For those who signed up to my site in the last couple of weeks, welcome.  I send out a Newsletter once a fortnight to bring you up-to-date with interesting items of news, in addition to which I try to address your most pressing questions.

Some of you have asked if I could put pictures of horses on my website and that got me thinking – why not publish your pictures and if there are enough good ones, why not make them into a screen saver for you all?  So that’s what I would like to do.

So, if you would like to have your horse featured, send me a photo and a short paragraph about him/her.  Their name, what town, country they are in and if you want, send a picture of yourself and your details too and I will publish them for you. 

Because of copyright issues, you will have to include the words  “there are no usage restrictions with these photographs”, in your email for without these words I will not be able to publish them for you. 

 Send them to me at rogerbourdon@gmail.com

So, dig deep in your archives and see what you can come up. I will send the screen saver completely f’r’ee to all who contribute.

So onto the news.

You may remember in the last newsletter I talked about the death of a horse at a rodeo show having animal rights groups wanting them banned. Well they are up in arms again, as more high schools in Queensland have added the sport to their curriculum.  To read about it go to the following link http://au.news.yahoo.com/060204/21/xtl3.html  

A most unusual event occurred in the UK, where a horse wandered into a back garden and fell into a swimming pool.  The good news is that it was rescued unharmed.  For the story and a picture of the horse being pulled out go here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/4696758.stm   

Finally another story from the UK with a happy ending, when a rider cheated death in an accident involving her pregnant horse and a bus.  You can read all about it here http://www.burnleytoday.co.uk/ViewArticle2.aspx?sectionid=12&articleid=1345959

 Last time, I told you about looking for danger signs based on how your horse holds his ears.  Well did you know that his tail can also tell a story.  High-tailing is a sign of excitement, whilst if they are worried or frightened, their tails will start to flatten between their legs.  If they do that whilst starting to run away, they really are scared!  If their tail sweeps from side to side you should be on your guard as this demonstrates a sign of annoyance and anger.  Potentially the worst sign from the tail is if it is kinked, when it can either be a sign of fear, but equally it can precede a buck!  Watch out – you have been warned

 Well that’s it for now. 

 Do let me know your most pressing questions and I will try to address them in a future issue and send in your photos, but do NOT forget to add the words  “there are no usage restrictions with these photographs”,  .

Warmly

Roger Bourdon

Author of “Introduction to Horseback Riding”  http:www.anyhorsebackriding.com   

 P.S.  If you are interested in books, magazines and other resources and equipment dedicated to horseback riding then check out this link http://www.anyhorsebackriding.com/links.htm  - it's worth a quick look!!!!