WEG Day 7

Hey, whose brilliant idea was this for me to write these things every day??? Oh yeah, my idea. Dummy.

Great day at the park today, lots of visitors, bright sunny day, good attendance at the demonstrations at Equine Arena, and talked to people from all over the place!

Germany, Ireland, England, Alabama, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California, Oregon... the list goes on and on. We like to ask where people are from, and what horses they have.

Which makes you realize (again) how much horse people have in common no matter what age, geography, language, or breed. Most people love to tell you about their horse(s), and have a story to tell. About a horse that takes care of them, or a horse they rescued that THEY take care of. It works both ways. And (dare I say this?) mostly women.

WEG brought a lot of women to town, lots of girlfriends who made the trip together, and also some couples who are lucky enough to pair up with a spouse who also likes horses. And WOW some really senior citizens. Some could hardly walk but they came anyway, isn't that great? The shuttles helped them get around, they took their time, rested when possible and enjoyed the whole thing.

Did I mention that the Dippin' Dots were particularly good today? [food again...]

Don Pelly of Shaker Village stopped by to talk. The American Endurance team stayed at Shaker Village so he was able to interact with the riders, coaches, chef d'equipe, families and horses of our endurance team. Don said there were vets there every day checking the horses. Unfortunately, the team did not do well in the race, as four out of five were pulled for vet reasons: two lamenesses and two metabolic (heartrate, I imagine). With our dry weather, the ground is hard as concrete and that race is 100 miles!! Tough on legs, joints and hooves. Any weakness, even one that does not show in a normal trot out, will appear somewhere down the road before completing that 100 miles.

If you've heard of Spaulding Fly Predators... Mr. Spaulding came to visit our booth today. I would say his visit was drawing people like flies, but....

Also talked to someone about a product that has been used for years in hospitals and the military... a spray-on microbial that kills bacteria, and lasts 3 years. You could spray down your stalls, for example, and if a sick horse came in, it would kill any bacteria the horse left. You could treat leg wraps, stall mats, inside of trailers...and reduce (I don't want to say eliminate since that sounds too definite... have to do more research) the amount of sickness and infections that are spread. Sounds too good to be true, but one of the major equine businesses is testing it right now in Central Kentucky and getting great initial results. We will keep you informed.

Dinner tonight at an Indian restaurant with hubby and Anna Zinkhon, a KY Horse Council board member and volunteer. Anna owns a stable in Campbell County and was one of the founders of the Northern Kentucky Horse Network, a group of over 300 horsemen and women up there "towards Cincinnati".

Until tomorrow... (OOPS, it's past midnight, so--) Until today....
[Where is Albert Einstein when you need him?]