E4-Boarder& Trainer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 15, 2003 Mini Horses Help Students (Continued from Page El) Owners of the horses, Nancy and Kip Gillen of Dare to Dream Miniatures, Cone sus, are unique in that Nancy Gillen is a wheelchair-bound paraplegic with limited use of her arms, and Kip Gillen is al lergic to horses. Though physically handi capped, Nancy Gillen cares for and feeds her minis, then shows and drives a mini-horse cart through the spring and summer season. Kip Gillen is responsible for horse care in inclement weather. Unfortu nately allergies are at their worst at that time, making the horse care a burden. In addi tion, this fall, Mrs. Gillen re quired surgery. Consequently, the idea of lending the minis to Alfred State College for the school year was appealing to the Gillens and very attractive to the vet tech program. Bolton .and students in the farm animal management course have been learning a lot from the minis this fall. Why minis? “As vet techs the students will probably have to work with horses,” said professor “Diamond” and “Fizz” are on loan to the vet tech program at Alfred State, Alfred, N.Y. Unique Horse Farm Extraordinary Farmette, located 6 miles South of Sunbury, PA A totally unique facility custom designed and built toi the horse lover and business entrepreneur. This beautiful country setting on 16.99 acres boasts a large spring led, stocked pond and stream through 14 acres of fenced pastures. 3000+ sf custom home built in 1997 is located adjacent to a 30’X 36‘ post and beam bank barn, and over a 15 stall horse bain complete with tack 100 m, hot & cold water horse shower, and heated lounge. Home includes 4 bediooms, 3 1/2 baths, custom cherry kitchen, solid surface countertops, ceramic tile and granite floors. Laundry room. Formal dining room, vault ed family room highlighted with wood beams, gas fireplace with custom surround cherry cabinetry, mountain stone and marble, built-in book shelves, fully enclosed glass, 14’ xl6 carpeted sun porch, and wiap-around cedai rail deck Total Kohlei fixtures add beauty to all bathrooms, kitchen and laundiy Master bedroom includes large bath with whirlpool tub that ovci looks pasture and pond, his and hers separate walk-in closets and bal cony to vaulted family loom Exlenoi ol home has extensne custom land scaping piolessionally done with two goldfish ponds, walei fall and slate budge leading to deck Othei buildings on piopeily include a 1150 sf office oi apaitmenl a 40’x 100' pole shed, 2-IH’\3()’ enclosed gaiages. outside dog uin, 3 outside hoise lun-m sheds, and a 70 \l22’ outside tiding nng This piopcity has the potential to pioside significant income with office building oi apailment. combined with hoise boaidmg potential To leant moie, please make an appointment by telephoning (570) 286-6901 esenings, oi (570) 524-6411, ext 22 daily Victoria Bolton, but large horses are “flighty and dan gerous” if you don’t know ex actly what you are doing. It’s much easier to learn about handling and restraining horses on the minis, and then transfer the skills for work on the larger animals, said Bol ton. “The minis are calmer and adapt more quickly to change than the large horses,” she said, but they ’’exhibit all the characteristics and attitudes of a large horse.” The biggest thing for students to adjust to is how much easier it is to care for the minis, said Bolton. Caring for one large horse is equal to what it takes to care for four minis, especially along the lines of feeding, cleaning, stalling, exercising, and grooming, said Bolton. A full-grown miniature weighs between 200 and 300 pounds whereas a large adult horse weighs about 1,200 pounds. During the spring semester, Bolton hopes to work with students in some independent study courses getting several of the minis ready for show. These will include halter, trail, obstacle course, and jumping classes. For Sale By Owner High-Tech Help For Horses (Continued from Page E 3) The treadmill helps Goodall evaluate racehorses to find problems such as upper air way disease or low blood oxy gen levels. The horses are schooled on and around the treadmill be fore they even begin to walk on the equipment. Next the horses stand on the treadmill and begin with a walk before progressing “when we are comfortable with how things are going” the horses are asked to the trot and canter for about five miles. The en tire schooling takes 20 to 30 minutes. After that initiation, the horses are taken to the bam for a rest and a little feed be fore being brought back for the test. “Once they’re schooled and completely happy,” the tread mill handler coaxes the horse into a full run 30 miles an hour for racehorses which is necessary if Goodall is to de termine the cause of the horse’s poor performance or problematic medical condi tion. In addition to the flat-out WOOD SHAVINGS Bagged, kiln-dried Compressed (plastic/paper) bags Delivery Up To September Ist At Last Year’s Prices 1-800-688-1187 run, an increase in incline helps increase the work out put, she said. To aid in diagnosis, Goodall inserts a small catheter in the facial artery to measure blood oxygen content. Lower airway disease may result in an ab normally low oxygen content in the blood, said Goodall. A videoendoscope passed down the nose and attached to a camera gives an image of the animal’s airway on a near by computer screen. The pic ture generated on the screen is recorded and put on the com puter, and Goodall will “save the video pictures of what’s best representative of the horse’s condition,” she said. Goodall will also listen for upper respiratory tract noise, besides checking on the ani mal’s heart and lungs. If Goodall determines that there is an upper respiratory tract obstruction, surgery is recommended. Other condi tions Goodall may observe causing poor performance may be associated with heart arrhythmias or elevated mus cle enzymes. Even though the procedure Tractor-Trailer Loads SAVE $ BUYING WHOLESALE Order Now! is foreign and potentially frightening to horses, there have been few problems, according to Goodall. “Strict protocol I think that really helps us avoid problems and complications,” she said, not ing that following the set rou tine seems to work for most horses. “Safety for the horses is the most important thing.” Students Since the first patient was seen in 1984, the center has served as a training ground for more than 450 veterinary students. The “overwhelming majori ty,” of veterinary students, according to Nadjar, are fe male. During each three week rotation, two to six fourth year veterinary students are at the center for observation and hands on experience. Since the center is one of three campuses, the students may find themselves sitting in classes via video teleconfer encing. One-year interns may also be working at the center, along with residents who are at the center for three years at a time. 1
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