President's Message, July, 2000
Today is June 12, 2000,
and while I have not heard from Ft. Shellbourne
officially, I just
know that Trilby has already crossed the 50,000 mile
barrier. What
a great feat. I cannot imagine that this will ever again
happen in our lifetime,
although who is to know. Maybe there is some
other total wacko
out there who will make it. Time will tell.
I have been riding
my new horse, Bandit, and having a great time.
Thanks to Nancy Twight
for taking him for two months and spending every weekend
letting me ride him
while she told me what to do. It was a real trip last week
when we encountered
the hiker leading two fully packed Llamas, we had a old
campaigner with us,
a retraining horse and a green horse that was on the
trail for only the
second time. There were all pretty snorty, even old
standby JR.
Bandit almost had a heart attack and I was right there with
him. He sure
did look pretty all snorted out and stiff legged like a halter
horse.
I am off to Cooley
Ranch [the ride formerly known as Hashknife] this
weekend to do my secretary
thing. Hope to see everyone there.
Did you notice how
my little DUH is catching on. Traci used it a lot
this month.
Thanks Heather. Good saying...
Maryben
JULY 2000
July 1 FLATWOODS 25/50/75
Churstie
Evans 530-337-6530
July 1 MARIPOSA RUN FOR THE GOLD 30/60/100
Richard
Theodore 209-742-7895
July 12 QUICKSILVER MEETING-Calero Park
Pot
Luck & Ride - call Maryben 408-265-0839
July 15 WESTERN STATES TRAIL RIDE 100 (Tevis
Cup)
Dale
Lake 530-823-7282
July 15 MAPLE CREEK 25/50
Elaine
Kerrigan 707-443-0215
July 22 BEAR VALLEY SPRINGS 25/50
Cheri
Briscoe 661-822-0963
QUICKSILVER MEMBERS keeping busy...............
Our Treasurer, Trilby Pederson, sends this end of May report
General Account
$ 735.88
Ride Account
2177.13
Junior Account
754.44
Trails Account
834..29
TRACI FALCONE E-MAILS MARYBEN
Sounds like you're
having fun with Bandit. Have a great ride at Mt. Madonna
tomorrow. Pat
(McDonald) is meeting us in Foresthill tomorrow and then
we're trailering up
to Robinson Flat and riding back to Foresthill. We'll
have to ride on about
two miles of snow, but I guess that's OK. Pat has a
"thing" about riding
on the Tevis trail. Last weekend, we rode from Michigan
Bluff and did "the
canyons." I'd love to get a photo of your horse - I don't
care how long it takes
to download.
Love, Traci
P.S. I
like your photo in the AERC magazine. (See related story,
page 5 )
SAD NEWS
Former Quicksilver
member Stacy Olsen lost a horse in a training accident.
Breaking away from
a trainer, the horse crashed through a fence, breaking a
leg and having to
be destroyed. Our sympathy to Stacy who witnessed the
whole ordeal.
Stacy’s new address,
by the way, is:
5710 Fernwood Drive,
Shingle Springs, CA 95682
A good Member moves away
Diane Trefethen has
moved from La Honda to 30158 Hart Oaks Drive, Hart’s
Flat, CA 93531.
Now some of us are not sure where Hart’s Flat is, but
from the zip code
we are thinking . Sounds like horse country
to us.
Good luck in your new home, Diane. Come see us!
CATHY KAUER WANTS TO HELP A FRIEND
A friend of mine, Cheryl
Domnitch, is looking for a horse for ride and
tie. She currently
uses Skip's horses (Raj, Corky, Split, Jafar) for ride and
tie. She has ridden
for 3 years while doing ride and tie. She is looking
for an Arabian gelding
between 5 and 10 years, and a petite horse is fine as
she is under 5' herself.
Do you know of any, or can you refer me??
You can write to me
or to her. Her address is: CDEFPE@aol.com
Thank you so much,
Cathy
Try to Beat This? FORGET IT!!
