Topic for unrelated discussions

[Malakai10]

Urg, yeah, they're just so... everywhere and over praised that I just ended up not liking them *flashbacks to Young Black Stallion, in which the supposedly most Pure Arabian Ever has a gelding for a mother and a magical sky Friesian for a father*

And then, on top of that, I think I heard this one Friesian breeder mention that Friesians are only allowed to be bred via AI and so that's 30k rand alone.

Oh yeah, my brain just went 'not arab-friesian cross, what about thoroughbred-arab cross — aNGLO ARAB and forgot about the Egyptian Arab. Again, not sure whether I'd be able to find an Egyptian Arab down here. I *think* all of the Arabs down here are of the same type and I think they're just bred for endurance. But I can't say I really know — it's so hard to find information on this.

Oh same! A former instructor had me get a stronger bit because my hands were so light Teal could scarcely feel them.

I wonder if Panama would do that — I've only gone along dirt roads and probably will only ever ride along dirt roads. It's just not safe to go by any of the Proper roads (no matter how much I wish to ride through the plantations.)

I think she might be? Her hands are probably about average, I would imagine - she does encourage A Lot of leg, though (which was... surprisingly helpful with Teal.)

Buzzword is a strange horse. He's mostly very sweet but he's a horse that you have to keep an eye on if you're in the stable with him and NEVER get between Buzz and a dog — he hates dogs with a Burning Passion and will mow over anyone in the way of him annihilating a dog. I got the opportunity to ride him on the lunge and Buzzword was content to take what I thought was a Fair amount of contact (enough to pull on my hands) and he was very good - until he cantered and I was sitting. He was fine in a light seat canter but the second there's pressure on his back, he has a bit of a freak out and runs and bucks (and he is SO GOOD at twisting in just The Right way to unseat someone.) I imagine it's probably memories of being sore and he hasn't quite realised yet that he is no longer in pain.

OH on that note, I rode Teal today and he was VERY good!! One or two fake spooks and some squealing when he did rather *energetic* right trot-canter transitions (left trot-canter transitions were perfect) which my instructor and I solved by getting him to canter on a small circle (which Teal did perfectly, I was very impressed with him.)

Please admire how muscular my horse's neck is:

Friesians only allowed to breed through AI???
That doesn't sound right. And if it doesn't sound right 'it's not true', as a famous Judge on t.v. likes to say. It could be that only that breeder allows their stallions to breed through AI. Because AI does prevent any injury from occurring during breeding, especially if the stallion is worth a lot of money. More foals on the ground, no real chance of injuries, it all equates to a LOT of currency in the pocket.

But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe in your country, the breed standard agency or the laws are regulating such things. I know that in the U.S. and a number of other countries, thoroughbreds are only allowed to be covered naturally, to be eligible for registration in the Jockey Club (Tb breed book).

I've heard of some horses like Buzz. They're called 'cold-backed'. I think you mentioned that Buzz was a retired track horse? Cold-backed is what happens sometimes when the jockey hits their back during early training. It's a bit of a learned response that's simply not corrected and appears to be caused from too-early training with little foundation training. At least, that's what it comes off as, for me.
The bigger problem appears to be that 'cold-backed' horses never really lose that 'buck-trigger', even if the issue is tackled.
But I certainly wouldn't bypass the knee-*, pain-response either. There still could be some residual discomfort with the motion of a rider sitting in the saddle at a canter. After all, they stretch out their body and move differently in the three-beat then they do in a trot or a walk.
Poor boy. Not 'poor boy', just 'poor boy', as in, his past. We all have our stories, after all.

Teal's looking good. Do you plan to do anything with him this year? Or has that been put on the back burner with what's been going on otherwise?
It's great that you had a good ride on Teal, though. He must've missed being worked a bit and decided that you were a good treat too.

