Research Ramblings: Horse Workout Sweat Vs. Nervous Sweat

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and I love learning from them, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

Not long ago I asked my horse ladies about the physics of horse sweat as described in this post. A couple days later I found myself with yet another sweat related question. This time, it wasn’t about the how but the when of horse sweat.

Sweating is not an across-the-board phenomenon in the animal kingdom. That’s why pigs lie in mud and dogs pant while horses and humans get drippy when temperatures go up. The thing about people though is heat isn’t the only thing that causes a sweat. Excitement or nerves can also put human sweat glands into overdrive.

So I wondered as I reviewed a scene where a charioteer’s palms grow damp right before race time whether his horses might be sweating nervously as well. A quick e-mail to my horse ladies ensued, and here’s the answer I got from the Boyz’ Mom:

Indeed they do, and like people, they can drip with sweat from excitement, frustration, nervousness. It isn’t foaming like when they are working. It is a clear dripping sweat that slowly foams. The working foam comes on quickly due to the exertion of muscles… Latherin, a soaplike protein in horse sweat and saliva, helps spread sweat over the coat, maximizing evaporation of water for heat loss, and causing the foam that we see when horses sweat profusely. Latherin is also found in saliva, which explains the foam often seen around a bitted horse’s lips.

Interesting! Not only can heightened emotions trigger a sweat response in horses, the sweat generated has different qualities than workout sweat!

So the take away (for me at least) is that a horse that has been working hard will look like he’s come out of a bubble bath while one who is jittery or excited will just be drippy. Wouldn’t it be interesting if the same were true for people, if nervous sweat was distinctly different than exercise sweat?

Research Ramblings: Horse Treats and Avoiding Culinary Anachronisms, Part 2

As mentioned in my previous post, ancient horsemen who wanted to give their horses a little something special didn’t have sugar lumps, but they did have access to fruit. Fruit, though, was both regional and seasonal in ancient times. For instance, oranges are an important crop in Greece now, but they weren’t introduced to Europe until the time of the crusades. And while it’s easy for North Americans to import fresh summer fruit from South America in the middle of our winter, the ancients didn’t have the benefit of modern transportation networks.

Fortunately for me, Dalby’s Siren Feasts lists fruit available to ancient Greeks. Among them are:

• Strawberry
• Apple
• Blackberry
• Sloe
• Plum
• Date
• Pomegranate
• Musk Melon
• Cherry
• Quince
• Watermelon
• Pear
• Mulberry

The Greeks also had grapes and figs according to Dalby, but because they were deemed luxuries, not staples, I didn’t include them for consideration. After all, you might have access to filet mignon and love your dog, but I doubt you’d feed filet mignon to your dog.

Finally, I ran the list past my horsy ladies to see if any fruit candidates were potentially toxic to horses, the way chocolate is to dogs. Julie responded by saying that horses can eat pretty much anything, with a few exceptions. For horse owners, oak and maple leaves (which can get horses sick if ingested) are more cause for concern than fruit.

In the end, I chose apples for a fall scene, and plums and blackberries for  summer scenes. I wasn’t able to find exact dates on their seasons in Greece, but Greece has a Mediterranean climate as does California, so I used California fruit seasons as a best guess.

When I shared my choices with the ladies, Julie had me add one more detail to the scene with the blackberries: stains. According to her, even if a horse is being as gentle as can be, there will still be squished berries.

Research Ramblings: Horse Treats and Avoiding Culinary Anachronisms, Part 1

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and I love learning from them, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

When Julie’s horses do well or if she just wants to spoil them, she gives them peppermints. I thought sugar cubes were the equestrian treat of choice, but in her barn, it’s peppermints. And it is an acquired taste. When she first got Elle and gave her a mint, Elle was very ho-hum about it. But after a few weeks, she’d start raising a fuss if she heard a whisper of cellophane. If Julie’s not quick enough unwrapping the mint, Elle will just eat the whole thing, wrapper and all.

Using special foods to show love is something I believe Julie’s ancient Greek counterparts would’ve done, but that raises the question of what they would’ve used. Many foods that are regional mainstays might not have existed in the area thousands of years ago. For example, potatoes became an Irish staple, but that was only after Columbus got to the New World.

Fortunately, I had A. Dalby’s Siren Feasts for help. In this book, he describes the food culture of the ancient Greeks. He even includes a simple fish recipe from an ancient cookbook. While diet did vary from Greek city-state to city-state, the text was handy in determining what basic ingredients would have been available in that part of the world.

