Manure. In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything was transported by ship, including fertilizer. Because commercial fertilizer had not been invented large shipments of manure were common. It was shipped dry, because its dry form weighed a lot less. However while at sea the manure would typically get wet. It not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation would begin. Of course a by-product of fermentation is methane gas.

As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles, methane gas would begin to  build up in the body of the ship. The first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM! Several ships  were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening.

After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term ‘Ship High In Transit’ on them, which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane.

Thus evolved the term ‘ S.H.I.T ‘ (Ship High In Transport) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day..

You probably did not know the true history of this word, neither did I. I always thought it was related to getting tossed from a horse or stepped on.

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• July 27, 2010 -- Only Horse People!
• October 10, 2009 -- Urgent Notice on Dangers of Horse Hair

I have friends that are guilty of others. Please comment and let me know which ones of these you do!

I cluck to kids, dogs, etc. And, I’m guilty of calling my husband by my horses name.

Special thanks to Melissa Arredondo for this beautiful photo of my stallion, Favian *Ps.

Only Horse People…

• believe in an 11th commandment: inside leg to outside rein.
• know that all topical medications come in either indelible blue or neon yellow.
• think nothing of eating a sandwich while mucking out a stall.
• know why a thermometer has a yard of yarn attached to the end of it.
• are banned from Laundromats.
• fail to associate whips, chains and leather with sexual deviancy.
• can magically lower their voices five octaves to bellow at a pawing horse.
• will end relationships over their hobby.
• cluck to their cars to help them up hills.
• insure their horses for more than their cars.
• know (and care) more about their horse’s nutrition than their own.
• have no problem speaking of semen, abscesses and colic surgery at the dinner table.
• have a smaller wardrobe than their horse.
• engage in a hobby that is more work than their day job.
• know that a good ride is better than Zoloft any day.

Related Posts

• September 9, 2010 -- Manure - An Interesting Fact
• October 10, 2009 -- Urgent Notice on Dangers of Horse Hair

A Horse’s View of the World

Do you ever wonder what your horse is actually thinking? Sometimes I am sure that I do not want to know what mine are thinking!

How often have you ever wondered if you are on the same page or even talking the same language? Take a look at some of the definitions from the horse’s dictionary and compare them to yours.

Arena: Place where humans can take the fun out of forward motion.

Bit: Means by which a rider’s every motion is transmitted to the sensitive tissues of the mouth.

Bucking: counter-irritant.

Crossties: Gymnastic apparatus.

Dressage: Process by which some riders can eventually be taught to respect the bit.

Fence: Barrier that protects good grazing, as the grass is almost always greener on the other site.

Grain: Sole virtue of domestication. The sweeter, the better.

Hitching rail: Means by which to test one’s strength.

Horse trailer: Mobile cave bear den.

Hotwalker: The lesser of two evils.

Jump: An opportunity for self-expression.

Latch: Type of puzzle.

Longeing: Procedure for keeping a prospective rider at bay.

Owner: Human assigned responsibility for one’s feeding.

Rider: Owner overstepping its bounds.

Farrier: Disposable surrogate owner; useful for acting out aggression without compromising food supply.

Trainer: Owner with mob connections.

Veterinarian: Flightless vulture

(Thanks to my friend Carol Green for always forwarding GREAT email content to me.)

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Patrick

Goat kids, that is.  Thistledown welcomed two Alpine dairy goat bucklings on Saint Patrick’s Day.  Mama and babies are all healthy; however, mama goat chose to nurse just one of them leaving the humans at Thistledown to nurse one of the brothers.  Named Patrick and O’Malley in honor of the holiday they were born on, the two brothers are available for sale.

Alpine Dairy Goats

The Alpine dairy goat is a medium to large sized goat.  Our female mother Thistle is probably around 75 lbs and our male Briar around 175 lbs.  This is the only breed of goats with upright ears. Both the males and females have horns and they come in a variety of colors and color combinations.

These  are hardy, adaptable animals that thrive in any climate while maintaining good health and excellent milk production. Find out more about Alpine dairy goats at the Dairy Goat Journal.

Baby Alpine Dairy Goats for Sale

O'Malley

The brothers are for sale and available with papers.  They are $250 each and we will offer a discount to a good home that is interested in both.

Alpine goats make excellent companions, lawn mowers and pack goats. They are typically larger, stronger, and healthier than other goat breeds. They are easy to train, bond with their keepers and are rather affectionate.

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Having a discussion on how to pronounce ‘Trakehner’. Would someone be kind enough to assist? Is it ‘track - uhn - er’,  or ‘truh - keyn(cane) - er’? Or do you have a better way of sharing with me? Sorry to bug. It’s me against the wife & daughter! (I’m thinking ‘cane’)
Thanks in advance for your response…

Not being one to fuel family feuds, we collected answers:

From Helen Gibble who served as the ATA registrar for many years and speaks fluent German, “My version would be “tru (like in truck) cane er” with the emphasis on “cane.”

Pam Norton who plans all of the annual conventions responds, “Tra cane er.”

Eileen Krause responds, “truh - keyn (cane) - er with the accent on the second syllable.”

Favian, the Big Red Horse comments, “Call me whatever you want, just let me eat grass!”