Maryben says that she
and Trilby have delved into the archives and come
up with some of the
facts about her career and horses.
Trilby started riding
in 1982 on Ring Offer [Ring] her appy gelding. In 1983
Courtney brought Rushcreek
Lad back from Nebraska. He came to my ranch
from Nebraska and
I got to ride him before Trilby bought him. He was a great
horse to ride and
perfectly trained. When Lad died he had over 18,000 miles.
He actually had done
21,000 but some of those were taken away. But that
is another story.
She also rode the following
horses:
Bezeron
Alimah
Jeffrey Julip
Washoe Gahnite
Exclamation A who
she rides still with over 6,000 miles
Jackpot Shogun
LS Shanell [Connie
Creech's horse]
H. Sir Echo [borrowed
from Robert Ribley]
M. Ben Farwiz [Red]
who she still rides [over 6,000 miles]
Marksman
Sierra Fadway [we
know who she borrowed him from]
Happy, another Bumgardner
horse
Ben, we think that
was another Bumgardner horse
Rajah
HCC Deep Dish
Shiner.
And then there was
the infamous Trilby/Les race of 1986 where Trilby rode
40 horses for over
7,000 miles in one year. She did not ride Lad that year
but rode him in 1987
for 4,260 miles in one year. Lad did 74 rides that
year.
That's just what we
did in 10 minutes of looking at the records. I told
Trilby she should
figure out some more of these things because I am sure
some of them will
stand as records for a long time.
(ed: note: in our
August issue of QQ we will have an in depth article
about Trilby and her
50,000 miles)
Last
month QQ printed an article by Connie Berto on Certified Weed Free
Feed
Coming Soon, an issue
with which we may all have to deal This month she
reports on a different
aspect of this subject ...ENVIRO HORSE. Read her
article on pages
8 and 9. Connie is concerned. You should be too!
After all these years,,
Quicksilver members have probably noticed that
the editor tends to
feature rides in which she herself participated. The
reason for this is
these are the only ones she knows about because no one ever
sends her other ride
reports. It is sad, but true. BUT, there was an exception
this month with former
Quicksilver President, Steve Lenheim sending in a
report without being
asked. Hurrah for Steve!. However, he made one
terrible omission.
He forgot to mention that he was in the Top Ten on the
Wine Country 50 with
a nice 8th place finish in a difficult ride. He
also forgot to mention
that he received the “old fossil” award.
Congratulations - Steve.
The editor also feels
badly that she frequently misses people who “were
there” so to speak,
but she did not personally happen to see. This is
particularly true
of the Castle Rock Ride where she knows many other
members, besides those
mentioned in the Castle Rock article on page 5,
pitched in and helped.
Maryben
has 40 acres of pasture and plenty of room for some more
boarders. It
will cost you $150 a month and if you are sort of an absentee
boarder, she will
arrange the de-wormings, shots and shoeing schedules
for you. Call Maryben
at 408-265-0839
THUMBS UP FROM JANICE
The board of supervisors
passed the livestock ordinance unanimously.
Yippee success!
Janice Frazier, Manager
Wafer Test and Yield , SSD, Office Bldg.14-2
225A; Phone tie line
276-4931; external (408) 256-4931 pager (408)
542-6270
Somebody help Elisabet Hiatt
I've rescued
a wild cat and I need to find a home for him. This is a
remarkably good cat
considering he's been wild. He's very sweet and
loving, although still
a bit scared of humans. My problem is that he has FIV
(Feline Infectious
virus) which is contagious to other cats. Having two other
cats at home, I cannot
keep "Ruffio" for fear of infecting my cats. FIV affects
the immune system,
so Ruffio should be an indoor cat in a single cat
family (or a family
that already has an FIV positive cat).
He's orange and weighs
around 12 pounds (even though he's still skinny)
and around 1 1/2 years
old. He loves to have his belly rubbed and clearly
has the potential
to be a wonderful companion... I'm amazed at how much he's
changed in the two
weeks I've had him. Next week he will be neutered, and he is
up to date with all
shots & worming.