I only heard part of what she said. She might have been talking about when she breeds horses but, from what I remember, she had said, "I stopped breeding because I couldn't stand the thought of losing another mare to complications. Some people ask me to help them find a Friesian and I ask them what they're budget is and they say '30 grand' but you can only breed Friesians via AI which costs that much without taking the other vet bills into account." I could very well have misheard because I wasn't actively listening in the beginning and I do have hearing loss but I am fairly certain that's what she said.

Yeah, Buzz is a retired racehorse. That makes sense, poor Buzz.

Thanks It mostly depends on how he behaves. There's this... it's not a show but it's a 'camp' of sorts that some of the people at the yard where I board are going on. We'll be travelling away and then I think it'll be like a clinic? But I'll just see how Teal acts there and if he's rideable and reasonably well behaved I'll hopefully be able to do some showing. My instructor and I were planning on getting him back into jumping but I have no idea what he'll do in the face of a course. Hopefully, I can get back into working hunter again. Maybe a bit of show jumping.

[Malakai10]

His conformation is:
Speed 51
Strength 39
Stamina 35
Intelligence Conformation does not affect Intelligence
Balance 23
Movement 32
Agility 47
Tempo 27

I don't really stud out my sprint racing horses; however, I will have some partially trained ones with both parents from my lines and some with one parent from my lines for sale at the Competitive Breeder's Association Fair. I might put up one of my older stallions that I've removed from my project but I'd have to check which ones I still have.

I’m a part of the competitive breeders association As well.

Perfect, then just keep an eye on the fair! I'll check what retired stallions I have a bit later today.

[BlackOak2]

...

I found it now. And you did, in fact, hear at least partially correctly.
This pdf: https://fhagbi.co.uk/pdfs/guides/FHAGBI ... 0HORSE.pdf

Does say that 'most stallions are only available through AI'.
But, there is actually a medical reason for that. It appears that they are trying to limit the spread of EIA, which is Equine Infectious Anemia... if you don't know what that is (I didn't know, but it's apparently 'very uncommon' in the U.S.), this virus is infectious and those that survive, become lifelong carriers.

So... there are stallions out there that are available as live-cover. But the pdf is a friesian association of great britian and I don't know whether or not that's across the world or just in england.

****
From the way you speak about Teal, he may retrain into show jumping shows quite well. Personality-wise that slightly spooky nature of his, effectively taking to more leg pressure and his naturally forward movement, ring jumping could be right up his alley in many more ways than one.

Good luck on that clinic! And remember to breath.

[Malakai10]

...

I found it now. And you did, in fact, hear at least partially correctly.
This pdf: https://fhagbi.co.uk/pdfs/guides/FHAGBI ... 0HORSE.pdf

Does say that 'most stallions are only available through AI'.
But, there is actually a medical reason for that. It appears that they are trying to limit the spread of EIA, which is Equine Infectious Anemia... if you don't know what that is (I didn't know, but it's apparently 'very uncommon' in the U.S.), this virus is infectious and those that survive, become lifelong carriers.

So... there are stallions out there that are available as live-cover. But the pdf is a friesian association of great britian and I don't know whether or not that's across the world or just in england.

****
From the way you speak about Teal, he may retrain into show jumping shows quite well. Personality-wise that slightly spooky nature of his, effectively taking to more leg pressure and his naturally forward movement, ring jumping could be right up his alley in many more ways than one.

Good luck on that clinic! And remember to breath.

Oh, that would make sense. I'll see if I can find anything about that in South Africa.

Teal used to do eventing with his previous owner, then show jumping with me, then we switched to equitation and working hunter and had a bit of an accident (or two... or three) at nationals. Since then, Teal just bolts into jumps and can't canter large in the grass without going into a gallop. I've managed to get him over single jumps reliably and I think once over two but, if I try to do three or more consecutive jumps, Teal bolts. What I think I might have to do is jump-halt-treat, jump-halt-treat then jump-jump-halt-treat and just keep on increasing that until I can do a course. And then I do need to get him safely cantering large.

As he is I could *maybe* jump him but it wouldn't be pleasant and we would not have much ability to turn nor would I be able to adjust stride length.

