Lusitano Horse part 1/2

To begin my participation in this blog, I will start by summarizing the history of our Lusitano horse.
I have referred to this article as a synthesis because it is unthinkable to define in detail the Lusitano breed in a simple text or even in a book, because Lusitano is simply the oldest saddle horse in the world.

Photo Credited to Joana Cerqueira

PGoing back to the last glaciation, it appears that the low plains of the south-west Iberian Peninsula were spared, and here during this period there was a restricted area of survival for a small equine group that allowed a very early domestication.
The earliest records of the existence of horses in the Iberian Peninsula date back about 780,000 years, estimated from a skull discovered in archaeological excavations in the Sierra de Atapuerca in Spain. Since then many bones and engravings have been found in various places scattered all over the peninsula.
The Lusitano horse is the direct descendant of this Iberian horse that due to the isolation of this region of Europe, has survived and evolved here for about fifteen thousand years, almost completely free of crossbreeding with other breeds until very recently.
Today we have a bigger and better horse, with more weight, higher and with greater strength. All this was achieved thanks to the intelligent action of the breeders and based on a very strong genetics that fifteen thousand years of selection did not allow to destroy by two hundred years of genetic disturbance. On the contrary, our horse has taken advantage of these influences and we have now reached the production of horses of bigger size and of quality of movements, able to stand with all the specialized races, in almost all the modalities of the modern equestrian sports.

The Lusitano as a recognized and closed breed, where crosses with other breeds are not accepted, had its beginning marked with the implementation of the Genealogical Book of the Horse of the Lusitano Breed on the 25th of June of 1977, by the Portuguese Association of Breeders of the Pure Blood Lusitano Horse.

The purpose of the Book is to ensure the preservation and improvement of the Lusitanian breed by evaluating its breeders, thus contributing to the zootechnical improvement of the breed and the definition of its selection program.


And this is the brief history of our Lusitano horse. Every week I will launch an article, for next week I will continue talking about the Lusitano Breed, stay tuned and will soon have news.

Pedro Miranda

What Are Fleas?

Adult fleas are reddish-brown insects with bodies that are compressed, or flattened, from side to side. While visible to the naked eye, they are so small you could line up about eight adult fleas, end-to-end, in one inch. Because fleas are so small, they can be difficult to detect, much less eliminate from your home.
Fleas are wingless, but possess incredible jumping ability. This enables them to jump easily from ground level to “ambush” a pet.Fleas feed on blood, and female fleas consume about 15 times their body weight each day1. Incompletely digested blood is excreted from the flea and dries to form what is commonly referred to as “flea dirt.” This serves as food for developing flea larvae and is one way veterinarians and pet owners can identify an infestation.

Why worry about fleas?

Fleas can pose a serious problem for your dog’s health.
Not only can fleas make your dog miserable, but depending on his age and overall physical condition,

- Fleas can pose a serious threat to his health.Fleas can cause severe discomfort for dogs, including scratching, chewing, biting and restlessness.

- Fleas are the source of flea allergy dermatitis (FAD), the most common veterinary dermatological condition.

- Severe flea infestations can cause anemia, especially in puppies or debilitated adult dogs.

- Ingested fleas also can transmit tapeworm infection to dogs.

Your dog isn't the only household resident that can suffer from flea bites. Flea infestations in homes and areas around a home often result in humans being bitten by newly-emerging fleas. You, too, are at risk for health issues, some of which can be serious.

Allergic reaction: Usually in the form of small, raised lesions, called papules, that can be red to purple in color. Severity will vary, depending on the severity of the allergy to the flea bite.

Tapeworm: Tapeworm (Dipylidium caninum) is generally spread through infected fleas found on both cats and dogs. Ingestion of infected fleas by children can result in tapeworm infection.

Typhus: A group of infectious diseases usually resulting in a sustained high fever (typhus fever), headache, delirium and sometimes red rashes. Two kinds are most commonly contracted from flea bites:

Flea Typhus. A type of typhus caused by Rickettsia felis, a bacteria first identified in cat fleas.
Murine typhus. Another bacterial form of typhus transmitted most commonly by rodent fleas but also by fleas found on dogs.

Plague: Rodent fleas that can be acquired by dogs and cats in some areas might be vectors for (carriers of) bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis. These fleas might leave the host to bite humans.


Dr. Phil Orwell (Animalix Writer)

The Veterinary

The Veterinary

Veterinary medicine is one of many areas of knowledge linked to the maintenance and restoration of health. She works in a broad sense, to the prevention and cure of diseases of animals and humans in a medical context. Being the professional business area of ​​animal / public health formed a Faculty of Veterinary Medicine or an educational establishment Highly Qualified.

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Veterinary medicine is the medical science that is dedicated to the prevention, control, eradication and treatment of disease, trauma or any other damage to health of animals, beyond the control of the health of products and by-products of animal origin for human consumption. It also seeks to ensure the quality, quantity and safety of stocks of animal food through animal health control and processes to get their products.The veterinarian also popularly called Doctor, is the professional authorized by the state to practice Veterinary Medicine, taking care of animal health by preventing, diagnosing and curing the disease, which requires detailed knowledge of academic subjects (such as anatomy and physiology ) behind the disease and treatment - the science of medicine - and competence in its applied practice - the art of medicine.

Both the doctor's role and the meaning of the word vary significantly around the world, but as a general understanding, medical ethics requires that physicians show consideration, compassion and benevolence towards their animal patients. Veterinarians can be general, that is not specialized in any particular area or specialists when specializing in some area.
With understanding the science of the origin and spread of various diseases, and as vectors domestic or wild animals, and to ensure the very physical safety of animals, veterinary medicine has become an important adjunct in public health policies of countries. Spread of epidemic disease, human or animal, is the installation of veterinary barriers that prevent their spread an effective means of control. (Common Things That Make Veterinarians Crazy)

Allied to this, one of the fields of Veterinary Medicine which is in great rise is the Animal Health Protection, whose objectives are precisely to prevent the occurrence of exotic diseases which may have serious impacts on public health or economic animals, and control or eradicate endemic diseases.
Currently, they are recognized over a hundred zoonoses and numerous other infectious animal diseases that bring serious economic consequences. To combat them, the veterinarian sanitarian exerts Epidemiological Surveillance active, acting directly in the field and controlling the movement of animals, performing the inspection of animal products - such as meat products, milk, eggs, fish and honey looking for signs of diseases that can be transmitted to humans or that might indicate the health status of the herds.