Please - if you or
someone you know would like to adopt Ruffio, let me
know.
My house is too small
to be divided into two cat hotels! Thanks much!
Elisabet (831)335-3223
lazo@cats.ucsc.edu
Tired
of rough downhill work?
Nancy Twight is working
with a very nice Paint Tennessee Walking Horse
that is for sale.
The 14.2 hand gelding loves trails, and is easy to handle
The owner is asking
$4,000, but if you are interested, call Nancy at
831-761-3363
Tevis
Cup Waiting List
We are told that there
are close to 100 people on the waiting list for the
Western States Trail
Ride (Tevis Cup ride) this year. It seems that
everyone wants to
ride it in the year 2000. Last year all of the 70 on the
waiting list “got
in” as others dropped out for a total of 224 starting riders.
This year, with the
longer waiting list, it would appear that they will reach
their limit of 250
participants—the maximum number allowed on the trail
by the Forest Service.
To see the current list of riders, go to www.
foothill.net/Tevis.
The ride office has been up-dating it about once
every two weeks.
Nancy
Elliot, DVM, Quicksilver's gad-a-bout but hard working traveling
veterinarian is off
again. This time she will be helping judge the Pan
American pre
ride in Vermont and then to the USET Festival of
Champions
in New Jersey. However,
she is going to get away from official duties on
July 15th and take
a busman's holiday on the Tevis Cup. trail.
GREETINGS
FROM THE COOL CRASH TEST DUMMY
by Traci Falcone
Over the past several
months, I have found myself the helmet testing
"dummy" for two different
helmets. I'd like to take this opportunity to relate
my findings. Back
in February, I went for a ride on the California Loop section
of the Western States
Trail with a new friend I had met at a local endurance
riders' club meeting.
I was riding Doogie, my bomb proof Arab, who has done the
Tevis several times.
We were having a terrific ride and had stopped on
a very narrow, cliffy
section of the trail on the way back to see if Dale
could move a small
tree out of the way. I was in front, and reached back to
hold the rein of Dale's
horse while he walked ahead to see what he could do
about the tree.
Immediately my horse started fidgeting and I looked back to see
that the rein had
gotten under Doogie's tail. I leaned back to get the
rein free and the
next thing I knew, Doogie was going over the side of the
cliff. He was
sliding so fast that he started to trot and I tried to remember
the scene in "The
Man From Snowy River" where the guy was going down a cliff
to see if I could
somehow instantly become that good a rider. I didn't.
The next thing that
happened is that I was unconscious. Doogie evidently
made a sharp turn
to turn his body perpendicular to the cliff and I kept going
straight down, "rolling
down the cliff like a log, out of sight," to use
Dale's exact words.
I was unconscious for at least five minutes and do
not remember a thing
until about an hour later when the two of us were
walking down the trail,
hoping that we would eventually find Doogie. We did
find Doogie (who didn't
have a mark on him) and I rode the rest of the way
back to the trailer.
RESULTS OF THE CRASH
TEST: The helmet (a Lexington Lidlocker)
definitely saved my
life. I hit the right side of my head (right above my ear) and
the helmet foam is
cracked all the way though for about four inches.
COMMENTS FROM THE DUMMY:
I did not get off my horse to hold my friend's
horse. We were
on a very narrow trail which was on the edge of a cliff
and I definitely should
have dismounted. To use Maryben's expression, "DUH!"
Also, do not go over
a cliff and get knocked unconscious on your first
ride with a new friend.
Pretty soon, you will have no one to ride with!
My more recent crash
test happened yesterday (June 11) on a very wide
section of the Western
States trail not far from the river crossing. I was
riding my very green,
just-turned-four-year-old who has only been under
saddle for one month
and who is deathly afraid of mountain bikes. So,
Mark and I are walking
up a hill (I'm in front) and the next thing I know,
my horse is galloping
downhill as fast as he can go and my feet are out of the
stirrups.