One thing I quickly determined with that sugar lumps were out. Ubiquitous as it is in our culture, refined sugar is a relatively recent development. The sweeteners available to the ancient Greeks were honey and date syrup, and those were luxuries. Not to mention, they’re not exactly amenable to feeding to a horse.

However, something our ancient horse folk did have access to was fruit, something I’ll delve into next time.

Research Ramblings: Growing Horses and the Labels of Adulthood

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

Julie’s mare Elle is big as far as her breed goes. Morgans average between 14 and 15 hands (56 inches to 60 inches at the shoulder). Early last year, Julie was telling me and the Boyz’ Mom that Elle had gotten all awkward again because she had hit yet another growth spurt.

To which I responded, Elle’s STILL growing?

You see, I’d read that the cutoff between a filly and a mare is four years. At the time, Elle was already past her fourth birthday so she had to be a full-grown adult already, right?

Wrong.

While people do use the age of four to delineate between mature and immature horses, it’s no absolute. Rates of growth differ from horse to horse and there are definite variations between breeds. According to the Boyz’ Mom, Friesian horses don’t start training until they’re three and training continues on till they’re around six. That’s because they don’t fully mature until they’re six to eight years old. By that age, some thoroughbreds have already reached the end of their racing careers!

Once my horse ladies explained this to me, I felt a little silly. After all, I should’ve known better, considering what I’ve learned about ancient Olympic horse racing. The officials spent the month before the Olympics determining whether young animals would compete in the horse races or colt races. If physical maturity was simply a matter of age, they wouldn’t have had such a rigorous process.

So using age 4 to delineate between colts and horses is about as accurate as using age 18 to delineate between adults and children. I reached my full height (just over 5 feet) at age 15, but one of my guy pals kept growing well into his college years (I forget his exact height but he’s well over 6 feet tall).

By the way, Elle will be five this year, and her current height is over 16 hands and still going…

Research Ramblings: Horse Body Fluids and How They Fly

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and I love learning from them, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

I recently revised a scene involving messengers on horseback. My critique group  didn’t feel connected to the main character, and I decided to elaborate on the sensory details as these riders come galloping up.

The thing is, I’ve gotten close to horses before, but not after they’ve galloped for miles. And while I understand horses generate a variety of body fluids, I’ve no idea what their aerodynamics are.

So of course I went to my horse experts to find out if any of the following could happen:

A. Sweat from the horses landing on my MC
B. Foam( spit) from the horses’ mouths landing on her
C. Her getting a big whiff of the smell of horse sweat

The last one scenario, by the way, was based off my experiences with my runner husband. After a marathon, I can smell him coming.

As for the answer… apparently all of them are possible.

Julie said:

A horse that is accepting of a bit will have foamy drool, and it can fly everywhere, including all over their chest and front legs.  If the horse shakes its head, it could certainly fly all over.  Same with lather, again, depending on how hot the horse is.  If the horse is right in front of her, it would be breathing hard from a long gallop, so she could feel the horse huffing on her.  I don’t think horses stink with they are working, but i am probably immune.  Most people who work around horses are.

The Boyz’ Mom added:

Yes indeed … Julie is on the money.
Horse sweat smells sweet and warm like musk or sandalwood. I love it.
Horse sweat and saliva can goooo flying to be sure.
The sweat is foamy and the saliva can be like a big foam stringer. I’ve been pelted many a time. Most horse people get their share so no biggy.

I love her description of the aroma of horse. Perhaps perfumers should take note and investigate horse perspiration as a potential new ingredient. (Or maybe they already use it and we just don’t realize it )

At any rate, I am indebted to my experts once more (thank you!!!) and reminded yet again that a horse-sized helping of gross is all part of being an equestrian.

Research Ramblings: Horsey Sound Effects and the American Animal Lexicon

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

Once, during a manuscript swap, someone in my critique group commented on a word I used for a stable scene. The phrase in question was:

Squealing filled the air as thirty horses jostled and fought in the paddock.

He remarked that it sounded odd because “squeal” was a word he associated with pigs.

I certainly acknowledged his point. You’re more likely to see “squeal” in the context of pigs than horses. But I was intentional in selecting that word. Mainly because a couple months before I wrote that section, I was poking around researching at a stable, and an overly friendly pony scared the daylights out of me by running up and squealing at me.

Squealing, not whinnying. There is a difference.

It’s interesting how our lexicon has so many animal specific words to describe the noises they make. Dogs bark, howl, yap, or growl. Cats meow and purr. Sheep bleat. Horses have a larger list than most. They whinny, neigh, nicker, whicker, and occasionally snort. But any stable manager or groom can tell you that the range of noises they make go beyond this vocabulary.

