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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 2, 1989)
The Battalion ps als ENTERTAINMENT Thursday, March 2,1989 college teann | Miniature horses are profitable pets for nuns schools in 4 0 know wb defuses total ter s until aftii eve rages he 32-4 San obstacle intn. ;i| by from wit plays Marioi match, whi China Sf II search forii hie and lift boettes, 32-! ban 40 poim 'eking its It > the past ave a 27-gai® HI he tested ton. ;es an. If Jimm |err\ will fid loin Landry lid not pleasl way Landtp s.iid Rojier. s one of tl tndry shoul i lier, l thin ve been hai nderstandii hook had i they shoul By Stacey Babin ENTERTAINMENT WRITER Sister Jude looked proudly over the fence at the newest addition to her family of horses. “Come here,” she called to the horses so they would come closer to the fence. Valentine, born Feb. 10 — the first-born horse of 1989 — trotted clumsily most of the way across the pasture. She hid shyly behind her mother as they approached the fence. “She’s our first black and white horse and she won’t be sold,” Sister Jude said. Although these horses do 90 per cent of their growing in the first (left) Sister Mary Bernadette Muller stands in front of the chapel at the Monastery of St. Clare near Brenham. (below) Hot Shot watches over Valentine, her colt, at the Mon astery of St. Clare. Valentine is the monastery’s only black and white miniature horse. (at bottom) Sister Jude Marie Howe of the Order of St. Clare kisses Angel, one of the 60 miniature horses at the monastery. Photos by Jay Janner Aquarium owners enjoy oceanic beauty Editor’s note — The following is the first in a series of articles about pets — from the mundane to the biz- tare, from fish and reptiles to dogs and cats. Suggestions of what and where to look for each animal and profiles of some pet enthusiasts will be covered. Most Texas A&M students live in [residence halls or apartments, most of which lack yards or large outdoor areas. These articles will describe an imals that an apartment-dweller can maintain as well as those for the stu dent lucky enough to have a yard (or forgiving roommates). By Thomas Boylan ENTERTAINMENT WRITER Clowns, butterflies, triggers, cych- lids, stones and angels — they don’t seem to have much in common, un less you happen to be talking to an aquarium owner. If so, you’re likely to find that he or she probably owns a few of each. Just add the suffix “-fish” to any of those words, and you’ve named a breed, one of thousands of breeds that people like Tim Terrazas, Eric Ray and Carolyn Wheeler keep in aquariums, salt and freshwater. Names like clown fish, butterfiyf- ish and angelfish conjure up exotic images that are well supported by the animal’s appearances. They’re brightly colored and often rare. Tim Terrazas, a senior economics major and an employee at Pet Par adise, is an owner of a few such fish. Tim Terrazas and Saltwater “I have a tomato clown, a seabay down, a scissor-tail gobie and a coral banded shrimp (candy-cane striped with big pincers),” Terrazas said. He also has a dark maroon clownfish, and to enhance the atmosphere of his aquarium, he has several varieties of coral, including mushroom, fox and elegant. The elegant coral (that is its name) is on display in the tank at the front door of Pet Paradise. Terrazas said he prefers corals to fish because “they’re so much pret tier.” Describing it, he said, “Coral is like an anemone with a hard skele ton base. It’s a coelenterate that in the past didn’t live too long in aquar iums — they just sort of deteriorated — but with today’s lighting they can live and even thrive and multiply.” Technology has made better coral survival possible by artificially cre ating the spectrum of the sun. “The blue spectrum,” Terrazas said, “be cause after you go 15 feet down, that’s all the light that gets through.” He said he likes to keep corals not only because they are attractive. “They’re also different,”- he said. “Not everyone can keep a coral. They aren’t willing to spend the money and don’t have the knowl edge to maintain it.” Until recently, his miniature ocean was in a 75-gallon tank at his apartment. It was about 4 feet long, but that wasn’t large enough, and he is in the process of moving his ocean denizens to a much larger home. His new tank will hold 135 gallons of saltwater and will be 6 feet long. Terrazas began keeping fish about three years ago. “Some friends had a tank, a 10-gallon freshwater," he said. “After about three months I moved up to a 55-gallon and imme diately went to saltwater. “It’s so much more colorful, and there’s a bigger choice of fish.” Until his new tank is set up, his fish and corals are living at Pet Par adise. Terrazas noted that many hospi tals and retirement homes keep fish because medical studies have shown that simply sitting and watching fish lowers people’s heart rates. The variety of