Thursday, February 14, 2008
Scottsdale: Day 1
Arrived in beautiful, sunny Phoenix today. I had the same flight down as Murray Popplewell of RaeDawn Arabians in Saskatoon, so we got to 'chat horses' during down time at the airport. He was telling me about some of the promotional plans they have for the Western Canadian Breeders Championships this year in Moose Jaw, including distributing free tickets to local schools. There's going to be a get-together at the casino the night before, and a breakfast to kick off the show. For anyone who hasn't been to Moose Jaw, the Temple Gardens Spa is a beautiful place and definitely worth a little extra in the hotel budget to stay there. I can tell you from personal experience that the mineral pool is the best relaxation treat at the end of a long day.
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Interview with Dr. Spencer Barber
I had the good fortune to spend some time this morning interviewing Dr. Spencer Barber this morning at the U of S Large Animal veterinary clinic. It's part of some research I'm doing for an upcoming Horse Care article on wounds. Dr. Barber is a large animal surgeon, Quarter Horse breeder and team penner, among other things, and has a clinical interest in wound management.
One of the things I found fascinating is the wound healing process. Part of what Dr. Barber said is that certain processes need to be turned on and then turned off again for proper healing development. Problems can occur at both ends of the spectrum, when healing processes don't get turned on properly for one reason or another, or when they can't "turn off" (ie, natural granulation tissue gone wild results in proud flesh). This means that treatments that are helpful in the early stages of care, such as wrapping a leg wound, may actually be harmful in later stages of wound care.
I'm looking forward to researching the rest of the article - watch for it in the April issue of Horse Care magazine.
One of the things I found fascinating is the wound healing process. Part of what Dr. Barber said is that certain processes need to be turned on and then turned off again for proper healing development. Problems can occur at both ends of the spectrum, when healing processes don't get turned on properly for one reason or another, or when they can't "turn off" (ie, natural granulation tissue gone wild results in proud flesh). This means that treatments that are helpful in the early stages of care, such as wrapping a leg wound, may actually be harmful in later stages of wound care.
I'm looking forward to researching the rest of the article - watch for it in the April issue of Horse Care magazine.
Racetrack Photos
This is another racetrack photo from last summer - Royal Jasmine, a 2-year-old filly, and our exercise rider Britney in the paddock before a race. It's probably one of those photos that looks stunning (if I may say so) in print but loses something when it's transfered to the web. When I took the photo, it looked almost completely black, but by turning up the contrast, I was able to tease out the picture. This became one of my favourite techniques with the Pentax; it creates some really unique night time photos with a grainy, timeless kind of texture.It also shows one of the ways a camera can lie. The photo seems to show a moment of close connection between horse and handler but to tell you the truth, Royal Jasmine was not one of Britney's favourite horses. ;)
Monday, February 4, 2008
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