Thanks

[Malakai10]

His conformation is:
Speed 51
Strength 39
Stamina 35
Intelligence Conformation does not affect Intelligence
Balance 23
Movement 32
Agility 47
Tempo 27

I don't really stud out my sprint racing horses; however, I will have some partially trained ones with both parents from my lines and some with one parent from my lines for sale at the Competitive Breeder's Association Fair. I might put up one of my older stallions that I've removed from my project but I'd have to check which ones I still have.

I’m a part of the competitive breeders association As well.

I'd be willing to stud 930 RSÆ Dune's Devil Orchestra for $700 000 or 1065 RSÆ Shadow's Brick Party for $500 000.

[Malakai10]

That was a LOT of typing next time I'll have to use a keyboard instead of my tablet, I think my fingers are about to fall off and I can't imagine the number of typoes I've made

Considering what you just responded, not very many typos at all.

You did contradict yourself a bit, but I see your points clearly.

But I do have some issues with it. Not issues, 'issues' is too strong a word. Anyway.
By your definition of wild versus domesticated, then there are a number of long-been-domesticated animals that would be still only be considered captive.
Take for instance the Angus cow. It spends practically all year on wild, un-fenced, prairie territory, both breeding and living entirely alone. Once or twice a year, they're rounded up, brought in for a cull to send certain individuals off to market and then released again.
And in many, many cases, there are a lot of horse breeds that are the same.
Also, domesticated cats can be let loose in the wild and survive quite fine.

I don't think it's about the inability to survive alone in the wild that makes or breaks a domesticated species. I think it's the willingness to remove themselves from the wild and come to us for their survival instead. A choice rather than an ability.

****
In the case of the piebald deer herd, they face domesticated and feral dogs, a healthy population of coyote, although they tend to stay far away from humans, of course hunters, although admittedly, because of the unique, natural evolution of this herd, the hunters do generally try to not pick too many of them off. And also a new population of wolves, introduced... in the mid 2000's I think is when they were finally released.
I don't know exactly when the piebalds first started to show up though. Late 90's at the earliest, is what I think I heard, but I could be wrong with that.

After thinking about it last night, I also vaguely remember a silver-phase fox sub-species in that same area. But for some reason, I think the silver-phase may be the black in the winter? Not sure. My memory isn't helping me about it.

****

Anyway, back to the domestication theory. So in either definition, the theory suggests singular animals must be evaluated separately, rather than a species as a whole.
So if taking either theory for a species, how many MUST exhibit the domestication or the wild definitions until the species as a whole is 'separate' from their wild counterparts?
And then is it a sub-species at that part? or a new domesticated species and should it have a distinction different from their wild counterparts?

It's really a slippery slope.

The same could as much be said about humans, us... as well.

That's an interesting note about the wolves though. It must be quite ancient 'dog' crosses, because there's been reports of the rare black wolf in the US from alaska to the southern states for... centuries or maybe longer.

I remember that discussion of the moths. Specifically, it reminded me of the squirrels of the grand canyon.
https://scienecerules.wordpress.com/201 ... squirrels/
A short write-up on the two species.

*****
I don't know if I could agree with the fact that the unusually colored animals are more social species and that they often inhabit... we'll say, more human controlled lands. But I also can't really disagree with it either. I think I simply don't know enough facts about it and don't have enough knowledge about truly wild areas to find any argument or agreement.
That said, such creatures would be seen and witnessed much more often.

****
Albinism does have eyesight issues. I don't think it's directly related to hearing, but it can occur in conjunction with some diseases and illnesses that do affect hearing. I think the biggest defect... and yes, defect... of the albinism traits is their inability to process the sun rays. If they weren't an issue, then we'd have albino animals everywhere:
https://gizmodo.com/inside-the-bizarre- ... sh-5878292

So... evolutionary trait? Or mutation that was dumped for the sun-toleration of many eons ago?
If we lost the sun... say... tomorrow (and theoretically could survive without it for food and such), would all of us become albino and perhaps also blind??

