Dear Marilyn & Staff,

Just a note to let you know how much we enjoy your paper here in Missouri.

The paper is sent to Poplar Bluff, which is in southeast Missouri, I read it, give it to a friend at Potosi, which is close to St. Louis. He reads it at work, then gives it to another fellow who reads it.

Keep up the good work, you have an excellent paper. - Dorothy Weisbrod, Poplar Bluff, MO

Thank you! I loved the story about the PMU Mares in the March and April Feature stores. It is great that many people are trying to help save these horses from the sale barn. - Katrina, submitted via www.horsegazette.com

On many occasions I have thought it a conflict of interest for veterinarians to sell/dispense medications to clients. Despite insurance issues with human medications, there is a great benefit to the MD writing the prescription and allowing the patient to seek the best choice of brand and price. I understand that many vets make money this way and it may prove a problem for them if the prescribing and dispensing were separated. However, as a patient/client, I simply cannot afford the price mark-ups many vets assign to their medications. A $5 bottle of bute is $20+ and the list goes on and on.
IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE WHO IS ALSO CONCERNED ABOUT THIS CONFLICT OF INTEREST? – Anonymous, Texas (submitted via www.horsegazette.com)

Wow what a website! "What's Your Caption" is so funny - keep up the good work! I'll be back often. - Cynthia, Decatur, TX

It takes some getting used to but the new Stallion Classifieds offer more information for prospective mare owners than before. The more I look at them the more I like'em! :) - submitted by CowboysGirl, www.horsegazete.com

I didn't like your new classifieds at all - I liked the old ones where the new ones were posted first. Now I have figured out how to use the search feature and it's easier to find what I am looking for. Thank you for taking the time to explain the feature. PS - maybe a FAQ page is in order? - submitted by KL, www.horsegazette.com

Thank you - we found a judge from your judges list and were very pleased. It's nice to know where to go for pertinent horse, event, and entertaining information. submitted via www.horsegazette.com

I really like your new classified ads on here. I like being able to search for the type of horse I want. Thanks! submitted by horselvr03 via www.horsegazette.com

Hi folks - hope the New Year has started well with ya’ll.

I submitted the attached article to the Texas Horse Rider/News and it was printed in their Jan issue.  To date we have not received any replies.  I’d like to know if you would also print the commentary in effort to get more attention to the ApHC Hardship registration rules. 

 Also I’d like to thank ya’ll for your fine publication.  I loved the cover story in the Jan issue showing the draft horse in costume - the jockey silks gave me a real belly laugh!
Thank you for your consideration. - Linda P. Truax, Royal T Stables, Lockhart, Texas

Texas Horse Riders
P.O. Box 7
Big Foot, TX 78005
February 1, 2003

Dear Editors,

I want to thank you for the continued improvements to your newsmagazine. The articles continue to provide us with professional and informative messages. The November article on Roger Klamfoth, the retiring ApHC CEO caught my eye and I’d like to provide comment.
First, I do not know Mr. Klamfoth and am not a member of ApHC. But I do own an Appaloosa , Lotsa Dots Bandit. I bought my mare, Lotsa Dots Bandit, based on old knowledge of when I owned my first Appaloosa in the 1970’s. I could register that horse based on his breed characteristics. My mistake was not getting the registration rules for the 1990’s. Obviously I was, and am, very disappointed to learn that the ApHC hardship registration rules now require a foal to be spayed or gelded if a parent has an unknown pedigree.

Lotsa Dots Bandit has all of the required breed characteristics, including the heart and soul sought in our equine companions. Last year we participated in a search and rescue in very rough terrain. She was the one that warned me that the embankment I wanted to go down wasn’t safe. When we found another way down and looked back up I realized how lucky we were that she absolutely refused to go near the edge. It was a straight drop down of over 30 feet!
Despite my limited experience in the show arena, she has earned three national titles in just 2 years. This includes the American Appaloosa Association’s All Around Appaloosa of the Year for 2001 and the American Indian Horse Registry’s Grand Champion Class A Grand Champion mare (2001 and 2002) and Overall high point winner for 2002. She’d probably do well in all show events if I spent more time with her, but I feel discouraged from doing more, because I cannot compete in ApHC shows.

I can’t help but wonder if Mr. Klamfoth’s 40 years of influence helped lead the breed away from the registry’s original intent of preserving and promoting the breed. Many of the current ApHC “champions” show little or no breed characteristics – much less color. The heavy infusion of other breeds has raised the probability that offspring won’t show color. I support occasional out crossings to add stamina to a certain line, but not if it results in the loss of color. These solid colored foals with a high percentage of solid coloring in their pedigree, should be the ones gelded or spayed and possibly not registered. I understand some Appaloosas color out later in life and they could be registered when they show color.

