So little time, So much to say,

welcome to my new blog under construction,

I am sure what I will write about, but pretty sure if you watch the medi  and face book some cues will hit you as they do me.

possible foder

Cancer treatment trials - follow the money.

Before I start this blog let me share some good news. I had a period of 2 months where my metastatic tumors on my lungs did not grow.

I was told that radiation couldn't be used in my case, I was told surgery wasn't a cure and could be life changing. Since my tumors were growing slow I felt I had time to try some other approach to stopping this disease from killing me.

I am not saying I have found a cure or anything like that, I am just suggesting that there are enough stories like mine that there should be some studies done to see why certain alternative treatments have success sometimes.

What I did was on my own, not through a nutritionist or alternative doctor trying to sell their treatment. I researched a lot of the substances that Big Pharma is trying to synthesize so they can patent their drug.

Here is a list of what I take:

1. Vitamin D3 - 4000 iu
2. Indole-3 – Carbinol - 400mg
3. Astragalus extract - 2000 mg
4. Bee Propolis - 800 mg
5. Curcumin - 2000 mg
6. CBD - 5 mg transdermal patch

These suppliments and my diet changes are expected to work on the Immunotherapy principle, as well as supply some anti angiogenesis properties.

Both of these treatments are being studied extensively and many are showing promising results.

So now the reason for this blog.

While I am looking for new trials to participate in for my type of cancer, 2 things are apparent:

1. Most trials are for the most popular types of cancer because if a treatment is shown to work for breast cancer, then there are many more patients to sell the treatment to. No one can blame them for that.
2. Most if not all trials on new treatments are run by Big Pharma, if they cant patent an idea they wont spend the millions and billions to test it and research results. No one can blame them for that. 

The most disturbing thing is that there are no publicly funded trials? It is the publicly funded trials that should be researching and studying the many alternative treatments that have shown some success.

• We donate millions each year to cancer societies where are their funded trials.
•  The Government pays billions each year in cancer care costs, through medicaid and medicare. Why are they not running trials trying to find more cost effective alternatives? 

What I have found is that many countries with publicly funded health care plans often sponsor trials for treatments. Those treatments may not have a great bottom line for the developers, but could offer more affordable treatments.

Conclusion

Follow the money and you will usually find an answer.

1. The most money is made in treating not curing.
2. There are some alternative treatments that cost very little that have shown possible benefits. They are not being studied and researched. 
3. The Government is the biggest health care spender, they are not sponsoring any trials to find more effective and cheaper alternatives
4. There are a number of natural products that share many cancer fighting properties. These products are not being studied and combined in research because the products cant be patented.  

I wont speculate why in this conclusion I will let everyone come up with their own theories and share them in the comments.

With the Vice President just losing a son to cancer,, I will not suggest a willingness to suppress trials and research on possible treatments that will not be profitable.
But one has to wonder why there are so few publicly funded trials into natural products that support both of the 2 newest areas of cancer treatment research.

Immunotherapy principle,  anti angiogenesis properties.

I will keep doing what I am doing, and see if I can possibly reverse my tumors growth when I have my next Ct scan, For now the tumors not growing is a good thing for me. :)

I think it is time we asked for  more publicly funded trials and research of natural cures and treatments.

Until next time, be safe and happy.

Rod

  

The FDA has a deadly slow process for many of us.

If you or a loved one is suffering from a fatal or debilitating disease, you understand how frustrating it can be to wait for a new, life-saving treatment or procedure.  Please consider helping me convince our politicians that we need new legislation that allows patients to decide for themselves the risks they want to take when trying a new treatment or procedure. Currently the FDA makes it a deadly slow process for many of us.

I have stage 4 sarcoma. Fortunately, it is not very aggressive at this time, and I have a couple FDA-approved options to try, but before I submit to life-changing surgery or radiation, I would like to try a reasonably safe new vaccine. However, because of FDA regulations, I cannot, and the vaccine probably won’t be approved by the FDA until after my cancer kills me. Chances of surgery curing me are a statistically slim10%.