In the case of the fish, could it be that albinism is actually a predominately preferred trait (not genetically) and that the only reason we all have pigment is just for the sheer protection we NEED to survive in the sun?

I have everything clear in my head but then I try to write it down and it's like,,,, woah, that's contradictory akdhfh I think I forget to link parts together or explain things vaguely. (Sometimes that happens when I write a sentence... I forget that I haven't completed it and move to the next or I'll go and swap words around... like the time I was complaining about Americans calling Africa a country instead of a continent and put the words the wrong way round ) As long as it makes sense though

Hmm, about the Angus and feral horse breeds - I would argue that those are outliers and thuse cannot be counted as they are a minority of the species population.

I must admit, I don't think domesticated cats do well when feral — outdoor cats (not even feral cats, these are cats that have vet care and food and clean water but are just let outside) average about 5 years whereas the African wildcat (what domestic cats are descended from) seems to have an average wild lifespan of about 14 years.

I'm definitely going to have to look that up because that sounds interesting! I'm honestly surprised that piebald has managed to stay in that population. And I'll definitely have to look up the silver morph foxes!

I don't think it's possible to have a cut off point for when a species is domesticated — it just happens too gradually. I suppose we have the domestic population once we have an entirely new species (although of course this comes with the joy of the definition of species having far too many exceptions... *sigh*) we classify most of our domesticated animals as separate species from their wild counterparts (dogs debatably not... I think I recall that they are now considered the same species as grey wolves) except that I'm pretty sure most of our domesticated species are still able to breed and produce fertile offspring with the wild counterparts. Our classification of species has so many exceptions that perhaps the only way we can say something is a new species is 'I just know' (but perhaps with analysing DNA for how closely related species are, we can have a cutoff point for how related they have to be to be a subspecies or distinct species (take a look at the African butterfly fish, for example. There are two species that look EXACTLY alike and just occur in different areas but they are so distinctive genetically that they cannot produce offspring AT ALL.)

That black wolves having dog DNA was something I read years ago... but I do think it was meant to have been a good few thousand years ago. I need to find this info source again - I *think* it was from wolfquest (which consults researches working in Yellowstone, if I recall correctly.)

That was a hypothesis (which I really should have stated when I wrote it.)

Apparently albinism in reptiles is something entirely different from albinism in mammals! (Caused by different genes and less harmful, I think?) I'm not sure if fish albinism is as well but I would imagine it's more like reptile albinism than mammal albinism (although I did have an albino oscar with definite eye sight problems and I think my albino x-ray tetras are a bit more hesitant with eating than my normal ones.

Hmm, I wouldn't say that albinism was dumped for sun tolerance - after all, you get various ocean critters that live in deeper waters with pigmentation. I must admit that I would have thought camouflage came before sun tolerance.

If the sun went out (assuming that we are somehow able to produce food at our normal levels and don't need vitamin D) I don't think we would change at all! There would need to be some sort of environmental pressure and if the lack of UV for some reason doesn't affect our food and we magically don't need vitamin D (or are else able to synthesise enough for everyone) then there's no environmental pressure shaping our species. And if there was environmental pressure changing us, it would still take a VERY long time to merge into the population and would likely end up with us being a completely different species.

I doubt albinism is preferred in fish - pretty much only the deep sea fish don't have pigmentation (and some of the deep sea fish have pigmentation anyway, like angler fish.)

The thing is is that pigmentation isn't only about using melanin for sun protection (which wouldn't apply to animals that have fur, feathers or scales.) The colouring is usually either for camouflage or it's for display purposes to find mates.

[BlackOak2]

Oh, that would make sense. I'll see if I can find anything about that in South Africa.

Teal used to do eventing with his previous owner, then show jumping with me, then we switched to equitation and working hunter and had a bit of an accident (or two... or three) at nationals. Since then, Teal just bolts into jumps and can't canter large in the grass without going into a gallop. I've managed to get him over single jumps reliably and I think once over two but, if I try to do three or more consecutive jumps, Teal bolts. What I think I might have to do is jump-halt-treat, jump-halt-treat then jump-jump-halt-treat and just keep on increasing that until I can do a course. And then I do need to get him safely cantering large.