tropical fish avail able is vast. Terrazas pulled out seve ral books to show the particular spe cies he is most interested in, and the books were all but medical dictiona ries in full color. The books showed thousands of species that come in color combina tions unlike any found in land-dwell ing animals: brilliant yellows and blues beside black and silver to gether on fish no larger than a silver dollar. The photos were spectacular, but not half as spectacular as the fish themselves. Terrazas’ favorite among his col lection is an eilbi angelfish. It is blue, gray, red and brown with brilliant orange eyes. His favorite fish of all is a Caetedon semivatus — it has no common name — which would cost a few hundred dollars. “I’ve never seen one,” he said. “They come from the Red Sea only, so I’ve only seen pictures.” Collecting fish is a wav to travel the world. While Jacques Cousteau sails the world in his ship The Ca lypso, looking at beautiful reefs and animals, Terrazas sits in his living room, looking at a microscosm of the Philippines and the Indo-Pacifk: area, as well as the Caribbean and the Australian coast, all ablaze with color. Eric Ray and Freshwater Eric Ray, a 1985 A&M industrial education graduate, owns six tanks holding a total of 325 gallons of wa ter. He said he prefers freshwater to saltwater fish, and he has a partic ular affinity for African cychlids. “They (cychlids) come from two lakes in Africa, and that’s the only place they come from,” Ray said. “They’re really aggressive and a lot of them are carnivorous, although some of them are vegetarians, too.” The fish are also unusual in the way they rear their young. Ray ex plained: “The female lays her eggs on the bottom, and alter the male fertilizes them, she picks them up and carries them in her mouth for the three or four weeks it takes them to develop, and the baby fish hide in her mouth until they’re too big to fit. “During the three to four weeks they’re in her mouth, she won’t eat — she has no facility to allow it. That’s how you can tell when they’re getting ready to breed; the females get really big.” Ray said he prefers maintaining a freshwater aquarium to a saltwater tank. “It’s less expensive, and they’re all colorful,” he said. “Thev all have dis tinct personalities, too. If you watch them, you can almost always predict their behavior.” He added that freshwater fish are saying, “You've reallv got to screw something up to kill them." See Eish/Page 14 year, this horse will never grow to be even 3 feet tall. Valentine, like the other 59 horses at the monestery, is a miniature horse. At the Monastery of St. Clare, nine miles northeast of Brenham, nuns raise and sell miniature horses to support their home. Sister Jude, a novice, has been with the monastery for almost two years. She is the horses’ prinicipal caretaker and feeder. “At this time of year, we call this the maternity pasture,” Sister Jude said as pregnant mares slowly crossed the pasture. “We pasture-breed the mares with a stallion because it’s more natural.” She pointed to the stallion respon sible for the abundance of pregnant mares. Wantsley-Basalt is a 29-inch stallion imported from England and is a leader for the mares, Sister Jude said. The monastery’s 98-acre ranch is a perfect setting for the little animals whose origins date to the 16th cen tury. Miniature horses were bred as pets for European royalty. Wars and famine contributed to the decline in their numbers, however. By the 1900s, the miniature horses were almost extinct, but some could be found in circuses or with gypsies. Some of the horses were brought to the United States to work in coal mines and were well cared for by their breeders. Records and ped igrees were kept, and by the 1970s they began to be registered. “All of our horses are named and registered,” Sister Jude said. Miniature horses are measured at the last hair of their mane and are classified as those no taller than 34 inches. “They are full-size horses bred down,” Sister Jude said. The two main kinds of “minis,” as the miniature horses are nicknamed, are the stocky Quarter Horse kind and the taller, thoroughbred type. The monastery cares for these and many other breeds. Some horses have the long, flow ing manes similar to ponies’ that drape across their backs and vir tually cover their eyes. Others have shorter manes similar to those of standard-size horses. The Monastery of St. Clare is na tionally known for its miniature horses. The horses have been featured in National Geographic and on the television show Texas Country Re porter. Sister Mary Bernadette Muller, who handles the registering and sales of the horses, estimated that about 10,500 visitors come to the monastery each year to see the horses. “It’s the nuns plus the horses that interest so many people,” Sister Ber nadette said. “The majority comes to see the horses, not the chapel. It’s a way for people to get to