Now I need all the
help balancing I can get - stirrups are a necessity
for me - and I'm riding
a bolting horse down a steep hill thinking, "Wow, I'm
still "on" when, around
a corner, I see the dry, rocky creekbed we had come
through on our way
up the hill (the creekbed also marks a sharp turn in the
trail).
Now I'm thinking, "This
is where it could get ugly." And sure enough,
that is where I crashed,
hanging on to the end, landing on my back, my head
whipping down on the
rocks and the horse stepping on my leg as he makes his way
away from all the
predators (SEVEN mountain bike riders). As I fell, I felt
my helmet hit and
then, right below the back of the helmet, my head hit
something, and then
I see horse legs and feel my leg and foot get hit.
Luckily, I remained
conscious and after a minute or two, I got up and
tried to tell the
mountain bike family that it was not their fault and tried to
reassure Mark that
I was OK (I'm a crash test dummy, remember?!) I was
able to ride the few
miles home and then went to the emergency room to get
two stitches in my
foot and five in the back of my head.
RESULTS OF THE CRASH
TEST: My new helmet (a Lexington Rough Rider) must
have been pushed forward
with the impact, allowing the back of my head to
become exposed to
a rock. I might not have had the straps adjusted properly.
The bottom section
of foam in the back is dented, but not cracked. The
bottom section of
my head is not dented, but cracked (a two inch crack).
COMMENTS FROM THE DUMMY:
OK, if your horse is afraid of mountain bikes,
DON'T take him on
a trail that is swarming with them until he has had the
opportunity to get
used to them. DUH! And don't say out loud, "Gee, I
hope we don't run
into any mountain bikes." DUH!
I guess I should take a hint and start doing something SMART. DUH!
Quicksilver's
Gaily Galloping Gallant Great Grandmother Gloria Garners
Grand
Award at Camp Far West.
Gloria Vanderford and
“Blue” left Hugh at home
and went off to Camp
Far West to show that little old ladies in tennis shoes
no longer fits the
great-grandmother set. Now they are out winning Best
Condition Award
and finishing third in a field of 119 horses and
riders. It was
a great day for this pair and Blue and Gloria never missed a beat.
Of course, Ken Cook
was giving them a run for their money riding behind
them, and finished
a strong 4th place on his good horse Rocky who had top
tenned Castle Rock
the week before.
The Memorial Day weekend
ride threw a blast of hot air at the riders,
but with lots of creek
crossing, and a good throwing arm, it was possible
to sponge off the
horses on the fly and keep moving on this fairly moderate
course. It was an
exceptionally clear day and the rolling hills and oak trees
and blooming buckeyes
made up a landscape so typical of California that
it could not be anywhere
else. The afternoon brought on some really
gorgeous and
unusual cloud effects, which Bob Suhr, who studied celestial
navigation in the
Navy years ago, claims are called Mare's Tails.
How appropriate.
Other Quicksilver members
there completing the ride were Carolyn Tucker
on the lovely Oman,
Trilby Pederson (completing her 49,965th mile) and
Jeff Luternauer.
That was supposed to
be the end of this article. However, word just in
that Gloria did a
repeat at the 75 mile NASTR ride. She finished in second
place and took home
the Best Condition Award again. But Quicksilver hit it
pretty big that day
in the 50 miler too. Skip LIghtfoot’s horses finished
first and second and
Skip was aboard one of them himself. We were told
that one of the horses
is full brother to Skip’s Red that won the 1999
Haggin Cup. with Heather
Bergantz doing the steering.
We are hoping for more details.
MARYBEN'S SPIES TELL HER......
Brownings have a new
idea about ride and tie. If you go over the obstacles,
the course is shorter.
You can go around but if you do, you add a mile or
two on with each one
you skip. At the race this weekend, only two horses did
ALL of the obstacles.