The article noted that Mr. Klamfoth influenced the flourishing Appaloosa Journal. This is a nice magazine, but so is the price of subscription and advertisements. I wonder if some of the entry fees to ApHC sponsored shows are supporting the magazine, and if so, how can we reduce the journal’s production cost? The entry fees into ApHC shows are higher than most other shows in my region. Sometimes I feel that these shows are intended for the rich and famous only. Sorry – I’m on a limited budget – the entry fees also keep me out of the ApHC Open Shows.

I don’t intend any disrespect towards Mr. Klamfoth, but I wonder how much influence he gave to promoting non-colored Appaloosas. There are many owners like myself that know our horses breed true and we can prove it with our breeding records. I’d really like to see the ApHC reinstate Hardship registration for horses showing strong characteristics – in personality and appearance. Possibly the owners and breeders in Texas can appeal to our state representatives to do just that.

The ApHC’s mission statement states they want to improve and enhance the Appaloosa. Unfortunately the more recent registration changes have caused us to start losing the breed we wanted to preserve. I’d like to hear from anyone willing to help me petition our local ApHC representatives and the ApHC directly, to reinstate the old hardship registration rules for horses that show the true breed characteristics. For owners who have been excluded for over a decade – we could develop grandfather clauses to meet qualify their special needs.

If anyone has insight on why the entry fees for ApHC shows are so high, I’d like to see a future article on this issue. Also does anyone have insight on why we don’t see Appaloosa races at the Texas racetracks? Racing provides a great opportunity to promote the breed, as long as we remember that we want to show spotted horses in Appaloosa races. - Linda P. Truax, email: atruax@flash.net

Empty Feed Bags

I sure do notice a lot of empty feed bags along highways and roads. They must fly out of the bakc of pickup trucks of people that are livestock owners, or how else would they end up by the side of the road? The closer you get to a show ring the more empty feed bags on the roadside. Let's dispose of them property or that might end up being a feedbag that your horse has to setp over out on the trail! - Lyn, Marble Falls, Texas

Great Site - Except for...

your classifieds. I hate going through page after page of horses when I am looking for something specific. Other than that - love your site! - Susan, Austin, Texas

Susan,
We don't normally respond to Soapbox questions, but just to make you aware...we will be changing our classifieds on or before April 1, 2003. You will be able to search by breed and that should help you in your quest.

Thanks

Thank you for providing such a nice website - I enjoy visiting it each month! You need an address book though - I'd love to see where everyone is from that visits your site. Thanks again - DiDi, Gainesville, Florida

Protect your Animals

More and more I’m seeing horse owners haul there horses with the windows and bars open, their horses heads hanging out in the open road. It’s SO dangerous. A bug in the eye will put your horses eye out. Elmer Fudd in the monster truck with huge mirrors can knock them in the head. Any idiot with a mean streak could throw something at your precious cargo and do some real damage. It’s the same with people who let their dogs ride in the bed of the truck untied. Come on folks...these animals depend on us for everything. Please protect their heads, necks and bodies by closing the bars on the windows or getting netting to cover the window. Tie that pup in too. Thanks - Lyn, Marble Falls, Texas. (From the Oct. 2002 Issue of The Horse Gazette)

I am writing because of the pictures in the September issue of The Horse Gazette. The pictures were a chain type bit and a twisted wire tie down. I have to say there is a time and place for almost every piece of tack. The problem comes about when people don’t know how to use the equipment and use it too much, too long, or they are not experienced enough to use it. Even the most severe type of equipment need not cause paid if the trainer knows how to handle it. Much of the time people gasp and cry “foul” when they see that type of equipment, and the reason is because some stupid person doesn’t know how to use it correctly. Unfortunately, the inexperienced are the ones using the equipment and they should be using it! – Keith, Bandera, TX (From the Oct. 2002 Issue of The Horse Gazette)

I recently viewed your comment page. I was amazed at the majority of these 'writers' that are in need of Anger Mangement classes.

1. So what, someone doesn't know how to measure a horse, I'm sure when a horse is advertised, a phone number is given to ask questions before making the trip. If this has been an irritant in your past, Clarify & Confirm and even if you still discover they're wrong, you just might run into a great horse you would have never looked at originally.

2. Yes, there are impolite drivers on the road that don't take into consideration you may be hauling valuable livestock. You have a choice to control your own driving and if you're not driving fast, then it means you've prepared yourself for your arrival time to your destination. No one else matters if you're doing 'Right Things Right'.

3. If your issue is that people park in front of your rig when its unhitched, make a sign to carry with you that states, "This Rig Needs to Be Moved, Please Don't Park Here". You're not exempt in this area....just ask the True Handicapped People of this world that can't find parking in THEIR designated area. You can't change 'stinkin thinkin' in someone else but you CAN change YOUR thinking.