As he is I could *maybe* jump him but it wouldn't be pleasant and we would not have much ability to turn nor would I be able to adjust stride length.

Thanks

The way you describe it and his history, it does sound like he's suffering from PTSD from those accidents, essentially, he's lost his confidence and he's afraid of making a mistake. So he's 'striking out' at the jumps in... really, a non-violent way.
If you treat it with the PTSD in mind, you might be able to get a lot further with him. Although, I wouldn't be able to describe the first thing about how to treat a PTSD horse. -_-
But... that cantering large issue, he may just need to 'run it out'. Let him gallop until he stops. But that would require a very long strip or a track of some sort, where he can just run until he figures things out for himself, in his own mind. In his case, a long straight strip through some nice scenery might do the trick. Return him to the cross country part of eventing, which sounds like was before any of the accidents. So, it'll be like revisiting a past enjoyment for him.
In such an instance, 'letting him run' can be a bit of a dangerous track, so you'll need to know the potential dangers (and spooks) beforehand. But stopping him before he stops himself may not allow him to work through the issues that are plaguing him in his mind.
I don't know if you want to do that though, or can.

[Malakai10]

Oh, that would make sense. I'll see if I can find anything about that in South Africa.

Teal used to do eventing with his previous owner, then show jumping with me, then we switched to equitation and working hunter and had a bit of an accident (or two... or three) at nationals. Since then, Teal just bolts into jumps and can't canter large in the grass without going into a gallop. I've managed to get him over single jumps reliably and I think once over two but, if I try to do three or more consecutive jumps, Teal bolts. What I think I might have to do is jump-halt-treat, jump-halt-treat then jump-jump-halt-treat and just keep on increasing that until I can do a course. And then I do need to get him safely cantering large.

As he is I could *maybe* jump him but it wouldn't be pleasant and we would not have much ability to turn nor would I be able to adjust stride length.

Thanks

The way you describe it and his history, it does sound like he's suffering from PTSD from those accidents, essentially, he's lost his confidence and he's afraid of making a mistake. So he's 'striking out' at the jumps in... really, a non-violent way.
If you treat it with the PTSD in mind, you might be able to get a lot further with him. Although, I wouldn't be able to describe the first thing about how to treat a PTSD horse. -_-
But... that cantering large issue, he may just need to 'run it out'. Let him gallop until he stops. But that would require a very long strip or a track of some sort, where he can just run until he figures things out for himself, in his own mind. In his case, a long straight strip through some nice scenery might do the trick. Return him to the cross country part of eventing, which sounds like was before any of the accidents. So, it'll be like revisiting a past enjoyment for him.
In such an instance, 'letting him run' can be a bit of a dangerous track, so you'll need to know the potential dangers (and spooks) beforehand. But stopping him before he stops himself may not allow him to work through the issues that are plaguing him in his mind.
I don't know if you want to do that though, or can.

That's what I thought, too. I've had a small amount of success with what I was taught in a Richard Maxwell clinic (essentially just have two cavalettis places about three or four canter strides apart, walking up to one, stopping before it, walk over it, stop, walk over the second, stop and then gradually decreasing the number of stops. Once I can walk through without panic, then starting with all the stops again, but add a trot, then removing the stops, then repeat with canter. It managed to help him quite a bit. I'm hoping the combination of that with clicker training will enable him to relax and not panic.

Luckily, our grass arena is big enough for Teal to gallop in! I've tried it before and I must admit it only helps somewhat — he'll slow from a gallop to a canter but, once he's caught his breath, he'll go right back to galloping. He's very balanced and the turns are pretty big, so I just go into light seat and I manage to stay with him very nicely! It's admittedly quite fun. It wouldn't really work on outrides because the only open areas is the roads in the sugarcane and Teal is terrified of the long cane because the dogs would always go with us and suddenly burst out (I am so glad that they get locked inside when we go on outrides. They're sweet dogs but are exceptionally annoying when trying to ride.) Thankfully, Teal's also gotten better on outrides with the clicker training but he definitely has a time limit on how much he can handle before he just wants to go home.

