I apologize for not having written for a while. Things got hectic trying to get out of town for the trip to the World Equine Veterinary Association (WEVA) meeting. Then canceled and delayed flights, long driving trips once in Brazil, and a busy schedule made it nearly impossible to find time to blog.

The best part of the trip so far was a visit to Coudelaria Rocas do Vouga, a Lusitano farm in Brazil owned by Manuel Tavares de Almeida and his wife, Thereza.

But these "are not your father's" Lusitano's; the older portion of the breed was a small, stout, quick, intelligent horse bred for bullfighting. Coudelaria Rocas do Vouga and other breeders in Brazil and Portugal have been working to refine and select their bloodlines to produce world-class dressage horses with size, scope, and depth, while still keeping the personalities loved by those who know Lusitano horses.

One after another of beautiful Lusitano stallions were worked, sometimes as many as three to the indoor arena at a time. There were no quarrels among the stallions, who were all business and beautiful.

My dressage trainer friend in Missouri (Karen Pautz of William Woods University) would have loved to have been in my shoes and watching these amazing horses!

TheHorse.com will have a full article about this farm and the horses soon. Stay tuned.

Visit the Web site and tell me what you think?

Will someone please design a muzzle that stays on, is light-weight, is breathable (so I don't feel like I'm smothering my horses on hot days), and the horses don't recognize from across the field as soon as you leave the tack room?

Not that the ones I have now don't do some of those things; even the mischevious Captain Jack (Miniature Horse) can't get his muzzle off. But having those hard rubber or plastic "baskets" make me feel like demon mom.

The dry lot is finished for daytime use (complete with crushed limestone instead of mud, newly bedded run-in shed, automatic waterer, and two fans), and the muzzles go on at night when they are turned out in the pasture.

I know they need the muzzles. Grass in Kentucky was designed to put weight on cattle, and it works the same for horses. And that's fine if you are raising hard-keeper Thoroughbreds. But my poor old retired Paint and the two Minis just don't need that excess.

What are your solutions to the perfect muzzle? Please share!

This is a book title I've been working on for years. I won't tell you how far I've gotten heading toward the 1,001, but it's been fun!

This is something I like to bring up at cookouts and bonfires with horsey friends, and I usually am able to add a few each time.

So, thought I'd share a few with you, and open the door for you to share yours with everyone else.

After all, if it can't be fixed with duct tape or WD40, throw it away! ;-)

1) Tape the mane of your horse down when taking pictures on windy days. (Note: Take picture on the side AWAY from the duct tape!)

2) Keep on the diaper covering the sole abscess you have Animalintex on.

3) Fix the shavings rake handle.

4) Hold the bolts to the (pick machinery) where you can find them again during a repair.

5) Temporarily covering the hole the mare kicked through in the plywood until you can get it repaired.

There’s been a lot said about unwanted horses in the past few years, but I want to talk about “wanted” horses.

TheHorse.com started a service earlier this year to allow owners of Thoroughbreds that needed new homes to place those
horses on our Thoroughbred Adoption Services list. These horses are free to good homes, and any negotiations take place between the current owner and the potential owner. Antony Beck, owner of Gainesway Thoroughbred Farm in Kentucky, was the one who suggested TheHorse.com and Bloodhorse.com (our sister publication’s Web site that focuses on Thoroughbreds) work together to help well-meaning Thoroughbred owners find homes for horses that did not fit in the current Thoroughbred breeding or racing market.

I love riding Thoroughbreds, especially the ones I call “puppy dog” Thoroughbreds. Some Thoroughbreds are going to maintain their high-strung qualities, and others really just want their own human; the latter are what I call the puppy dog Thoroughbreds.

I know lots of eventers competing at all levels who won’t ride anything but Thoroughbreds. I also know some folks who have never entered a show or competition with their Thoroughbreds, but trail ride and hack around on them.

The U.S. Trotting Association contacted me shortly after we put up the Thoroughbred Adoption Services and wanted to do the same for Standardbreds. It took a while, but now that is also available.

At this writing 191 horses have found homes through these services. I’m not tooting our own horn, just saying there are horses out there that need homes that are wanted. We just need to get better about matchmaking.

With today’s computerized world moving at high speed, there is hope that a nationwide network of caring owners who need homes for horses can be matched with folks who would like nothing more than to make an unwanted horse into a wanted horse.

Do you own a horse that was previously "unwanted" and now has a home and/or a job? Please share!

One of the fun things about my job is that I sometimes get to see a glimpse into how corporate America works for the horse industry.

We all know it's very difficult, costly, and time-comsuming to get a new product approved by the FDA for horses. It takes years of research and development to be able to pass the rigorous standards required by our government.

There are some cool new equine products that will be coming out in early 2010; I say this as a horse owner!

So, if you were in the room with some of the research and development folks, what would you like to tell them?

What problems do you face with your horses that you would like them to focus their attentions on?