America's First Horse Horse chit chat

Americas First Horse Horse chit chat

by Michael

When Paloma arrived at the barn, which was accustomed to warmbloods, she drew a crowd of people who were waiting to see in person what a real mustang looked like. Curiosity turned to even greater intrigue when her owner said that she was a "Spanish" mustang, not the feral mustang that roams free in the west. The timing was an interesting coincidence as most of the boarders had seen the movie "Hidalgo," in which the equine star plays a Spanish mustang.

The Spanish mustang is a descendant of the horses brought to the Americas by the early Spaniards. On his second voyage to the New World, Columbus brought a number of Spanish horses, as the breed was considered to be the finest horses in the world.

In the 1950s, because they were on the verge of extinction, an effort to preserve the Spanish mustang type began through the selection of horses that best demonstrated the Spanish mustang breed characteristics. As a result, the Spanish Mustang Registry was incorporated in 1957. "This registry was formed to preserve and perpetuate the last remnants of the true Spanish mustangs," according to the Registry. Twenty horses were originally entered into the registry, and current numbers show about 3100.

Like the Spanish mustang breed classification describes, Paloma was just under 14 hands, with short strong canon bones and round, muscular hindquarters. But her most outstanding trait that caught everyone's admiration was her classic Spanish head with concave forehead and convex nose. Her noble head was set on a fully crested arching neck, and she looked like a baroque horse, such as the Andalusian or Lipizzaner.

A particular herd of pure Spanish mustangs was discovered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1977 and separated to preserve their purity of traits. These horses are known as the Kiger mustangs. To be considered a Kiger, according to the Kiger Mesteo Association, a horse must be the offspring of a registered Kiger or have documented proof it was obtained from one of the Kiger herd management areas. Additionally, Kiger mustangs carry the breed color traits, which include dun and gruel, among others, along with markings such as dorsal stripe, zebra stripes or facial mask.

By contrast, the American mustang is the descendant of escaped light riding horses and draft horses, mixed with the Spanish bred and others. In general, these horses are thought to have little-to-no remaining Spanish blood.

Charged with the oversight of wild mustangs and burros is the BLM, which manages wild horses and burros on the public land in a "multiple use" mission that considers natural resources and uses such as ranch livestock grazing. The BLM monitors herds for health and population size and offers individual animals for adoption. Since 1973, BLM placed more than 213,000 horses and burros in homes through its adoption program. In 2005, Congress enacted a new law to maintain herds at healthy population levels that requires BLM to place for sale horses and burros older than age 10 or for whom adoption has failed three times. According to BLM, this affects approximately 8400 horses and burros.

Formerly wild mustangs have found success in new homes. J.B. Andrews, a large black mustang, has successfully competed in dressage to Intermediare I while schooling at the Grand Prix level.

About the Author

Michael Albert is an expert by profession but he is also writing articles on horses, stallion, and trailors for a long time. He has done his research work in the same field within the organization of Horse Chit Chat.To know more about horse chit chat, horses for sale, horse trailers, horse forum, equine forum, hor

Guide to Vetting a Horse Deals

Guide to Vetting a Horse Deals

by Lauren Gilman

Horses are expensive to buy and when you invest a large amount of your money in one, it is important that any equine partner you buy is fit and healthy for the job you have in mind.

While the possibility of your new horse developing a severe medical condition cannot be completely eliminated, having your horse vetted before you purchase him will help you to know exactly what you are buying and assist you in finding a fit and healthy horse that is capable of doing the activities you want.

The Vetting Process

There are two types of vetting available; a two stage and a five stage. A two stage vetting is less comprehensive but will give you an indication of the horse’s current health and highlight any lameness or conformation issues. A two stage vetting costs around 75 and takes about an hour.

A five stage vetting is a thorough examination of the horse at rest and during and after strenuous exercise. Some insurance companies will not insure a horse over a certain value or insure a horse for loss of use without a five stage veterinary certificate. A full vetting costs around 250 and takes around 2-3 hours.

Stage 1 Stable examination

The horse will be examined at rest in a stable. The vet will note if the horse has any vices, check the eyes and the heart.

The horse will then be taken outside and examined for any wounds, scars, growths, swellings or heat. The teeth will be checked to determine the age of the horse.

Stage 2 Assessment in hand

The horse will be walked and trotted up in hand on a flat, hard surface. The vet will make sure that the horse shows no sign of lameness and may carry out flexion tests to further assess the horse.

Stage 3 Strenuous exercise

The horse will be required to carry out a period of strenuous exercise, either ridden or on the lunge. The vet will monitor the horse�s heart and respiration rates and check for any abnormal breathing noises.

Stage 4 The cool down period

The horse will be rested for 30 minutes after the previous strenuous exercise. The horse will be checked for any stiffness and the heart and breathing rates will be measured. At this point there is usually the option to have blood samples taken and stored in case they are needed at a later date.

Stage 5 Final examination

In this stage, the horse will be trotted up to make sure that they have recovered fully from the strenuous exercise. Any other areas of concern that have arisen during the vetting will also be re-examined.

Some horses for sale are advertised with a recent vetting certificate provided. Be very wary of this, as the horse could have been injured after this vetting took place.

The results

The vet will fill out a document detailing all the tests carried out and any findings. They will either pass or fail the horse and will detail any abnormalities that might affect the horse�s ability to carry out the activities you would wish to do if purchased.

