Hi, all --
 
Not much to report here, but our echo feed has been erratic, so I wanted to 
send something out (yes, it's another one of those pesky test messages).
 
I'm still getting too many horse magazines to keep up with.  Usually when 
Practical Horseman comes in, I turn straight to Kip Goldreyer's 
_The Thinking Horseman_ column and read about her latest adventures 
with Wachtel.  Then I put the issue in my bag of stuff I take up and read 
while I'm doing my laundry.  Sometimes I get to the rest of the issue, and 
sometimes not.  But I did notice they are running a very useful series on how 
to introduce a green horse to riding on the trail. 
 
Mike Plumb's Horse Journal has been doing some articles on clothing and boots 
and stuff, which I always find of interest since I still haven't made my big 
raid on the tack store or catalogs which you guys have heard me planning for 
the last how many years?  ;-)  Recently they did ladies' full-seat breeches, 
with one of women at Mike's barn bravely posing for all the pictures of the 
different models they tested. 
 
I noticed when they did a paddock boot comparison, there was no mention of 
the durability problems of the women's Ariat boots that we had talked about 
before.  It could be that they don't beat on them long enough for any 
differences to show up -- it isn't always clear how long they have tested 
something (a weakness in their otherwise solid review articles).
 
EPM has gotten some good coverage in EQUUS, but it was long enough ago since 
I read it that I've forgotten what they said -- I recall seeing a good bit of 
info on the life cycle of the parasite that is suspected, some discussion of 
the research which is being done now for new treatments, and a general 
overview for those readers who don't have the hands-on experience that we've 
acquired here from Jean and Bob's postings.  :-(
 
HORSEPLAY seems to have settled in nicely with its new publisher and is on a 
regular schedule again.  It has the nicest offerings for the juniors with the 
special "Horseplay Jr" sections.
 
Thanks to Mike, Jean, Bob, Meg, and the other long-time folks for sending 
news!  And hello to the new echo participants!  Just remember, if nobody else 
is talking about the style of riding you do, that's all the more reason you 
should write something about it -- if we don't know much, we'll be even more 
eager to hear about it.  
--- Opus-CBCS 1.73a
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