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Owner politely tells gardeners not to feed her afflicted horse By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings It might seem like a compassionate thing to do to feed a handful of grass, an apple or a sugar cube to an old horse standing in a grassless pen. But such treats could kill Barra, a 25 year-old horse that lives next to the newly established Ashland community garden. Ellie Read and her Arab gelding Barra stand behind the sign she put up telling people not to feed Barra near the community garden property on Hersey Street. Barra has Cushing's disease, among other health problems, and feeding him grass, carrots or apples could potentially be fatal. Ashland Daily Tidings/CHRIS MILLER "Now that there are going to be more people coming onto the land, I'm worried that people are going to be feeding him," said his owner of 19 years, Ellie Read. In March, the Ashland Parks and Recreation Commission approved use of a corner of undeveloped park land near the intersection of Hersey and Water Streets for the community garden. Two horses board on the land as well. Parks staff have tilled the garden's soil and are putting up a deer fence in preparation for gardening enthusiasts who will plant as many as 43 plots. Read has posted a sign warning people not to interfere with Barra, but the sign is sometimes ignored. She feeds him a diet of specialty hay to combat laminitis, an inflammation of hoof tissue that is the number two killer of horses behind colic, and Cushing's disease, a slow-growing tumor on the pituitary gland that results in a condition similar to diabetes in humans. "Grass is completely deadly to him. Even carrots and apples are high in carbohydrates that can be harmful as well," she said. The second horse on the property also has passed the 20 year-old mark and is on a restricted diet. Barra, part Anglo-Arab and part Welsh pony, is a pretty little horse who long has attracted the attention and sympathy of passers-by. Read has found everything from candy and sugar cubes in his pen to broccoli and chicken. Someone once disposed of a load of fallen apples in Barra's pen - a move that proved nearly fatal. The horse was saved only by emergency veterinary care that included inserting a tube in his stomach, according to Read. "Sometimes people walk by and feel sorry for him, but they don't understand everything he's gone through," she said. "It's taken two years of research, heartache and money to get him into this condition. I just want him to live as long as he can in the most healthful condition he can." Read said she usually visits Barra three times a day and takes him out for 15 minutes of exercise in the pasture around his pen. That is about as much as the horse - who used to be a common sight when out riding with Read on Ashland streets - can handle these days, she said. The other horse frequently is visited by its owners twice a day, according to Read. "It's very natural for people to be attracted to big, beautiful animals and to go to the gate and try to coax them over with food so their kids can pet them," she said. "But please honor our horses. Enjoy them from afar. Let them live as long as they can." For more information on the community garden or to sign up for a plot, call the North Mountain Park Nature Center at 488-6606. The annual cost for a 20-by-20-foot plot is $50. The cost for a 10-by-10-foot plot is $25. LINKS: DAILY TIDINGS: Main | News | Sports | Obituaries | Opinion | Columnists | AP News | Subscribe | Archives | Weather | Classifieds | Contact Us | Privacy REVELS: Main | Calendar | Dining | Movies | T.V. OTHER: Road Cams Copyright 2003 Ashland Daily Tidings 541.482.3456. 1661 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, OR 97520. Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. - Advertisers -