While people are becoming more aware of the need for head safety, somehow the equestrian world has missed the boat. Cyclists are wearing helmets, worrying about the potential impact should they fall or be hit by a car. And yet, riders on living, thinking animals seem to forget the risks.

Horseback riding has one of the highest accident rates for minor injuries. When entering the Emergency room with a broken collar bone or other injury, most doctors and nurses just sigh when you tell them you ride horses. It is an every-day kind of occurrence.

Lots of people think of riding motorcycles as being highly dangerous, but in fact, riding horses ranks at about the same level! Imagine, on a motorcycle, you are traveling very quickly with nothing much between you and the ground. On a horse, you are traveling very quickly with nothing much between you and the ground. The only difference is that motorcycles are controlled by the driver. Horses have a mind of their own.

It is easy to forget how quickly things can go wrong. If your horse is a quiet animal who rarely startles, you might not think that anything could happen. But all it takes is a sudden noise, or something that catches his eye and he could be off and running, leaving you in the dirt. Even the quietest horse in the world has the potential to spook.

When training a performance horse the risk is even greater. The more fit the horse is, the more likely he is to have the athleticism to unseat his rider. Besides being fit, he is also more alert and has a higher chance of pulling something stupid in response to good spirits, or even having a temper tantrum over a movement he does not want to do.

World class dressage riders have been known to lose control of their horses, and dressage is the sport where control is of the essence. Jumper riders get ditched by their horses when they refuse a jump. An overexcited gaming horse can slip and fall in the middle of a pattern, and even a champion pleasure horse can stumble, catching his rider unaware.

And yet, thousands of adult riders refuse to wear helmets. They are hot, they are uncomfortable, and they don’t look cool. You name it, and the excuse is used. So many riders feel that they would never fall off, or that their horse would never pull anything stupid on them. And yet, as a rider becomes more experienced, the risk of injury during a fall tends to go up. This is because it generally takes something a lot bigger to get them off, and the potential for landing badly increases with the explosiveness of the situation.

All it takes is once, and you could suffer from a serious concussion, or worse. It is a fact that riders die every year from head impacts that would have caused little more than a serious headache if they had been wearing a helmet.

Additionally, as adults, we need to set a good example to young riders. How many kids feel that it is perfectly safe to hop on a horse without anything on their head? How many others can’t wait until they are 18 and no longer need to wear a helmet in the ring? If adults were more responsible about wearing helmets, perhaps the young riders would feel more comfortable about protecting their heads.

You only get one head. It is worth protecting.

About the Author: Lydia K Kelly is a writer for HorseClicks, classifieds of warmblood horses for sale, used trailers, used saddles.

Source: www.isnare.com

Permanent Link: http://www.isnare.com/?aid=298830&ca=Pets

Horse boarding now available at family-style ranch. Choose pasture or stall and paddock. Located on Hiway 126, three miles West of Redmond.

Many amenities including round pen, arena and trail course. Ride to the river! Great horse care at a reasonable price.

Trail course also available to drop-in or group use. Call for details.

Call Bill Goss at 541-480-5260

Solo Email Blast Disclaimer: This is a Solo Email Blast, one of many advertising options available thru CentralOregonTrailCourse.com.  If you have questions regarding the product or service advertise, please contact the advertiser directly. CentralOregonTrailCourse.com does not necessarily endorse or recommend the product or service advertised

If you would like more information about our Solo Email Blasts or other advertising option we welcome your emails at sandy@centraloregontrailcourse.com.

If you are planning to use your existing web server/hosting plan  – extra steps are need to prevent your current website from breaking while your new website is being set up and is beyond what can be taught on one page.

I recommend using Cheapsignup.com for all domain names and hosting purchases because that’s the one I’m affiliated with and the one I use.

Step One: Register your Domain Name
Visit Cheapsignup.com – In the Domain Name Search field, enter the domain name you want to register, and then select the domain name extension from the list. Click GO.  Skip the promotion offers and at the bottom of the page click “No Thanks.  Proceed to Checkout.”  REMEMBER to write down you new account username and password and keep them someplace safe.  You’ll need this info for the next step.

Chances are the domain name you want to use is already taken but if you keep an open mind you might be able to come up with one you like.  Example: Silver Edge Equestrian Drill Team used EquestrainDrill.com as their domain name because SilverEdgeEquestrianDrillTeam.com would have been too long to remember and spell.

Step Two: Sign up for Hosting
Log in to your Account Manager using info from the preceding step. Sign up for the ‘Economy Plan’. You can ignore the promotional offers and click “No Thanks. Proceed to Checkout”.  Wait for CheapSignup.com to send you an email letting you know your hosting plan is ready before proceeding to Step Three.