One of them, Skip LIghtfoot’s Raj, did all the
obstacles, won the
race and got BC to boot. Of course along with Skip
his other human partner
was Tom Johnson. My spies have told me that the
only reason they went
over the first obstacle was that Skip did not see it
it until too late
to stop. It was a kind of Man From Snowy River hill and
by the time he realized
it, they were already on the way down.
Mike Maul has a new horse
Mike Maul has just
bought the nice Arab gelding, Thor, from Deborah
Manion. Mike and Thor
are already well acquainted as they shared
the Tevis Trail and
several 50’s last year.
Hot and Humid Castle Rock Comes Up A Winner
After weather conditions
gave the McCrary family an “iffy” week prior to
their annual Castle
Rock Ride, they pulled it all off in grand style with a
crystal clear day
and forests and meadows thick with lush growth.
Quicksilver was there
in force with the best performance being put in by
Judy Etheridge and
Orion who trailed the winner by only 13 minutes on this
tough course.
Ken Cook and Michelle Shaw also top tenned, Ken on his Rocky
and Michele on the
mustang Robin Hood. Gloria Vanderford followed in 11th
place and from then
on it was one Quicksilver rider after another the rest
of the afternoon.
Robert Ribley, Nancy
and Peter Twight, Pat Verheul, Gertrud
Walker, Julie Suhr,
Leonard Cabaniss, Mike Tracy, Jeff Luternauer,
Trilby Pederson, Elisabet
Hiatt and Robert Oram.
Seventy-nine of the 125 starting crossed the big meadow to the finish line.
In the 30 Mile Barley
Patch Ride Linda Cowles, Mike Sofen, Mary Inman,
and Dave Fanara chose
the shorter course and were glad of it as they watched
the 50 milers go back
out on the trail for a scorching afternoon.
Nancy Elliot shouldered
the veterinarian responsibilities and picked one
of the best teams
you could find at any ride.....professional and fair, including
Quicksilver's Melissa
Ribley. The flow of horses through the checks was smooth
with very little waiting
in line. The vet checks are easy to crew because they
are not far apart.
Other Quicksilver members
helping on the ground were Chere Montgomery, Pat
McAndrews and Darlene
Wilcock. Quicksilver was also represented by Jim
and Joanne Dietz riding
drag, Lori Olsen, David Walker, Hugh Vanderford.
past president Steve
Lenheim, Rick Gomez and his wife Joyce and their girls,
Jennifer Layman and
Steve Shaw.
In spite of the heat,
there is no one who would question that this is
spectacular ride.
The visibility was great, way out to sea and then from the
mountain tops....breathtaking
vistas with no sign of human habitation.
Just forest, meadows
and the pounding Pacific surf in the distance.
The Castle Rock 50
is not an easy ride. When you complete it, you know
you and your horse
have done something special. The course is mapped out
and planned by the
McCrary family in a year long effort. Keeping this trail
passable is the result
of three generations of one family working together
months in advance.
The day of the ride they keep track of three events - the 50
Mile Castle Rock Ride,
the 30 mile Barley Patch Ride and a Ride and Tie,
primarily organized
by Ellen McCrary Rinde. The great food served both
the night before and
most of Saturday afternoon has a well deserved 5 star
rating among riders
and crews.
js
Wine Country 50 through the eyes of Steve Lenheim
Every now and then
Endurance Riding can be fun. And so it was on June 3rd.
I had not received
an entry for the Camp Far West ride the week before
and stayed home.
So looking for a ride, I sent in an entry for the Wine Country
50 and then proceeded
to drive up on Friday. The nice surprise was the
grounds at the
park they used. It was public entity run by a non-profit
organization of volunteers.
Just think of Calero with showers, flushing
toilets, green grass,
well kept trails, etc. All this for half of what it
costs Santa Clara
County and the taxpayers under the present reign (oh,
they even had a riding
arena with bleachers).
