May 2020 Issue

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EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN May 2020 Page 23 East Coast Equestrian P.O. Box 8412, Lancaster, PA 17604-8412 (717) 509-9800 E-mail: PAEquest@aol.com www.eastcoastequestrian.net Published by Pennsylvania Equestrian, LLC Stephanie Shertzer Lawson, Editor and Publisher Contributors Marcella Peyre-Ferry, Suzy Lucine, Suzanne Bush, Kimberly French, Lois Szymanski, Sylvia Sidesaddle Advertising Manager Debbie Reid Advertising Sales Manager Phyllis Hurdleston Published 11 times a year. Submissions of articles, events and photos are welcome and should be received by the 10th of the month preceding publication. Please call (717) 509-9800 for advertising rates or visit www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com. We cannot accept copyrighted photos without permission from owner. You must have permission before reprinting anything from East Coast Equestrian. For permission please call (717) 509-9800 or email steph@eastcoastequestrian.net Go ahead...Ask da Mare you detecting a trend here? Boy- friend, for want of a better term, is a loser. He cares about himself, not you. He has fallen down a rabbit hole of paranoia and fear. And the result is that he has told you to choose between him and your be- loved horse. He seems incapable of looking at you, seeing you, believ- ing that you are a living, breathing human who has something other than him to worry about. To be clear, there are coro- naviruses that can infect horses, and these viruses can spread from horse to horse but not from horse to person. But this is not the virus that is spreading among and killing humans. Here is what I want you to know. You are a valuable, import- ant person. Your needs are not less important than those of boyfriend. You need to own your life. You love your horse. You care about him. You should never, EVER be put in a position to choose between a boyfriend and the horse with whom you’ve been involved for 10 years. Ultimatums are for dictators, not for people we love. Let boyfriend know that you care about him, and especially about how profoundly his point of view has been distorted by irratio- nal fear. Perhaps he might benefit from reviewing the wealth of information online for people who are consumed by anxiety and fear about coronavirus. You can google these resources. If boyfriend is not interested in looking past his fear and seeing your sadness, perhaps a bit of permanent social distancing is in order. Bottom line: Never let an irrational ultimatum force you to abandon something that you love. Dear Mal… Even though we had a fairly mild winter, it seemed that it just went on forever. My horse is finally starting to lose his winter coat, and I’ve been aggressively brushing him to help get rid of all that hair. He’s a very sweet 20-something gelding and has hardly ever been ill. The other day, as I was brushing a patch along his withers, I noticed that the hair was coming off different- ly from the rest of his hair. It was coming off in clumps, leaving bare skin beneath. There were no bumps, and the skin underneath didn’t appear to be chafed or sore. I’ve seen rain rot before, and this is not what I’m seeing. Can you give me some advice? -Worried Dear Worried… If the skin is not raw, bruised, scraped or otherwise inflamed (check to see if it’s warmer than the rest of his back or shoul- der), it’s possible that whatever happened has resolved itself. Some of the more common skin ailments are ringworm, scratches, lice, warts and dandruff. There are also some less-common, but more severe skin problems, including mange and skin cancers. Giv- en that your horse is otherwise healthy and there’s no evidence of his aggressively rubbing the area, it’s likely that whatever caused the hair loss is benign. But, you should make sure you clean the area with gentle shampoo and rinse it thoroughly. Keep the area as dry as possible. After he comes in from the field, make sure you wipe the area clean and dry it thor- oughly. Check other areas to see if he’s got the same issue on his legs or chest. Even if the condition is benign, you should have your vet- erinarian check to make sure there are no underlying problems. Your horse’s skin, like your own skin, is a critical barrier that protects him from infections. Good luck! Have a question for Mal? Email her at PAEquest@aol. com. (Continued from page 19) By Sylvia Sidesaddle Well hello again darlings, and welcome to the May corona- virus issue of East Coast Eques- trian , not the expanded Devon Horse Show preview issue as planned but an issue, nonetheless. This is weirdest time Syl could have imagined. We are shut in our homes, rarely venturing out and then only with masks. Boarding stables are shut down, all events are canceled, we’re working from home (if we are lucky enough to be ‘non-essential’.) But as horse owners, we know the work doesn’t stop. They still need to be fed, turned out, groomed, stalls cleaned and on and on. So for us more than maybe most people, life goes on. And on the bright side, our tack rooms have never been cleaner! Masks are now required when venturing out, although there are none to be had. (Syl has fashioned a very stylish one out of a red cloth napkin and two hair ties.) Tack shops are closed, though feed stores remain open. Syl has heard a rumor she un- fortunately cannot confirm that there’s been a run on ivermec- tin as desperate people dose themselves with horse wormer in an effort to treat or prevent the virus. Our online lives have become even more important. Syl has enjoyed the bareback jumping challenges and the….. she doesn’t even know what to call it. Equestrian couples do this acrobatic move where the woman goes over the guy’s shoulder, un- der his arm, around and through his legs without ever touching the ground. Impressive darlings! But even more impressive is Kent Farrington’s pushup challenge. McLain Ward was brave enough to take him on but so far Syl hasn’t seen anyone come close. Kent Farrington work out videos might be one good result of this crisis. Coming in early May is the NAF Virtual Eventing 5* Compe- tition 2020, which will be held on Facebook May 6-10, starting with the horse inspection, in which some riders (each has a dona- tion page) are taking bribes in exchange for wearing outrageous costumes. There will be dressage (which was prerecorded), cross country with timed challenges probably never before seen on cross country, and unmounted show jumping on Sunday. Boyd Martin is one of the American competitors so it will undoubted- ly be very entertaining. There’s even a vendor village. And…it raises funds for our health care heroes – everyone’s favorite cause right now. Check out Virtu- al Eventing on Facebook. It’s a tough time for nonprof- its, whose fundraisers have to go virtual. Help them out if you can, sweet things. And lesson barns need to keep feeding their lesson horses even though no revenue is coming in. Good thing spring has come early – less hay, more pasture! Among the latest cancel- ations is Jersey Fresh, a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics, both of which will be held in 2021. After a March 30 article in the LNP newspaper showed buyers elbow to elbow at the New Holland Auction’s Monday horse sale, horse auctions were canceled for the month of April. Syl’s darlings with coronavi- rus questions—extensionhorses. org has been created to answer them. There’s lots of info there now and more to come. Here’s a little welcome life-goes-on news: several locals were named to the Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association’s Se- nior Athletic Academic Achieve- ment Awards, which are present- ed to members who have a cumu- lative GPA of 3.5 or higher. They are Meghan Frederick, Megan Marino, Caroline Houston and Emily Valerio of Centenary College and Shannon Cikowsky, Sabrina Mercandante, Madison Katz and Allison Kirk of Penn State. Congratulations all! Boyd Martin reported April 9 that his Windurra was one of the first businesses in the US to receive funding through the $350 trillion Paycheck Protec- tion Program, funded by Con- gress to keep the employees of the nation’s small businesses employed. Ten days later, Syl is pleased to report, East Coast Equestrian was funded as well. Yay darlings!!!! And with that, remember to stay home and stay well. And to S.S.S. (Send Syl Scoop) at PAEquest@aol.com . And…. be careful where you step…and sneeze.