(I don’t recommend using the “Free with Domain” hosting account because it’s Ad supported – meaning Ads (that you have no control over) over appear at the top of your website and it doesn’t look very professional) The following steps will not work if you choose to stay with the free hosting)

Step Three: Install WordPress on Your Hosting Account
1. Log in to your Account Manager.
2. From the My Products section, click Web Hosting.
3. Next to the hosting account you want to use, click Launch.
4. From the Content menu, select  Value Application.
5. Click WordPress.
6. Click Install Now!.
7. Select the domain name you want to use.
8. Enter a database description and password, and then click Next.  Choose an unused installation directory, and then click Next. For example, if you want your WordPress website to display when someone goes to yourdomainname.com/blog then blog is the installation directory.  If you want your WordPress website to display when someone goes to yourdomainname.com (without the “/blog”), remove any text from this field and leave it empty.
9. Enter the Admin Name, Admin Password, Email and Blog Title for your WordPress installation (you make these up – be sure to write them down!.)
10. Click Finish.
WordPress will be installed to your hosting account with the options you selected within 24 hours. When it is complete, you will receive a confirmation email.

Step Four: Customize and setup WordPress -
Visit yourdomainname.com/blog or yourdomainname.com (depending on your previous choice) to see what your website looks like.  To login and customize your website go to yourdomainname.com/blog/wp-admin or yourdomainname.com/wp-admin
There are so many options when customizing your WordPress setup that there is no way to go thru all the options here but this .pdf  and this website should help.

Again, if after reading thru this, you would like help, just give me a jingle, my rates are very affordable.

Affordable Options:

1. I set up domain name registration, hosting  and set up and install WordPress for you, then you customize WordPress and start creating your website.
2. I set up and install WordPress , customize it a little and get it ready for you to maintain. Example: cascadevacationrentals.net
3. I can set up and install WordPress , customize it a little, enter the original content then you edit, add pages/posts and maintain it. Example: MoonDanceReining.com
4. I can set up and install WordPress , customize it a little, enter the original content, you edit, add pages/posts while I take care of the techie stuff. Example: owlcreekarabians.com, MelanieBills.com, EliteRetreatDeMexico.com, WorldwideTimeshareAuctions.com
5. Let me be your webmaster – you tell me what you want and what your budget is and I try my darnedest to accomplish it.  Examples: Lynns-BarberShop.com, RollingMRanch.com, CentralOregonTrailCourse.com

Appointy allows your clients to book their appointments online – Integrate Appointy on your website and blog, add a widget to your facebook, wordpress, or ask your clients to schedule with you using their mobile phones or IPad. Appointy works everywhere!

You can accept appointment – online – 24/7

Offer multiple services? Appointy allows booking of multiple services at once. For example, your clients can select the services they want and Appointy will show them the time slots when both can be done in a row.

Appointy allows your customers to book an appointment with their Facebook or Gmail login.

You set the hours you’re open and available and you can block out times/days – for when you have other plans

There are a lot of other features -  check it out here http://www.appointy.com/

(If you need assistance set up Appointy, I can help, just give me a jingle)

If you would like to find a central Oregon trail riding buddy, email sandy@CentralOregonTrailCourse.com with the subject line “Find a riding buddy”  and I’ll add you to the group.

Next time you want to go trail riding, and want a riding buddy,  email me and I will email a notice out to the group.  Be sure to include your name, best contact method, time, date location and any other info you feel would be appropriate.

You must join the group, in order to get the notices.

In a post on the Equine Legal Solutions blog, I highlighted two new horse-related organizations whose purpose for existence is to make money, not serve their members. Several people emailed to ask how they could check out an organization to see if it was “legit” before joining or donating money. This is an excellent question!

What is a Non-Profit Organization?

Lots of organizations call themselves “non-profits.” But are they the real deal? “Non-profit” doesn’t mean the organization doesn’t make a profit – many charitable organizations make quite substantial profits. Rather, “non-profit” means that because an organization meets certain IRS regulations defining what a charity is, the organization is exempt from paying federal income taxes. To become tax-exempt, an organization must apply to the IRS and qualify. Qualifying with the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization is hard work – the application is many pages long, and it requires the organization to provide very detailed information about where its money comes from, and how it spends that money, as well as the people involved with the organization. And the IRS doesn’t just rubber-stamp approve 501(c)(3) applications – the organization must demonstrate in its application that it clearly meets the various IRS requirements for exemption.

