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Flaming Horses

  Flaming Horses: How To Spot Inflammation Horses often get sore or injured - especially when riding is added to the equation. Whether it be an injury caused by the farrier, incorrect saddle fit, jumping, or a freak accident such as a slip in the mud, horses are accident prone. Inflammation in horses can come in a variety of ways: swelling, heat, pain, or even loss of function of a muscle. The reason a joint may lose function the result of two main factors such as: heat which occurs when a release of enzymes are sent from the dead or dying cells to the brain to signal something is wrong, and swelling which appears when white blood cells are sent by the blood vessels and move to the injured location to help repair. Unfortunately, sometimes the horse’s body actually damages itself though this rebuilding process. Sometimes the injury is too great for the body to handle and that is when owners need to know the signs to call their veterinarians who can help the inflammation process wi...
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The Curse

  The Curse As I returned to the beautiful, yet small speck of a town called Midway, I had a turmoil feeling of uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. My hometown, Louisville, Kentucky was a much different scene compared to the farmland that now took the place of city skyscrapers. The sound of the train replaced the constant sirens that echoed outside my windows. Car thefts, Black Lives Matter Protests, and the deadly coronavirus created a catastrophic environment. Churchill Downs and the State fair had decided to slash the customer capacity in half. Local businesses were either vacant, vandalized, or boarded up with thick wooden panels. My mother had to learn how to use online technology before she could teach, the basketball courts no longer had shouting, and my packed house finally had its sixth member back. Even after doctors, scientists, celebrities, and our own mayor Andy Beshear had warned colleges from opening, I found myself driving my unreliable 2002 red Saturn to Midway Un...
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A Helping Hand

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Over the span of 18 years, in which I had always admired, wanted, and was undeniably fascinated by horses; I began to step towards my future by looking at the past.  After learning that my beloved Grandmother had gone to a little school in the tiny, quiet, horse populated countryside of Midway, Kentucky, I decided to discover more about the town that my Grandma had been raised in.  My high school cross-country coach, Mr. Reynolds, a chemistry teacher who looked the part with his white hair and wide rimmed glasses also mentioned the distant, yet familiar name of Midway. The reason he brought the school to my attention was due to my own self affliction; earlier that year I had written a paper describing the dangerous and toxicity levels of crab apples in Kentucky and their effects on horses. He knew that Midway University offered several Equine programs.  I had no true "handling" or riding experience with horses. My first interaction occurred at the famous Twin Spires locat...
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