confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VS) this spring. Two Travis County horses were hauled home May 10 from a trail ride in Arizona, where they apparently were exposed to the virus that can cause animals to develop blisters and sores in the mouth, on the tongue, muzzle, teats and hooves. The year’s first VS cases were confirmed April 27 in two horses in southwest New Mexico. Since then, infection has been detected in 17 horses on 11 premises in New Mexico, Arizona, and now, Texas.

“A number of states and countries impose strict testing, permitting and inspection requirements for livestock that originate from VS-affected areas or states. Check with the state or country of destination before hauling livestock from Texas,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, head of the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state’s livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. Phone numbers for other states’ animal health regulatory agencies can be obtained from the TAHC’s Austin headquarters at 1-800-550-8242. Staff at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Austin office can be reached at 512-916-5565 for international shipping rules or restrictions.

“VS rarely causes death, but an animal can suffer several weeks, while the lesions heal,” said Dr. Bob Hillman, who also serves as Texas’ state veterinarian. “To help prevent the spread of VS, an infected animal and the other livestock on a premises are quarantined until at least 30 days after the sores heal. Prior to releasing movement restrictions, a regulatory veterinarian will examine the affected animal to ensure healing is complete. Other livestock also will be checked. If infection is detected, the quarantine will begin anew.”

Dr. Hillman explained that the clinical signs of VS mirror those of the dreaded foreign foot-and-mouth (FMD) disease. Horses are susceptible to VS, but not FMD; however, both diseases can affect cattle, sheep, goats, swine, deer and a number of other species. “When sores or blisters are seen in FMD-susceptible animals, we must immediately rule out an introduction of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). When horses have lesions, a VS test rules out other possible causes for blisters and sores, including toxic plants, chemicals or poison. Tests are run at no charge to the animal owner, and the VS diagnosis in horses is confirmed at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory (NVSL) in Ames, IA.”

Dr. Hillman noted that the disease occurs sporadically, but outbreaks generally follow a 10- to 15-year cycle. In l982-83, the country suffered its worst recorded VS outbreak, when infection was confirmed on 617 premises in nine states: Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota.

Subsequent outbreaks in l995, l997 and l998 were limited to New Mexico, Colorado and Texas, with a few cases in Arizona. Last year, Arizona was "spared,” when Texas had 15 VS cases, New Mexico had 80, and Colorado, 199.

Livestock owners and private veterinary practitioners are urged to report suspected cases of VS to their respective state's livestock health regulatory agency:
Texas Animal Health Commission -- 1-800-550-8242 (operational 24 hours a day)
New Mexico Livestock Board -- 1-505-841-6161
Colorado Department of Agriculture, State Veterinarian's Office -- 1-303-239-4161
Arizona Department of Agriculture, State Veterinarian's Office -- 1-602-542-4293

The TAHC’s web site at http://www.tahc.state.tx.us has additional information on VS and a link to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where situation reports, maps and movement restrictions and requirements are posted.