Dear Editor...
Dear Saddle Up: We really like your magazine. We love your horse facts, stories, and pictures. We're your biggest fans. We met Cheryle Hickman and she took a picture of us and asked us to write you. We're in Shift ing Saddles 4-H Horse Club in Salmon Arm. We were doing the Summer Sizzler Horse Show. We love horses a lot. - From Kimmy and Olivia (Thank you Kimmy and Olivia, we always love hearing from our readers. Look for your picture and story about the Summer Sizzler on page 22.)
Hi Nancy: I thought I'd better let you know how much I have been an avid reader of Saddle Up for many years now and how much
I appreciate the results you post for our Gymkhana Club. Not only do I always learn something but I was able to educate a "nonhorsey" person recently. My mom and I were riding one behind the other along a local road to our trailhead when a man in a large truck came speeding up to us. When I motioned for him to slow down he sped up and flew by us. Our 20 and 21-year-old horses who are very road worthy spooked and we both nearly came off. I then followed the man home where we had a very heated discussion about "road manners" with horses. He told me that "the road is not a horse trail and if your horses aren't fine with vehicles you should stay off the road." I was so frustrated that people (especially in rural areas) are so unfamiliar with horse/ traffic safety. When I returned from my ride I had the August issue of Saddle Up in my car with the great story on road rules and safety. I tore out the article and took it by his house.
Hopefully he is more educated than he was before. - Thanks again, Amanda Blamire, Kelowna
Dear Saddle Up: In response to Chris Irwin's article, "Beware of Easy Answers" (July 2009), I would like to suggest that Mr. Irwin do some research in a couple of areas. First, he might want to familiarize himself with the work of noted equine physiologist Dr. Deb Bennett, who states: "The same schedule for skeletal maturation applies to all breeds," and goes on to explain that while one horse may look more mature than another, this is misleading because all have vulnerable growth plates in various parts of the body that are not 100% fused until about the age of five or six continued on page 6
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