There is a letter on goggle docs (you do not need to sign in or be a google member to access) I am asking you to send to our representatives and senators requesting that they make some changes.

Please consider supporting this request. you can access the letter at this link
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YRKur3TH0KLuKNGSWJldofbC-8-smGh9VFxec2OY4hE/edit

You may copy-and-paste the letter. Please remember to include your senator’s or representative’s name and use the proper salutation.
Remember to sign it.
You can copy-and-paste the letter into an email, but written letters received in the mail are more effective. Please consider printing and mailing your letter.
You can find your senator’s name and contact info here: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm
You can find your representative’s name and contact info here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

I have also created a petition- I ask people to read and sign this as well, I will include the results of this petition in my personal request to the President, and in the press releases we will write to being light to this deadly issue.

Read and sign the petition here


PLEASE SHARE THIS,

Thank you in advance.

Rod Miller
Rod@iphda.com

To Euthanize or not to Euthanize, - Quality verse Quantity.-

Before I start this blog, I know many people will get upset with my point of view. Some will call me a murderer, and all sorts of other nasty names.
Please read this blog to the end and the other blogs I refer to, before writing a comment, because I ask for your opinion and input on many things.
I promise to return the the same consideration, when you make comments and offer your opinion.

First lets get one thing clear,  I believe the best option for any horse is to be raised and enjoyed  by one family, then kept into retirement as a respected member of the family and allowed to die a nature painless death.

Just because I believe that is the best, and I strive to make that a reality for a majority of horses, does not mean I am gullible and believe that is the way all horses will live.

If you read my blog called "In a perfect world every horse would be knee high in their favorite grass" you will see I suggest that everyone is given free will.
 
No one is forced to think the same as I do, we have laws that protect horses from abuse. Those laws are never right in everyone's opinion  either.
Some consider the laws to restrictive, on how they can care for and train their animals, others consider the laws to lax. That is the reality of  any type of society that is forced to coexist.

My point here is that when we deal with a problem, (desire to actually make positive change) we have to consider the problem from all angles and opinions.

If our goals is to just get rid of something we do not like, with no consideration for the real problem we can do that easily. We take pictures and video of all the bad things that are happening, make people sad and disgusted, forcing rules that hide the disgusting stuff.
This is called treating symptoms and is very easy to do, the challenge, if you accept it, is to treat the problem. The problem I have is despite thousands of big hearted individuals, and 100's of equine rescues, there are 1000's of horses each year still suffering more than they were before we had slaughter houses in the USA banned.

Are you part of the problem or the solution?

Are you treating symptoms 

for your own well being?

 Are you efforting to develop the best possible solution so animals do not suffer 

undo stresses and discomfort!

To develop the best possible solution, we first have to understand other opinions..  

Below are a list of concerns I hear from both sides of the horse slaughter and rescue issue:

1. Every horse deserves to live out their days surrounded by people who love them.
    I agree totally, unfortunately peoples lives change, not everyone is able to, or willing to care for horses for their whole life.
   Some say lets make a law, "Everyone has to be responsible for the horse for life"
   Even with children we give people an out, they are only held responsible for the child till it turns 18. I feel very bad for kids, whose parents are not good parents. The same as I feel bad for horses whose owners are not responsible horse stewards.  
   Making a law that people have to be responsible for life for animals or kids, will do nothing but fill up our prisons. We can not force people to be responsible. We can only educate, and do our best to clean up their mess.
2. There are to many horses that go hungry, there is no way for people to get rid of the horse when they no longer want them.
   This is the reason we have sale barns and thus kill plants. Here is a quote from "In a perfect world". "There will always be more horses that need rescuing, than there are rescue dollars to rescue them".
3. Killing any animal is cruel murder.
   But letting them starve and go through life in pain is not? There are 2 sides to this issue, only looking at one, leaves you as part of the problem and not the solution. 
4. Killing an unwanted, hungry animal that no one can afford to feed is more humane than letting them go hungry.
   Here I agree, Euthanasia is the second best choice many times. I would love to be able to feed and care for all the horses. That is the reason I effort to help rescues raise funds, and also to develop horses into adoptable partners. 
5. We need to stop irresponsible breeding, When I hear this I just have to laugh.
   I am sorry, I agree irresponsible breeding is a huge problem, but exactly how do you propose we change that?
   Irresponsible breeding is a huge problem in both people and domestic animals of all types. Wild animals have a natural selection process that keeps their numbers down.
   In people and domestic animals we eliminate the predators and never replace that managing factor with anything but wishes and fairy dust. 
6. The shipping of horses to slaughter is cruel, and to many get hurt and stressed.
   I agree, those laws should be tougher and enforced more effectively, until a better solution for the horses that rescues can't save can be developed. 
7. The way slaughter houses kill horses sometimes fails, the horse is left alive for to long, the death is not instantaneous and they suffer.  
   Even with drugs and vets some horses thrash and suffer in the last few minutes. This is an ugly reality that no means of euthanasia is perfect. The best we can do is effort to make the euthanization method we chose as painless and swift as possible.  

Here are 3 main reasons that horses need rescuing or find themselves at sales, where they are at risk of going to the slaughter house.:

1. Owners can not afford the time or money to look after them properly, Peoples lives change and not always for the better. This is always a sad thing for both the people and the animals.
2. Owners are not educated enough to know how to properly care for a horseThis is also sad ,but mostly for the animal and why I support rescues who try to educate people about animal husbandry. 
3. Owners get tired of them and turn to other interests.
   Sellers should always make sure the buyers or adopters know the responsibility they are taking on. But again we have free will and not all sellers are as conscientious as I would like.
4. There value as a riding or driving animal was never developed, their only value is emotional or by the pound.
   Finding homes for a horse is easier if the horse can be rode or driven.  

BY now I am sure many big hearted people are spitting and sputtering at how cruel and narrow minded I am, 

 To those people, 
I applaud you in your strength to read something you are morally and ethically opposed to. 

That is why I am going to ask for your input, and help in solving a huge problem.  You have shown strength and a willingness to think, and try to understand an other point of view by getting this far.

I agree with the sentiments about treating animals fairly, and with respect. The only difference is I still see 1000's of horses suffering and starving still. 

For those horses your wishes for happiness and comfort for all, are just that wishes and fairy dust.  I want us to work together to help those horses.

Here is the reality of the problem we face. 

1. Thousands of horses still go hungry and suffer debilitating injuries and diseases each year.
   Sorry to say, this is a fact and you cant ignore it or wish it away. 
2. Rescues can not raise enough money to feed and care for them all.
   Again a fact that we cant just wish away or throw fair dust on.
    Unless you buy my fairy dust.  I mention my fairy dust at the end of "In a perfect world" , I donate the proceeds to rescues, sell enough fairy dust and we may be able to feed and look after all the hungry and abused horses?   
3. The horses that the rescues can't save, continue to suffer till they are euthanized.
   Here we get to the crux of the issue,
   I do not want to see horses suffer.
   I do not want to hide my head in the sand and ignore it.
   Yelling for someone to fix this problem is pointless, since we all have free will and not everyone feels as I do.
   The only answer for many horses, is to keep their suffering to a minimum. That unfortunately must include some sort of ending life program. 
4. Many many horses get euthanized at the slaughter plants because someone is able to make a profit from their meat.
   Because we do not like the idea of euthanizing horses we go after the slaughter plants and close them down here in  the USA.
   Now these horses have to travel many more thousands of miles and suffer even longer.
   We still have not stopped 1000's of horses each year from being killed.
   We have not offered people an option to getting rid of the horses they do not want.
   Rescues are still not saving them all.

What options can we develop that can help all the horses, 

not just wish they were better off? 

