Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC 4th of July and a SUPER Earthly weekend!!!

The memory of great American racehorse Seattle Slew will live on in active biomedical research, after a gift from the horse's owners to Washington State University.

Seattle Slew was one of the greatest horses ever to grace American racing, and a prolific stud whose appraised value at one time was more than $120 million. He died May 7, 2002, 25 years to the day after he won the Kentucky Derby in 1977.

The Seattle Slew Spinal Cord Research Fund at WSU supports continuing research into the diagnosis and treatment of equine spinal cord disease. The recent gift of $10,000 from Slew's owners, Karen and Mickey Taylor, means that the fund is now fully endowed at WSU.

The fund was originally established in 2003 with a gift from Thoroughbred Promotions through proceeds collected from the sale of Seattle Slew hats. Additional gifts include donations from Slew's former groom, Tom Wade, and Dr Barrie Grant, a WSU veterinary alum who performed spinal surgery on Seattle Slew twice to alleviate a crippling spinal cord compression condition that the horse developed in his later years.

Another generous donation was received from Dr George Bagby, MD, a Spokane, Washington, orthopedic surgeon who developed an implant and operative procedure Dr Grant used in the fabled horse.

Now that the endowment has been completed, the college will begin awarding intramural grants to fund research into the diagnosis and treatment of equine spinal cord disease.

Years ago, veterinarians at Washington State University developed a surgical technique for treatment of equine spinal cord compression. In 2000, and again in 2002, Seattle Slew successfully underwent surgery for this condition, after which his quality of life was greatly enhanced. In addition to Dr Grant, WSU's College of Veterinary Medicine is also the alma mater of three other members of Seattle Slew's surgical team.

During Seattle Slew's racing days, he won 14 times in 17 starts and earned more than $1.2 million. After retiring from racing, his stud fees ranged from $150,000 in 1979 to more than $500,000 in the early to mid 1980s. Many consider his value in racing history to be priceless.

On June 9, 2007, Seattle Slew's granddaughter, Rags to Riches, won the Belmont Stakes, the first filly in 102 years to win that race. Seattle Slew won that race in 1977, as did his son, A.P. Indy, in 1992, who fathered Rags to Riches.

In addition to the Seattle Slew Spinal Cord Research fund, the WSU College of Veterinary Medicine also maintains several research funds for general equine research.

I hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Earthly day today.......!!!!

 

 

BERLIN — - Equine dentist Joe Wysocki got the call when Thumbelina, the world's smallest horse and touring celebrity, blew into Connecticut in her special RV and needed a checkup.



The retired New Britain firefighter, who started his business a few years ago after studying at the Academy of Equine Dentistry in Idaho, made a house call Tuesday morning to the Farmington driveway where the horse's two handlers — former Midwestern rock circuit managers — had parked the Thumbymobile.



It's a big RV, complete with a small stall, used to drive the 17.5-inch, 59-pound Thumbelina from her Missouri farm to appearances across the country at pediatric cancer units, burn centers, treatment centers and the occasional mall, museum or private party.



Ramona Dimatteo, the homeowner whose cousin used to help drive the Thumbymobile, welcomed the rig in her family's driveway after the horse's May 19 gig visiting children at the Klingberg Family Center in nearby New Britain.

A night at a suburban house was a welcome break for horse and crew, who travel harder than most headline rock bands. In May alone, Thumbelina has 26 gigs in Missouri, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Michigan. Then there's the media, including TV stations from Japan and newspapers from China.



Most nights, the Thumbymobile is at an RV camp or parked at a Wal-Mart — a business that handler Mike Goessling says is "RV-friendly" and pretty safe because of parking lot security cameras.



When Goessling told Dimatteo that 7-year-old Thumbelina needed a routine dental check, she recommended Wysocki, the Berlin-based dentist she uses for her own quarter horse.



"Fate sent Joe to me," she said as Wysocki got down to business with the dwarf miniature, certified by Guinness World Records two years ago as the world's smallest horse.



Wysocki used a small scrub brush to wash Thumbelina's mouth with an antibiotic solution before he began filing down points and other dental irregularities that hindered the horse's ability to properly chew her food.



"There's not a lot of room to work inside its mouth," said Wysocki, one of a handful of equine dentists in Connecticut. "I'm using tools made for regular miniature horses, but even these are a little big."



