Monday 30 October 2017

Greatest Horses - The Poacher



Sadly I can't find much information about this horse, I have read about him in Badminton's history but there doesn't seem to be information about his height or colour or breeding.  The only photo I can use is a black and white ...


The thing, for me anyway, that makes this horse one of the greatest is that his achievements were with more than one rider.  At the top level of eventing partnership is everything and to achieve what he did with different riders is truly amazing !

He was owned and originally ridden by Captain Martin Whiteley.  Early on most of the competitors in showjumping and eventing were military (just look at the lists of winners).

Together ...

In 1965 they won 'Little Badminton' .  The event had been split in 2 because of so many entries!In 1967 they won the Individual Silver medal at the European Championships at Punchestown

After this Captain Whiteley allowed The Poacher to be used for the British Team ...

In 1968 he came 5th at the Olympics in Mexico with Sergeant Ben Jones, where they were last to go and the ground was terrible following a tropical storm.

In 1970 he won Badminton with Richard Meade and they went on to win Team Gold and an Individual Silver at the World Championships at Punchestown

In 1971 they won Team Gold at the European Championships at Burghley

The Poacher was then returned to Martin Whiteley when he retired to a life of hunting.


Did you see last week's video 'Tommy and the scary rug'  on my You Tube channel?   
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.
 
You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates on Chesney, Basil, Tommy and Daisy.

Until next time!
Jo

Friday 27 October 2017

How it all fits together ... Cells and Energy






All animal cells are surrounded by tissue fluid.  This is the source of the water, oxygen and nutrients needed by the cells but it also removes any substances excreted from the cell.  As I explained in my blog about the Lymphatic System, the tissue fluid is where the exchange of substances happens between the cells and the blood vessels and lymph!

Cells need water because almost all processes that are essential to life take place in a solution! Oxygen and nutrients are necessary to produce energy.  All these elements are carried to the cells in the blood.  Water and nutrients enter the blood from the digestive system, oxygen enters through the respiratory system.

Horses (and all living things) need usable energy to move, grow, reproduce and repair.  Energy cannot be created (or destroyed) it is only changed from one form to another (the first law of thermodynamics).  Energy exists in many forms; including chemical, electrical, nuclear, heat, light, and mechanical.


For all living things,  energy is obtained from food, for a horse this is usually grass, hay or supplementary food.  How is the energy from food made available for the horse to use for these processes?  The process is called cellular respiration and it occurs in every living cell. 

In my blog about cells a couple of weeks ago I mentioned that mitochondria supply energy to the cell.

The form of energy used to fuel the biological processes mentioned above is ATP (adenosine triphosphate) but very little is stored in the body.  In fact, at any one moment the body only has enough ATP to keep it alive for 1 second!  So, ATP is continuously produced through cellular respiration, and there are 2 types: -


  • Anaerobic respiration - is when energy is transferred from food to ATP without oxygen.  In this process food molecules are only partly broken down, not fully to result in carbon dioxide.  Glucose in the food molecules is broken down in to pyruvate (the process is called glycolysis) and then in animals the pyruvate is converted into lactate or lactic acid (lactate fermentation).  Lactic acid build up is what causes us to have stitch if we don't breathe properly when doing sitting trot!

  •  Aerobic respiration - is when the glucose is broken down using oxygen,  this happens in a number of stages to limit the amount of heat produced.  As the food molecules are broken down the energy released is used to produce ATP .  Aerobic respiration can produce a much larger number of ATP molecules than anaerobic  respiration.

NB - a molecule is a small particle.

The stages of cellular respiration:-

1.       Glycolysis & Fermentation - occurs in both anaerobic and aerobic respiration, so can take place with or without oxygen. 
2.       The Krebs Cycle - takes place in the mitochondria of the cell and requires oxygen.
3.       The Electron Transport System - also takes place in the mitochondria and requires oxygen.


Once the energy from food has been converted to ATP it can be used to fuel other processes performed by the cells eg: muscle contraction or to move substances between cells such as glucose reabsorption in the kidneys.

Have you seen this week's video 'Tommy and the scary rug'  on my You Tube channel?  
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates on Chesney, Basil, Tommy and Daisy.

Until next time!
Jo

Thursday 26 October 2017

Windy photo day!



What a windy weekend ...






 


Have you seen yesterday's video 'Tommy and the scary rug'  on my You Tube channel?   
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates on Chesney, Basil, Tommy and Daisy.

Until next time!
Jo

Monday 23 October 2017

Caspian Horses



At the Horse of the Year show this year there was a display of Caspian horses ... and I was amazed by their story.   


They were thought to be extinct until in the 1960's a small horse was spotted pulling a cart.  The horse seemed to have many of the characteristics of the Caspian.  A few other similar horses were found in the area and mountains around the southern shores of the Caspian Sea where they were known as 'Mouleki' or 'Pouseki' ponies.  Further investigations proved that they were descendants of the Caspian.   After establishing that these horses 'bred true' a few were selected to become the foundation stock for the future of the breed. 

They are known as horses rather than ponies because they have many traits in common with warm blooded horses.  Caspian horses are agile and intelligent and have fantastic temperaments.  They move with elegance, with long level paces and have a swinging trot and rapid gallop!


History

In ancient times, as early as 3000BC, small horses are pictured in stone carvings.  Later, (circa 500BC) the Caspian was used to pull chariots by King Darius the Great.  A frieze shows them in a procession for the king, and the smallest only reached to the waists of their handlers.  Sadly after the 7th century AD there is no record of these horses, the libraries and museums were all destroyed in wars between Islam and Mongolia.  




Characteristics

Height:  Up to 12.2hh, average is 11.2hh

Colour:  All colours, except piebald or skewbald.  

Conformation: Pronounced foreheads with deep prominent jawbones.  Eyes are large and often prominent and the muzzle fine with large nostrils.  Ears are short and wide apart but often turn inwards at the top.  The neck is long as are the shoulders and the body slim with a deep girth.  The quarters are long and sloping and the hocks angled.  Hooves are strong and there is little frog. Caspians' have thin skin and a silky coat which can be iridescent in the summer.  The winter coat is thick and they have plenty of fine and silky tail and mane.

Temperament:  Sensible, active and willing.

Used  as an all rounder.  They are great for children because of their narrow conformation.  Mounted games, dressage, racing and in harness.  They are also great jumpers.




For more information about these beautiful little horses have a look at the Caspian Horse Society Website: http://www.caspianhorsesociety.org.uk/

Did you see last week's video 'Rolling, rolling, rolling'  on my You Tube channel?   
Horse Life and Love.  Please check it out and SUBSCRIBE.

You can also follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter for updates on Chesney, Basil, Tommy and Daisy. 

Until next time!
Jo