The solution should be:

1. Affordable for those who can not afford to pay the vet and disposal fee's to euthanize when that is the best option for that horse.
2. Pays someone at least the price of horse meat per pound in Europe for their horse, Then even the people who do not care if their horse suffers as long as they get their few bucks will chose to use the program. 
3. Be accessible in most counties around the country, thus removing the need for long trailer rides with large numbers of other horses crammed in.

Any other type of program is not considering all the reasons horses suffer,

 it is just throwing hopes and wishes at a serious issue. 

"In a perfect world" this would not be a needed program, but it is not a perfect world.

MY suggestions: 

1. Stop all shipping of horses out of the country for slaughter.
2. Stop the shipping of horses more than 100 miles, in any trailer that does not allow them individual space.
3. We ban the export of horse meat from this country.   
4. Approve a method of euthanization that does not taint the meat with drugs,
5. Have locally trained and approved people to deliver the euthanization and remove the carcass.
6. Sell the carcass to Zoo's for their big cats. or give it to local dog and cat shelters.
7. Have local meat packers approved to care for the carcass prior to shipping.

These suggestions 4 -7 are unsavory and far from the perfect solution, 

BUT they would facilitate all of the needs of a 

BEST POSSIBLE SOLUTION, IN OUR IMPERFECT WORLD.

1. I suggest that we stop wishing and hoping for more money and more shelters. 
2. I suggest that we stop hoping for more laws that will hold people responsible. 
3. If we wait for those pie in the sky solutions to be enough, 1000's of horses are suffering more than they need to.

I am not recommending these changes as an alternative to raising money for rescues, or for education of both the horses and owners. I am suggesting they are needed as an alternative for the slaughter plants, and long distant rides to euthanizing.
I am not even suggesting that people who pick one or 2 sick or crippled horses to save should stop. They can chose to save any horse they like, and I applaud them for it. I even offer discounts on coaching and training for rescue horses.
  
But until there are enough of those people to save all the horses, we need a better solution for the ones they cant!

Like I said in previous blogs we cant save all the horses, but we can save many more than we are by spending the money rescues have more wisely.

Now for all of you who feel I am cruel and  should be shot, if you have a viable alternative to offer please suggest it in the comments.

If you do not have a viable alternative then please, buy gallons of my fairy dust to help your wishes come true!

I sell it for $25 an ounce and all proceeds go to one of my favorite equine rescues. You just sprinkle a gallon on each horse you want rescued every month and they will magically be cared for.

Have a great day and please support an equine rescue. My favorites based on what they do and their practical approach is the Alaskan Equine Rescue and The Colorado Horse Rescue Network.
If you support a great rescue that has a practical approach, please let me know so I can give a shout out to them and offer my help.


Rod

In a perfect world every horse would be knee high in their favorite grass!

A couple months ago I wrote a blog that seemed to get mixed reviews.
Good intentions are driving up the cost of rescuing horses. while many thought I had wrote an informative piece, some gave it less than stellar reviews.

Terms like "makes me want to puke",  "You cant be for slaughter and against it at the same time, etc."

I wrote another blog about educating people, so fewer horses need rescuing. That blog is called Fighting equine abuse and neglect through education of both horses and owners!  Before anyone assumes they know my position on anything the should read the above mentioned blog, and this one.

The main issue people had with the blog Good intentions, seemed to be I mentioned the need for an effective affordable program to euthanize some horses. I used the words "slaughter and dog food" in the suggestion and that seemed to upset a few good hearted people.

So that brings me to my main point in this post,

  In a perfect world 

The need for slaughter houses would not exist.. 

The need for rescues would not exist  

The facts are that not all horses can be saved, in a perfect world they would be. BUT this is not a perfect world. We all have free will, 

• Some will chose to be uninformed, 
• Some will chose to think differently than we do,
• Some will chose to be heartless towards all animals. 
• Still more will chose to put their head in the sand and ignore issues others find impossible to ignore. 

