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Subject: Mounted search and rescue
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- From: "IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN" <ilichten1@verizon.net>
- To: "'Mounted search and rescue'" <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
- Subject: Re: [MSAR] Seedless Feed
- Date: Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:52:38 -0400
At least in the East the only areas
affected by seedless feed are federal lands and everybody is aware of the
problems these restrictions cause. Besides the ineffectiveness of the
regulations there is no scientific basis that horses spread invasive species of
plants through manure. The few studies conducted so far and published by
the AAEP indicate that propagation from a seed that has gone through a horse’s
digestive tract and placed in ideal conditions is under the rate from seeds
tracked in by cars and hiking boots with ridges. Besides the possibility of feed shock to
the horses by switching hays or feeds to avoid the possibility of propagating some
old weed back into an environment it was removed from as invasive, there is no
guarantee that locally procured hay or feed will be seed free, even if so
certified, because nobody inspects it. Finally, if the hay is grown and cut
locally from fields in the “quarantine” area does it have to be
seed free? The grass hay grown in local state parks and used by local barns
contains the species found in the park. And most of these park lands were
recreated by buying up farmland that was in floodplain. Even the local
national park is artificial terrain having been restored by landscape
architects and geologists since 1893 when the quarries were shut down and
backfilling began. What is native about that area? It was farmland during the
pre-colonial period and a bog iron complex during later years and through the
federal period at least. But we now have restored wetlands that might be
endangered by a horse’s manure getting within 100 yards below the area. There is one side effect for MSAR and
local businesses—now we can’t keep feed rotating through the
trailer and have to buy it on arrival in the search base. As if MSAR
logistics weren’t bad enough, now we need feed on arrival, instead of a
day or three later. And a vet for horses with bad stomachs should
probably be there as well. Irv Lichtenstein |
-
[MSAR] ERROR IN PRINT AND CORRECTION to Re: MSAR-Riders Digest, Vol 74, Issue 1,
Karen Nesbitt, 04/07/2009
- Re: [MSAR] Seedless Feed, IRVIN LICHTENSTEIN, 04/08/2009
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