July 2021 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN July 2021 Page 13 Email: eschfence@gmail.com - Fax: -- WHOLESALE & RETAIL Phone -- www. EquineColicReliefUSA.com • Email: zebecash2@hotmail.com Go ahead...Ask da Mare By Malorie de la Mare Dear Mal… I have a wonderful, beautiful, sweet nine-year-old gelding. He’s healthy and sound and seems very happy. We recently moved to a different state and had to find another barn—and vet and farrier. We lucked out and found a great spot, with trails and pastures and nice horses for my boy to play with. The new vet is very thor- ough and asked me to give her a list of all the shots my horse routinely gets, and when he had his last round of vaccinations. She said it’s critical to stay up to date on these. To be honest, I’ve never thought about all this before. My friends from where we used to live enjoyed coming to the barn and watching me ride. They don’t have horses, but they always warned me about bad reactions to vaccinations, and they suggested that my horse could get really sick from getting these big combina- tion vaccinations. So, in the past I’ve just avoided the whole issue. Now I’m pretty nervous about let- ting the vet know that I don’t have any of the records she’s asking for. The new barn manager says my horse needs to be vaccinated. Do you think vaccines are safe? What do you think I should do? -Vaccine-wary Dear Vaccine-wary… Where to begin…such a sim- ple, straightforward issue has be- come needlessly and dangerously complicated. Here are some facts: the vaccines that are commonly given to horses are safe, thorough- ly researched and rarely result in reactions that are life-threatening. Here’s another fact: horses that spend a lot of time in pastures are often exposed to other animals, such as groundhogs, bats, rac- coons, possums, etc. These critters may be rabid and can infect horses. Rabies is always fatal. The rabies vaccine protects horses from rabies. Here’s another fact: Eastern Equine Encephalitis is al- most always fatal to horses. There is a vaccine to protect horses from EEE. I could go on. But the point is that, unless you are able to con- trol every aspect of your horse’s care—as well as the care of the horses with which your horse interacts and control the condi- tions in the pasture and ensure that the pastures don’t harbor any critters that might be rabid, and control the production of the food and hay your horse gets…well… you might want to consider the vaccines that are available. While there are vaccines that are not 100 per cent effective, the probability that the vaccine will protect any individual horse is high. Obvi- ously, this is an issue you have to resolve for yourself. There are a Help! I’m Vaccine Hesitant lot of people who reject vaccines, for a number of reasons, just as there are people who swear by vaccines and the science behind them. Unfortunately, you are in a position now that will force you to make this decision. You asked what I think you should do. My opinion is not relevant, nor are the opinions of your friends, because you are ultimately responsible for the care of your horse. And it is you who must make this decision and accept the consequences. Good luck. Dear Mal… I’m 30 years old, with a de- cent job and lots of friends. For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved horses. But I have never ridden a horse, or even touched one. I know, odd, right? But during the pandem- ic, when everyone was isolated and thinking about the stuff they wished they could do, I started thinking about horses. There’s a lesson barn about 15 miles from where I live, and I stopped by to visit a couple of weeks ago. It was magical! I got to meet several of the horses, and they even let me brush one. And I signed up for a beginner lesson package. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends, who, it turned out, were less than impressed. We’ve been having regular Friday evening Zoom calls and they spent last week’s call telling me every horrible thing that could happen to me. Broken legs, broken arms, getting stomped, getting thrown, concussions and even worse. Can you help me understand why my friends were so, so unkind? At first, I thought they were teasing, because they’ve all heard about how long I’ve loved horses—albeit from afar. It really hurt my feelings and I couldn’t find a way to stop their barrage of worst-case scenarios. Can you give me some ideas about how to deal with this? I’m not sure I even want to be friends with these people anymore. -Sad Dear Sad… It would be easy to blame this sad episode on the pandemic. There have been numerous articles describing how months of isola- tion have turned once compas- sionate and kind people into rude, thoughtless wet blankets. An ex- planation, perhaps? Or maybe it’s something more mundane. Your friends may not have any outlets that could scratch a lifelong itch. You took the forced isolation of the pandemic and turned it into a chance to try to do something that you’ve dreamt of for years. Kudos to you! Are your friends a bit jealous? Maybe they’re looking back at the past year and wondering what they might have done differently. Your friends may have started this episode with some friendly teasing. But the ambience of Zoom somehow removes filters—you know, the ones that remind people that they have obligations to be courteous and thoughtful, and not to descend into mockery. Normal conversa- tion patterns are disrupted, and it seems in this case a sort of mob mentality overtook your friends— each one trying to outdo the other. I don’t think you should dump these friends. Just as they should be more thoughtful, you should give them the benefit of the doubt. Let them know that they hurt your feelings. Tell them how important it was to you to take up riding. Let them into your heart, and I’ll bet they’ll behave like kind, compas- sionate guests—otherwise known as friends. Good luck and enjoy your riding lessons! Have a question for Mal? Email her at PAEquest@aol. com.