• Some people will always raise more horses than they can feed or sell.
  - Maybe they think they can sell all their donkeys, because they love them and believe everyone will want one?
  - Maybe their wonderful stallion can't produce the winner at a better ratio than 1 in 4 so they breed 5 to get one good one and the other 4 are throw ways?
  - I do not now why they over breed and really do not care why they do. The only thing we can do is educate people, so that they do not do those things out of ignorance, they have to chose to be heartless or just dumb! .
• Some people will take a horse and then not be able to care for it.
  - Horses are a huge commitment, both in time and money, peoples lives change, if they find they can't care for the horse and can't give it away their only option many times is a sale. We can not judge these people till we walk a mile in their shoes.
  - Personally I have found myself in that position temporarily, fortunately for me I had developed my horses into great riding horses, they had some value so leasing them so someone else would feed them and care for them while I couldn't was easy.
  - Again why I promote education for both the horses and owners as I mentioned in Fighting equine abuse and neglect through education of both horses and owners!
• Some people will take a horse and turn it into a pushy dangerous beast by coddling it and trying to make it a dog.
  - Ask any knowledgeable horse person who deals with rescue horses what the hardest horses to adopt out are and they will tell you the spoiled pushy dangerous ones, Finding people who want to, and are able to correct those issues is very hard.
  - The old and crippled will find a foster owner before a pushy dangerous horse will.

The majority of people realize this is not a perfect world, and we have to deal in reality.
The reality is if we want to get rid of slaughter houses we first need to develop an effective way of dealing with all the horses that end up there.
This is where my comment in Good intentions are driving up the cost of rescuing horses. came from. It was a suggestion as to how we could possibly create an affordable and effective way of dealing with the horses that find themselves at the kill plants and or starved and crippled.
Obviously to some it was not a great suggestion, but instead of telling me how bad an idea it was, how about telling me how we can address the issue?

The reasons this needs to be addressed by adults and not people who believe in sprinkling fair dust on the problem are simple:|

• Rescues work tirelessly to raise money to help horses, and still never have enough money to save them all. 
• Every dollar they spend saving horses that will never find an adoptive owner, is a dollar they will have to spend over and over until that horse dies. Meaning they could have used the same funds to rehab and adopt out many others for the cost of saving one. 
• Euthanize programs that are run by some rescues are great options for people who have a heart and cant afford to pay to have their crippled or older horse humanly put down.
  Taking in horses from people who cant afford to feed their horses, is a good thing as well.
  BUT as I said earlier not all people are going to have that big a heart, remember free will? Some will chose to take the horse to a sale and take $50 instead of giving it away to a rescue, (even if they can find a rescue that has room). Others will then chose to take that horse to a slaughter plant. Others will then chose to eat the meat.

We have effectively decided in the USA that as a society we do  not want to slaughter horses for human consumption. I have no problem with that, I do how ever have a huge problem with there not being any cohesive way of dealing with the problem that slaughter houses deal with.

There will always be more horses that need rescuing, than there are rescue dollars. 

SORRY THAT IS A FACT,  IF WE CANT FACE THAT FACT WE CANT FIX THE PROBLEM !

I still believe that developing an affordable and safe alternative is needed before we stop the slaughter houses completely.
They serve an ugly purpose, Shutting them down does not make the purpose go away!

I am all for helping develop an alternative. But until there is an alternative I will continue to try and help educate people on:

• How to save the most horses with the dollars they have, 
• How to develop value in the horse, so the horse never finds itself in a position to be unwanted and uncared for. 

If this post offends you, or makes you want to puke, then I will send you an order of fairy dust :) I sell it for $25 an ounce and all proceeds go to one of my favorite equine rescues.

Have a great day and please support an equine rescue, My favorites based on what they do and their practical approach is the Alaskan Equine Rescue and The Colorado Horse Rescue Network. 

If you support a great rescue that has a practical approach, please let me know so I can give a shout out to them and offer my help.

Rod    

Stopping cronyism and corruption.

This post is way off base from my usual topics.  The only things that are common to our usual conversations behind the Horse Stable  are drugs, cronyism and corruption.