For instance, horses grunt. Again, “grunt” is associated with pigs, but horses do it, too. I first time heard a horse grunting was at a show where one entry kept up a constant grunt-grunt-grunt the entire time she was in the ring. According to a lady familiar with that mare, that was a habit particular to that horse. When I mentioned it to my horse ladies, this is what they wrote back.

The Boyz’ Mom:

Titan grunts when he poops. They both make funny umph sounds when they are swimming in really deep water. Speaking of, when they poop while they are swimming it is hilarious.*Grunt* and in the wake “apples” floating.

If Titan is not in the mood to be bothered (like if it is really hot and someone stops to oogle him), he will grunt and stomp his foot as if to say GO AWAY.

When they are really happy and content, they make snuffy noises. Wrinkle up your top lip and do baby snorts with your nose and that is what it sounds like.

Julie:

Horses make all kinds of noises, so if you have a horse grunt or whine (yes, we have one that has a high pitched whine when he thinks he’s not getting a treat), it’s not wrong.  Steve makes a rumbling noise if you don’t bring his treat quickly enough after his lesson.  JP is the whiner.  Since Steve is next to JP, I always make sure that JP gets a treat, too, because he sounds so pathetic if you ignore him.

Snuffling, whining and rumbling! I guess this means the take-away message is that if you’re doing a story involving animals, it pays to spend time with an actual critter to get a feel for their “lingo.”

So to the animal owners out there, what kind of “out of category” noises do your beasties make?

Twin Foals!! And the Limits of High-Tech

Aren’t they cute???!!! Introducing Deedee and the latest additions to Julie’s barn community!

I know, I know, this has nothing to do with writing or research, but I saw the picture and had to pass it on. Aside from the fact that they’re  ADORABLE, twin horses aren’t something you see every day.  It’s actually unbelievable that these little girls are healthy and a good size.

The really funny thing is nobody suspected Deedee was carrying twins. So when she foaled last week, it was a complete surprise despite her having had an ultrasound. According to Julie, the babies were stacked on top of each other, so only one was visible.

That last bit about the ultrasound really made me laugh. Many of my friends are having babies now, but when they wave an ultrasound and say they’re having a boy or girl, hubby and I just smile and buy something gender-neutral for the shower. Nothing against the ultrasound, we know it’s a very handy tool, but we’ve met two couples now that were expecting one and got the other. So to hear that Deedee’s scan missed an entire baby horse is just confirmation that as amazing as high technology is, it’s not infallible.

By the way, the foals have yet to be named, but the names under consideration are Unbelievable and Remarkable.

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 12

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I’ve been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading up to the 2012 London Games, I’ll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here’s this week’s fun fact:

A horse could win even without a jockey.

In Book 6 of the Description of Greece, Pausanias writes:

The mare of the Corinthian Pheidolas was called … Aura （breeze）, and at the beginning of the race she chanced to throw her rider. But nevertheless she went on running properly, turned round the post, and, when she heard the trumpet, quickened her pace, reached the umpires first, realized that she had won and stopped running. The Eleans (the Olympic organizers) proclaimed Pheidolas the winner and allowed him to dedicate a statue of this mare.

Apparently weight handicaps weren’t factored in Greek horse racing. Still, it’s impressive she kept going in the race without anyone guiding her.

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!

Research Ramblings: Horse Breeding and High-Tech

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and I love learning from them, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

So I was discussing equine social dynamics with Julie when, as often happens, we went off on a tangent about horsey personalities. And in the conversation, she mentioned something about Elle’s surrogate mom. I instantly thought she meant an older mare that had taken a shine to Elle. That or Elle was orphaned a foal and another mare had “adopted” her. So when I asked Julie to clarify which she meant, I was in for a surprise.

By “surrogate mom,” she meant the mare that had carried and birthed Elle but actually wasn’t blood related to her at all.

Perhaps it’s just me romanticizing, but when I think of horses and their people, my mind harkens to a simpler world where computers and phones are unheard of. But the equine world’s very much kept up with technology and that includes the science of horse breeding.

Once upon a time, making a foal required both the stud and the dam to be in the same place and in the right mood. It was also a bit tricky in that horses can be rough with one another so there was also the risk of one or both getting injured. Now the two animals don’t even have to be in the same state for them to get pregnant.

I was aware of the use of artificial insemination in animal husbandry, but to learn about equine in vitro fertilization really surprised me. The procedure for humans is generally expensive, and I assumed it would be cost prohibitive for horses. It’s not. So, as Julie explained, if the dam you want is busy training or showing or whatever, assigning the task of carrying the little one to a mare that isn’t quite so busy is commonplace. Convenient, isn’t it?