To qualify for tax exemption, the IRS requires that the organization have a very specific type of purpose. It must be able to clearly demonstrate that its primary purpose is one of the following. “Charitable, religious, educational, scientific, literary, testing for public safety, fostering national or international amateur sports competition, and preventing cruelty to children or animals.” The IRS defines “charitable” as “relief of the poor, the distressed, or the underprivileged; advancement of religion; advancement of education or science; erecting or maintaining public buildings, monuments, or works; lessening the burdens of government; lessening neighborhood tensions; eliminating prejudice and discrimination; defending human and civil rights secured by law; and combating community deterioration and juvenile delinquency.”

How Can I Tell if It’s Really a Non-Profit?

A quick search of the IRS charity database is all it takes to find out whether an organization is really a 501(c)(3) or not. If the organization has registered with a state as a non-profit organization but hasn’t qualified with the IRS, it’s not a “non-profit.” What about if an organization says it has submitted its application for tax-exempt status, but it hasn’t been approved yet? The good news is that if the application is ultimately approved, contributions made at any time after the application was originally submitted to the IRS will become tax-deductible. The bad news is that if the organization’s application isn’t approved (and many aren’t), contributions will not be tax-deductible.

Where Will Your Money Go?

As noted above, many non-profit organizations earn substantial profits and have large operating budgets. You might be shocked at what a small percentage of contributions goes toward the actual persons or animals in need versus the organization’s administration and fund-raising efforts. Fortunately, you can find this out before you donate!

501(c)(3) organizations are required to make certain financial information available to the public. For example, you are legally entitled to visit the organization’s offices and obtain copies of its tax returns and application for tax exempt status. You can also request copies from the IRS. Here’s more information.

Even if you aren’t concerned with whether your contribution is tax-deductible, you probably still care how your money will be used. Organizations that aren’t tax-exempt non-profits aren’t legally required to make any financial information public. But, you should ask anyway! Just keep in mind that because there is no legally required public disclosure of the organization’s financial information, there probably won’t be a way for you to check. What does the organization say about how donations will be used? If the organization offers memberships, what benefits come with your membership, and are they worth the price? If the organization touts its donations to charities and that is part of the attraction for you to donate or join, why would you not just donate directly to the charity instead?

Who’s Behind the Organization?

An organization is no better than the people who run it. If you’re considering donating to or joining an organization, check out who’s in charge of it first. The organization’s website should clearly state who the members of its board of directors are, and who its officers are. The website may provide a bio of each such person, but you should also Google the people’s names. Doing so can yield a wealth of information, such as arrest records, lawsuits and other red flags. At the very least, Googling can help you fact-check the bios on the organization’s website – are they accurate, or do they stretch the truth, exaggerate, or leave out important facts? If the organization can’t even be forthcoming about who its people are, imagine how much less forthcoming they will be about how they spend their money! Check to make sure the directors and officers are obviously well-qualified to run the organization, both in terms of business background and relevant horse experience. The number of officers and directors should be proportionate to the size of the organization. A local organization with 15 board members probably won’t be able to make decisions efficiently.

Is the Organization Real or Virtual?

The Internet has offered con artists a wealth of new ways to separate horse people from their money. Perhaps the most appalling offenders are the “Internet farms.” These outfits offer horses for sale that they don’t own. In fact, they have often never laid eyes on the horses before, despite the glowing descriptions and lovely videos. While Internet farms’ websites often suggest that they have palatial horse facilities, with all the sale horses on-site, Internet farms usually exist only on the Internet. What they do is find horses for sale (often horses overseas who are not advertised to the general public), then advertise those horses on their website (often without the seller’s knowledge). The horses are listed at asking prices far more than the current sellers are asking for them. If the Internet farm generates a buyer, the Internet farm either buys the horse from the seller and then immediately resells it to the buyer at a huge markup, or the Internet farm approaches the seller and offers to introduce the buyer to them (for a fee, of course!). Either way, the buyer pays way more than they should for the horse, and might very well get a horse that has been recklessly misrepresented.

How can you find out if an organization has an actual physical location? You can start by looking at the contact information on its website. Is it a PO Box or a street address? You can’t always tell by looking, as some mailing centers allow their customers to use the mailing center’s street address. And sometimes instead of using a box number, the organization will call it a “suite” instead. Even if the address looks like a perfectly normal street address, use Google Earth to see if it actually exists, and what it looks like – is it a Mailboxes, Etc. store or a real place? And then Google the address to see what information comes up that might prove suspect, such as that 20 other organizations have the same address. For example, there are several “breed registries” listed in the American Horse Council’s directory that have the exact same address, the exact same website and the exact same person listed as a contact. Hmm. The women’s horse organization discussed in our previous blog post lists no address on the contact page of its website, and the address for sending in advertising payment is a PO Box. The trail rider’s organization discussed in our previous blog post lists a PO Box as its mailing address. Neither organization has an actual physical office, it seems.

