by Fran Jurga | 5 May 2009 | The Jurga Report
For the past year or so, Martha Stewart has been blogging about her veterinarian, Dr. Elizabeth Kilgallon, and her progress in diagnosing and treating a degenerative hock issue found in Martyn, one of Stewart’s Friesian horses. But is she after my job?
Martha Stewart and I have a lot in common, actually. Sure, there are the horses in common, but there’s more than just that. She’s the head of a media empire. I’m the head of a media empire, too, if you count all my readers who work for royal stables in places like Dubai and Oman.
Martha’s on Twitter; I’m on Twitter. The only difference is that she has 557,627 more followers than I do. And she isn’t following me.
I follow her, though. I have to keep an eye on this woman because she’s obviously trying to take over my turf, and I’ll tell you why.
Martha introduced her blog readers to her lay equine dentist, Brian Stuart, and didn’t apologize for not using a vet to float her horse’s teeth.
You see, Martha and I are both involved with horses. And we both are bloggers.
I wasn’t worried at first, when I heard she was starting a blog…but did she have to do such a good job of it? I read her blog because I thought it would inspire me to be a better blogger.
And then, when she blogged about what goes on when her horseshoer, my friend Linda Friedman, stops by to pedicure the feet of her Friesians, I didn’t feel threatened. I was thrilled that someone of Martha’s stature was writing about farriers, and there’s no farrier more deserving of a good write-up that Linda Friedman. Martha knows how to pick a farrier.
This spring, Stewart is updating us on Martyn’s progress, including precise recommendations of the therapy regimens and equipment used…even the therapists!
But now that one of her horses is lame and she’s blogging away on the minute details of its therapy, I’m having to stop and think about what this woman’s real motives are. I think that Martha may be after my job.
Through Martha’s blog, we’re meeting the horse dentist, the saddle fitter (Kate Athanas-Wilson), the Game Ready cold therapy expert and I’m starting to wonder if there is a better cared for barn of horses in the Northeast. It’s as if Martha has been reading every article I ever wrote in eveyr horse magazine ever printed in the last 20 years. “Advice to horse owners: hire the best professionals….start at the feet and work up….”
Martha seems genuinely interested in what each and every one of these professionals does for a living, she raves about their interesting tools, and she’s keen to know what they are doing and how it will affect her horse.
We all know how difficult hock problems can be, but Martha is determined to get to the bottom of Martyn’s problem and she has assembled a cadre of top-notch horse health professionals and state-of-the-art equipment to help her horse. Bravo!
Blog readers were treated to details of Martyn’s Game Ready cold therapy treatments, provided by Jamie Miles.
Here are some links to horse health posts on the Martha Stewart Blog that you might enjoy:
Click here to read about Martyn’s hock lameness diagnosis.
Click here to read about Martyn’s massage therapy session.
Click here to read about Linda Friedman’s winter shoes for the Friesians.
Click here to see a photo album of Martha riding her horses in the snow this winter.
I think the horse world has a great friend in Martha Stewart. She’s blogging and Tweeting in our language, so check it out! Just remember to come back here to your own tribe.
You can also follow Martha on Twitter: http://twitter.com/MarthaStewart
Will Martha design a perfect interior for Linda Friedman’s farrier rig? Linda’s probably happy with it the way it is but Martha might have some ideas!
All photos on this post mirror from www.themarthablog.com.
