TheEquine : "Fifty years ago, there were 73,00 ponies working Britain's mines. 'The best miners in the world', was the tribute of one who looked after them for 30 years. Pony and handler have always been very close.
In Yorkshire pits they play 'snap' with their owners by sneaking pieces of sugar from pockets, trotting forward to sample the sandwiches and fruit that should have been the miners' lunch.
The tale goes underground that once the late Sir Harry Lauder, when he was a miner, called his pony Catherine. But Catherine refused to budge. Minutes later there was a pit-fall just in front of Catherine, and they say she saved Harry's life.
The table has been turned. Six years ago a 19-year-old miner died trying to save his pony when it galloped into mine workings in thick gas in Derbyshire. Such is the bond between man and beast.
Now the end is near, Mr. Gordon Bagier, M.P. for South Sunderland has sought - and got - from the Coal Board chief Lord Robens, an assurance that these stalwarts of the black industrial revolution will not be exported for slaughter.
And next month, on May 9, is the third reading of Sir Robert Cary's bill calling for greater assurances of the ponies' welfare.
The fear is they will be exported for slaughter. But so stringent are the Coal Board and the R.S.P.C.A. about new homes for the ponies that even Lord Robens himself was turned down when he asked if he could keep one."
Saturday, July 7, 2007
TheEquine |
TheEquine : "When Mrs. Margaret Bell tries to get on with the housework it's Fred who gets in the way. He just marches into the house and generally monopolises the kitchen - which is surely his right as the retired member of the family.
Fred is on of the 1,500 remaining pit ponies whose twilight world down the mines is coming to an end. Within the next 18 months, the Coal Board plan to have found them all homes. Or if they are too old and ill, they will be destroyed.
For Fred, now 26, with 22 working years behind him, it's time to rest at the Bell's home at Witton-Gilbert, Durham. He's not been 'put out to grass' because left alone under those circumstances he would probably fret or fight. Instead, Coal Board officials and the R.S.P.C.A. have thoroughly inspected his new home; his sleeping quarters and the family's ability to feed him through the year.
The Bell's wanted Fred for a pet 14 months ago. But, like thousands of others in England, they had to wait four months. They could not choose him. It was a question of whether the Bells were fir enough to give Fred a good home.
Pit ponies probably get a better life than their relatives above ground. Their stables are spotless; their handlers dote on them and take down sweets and sandwiches for tit-bits. To quote the R.S.P.C.A. chief veterinary officer Colonel Ian Tennant: 'They have to be kept at a reasonable temperature, the same was wine is kept in a cellar."
Fred is on of the 1,500 remaining pit ponies whose twilight world down the mines is coming to an end. Within the next 18 months, the Coal Board plan to have found them all homes. Or if they are too old and ill, they will be destroyed.
For Fred, now 26, with 22 working years behind him, it's time to rest at the Bell's home at Witton-Gilbert, Durham. He's not been 'put out to grass' because left alone under those circumstances he would probably fret or fight. Instead, Coal Board officials and the R.S.P.C.A. have thoroughly inspected his new home; his sleeping quarters and the family's ability to feed him through the year.
The Bell's wanted Fred for a pet 14 months ago. But, like thousands of others in England, they had to wait four months. They could not choose him. It was a question of whether the Bells were fir enough to give Fred a good home.
Pit ponies probably get a better life than their relatives above ground. Their stables are spotless; their handlers dote on them and take down sweets and sandwiches for tit-bits. To quote the R.S.P.C.A. chief veterinary officer Colonel Ian Tennant: 'They have to be kept at a reasonable temperature, the same was wine is kept in a cellar."
TheEquine |
TheEquine : "Conclusion
The effect of daily good grooming is readily recognised in the bright clean and healthy appearance of the coat. If the fingers are run through it, no trace of soil will be left on them. On the other hand, if the skin is not clean, the fingers will be soiled and white streaks of dirt and dust will be apparent in the parts through which they have passed.
Every owner ought occasionally at least to run his fingers through the coat of his horse before he mounts, or when he visits his stable after the horse has been cleaned on his return from work. He will also do well to see that the feet are properly washed out in the morning or after exercise. It is in vain to expect that servants, however good they may be at starting, will long continue to give the time and labour required daily to groom horses, as they ought to be groomed, unless the master is able to and does appreciate the result of their labour."
The effect of daily good grooming is readily recognised in the bright clean and healthy appearance of the coat. If the fingers are run through it, no trace of soil will be left on them. On the other hand, if the skin is not clean, the fingers will be soiled and white streaks of dirt and dust will be apparent in the parts through which they have passed.
Every owner ought occasionally at least to run his fingers through the coat of his horse before he mounts, or when he visits his stable after the horse has been cleaned on his return from work. He will also do well to see that the feet are properly washed out in the morning or after exercise. It is in vain to expect that servants, however good they may be at starting, will long continue to give the time and labour required daily to groom horses, as they ought to be groomed, unless the master is able to and does appreciate the result of their labour."