4. Someone said people are STUPID because they buy a horse and then sell it because of stupid reasons. These people aren't stupid but just IGNORANT which means uninformed, uneducated whereas stupid means slow, unable to comprehend. They're no different than the people that buy a new puppy at Christmas & then drop it off on the side of a road after it messes in their house or a couple that thinks their marriage is in jeopardy and a BABY will make it better. These examples exhibit ignorance, not stupidity, hopefully they learn. I hope you do too.

Who am I to counteract your comments?....just an everyday kind of person refusing to give up of discovering a better way to DO or SEE something without anger or hostility. They're fuel busters of the soul. - Bea, San Antonio

I just LOVED the foal page in the September issue of "The Horse Gazette"!!!! I look forward to the foal issue every year and it just keeps getting better each time. I love the paper and your website! I always grab a copy or two of the paper at D&D each month. Shopping at D&D and a new issue of The Horse Gazette, that's what I call a good day! Thanks!- Mary, Kerrville, Texas, submitted via www.horsegazette.com

I would like to thank the Texas Animal Health Commission and the concerned horse owners for the new regulation to control EIA, and also the THG for publishing so many good (and some questionable) articles regarding Coggins testing. I thought I knew about EIA and Coggins testing, but after reading the various articles in THG and on the website, I found that I have learned more and by reading these and they’ve actually cleared up some misunderstandings I had about Coggins testing. – Guy, Waco, Texas, submitted via www.horsegazette.com

Dear Guy, Thank you for your letter! THG will continue to print all of the letters, articles, and press releases from TAHC that we receive regarding EIA and Coggins testing. We have posted all of the articles and letters we’ve received regarding Coggins testing on our website (www.horsegazette.com) so our readers can refer back to these articles when referenced in upcoming articles and letters. – Marilyn Short, Editor

With the new age of computers, it really burns my butt that people are so inconsiderate! I guess it shouldn't surprise me since when anonymity is involved people seem to act more like butts than normal! An example: People always seem to think that when they're driving they are in their own little world. They zoom in and out of traffic like they're in their little armored vehicle.

The problem comes in when they zip in front of me when I'm hauling my horses. These butts don't realize that a truck and trailer can't stop as quickly as a vehicle that isn't towing something, and I'm hauling living animals! They get upset when I'm not going the speed limit or exceeding the speed limit like everyone else. They refuse to let me inch into another lane, they keep their speed up so I can't change lanes.

I'm not saying all drivers are like that, but sure as shootin' every time I go someplace hauling my horses there always at least one butt driver like that.

There was a comedian once who said that he wished we could all have guns with "STUPID" flags. I agree - the vehicles with the most "STUPID" flags attached gets the most tickets from the police!

Thanks for the space to vent! Great web site! - Horse Lover

I have no complaints! This is a great website and I'm glad I found it. From visiting this site, it makes me wish I lived in Texas! - Molly from New Hampshire

I’d like to offer a big of education for some of your readers on two points of interest. First, Paint versus Pinto: There really is a difference, Buckwheat! A major one, at that. The Pinto coloring, which resembles a Paint horse, can occur in most ANY breed from Arabian (called Pintabian) to wild Mustangs. The true Paint horse, on the other hand, is a breed in itself. The APHA has established very strict guidelines for registration of the Paint horse. Ask your local breeder of these select equine, and I’m sure he/she will set you straight. Second, comes the folks who actually advertise a horse for sale that they believe is 15.5 hands high, or one that is 16. Someone else advertised a Morgan Horse at 17.5! Wake up, for Chrissake. One (1) hand equals four (4) inches. Therefore, a horse that measures 62”, standing square, at the withers, is 15.2 hands. One which measures 67” is 16.3 hands. Whoever measured that Morgan was either drunk or measured to the tip of ears. ‘Tis better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt! - Tumbleweed

Why are some horse people so STUPID? They're all fired up about buying a horse and then a month or two later, after they've gotten the opinions of everyone and their brother about the horse, they're dissatisfied? When you go to buy a horse, you may not know that you're stupid, you may think you're a real horseperson. So why after a sale do you go out and ask people's opinions? Because you're insecure about your decision. The next time you decide to go out and purchase a horse, take someone who isn't stupid about horses so you'll be satisfied with your purchase. But, since you are stupid you'll go around asking for everyone's opinions again and at least then you can blame the person you took with you instead of making yourself look stupid.

In most cases, it's not that there's anything wrong with the horse. Where the problem stems is with the purchaser - they decide the horse isn't he right color, they don't like the attitude of the horse, or they're afraid to admit that they don't know the horse and are afraid of it and too inexperienced to train.

I'm not saying that all inexperienced horsepeople are stupid, it's the ones that think they know it all and then won't admit with "they've" made the mistake. They insist on badmouthing the seller/breeder rather than admit they were too inexperienced to handle their purchase. ....Horse Seller/Breeder, Kerrville, TX

P.S. Thank you for providing this space where we can complain, gripe and get on our soapbox!