Friday, May 30, 2008

Happy Anniversary, everybody!

Yes, the Fugly Blog is officially one year old today. You can read the very first post here.

Check out this
tribute video one of my readers created. Jeez, seeing so much at once like that even makes me sad and I'm pretty jaded when it comes to this stuff.


So, we've gotten a lot of attention here. Some people hate us, some people love us. For the newbies, no, I don't think we should slaughter fugly horses (I get that accusation all the time). Most of what I own is fugly either due to age or having been that way all along - but I don't breed them. Every horse deserves proper care. I do think certain horses deserve it even more (i.e. horses who have had race or performance careers for the entertainment of humans - they deserve that retirement every bit as much as Bob who put in 50 years at the plant.) I think that you shouldn't breed if you can't afford to breed really above-average stock, test for genetic defects (and avoid them when you know about them!), and provide proper care to all of your horses. Yes, broodmares need hoof care too, not just the "ridding horses." I think that you shouldn't rescue if you have made no provision for training the horses once they are in your care. I think that if you can afford to live in Lake Oswego, you can afford retirement board on the horse who got f'ed up in your ownership. I think that people who breed HYPP positive horses are greedy asshats. In my ideal world, we would not ride horses until their three year old year. In my ideal world, there would be huge cash incentives for having a fantastic ten year old pleasure horse. And so on...


The horse industry, as it stands, has encouraged all of the problems we see today and slaughter has been a convenient solution for them. While slaughter hasn't ended, the expense of hauling horses to slaughter has made the prices drop - and the greedy asshats are screaming bloody murder and trying to convince you that ending slaughter is a bad idea and horses are just going to starve. You know what? Some are. I wish I could fix that, but I'd also like to stop child abuse and murder. Um, good luck. Some people are going to suck no matter what we do.


Change is always hard. If you're into history, go back and read the dire predictions of what would happen if we ended slavery, or gave women the right to vote. Man, the WORLD was gonna end! And it would be the worst for the former slaves and the women! The fact is that those changes needed to happen and so does this one. The low end of the market needs to react to the change by reducing production until the supply fails to exceed the demand. This isn't all that complicated. Just stop breeding low end horses. This means you.


"But my foals always sell," I can hear some of you arguing. Let me guess - that has more to do with the fact that you actually handle your foals and train them appropriately and they are nice, people-loving foals that just about sell themselves. If you can do that, kudos to you. Why not, instead of breeding, go down to the auction and rescue some that are already here. Put that training on them and give them a chance at life. If ten percent of you would do that, we'd have the problem pretty much solved. If you love having babies around and have lots of foaling experience, please offer to take in a pregnant mare from a rescue. Rescues could really use you!


What else can you do? Just keep thinking about supply and demand here. We need more good owners, less horses in niches that don't sell well. If you can't help the horses upgrade themselves and become more marketable, help create good owners. Volunteer your time in 4-H or Pony Club. Have a barn? Put on some free clinics to teach people about how to feed an old horse and how to ensure they don't lose weight over the winter. (I definitely want to do that myself this fall - friends and I are talking about it). If you're a trainer, why not have a drawing for one free lesson a month? Put a pot in the tack shop that Mom or Dad can drop their business card into. Maybe you can get a kid who is trying to teach themselves and making a wreck out of themselves and the horse back on the right path. Or help some poor overmounted adult beginner who can't figure out why the stuff in the videos isn't working for her. Something as simple as that may save a horse's life.


If you do breed, follow up. Your registry can tell you who owns your horses, in most cases. Make those phone calls, send those e-mails. See if the horses you produced are doing okay. Take them back if they're not. You created them - you are ultimately responsible for them. Don't like that? Open a factory and make inanimate objects instead.


What if you're a kid? Hey, read Joe's blogs - creative kids everywhere are making a difference. They are collecting money to send to good rescues. They are educating people about horse slaughter and rescue and responsible breeding in chat rooms. They are telling their peers that it's wrong when they have unspayed dogs and cats popping out babies that have a poor chance for a decent future. Remember, peer pressure can be used in healthy and constructive ways - use it. When you have a chance to make a choice about one of your animals, make the right choice. Sitting out the show season, or catch riding sale horses because yours is lame - instead of ditching yours - sends a message to your peers. (Not to mention, all that catch riding makes YOU a better rider and then you can gloat the next year when you are kicking butt at the shows!)


All right, I really am taking a couple of days off, so try not to have hysterics. :-) If you haven't been here from the beginning, go back and read the old blogs. I've given you a starting point. To all of you who read, thanks and I can't tell you how much I enjoy your comments. I am sorry I can't keep up on e-mails - I just can't. Not enough hours in the day. I do work two jobs and have eight horses at home to take care of. Colin is good - plowing happily through knee high grass with his girlfriend, Joy. NC Catnip's two little rescues from this blog are doing great - check out their blog. Scarlet, the emaciated auction rescue, is no longer emaciated and turning back into the absolutely beautiful mare she is - check out her blog.


Remember the horses I posted about from the Mason County hoarder situation in January? I couldn't post the pics I took at the time - now I can. On the left is what Isabella looked like the day I met her - and here she is today, on the right. Big kudos to her foster moms Ginger and Alyssa for bringing her back to health in just five months. Isabella is available for adoption in the Seattle area through SAFE. I do need to get an update on the other Mason County horses and I will work on that for a future blog!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

I am starting to think they are all attention whores...

and they are deliberately trying to be featured on this blog!

For example, check out this ad from Circle P Farms of Summit, Missouri. Boy, you'd think that just by luck alone, she'd get more words right than this!


Angle, Black And White Paint For Sale in Mississippi $ 900 (Negotiable) these 10 year old is great for kids of all ages nice neck raining all a rownd good horse has been shown pleasher team pind on and lots and lots of trail rideing on her also has been taken to birthday partys she is in the best shap of her life stands tided stands for shoer these mare has got a very very nice bilt i have used these horse to pony other horses please call if you are trouly looking for a great horse these horse is not under waight she is very fat she does not bite or kick can hall up on request for a extra 100.00 will breed to our black and white stud these mare has had a baby be for


Man, I bet that $100 stud fee stud is a looker! I have $100 that says he's hideozygous for sure!


Hey, she trains, too! Now, don't hurt yourselves running to sign your horses up!

brake,trane, western ridding and timed events in USA/Canada in Training --> Horse Training I sale horses, give lessons starting at 15.00.I also rint out horses for partys and such.I hall horses for you. training starting 300.00 for 30 days that duss not in cloud days I miss that is 30 days me working him.Shows dont count. if i suply feed that is a extra 50.00.We have a larger circle pen.Show are starting back up the first to were rained out and rebooked.for 3 years i trained horses from my home. thin for 2 years i worked at F&M Stabbles training i started horses to retired horses I train any horse that has the abilaty to learn. My refrinces upon request please call for apontment


Moving on...


Look it's Old McDonald...on crack! What species don't these people have? Of course they are now trying to ditch their entire herd of TWH's for one low, low bargain price. What is with these "take 'em all for X dollars" price deals? I never saw this even five years ago.




