July/August 2024 Issue

Page 30 July/August 2024 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Go ahead... Ask da Mare See page 38 for details. Not a print subscriber? Join the ongoing mailing list for just $20. FREE Classifieds for print subscribers! By Malorie de la Mare Dear Mal… The other day I was at the barn, grooming my horse and giving him his favorite treat: apple chunks. All was going well, until a boarder whose horse gets turned out with mine showed up and asked if I knew that apples could kill my horse. She has not been at the barn very long and seems to be a bit of a meddler. As she stood there, just a tad too close for comfort, she began listing the many ways I was slowly poisoning my horse. With apples. She told me that apple seeds are poisonous, and that they should be removed before I give apples to my horse. Honest- ly, her arrogance, her demeanor and her haranguing got to me, and I asked her to leave my horse and me alone. She stomped off, muttering something to the effect that stupid people shouldn’t have horses. So, now I’m stuck. Of course I don’t want to poison my horse, or, for that matter, relationships with other boarders. What should I do? Are apples really that dangerous? -Eve in the Garden Dear Eve… So many threats to our safety, it’s amazing we—and our hors- es—manage to survive day after day. Many horses do love apples. Apples are healthy for horses and people, too! Apples have been celebrated as the best gift Johnny Appleseed gave the world. While it’s true that the seeds in the apples do contain small amounts of a chemical that turns into cyanide when the seeds are crushed, it’s also true that your horse would need to eat hundreds of apples each day—and he would also have to crush all the apple seeds—in order to suffer from the toxins. Apple seeds have hard shells, and they usually just pass through the horse’s digestive system before finding themselves on the ground again, waiting for the right time and conditions to sprout new apple trees. So, although it’s unlikely that the apples will hurt your horse, it’s much more likely that hostility among boarders at a barn could become really toxic. What to do? Perhaps you could approach the other boarder, apologize for being short with her, let her know that you’ve considered the benefits and risks of apples and offer to tell her what you’ve learned. If she tends to be a bossy-pants, it’s possible that something else you routinely do with your horse will eventually stoke her meddlesome streak. It’s also possible that, being a newcom- er, she’s having difficulty finding her footing. If you and other board- ers have been together a long time, she may be feeling like an outsid- er, and may not realize that her attitude is not especially welcome. If reaching out to her doesn’t work, you can at least be comforted to know that her horse and your horse won’t be frenemies…hopefully. Dear Mal… Horses have been revered for hundreds of years as coura- geous, strong, resilient partners of humans, whether humans were waging war, or wagering on the fastest horse. I’m wondering how all this got started. Like, why not zebras? Or other sturdy creatures? Have horses always gravitated to humans? Have humans always had this emotional bond with horses? Did this relationship evolve over the centuries? I grew up watching television shows and movies featuring beautiful, strong, brave horses. Was all that an act? -Horse Lover Dear Horse Lover… Let’s start with the “why not zebras?” part of your question. Zebras share many characteristics of horses, and in fact are part of the same “family,” Equidae. If you look at a zebra, though, you’ll no- tice several physical characteristics that separate horses from zebras. Zebras are shorter, their necks are thicker, their bodies are striped. But other less apparent differences make them less likely to be good for riding. Their backs are built dif- ferently from horses, which would make a ride pretty uncomfortable. But, they can be very fast—living in the wild among predators such as cheetahs and lions, they are always alert to what’s happening around them. Plus, zebras are known to be irascible, prone to bit- ing, kicking and other uncongenial behaviors. Scientists and anthropol- ogists have traced the ancestors of horses back more than four million years. And cave drawings of horses suggest that humans have loved them for thousands of years. The most famous cave drawings featur- ing horses—the Lascaux drawings in France—were created around 10,000-15,000 BCE. The drawings imply that horses were an import- ant part of daily life and they’re depicted as beautiful creatures, not threatening or hostile. Scientists believe they were used for food as well as for work. An expert on prehistoric horses, Marsha Levine, pointed out that “horses have potent symbolic meaning in all the cultures where they’re found, including ours.” Add to that a quote from historian John Moore. “Wher- ever a man has left his footprints in the long ascent from barbarism to civilization, we find the hoof print of a horse beside it.” You may quibble with Moore’s assumption that we’ve left barbarism behind, but his point about the horse is apt. Have a question for Mal? Email her at PAEquest@aol. com. Poison Apples?