I love this video because it shows how LOVE is truly the most powerful thing in the universe, not just shared by people but by all living things!

As you know, I’ve been a member of the FEI Dressage Task Force since it was formed due to the resignation of the last Dressage Committee. We have been meeting weekly to resolve pressing issues and will continue to meet on a regular basis to achieve our goals until the next DC is elected. Here is the document sent out today to all the National Federations as well as the Stakeholder Groups for their opinions and consultation.

RD

Click below to read the document:
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Dear Rhonda,

One of my closest friends asked to borrow money from me. It’s not that
I can’t afford it, but I have a feeling that I will never get it back
and I don’t want to end up hurting our friendship and resenting her
for it. But, if I don’t give her the money I am afraid that she will
end up resenting me for not giving it to her. What should I do?

Sincerely,
Shawna

Dear Shawna,

It sounds like you’re screwed either way, so at least be screwed with
your money in tact. If she was a close friend, she would have known
better than to ask you for money (you seem a little tight and a true
friend would know that about you). And lets be honest, if she really
was your “nearest and dearest” you wouldn’t even be asking me what to
do. You would fork over your first born for a true friend.

It sounds to me like your relationship with her is as close as a
bastard’s to his “legitimate” half siblings. With that in mind there
is only one solution; LIE. Tell her that times are tough, you wish you
could help her and that it kills you that you can’t. My bet is that
she distances herself for a few weeks while she overcomes the
rejection (and preys on someone else) and that your “fringe”
friendship is back on track by the end of the month. And one last
note… buying her the meal over which you tell her “no” is completely
optional, but highly recommended. In the future, I would consider
bitching about your finances more in social situations so that you
don’t have “meal ticket” written all over you.

Mazal tov,
Rhonda

Send your questions to rhonda@doversworld.com

I have had two Jack Russells in a row live to be 18 years old. If you speak to J.R. owners, you will find that even one living half that age is normally a miracle, since most of them are either eaten by bigger dogs they are determined to fight with, or run over by cars or farm equipment. Finding one that dies from natural causes of old age is almost unheard of. And I had two!

But the real reason this phenomena took place — aside from the fact that Robert and I treated them both like the children they were to us — was that I had and still have for my new pup, Simon, quite simply the best vet in the world, Dr. Ringler.

Now you might think this sounds like a paid advertisement or an infomercial, but I assure you I’m being straight up with you, so to speak. I even have a story to help convince you.

I started going to Dr. Ringler at his Royal Palm Animal Hospital when my first Russell, Half-Halt, was already quite old. He had suffered kidney as well as heart problems and I was very worried about him. I asked my horsey friends in Wellington and one by one was told there was one man who had saved more old dogs in our community than all the rest combined, Dr. Ringler.

The problem is there are dogs and then there are Jack Russells. My philosophy, shared by many, is that the difference between a J.R. and a dog is that, while dogs are reincarnated from the souls of other departed dogs, Russells are the result of human criminals who are not allowed to come back as human beings. Get it?

So, anyway, Dr. Ringler saved my Half-Halt countless time from near death, and he lived his life pain-free and exasperatingly difficult to deal with until the last day, close to his 19th birthday.

But that’s not the best story. Half-Halt’s daughter, Pirouette, was as sweet as he was, shall we say “tough”? She loved everybody but all the hunting she did wore out her crucial ligaments as an old dog and she had to have plates put in both hips. But that wasn’t all by any means. Piro, at the age of 15, suddenly began having seizures which lasted only a second or two, but literally knocked her off her feet onto her back. Her hind legs would look like they were kicked out from underneath her and she’d tumble but get right back up an instant later and act like it hadn’t happened.

So off we schlepped to Dr. Ringler and he spent the entire day running test after test to try to diagnose her symptoms. The problem was that she no longer showed her little stumbling act and, at 5pm I went to pick her up and he said he had no idea what was wrong. He did say it could be a spinal lesion or another neurological disorder, and that we could try some steroids, but thought it best to wait and see if it was just a virus.