It's never surprising when people who do dumb things with horses also lack skills in other areas of life. Witness this comment from some dingbat on the horse.com forum whose 27 year old Arabian mare of completely unremarkable breeding is in foal to her 26 year old AQHA stallion. (I will say that I like the stallion's breeding, but we're breeding him to an ancient mare...why?)

"I bred her to my 14.3 sorrel QH (same height as Katie) so I will have a 15/16 Arab foal that I will register with the Quarab registry"

And I thought I was bad with math!


Expert Village may have gotten rid of Sarah Stetner, but if this is the best they can do for a western pleasure loping video, it's still pretty sad. Behind the bit, not collected, and NOT pretty!

And something encouraging for those of you disgruntled with the racing industry - a thank you from a breeder who saw their horse on CANTER's web site - and took him back to provide for him for the rest of his life! Ali Fisher and Mr. Murphy - you guys are officially NOT asshats. Kudos to you for doing the right thing for this gelding.

"Just a word of thanks for all that you do (CANTER). I found a baby I bred and foaled back in 2002 named Tar River on your web page and bought him back from his trainer/owner. He arrived on Wednesday morning and has settled in great. It is such a relief to have him safe and sound back home. I am indebted to your organization for all your hard work! When I saw him on the website--and I check all the Canter websites for any of the horses we have bred--I just had to have him back, even if he was going to be a pasture ornament. It was the right thing to do. The thought of him at some point ending up on a trailer bound for Canada or Mexico just makes me sick. Mr. Murphy ([current]owner/trainer) was very understanding and was happy that Tar River would be coming home to me. I have to thank him for not only posting him with you, but giving me the opportunity to get him back. Keep up the good work and please know that Tar River and I truly appreciate it!" ~ Ali Fisher















Now, for those of you looking for an OTTB, I know of one in Wisconsin that needs a home ASAP. He is 17.1 and has a fresh bow that needs to be rested - so you're looking at 3-6 months rest before he can do something, and he is probably too hyped up from the track to go out with others at first. The ideal for a horse like this is a small, safe paddock to start (assume there will be striking if it shares a fenceline - is your fence going to be ok with that?). (I do not subscribe to stall rest for a bow. I just don't think it is the best way, based upon what I've seen) I believe in small turnout - like a round pen or small paddock.) Here he is - e-mail Beth if you can give him the place he needs to rehab and recover. He is a serious looker and I can see him kicking butt in the show ring if he is rehabbed properly. Just 5 years old.













Finally, our Asshat du jour is some creep named Tommy James in Florida. He was starving a whole herd of Arabians. Believe it or not, the vets are saying they should all recover - even the 22 year old mare at left. They are in the care of Hidden Springs Horse Rescue.


All right everybody. I am officially on vacation, like I'm probably not going to blog or anything, until Tuesday. So don't freak out! :-) Turn off the computer, go outside and play with your horses!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Most appropriate location ever!

Embarrass, Minnesota!


"Amigo is a 6 yr old approx 15 hands palomino and white paint stallion. I have his application to be registered but after being passed through a couple of owners it was never sent in. And I saw no reason to break the streak of irresponsibility so I didn't send it in, either! He has absolutely remarkable bloodlines including the famous Scotch Bar Time, Scribbles, Royal Loot,Sonny Dee Bar, and many others!! Of course your ad does not note how close up they are. I'm guessing 3+ generations back on everybody! it's hard to find a stallion of this quality for sale!! I will say that he's cute for his price range but that's because his price range is $700! It's actually pretty damn easy to find a stallion of this quality for sale - they are all over Craigslist. Send in his papers and it will be SOOOO worth it! Too bad you could not convince yourself of that! Amigo has very correct conformation, good hip and shoulder, and a very sweet muscular baby doll face! He has a muscular face? I can't tell much about his conformation from that picture. All I can tell is that you have failed to cap your t-posts and apparently do not care if he stakes himself. He has one filly from him and she is very beautifully marked!!! Of course, you or somebody else just HAD to breed the stallion you were too lazy to register. But hey, it's fine, she's got spots! Surely spotted horses don't go to the killers, right? Amigo also has a VERY sweet temperament for a stallion, he loves to be scratched and have his ears rubbed!! If he were gelded he would also make a wonderful performance horse!! And he can't do that with his nuts on why? Let me guess, nobody's bothered to train him 'cause he's a skeery stallion? (hence his bloodlines) That makes no sense. I've watched him out in the pasture and he has AWESOME rollbacks and a very nice stop to him!! Honey, they ALL DO out in the pasture! Raise your hand if your horse is such a klutz he can't do rollbacks in the pasture. He is packed with muscle structure and hasnt even been worked with! I wouldn't be bragging about that if I were you. I cant say enough about this stallion!! But I will keep trying! This spring when i put some time into him his price will go up. Since clearly your training has been highly valuable so far, given his utter lack of accomplishments. We are willing to take trades. Here we go....watch for the line "will trade for something that doesn't eat." I would like a newer saddle, prefferably an Aussie with all the bells and whistles or a tucker. We are also looking for a nicer horse trailer. For the equivalent of $700, what kind of horse trailer do you think you are going to GET? Let me know if you want to know more!! I want to know why you haven't gelded and registered him, or why if you're capable of working with him, you haven't done so. I am posting a picture of him, it is a horrible one and really does not come close to doing him any justice, from this angle he looks like he has a weak rear end, but he really does not!! I do have more pictures!" Then why didn't you post a good one?

FHOTD back in: Oh well, old Spot has gone home with Dan and Cassie. I do hope THEY are going to geld and register and train him. We can hope!

It just amazes me that there's still so much of this. There is no excuse for having a six year old stallion that you haven't registered or trained. It did not fall from the sky into your backyard. You made a conscious choice to acquire it, either through purchasing it or breeding it - now step up and take responsibility for it!

The real reason your horse doesn't load...

This picture was taken in (Sorry, Southerners) Jonesboro, Arkansas. As the alert reader who snapped it observed "Every time a car would go by, he would shy to the right as far as he could go and stare the car down. And let's not even mention that he had NO protection from the wind as we were going down the road at 60 miles per hour."


This is the perfect picture to illustrate today's topic, which came up in the comments yesterday: Horses who won't load. Just like horses who refuse jumps, horses who won't take a certain lead, and horses who won't stop, the fault usually lies squarely with...the human involved.



First of all, as one reader observed, check your driving. I see people out there hauling horses like they are in the Indianapolis 500. Changing lanes, turning too fast, stopping and starting too fast. The horse is not stupid. If trailering is a bad experience for him, he will start refusing to go in. If you've never ridden in the back of a trailer yourself, I highly recommend it. You have no idea how hard it is to keep your feet. It will give you a new appreciation for how important it is to stop, start and corner slowly. Stop worrying about the people behind you and whether or not they are pissed off. Worry about your horse! I've discovered that a good rule of thumb for turns that are marked with a recommended speed is to go 10 mph slower with a truck/trailer. Yes, that means you really should only go 15 on that freeway ramp. It's also important to remember that you have to slow way down in any kind of inclement weather. Drive courteously, carefully and slowly and you will usually find that you don't have a lot of trailer loading issues with your horses.