The ride itself turned
out to be a perfect endurance event. The trails were
at times rocky (very
rocky with lava outcropping), then flat and smooth
single track that
you could zip along. Jessica Tuteur had laid it out with
sections of very steep
up hills (like get off and crawl on all fours),
rolling hills, and
of course, the flat meadows with farmer roads. Not
an easy course. In
fact, I would rate it as difficult+. What made it great
was the weather.
It's not so bad having a tough course if the weather
cooperates which it
did. Nice cool fog in the a.m. (‘'til 9) then a breeze with
70-80 degree
temperature. It wasn’t a test in survival as much as a test of
the horses endurance
skills. You could go at a reasonable pace and conquer
each section,
letting the speedster go ahead.
Jamie Kerr vetted and
had a great crew to help. Lots of students from UC
Davis and, of course,
our own Melissa, DVM who worked so her husband
Robert could pay for
his ride . (I like that!) This year they solved the
problems they had
last year such as water. Along the trail they had trucked it in
for key spots and
kept spongers from screwing it up so late people could
water their horses.
The vet checks were also well watered with running water
and great grounds
to trot on. If I had a complaint (and I always do) it's
that they didn't have
a beer stand at the afternoon vet check.
Good help, good people, good time!
As I recall, from our
club, I saw the Flying Falcones (Traci and Mark),
Becky Glaser, Kirsten
Berntsen (having too much fun!), Jennifer Layman
Robert and Melissa
and Jill Newburn. There may have been others but
this is three days
later and the memory isn't razor sharp.
If you go next year,
check the weather, plan on a great dinner, maybe
pad for rocks and
take an extra beer. Oh, one thing I almost forgot was the
awards. I think I
left with about $200 in prizes. Jessica had more than
she could give away.
The Arabian Trail Riders Association
Region III of the International
Arabian Horse Association (which includes
most of Northern California)
is divided into six committees, one of which
encompasses endurance.
Titled the Arabian Trail Riders Association, the
committee chair- person
is Quicksilver member Eric Thompson for the year
2000. Membership in
ATRA entitles you to all the benefits of the IAHA and is
a good way to demonstrate
your support of trail riding. The following is an
announcement taken
from ridecamp.
The ATRA meeting will
be Sunday June 25th, 9:30 AM. The club is
furnishing lunch
as a big Thank You to all of you for all your hard work
on our club
events this year. RSVP by Friday June 24, to Rita via e-mail
or phone, 510-657-5827
this way we know how much food to buy. If we do
not hear from
you it will be a No I am not coming. The meeting will be
at 2331 Jackson
St. Fremont, take 680 to Washington exit, right on
Washington to
Olive make right, go over two speed bumps to Jackson make
right one and
1/2 blocks house on the left.
Meeting items
Club events
for rest of year.
trail rides/camp
outs
Saving Distance
riding in IAHA
resolution for
2000 convention
Election for club officers
in October
possible meeting
at Concord Mount
Diablo club house
I do hope you
will attend this meeting. IAHA is in the process of
eliminating
CTR, Endurance and rec. riding programs at their Aug. or Nov.
BOD meeting.
We must try to save these programs if we want to save our
trails for the
next generation. Important Meeting Wednesday
June 21, 10:00 to
1:00 at the Adobe in
Concord, Ca.
To save trails in Yosemite. It is a Presentation of
Yosemite Plan.
If at all possible try to attend and show the Federal
Government we
do care and we want to keep horse trails, staging areas,
camp out areas
and the horse stables.
The Adobe, 3119
Grant St. which is between Solano Way and Olivbera Rd.
formed in a
triangle with Hwy 4 and 242. Phone number 925-681-0135
Rita Schlim ATRA President
Quicksilver members
now belonging to ATRA besides Eric and Kathy are
Kirsten Berntsen,
Becky Glaser, Lynge Simoni and Bob and Julie Suhr.
Eric would be happy
to have more Quicksilver Members belong to ATRA
so if you are
interested, he can
be reached at 916-645-0655
ENVIRO
HORSE??
