horses
grrlscientist | May 16, 2009tags: Preakness Stakes, horse racing, race horses, Rachel Alexandra, Mine That Bird, sports, streaming video
Even though I don't own a television, I managed to watch the Preakness Stakes live in a pub in NYC. To say the least, I was so excited to watch the wonderful superfilly, Rachel Alexandra, win the Preakness Stakes from the far outside post by running wire-to-wire and holding off the fast-closing Mine That BIrd, who won the Kentucky Derby just two weeks ago [3:34]
grrlscientist | May 3, 2009tags: Kentucky Derby, horse racing, race horses, Mine That Bird, sports, streaming video
If you are one of the other two people in the USA who, like me, don't own a television, you might be interested to watch yesterday's Kentucky Derby. I know I was interested to see it, especially because a longshot with the absolutely stupid name, Mine That Bird, won easily (but in a rather slow time). As I said yesterday, it's too bad that the impressive filly, Rachel Alexandra, wasn't in this race because I think she would have easily beaten the entire crowd of boys, which comprise a poor crop of colts…
grrlscientist | May 2, 2009tags: Kentucky Oaks, horse racing, Rachel Alexandra, streaming video
This is the video of yesterday's Grade-I Kentucky Oaks, a major race that is limited to fillies and is the "companion" race to today's Kentucky Derby. After watching the astonishingly talented filly, Rachel Alexandra, run away with this race, I think the colts running in today's Derby are very lucky she isn't in the Derby with them [2:33]
Here she is, back at the barn after winning the race [0:50]
And this video provides a wonderful look at her action while training on the track; long, smooth strides [3:29]
Does she…
grrlscientist | May 1, 2009tags: horse racing, Kentucky Derby, Run for the Roses, sports, streaming video
Tomorrow, 20 horses will run in the world-famous Kentucky Derby. This video gives you an overview of the horses that are thought to play a major role in this year's "Run for the Roses" [1:24]
ddobbs | April 28, 2009
Brandon Keim, who is part of Wired's ace science writing crew also keeps a blog, Earthlab Notes, where he recently put this nice post on The Language of Horses:
In a few slender leg bones and fragments of milk-stained pottery, archaeologists recently found evidence of one of the more important developments in human history: the domestication of horses.
Unearthed from a windswept plain in Kazakhstan, the remains were about 5500 years old, and suggested that a nomadic people now called the Botai had learned to ride a creature that had captured mankind's imagination thousands of years earlier.…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2009tags: polo horses, poisoned polo ponies, Florida, International Polo Club Palm Beach, Lechuza Caracas, Franck's Pharmacy, Biodyl, selenium
A Lechuza pony stands ready for play.
Image: New York Social Diary (2008).
The mysterious deaths of twenty-one Venezuelan polo horses was apparently due to a mistake by the pharmacy that incorrectly prepared the vitamin-and-electrolyte cocktail that was injected into these horses prior to their match on Sunday. A chemist at Franck's Pharmacy in Ocala, Florida added ten times the requested dosage of selenium to the cocktail. It appears this was an error…
grrlscientist | April 23, 2009tags: polo horses, poisoned polo ponies, Florida, International Polo Club Palm Beach, Lechuza Caracas, Franck's Pharmacy
Victor Vargas, patron of Venezuelan team Lechuza Caracas (1), left,
hits a shot past Carlos Gracida (2), right, of Mokarow Farms in the
Stanford U.S. Open Polo Championships at the International Polo Club Palm Beach.
Image: Jim Rassol.
The mysterious deaths of twenty-one Venezuelan polo horses became less mysterious and more outrageous today after a veterinary pharmacy admitted they incorrectly prepared the vitamin-and-electrolyte cocktail that was injected into these…
grrlscientist | April 21, 2009tags: polo horses, mysterious deaths polo ponies, florida, International Polo Club Palm Beach, Lechuza Caracas, Victor Vargas
Polo horse.
Image: orphaned, contact me for proper attribution [larger view].
By now, most of you have heard the tragic story of the twenty-one polo horses that died suddenly within a few hours of each other in Wellington, Palm Beach County, Florida. These horses, which comprised more than one-third of the 60-horse Venezuelan polo team, Lechuza Caracas, were scheduled to compete in the featured game in the 105th U.S. Open polo match on Sunday afternoon. Upon…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: performance horses, polo, racing, tendon injury, stem cell research
Horses clear a jump during the Challenge Cup Handicap Steeplechase
on the second day of the Cheltenham Festival in the UK.
Image: BBC News.
Those of you who follow my writings about racehorses and other high-performance horses will be interested to learn that several companies that I've been following have been redirecting their stem-cell research that they originally developed to help injured horses to help people recover from Achilles tendon injuries.
After a tendon or ligament tear, both horses and people…
gregladen | February 12, 2009In 1833, Darwin spent a fair amount of time on the East Coast of South America, including in the Pampas, where he had access to abundant fossil material. Here I'd like to examine his writings about some of the megafauna, including Toxodon, Mastodon, and horses, and his further considerations of biogeography and evolution.
reposted
In the vicinity of Rio Tercero...