He'd file for a bit, then wait as the quiet, but obviously nervous, Thumbelina regained her composure, hiding behind her plastic "dogloo" inside the stall section of the RV.



"She sleeps in her dog house," said Goessling, a former St. Louis rock club owner who gave up that life two years ago to bring Thumbelina from his parent's farm to the 200 or so appearances she has yearly. "She's only half the size of the regular miniature horses we raise on our farm. She's a dwarf miniature. The people at the American Museum of Natural History in New York say she's the smallest adult horse to walk on earth in 55 million years since Eohippus."



Thumbelina is a lot easier to tour with than rock musicians, said Goessling's helper and longtime friend, Will Porter, who's out for the latest three-week leg of Thumbelina's 2008 U.S. tour.



"This is much easier," Porter said. "Still, I never thought it would be him and me, touring with the world's smallest horse."



Unruly fans — almost always adults — are about the only problem they encounter on the road these days. The ill-mannered grandparents who rushed Thumbelina's pen during an appearance outside the American Museum in New York City last weekend were, in Porter's words, "just about the worst display of adults I've seen. I was just amazed by it."



A few feet away, Wysocki resumed gently filing down Thumbelina's molars to balance her bite.



"I've been around horses all my life," he said. "Right now, I have a big mule and a Tennessee walker."



As he neared the end of a 32-year career in the fire department, Wysocki said he wanted to do something different after years of rushing to fires and accidents and seeing many dismal situations. He decided to work with horses.



"I knew how important it is for horses to have good dental care," he said. "If their bite is off, they can't chew and digest their food. Horses get gingivitis and periodontal disease, just like people. I've seen the results. A horse spits out its food and drops grain. You help fix that, and a horse that couldn't eat will put 150 pounds back on."

 

Now you know why your horse acts like he does......This is his thought process......

CHEWING: Make a contribution to the architectural industry.... chew on your stall wall, the fence or any other wooden item.

DINING ETIQUETTE: Always pull all of your hay out of the hay rack, especially right after your stall has been cleaned, so you can mix the hay with your fresh bedding. This challenges your human, the next time they're cleaning your stall - and we all know how humans love a challenge (that's what they said when they bought you as a two year old, right?).

DOORS: Any door, even partially open, is always an invitation for you and your human to exercise. Bolt out of the door and trot around, just out of reach of your human, who will frantically run after and chase you. The longer it goes on, the more fun it is for all involved.

FARRIER: The farrier is an object on which you can take out your frusteration without danger of limiting your food supply.

FRESH BEDDING: It is perfectly permissible to urinate in the middle of your freshly bedded stall to let your humans know how much you appreciate their hard work.

HUMOR: Humans possess a thing called 'a sense of humor'. This is a delightful emotional sensation that is caused by the sight or sound of things that are out of the ordinary. You can facilitate this by providing unusual situations to trigger the laughter response. On the first day of a 3 day weekend, when your attendant shows up with some of his turn-out buddies, fart loudly, then fall to the ground and stick your tongue out. The sights and sounds you provide will stimulate the necessary laughter response.

NEIGHING: Because you are a horse, you are expected to neigh. So neigh - a lot. Your owners will be very happy to hear you protecting the barn and communicating with other horses. Especially late at night while they are sleeping safely in their beds. There is no more secure feeling for a human than to keep waking up in the middle of the night and hearing you, "Neigh, neigh, neigh..."

NUZZLING: Always take a BIG drink from your water trough immediately before nuzzling your human. Humans prefer clean muzzles. Be ready to rub your head on the area of your human that you just nuzzled to dry it off, too.

SHOEING: Humans are creatures driven by instant gratification. After a good foot trimming or shoeing, trot smartly around afterwards to show your human how nice the shoes fit. The next day, drag one foot when you walk, to provide your little busy body with yet another project to work on.

SNORTING: Humans like to be snorted on. Everywhere. It is your duty, as the family horse, to accommodate them.

VISITORS: Quickly determine which guest is afraid of horses. Rock back and forth on the cross-ties, neighing loudly and pawing playfully at this person. If the human backs away and starts crying, swoosh your tail, stamp your feet and nicker gently to show your concern.