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New! Search All Of My Articles By Topic With Quick and Easy Links If you like this article, please link to it, instead of copying it. Thank you. Green Living Now News, Edition Fourteen 1. What's A Premarin Foal, and who is "Koko"- Green Living Works For Horses Too!
Imagine for a moment that you're a horse. In your natural state you live in a herd, a group of multi-age horses. The majority of your day is spent grazing, playing, grooming yourself and others, and moving from one place to another. Though horses often sleep standing up, you get your deepest sleep when you lie down. You drink large quantities of water. If you're a mare on a Premarin farm, it's likely that none of this is true for you. (Premarin is a hormone replacement drug given to menopausal women. It's made from pregnant mare urine. To read more about it, click here). For the majority of your 11-month pregnancy you are tied up by the neck in a tiny box stall, unable to turn around, comfortably lie down, or groom yourself. If a fly is biting your hindquarters, you can't itch yourself. You have virtually no company and no exercise. The humans that "care" for you purposely dehydrate you so that the estrogen in your urine is more concentrated. You are constantly anticipating and wishing for water. When it finally comes, it's never enough to satisfy your needs, and you continue to lick the water bowl yearning for more. Liver and kidney disease and swollen legs are common. (I can't even write some of the other horrible ways in which these innocent animals are treated because it brings me close to nausea. If you want to read about it, click here. It's a horrible life for a horse. No companions to play with and groom, virtually no exercise, limited water, tied up 24/7 until your foal is born, questionable health care, it's disgusting! When your foal is born you both are put out on the prairie-like fields of Manitoba Canada. It's pretty cold there. For example, it's 10/7/05 and here in Huntington, VT, it's 73 degrees Fahrenheit. In Manitoba it's 32 degrees Fahrenheit. I've read that a large number of foals don't make it. The majority of the living foals become meat for people in other countries. In other words, they're slaughtered. Thousands of them. They're abruptly taken away from their mothers (they'd been nursing up to that point), herded into tractor-trailer trucks with cattle prods and sticks, and taken to auctions. There are all shapes and sizes of foals, stocky draft horse types, thoroughbred types, and quarter horse types. Generally they are between the ages of 3-5 months old. Even on the best farm, the weaning process is stressful for both the mare and foal. At the Premarin farms, it's downright disgraceful. Ideally it should be a gradual weaning process, not all at once. Our little foal, "Kokopelli" (nicknamed "Koko") is a Premarin foal. We picked him up from the Spring Hill Rescue Organization in Brandon, VT on 9/26/05. He's a beautiful little bay quarter horse, and was about 4 ½ months old (see the picture above). He loaded onto and off the trailer with ease. As soon as he arrived at our house, he stepped easily into his new stall. He acted like he was finally home. He was greeted with fresh clean water and second cut (more protein and nutrition) organic hay. I'm feeding him organic oats and a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement, and a flax meal supplement. Just like with my cat, dog, and human family, Koko will be living a "green living" lifestyle, tailored to a horse's needs. I've made him a homemade bug repellent using organic tea tree oil and water in a spray bottle (1/2 ounce tea tree oil to 1 cup water, 1 squirt lavender castile soap). He's not afraid of the spray bottle, and it is definitely deterring those pesky critters. I'm researching a couple of herbal deworming pastes as opposed to the chemically laden ones, and homeopathic and nutritional alternatives to vaccines. I want to build Koko's immune system so that he can fight off whatever illnesses he may become exposed to, just like the rest of us. We're using natural horsemanship style training, much like Monty Roberts, the "Horse Whisperer". I'm also learning from Pat Parelli's videos and a workshop I took. I go to equine events and take workshops, and learn from other local trainers that I trust. I believe wholeheartedly in creating a partnership with Koko based on respect and love. It's our responsibility as horse owners to learn the language that horses speak-predominantly through body language rather than forcing them to learn ours. I'm also a subscriber to the Holistic Horse Magazine, and I read articles and listen to audios from Natural Horse Talk. Check out my new horse products: Natural herbal liniment, natural herbal liniment gelotion, and natural herbal shampoo (can be used on dogs too!)