Hearing ... of the remains of one of the old giants, which a man told me he had seen on the banks of the Parana, I procured a canoe, and proceeded to the place. Two groups of immense bones projected in bold relief from the…
grrlscientist | January 16, 2009tags: zebroid, zorse, hebra, zebra-horse hybrid, streaming video
Here's some video of an individual zebroid (zebra-horse hybrid) that I wrote about in July 2007 [0:48]
here's more footage of this animal along with a companion [1:22];
And an old news report [1:14];
grrlscientist | December 2, 2008tags: wild stallions, National Geographic, international photography contest, image of the day
Wild Stallions
Image: Chris Gimmeson,
Nature Honorable Mention,
2008 International Photography Contest [larger view].
The photographer writes:
These are two wild stallions from the McCullough Peak's herd of wild horses, which is located just outside of Cody, Wyoming. This image was taken in September 2008 with a Canon Rebel XSI and a long telephoto lens. I expected them to fight but they went back to grazing after a minute of posturing. The peaks area is pretty desolate, with little in the way…
grrlscientist | November 7, 2008tags: miniature horse foal, horses, cute baby animals, baby miniature horse, streaming video
This video is perfect for Friday's animal blogging tradition. Barely larger than a cat (the traditional subject of animal blogging), this miniature horse foal is just. so. cute! Have I mentioned recently that I really want a pony? No? Well, miniature horses are NOT ponies, and for the record, I'd like to say that I DO want a miniature horse -- they are so small that they can live in my apartment comfortably and they can be house-broken. [0:54].
grrlscientist | October 29, 2008tags: Blue Hors Matine, horses, behavior, performance art, streaming video
This video shows a horse and her rider as they dance -- yes, dance -- in front of thousands of people. When you watch this video, watch the rider .. how does he tell Matine what he wants her to do? He barely moves, yet he can communicate clearly with this 1200 pound animal, and the result is pure poetry in motion. It is so amazing to see the intense bond between this horse and rider, as if they read each other's minds. It's a rare person who ever enjoys such a strong bond with another living thing, be it another person…
clock | September 25, 2008To Irena Ilic (see here) for winning the Junior Division of the Show Jumping Balkans Championship a couple of weeks ago in Istanbul.
grrlscientist | August 18, 2008tags: racehorses, Genuine Risk, Kentucky Derby, horse racing, streaming video
Genuine Risk, pictured at age 30, was the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner. She was living at the Newstead Farm in Upperville, Va. when she died.
Image: Carol T. Powers for The New York Times.
The bright chestnut filly named Genuine Risk thrilled me when she won the Kentucky Derby in 1980 with commanding style. Not only did she win, but she ran the last quarter mile of the race faster than any other horse ever had, except the amazing Secretariat, who went on to win the Triple Crown of American horseracing in…
grrlscientist | August 15, 2008tags: AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, horses, special exhibits, SciBlings in NYC 2008
And God took a handful of South wind and from it formed a horse, saying:
"I create thee, Oh Arabian.
To thy forelock, I bind Victory in battle.
On thy back, I set a rich spoil
And a Treasure in thy loins.
I establish thee as one of the Glories of the Earth...
I give thee flight without wings."
-- Ancient Bedouin Legend
Trotting Horse Mount
This skeleton of Lee Axworthy, the first trotting stallion to break the two-minute mile, was mounted by Samuel Harmsted Chubb, an anatomist and research…
clock | August 14, 2008One of the cool perks of being a scienceblogger and going to a meetup this year was the opportunity to go and see the Horse Exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and to recieve (as we were not allowed to take pictures in there) a CD with some of the pictures. You can also see a lot more text and pictures, pretty closely following what is on the exhibit itself, on the excellent Horse Exhibit wesbite.
So, on Saturday afternoon, after the Meet-the-Readers event, several of us got on the subway and went up to the Museum. And I was not disappointed. You know I love…
grrlscientist | August 6, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, premature hair graying, autosomal dominant trait, genetics, horses, hair color, syntaxin-17, melanocortin-1 receptor, cis-acting regulatory mutation, melanoma, evolution
This horse is in the process of losing its pigment.
It will end up being all white by the time it is eight years old.
Image: Horse Wallpaper [larger view].
Even though I have always been a fan of black horses, my heart did leap at the sight of the noble Shadowfax racing towards Gandalf in response to his call in the Lord of the Rings. White horses have symbolized purity throughout most ages…
grrlscientist | June 9, 2008tags: Big Brown, Belmont Stakes 2008, horseracing, horses, sports mysteries, Triple Crown
Big Brown, pulled up by Kent Desormeaux, has been examined by veterinarians. "No one can figure this out," his co-owner Michael Iavarone said.
Image: Barton Silverman, The New York Times [larger view].
I don't know about you guys, but even though I have stated repeatedly that Big Brown is NOT a great horse, that he is simply one of a very poor crop of racehorses, I was very disturbed to see him struggling in the Belmont Stakes, and watching him fight jockey Kent Desormeaux as he was pulled up. So…