Well, I suppose I shouldn’t have waited to go ride – the weather is HORRIBLE. :(
I’ve been working on a project that someone from the stable wanted to do with me, which is a paid-content equestrian site. I’ve been taking a lot of time thinking about it, as I just don’t know how you could make it viable. Paid content sites are tough; Nerve is one of the few that I think does it successfully. I have a Nerve subscription – or at least I did at one time. I don’t know if it would work for an equestrian site.
Speaking of horses, someone at the stable just had to put her horse down. The mare had stepped on a nail, driving it up through the frog into the navicular bursae. They trailered her to the veterinary centre, and after quite a few xrays and tests, they put her down the same day. There was a fifty-fifty chance of success, the mare (although very healthy and fit) was an 18-year-old TB, and she wasn’t insured. I probably would have made the same decision, and been just as heartbroken. I am so thankful that Kip’s broken shoulder turned out as well as it did, even though it seemed to cost the world at the time.
eeep! nails not fun at all. Our worries w/ Denali was that she might have hit the navicular bursae too — fortunately this ended up not being the case and she healed up (about $1200 total including field surgury, x-rays and 8 different vet visits). From everything I heard, that is very much the last thing you want. Even if they recovered and don’t die from the infection, they are mostly likely going to be lame for the rest of their lives. At 18 years old … it’s a hard thing and my heart goes out to her.
And yes, paid horse sites aren’t going to get far — there are too many GOOD free ones. I’ve seen one paid vet forum site that while intriguing, I haven’t tried since I can get good info elsewhere for free. In the end, it depends on the competition.
Yes, I agree. I didn’t want to rain on my friend’s parade, as it were, but I couldn’t think of any way that a paid content site was going to work. Even with celeb-rider columns and advice, which was her idea, and multimedia, which was mine (interactive/online dressage tests, multimedia BHS study materials and tests, submit a video to of your test for critique, etc.), I still don’t see how it will work.