WHAT
IS
IT??
CONNIE
BERTO EXPLAINS...
EnviroHorse was founded
in December 1998 to identify, gather, and
disseminate infor-mation
to ensure and enhance equine access to both
public and private
lands. Where data gaps exist, EnviroHorse will sponsor
research to fill them.
EH has form-ed a fund-raising partnership with Bay
Area Barns and Trails,
dedicated to the preservation and stewardship of
San Francisco Bay
Area equestrian barns, trails, pastures, staging areas and
horse camps.
EnviroHorse
and Bay Area Barns and Trails are proud to announce that
we have secured an
agreement with the University of California at Davis for
our first research
project. It will help answer the question:
DOES YOUR HORSE POSE A RISK TO HUMAN HEALTH AND THE ENVIRONMENT?
More studies are needed
to determine the effects of equine manure on
public health and
the natural environment. Equestrians face increased
operating costs and
more restrictive stable and trail regulations. These are due
to often unfounded
concerns and opinions of public land managers, the
general public, organic
food growers, and consumers. Is a pathogenic strain of
E. coli 0157:H7 found
in equine manure? Are noxious weed seeds found in
feed consumed by horses?
Are equestrian trails, pastures and stables harmful
to wildlife habitat?
A three-phase
research project is planned to help answer these questions.
Research will take
place in equine operations in the coastal areas from
stables housing at
least ten horses, located near a creek or body of
water, are invited
to participate. Participation will be voluntary and the
requisite questionnaire
will be confidential.
Please note:
Results of this research will be made available
world-wide.
Phase 1:
Assessing E. Coli 0157:H7. Dr. Robert Atwill, DVM,
MPVM, Ph.D..,
of UC Davis of School of Veterinary Medicine will conduct
the tests and studies
assessing the presence/absence of E.coli 0157:H7.
If we find that horses
shed insignificant levels of pathogens, we can conclude
that concerns are
unsubstantiated. If we find that significant levels do
exist, we can design
management options that reduce the pathogen
risk.
Phase 2: Microbial Source Tracking -- Genetic Identification
of Horse Manure.
Dr. Samadpour of the University of Washington has
assembled a large
database of source-specific genetic finger-prints for
E. coli strains, thus
identifying host species. Bay Area horse fecal samples
will be sent to Dr.
Samadpour to augment this "equidatabase" of equine
specific genetic fingerprints.
This will enable more accurate ident-
ification of
the specific source of fecal contaminants found in water-
sheds in future studies.
Phase 3: Assessing Presence of Weed Seeds in Manure.
This phase
of the project will
isolate, identify, and attempt to germinate seeds found
in uncomposted manure
samples. A recent EnviroHorse report cited studies
showing that weed
seeds are destroyed in properly composted horse
manure.
Little is known, however,
about seeds in manure left on trails, camps,
and staging areas.
This study will attempt to add to this knowledge.
It is estimated that this research will cost around $15,000. As of
May 2000, $8,000
has been raised. The work that EnviroHorse is doing
cannot be done without
support from others. Any amount will be greatly
appreciated!
Donations are tax-deductible
and
should be sent to:
University
of California, Davis;
Veterinary
Medicine Teaching and Research Center (VMTRC)
Tulare, California
93291.
Attention:
Dianne Benner.
Memo: Research/Equine
Manure/Dr. Rob Atwill. A big thank you for
your help!
PLEASE, FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS ANNOUNCEMENT WITH YOUR FRIENDS
AND OTHER ORGANIZATIONS!
For a copy of the official announcement with its
additional information,
please email me at cberto@juno.com with a snail
mail address.
Visit our website at www.envirohorse.org or email:quinn@epri.com
and again, your support
is vital!.
Published by the Quicksilver
Endurance Riders Inc.
P.O. Box 71, New Almaden,
CA 95042
Julie Suhr, Editor
TEL and FAX 831-335-5933