Reiki Workshop April 19-20, 2008

Animal Reiki Level I Workshop

Deepen the connection between you and your animal companion.

Where: Traveller's Rest Equine Elders Sanctuary, Spotsylvania, Virginia

When: Sat - Sun, April 19-20, 10AM - 5PM

Cost $250

Taught by Janet Dobbs, Animal Communication Specialist, Reiki Master

For more information, or To Register:
www.animalparadisecommunication.com
Or call 703-648-1866
Email janet@animalparadisecommunication.com


Workshop Focus

This Reiki Level I class is for animal people who want to deepen their relationships with animals and learn ways to heal the animals in thier lives as well as themselves and others. You will learn the system of Japanese Reiki. You will also learn the differences as well as the similarities between Reiki for humans and Reiki for animals.

Through lecture, enlightening discussion, exercises, observation and practice, Janet will lead you through the basic steps. Students will receive two manuals, the Reiki I attunements, learn how to give a Reiki self treatment and practice giving and receiving a full Reiki treatment ( to a human.) Day two we will practice with aniamals.

Upon completion, students will receive Reiki level I practitioner certificate.

Join us for a weekend of fun and discovery.

The animals are waiting!

TN - Older Mare needs home!

"Hope" was purchased at an auction, several hundred pounds underweight. With some vet care and attention to diet, she has filled out and regained good health.

Now, Hope needs a special permanent home. A family of her own. Hope is almost completely blind, seeing nothing in one eye, and only shadows in the other. She can, however, still offer leadline rides to small children.

Hope is available through Mustang Alley Horse Rescue, an hour east of Knoxville TN. (Photos can be seen on their web site.) According to Kathy, MAHR's president, Hope loves to be around people and is equally adored by rescue volunteers. She is up to date on vaccinations and worming and had her teeth floated in October.

If you are interested in making Hope a member of your equine family, contact Kathy for more information.

Horse Welfare Information

Don't forget to visit TREES' general horse welfare information site, HorseWelfare.net

This site depends very heavily on visitor input. We welcome information concerning events that benefit horse welfare organizations, be they fundraisers, clinics, open houses, or educational programs. We'd also like to hear about news related to horse welfare in general. The good, the bad and the ugly.

HorseWelfare.net also attempts to maintain a complete directory of horse welfare organizations around the world, but with new facilities opening on a regular basis, we need visitor help keeping the list current.

Please let us know if you have information to add, would like us to edit an entry, or can suggest links to add to any of the resource pages. Submit Info

Fireworks and Horses

As Spotsylvania is increasingly covered by subdivisions and small “estates,” our farmland is disappearing. Many Spotsylvanians, however, remain horse owners. Throughout Virginia, horse ownership is on the rise, according to last year’s agricultural census. But as horse ownership increases, so does the likelihood that horse farms will have non-horse owning neighbors as properties in rural areas are developed.

Many horse owners face holidays typically celebrated with private fireworks displays with trepidation. Some celebrations go on every evening for several days before the holiday itself. We can prepare for the obvious holidays, like the Fourth of July. New Year’s Eve is another presumed fireworks celebration prepared for in advance. Unless the celebration starts before 7 PM rather than at or around midnight.

As our horses reacted to a neighbor’s early New Year’s Eve display, running up and down their fields, I could not shake the memory of a dear friend’s horse that impaled himself on a board as he crashed through his fence in a panic ten years ago on the Fourth of July. He died before the vet arrived.

If you just can’t celebrate without a loud aerial (and ILLEGAL) fireworks display, perhaps you could let your horse owning neighbors know your plan ahead of time, allowing them to prepare if necessary. They’ll appreciate the heads-up.

Happy New Year!

Has it been over two months since the last post? It obviously has, and for that I apologize. With the caveat that I have only kept two or three New Year's Resolutions in my life, I hereby resolve to post more frequent updates regarding the residents, the programs and plans for future development at Traveller's Rest.

We have a lot to catch up on, including:

The October Yard Sale was a nice success. The next yard and tack sale will be in the spring. (If you received any holiday gifts you've already decided to ReGift, please consider TREES as the re-giftee! Spring is vaccination time, and at almost $100 per elder, the spring sale will play an important part in providing much needed funds.)

Another troubled geezer, a 37 year old Quarter Horse named Phoenix, arrived the first week of November. More on Phoenix very soon.

Shortly thereafter, Meredith Barlow, a local Equine Dental Technician and Dr. Ray Hyde, DVM, founder of the American School of Equine Dentistry, performed a day-long dentathon. (That derserves a post of its own. Details soon.)

The second of two modular shelters is being completed today to provide cover for Phoenix and an indoor dining room for Rienzi. (Volunteer painters welcome any time the weather permits such chores!)

The holidays brought gifts from the Chronicle of the Horse Secret Santa program. Beautiful new leather halters, ceramic leg wraps to make tired legs more comfortable and a slew of other needed goodies. Several supporters did their holiday shopping through TREES' Amazon.com and iGive links, adding more change to our accounts.

In the last few days, another dietary experiment began. We learned that the feed we were giving our Cushings and Insulin Resistant residents may not have been the best choice. We are now switching them to Triple Crown Lite to see if that is better. We're not likely to see an immediate difference, but will post any observations.

Finally, we hope everyone had a peaceful holiday, spent with family and friends. May your New Year be happy, filled with peace, success and the love of friends, be they two-legged or four.

Happy New Year!

Free Web Seminar on Cushings Disease

Pituitary Pars Intermedia Dysfunction (Equine Cushing’s Disease): Challenges of Diagnosis and Treatment


by Dr. Hal Schott, DVM Michigan State University Tuesday,



October 23, 2007
7:00 PM. EDT

From My Horse University:

"Older horses are becoming an increasingly important component of the horse industry. This presentation will describe the clinical problems associated with PPID as well as summarize current knowledge about the cause of PPID in horses.

We will also discuss recommended approaches to diagnosis, management, and treatment of affected horses as well as take a look at case examples.

Presenter Info:

Dr. Schott received his DVM degree in 1984 from The Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine. He started his career with three years in private equine practice in Southern California. Dr. Schott subsequently pursued advanced training by completing a residency in equine internal medicine and a Ph.D. in equine exercise physiology at Washington State University. Since 1995, Dr. Schott has been an equine medicine clinician at Michigan State University with a strong clinical interest in urinary tract disorders, respiratory disease, and endocrinological disorders. In addition, he continues to pursue a research interest of fluid and electrolyte balance in
endurance horses. "

To Register:

http://www.myhorseuniversity.com/WebPresentation/10-07_Schott.html

Wade is one of three TREES residents diagnosed with Cushings Disease.

Swayback - Not Just Seniors and Broodmares

Traveller's Rest has been home to several horses with "swayback" or Lordosis. Earlier visitors may remember "Els B" (above) and Sheriff (below.)

Lordosis, however, is not seen only in old horses and broodmares. According to University of Kentucky's Dr. Patrick Gallagher, horses likely to develop lordosis are born with a certain skeletal structure that predisposes them to the condition, even as foals in some cases. Dr. Gallagher also found that, while dogs and humans are severely disabled by lordosis, horses are not affected in the same way.

For more, visit All About Horses.