What I've had quite a bit of success with is cantering on a circle and practising slowing going from canter to trot to walk to halt and repeating. Once he got that down, then I'd do one canter circle and go large but ask him to slow down and eventually stop as we reach the long side so that he'd learn 'go large'='slow down' and then, once he started to slow down without me asking, I'd ask him to continue on for a few extra strides and then either do a circle or slow down.

I have yet to be able to do a calm canter around the grass but I've managed a couple of times in the sand. Not recently, though. The last time I tried it, it didn't even occur to Teal that he was able to canter large in the sand admittedly I just left it at that the last time because if Teal deciding to slow down is much preferable to him cantering and I had wanted to have a good session that day. If he's well behaved next time I ride I should try cantering large in the sand. I should also ride in the grass which I haven't in months because the ground has been so wet that the arena was just mud and overgrown grass. Then I'll just do a circle, a few strides straight and then a circle again, slow to walk and gradually build it up from there.

I would like to do cross country but, unfortunately, there just isn't anywhere to do it. Added on, his only memories of cross country are with his previous owner/rider and, I don't know what that guy did to him but, when I first got Teal, he was sore, had no muscle, had his feed cut because he was 'too energetic', was so head shy that any quick move toward him would make him throw his head in the air and it would also take about 20 minutes just to get on him.

I think it was about two years after I got him, when I was going to the training clinics for the show where he had his accident (which were honestly just barrelling through some jumps along with a few refusals but I can definitely see how the combination of Scary-New-Place and the pain of polls hitting his legs and chest could traumatise him), we went to the place that had bred Teal and the lady that knew him as a foal said he was so sweet and lovely when he was young. And he had such a negative response to that place — he definitely Remembered something unpleasant.

The more I talk about Teal's issues, the more I realise that my current SYO was correct in saying that it was crooked of my previous SYO and trainer to have sold (and recommended) Teal to 13/14-year old me. I somehow managed to survive and cope and even improve Teal but it truely wasn't fair on either of us. But now... I'm so attached to Teal that I just don't like other horses the way I like him. Riding another horse is a chore no matter how well behaved they are.

[BlackOak2]

I have everything clear in my head but then I try to write it down and it's like,,,, woah, that's contradictory akdhfh I think I forget to link parts together or explain things vaguely. (Sometimes that happens when I write a sentence... I forget that I haven't completed it and move to the next or I'll go and swap words around... like the time I was complaining about Americans calling Africa a country instead of a continent and put the words the wrong way round ) As long as it makes sense though

Hmm, about the Angus and feral horse breeds - I would argue that those are outliers and thuse cannot be counted as they are a minority of the species population.

I must admit, I don't think domesticated cats do well when feral — outdoor cats (not even feral cats, these are cats that have vet care and food and clean water but are just let outside) average about 5 years whereas the African wildcat (what domestic cats are descended from) seems to have an average wild lifespan of about 14 years.

I'm definitely going to have to look that up because that sounds interesting! I'm honestly surprised that piebald has managed to stay in that population. And I'll definitely have to look up the silver morph foxes!

I don't think it's possible to have a cut off point for when a species is domesticated — it just happens too gradually. I suppose we have the domestic population once we have an entirely new species (although of course this comes with the joy of the definition of species having far too many exceptions... *sigh*) we classify most of our domesticated animals as separate species from their wild counterparts (dogs debatably not... I think I recall that they are now considered the same species as grey wolves) except that I'm pretty sure most of our domesticated species are still able to breed and produce fertile offspring with the wild counterparts. Our classification of species has so many exceptions that perhaps the only way we can say something is a new species is 'I just know' (but perhaps with analysing DNA for how closely related species are, we can have a cutoff point for how related they have to be to be a subspecies or distinct species (take a look at the African butterfly fish, for example. There are two species that look EXACTLY alike and just occur in different areas but they are so distinctive genetically that they cannot produce offspring AT ALL.)