A few weeks ago I saw a video about a new cancer vaccine that was working very well in dogs cats and horses. The video mentioned they were going to start human trials last 1/4 of this year.

On a whim I sent them an email, and explained my case and asked what the chances are of getting in the trial.

I figured I would get a form letter, but instead I get a call back from a very nice gentleman that explained the first FDA approved trials will only be for one kind of cancer. If it is proven successful and safe they will then move to another type, etc.

His words 

"It will be years till we will get to work with all types of human cancer."

The USDA must be much easier to work with, so far this vaccine has worked with every-type of cancer they have tried it on in horses dogs and cats - 28 types to-date.

The vaccine is made from the patients own tumor cells and Biotechnology so there are no side effects. It works by educating the immune system to kill the cancer cells. Therefore the earlier the cancer is detected and the vaccine given  the better chance the immune system will be able to destroy the tumor before the tumor kills the patient. They expect to have even better results in human trials than animal cases, since most animal cases are not diagnosed till later stages.

My reason for this post is not about whether this could be the next best thing in the fight against cancer.

My Reason for this post is to ask why is the FDA stopping people from volunteering to try this vaccine on any type of cancer?

If you have as I do, 5 metastasized sarcoma tumors in your lungs, your chances of winning the fight against cancer is 10% using traditional treatment methods.

• My first thought is the FDA is trying to save me from treatments that could kill me? yea not likely with a 10% chance anyway.
• My second thought is the FDA does not want me to buy snake oil, I appreciate the thoughts and will get back to that one.
• My third thought was the FDA does not want me to stop trying traditional methods.

Here is my final thought, 

"FDA GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY" 

• Anyone with half a mind can figure out that these are trials to prove the drugs work, the access is free, The worry about snake oil salesmen is mute,  they are snake oil giveaways.
• If I have a 10% chance verse a hope and a prayer with a promising new treatment, chances are I may do both. BUT it is my choice, no Doctor has ever said to me "you must do this", everything has been my choice.
• Now what about the next stage, after I get the next treatments that traditional medicine says I need. The stage where they say sorry we can not stop this,, it is to aggressive. WHAT IN HE DOUBLE HOCKEY STICKS ARE THEY SAVING ME FROM THEN?

I can only conclude that

The FDA is not concerned with saving me, or anyone but themselves.

Because this is what they do!

1. Drive up costs of drugs and treatments by increasing the amount of time they need to come to market. thus controlling the citizens ability to take care of themselves. The higher the cost of drugs and treatments the more dependent on social programs and insurance society becomes. This is all good for the politicians job security and the insurance business that donates to keep the politicians elected. 
2. Keeping new drugs off the market as long as possible so political cronies in big pharma can either figure out a way to discredit, or steal the new technology or drug. I try not to indulge in conspiracy theories, But there are just way to many stories and bits of proof that the 3 big industries (Health care, food production, and energy production), will buy out, steal or discredit any new tech they do not control, or threatens profits.   

Big pharma makes billions each year 

 If a vaccine is developed that works on even 50% of cancer patients 

They would have to sell a few private jets!!

I am all for free enterprise, but when government impedes the free enterprise of some, to benefit others that is cronyism.

I do not care if you are an Occupy wall street type, or a Tea Party supporter

I hope you are for personal freedom, 

and against big business getting bigger by cronyism and corruption..

We need some logical changes to help people find treatments that may work when traditional treatment fail them. We also must allow drugs to come through the trial process quicker so they can be more affordable.

Some suggestions to get us back on track

1. If a person has been told by doctors and statistics that they have less than a 20% chance of survival, they should be able to volunteer for any new trial whether it is FDA approved or not.
2. A person with a better than 20% statistical chance, must try traditional methods and have them fail, before being able to volunteer for any non FDA sanctioned trials.
3. The people promoting the trial must show that it works at least as well as other treatments available before being able to charge for it. I will let the suits decide how much success is required.
4. Any drug, vaccine or therapy that contains nothing foreign to the persons body should qualify as a supplement or Naturopathic, thus be allowed to come to market without FDA approval.
   Here is where I shoot the idea of "they do not want you buying snake oils" in the foot, They allow all kinds of non FDA tested or approved natural supplements every year, and most of them are snake oils,

This all begs the question,

Does the FDA get kick backs from the supplement companies as well?