know the nuns bet ter, too.” Sister Bernadette said people of all religions come to see the horses and visit with the nuns, and some come to buy a horse. “The younger horses start at about $5,000, and the mares can go for $10,000,” she said. “We sell be tween 15 to 20 a year.” Stallions can be priced at up to $30,000, Sister Bernadette said. She said they sell the horses to only three kinds of people. “We sell to people who want to get into it as a business, to elderly people and to people who want them as pets for their children,” she said. The monastery ships the small horses free in the continental United States for people who purchase 3 or more, Sister Bernadette said. Sister Jude said the miniature horses are similar to dogs in their temperament, which makes them excellent pets. Many of the horses are trained for shows and can be harnessed to drive a cart. The ideal size of a driving horse is at least 33 inches. Geldings, or castrated horses, are good drivers because they are more attentive than stallions and more muscled than mares, she said. Sister Bernadette said the monas tery has two miniature horse shows a year. The Monastery Spring Fling, a competitive, all-day show, will be May 20. Because the monastery is sponsoring the show, however, its horses cannot compete. The Monastery October Extrava ganza is a 2-hour show exhibiting the monastery’s miniature horses. Some horses are dressed in carousel outfits and some drive carts. The sisters got some of the minia ture horses in 1982 while living in Corpus Christi. In 1986, they moved to Brenham and doubled the num ber of their herd. “We used to raise birds and cats, but horses are the best,” Sister Ber nadette said. “They’re time consuming, but they don’t demand as much time as a caged animal, and our prayer time isn’t interrupted.” Nuns in Brenham lead secluded yet busy lives By Stacey Babin ENTERTAINMENT WRITER The nuns of the Monastery of St. Clare near Brenham are not the kind of nuns the public usually envisions. They are not social workers, nurses or teachers. They are con templative nuns. They lead a life of silent prayer and penance. Contemplative nuns take the three required vows of poverty, chastity and obedi ence, but add a fourth vow of en closure. This vow limits the exits and entrances of the monastery to those of necessity. Only one road goes into the monastery. Enclosure is benefi cial to the quiet setting and life style of the contemplative nuns. “Our purpose is prayer,” Sister Mary Bernadette Muller said. “I don’t go around telling people why I believe a certain way. “Some people think it’s crazy. I don’t think I’m crazy!” Sister Bernadette dresses in a blue robe tied with a rope, similar to a monk’s clothing. Her formal habit is brown.The rope has three knots in it. “The knots signify the three vows we take,” she said. “The novice sister does not have these knots yet.” Poor Clares are an order of Franciscans founded by St. Fran cis in the 13th century. They evacuated Cuba in 1960 and came to the United States. Sister Bernadette had to find a place for the monastery in 1986 when the nuns moved from Cor pus Christi. “This was the seventh spot we looked at, and we just knew this was it,” she said. “We felt lucky about it.” The chapel was built with the dependent sisters in mind, and each sister has a certain place to pray and keep her prayer books. Pews were built for visitors. Of the 15 nuns who live at the monastery, nine are Cuban refu gee sisters. One nun helps out the novice sister. “The novice has not quite been with us two years, and she and Sister Angela do all of the work with the horses,” Sister Berna dette said. Because the monastery is au tonomous, the nuns can choose how they raise funds. The Brenham monastery is supported by the sales of minia ture horses and ceramic art. The nuns’ artwork is displayed in the monastery’s Art Barn. “One sister does the firing and six or seven do the painting,” she said. At 71, Sister Bernadette rides around the 98-acre ranch in a golf cart and claims a typical day is a “hectic” one. She said the nuns are up at 6 in the morning to have breakfast and'prayer. At 8 a.m., they have Mass with a priest from St. Mary’s in Brenham. They pray together at noon, and from 2-4 p.m. the Monastery Miniature Horse Ranch and the Art Barn are open to the public. In the office, visitors can view the Miniature Horse Carousel built by two inmates at the Texas Department of Correction’s Pack II Unit. The office also showcases many of the monastery’s awards for their miniature horses. At night the sisters have recre ation time and can play cards, work puzzles or watch previewed videos, she said. “So much that is on television today is bad,” Sister Bernadette said. “We like to know what we’re watching.” At 8 p.m. the nuns have cha pel, she said, and most go to bed by 8:30 p.m. “Some of the younger ones stay up a little later, though,” she added.