Another related note: A 6'6 trailer is a cow trailer. It is not a horse trailer. Horses will bang their heads in a 6'6 and it will make them hard to load. Unless you have ponies, you really do need the 7' height.



Now let's talk about trailer loading technique. It isn't brain surgery. You want the trailer to be a safe, pleasant haven where there is food and nobody bothers you. Outside the trailer is an annoying place where if you don't move forward, someone whacks on your butt and/or growls at you. Easy choice, right? I am a fan of the old fashioned butt rope for a resistant horse (two people have a longe line, and you seesaw it back and forth on the horse's butt, preferably under the tail to create unpleasant friction. Most horses will move away from that in a hurry) and I also have no problem with the use of whips, brooms, whatever's handy as additional encouragement.



Sometimes trailer loading is as simple as putting the horse's best buddy, who loads well, in the trailer first. Don't try to load the bad loader first - that never works. Oh, and obviously it's not smart to put a horse in next to a horse who kicks his ass in the field. If you have an undivided stock trailer, the mean horse goes in LAST, with a muzzle on.



If you are leading the horse into the trailer, you have to get out of the horse's way. If you're standing there facing the horse, of course he isn't going to jump in. He thinks he is going to land on you. You need to be off to the side, out of his way. Leading him in shoulder to shoulder is best but if he's sitting there thinking about it, make sure you are far enough into the trailer and off to the side so that you're not creating an obstacle.

You cannot pull a horse into a trailer. Your rope should be soft, or you can lightly tug and release. The pressure has to come from behind the horse. If you pull steadily - he'll pull back. 100% of the time.

You have to keep a horse straight so he can load. This may mean people on both sides to do that. Horses will typically try to wiggle left or right so that they are no longer pointed at the trailer. You have to re-center them first before you try again. They aren't going to jump in sideways.


This one is from the East Coast! The reader observes they still have the stickers from New Holland on their butts. "unfortunately, as my husband and i were later informed by LAPS (large animal protection society), the only law regarding transport of live cargo is that it not be a double-decker. probably wouldn't have made me so angry except that they ran several red lights and one of the ponies fell down on a particularly sharp (fast) curve. they were also going ABOVE the speed limit most of the time . so wonderful for the ponies to be getting a "whiff" of that fresh air :( bahhhh."

Great. Yeah, those ponies are going to load awesome, next time!

On to a few other matters:

Today's idiot du jour: An Australian columnist who questions the entire practice of gelding and completely misses the main point about population control! Hey, look, I've found Doug Spink's dream human woman!

And now we're going to do a little Asshat Outing. I received this about the horses who were featured in the recent HBO documentary about how racehorses wind up going to slaughter. This ID's all the individuals responsible. If you know any of these people in real life, it's your job to TELL them how disgusting they are. Or, hey, give us their e-mail addresses and we''ll be happy to help!

Kappy - registered name: Kannapolis.
Kannapolis was sent by Mountaineer Park trainer, Gary Bowersock and owner Paul M. Brown Sr., from his Mountaineer Park backstretch stall to Sugarcreek. Another Mountaineer Park trainer and part time backstretch meat-man, Wilson Langley, transported Kappy to Sugarcreek. The fact that Kappy had raced 45 times winning 12 races and over $94,000.00 clearly meant nothing to his connections. Lame and painfully thin, they tossed him away like yesterday's garbage. Outbidding a kill buyer, we paid $550.00 to save Kappy's life. (Kappy has already found his forever home with Carol Hodgeman where he will enjoy his well earned retirement as a companion to Carol's sport-horse Max!!)


Star - registered name: Cinema Star.
Cinema Star was sent by his Mountaineer Park trainer and owner, Loren G. Cox from his Mountaineer Park backstretch stall to Sugarcreek. Star was transported off the backstretch by the well-known backstretch "meat-man" Dick Rudibaugh. Cinema Star, a son of Silver Charm raced 43 times winning 5 races and over $147,000!! In 2002 Star sold at the Keeneland Yearling Sale for $260,000. Lame from what we would later be diagnosed as a basal sesamoid fracture, the brave and regal Cinema Star was tossed away like nothing more than used chewing gum. Outbidding a kill buyer, we paid $525.00 to save Star's life. (According to our veterinarian, Star will be sound for use as a light riding horse, following a brief 60 days of pasture rest. Star is currently available for adoption).


Ellie - registered name: Elegant River.
Elegant River was sent by her Mountaineer Park trainer and owner, Edward Clouston from her Mountaineer Park backstretch stall to Sugarcreek, via backstretch meat-man Dick Rudibaugh. Ellie raced 19 times winning only once with earnings of nearly $15,000. Her only "crime" being that she just wasn’t very fast, Ellie too was tossed away like a pair of old shoes. Outbidding a kill buyer, we paid $525.00 to spare her life. (Ellie is sweet, beautiful, sound, and quiet to ride. Ellie is currently available for adoption)


The additional 3 Sugarcreek horses whose rescue was facilitated by a most generous anonymous donor (you know who you are!!) along with the Fans of Barbaro (FOB's)


Yourgie - registered name: East Over Baghdad.
East Over Baghdad was purchased by kill buyer Fred Bauer for $425.00. We later paid $525.00 to purchase "Yourgie" from Bauer in order to spare his life. We dont know exactly how Yourgie ended up at Sugarcreek, but we do know that he raced 26 times winning 3 races and over $52,000. Having last raced at Charlestown racetrack on 12-23-07 for trainer Angelmarie A. Dwoskin and owner, River Rock Stable. This stunning 16.3 hh, very sweet gray gelding also was thrown away by his connections to be sold as meat-on-the-hoof. (Yourgie has an old attached bone-chip in his knee which the vet feels is a non-issue. He is currently recuperating from a slight ligament strain, and it is believed that he will be sound for most riding endeavors following a brief period of rest. Yourgie is currently available for adoption).


Belle - registered name Bam Attack.
Bam Attack was purchased by Sugarcreek Auction owner and kill buyer Leroy Baker for $475.00. We later paid $525.00 to purchase Belle from Baker in order to spare her life. We don’t know who brought our beautiful Belle to Sugarcreek, but we do know that she raced 50 times, winning only 2 races and just over $18,000. Clearly Belle also committed the ultimate horseracing "crime" of just not being very fast. Bam Attack last raced on 1-29-08 at Beulah Park for trainer, Jack W. York and owner, Robin Harvey. (Belle is a beautiful, sweet, sound, and quiet girl. She is easy to ride, and is currently available for adoption).


Ollie - registered name Zagor's Deco Due.
Zagor's Deco Due was also purchased by Sugarcreek Auction owner Leroy Baker for $370.00. We later paid Baker $445.00 in order to spare his life. "Ollie" is the oldest of our gang of 6 having been foaled in Illinois in 1995. At 13 years old, I’’m certain that Ollie would have a LOT of stories to tell us if he could only talk! During his racing career, Ollie raced 88 times, winning 8 races and over $57,000. He last raced at Beulah Park on 5-7-05. If anyone out there can help us fill in the blanks as to where Zagor's Deco Due has been all the years since his last race, we would love to hear from you! (Ollie is a sound and kind boy. He is blind in one eye due to an injury that was left untreated. Ollie is adjusting to his recent loss of vision, and is sound and quiet to ride. Ollie is currently available for adoption).


