But the catch is, my horses have to be there with me.

Holly Clanahan

FROM MIDAIR – Lifting off from San Diego International Airport today, I felt a pang of regret. From the plane window, I could see the San Diego Bay, with its massive cruise ships and elegant sailboats. And the palm trees. I loove palm trees, because where you see those, you’re never going to see truly cold weather, which my thin-blooded self hates.

Reports from home are that snow is on the way. My elder-care horse is bundled up in her snuggly blanket, and the others are noshing on plenty of hay to generate body heat. There are no palm trees where I live.

I considered missing my flight home, purely on accident, of course. These things happen, and then it might take another day or two – or however long the snow sticks around – to find another flight home.

But let’s be honest here: I miss the ponies. I’ll get in about 11 p.m. tonight, and yes, I am polite enough to hug the human members of my family first. But then I’ll make a round of the barn and pasture – wearing more clothes than I packed for an entire week in Southern California – for some long overdue wither scritches. (For what it’s worth, I do know that “scritch” probably isn’t a real word. But I don’t care. It’s what you do to itchy withers.)

So I’ll be glad to get home, even if it’s not exactly toes-in-the-sand kind of weather. And truth be told, I’m also looking forward to delving into the story material I gathered in San Diego, while I was at the American Association of Equine Practitioners convention. I attended sessions on farriery, lameness, reproduction and neurology – just to name a few. You’ll see stories on those sessions starting to appear in the America’s Horse print magazine, as well as our two sister publications, The American Quarter Horse Journal and The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal.

But just to tide you over, here are a few fun facts from the AAEP convention:

• PSSM (polysaccharide storage myopathy) is a genetic muscle disease that affects Quarter Horses, draft horses and many other breeds. But through gene markers, researchers have learned that all horses with a particular mutation (GSY1) trace to one common ancestor, who lived anywhere from 144 to 178 generations ago. That means the horse lived from 1,200 to 1,500 years ago – the period of time in which draft-type medieval war horses were prevalent.

• All horses’ front legs toe in approximately 4 degrees, due to a slight twist in the first phalanx. (Check this one out … I know I will, as soon as it’s daylight!)

• Hoof wall is more fracture-resistant than bone.

• Horses require only three to five hours of sleep a night, but like us, they must get REM sleep in order to meet their body’s needs. They cannot get REM sleep without lying down.

‘Til next time … Happy riding, and stay warm!

Holly Clanahan
Editor, America’s Horse magazine

Don’t miss the fun, educational and heart-warming stories in the print version of America’s Horse! It goes to all members of the American Quarter Horse Association, and it’ll also keep you in the loop on Association news. We want you to belong!

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