Phone numbers can also yield a wealth of information. Don’t be fooled by the mere fact that an organization has a toll-free number – anyone can get one, and thanks to the miracle of Internet telephony, anyone can get one cheaply, too. Look up the phone number in a reverse directory search and find out whether it’s a cell phone or a land line. If it’s a land line, reverse directory results will generally tell you whose name the number is registered in, the physical address, and even who the phone company is. If it’s a mobile phone, that fact alone might be a red flag. The phone number on the women’s organization’s website comes back as a land line registered to the organization’s founder (not the organization itself). And when I called it at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time (long after business hours), a rather breathless-sounding woman answered and background noise did not sound like a business.

Email addresses can also be telling. Does the organization list its email address as being at its domain name, such as office@organizationsdomain.com, or is its email address hosted by Yahoo, MSN, AOL or similar? Most organizations that have been around for anly length of time and are well organized will not list personal email addresses as their contact information. Rather, they want to make sure that even if the contact person moves on, the organization will still receive important email. The women’s organization lists the founder’s personal email address as its contact email.

Finally, the organization’s website itself can yield important information. Is the overall look and feel professional, or does it look like a website that someone made at home? Checking to see who owns the organization’s website domain and when the domain was registered can be interesting as well. The women’s organization domain is registered to The Women’s Horse Racing Association – different organization, but the founder is listed as the contact person. Apparently, after registering the domain in June of 2009, she quickly realized the horse industry as a whole was a much broader market than just the racing industry.

Is There Anybody Home?

Before donating money or joining an organization, see if you can get to a real live person and ask a question. If you call, do you get a knowledgeable person who sounds like they’re in the United States? Or do you get an automated phone tree and/or have to leave a voicemail? If you leave a voicemail, do you get a prompt return call? If you email, do you get a prompt response?

Equine Legal Solutions (ELS) is a leading equine law firm based near Portland, Oregon. Rachel Kosmal McCart, ELS’ founder, is licensed to practice in four states:  California, New York, Oregon and Washington. Rachel is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. For all breeds and disciplines, ELS represents clients in litigation, helps resolve equine disputes, drafts customized equine contracts, represents clients in horse industry disciplinary hearings, and incorporates equine businesses.  You may reach Rachel at (866) 385-2972 or visit http://www.equinelegalsolutions.com

Being a Guest Contributor is a great way of putting you and your horse centric business on the map and get noticed. You do this through leadership, by sharing know-how, and by being active within the horse community.   It can also help to extend awareness about what you do, your subject/s of choice, and the tools and techniques that you employ. That being said, blatant selling of your services or product is prohibited, so steer clear of that. If your post reads like a sales pitch then the readers will see straight through it and we will delete it.  You can link back to your own website (we allow Twitter, Facebook  and Linkedin links in your signature block too).

Guest Contributors

We’re looking for people who can express themselves and their opinions and share high-quality horse-centric content with our readers. We’re looking for horse-related bloggers (writers) to become regular contributors to our site.

• Maybe you have some practical tips or how-to’s on horse riding, training horses, alternative therapies or other horse related topics?
• Perhaps you are a professional business leader with advice to share with other horse related businesses.
• Perhaps you are just getting started in the horse world and looking to share your experiences.
• Maybe you have some interesting thoughts to share on a recent news article or local event.
• Maybe you love going to local horse events and want to share this information with others.

Central Oregon Trail Horse is looking to expand its readership base with the addition of a few select horse-centric guest contributors. This is an ideal opportunity for someone who would like to reach a broader audience themselves and promote themselves. Position is unpaid but includes the following benefits -

• Published works on blog that ranks on the first page in google under “central Oregon horse”.
• Reach an audience of 10,000+ (and growing) UNIQUE readers.
• Have your biography, website and contact available on every article published so  readers can reach you directly.
• Improve your web presence

See Guest Contributor Guidelines and Suggestions.

For more information please contact us today.

]]> http://centraloregontrailcourse.com/guest-contributors-wanted/feed/ 0 http://centraloregontrailcourse.com/please-welcome-rachel-kosmal-mccart-from-equine-legal-solutions/ http://centraloregontrailcourse.com/please-welcome-rachel-kosmal-mccart-from-equine-legal-solutions/#comments Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:33:27 +0000 admin http://centraloregontrailcourse.com/?p=7086 Please join me in welcoming guest contributor Rachel Kosmal McCart from Equine Legal Solutions. Equine Legal Solutions (ELS) is a leading equine law firm based near Portland, Oregon. Rachel Kosmal McCart, ELS’ founder, is licensed to practice in four states: California, New York, Oregon and Washington. Rachel is also admitted to practice before the U.S. …

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