Good people are suffering and dying every day from disease, big pharma is making billions and helping very little.

The cancer survival rate is only 15% better today than it was 50 years ago.

There is NO PROFIT in creating a cure, 

The profit is in developing treatments that are needed for life.

For those that are wondering - I have slowed the growth of my tumors, I believe with diet using a new idea called anti Angiogenesis. I will probably still have surgery but am waiting (with my doctors blessing) to see if the tumors have in fact stopped growing and no more are appearing.

The FDA is standing in my way of choosing a treatment that has no harsh chemicals, has no adverse substances that are not found in the body.

BUT THEY OK CHEMO THAT CAN KILL ME, JUST NOT AS CERTAINLY AS CANCER CAN.

Someone has to be getting paid off, for this type of illogical thinking to be taking place!!

The Brits are coming, the Brits are coming!!!

 I am going to try and get some one to write a bill similar to the one that is going through the British Parliament now. Click here to read about the medical innovation bill,,   

I am writing up a form letter for anyone who cares to copy and forward to their politicians. Check back the next blog post here will have that letter included.

Some of the highlights of this bill

1. Allows Doctors to suggest and try methods and treatments that may not be totally studied yet when traditional methods fail.
2. Protect the Doctors from suit if the treatment or method fail
3. Allows Patients to decide if they want to try any unproven method or treatment
4. Promotes new and innovative treatments and methods

 A few Quotes from the web page answering questions abut this bill. 

• "At the moment, the doctor’s hands are tied – by concerns about professional reputation and potential negligence claims,” says Lord Woolf.
• “The Bill will allow responsible innovation.” says Sir Michael Rawlins.“From trying out things in individual patients, that can lead onto research and benefit thousands of other patients.
• “It is a tragic indictment of modern medicine that innovation is too often jettisoned in favour of the status quo for fear of legal action. Defensive medicine is at the heart of so much clinical practice today, but the Bill – if accepted into law – would deftly excise this, leading the way for doctors to feel free to strive for medical advancement.
• “This doesn’t mean that doctors would have free rein to experiment on a patient – they would still be bound by professional guidance and their duty of care would remain to their patient. Nor would it mean that the Bill would become a substitute for proper clinical trials.
• “But what it does mean is that, in cases where the evidence is shaky, wanting or not yet clear, the Bill would set out a code by which doctors could try alternatives. It would provide a legal framework by which doctors, in discussion with their patients, could try off-label drugs or a device, treatment or intervention that might have some clinical data supporting it, but has yet to be fully proven.”

I know as Americans we hate to think the Brits can do anything better than we can. But if this legislation goes through they will be better at testing new treatments and procedures in health care. 

If you care please help!

All suggestions and comments are welcomed, as I try to develop a common sense and safe suggestion for dealing with snake oils, Political pay offs and letting the Doctors and scientists develop better treatments without fear of  being sued.

I do not want to just say "hey politician, I do not like this fix it"! I want to offer a workable idea that is similar to the British legislation only better. 

 I know it can be done if the right people put their heads together and discuss idea's.

 Politicians can never put their heads together for obvious reasons. 

We need to do the work and let them take the credit!

Till next time, may you ride a good horse

Rod 

Fighting equine abuse and neglect through education of both horses and owners!

Part of what I do is help people, who help horses!

I know quite a few big hearted horse people who work with rescue horses.
I try to help and encourage them as much as I can.


The reason for this is simple, a horse that has been trained, and is in good physical shape has some value. Anything with value seldom gets abused or neglected.




Yes there are exceptions to this with a few people abusing animals to win a ribbon etc. Generally tho, those people are few, and they are getting caught and punished more often in this day of instant and global communication.




