Retired Racehorses Thrive With Proper Care and Retraining Tips for Creating a Healthy Environment for Your Thoroughbred

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) October 12, 2007

Racehorse rescues and retirement programs have successfully placed thousands of retired Thoroughbred racehorses into new homes. Ensuring that the new owners successfully transition and retrain their Thoroughbreds is one of the primary missions of Wood End Farms (http://www.woodendfarms.org), a 501(c) 3 charity located north of Chicago that’s devoted to the care, retraining and rehabilitation of retired racehorses. The care a Thoroughbred horse receives can play an instrumental role in the success of a horse’s transition into its new job as an eventer, a trail horse, or a dressage star.

“Racehorses in training are accustomed to an environment that is very different from that in most show and pleasure barns,” says Nicola Birch, the founder and director of Wood End. “They’re accustomed to a strict routine, are confined for most of their days, are working hard, and they’re fed a rich diet. Taking a horse straight from the track and putting him in a pasture can cause a variety of behavioral and health problems that can surprise well-intentioned new owners.”

Birch notes that Wood End has developed a variety of best practices for Thoroughbred care that that support ex-racehorses as they transition from the track and start their retraining. Key pointers Birch offers include these:

Establish a routine and follow it. Horses crave routine. At Wood End, horses rotate between spending time in turn-out and in their stalls. This provides both variety and routine, and the horses benefit from being handled several times a day.
High-quality feed is a must. Though retired racehorses will need less protein than those in training, good nutrition plays a vital role in developing strong, healthy hooves, and helping the animals’ bodies recover from the rigor of racing. Pasture and new feeds should be introduced gradually to prevent the horse’s digestive system from being upset.
Racehorses are used to activity. Barns that have open-front stalls, windows and wide aisles are comforting to busy, active Thoroughbreds. A bored or isolated horse will be stressed and can develop bad habits such as cribbing or weaving in the stall.
Understand that the training a racehorse receives is far different than for riding horses. Stark differences include the fact that crossties are not used at the racetrack, for example, and riders mount while the animal is walking. A retired racehorse will need to be schooled in the basics, and will need to unlearn some behaviors.
Give your new ex-racer a job. Thoroughbreds are eager to please and thrive when working. During the transition phase, while you’re letting your horse down from the track, groundwork can be an invaluable tool to keep your horse busy and start his learning process.

About Wood End Farms

Founded in 2004, Wood End Farms specializes in the care and training of Thoroughbred ex-racehorses. The organization’s mission is to promote Thoroughbreds’ suitability for pleasure and performance disciplines, and to support Thoroughbred owners by providing expert education and resources.

Retired Racehorses Thrive With Proper Care and Retraining Tips for Creating a Healthy Environment for Your Thoroughbred

New Education about Eye Care for Children on Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water

Grants Pass, OR (PRWEB) January 11, 2012

Sharon Kleyne, host of the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water syndicated radio talk show, recently interviewed Marguerite McDonald, MD about pediatric eye care and what every parent should know about preventing low vision and blindness in children. The interview may be heard on-demand on World Talk Radio, Voice America, Green Talk Network and Apple iTunes and Twitter.

Sharon noted that according to the World Health Organization, there are 1.4 million blind children in the world, and many more with low vision. Three-fourths of blind children live in the poorest regions of Africa and Asia, where 80% of blindness is preventable or correctable.

Major causes of childhood blindness in wealthy countries include genetic disorders, and lesions of the optic nerve and higher vision centers. In poor countries, blindness may be caused by measles (preventable), Vitamin A deficiency (preventable), harmful folk remedies (preventable), cataracts (curable), retinopathy of prematurity (curable), glaucoma (treatable), retinoblastoma (the eye usually can’t be saved but the life can) and infections such as conjunctivitis (curable). Causes of low vision include amblyopia (curable), strobismus (curable), nearsightedness (correctable) and developmental problems.

Sharon Kleyne, Marguerite McDonald and the World Health Organization agree that education is the key to preventing low vision and blindness in children. Frequent eye exams and the availability of medical care are most effective when parents are educated about the need for eye screenings and exams, and about what to look for in a child’s visual development.

Dr. McDonald believes that eyes are the most important organ in relating to the outside world. And yet there is much less education available on eye care than with most other health areas. Sharon Kleyne agreed. According to studies by the American Academy of Ophthalmology, sponsor of the “EyeSmart” campaign, Americans know virtually nothing about eye care.

Marguerite McDonald noted that the better hospitals routinely test infant vision. If there are no problems, they probably won’t mention it. All babies should have a pediatric eye exam because with conditions such as lazy eye, pediatric cataract (present in one birth in 50) or glaucoma, the earlier they are caught, the easier they are to correct. These conditions all cause the eye to send incorrect messages to the brain. When the brain begins ignoring messages from the bad eye, correction becomes far more difficult

Sharon asked about eye and brain communication. According to Dr. McDonald, the retina is actually part of the brain. Eye-to-brain pathways begin developing immediately after birth and it is critical that the baby’s eyes send correct messages. She notes that vision is, in large part, learned behavior (the ability to interpret what you see and to fill in the blanks), and poor vision in childhood can lead to learning and behavior problems.

Dr. McDonald notes that most schools have vision screening programs and are able to detect poor vision because they need only a simple eye chart. Diseases such as dry eye or glaucoma are much harder to detect and a doctor is required. However, an educated and observant parent is always the first line of defense.

Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water is sponsored by Bio-Logic Aqua Research and Nature’s Tears

New Education about Eye Care for Children on Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water

Affordable Health Care Suggestions from Health Advocate Sharon Kleyne - the Answer to ObamaCare

Grants Pass, OR (PRWEB) March 29, 2012

With the national debate over the Affordable Health Care Act (Obama Care) and the rising cost of medical services, health advocate Sharon Kleyne is concerned that too many people rely solely on their doctors to make health choices for them.

Sharon Kleyne is founder of Bio-Logic Aqua Research, Inc. and host of the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water radio talk show.

Mrs. Kleyne’s personal mission, in her business, on her radio show, in her writings and in personal appearances, is to encourage everyone to develop a personal program of health education and proactive self-help. This approach, she believes, could save billions of dollars in health care expenses.”

“When health symptoms arise,” Mrs. Kleyne explains, “before running to the medicine cabinet, try to learn everything you can about the symptoms. Often, they can be treated through diet and lifestyle changes. If you do go to the doctor, be fully prepared, consider the doctor as a consultant, and take full responsibility for treatment decisions.”

The good news, according to Mrs. Kleyne, is that if you begin each day with an attitude that you will do everything in your power during that day to make yourself healthier, you shouldn’t have to run to the medicine cabinet nearly as often and should spend considerably less money on health care.

“No two people are alike,” Sharon Kleyne explains, “and your doctor has no way of knowing, for example, if you get enough sleep, are under high stress, work in an office with poor lighting, can’t tolerate broccoli, have adult ADHD, forget to take medication, or tend to self-medicate excessively.”

Most doctors (but not all) are extremely pressed for time and frequently rely on you to volunteer important details (a personal health log can be invaluable for this). “Nobody knows your own body better than you,” says Mrs. Kleyne. “That’s why medical treatment plans should never flow from doctor to patient but should be a joint decision tailored to your personal needs and peculiarities.”

Proactive self-help, according to Sharon Kleyne, begins when you get up each morning. “I like to view myself as in training for the Personal Health Olympics,” she says, “and every morning is the day of the big race.”

The first thing Mrs. Kleyne does when she gets up is drink a large glasses of warm water because she has learned that the human body dehydrates during sleep. After that, she follows a daily program of healthy eating (tailored to her own nutritional needs) and drinking at least eight glasses of water per day (some people require more). She considers exercise, stress reduction and adequate sleep to be essential. Also essential is the knowledge, at the end of each day, that she accomplished something worthwhile.

Mrs. Kleyne advocates maintaining a daily log of sleep, exercise, food intake, medications and physical complaints and bringing the log with you, along with a list of questions, when you see the doctor.

A major concern of Mrs. Kleyne’s is the overuse of medication. “For example,” she says, “the best energy drink by far is water. It is also the healthiest, most natural and cheapest. There is no reason to spend money on drinks that supply fake energy when water is free and available.”

Mrs. Kleyne also advocates freedom of choice for self-education. “There’s a wealth of information on lifestyle, diet and health on my company’s website (http://www.biologicaqua.com),” she states. “There are also numerous excellent medical websites, alternative medicine websites and diet and exercise websites, plus many fantastic books. In the Information Age, educating yourself has never been easier.”

The website for the Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water radio show (http://www.SharonKleyneHour.com) contains archived on-demand replays and printable summaries of Sharon Kleyne’s interviews with hundreds of leading health care authorities. She syndicated show is broadcast live Mondays at 10 a.m., PST/PDT, on Voice America/World Talk Radio, Green Talk Network and Apple iTunes. Also visit http://www.naturestears.com, http://whatistheeye.wordpress.com, “Nature’s Tears EyeMist” on Facebook and “Bio-Logic Aqua” on Twitter.

The Sharon Kleyne Hour Power of Water, is sponsored by Bio-Logic Aqua Research, whose Nature’s Tears

Affordable Health Care Suggestions from Health Advocate Sharon Kleyne - the Answer to ObamaCare

Cook Profitability Services expands into latest Care to Share patient referral program

SAN ANTONIO, TX (PRWEB) December 31, 2011

Cook Profitability Services, a San Antonio web design, internet marketing and media services firm that specializes in dental professionals, has announced its expansion into internal marketing with the Care to Share program of profitability tools designed to boost in-house new-patient referrals dramatically.

While dental referral programs arent new, the Care to Share program brings them to a whole new level, said Debbie Baumgarten, CEO of the San Antonio web and marketing company. Of all types of leads, most dental professionals value patient referrals as the best for producing new patients.

Traditional patient referral programs generally include mailings of special-offer postcards. And while these have had some success, Baumgarten said dental professionals using the new Care to Share program are seeing a doubling or tripling of new-patient referrals.

The new CPS service includes providing the practice with high-end plastic cards similar in quality to a Starbucks gift card that are provided to patients, who are encouraged to give them to friends or family that may need dental services. The cards are custom designed for the individual practice, and can be recycled to new patients after use.

Staff participation is integral to the Care to Share program, and CPS services include an e-learning web-accessible training course. This teaches dental staffers their role in marketing the product.

An optional web-access dashboard provides a one-stop control panel for all the dental offices marketing efforts, allowing practices to see exactly what calls are coming in from which marketing efforts. It also allows managers to listen to recordings of calls, so they can monitor their staffers skills at customer service.

These expansions allow CPS to continue its vision of being a one-stop national shop that can handle all aspects of a practices marketing, publicity and workflow and fiscal efficiency all aimed at gaining and retaining customers and improving profits.

Other services include:

Cook Profitability Services expands into latest Care to Share patient referral program