Just as we were about to leave the office, low and behold, Piro suffered a seizure and down she went! Well, Dr. Ringler took one look at her and said, “Wait a minute. Bring in the EEG machine”, to the nurse. Five minutes later we had our diagnoses, Pirouette was having electrical malfunctions in her heart, causing mini heart attacks.

Well, I was naturally beside myself, thinking I was about to lose my second beloved dog, and probably most vets would have told their clients all was lost. But not Dr. Ringler. He made a couple of calls and came back and told me that we could try putting in a pace-maker and he had a specialist who would perform the operation the next day. Putting a pace-maker in a dog is not something one hears about very often. Even the specialist had only performed such a surgery once before in his career, but we would do it the following day, provided Piro survived the night, and so we sat vigil and waited through until morning. And she not only made it through the night but also through the operation and then, unbelievably, another 5 years!

All of the extra quality time I got to spend with my pets has been because of Dr. Ringler, my amazing, (and also the tallest at 6′6″) vet whose training, experience and knowledge is only eclipsed by his compassion and true love for animals.

Every country hopes for a star to rise out of the masses of combinations out there competing, particularly in the years before major championships. The United States is no exception and, just like we were thrilled when Steffen brought out Ravel to bolster our chances for a medal alongside our great team horse, Brentina and a slightly greener but very strong Mythilus, we knew that the days of having 4 horses consistently getting well over 70% was in the past. So with less than 2 years to the World Equestrian Games on our home turf in Kentucky, I’ve been very concerned that I haven’t been seeing any rising stars to take the places of our retired greats. But then came this week and the Palm Beach Derby and guess what? They’re here!

Among the horses and riders we’ve already known were our stronger candidates were a couple of new and exciting faces at Grand Prix. Now understand that I am not saying these are by any means the only horses with great potential in the U.S. (I only watched one day of the show and only half the GP horses there). And I didn’t get to see the winner of the first GP, Michael Barizone’s Olympus go, although I did see some fine piaffe and passage from him the day before.

Who I did see was Lauren Samis on Sagacious and Shawna Harding on Comeback 111. Sagacious is simply fantastic! Even though he is very green and still unreliable in piaffe, he has the makings of an individual medal horse and once his piaffe is sure, I predict he wil be unstoppable. Comeback 111 is also still very green, as are both riders at this level, but I predict that with a more powerful and rhythmic passage, he will show the quality of a young Corlandus.

So I am truly excited and I’ll be travelling around the country giving clinics and symposia this year and on the lookout for more rising stars. If they are out there at any level, I want to see them!

Cheers!
RD

When I think of a hero, I think of someone who selflessly does whatever they can to make the world a better place for those less fortunate. No one better describes this person than my friend, Dr. Edward Wilson.

He entered the lives of Robert and myself when our longtime friend, Otho Kerr, made the perfect choice to begin dating this Park Avenue dentist, known to his friends as Trey. Their relationship bloomed and they now, years later, share a life filled with beautiful homes in New York as well as Bucks County, and the happiness that comes from their pastimes with friends, church duties and charities.

But for Trey one such charity has eclipsed all others and stands alone as an amazing life’s work. Tabasamu (Swahili for “smile”), is the brainchild of Trey who, along with Otho and members of their church, have made annual pilgrimages to Kenya in order to bring badly needed dental care to thousands of villagers from the region. Some walk for days to stand in line and wait to see Trey and his colleagues and all leave being better off because of these wonderful humanitarians.

I urge you to please look at everything written here about Trey and Tabasamu and watch the video footage as well. If a picture is worth a thousand words, this video is worth billions and that’s exactly what these people deserve in dollars, for health care, housing, food and water, and education. Please also click on the link below to go to Tabasamu.org to learn more and see how you can help.

Click below to read more!
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