That’s not the only way technology figures into modern day horsebreeding. In another conversation, Julie mentioned how Elle towers over all the smaller, stockier Morgans in her class, and I asked if people ever wondered if she really is a Morgan.

Her reply:

It is funny that you ask about people wondering if she is really a Morgan.  Here’s the thing with the breed – some breeders DID try to breed Morgan studs to saddlebred mares, which has led to the larger, lankier horses that we have today.  Guess what?  The Morgan association voted that to prevent the horse from becoming even more diluted, ALL registered Morgans are DNA tested BEFORE they are given their registration papers.

Apparently this is “a big, big deal” at the futurity shows with weanlings, and she told me how she once had to get a DNA sample from a weanling at the Michigan Futurity show.  Though she joked about being on “DNA Patrol,” it’s serious business because:

 People who are caught cheating now get banned from the sport – and I believe that it is for life. So no, people don’t question that a 3 yr old Morgan is already 16+ hands tall.  They just say she’s a freak.

Morgan enthusiasts aren’t the only ones with strict standards. According to the Boyz’ Mom:

All FHANA/FPS Friesians are micro-chipped, DNA tested and randomly hair and blood tested at Keurings. They are uber strict and seriously dedicated to each and every owner following the strictest breeding rules and regulations.

Keurings, by the way, is what they call the  inspections of Friesian horses.

Test-tube babies and DNA testing. Make no mistake, equine folks are definitely keeping up with tech’s latest trends!

Research Ramblings: Hoof Care — Keeping a Watchful Eye for Healthy Feet

My current work in progress involves chariot racing, and given its substantial equine components, I’ve recruited the aid of horse owners Julie and The Boyz’ Mom to keep it real. (For more about them, read this post.) They love sharing about their horses, and I love learning from them, and hopefully you’ll get some entertainment out of our exchanges.

When I write a stable scene, I automatically send it to my equine ladies for review. After all, I don’t want to have the animals doing anything they wouldn’t or couldn’t. But a couple weeks ago, they called my attention to an inaccuracy  that wasn’t so much about the horses as it was about the humans.

The line in question was my main character telling her grooms, “…clean out [the horses'] hooves and make sure to check for damage.” I wrote this dialogue thinking it would reflect her conscientiousness as an owner, to show how particular she was about their care.

As it turned out, I wasn’t particular enough. Julie responded:

I would change your one line to “check for cracks or bruises/sores.”   Damage is too broad to me, and my group of horsey friends wouldn’t use it in this case.  We would probably say bruising and for sure would say cracks – depending on how bad the crack is, the horse might not be able to perform.

The Boyz’ Mom seconded the comment:

Yes, definitely… bruising, cracks…I’d also be looking for small stones to pick out…maybe an abscess…or signs of a chip that needs filing.

Was I in for an eye-opener! I knew horses could have hoof problems and get stones in their feet (I did read Black Beauty), but in the exchange that followed, I learned how ignorant I was to the array of foot maladies that can strike a horse. To the untrained eye (like mine!), a hoof might look like a big chunk at the end of a horse’s leg, but it’s made up of a lot of complicated subparts. And if those subparts aren’t working together just right, then, as the Boyz’ Mom says, “It is like dominoes. Everything would fall down.”

As a result, horse people do a lot to maintain hooves. A LOT. The Boyz’ Mom, who keeps her Boyz shoeless, files their hooves on a weekly basis. She also regularly applies a combination of olive oil and tea tree oil on their coronary bands and heel bulbs (areas right around the hoof) to moisturize and act as an antifungal. And in the winter, if they get ice balls and icicles in their feathers (the long hair around their ankles), she soaks their feet in a warm Epsom salt and tea tree oil bucket.

As much work as that sounds, it doesn’t compare to getting one of the aforementioned nasties. For example, thrush is a yeast infection that can strike the sole of a horse’s foot. Generally, it smells awful and can possibly lead to lameness. There are various cures available, but it takes effort to get the remedy into all the infected little crevices. When Kerrick had a bout of thrush, the Boyz’ Mom had to pack his infected hoof every day with a commercial medicated poultice until the infection went away (which fortunately only took a week).

By and large, hoof problems means an unhappy horse and an unhappy owner dealing with an unhappy problem. And things get compounded further if you have huge stakes riding on the horse’s performance (think the movie Secretariat when the big racehorse had his abscess). Little wonder equestrians are so particular when it comes to horse feet. Suffice to say, I came away with a better understanding of how my MC should think about her horses and actually reshaped that scene using the information I gained.

After all, little detail, spot on, goes a long way in making a narrative authentic.