It is with a heavy heart that I feel I must mention those who we were unable to save on April 11, 2008. May their sweet and gentle souls forever rest in peace. We will forever remember you. Please forgive the inhumanity of man, and know that you did matter to us and that each and every one of you were very much loved.


Miss Fancy Gold - 2004 Dark Bay or Brown Filly. Raced 23 times winning 1 race and earning nearly $18,000. Miss Fancy Gold last raced at Beulah Park for trainer Edward J. Harvey and owner Karen L. Harvey. Miss Fancy Gold last raced on 4-7-08, only 4 days prior to being sold to slaughter.


All Be At Once - 2002 Bay Horse. All Be At Once raced 6 times never winning a race and earned just over $1,000. His last racing start was made at Fairmount Park in Illinois on 6-26-07 for trainer John K. Witthauer and owner Daniel E. Beard.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

I'LL tell you what horseanality you've got there: Spotted Shithead!

A Q & A from that moron Pat Parelli's newsletter...

QUESTION

I have an Appaloosa who is nine years old and I bought him last November. Within a week or so he bit me, and really meant it, on my side which left huge bruising. I was shocked as I was undoing the chest strap on his rug that came with him. I had noticed in the first week that he would pin his ears back and turn his head towards me. I was quite aware of this and became cautious around him. When he bit me, I did not react and had to go away and suffer in pain for a while. I came back and did approach and retreat but he still would pin his ears back. I researched his previous owners and found out he had bitten the previous owner twice around feed time or when doing the girth up but other owners said they had no problems with him. The other day I was with an instructor and told her my main fear was his biting and other than that he was great to ride and do ground skills with. We did approach and retreat with the saddle on and off and then he swung around to bite me, I blocked him, tripped over my own feet or his and fell to the ground. I was told there was too much energy for him to cope with. I am now so scared to do anything with him because of this biting. I get my husband to hold him while I do up the saddle. This is not the best way but for me it is safe. Can you help me figure out what he is feeling so I can deal with it so we can both get through this safely and I can hopefully regain my confidence? -Kim

ANSWER

Have you done a Horsenality Profile on your horse yet? He sounds to me as if he is a LB Extrovert / Introvert combo. These are most likely to become aggressive because it is their nature to dominate. You need to be accepted as his leader, which you will do via the Seven Games, but you have to 'win' them. In essence this means you have to win the position of alpha where your horse accepts your leadership. If you are not a confident person, but your horse is overconfident, this is not an easy task, however there are a couple of things on your side.

If your horse turns out to be LB Introvert and Extrovert, or just Introvert, treats work like a charm. Some people think that this encourages the behavior but it does the opposite. Think about someone who is trying to win your favor... they bring you chocolates and flowers and gifts! Pretty soon it's hard not to like them!! The same thing happens with this kind of horse, but note that treats alone do not work. You have to also play the Seven Games with him so you can actually get him to do something... and then reward him. Don't just give him treats for no reason.

Now, when it comes to the Seven Games, the most important ones for this kind of horse are going to be backing and driving the forehand away from you, but they will also be the most challenging because dominant horses do not allow this... they do it to others! I would practice your technique and learn how to be really soft and get really firm with wiggling the rope and not moving your feet. Every time you move your feet when trying to back him, this horse sees it as weakness and his opportunity to have the upper hoof again. Also, do it from behind a fence or a barrier that he cannot cross. This will keep you safe if he decides to push on you, and it will do a lot for your confidence. Once you can consistently back him up with light pressure you'll feel safer to be on the same side as him. Same thing with driving his front end away. You need to get to where you can do this easily and convincingly. Most people overdo HQ yields / disengagement, and this w ill get you in trouble with the LB horse because it brings the front end to you!


Biting is how LB horses dominate others, and that's what he's doing to you. You just have to be better than he is at those driving games because that is the only way he will respect you! If your instructor is Parelli Certified, please tell them to get in touch with us and we can personally coach them to coach you if necessary.

Oh, and on the saddling issue... give him a great big carrot when he swings around to nip you! He'll be so surprised that after several instances his whole opinion of saddling will change and you'll only have to do it now and then. You may even have to play some driving games with him before saddling to make sure he accepts your doing something to him. Again, that's something dominant horses do to others, they don't like things being done to them. But once they are submissive to your leadership, they are quite happy to comply. You just have to maintain that position and not let it slip.

FHOTD Back In: OMG! OMG! HOLY SHIT! YOU DID NOT JUST SUGGEST GIVING TREATS TO A BITER!

Yes. Yes, you did. My brain is bleeding.

Just for comparison's sake, I'd like to provide MY answer to Kim's question. Maybe she will read this...and survive to her next birthday...and actually get to enjoy her horse!

FHOTD ANSWER: Kim, you've got an Appy. And while Appies have many fine qualities including hooves like iron, endurance, and the ability to perform well in a wide variety of events - they are also known for what we call AppyTude. In short, your horse would like to be the boss. He is highly amused by his ability to bite you and make you run away. This is a game he can play all day and never get bored!

The reason this behavior is escalating is that you haven't done a thing to correct it. He nailed you good, and you ran away. He nailed you again, same result. Awesome! Apparently YOU are really EASY to train.

We don't "approach and retreat" with an aggressive horse. We goddamn APPROACH, ANY TIME WE WANT, for as LONG AS WE WANT, and we do WHAT WE WANT. The first time your Appy swung his head at me with his ears pinned, I would have swung my fist at his nose and made my best loud growling noise. I probably wouldn't have needed to make contact. He would have figured out really quickly I wasn't backing down, and he would have backed down. Sure, I would still have to pay attention and watch for another strike, but he would have learned very quickly it wasn't going to fly with me. My guess is that the previous owner who did not have problems with him established it wasn't going to fly with them, either - probably on the first day. Why don't you see if they will come out and show you how they handled him? I bet they can show you what works in one easy lesson.

You tripped over your own feet because you were running away. That doesn't happen when you stand your ground.

I would NEVER hand-feed treats to a biter. If he has been good, you can put carrots in his grain. Hand feeding any treats is just going to escalate the nippy behavior - he won't just nip when you're cinching him, he'll nip all the time. Won't THAT be fun?

Horses are, intrinsically, wimps. You may find it hard to believe but I can't tell you how many times I've blocked a galloping loose horse, and made him stop, by holding my arms wide, stepping aggressively at him, and saying HO in my sternest voice. That shouldn't work. I should get my ass run over. It works because a horse is basically a wimpy prey animal. All you have to do, Kim, is make this horse believe that he is going to die if he ever bites you again. You can do it and it has nothing to do with seven games, yielding his hindquarters or backing up.