Sources: http://www.menopauseonline.com/what.html http://www.islandnet.com/~luree/foals.html http://www.paws.org/about/mag/issues/issue40/mary.php http://www.horsemensguide.com/links/pages/In_The_News/more2.html http://www.pmufoaladoption.org/ http://www.springhillrescue.com 2. Dirt: It's Good For Your Health, Really… Scientists believe that it's important for children to be exposed to certain types of dirt. This exposure can "educate" a child's immune systems so that they're less susceptible to diseases, such as asthma, in later life. Professor Peter Openshaw believes that a lack of exposure to dirt and common viral infections could be behind the rise in asthma incidences. So, if you grow up on a farm, have older siblings, or start day care at an early age, you might be more resistant to diseases in later life. Despite the drastic decline in childhood diseases, asthma rates have skyrocketed. Scientists do not accept the notion that the increased rates are only a result of genetic risk factors; environmental factors are much more likely. A research group led by Irun R. Cohen at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel, found that rats raised behind germ-free barriers are more prone to developing arthritis and diabetes than rats raised in normal, germ-filled environments. In a super clean environment, the immune cells that can suppress autoimmune responses don't develop. Believe it or not, cultures worldwide have eaten clay, mud and dirt. It's called, "geophagy". Geophagy is common in sub-Saharan Africa, and many anthropologists believe it was brought to the United States by African slaves. African-American women in the rural South still practice geophagy today. Though doctors don't actually recommend eating dirt, Dr. David L. Katz, nutrition expert at the Yale School of Medicine and a medical contributor for ABC News, contends that, "It is possible that the binding effect of clay would cause it to absorb toxins". I've heard that clay in the soil absorbs toxins, so when I was creating a vegetable garden, I tossed out much of the clay I dug out. Some pregnant women crave dirt and some medical experts think it may actually be beneficial for them. It may be the mineral supply in the clays that they need. In any event, it makes sense to me that whether it's the minerals, or the exposure to germs, exposure to dirt is a good thing. Just like our muscles, our immune system needs exercise. Though we spent the first 8 years of my daughter's life living in a MA suburb, we were frequent visitors to farms. And, she played outside in the dirt a lot at her Waldorf school. I only used natural cleansers and body care products around our house, without antibacterial chemicals. In fact, when my daughter was little, I actually took her over to a friend's house whose son had chicken pox. I wanted her to be exposed to it, and build up her own antibodies. So, enjoy your dirt! Sources: 3. Some Good News For New Yorkers- "Greener" Taxi Cabs Have Arrived When something good happens, I like to share it. I don't want to be Ms. Doom&Gloom, you know. Well, New York City now has some hybrid electric vehicles as taxicabs. And, it's about time; NYC has very poor air quality, among the worst in the United States. In fact, it has the highest asthma mortality rate in the country. Mayor Bloomberg signed the "Clean Air Taxies Act" in July 2005. Now cabbies can choose from six hybrid models, get tax incentives, and lower sticker prices for some models. That's not to mention the lower operating costs of the hybrids. 93% of the taxicab fleet has been made up of Ford Crown Victoria's and 2,000 of the 12,760 taxicabs are supposed to retire within the next year. And, the news just keeps on getting better…The City is also offering 81 discounted medallions, or licenses, just for hybrids to help get the program off to a good start. Bravo NYC! The public is also behind the new greener transportation choice. 70% of New Yorkers surveyed by the Global Strategy Group endorsed the hybrid taxi plan and want hybrids to replace all of the other taxicabs within five years. New Yorkers are worried about the ill health effects from air pollution. Hybrids substantially reduce emissions of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and hydrocarbons. These pollutants are known to cause health problems, such as: cardiovascular disease, cancer, asthma, and birth defects. NYC is not the first city to offer hybrid public transportation.
San Francisco and Vancouver already have hybrid taxis in their fleets,
and Boston has a private hybrid only fleet of eight Prius's to compete
with city cabs, none of which are currently hybrids. Sources: http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2005/09/green_fleets.html http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/06/popular_support.php It's free to subscribe to my monthly newsletter. Sign up for Green Living Expert, Amy Todisco's,
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