The Horse Doctor

I just got back from another trip to Cumberland Island. It is a barrier Island off the coast of Georgia. There are no road or bridges to it so you have to get there by boat. My wifes family had a small house there in 1970, unfortuneately the Federal Government established a wilderness area right where their house was. The law passed in 1972 and was retro-active to include their house but not those built 1 month before. Those were built by the Rockafeller families....go figure. Beth and I were married there in 1989 and started going back about 8 years ago and every year it is one of the highlights of that year. We go over and stay in a house behind the dunes with the greater extended family...the Van Cleves, Baumans and Weldon ( there are alot of cousins) and various friends come and bring their kids ( Inghams, Stiefels and Ely's). So much for the peace and quiet. It is an amazing place to explore the old history of the coastal south, get the kids outside and away from the books a...

Jacksonville Episcopal High School requires all of their students to do some form of community service each semester. This morning Horse Sense and Sensitivity , (a local organization that provides therapeutic horse back riding for kids with disabilities) had a painting day and the Episcopal Lacross team came in mass. As can be expected when you get a bunch of teenage boys together on a Saturday morning with white paint and brushes.....it was interesting. Let me say what a great group of kids they were. They worked hard (actually getting most of the paint on the fences) and there was absolutely NO complaining. It was really refreshing to watch when so much of what you see in the news is just the opposite. Keeping HS&S operating of great personal satisfaction but more importantly it provides an incredible service. When you can take a child that has to spend most of their time at wheel chair level and allow them the feeling of getting up on a horse and being taller than everyone els...

The recent outbreak of the H5N1 flu in Britain has many worried. There is a new twist to the tale. The Government Veterinarian that did the diagnostics on the infected turkeys (160,000 turkeys) has shown signs of respiratory infection. While it is unlikely that he was infected with the H5N1 since he was wearing full protective gear....it is an odd coincidence. If the results of the current testing shows H5N1 then this outbreak it a major leap for the virus. This would mean a significant mutation allowing much greater infectious capabilities. There are 10 significant mutations that must take to match the Flu pandemic of the early 1900's, at least 3 of these have occurred already. They are taking significant steps in Europe now, but it is very hard to control the wild bird population. This one is worth watching. In a separate development, cat owners are being advised to keep their pets inside to protect them against bird flu if they live near wetland areas populated by ducks and wil...

There has been a great deal of talk in the press as of late about Global Warming and as a devote follower of the Scientific method....I'm a skeptic. The Scientific method has 4 parts. 1. Observation-observe a phenomenon or problem 2. Hypothesis- derive a hypothesis to explain the phenomena 3.Prediction- logically predict how the hypothesis will perform using past and present events 4. Experimentation- perform experiments and analyze data to prove or disprove your hypothesis. Most of what I hear today stops with steps 2 . No one has used step 3 to explain warming after prior ice ages or experimentation to show that man is causing each of these global warming periods. So here we are 1. Is the Earth getting warmer? I think the answer is yes. We are now in a warming period coming out of the " little ice age " a cooling period that followed the " Medieval Climate optimum " It's important to note that this occurred prior to the development of the internal combu...