Life and Death Is Never-Ending....

The Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company has lost a second foal  this season.  Yesterday was Mother's Day, and we were all excited that the mare Sweet Jane (aka Duckie) gave birth to a chestnut pinto foal, sired by Archer's Gambit (aka Puzzle).  The down side was that over on the Carnival Grounds on Main Street on Chincoteague, Bay Girl's bay colt, born on Friday, 4 May, passed away.  The colt was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, according to observers.  The foal just did not thrive.  He had difficulty in standing to nurse, and while he did nurse, he never gained much coordination, and never seemed to gain weight or grow like normal foals.  Apparently his brain was oxygen-starved in the womb, and did not develop properly.  Poor little guy is now gone.

Bay Girl and colt , 10 minutes after birth

   On Friday, 11 May, Misty Mills had a bay pinto foal and things seemed fine - at first.  But then the mare was seen to be avoiding the foal, and running from the baby when it wanted to nurse.  This was reported to the Pony Committee, who rescued the foal and began bottle feeding  it.  With the death of Bay Girl's foal, we are hoping that she will accept Misty Mills' rejected baby.  If not, the bottle feeding will continue.  Please keep the baby in your thoughts....

Misty Mills and foal

  And PETA is once again sticking its' nose into the Chincoteague ponies and Pony Penning.  PETA is once again trumpeting loudly that horses and ponies do not, naturally, swim.  With the death of Wild Island Orchid  and Surf Queen at the end of April, they are once again declaring that the annual Pony Swim from Assateague to Chincoteague is mistreatment and mismanagement of the ponies.  They cite the fact that Orchid and the Queen (and Randy, who survived) were trying to cross a stream (actually, what folks on the islands call a gut - a finger of brackish water) when they were caught in quicksand.  Orchid was already dead when the CVFC appeared, 15 minutes after being notified, and both the Queen and Randy were trailered back to Chincoteague and placed under care of the veterinarian on call.  Randy is recovering nicely, although she miscarried her foal.

   PETA has tried to shut down - stop - the Pony Swim since their second year of existence.  I remember one year when they came with a bunch of small motored rowboats and tried to take their boats into the swim lane.  Didn't the fools realize that the blades of the outboard motors would do tremendous damage to the ponies legs?  I have NEVER forgotten how angry I was with those idiots; and how happy I was that the Coast Guard caught everyone of them and made them pay fines.

  The Chincoteague ponies have lived on the island for over 350 years; they go into the channels and guts to escape the flies and mosquitoes when they swarm.  They foals are wading and swimming when they are a few hours old.  The salt water helps clean and heal cuts and scratches.  Sometimes the ponies swim around the fences that are supposed to keep them in their separate states - Dewey, a Maryland stallion, was visiting in Virginia a few days ago.  Horses and ponies swim naturally.  And the vet and his technicians thoroughly check every mare, stallion, and foal before the swim.  Any pony that anyone says is questionable - due to age, cuts, pregnancy, or any other cause - is taken by trailer and is nor allowed to join in the swim.

   The swim, just for clarity's sake, is less than 1/8 of a mile; most of the swim route is walkable for the adult ponies; only about 100 feet is deep enough to make the ponies swim; the Coast Guard uses marine equipment to notify the round-up men when the tide is not running in either direction, so the ponies will not get pushed or pulled by tides; and there are several boats manned by firemen and the Pony Committee that move alongside the swimming ponies to be certain none of them has any trouble during the swim.  The vet follows the ponies swimming in the CVFC barge, with the round-up men and horses.

Happy May Day!

Just to be silly, I went out just before dawn and gathered a small nosegay of local wildflowers - I figured that I ought to follow at least one of the old traditions today....   I'd love to see a traditional May Pole dance and Morris Dancers on the village green, but I'm afraid that I'll see the usual homeless contingent asking for a handout at Central Park instead.
  Bits and pieces today....
  Tonight is the season two finale for Vikings on the History Channel.  Nine episodes last year, ten episodes this year.  They've been renewed for a third season, and the writer, Michael Hirst, says he'll cover the sack of Paris in it.  I hope that we get twelve episodes next year!  If you know the saga of Ragnar Lodbrok, you pretty much know how tonight's episode will play out...
  Sam Carter, the ex-Boulder Police officer, was charged with killing Big Boy (aka Edward the Elk) on 1 January 2013.  He has yet to go to trial.  Yesterday, it was reported that in 2008, he responded to a call for Wildlife officers.  A multi-point buck was tangled in a wire fence; the buck was frightened, but not injured.  The man who placed the call was surprised that a BPD officer arrived, and immediately drew his weapon, stating the buck was injured and needed to be put down. (This was the same story Carter gave about the elk.)  The man argued with him until wildlife officers arrived, and the buck was helped out of the fence, emerging with a slight limp.  Both wildlife officers and the citizen who reported the buck stated that the buck had a huge rack - definitely a set of trophy antlers...  Does this sound familiar?
  After the Derby has ended, and before the Preakness fever hits, I think I'll write about the Koch brothers and their astonishing empire...  It's amazing how much this family owns.
  Rosie Napravnik, the very good female jockey, is riding in both the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby.  She will be riding two of the horses that are her usual mounts.  However, she has been given a three day suspension for "rough riding" in the Derby Trial Stakes while on Bayern.  She "allowed" him to drift into and bump another horse, while whipping him, near the end of the stretch.  The other horse lost the race by a nose.  That jockey filed a complaint, and the stewards decided that Rosie had compromised the other horse's run.  However, since she is a top-name jockey, and because she does have mounts in the two best known races this weekend, she will be allowed to ride - but then must serve a four day suspension, beginning Sunday.
  Trainer Steve Asmussen, and his friend and top assistant-trainer, Scott Blasi, were hit with very nasty allegations and undercover film footage 43 days ago.  Just before the big coverage began for the Triple Crown races.  The footage was shot by a member of PETA, and is said to show the use of illegal medications and the use of an electric shock device to make the horses run faster.  I have not seen the footage, nor do I wish to.  Steve has had a few bumps in the road about medication.  But I am amazed over the allegations of the electric shock device...  Scott Blasi  left Asmussen's employment the day after the film and report was given to The New York Times.  One has to wonder about the timing...
   Personally, I don't believe in harming any animal for any reason.  But.  I do not believe in the extremes that PETA goes to, and expounds.  If we follow the reasoning of the PETA guidelinesall the way to the end, then all animals, domesticated or not, should be allowed to run free, breed freely, and look after themselves. Humans should never touch nor feed them.  In this day and age, with highways, cities, airports, etc., turning all animals loose is a completely idiotic idea.  PETA needs to re-think their goals.  I totally agree there should be "Ethical Treatment of Animals," but one must also use common sense.