That black wolves having dog DNA was something I read years ago... but I do think it was meant to have been a good few thousand years ago. I need to find this info source again - I *think* it was from wolfquest (which consults researches working in Yellowstone, if I recall correctly.)

That was a hypothesis (which I really should have stated when I wrote it.)

Apparently albinism in reptiles is something entirely different from albinism in mammals! (Caused by different genes and less harmful, I think?) I'm not sure if fish albinism is as well but I would imagine it's more like reptile albinism than mammal albinism (although I did have an albino oscar with definite eye sight problems and I think my albino x-ray tetras are a bit more hesitant with eating than my normal ones.

Hmm, I wouldn't say that albinism was dumped for sun tolerance - after all, you get various ocean critters that live in deeper waters with pigmentation. I must admit that I would have thought camouflage came before sun tolerance.

If the sun went out (assuming that we are somehow able to produce food at our normal levels and don't need vitamin D) I don't think we would change at all! There would need to be some sort of environmental pressure and if the lack of UV for some reason doesn't affect our food and we magically don't need vitamin D (or are else able to synthesise enough for everyone) then there's no environmental pressure shaping our species. And if there was environmental pressure changing us, it would still take a VERY long time to merge into the population and would likely end up with us being a completely different species.

I doubt albinism is preferred in fish - pretty much only the deep sea fish don't have pigmentation (and some of the deep sea fish have pigmentation anyway, like angler fish.)

The thing is is that pigmentation isn't only about using melanin for sun protection (which wouldn't apply to animals that have fur, feathers or scales.) The colouring is usually either for camouflage or it's for display purposes to find mates.

...
I just don't know about the albinism. There are just too many questions that it brings up. Which brings up another separate point. Without the sun, we wouldn't be able to necessarily see the plumage and color and camouflage, thereby making any of these entirely irrelevant and obsolete. We would, I assume (and I'm not just saying humans, but most or even all animal species), end up with our own bio-luminescence of some sort.

And those deep-water fish. Just as many of them lack color at all (clear bodies) as have white-colored (albino-style) bodies as have colored bodies. We do see deep-water fish with colored bodies in the shallows more often then the other two styles. Maybe I'm wrong with that, though. Still.
One most notable case that doesn't seem to fit into either of those categories is the greenland shark, which is a deep-water shark species, but still retains the mid- to upper-water color, light on the bottom, darker on the top.

...
Here's an article on the piebalds:
https://www.deerassociation.com/look-in ... bald-deer/

I couldn't find anything on the foxes though.
...

Domestic cats are different here, I suppose. A Tom does have the life expectancy of between 5 and 7 years as a true feral. But a Molly has one a little bit longer to about 10. Neutered or spayed can live as long as 12.
But it all depends on the areas they live. Cars are still a major factor of injury and death. I would figure in South Africa they'd have a much more... vicious... style of predators they need to watch out for. Around here, it's generally cars, canine and the occasional rabid animal. Bear don't generally go after them, too small a meal for too much effort. Sometimes, I think, a bird of prey might, but I think they're just on that line of being too heavy for most of them.

But for a feral cat living in a city though? They might make it three years if they entirely avoided humans. Feral cat colonies in cities and towns only really survive (usually) with some sort of human assistance, i.e. supplementing food, adopting out the kittens, neutering and spaying to help decrease territorial fights that lead to mortal wounds... etc.

....
And, I think that's where my brain frizzles to an end!
Well, it happens sometimes.

[BlackOak2]

That's what I thought, too. I've had a small amount of success with what I was taught in a Richard Maxwell clinic (essentially just have two cavalettis places about three or four canter strides apart, walking up to one, stopping before it, walk over it, stop, walk over the second, stop and then gradually decreasing the number of stops. Once I can walk through without panic, then starting with all the stops again, but add a trot, then removing the stops, then repeat with canter. It managed to help him quite a bit. I'm hoping the combination of that with clicker training will enable him to relax and not panic.

