The Disney film, "The Miracle of the White Horse" tells the true story of the famous Lipizzaner horses of the Spanish Riding School and from Vienna during World War II. The cast of characters in real life includes General George S. Patton, who helped save them from certain extinction, Col. Alois Podhajsky who disobeyed orders to flee the Nazis with horses, and ordinary Austrians who helped hide and feed the horses on the road. Hides a bright white horse, not to mention hundreds of them are quite confusing, but that many Austrians have risked their lives to save their is particularly surprising. In my opinion, this is the important part of history and I think I understand. To explain, I interrupt here with a personal anecdote.
I write in Littleton, Colorado, where ten years ago the Columbine High School shootings drew the attention of the nation while playing nearly all the members of my community. Shortly after the tragedy, the wife of a friend I met for the first time shared a story on his horse, the oldest known horse in Colorado.
The horse was grazing near Columbine and how the tragedy took place in the school, the horse had its own crisis had slipped into a pond and could not leave. Teams local Fire and Rescue were called but recent rains had not rescue. Efforts have lasted day. The men were tired. The horse has been exhausted. The owner of the horse, sad but seeing the writing on the proverbial wall, the crew of the horse was old and maybe it was time to let go.
The team leader would not hear of it. He explained that his men, who had been unable to help depressed students in high school, going to save this horse because they needed - for themselves. They had to make a difference, to work towards something greater than themselves.
Lipizzaner horses were the epitome of Austria and woven into the tapestry of national identity. The Austrians may not have been able to escape the horrors around them, but they would save these horses to ensure that something of themselves to survive.
It seems to me that all purebred dogs is, figuratively speaking, a Lipizzan horse in their country. A dog is an important part of the culture of a people and their language, clothing and art. I always knew what we as individual dog owners stand to lose if the animal rights groups have their way, but I was struck by the big picture - Parallel Lipizzaner - while attending a recent event.
"SUMMERSET Festival" organized by the Columbine High School in Littleton attracts thousands of people each summer, many of them bring their dogs along. Being a vendor at the show allows me to communicate with people in my community - a kind of neighborhood "gossip on the fence" with strangers that allows me to know their dogs while measuring their level of awareness of the legislation on dogs. Let me tell you about some of the dogs we met that day, some did not expect to see at a fair.
I wish you saw "Harley" a Dogue de Bordeaux. Race is a newcomer to the AKC, but has been around for 600 years, and some believe, may have developed over 2000 years ago. Also known as the "French Mastiff" a Dogue de Bordeaux appeared in the Tom Hanks movie "Turner & Hooch", but the race has played a more important role in France, where he was loved by so aristocracy and common man. During the French Revolution, the breed almost disappeared due to the greater slaughter of dogs associated with the aristocracy. He was just as bad during World War II, when Adolf Hitler demanded the execution of all Bordeaux by the Doge loyalty devoted to his owners.Were if it were not for the Bulldogs belong butchers used to drive cattle, breed very well have killed again. The French love this breed to survive periods of agitation. Do you see a parallel with the Lipizzaner?
I was happy to see an Australian Terrier walk by my booth, a personal favorite, because I showed at a price first Best of Opposite Sex introduce me to a dog at Westminster Kennel club.The Australian Terrier was the first Australia's race to be recognized and displayed in his home country, and was also the first race in Australia to be officially recognized. Australians are very proud of this little dog Scrappy.
Imagine my surprise to see a dog with a history of being the only race in South Africa used to defend the farm, a dog with a long history of agriculture in South Africa; Boerboel name derives from "boer", the Dutch word / Afrikaans for "farmer". Boerboel therefore translates into "dog of the farmer" or "dog Boer." By any name, it was the purpose of the whole farm utility dog in a desert, and a historian noted the many races of shares characteristics with people who settled this wild country.
A couple of very large dogs walked that stopped traffic in the festival, if only because few people could get to them. Most people knew they were seeing something special, just do not know why. Tibetan Mastiffs were considered by many as the basic action that most large breeds of modern work, like all dogs and mountain dogs developed.
Although they are hard to find these days in Tibet are still high by nomadic Chang Tang Plateau and live at an altitude of 16,000 feet. Mastiffs protected not only herds of goats, sheep and yaks, but women and children as well, and traditionally protected the Jokhang Temple, the most sacred temple of Tibetan Buddhism, the race was so appreciated by Tibetans have special collars for dogs called Kekhors fine yak wool.
A Black Russian Terrier visited my stand, a beautiful creature whose breed was recognized by the AKC in 2005. It was a race that hardly happens because most purebred dogs in Russia were killed in the Revolution and exhaustion additional blood took place during the First World War and the economic disasters. Creating a new purebred dog, then, initially size. During the 1930s, a Moscow military kennel Red Star, began working on a race that would be part of the national security force. Twenty dogs were used in the development of BRT including Airedale Schnauzer, Rottweiler, Newfoundland, the Caucasus and the now extinct Ovcharka Water Dog Moscow. In 1956, he finally reached the point where the Black Russian Terrier breed true, and Red Star Kennel dogs released to private breeders. The first breed standard was created by the Red Army in 1958, which was revised several times before 1981.
As a dog show exhibitor, I have the opportunity to see many races generally recognized by the public, but even I was surprised to stunned to see a Finnish Lapphund of only six in the entire state of Colorado are. Lapphunds still high in the region around the city of Lapland who depended on these herding dogs long reindeer; Archaeological excavations have unearthed skeletal remains of Lapland Lapland dogs believed to date back before 7000 BC. Surprisingly the skeletal remains of these ancient dogs are almost identical to the dog I saw on the show.
These six breeds were developed on purpose and to perform a single task in the environment in which they lived. These pure cross breed dogs with their own kind, produce another generation of reliable puppies and particularly suitable for the work of vital importance for people who raise them.The Lapphund was not good for Australian agricultural vermin salary Australian Terrier was reindeer. If we lose these races, as we saw in the canine legislation, we are losing the cultural, some of which are threatened with extinction (Tibet). Do not think for a minute that castration laws / compulsory sterilization or reproduce specific legislation will not affect dogs that have just been described. The "ban Bully Breed" in Denver can easily mutate into a ban on dogs like them remotely, ie, the Dogue de Bordeaux. From there, it could not be all the big dogs? (Black Russian Terrier). What about the dogs snout "sharp"? (Border Terrier). Where does it end?turner and hooch dog breed
Speaking of "extreme" concludes here with a caste "cultural value" that have not met yet. Nobody saw at the festival, but came home to several of them: Puli. He grew up with stories about the Pulik my mother as pets in Hungary, and knew that because of the protective nature of the breed, the German and Soviet soldiers fired on sight during the war, including the dog my grandparents. It was years before I could find a Puli puppy in this country, but I finally found "Makos" in 1978 and remain good friends with his breeder for today. I will always remember the first time I showed my mom my new Puli - the first time I laid eyes on since his escape from Hungary.
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