There are also the exceptions of people who think the value of a horse is not in its ability to be rode or shown, but just in the fact it is a horse. it is loved.

I admire those people and respect them, but they are not the majority of people either.





Most people have horses because they enjoy them, that means they enjoy riding or driving them, maybe even showing them once in awhile.

Owning horses is a hobby for most people,  just like owning golf clubs or a boat, they allow you to enjoy a certain activity.
The tools of an equine hobby demand more care than those of golf or fishing.

The fact that the horse is a living breathing animal means that our society wont allow people to abuse it in the pursuit of the hobby. We never seem to get upset when a golfer bends a 1 iron around a tree, or a boater runs his boat onto shore and punches a hole in it.  

Making the world a better place

Above I mentioned the few people who will feed and care for as many horses as they can. They work tirelessly to save a few. and regret they cant save them all.



The world would be a better place if there was enough of those  special people to save all the horses whose only value is per pound..

BUT THATS NEVER GOING TO HAPPEN!!!

I was chastised in a comment of my last post by one of those people with a big heart.
She took offense to my comment suggesting I was in favor of humanly putting down the old, the sick and crippled horses that the rescues could not save.

I still feel that assisted suicide for humans and euthanization for the sick and crippled animals offer a better option than a life of misery.

I think her main issue was that I suggested that the carcasses be used to help feed all the dogs and cats that need feeding in those shelters.
I digress though, I am still not ready to discuss a possible program like that, as I have not thought about it enough, nor had the chance to discuss it with others who can be rational and not emotional.




My main point for bringing up this chastising, is that there needs to be a multi point attack on helping horses who are abused and have little value besides per pound in Europe.

1. We need to educate owners on the pitfalls of breeding just to have a foal, with no plan to develop that horses value to the majority of horse owners.  
2. We need to educate the horses that are suitable candidates for the majority of horse owners.
3. We need to develop affordable programs for new horse owners to learn the skills they need to enjoy equine activities.
4. We need to develop more affordable activities for horses owners to enjoy and realize the value in their horses. 
5. We need to artificially give every horse a value more than their per pound value. Refer to Good intentions are driving up the cost of rescuing horses. for my opinion on how to best do that. 
6. We need to find some economical and safe humane way to euthanize the sick and crippled and down right dangerous ones. (this is where the concept of feeding the Dogs and cats comes from)
   This is where I differ from some, When resources are limited you can lament the lack of resources, and do nothing but complain, or you can direct your resources to the best effect for your intended purpose.
   My intention is to assist as many horses in need as possible. The more you spend on saving the sick, crippled and dangerous, the less you can spend on saving the ones that wont require resources forever. Save the ones whose  value can be developed so a majority of horse owners will spend their resources to care for the horse. 

There is a very good reason that things seldom seem to change, or they seem to change so slowly. We as a species seem to expect perfection in change, instead of accepting a little better, then trying to improve that new reality a little bit again.

If we could improve any situation 

by 1% a day 

it only takes 100 days to be 100%. 

We will argue and fight over ideas that are not perfect and never help things get better even a little bit.







The facts are we cant change the human race, You cant make everyone care about the same things you do!
But we can organize resources better to do a better job!

Some of the best programs I have heard of :

• The Guaranteed $100 for any horse,  that the Colorado Horse Rescue Network  offers, 
• Offering to help pay for feed and vets for people in need by the Alaskan Equine Rescue
• The Equine Come Back Challenge, a training competition for rescue horses offered by A Home For Every Horse.

If you know of any other unique type of program designed to help horses in need please let me know in the comments. 

But we are horse people!

I think if we all work together to make things a little better we can make things really good pretty quick for most horses!

But we are horse people! There is very little chance we can get along and work for one common goal!

I have watched as 2 people both wanting to help create value in rescue horses argue about the best way to train the horse?

If it works, and is not cruel does it really matter how the value is created?

Have a great day, 

Rod