By the way, if anybody has tried to tell you that actually popping a biter in the nose when he swings around to bite you will make him headshy...they are full of it. No, it will not. Beating a horse in the head for no reason, or earing him to control him - those are the things that make a horse headshy. Popping him in the nose as he's trying to bite is a clear response to his action that he will have NO trouble understanding.

Now, one thing I would do is get him adjusted by the chiropractor and make sure he is not in pain when you're girthing him up. Have the chiro check your saddle fit, etc. While biting is not acceptable EVEN IF the horse is in pain, you certainly don't want your horse to be uncomfortable - so rule out any physical problems ASAP.

Kim, get yourself a non-Parelli instructor before you get hurt, and before your horse has become so spoiled he's going to wind up in a kill pen. He sounds like a nice horse with one, extremely fixable issue. Stop listening to the snake oil salesman and just fix the problem so you can enjoy your horse!

P.S. "Think about someone who is trying to win your favor... they bring you chocolates and flowers and gifts! Pretty soon it's hard not to like them!!" Man, he doesn't know anything more about women than he does horses! Does this guy ever get laid? I'm thinking not...

Sunday, May 25, 2008

I have the perfect match for the picnic table from yesterday


An alert reader sent me this after some guy posted to say his mare had a foal by him. Even those of you who admit you don't have the best "eye" yet can see the problems here - roman nose, thick, short neck, straight shoulder, sickle hocked, and pig eyed.

His reasons for breeding to him?

* It was FREE

* He did not think anyone with nice stallions would take his unregistered mare

OK, sweetie, now that the fine folks at the horse.com forum have given you the smackdown on this, I want you to think through all of that. The reason people with "nice stallions" don't want to take your unregistered mare is that they want their horse's foals to have a solid value and a good chance of a good life. You are saying you are going to keep little Tupak (yes, my brain is bleeding that you named your colt after a dead rapper) forever, but $20 says you're under 25 and have no clue what is yet to happen to you in your life. Sometimes bad things happen - like unplanned pregnancy, health problems, or job loss. Sometimes good things happen - like an awesome job offer in NYC or meeting the love of your life who happens to live in France. Either way, you cannot guarantee you will be keeping this foal for life. None of us can. That's why we are so adamant about breeding something that other people will want if you can't keep it. If your colt turns out looking anything like Daddy, um, good luck.

The sad thing in this case is the mare, despite being grade, isn't that bad! She's much better put together than this stallion. This person managed to pick something out to breed to that was much worse than his own horse. But hey - the price was right!

I have a new fuglyism for these horses. Since they're all (or damn near) being bred because they're some kind of GUARANTEED color producer, we shall now call them hideozygous.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Everybody still got some of that brain bleach on hand?

ABC news story about the alleged theft of Capone I.

"the local sheriff's office has not yet determined whether a crime was committed and even suggested it might know the location of the horse. "

ROTFL. Run, Forrest, Run!

Whoever has this horse and is keeping him away from Pervy McPervert, you win the FHOTD Medal of Honor!

P.S. Doug, since I know you're reading, I have been "outspoken, controversial and acerbic" too, and it does not result in people alleging I have sex with animals. THAT ONLY HAPPENS TO YOU, and it's because you were a dumbass and posted all over the net about your activities, in disgustingly graphic detail, with far too much identifiable information making it easy to prove you were, indeed, "Fausty." Not to mention that telltale I.P. snail trail...Oh, and the affiliation with Fier D'etre Zoo that you put on your Zoom Info page is awesome, too. For those who aren't bilingual in French, that phrase translates as "Trust to be Zoo." Yeah. No shit. You freak.

Doubles as lawn furniture!

Just add a couple of stools on each side, and the whole family can enjoy a picnic lunch off of this mare's perfectly flat back!


Yes, it's an APHA mare.



Yes, it's pregnant.



Yes, I'm sure that's because it's a Kool Kolor.



And no, I don't know what kind of an idiot uses a rope halter for turn-out. I guess the same kind that breeds a mare with this conformation!



Actually, the same idiot that writes - swallow what you are drinking first, I think I just hurt myself - "Foal will be illegible for APHA Breeders Trust."



Here's another member of their broodmare band. When I talk about a bad shoulder, this is what I am talking about. Damn thing is practically vertical. This conformation doesn't make for a comfortable ride, and it predisposes the horse to lamenesses like navicular. I wish I had a closer shot but I think those feet are as small as they look which isn't going to help her stay sound, either. There is absolutely no reason to ever breed this mare. They say she is quiet and should make a good kids' horse - GREAT. Please do that with her. ONLY THAT. Then maybe you'll even be able to sell her for more than "$1000 obo." (Yes, she's on the For Sale Page.)

As I've said a million times, a pretty color or pattern is great - as the icing on the cake AFTER you already have correct conformation, good disposition and athletic ability. If you start with that and only that, these two mares above are classic examples of what you get. You're not improving the breed. You're merely reproducing defective animals that won't hold up in the long run, and I do not care how pretty and sweet you think they are.



Friday, May 23, 2008

I think I just had a nightmare before bed!

Or at least a nightfilly!


""DEE" 2007 Cremello filly. Great conformation. She is ready to show in halter! AQHA and Palomino. Sonny Dee Bar/Zapp Deck breeding. Very nice filly, nice head. Cremellos produce 100% color, palominos and buckskins. Priced to sell! Others also for sale, lessons and training available Call Cris for more information 749-0287"


Sonny Dee Bar is spinning in his grave and denying he had anything to do with this with all the fervor of a Maury show guest who is sure he's NOT the baby daddy!


OK, seriously. How can you look at this animal and type the phrase "great conformation?" I know it's a bad picture but it's not like there's a way to stand this filly up where she is going to look a whole hell of a lot better. She's just got that FrankenHorse look all over. Nothing flows together. Nice head? Nice head? WHERE?

And again, absolutely NO effort made at presentation. Presentation counts. It truly does.

Let me give you a little example here. This is a three year old APHA filly who is in, to say the least, an awkward growth stage. But how much better does she look on the right? Only days have passed between these pictures, but she's posed better in the second pic, she's been cleaned up and her mane shortened, the picture is from a little better angle, and the saddle makes her look more compact and athletic. Which horse would you rather buy?


Now I'm not sure anything is going to make that cremello filly look better, but I guess it'd be an interesting challenge for a good photographer! (But can we spay her first? Pleeeeease? I am horrified at the thought of her producing more Kolored Krap.)

Gah....I'm trying to read my e-mail and am definitely going to have nightmares! Check out this video - fugly filly, being ridden as a YEARLING (and yes, you are right, it really IS May and there's no way this is much older than 12 months) by a small child who also crawls underneath her! The best part is their disclaimer that all of this is OK because they are professionals. Professional asshats, apparently! Didja get a degree in that?

Look at our cover boy!

Petersburg Knight ("Colin") made the cover of The Horse!

A big thank you to Pat Raia and Erin Ryder for helping to get the word out and warn even more horse owners about how to ensure their horse does NOT become a sandwich!

The reason you can't sell horses - IT'S NOT THE MARKET!

Boy is this blog entry overdue...


