The February meeting was a success. Mr. Tollman did a great job on preserving our clippers, and taking clippers to sharpen.  Kevin Gowan was the winner of the Chili Cookoff and received a long-sleeve T-Shirt.  We had a couple of new members and welcomed them to many Happy Trails.

The Christmas Party was a SUCCESS. With Krista planning Trivia Games, The Chinese Exchange and singing the 12 days of Christmas in Random Order.

It was a blessed evening with warm smiles and even warmer hearts!

The Blowing Rock/Moses Cone ride was GORGEOUS! Fabulous Weather, and GREAT Friendship in Humans and MOUNTS!

Congratulations to all the GCHA members who did well at the Blazing Saddles 4-H Horse Show.  You all are winners!

The Dupont ride was a success.  10 members rode the trails, the covered bridge and hit the major waterfalls (there are 12 total).  The ride was about 3 1/2 hours and the weather was perfect and the mountain air was cool for a July Ride.

The Club wants to give out a holler and a wha-hoo to our younger members who are doing well at the 4-H shows, rodeos, and competitions.  You make us all proud... You go boys and girls!

The July meeting was very informative on Healthy Stride and Farrier, Fred Cloninger balanced two horses.  See Pictures Below:

Monthly Tip from La Mano con el Martillo

Take a magnet and put it in a plastic grocery bag. Tie it to a broom handle or horsemanship stick and sweep the floor to pick up farrier nails or anything metal. 

Pictures of the GCHA Horse Show 2009:

Emergency Care - Guidelines to Follow During Equine Emergency:

    You own horses long enough, sooner or later you are likely to confront a medical emergency.  There are several behavioral traits that make horses accident-prone.  One is their instinctive flight or fight response, another si their dominance or need to establish the pecking order.  A third is their natural behaviors.  As a horse owner, you must know how to recognize serious problems and act promptly, taking appropriate action while waiting the arrival of the vet.

RECOGNIZING SIGNS OF DISTRESS:

When a horse is cut or bleeding, it's obvious there is a problem.  But in cases of colic, illness, or more subtle injury, it may not be as apparent.  It is important to know your horse's vital signs, including temperature, pulse, respiration (TPR), as well as its normal behavior and patterns.  You must be a good observer on a daily basis of your horse, and than you will readily recognize sings of ill health.

WHAT'S NORMAL?

There will be variations in individual temperature and respirations values.  Take several baseline when the horse is healthy, rested and relaxed and write them down.  It's best to keep this chart near or in your first aid kit.

Normal ranges for adult horses are:

* Pulse rate; 30-40 beats per minutes

* Respiratory rate: 12-20 breaths per minutes

*Rectal Temperature; 99.5 to 101.5.  If the the temperature exceeds 102.5, contact your vet immediately.  Temperatures of over 103 indicate a serious disorder.

*Capillary Refill time (time is takes for color to return to gum tissue adjacent to teeth after pressing and releasing your thumb); 2 TWO SECONDS.

Other observations you should note:

* Skin pliability is tested by pinching or folding a flap of neck skin and releasing.  It should immediately snap back into place.  Failure to do so is evidence of dehydration.

* Color of the mucous membranes of the gums, nostrils, conjuctiva (inner eye tissue) and inner lips of vulva should be pink.  Bright red, pale pink to white, or bluish-purple coloring may indicate problems.

* Color, consistency, and volume of feces and urine should be typical of that individual's usual excretions.  Straining or failure to excrete should be noted.

* Signs of distress, anxiety or discomfort.

* Lethargy, depression or horse that's "off-feed".

* Presence or absence of gut sounds.

* Evidence of lameness such as head-bobbing, reluctance to move, odd stance, pain, unwillingness to rise.

* Bleeding, Swelling, Evidence of Pain.

* Seizures, paralysis, or "tying up" (form of muscle cramps that ranges in severity from mild stiffness to life-threatening illness).

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