TheEquine |
TheEquine : "Method of grooming
The thorough cleaning of the skin of the horse is an operation requiring both skill and hard labour. To make his labour effective, and to produce the greatest effect with the least expenditure of power and in the shortest time, the groom should aid his muscular strength with his weight. He should therefore stand well away from the horse, and lean his weight on the brush, which thus used will penetrate the coat more effectually, and with less exertion to the man, than is worked only by his muscular strength.
The principal working on the brush should follow the natural direction of the hair. It will not penetrate it as deeply and thoroughly when worked against it as with it. To remove, however, external dirt or sweat, which may have caked in the coat, it may sometimes be necessary to brush against the hair.
(I hope the author is explaining the use of a body brush, as using a dandy brush in this manner, will hurt the horse. I wonder how may horses in 1901 stood still to be groomed?)
Improper means used to produce short and glossy coats.
Short and glossy coats, as a general rule, indicate good grooming and careful stable management, whilst long dull coats argue the reverse. But we must caution the reader against the practice of some servants of administering tonics and other stimulants, which by artificially exciting the system, produce temporarily a good external appearance, but in the long run are the fruitful parents of disease."
The thorough cleaning of the skin of the horse is an operation requiring both skill and hard labour. To make his labour effective, and to produce the greatest effect with the least expenditure of power and in the shortest time, the groom should aid his muscular strength with his weight. He should therefore stand well away from the horse, and lean his weight on the brush, which thus used will penetrate the coat more effectually, and with less exertion to the man, than is worked only by his muscular strength.
The principal working on the brush should follow the natural direction of the hair. It will not penetrate it as deeply and thoroughly when worked against it as with it. To remove, however, external dirt or sweat, which may have caked in the coat, it may sometimes be necessary to brush against the hair.
(I hope the author is explaining the use of a body brush, as using a dandy brush in this manner, will hurt the horse. I wonder how may horses in 1901 stood still to be groomed?)
Improper means used to produce short and glossy coats.
Short and glossy coats, as a general rule, indicate good grooming and careful stable management, whilst long dull coats argue the reverse. But we must caution the reader against the practice of some servants of administering tonics and other stimulants, which by artificially exciting the system, produce temporarily a good external appearance, but in the long run are the fruitful parents of disease."
TheEquine |
TheEquine : "Use of the brush in grooming
It is necessary that the skin be cleaned with a good bristle brush, strongly applied and well laid on.
For these purposes rubbing the skin with a wisp or rubber, though it may answer some of the subsidiary uses of grooming, is not sufficient. A wisp, especially a damp wisp, such as is often used, will not clean the skin. It might be supposed rather to plaster in the scurf and dirt. Such rubbing however does produce a certain beneficial, inasmuch as it is generally laid on with a good deal of force; and the friction has undoubtedly a considerable influence in cleaning the skin."
It is necessary that the skin be cleaned with a good bristle brush, strongly applied and well laid on.
For these purposes rubbing the skin with a wisp or rubber, though it may answer some of the subsidiary uses of grooming, is not sufficient. A wisp, especially a damp wisp, such as is often used, will not clean the skin. It might be supposed rather to plaster in the scurf and dirt. Such rubbing however does produce a certain beneficial, inasmuch as it is generally laid on with a good deal of force; and the friction has undoubtedly a considerable influence in cleaning the skin."
TheEquine |
TheEquine : "Reasons of the need of grooming.
The question is often asked, 'why does the stabled horse require constant grooming, whilst the same horse turned out into a field does well enough without it?'
The question cannot be answered in the form in which it is put. It is not the fact of living under cover, but the active work and the high feeding of the stabled horse, which necessitates grooming. Cavalry horses in camps, for instance require grooming just as much, and in some respects more than they do in barracks. It is the work and the food, not the shelter, which constitutes the difference between the domesticated animal and the horse in a state of nature.
By work, and especially fast work, the secretions of the glands of the skin are enormously increased. Furthermore, the horse, which is worked hard, must be fed on highly nutritious food; and from this cause also the secretions of the skin are largely increased. Nature must be assisted by artificial means to remove these increased secretions, or the pores of the skin will become clogged and the health will be deteriorated."
The question is often asked, 'why does the stabled horse require constant grooming, whilst the same horse turned out into a field does well enough without it?'
The question cannot be answered in the form in which it is put. It is not the fact of living under cover, but the active work and the high feeding of the stabled horse, which necessitates grooming. Cavalry horses in camps, for instance require grooming just as much, and in some respects more than they do in barracks. It is the work and the food, not the shelter, which constitutes the difference between the domesticated animal and the horse in a state of nature.
By work, and especially fast work, the secretions of the glands of the skin are enormously increased. Furthermore, the horse, which is worked hard, must be fed on highly nutritious food; and from this cause also the secretions of the skin are largely increased. Nature must be assisted by artificial means to remove these increased secretions, or the pores of the skin will become clogged and the health will be deteriorated."
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