All over the 'net, I read the whining about the terrible, terrible state of the horse market. While there is some truth to it (I do think people are downsizing their overall numbers due to the cost of hay), at the same time I see tons of people looking for competition horses who can't find what they are looking for. These people have cash in hand, ready to buy - and they can't find what they want. Meanwhile, plenty of what people don't want is going to slaughter.

It doesn't take Einstein to figure out how to fix this situation, folks.

Here is what I see a lively market for:

1. Show and competition horses ready to show and compete with. They are not green. They don't need finishing. They don't have weird quirks. They already have some kind of record at what they do. They're sound or have very manageable issues.

2. Excellent quality young stock and green prospects for some kind of competitive discipline. A word about this: Quality is not enough if you want the high prices. Presentation counts, too! A colt that is a $2000 colt standing shaggy and dirty in the pasture can easily be a $5000 colt standing bathed and clipped and presented in a pretty show halter in your barn. If you can't be bothered to get off your butt and do the work to make your horse look great, I have no sympathy for you when he sells far under value. Hell, if you were selling a car, you'd wash it, but I see horse sellers all the time drag these muddy horses with burrs in their tails out to show to someone. What is that? If you don't care, why should a buyer?

I don't see much of a market for anything else. Need a bombproof oldie for a kid? Hell, they are everywhere and you won't have to pay money for them. I've seen horses with unbelievable killer show records free in the past year or two due to having some kind of soundness issue. If you can handle a little corrective shoeing, supplements and Legend/Adequan, you can pretty much bring home a ROM pleasure horse for your kid to show 4-H on for cheap to free. It's just the way things are right now. People will kill for a good home for these horses. If you have that to offer, you hold the cards.

Now let's say you think you have a horse who fits into category #1 or #2 - and he's not moving. I'm going to share an unpleasant truth with you, and some of you are not going to like it. Either:

1. Something YOU are doing is the problem (poor presentation, your marketing campaign is all wrong, etc.) or...

2. Your horse is not as good as you think he is. This runs the gamut from he's simply overpriced to he's actually not a horse there is a market for, period.

Last year, I had two horses for sale. One was a large pony I was selling for a friend. She was grade (strike one) and older (strike two) and swaybacked (FAR bigger of a strike than I could imagine!). But hey, she was idiot proof to ride, 100% sound sound sound, didn't need shoes, perfect manners and palomino! I thought for sure I could get her sold. Good God, what a nightmare...I wasted more time e-mailing back and forth with time-wasters and looky-lous. I heard tons of misconceptions about the effect of a swayback on usability. (I mean, we are talking about a large pony that I would not have sold to someone over 150 lbs in the first place.) She did eventually go to a little blonde girl (they match beautifully, ha ha).

Part of the problem with selling a low-end horse is you get a lot of low-end buyers. They don't know a lot about horses. They are easily scared off by issues that an experienced person would think nothing of. They believe all the stuff Uncle Charley the horse dealer told them about horses. It is a frustrating experience for all concerned. However, it's also a good illustration of a horse that honestly shouldn't have been bred in the first place. She was a pretty color, but she was grade, fugly, and although well trained for a specific discipline (youth gaming), she had enough strikes against her to be hard to sell.

Let's contrast that with a horse I picked up off the track about a year and a half ago. He had a suspensory injury, but he was sound and he was absolutely beautiful. Nicely put together and with a big splash of white on the end of his nose. He just screamed cute. I picked him up, rested him and handed him over to a pal with a h/j barn for retraining. Just months later, he was resold for five times his purchase price to a wonderful home with an amateur owner. A lot of credit must go to the trainer who got him going quietly over fences, but I guarantee you that his attractive appearance and super cute face were equally important factors. He had all of the elements he needed to sell to a good home for a good price. The "bad market" did not seem to affect his sale a bit, did it?

That's because there is no bad market for super pretty, show quality horses with great dispositions. If you are one of those sitting around saying nothing's selling, nothing's selling, nothing's selling...it's time to reevaluate. Maybe you truly aren't breeding something there's a market for. Maybe you've dropped the ball on training. Maybe you've dropped the ball on presentation. But something is wrong and just as with ANY business, if sales are down, it's your job to figure out why and take steps to fix it. Maybe you need to buy a video camera. Maybe you need to pay someone to ride your horses who rides better than you do and can make them look more impressive. Maybe you need to board your horse at a facility where buyers can try him out in an indoor arena and there's an indoor hot water wash rack to clean him up for them. Maybe your prices are unreasonable. Maybe you need to drag him to a show and get him seen/get show video of him. There are a lot of things you can do other than sit at home and whine about the market if you really want to sell that horse.


For discussion purposes: If you typically sell horses, what was your highest/fastest selling and lowest selling (or just won't move, you can't rid of it for anything) horse in the past year? Basic description, factors that you think influenced marketability? Let's define what there IS a market for!


All right everybody - it's Friday and you know what we do on Friday! Today's Friday Featured Rescue is Snuggles who is in the care of Saddlebred Rescue, Inc. of Blairstown, New Jersey. I have mentioned before that I think this rescue is doing a great job, and I will repeat that. Their horses are fat, shiny, groomed and RIDDEN. Repeat, RIDDEN. I was surfing around for a rescue to feature and do you know how many I had to nix because y'all have got like 22 adult horses that are only halter broke up for adoption? Sorry, I am not going to plug them for you 'til you get them broke and useful. If you're the rescuer, this is your job (or pay someone else to do it). No more warehousing!


OK, back to Snuggles. They found this beautiful older gentleman at an auction headed nowhere good. From their site: "If any one remembers I wrote about going to the sale and picking up two Christ bought for us. Pat noticed what looked like two more saddlebreds standing in a back pen, well one WAS a saddlebred and it was this horse. This gelding never backed and ear and seemed to be sending me messages to take him. When I went in the pen I could tell his tail had been in a set and one look at his teeth I knew he would be making a one way trip to Europe through Canada. I figured we already did not have room for the two we were picking up so we might has well not have room for three. Right? My salemate will for sure understand that logic. This is the exact kind of horse that haunts my dreams, an older horse that has worked all his life and has no where else to go when he can no long stand up to the road work."


I hear you, I feel the same way! Snuggles has turned out to be super well trained and it looks to me like he could easily re-enter the show ring for a young saddleseat rider who wants a solid mount. (Emotional outburst: Look at the cute EARS! I want to kiss them!) If you are interested, please contact Saddlebred Rescue.


All right everybody - enjoy your long weekend and your horses!

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Back to doing what we do best here at FHOTD...

Before I even begin, look here, Appy people, I don't hate them all. Hell I am pretty sure I own one (solid, grade but stripey feet and appy characteristics). I just hate that people produce tons of the fugly no-hipped wonders with stick tails and hammerheads and then don't train them to do a damn thing. If you'd like to argue that there's a market for them, why are all of this person's on sale at Blue Light Special prices? $800 for a foal and you can make payments!



You know why? BECAUSE ALMOST NOBODY THINKS THIS (see left) IS CUTE! Good Lord. That's face only a mother could love, and I'm not 100% sure about that.


Now, you MUST hear the description of this LOVELY creature that you can have for the low, low price of $500. This is everything I object to about backyard breeding, all in one place!

