Horse Myths That Are Horse Hockey
Light Colored Hooves Are Weak
Hang around horses long enough and you will likely hear stories about how fragile white hooves are.
Some people truly believe dark hooves are stronger than lighter colored hooves. In spite of how often you hear this myth, it has no scientific basis. White hooves are sometimes softer than dark hooves, but that is due to having a higher moisture content. High moisture content can make the hoof more flexible and less brittle, definitely not a weakness. The horse’s breed, surrounding, and hoof care maintenance have a greater impact on hoof hardiness than hoof coloration.
Horses Only Sleep Standing
While it is true that horses can and do sleep while standing a horse also needs
All the Pretty Horses borrows heavily from the American Western genre. The novel, in both form and feeling, evokes classic Western themes and tropes. John Grady Cole, the protagonist and archetypal cowboy character, brings a gritty independence typical to the genre. However, All the Pretty Horses achieves more than a Western thematically. The novel aims not to just explore the genre, but also to transcend it, reverse it, and break it, using ironic staging and imagery. In this way, All the Pretty Horses provides a deep commentary on manhood, fate, and history, contrasting the heroes of Western legends with those of reality.
“Pale Horse, Pale Rider” aptly symbolizes the era in which it was written because it represents Modernism so well. The theme of death not only connects to the heroine of the story, but also the “death” of the old. Miranda’s personal struggle with illness and her struggle with love reveal the tensions of the era in which the story is written. These themes of death and love, which are intrinsically more connected than one may realize could, connect to most of what we have read in this class. Though, of course, the styles differ, these themes remind me of “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” especially because there is an individual narrator dealing with the issues of love and death. Despite the gender and lifestyle differences of Miranda and
Horses' anatomy enables them to make use of speed to escape predators and they have a well-developed sense of balance and a strong fight-or-flight response. Related to this need to flee from predators in the wild is an unusual trait: horses are able to sleep both standing up and lying down. Female horses, called mares, carry their young for
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy explores many different themes about humans and the natural world. The story’s often vacant landscapes, and barren descriptions promote an idea of isolation throughout the text. One of the only recurring motifs throughout the story that promotes a sense of life are horses. Horses clearly stick out in the otherwise depressing landscape, and McCarthy utilizes this along with other techniques to develop an overall theme to the story. This theme, that humans and the natural world are somehow interconnected, is clearly portrayed by the role that horses play in the novel.
John Grady is not your average cowboy. All the Pretty Horses is not your typical coming-of-age story. This is an honest tale. Cormac McCarthy follows John Grady as he embarks on his journey of self-discovery across the border. Armed with a few pesos in his pocket, a strong horse and a friend at his side, John Grady thinks he’s ready to take on the Wild West of Mexico. At their final steps in America, a stranger, aged thirteen, joins our heroes. This unexpected variable named Blevins challenges John Grady, testing his character and pushing him to uncomfortable limits. The dynamic of their relationship reveals John Grady’s capacity to care for others as he shelters this kid from the hardships of reality and the
There are many biomechanical actions that happen over very short times during equine locomotion that make gait analysis difficult to evaluate using normal diagnostic tools (Clayton, 1993).
Gaited horses, like the Tennessee walking horse, for example, are a special type of horse. Tennessee walking horses naturally have a higher step. That high gait decreases bouncing and makes a smooth ride for the rider. In walking horse shows, the horse with a highest gate wins the competition. This gate is known as the “Big Lick.” To produce an even higher gait, many trainers have used chains or special horse shoes that cause more pressure on the hooves of a horse. This practice is known as soring, when people cause pain to the lower legs and hooves of a horse to speed up the training for a high (Gang). Thoroughbreds are used for one of the most famous equine sports ever; horse racing. However, these fast horses have a secret that make them go even faster. Performance-enhancing drugs are used by veterinarians, trainers, and owners. This increases the horses speed, but the drugs are used way too often, and therefore damage the horses bones (Cohen). Whips are also a tool of encouragement in the racing industry. That is also hard to separate into black and white. One horse may shy away in fear from the whip, while
The Breeders' Cup as it’s called, is less than two months away, so let’s change it up, and talk about some horse feet today! Here are some fun horse foot facts as they relate to human feet!
Some people use whips and other things but horses have one of the thickest hides out there, so the wip does not hurt them at all. Also people make noises to make their horses go faster too but it doesn’t hurt the horse all it does is annoy them, so it makes them faster.
When you think of cowboys you think of a hero, someone who seeks adventure and thrill. But things might not be always as it seems. “A cowboy’s life is not the joyous, adventurous existence shown in the moving pictures”(Bill Haywood). A true definition of a cowboy is a man, who herds and tends cattle, specifically in the western US. We tend to focus on the mythical side of the story and ignore the reality.
The short story “Horses of the Night” by Margaret Laurence is told from the point of view of a young girl named Vanessa but mostly focused upon her older cousin Chris. Chris begins as an imaginative, optimistic, and hopeful boy set on his dreams for the world. As the story progresses, Chris is demoralized by life to the point where he no longer seems to be what he once was. The final breaking point appears when he begins to fight in the war and is sent home to a mental hospital after eventually going insane. A skillfully woven horse motif gives insight to Chris’s inner thoughts as well as the theme of the piece.
The abuse that the Tennessee Walking horses are forced to endure is completely unnecessary. Soring techniques are used to achieve an extremely unnatural gait. This desired gait is the
The Neolithic Revolution was a very significant turning point in human history. It was the start of agriculture and the beginning of a settled life for us humans around 10,000 BC. Although several people strongly believe that this was a positive turning point in our history, they all continue to ignore the negative effects it brought along with it. Farming brought on a poor diet, disease, health defects, and inequality between people. That is why the Neolithic Revolution should be considered a negative turning point in human history.
In the article “What they don’t tell you about climate change,” authors discuss the issues related to climate change while describing key suggestions to help combat the issue. As stated in the text, there has been a global goal to keep global temperature “well below 2°C hotter than pre-industrial times.” This goal had not been met, while carbon dioxide emissions are simply not enough to “limit the rise in temperature successfully.” Moreover, the authors have claimed that “Stopping the flow of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is not enough. It has to be sucked out, too.” This process, however, is very difficult and “nearly improbable.” Other alternatives including mass chemical filters, carbon dioxide binds to from carbonated rocks, and
Building strength and confidence is a good thing, and it can easily be built from riding horses. This is one of the many few benefits that riding a horse has on the body, but there are many other positive things that riding a horse can do.