Jessica Jahiel's HORSE-SENSE Newsletter Archives

Equus article about 'Stableizer"

From: Doedi

I enjoy your postings immensely and appreciate your time. I just read your response to the question about the "new stableizer device". I was eager to read it because I had just read a rather extensive article in Equus magazine (Issue 260, June 1999) about the device. I have always had a great deal of trust in and feel I have learned a lot from this magazine. The article describes the device in detail and puts forward reasons why it works and is not painful or cruel to the horses.

The article also refers to a paper authored by Julia H. Wilson, DVM, and Tracy A. Turner, DVM, professors at the Univ. of Minnesota College of Veterinary Medicine, titled "Veterinary Applications of the Stableizer". My web search capabilities are limited, and I was unable to find the article and read it in a quick search this morning.

The bottom line is this: I thought the device sounded interesting and useful, but planned to ask my vet about it the next time I see her. The horses in the photos do not look scared or in pain: they have soft eyes and ears and don't look tense. Is this a major blunder by a respected magazine, or have I been mistaken in thinking this is one of the best sources of the latest and most up-to-date information?

I have great confidence in you and have found myself in accord many times with your philosophy and your answers to questions over the entire time I have subscribed to horse-sense.

Thanks again for your time.

Doedi

Hi Doedi -- I read the EQUUS article last night -- I thought it was nicely written, but I'm still not convinced that it's selling a new concept. The endorphins theory gets bounced around every couple of decades, but it's not quite gospel. ;-) Wasn't it just in the last few months that the popular magazines started to print articles about research showing that "runner's high" in humans was NOT produced by endorphins, contrary to our long-held belief?

I think that this is a useful hands-free gadget -- anything that will immobilize a horse and allow a single human to work around it is a nice item to have on hand in case of emergencies. I don't regard it as a training method, but I think that it's a valid method of restraint.

My, Tracy Turner gets around! When I first met him, he was at the University of Illinois, and the last time I saw him, he was based in Florida. He's wonderful at diagnosing lamenesses. ;-)

Thanks for the note!

Jessica

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