"SHE IS NOT BROKE TO RIDE BUT SHE IS BUILT FOR BARREL RACING. SHE IS WILD. SHE HAS BEEN FED AND WORMED REGULARLY IN HER FEED. HER FEET ARE NOT IN THAT BAD OF SHAPE CONSIDERING UNABLE TO CATCH FOR FERRIER. SHE WAS BRED TO OUR RED DUN STALLION, HEZA DUN LEGEND FOR SPRING 2008 AND SHE FOALED A BEAUTIFUL BUCKSKIN APPY FILLY THAT DIED BEFORE WE GOT HOME TO REMOVE THE SACK OFF OF HER FACE ON 3/1/08. SHE HAD LOTS OF MILK AND THREW A FIT WHEN WE DRAGGED HER BABY OUT SO SHE WOULD DEFINITELY BE A GOOD MOMMY. "


Holy living shit, where do I even begin? How did you discern she was a barrel prospect, because she runs like a bat out of hell any time you try to catch her? She's five years old, you admit she has NEVER had her feet done, you CANNOT catch her, so I'm guessing NO shots, NO vet care, but somehow it was a good idea to BREED her and then what do you know the baby died (how the Hell could you have helped the baby anyway with the mare this wild? Do you think Spotty WildAss would have been thrilled with that?) but hey it's OK 'cause you're BREEDING HER BACK! Hey, flip a coin, maybe this one will live! And breeding will settle her down, you know. At least we thought so last year but then we still couldn't catch her...hmmm. Maybe she needs to carry, like, twins, which I am sure will happen since god knows she'd kick the vet all the way to Nebraska if he tried to ultrasound her.

Oh, and in case you are being charitable and thinking that perhaps they recently acquired this mare and she's a rescue or has some other reason for being unhandled, um, no.

"SHE WAS BORN HERE, TIME JUST GOT AWAY FROM US WITH HIP SURGERIES, BUILDING A HOUSE, ETC. "

Did the house fall from the f'ing SKY like in The Wizard of Oz????? I suspect you knew in advance you were building a house. Why did you breed more than you could handle when you knew that? Excuses excuses excuses. You can afford to build a house but you cannot afford to hire some teenager to work with your foals? Give me a break.


Were you wondering what Ugly Betty up there is bred to? Here you go! He has all of the usual characteristics of a BYB's "Herd Sire." Let's see, he's nothing special in terms of conformation, mediocre pedigree (half of it's good, half of it's nothing special), and of course he's been breeding mares left and right without having ever actually accomplished a damn thing beyond impregnation in his life. Of course, I will say it's not exactly his fault - check out their tale of trying to break him out.





"SO FAR, HE'S JUST GREEN BROKE. I RODE HIM OUT IN AN OPEN PASTURE WITH MARES ON BOTH SIDES AND IT WAS ONLY THE 3RD TIME HE'D EVER BEEN SAT ON. HE WENT ALONG JUST FINE EXCEPT HE REARED UP AND STOOD THERE LOOKING AROUND (NEVER MOVED OUT OF HIS REAR TRACKS!) IT SEEMED LIKE 5 MINUTES BEING IN THE AIR. HIM AND I HAD A WHOLE CONVERSATION WHILE UP THERE-HA! FINALLY, HE DROPPED BACK DOWN AND WE CONTINUED RIDING FOR A FEW MINUTES. "





Man, do I feel GOOD about my "bad ride" yesterday which consisted of two "stopping and growing roots" incidents. At least MY three year old AQHA stallion does not think he is a f'ing Lippizan. And if he ever DID rear, I would not be laughing and thinking it was kyooot. Lord almighty, how DO these people reach adulthood?




I know a lot of you love it when I give you a clear example of conformation faults. Today we have post legs...and do we ever. See how the back legs are nearly straight up and down? Those legs scream "uncomfortable to ride" and "hock arthritis," and indeed the site says that they have "decided to keep for broodmare-due to hock issues..."


*headdesk* Her front pasterns are too upright also. To me, she even looks as though she is standing like things hurt, and have been hurting for a long time. I will bet those f'ed up hocks feel even better carrying a few hundred pounds of foal!



Where did I find this classic example of everything BYBesque? Why, over in the lovely land of HorseDopia, of course! Yup, everybody tells this chick how great her horses are, too! Just like our friend Missa from the other day! We may be "mean," but they're encouraging bad breeding and poor broodmare and foal care (there's also a great story from this dingbat about her losing a foal to joint ill...of course no mention of the VET being called) and breeding stuff you can't even ride...you know, I'd rather be mean than encourage irresponsibility that leads to suffering and death for horses.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

And the video is up...

http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_052108WAB_soldier_horse_slaughter_KC.1866d2a6.html

Fabulous, fabulous job by Linda Byron of getting all of the facts out there. Now the public has both been warned about MeSue and warned about the fact that horses are still being sold for slaughter in the U.S. That should prove to be a really valuable wake up call - at least for those in the area.

I also heard the story was on the radio here today!

For those in need of a better mental image


Here you go!


I'm going to have to agree...RUN, Forrest, RUN!

I stole the subject line from the Manure Pile Message Board...it was just too perfect not to repeat!




I almost feel like I have to apologize to the whole of the PNW before I begin this post. After all, our area seems to be unfairly linked with a lot of the greatest creepiness on earth. I mean, Ted Bundy. That weirdo they wrote the "Son" book about. The Green River Killer. We seem to have more than our share of complete and total freaks, but I have to mention this one. I just have to.


(And for those of you who are easily squicked out, I'm warning you now, stick the happy butterflies & sunshine land of the Colin post today. You may not want to read the rest of this.)


Anyway, our Freak Du Jour Doug Spink got outed years ago for his lesser known equestrian activities. He also got busted for drug dealing and sent up the river for that. Of course, he's still in the damn horse business, as we don't seem to ever be able to tar, feather and run out of town the people we ought to. He has a fancy web site on which he spews forth snippets of idiocy like this:


"Oh, and one more thing: we don't practice routine castration here at Exitpoint, not with our dogs or horses or humans either. While it opens me personally up to the tired, old charge that I'm "just a guy with a hang-up about balls," that's not important. What is important is respecting the physical integrity of our friends - genital mutilation reflects a deeply troubled attitude towards our fellow beings. Friends don't cut friends. There's a world of justifications offered for the practice of routine castration, but none of them holds up under objective scrutiny. The facts are clear: it's unnecessary, physically harmful, and a deeply flawed approach to cross-species interaction. Enough said."

Well of course you want to keep them intact, you're the freak who's f'ing them!

Another gem:

"To that end, we don't wall off sexual energy in our stallions as something dangerous or inappropriate, but rather channel that energy towards positive, safe, appropriate paths. There's a proper time and place for it, and we work towards those sorts of skills rather than fighting un-winnable fights against deeply-rooted instincts."

I will resist the Beavis and Buttheadesque comments that spring to mind about this comment and his farm name. Yeah, I know. I should have passed out the brain bleach before I began this post!