The vet will not suggest whether you should buy any horse for sale, that is up to you based on the evidence supplied by the vet.

About the Author

Editor of online equestrian publications. A horse owner and interested in everything equestrian

Other Forms of Learning

Rational Learning

Knowledge is the outcome sought in this type of learning. Rational learning is intellectual in nature and involves the process of abstraction by which concepts are formed.

Motor Learning

The outcome sought in this type of learning is skill, which may be described as the adaptation of movement to stimuli resulting in speed and precision of performance.

Associational Learning

The outcome sought in this type of learning is the acquisition and retention of facts and information. This type of learning involves the development of associative patterns of learning by which ideas and experiences are retained, recalled and experienced so that one will serve as the stimulus for the revival and recall of other experiences.

Appreciation Learning 

The outcome sought in this type of learning is appreciation of aesthetic improvement. Appreciation involved both intellectual and emotional elements. It is a sensitive awareness to and perception of the importance or utility of information in its relation to other fields and in the development of attitudes and tastes.

Appreciational Learning 

This involves the process of acquiring attitudes, ideals, satisfactions, judgment and knowledge concerning values as well as the recognition of worth and importance that the learner gains from participating in the learning activities.

Latent Learning

This refers to some learning not visible immediately for it takes conscious effort to organize the material and draw synthesis of experiences. This may come later as it entails time for processing. Latent learning refers to any learning that is not demonstrated by behavior at the time of the learning. Learning goes on partly through automatic processes with little rational direction from the learner and in part, through processes where the learner perceives relationships and acts with knowledge.

Learning Curves

The course of learning proficiency can be plotted in learning curves. Learning curves refer to graphical illustration, which shows a change in the subject’s performance as an effect of practice. In learning anything of even moderate complexity, several repetitions are required. One cannot be expected to master a complex or elaborate task in a single try, no matter what the degree of motivation or value of the reward is. The clearest way to illustrate the effect of practice is to graph learning on successive trials. In learning to type, for example, we can do only a few words per minute at first. But with practice, greater speed is attained. A typical learning curve shows an upward course of improvement, but with marked up and down fluctuations (skewed curve) that are the result of chance conditions usually are caused by factors such as mood, health and motivation.

The Thinking Process of Humans

All psychological processes are responses of individuals to stimulations. This fact is often represented by the formula S-O-R, where S represents the stimuli (plural form for stimulus), O is the organism and R is the organism’s response. The sequence is as follows: (1) a stimulus strikes a receptor; (2) the receptor stimulates the dendrites of a sensory neuron making a nerve impulse travel to the afferent or incoming fiber to the end brush; (3) the impulse crosses the synaptic connection or junction and stimulates the dendrites of a connector neuron in the spinal cord; (4) the impulse passes another synapse from the connector neuron to the dendrites of an efferent or outgoing neuron; (5) the impulse passes along the efferent fiber to its end brush; (6) an effector – a muscle or gland – responds.

There are number of known processes of neural circuits and networks. Among them are the following:

Synaptic Summation – The impulse reaching a synapse from a single fiber may not bridge the synapse but two or more impulses arriving within a very brief period may cause a response. For example, when one stimulus is applied to one area of the skin and will not produce a response, a second stimulus applied nearby and almost simultaneously will carry the impulse across the synapse. With two impulses arriving within 15 milliseconds of one another, there is a summation of effects which produces a response.

Alternative Nerve Pathways – A chain of efferent neuron, one connector neuron and one efferent neuron functions to carry a neural message. Hundreds of nerve fibers are involved in even the simplest sensory-motor arc. Each of the many incoming fibers can make connections with many efferent fibers. A proliferation of possible pathways from stimulus to response is responsible for a variety of responses to the same stimulus. Many of these responses will be present particularly if the connector neurons of the higher brain centers are involved.

Reverberation – The nervous system does not always simply transmit a message and lie idly expectant and ready for a next stimulus. Because of the complex arrangement of neuron in the central nervous system, in many cases, the incoming impulse travels over the involved neural network and comes back again to restimulate the neuron originally bringing the impulse. The circular networks make possible a reverberation, which may continue long after the initial stimulus is removed. This can cause a motor response to continue and persist for a long time.

Temporal Summation – Summation may occur if the second stimulus is applied within 15 milliseconds after the first. There is recruitment, a process similar to summation, when a repeated stimulus sets off a response which a single stimulus failed to do. Repetitive stimulation brings additional pathways into action.

Reciprocal Innervations – This refers to the automatic process whereby there is simultaneous excitation of a set of motor neurons and inhibition of another. In many physical movements, there are two opposing sets of muscles. For the arms and legs, for example, the extensor muscles must tighten when the flexor muscles relax. If the action is to bend, the opposite happens. Through the mechanism of reciprocal innervations, only one set of muscles is activated at one time. Adjustive movement becomes possible.

Irradiation – as the strength of a stimulus is increased, even in a stimulus to a reflex arc, there is an involvement of more sensory connecting and effect fibers; and therefore, a more extensive response. The number of muscles used is increased because more sensory fibers are activated.

Timing – It takes time for neural impulses to travel along a fiber and more time for a synaptic connection. The amount of time involved in a simple sensory-motor process increases with the distance the impulses have to travel, and more significantly, with the number of synapses between the stimulus and the response. Simple reflex actions are very rapid, while more complex responses require a longer time.

Reference:

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