The bookmark: equine edition
All things horsey on Twitter
There's not a ton of equine-related material on Twitter (horse people definitely seem to favour Instagram & Facebook for their posts), but here's a sample of what I did find that seemed to me noteworthy enough to save.
The indispensible equus asinusSelf-medicating wild horsesHorse-human connectionThe indispensible equus asinus
There are an estimated ten million donkeys in sub Saharan Africa.
— BBC World Service (@bbcworldservice) October 11, 2021
We explore how they're an economic lifeline for many families and why demand from China for their skins is worrying many across the continenthttps://t.co/tjeTdc6FM4
Donkeys are fascinating creatures. They differ significantly from horses: hardier, thriftier, perhaps cleverer and definitely more challenging to work with for all these reasons. They are also a vital element of the transportation infrastructure in many places all over the world. And they are often subject to some very rough treatment: not just beatings, but ill-fitting homemade tack that causes terrible injuries and shoeing practices that are anything but friendly to their feet.
Self-medicating wild horses
Do #Alberta's feral horses self-medicate? @UCalgary researcher Dr. Brielle Rosa is studying whether these beautiful animals eat plants that help fight off parasites. Study blends Métis traditional plant medicine knowledge and clinical research. #horses https://t.co/6dSGLgxzIv pic.twitter.com/SiIyrJ2GvT
— UCVM (@ucalgaryvetmed) September 29, 2021
Rosa is working with Brenda Holder, a traditional knowledge keeper of plant medicine and member of the Métis Nation of Alberta.
The year-and-a half-long research project consists of field work and data collection. Over the summer, Rosa, Holder, and the two students observed several bands of feral horses in the Sundre area, using a combination of remote cameras and direct observations to see what plants they were eating that may have anti-parasitic properties. They also took samples to determine the parasite loads of the horses; this will allow them to determine if there is a correlation between parasite burden and the plants ingested.
Horse-human connection
A fascinating probe into x-species connection and kinetic empathy. There are ethical issues here, requiring more discussion, but the symbiosis between horse and human is very, very old. https://t.co/DTlKGyI7SN
— 🧬 Ginny Battson (@seasonalight) January 15, 2022