This situation has infuriated good horse owners for many, many years. All I can say at this juncture is, I hope Capone got rescued, I hope he's been dyed to look like a Appyfriesianwalkaloosa by now, and I hope you never find him again, you degenerate freak.
(Yeah, I know. Probably going to be the biggest blog traffic day ever and I had to go there, didn't I? But hey, you guys know I'm never one to shy away from a good fight where the welfare of horses is concerned!)

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Colin's Very Exciting Day!

All right...for those of you waiting eagerly for the surprise...

If you're in the Seattle area, tune in to KONG 6 for the 10 PM news tomorrow (Wednesday) or KING 5 for the 11 PM news and you will see a familiar face! Yes, the story of Colin's rescue made the big time and we all know who we have to thank...all of YOU! If it were up to me, each of you who donated or just cheered us on would have been standing behind us.

He was SO cute during the shoot. We turned him loose in the arena and he followed me around like a dog. If I stopped, he stopped. Just adorable!

I couldn't be more pleased, because for one thing this is going to do so much to educate the public about the fact that slaughter has NOT ended and the horses are NOT safe. I hear all the time from people who truly believe there is no more slaughter, and that's such dangerous misinformation.



It's also going to be such a good thing for people to be reminded that you can't trust people just because they look nice. This horse absolutely, 100% was going to slaughter because of someone who looked nice.


Anyway, if you're not local, I'm sure that KING will put the video up, so I'll post a link just as soon as I have it!

Busy, busy, busy...

I typed that and then realized I know someone with a horse named that...LOL.

Anyway, yes, I am having too busy of a day to really blog. Just a few notes:

1. If you haven't already told me where you'd like me to re-route your donation to Colin's rescue, please fill me in. I am settling down to do the accounting this evening and send payments off to the other rescues and it just makes more sense if we can get it all done at once. Again, he was adopted and fully paid for so 100% of your donations will be going either (your choice) back to you, to SAFE or Cowgirl Spirit, or to another rescue of your choice. And the surprise Colin news is coming...I will fill you in by evening. ;-)

2. I don't know if the draft stallion yesterday was a real story or not. It is hard to say. The scary part is you can't tell the ones that are poking fun at the idiots from the real idiots anymore -they pretty much read the same! If we find anything out, I will let you know. I admit a part of me would like to rescue him just to have the Ginormous Gelding blog...LOL.

3. If you haven't checked it out lately, I've added a lot of links to the Very Large Colt blog for other folks who are starting to blog about their training and riding experiences. We have some great, entertaining writers out there. Please check out those other blogs - you will enjoy! And I truly do recommend blogging to help you get motivated to put that work in on your horses. The moral support from others helps A LOT.

Have a good day and more later...

Monday, May 19, 2008

Next time, just call me and I'll give you the kill buyer's number

And you can save everybody else from having to read this on the web!

large free horse

Reply to: sale-687143606@craigslist.org

Date: 2008-05-19, 3:00PM

2000 pound chestnut/roan w/ white main and tail. 7 years old stallion. draft cross , aprox. 18 hands tall or so... loose in padock has no halter on. once he is halterd he is handleable i just can't catch him. --- MUST BE GONE BY 5/25/08 ---- YOU CATCH, YOU HAUL, YOU OWN HIM. --- sorry no pics yet. you can call but .. ONLY BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9 - 10 AM. AND THEN 7 - 9 PM. ONLY thank you

Location: GRAHAM AREA

it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

Original URL:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/grd/687143606.html

*sigh* Anybody rescue drafties in the Seattle area want to take a crack at this? I'll help you load...

Again: No papers, no gelding, no training, no handling = NO FUTURE!

Hey, you equineline members!

Can somebody check and see if any of Petersburg Knight's races are online and available for download?

THANKS!


Yes, we're going to have some more exciting news about him soon. I mean, other than the already exciting news that he's gaining weight and trotting sound on the grass!

The One That Got Away...

A lot of you have asked for this thread, and just because it coincides with my new web site project, which I am going to finish when I'm on vacation from my primary job next week, I've decided today's the day.


This actually has two parts:

1. Do you have a horse in your past that you would do anything to locate, or find out what happened to? One that you regret selling? One that you now wish you would have hung on to - or at least wish you could get back now that you have more money/a different situation? You cannot post images to the comments but you can post a link to the image - you want the HTML link if you're using photobucket. It's the one that starts out a h-r-e-f etc, not the one that starts out "img s..."

2. The site I am setting up will work pretty much like a dating site - you'll enter in information about specific characteristics, etc. that will be searchable by others. You'll designate if the info is on a horse you have that you want history on, or a horse from your past that you are looking for. Any information you don't have, you can leave blank. What do you think the search fields should be? Here's my list so far - let me know if I've missed something important:


Age

Sex

Color

Markings

Breed

Registered Name

Barn Name

Current Location (State/Province and Country)
Past Location (State/Province and Country)

Lip Tattoo

Brands

Scars

Vices/Quirks (check boxes for common vices - can check more than one)

Training

Health Conditions (check boxes for common conditions - i.e navicular, arthitis, blindness, etc.)

Photo(s)


Part of the eventual goal here is that I want a resource a rescuer can access from an internet-capable phone, right at an auction, to see if someone is looking for tattoo #_____, for example. I firmly believe we could save a lot of equine lives if only we could improve communications. We need a way for that rescuer at New Holland to be able to make contact with the former owner in Nevada, shoot them a picture with a camera phone, confirm the horse is their horse and save that life. It's 2008, it's the age of technology, there is no reason we shouldn't have this set up.


I have heard some feedback along the lines of "oh, people talk about that, but they wouldn't REALLY save their old horse if they have the opportunity." I think that is bullshit. I think a lot of you would indeed save your old horses, or horses that you bred. I want to get this set up and prove that to be true.


At left, the red chestnut is my "one that got away." She was sold with her papers around 1993 or 1994. She is a 1983 Thoroughbred mare, registered name Penny Andy. 15.3 hh, unusual face marking as you can see, left front sock. Does not tie AT ALL. Explosive in that regard. Rides great, very soft, great little canter, jumps willingly but not great form, hangs her lead changes. Extremely sweet. Clips, loads, etc. Most likely in Milwaukee or Chicago areas, if still around. I heard she was at a hunter-jumper barn in Mequon, Wisconsin in the mid-90s but never managed to confirm that. I would take this mare back in a heartbeat.


EDITED: OMG someone knows her, she really is or was in Mequon and doing great...I am waiting for more info :-)


More tips on finding your horse:


For Jockey Club mares, don't forget to check to see if they have AQHA, APHA or ApHC foals. They could and that could provide you with the lead you need! Ditto if you have an AQHA mare you're looking for - she could have ApHC or APHA foals.


For those of you looking for a registered horse that isn't a Thoroughbred - post the name. There are a lot of folks here with AQHA, APHA, etc. memberships who get free searches every month and would be happy to look up your horse's current owner for you. It might be that simple.


Just google your horse's name, but put it in quotes. I.E. "Penny Andy" If there are common terms involved, try something like "Penny Andy" Thoroughbred, "Penny Andy" mare or "Penny Andy" horse.