Luckily, our grass arena is big enough for Teal to gallop in! I've tried it before and I must admit it only helps somewhat — he'll slow from a gallop to a canter but, once he's caught his breath, he'll go right back to galloping. He's very balanced and the turns are pretty big, so I just go into light seat and I manage to stay with him very nicely! It's admittedly quite fun. It wouldn't really work on outrides because the only open areas is the roads in the sugarcane and Teal is terrified of the long cane because the dogs would always go with us and suddenly burst out (I am so glad that they get locked inside when we go on outrides. They're sweet dogs but are exceptionally annoying when trying to ride.) Thankfully, Teal's also gotten better on outrides with the clicker training but he definitely has a time limit on how much he can handle before he just wants to go home.

What I've had quite a bit of success with is cantering on a circle and practising slowing going from canter to trot to walk to halt and repeating. Once he got that down, then I'd do one canter circle and go large but ask him to slow down and eventually stop as we reach the long side so that he'd learn 'go large'='slow down' and then, once he started to slow down without me asking, I'd ask him to continue on for a few extra strides and then either do a circle or slow down.

I have yet to be able to do a calm canter around the grass but I've managed a couple of times in the sand. Not recently, though. The last time I tried it, it didn't even occur to Teal that he was able to canter large in the sand admittedly I just left it at that the last time because if Teal deciding to slow down is much preferable to him cantering and I had wanted to have a good session that day. If he's well behaved next time I ride I should try cantering large in the sand. I should also ride in the grass which I haven't in months because the ground has been so wet that the arena was just mud and overgrown grass. Then I'll just do a circle, a few strides straight and then a circle again, slow to walk and gradually build it up from there.

I would like to do cross country but, unfortunately, there just isn't anywhere to do it. Added on, his only memories of cross country are with his previous owner/rider and, I don't know what that guy did to him but, when I first got Teal, he was sore, had no muscle, had his feed cut because he was 'too energetic', was so head shy that any quick move toward him would make him throw his head in the air and it would also take about 20 minutes just to get on him.

I think it was about two years after I got him, when I was going to the training clinics for the show where he had his accident (which were honestly just barrelling through some jumps along with a few refusals but I can definitely see how the combination of Scary-New-Place and the pain of polls hitting his legs and chest could traumatise him), we went to the place that had bred Teal and the lady that knew him as a foal said he was so sweet and lovely when he was young. And he had such a negative response to that place — he definitely Remembered something unpleasant.

The more I talk about Teal's issues, the more I realise that my current SYO was correct in saying that it was crooked of my previous SYO and trainer to have sold (and recommended) Teal to 13/14-year old me. I somehow managed to survive and cope and even improve Teal but it truely wasn't fair on either of us. But now... I'm so attached to Teal that I just don't like other horses the way I like him. Riding another horse is a chore no matter how well behaved they are.

It happens to all of us at some point I think. Getting attached to things and animals and people.

Maybe... taking some human therapy with PTSD and using it straight on Teal would work? I'd say... car accident victims rehab. Do you have access to a pool of water? That seems to help a lot of Tb racers with serious injuries and track phobias... though I'm not really sure how water work would help with a track phobia. -_-

And then there's free-jumping courses.

He's not a young man anymore, but I wonder if changing his career and work entirely would quash all of his issues. Have you thought about trying him in a single harness, single axle cart? I think they're called '* carts'? Cart riding and showing is all done at the trot and walk, so no more need for Teal to leave the ground for jumps or canter during work again. He'd only ever do that for enjoyment and when you want to 'pop one' on a leisure outing in the field.

It'd be entirely different area for you, but if you want to move forward in riding (assuming it's potentially more than a hobby), knowing how to go alternative routes can make you a highly versatile (and maybe sought-after) rider for future job opportunities.
Who knows? He might find cart-work right up his alley too.

Well, whatever you decide to do with Teal, he'll be well taken care of.