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• August 29, 2009 -- Horse Talk

A colorful story teller who often had tears in his eyes while telling his tales, you can tell Bill Northern loves what he does. When he isn’t working in Kentucky, he can often be found jetting around the globe to California or New Zealand. In fact, I believe he left for New Zealand today - he finds it a bit more comfortable in the winter (mostly because it is summer there). In addition to treating horses, he has treated almost any other kind of animal that you can imagine.

The story highlights:

• Cats Lie - most animals will tell him the truth about their behavioral issues, but cats want to bargain and will often lie. He says that they will tell the truth if they are in physical pain. Take the cat he consulted about its nasty habit of scratching on and tearing up its owners furniture. Bill worked a compromise where the owners would feed the cat that pink fish (salmon) everyday and the cat would no longer tear up the couch. . . Well you can guess what happened the one day they ran out of salmon!
• Maybe horses do see color? I’ve often heard that they see in black and white, but perhaps not so! One race horse Bill treated because it was finishing dead last. The horse had recently changed stables and it told him that it didn’t like the sissy colors that it was racing under. They were able to get permission to race the horse under red again instead of in the pale blue that it did not like and she came in second place.
• Elephants have opinions! When Bill visited the Phoenix zoo he went to see the elephants. One of them had been particularly stand-offiish and no one knew why. Bill found out that she was mad because they were no longer giving her the red stuff (translation watermelon). The keepers thought that she didn’t like it because she wasn’t eating it. Apparently the elephant was hoarding it and saving it for later. The elephant brought Bill a mouthful of bamboo as a present and the director of the zoo invited Bill to come back the next day.

So, next time you are walking your dog, feeding your cat or otherwise engaged with an animal, take some time and listen. . . perhaps they will give you a clue what they are thinking!

If you like this post, please comment, tweet, bookmark or link to the site! Thanks!

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Best of all, if you have registered to bid in a previous SSA Auction you don’t need to re-register for the 2010 event. Online bidding ends on February 14 at 12 p.m. EST, so pick your favorite valentine before the day is over! The minimum starting bid for each stallion is $500. Bidding will increase in $50 increments thereafter.

All foals resulting from SSA breedings are eligible for the ATA Awards programs and ATA Futurity - which have paid out over $500,000 to date.

For detailed information on participating stallions, visit http://www.americantrakehner.com. For further information on ancillary breeding costs, call the phone number listed next to each stallion’s name before you place your bid.  Make sure you understand any associated fees required by the stallion owner as all winning bids in the ATA SSA are non-refundable.

For more information or if you have any questions regarding the auction, contact the ATA Office at 740-344-1111.

Related Posts

• December 29, 2008 -- 2009 American Trakehner Association Stallion Service Auction
• May 31, 2008 -- Why the Big Red Horse and I are a Perfect Match
• March 6, 2008 -- Big Red Horse at ATA Convention
• December 27, 2007 -- Congratulations to Laura and Fivestar
• December 5, 2007 -- Lovely Gelding by Trakehner Stallion Favian
• December 3, 2007 -- Tall, Red and Handsome seeks Female for Companionship
• November 28, 2007 -- Comments from the Experts
• November 28, 2007 -- Favian Means Man of Wisdom
• November 19, 2007 -- Trakehner Stallion Favian gets his 15 minutes

The Pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won.

The Pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again and it won again.

The local paper read:

PASTOR’S ASS OUT FRONT

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the Pastor not to enter the donkey in another race.

The next day the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR’S ASS

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Pastor to get rid of the donkey.

The Pastor decided to give it to a Nun in a nearby convent.

The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN

The Bishop fainted.

He informed the Nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey so she sold it to a farmer for $10.

The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10.

This was too much for the Bishop so he ordered the Nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild.

The next day the headlines read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE.

The Bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is . . . being concerned about public opinion can bring you much grief and misery .. . even shorten your life. So be yourself and enjoy life.

Stop worrying about everyone else’s ass and
you’ll be a lot happier and live longer!

Have a nice day!

Special thanks to my friend Carol Green for emailing this to me.  The original source is unknown. This is a photo of our Donkey, who is the butt of many jokes, at the Blessing of the Pets in 2008.

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In a press release today, the National Institute of Health has announced the discovery of a potentially dangerous substance in the hair of horses.

This substance, called “amobacter equuii” has been linked with the following symptoms in females:

• Reluctance to cook, clean or do housework
• Reluctance to dress up, wear make-up, nice clothes or heels
• Reluctance to spend money on home or car repairs until after “baby has new shoes, pad, blanket, tack, grain, hay & supplements”

“Amobacter equuii” usually results in long hours away from home and exhaustion which may lead to a loss of physical contact with other humans (especially husbands).

“Amobacter equuii” is thought to be addictive, driving the need for additional sources - this may lead to a “herd mentality” or like the potato chip commercial, “you can’t have just one.” (Especially potent if infected from miniature equines)

Beware! If you come in contact with a female human infected by this substance, be prepared to talk about horses for hours.

Surgeon General’s Warning: Horses are expensive, addictive, and may impair the ability to use common sense.

Related Posts

• September 9, 2010 -- Manure - An Interesting Fact
• July 27, 2010 -- Only Horse People!
• December 31, 2008 -- Trakehner Horse 2008 Merit Awards