Graphic pics at this link but not on the main page. Graphic pics ARE labeled so you can safely go to the site but avoid them.
http://www.freewebs.com/tessasordeal/
For some reason they are not naming names but I am SURE someone who reads this knows where this mule went to be tortured. Here's the description of the trainer:
"A few months before she turned three, I was contacted by a friend on a mules group and she gave me the name of a trainer here in Missouri that she knew of and was sending her young mule to. He was an older man and was an experienced mule trainer and Missouri Foxtrotter trainer. I was very interested and when I called his house, he wasn't there but his family told me to contact his nephew, who was the main trainer and owned the barn where they trained. He was also a farrier so I thought I'd hit the jackpot. I asked around and found out that two other friends knew this trainer, had used him and said he was good, he would put a lot of time on her and the area was rugged but she would have a lot of different types of trail experience but to know he didn't leave them setting around the barn and she would be worked so I should put some extra weight on her to start, which I did."
The owner is asking that people write and demand justice, but it would help to know who we're demanding to be punished!
To me, one of the most important points here is that the owner was worried. She had a feeling things were not right. People, DO NOT IGNORE THAT FEELING. That's the remnant of the good instincts we all used to have, the ones that kept us from being eaten by mountain lions! You are NOT being paranoid when you have that feeling. Better safe than sorry - if you feel uncomfortable, GO PICK UP THE ANIMAL. TODAY. If you are wrong the worst thing that happens is that one barn thinks you're a wacko. But you can't make the animal un-dead and this happens WAY more often than is publicized.
And now for an...
If I have not written a post about your rescue/ex-rescue and its drama, I probably do not consider it to be anything out of the ordinary or worthy of comment. All rescues have drama. All rescues have BOD turnover (or if there is one that does not, I have not yet encountered it) All rescues think they are right and all of their former board members/volunteers (who they used to write glowing posts about regularly) are now Satan/control freaks/wackos. Likewise, all former board members/volunteers think the President of the Rescue (who they used to compare to Mother Theresa) is the Anti-Christ/a wacko/a borderline hoarder.
I got SO many e-mails regarding multiple Rescue Dramas yesterday that I feared my Treo was going to spontaneously combust.
So here is the official position:
1. I am not gonna bash Rescue X merely because you don't work with it anymore and now you think it sucks.
2. I am not gonna bash your ex-BOD or ex-volunteers merely because y'all don't get along anymore and you all think each other suck.
3. I DO NOT DELETE comments to this blog (except for occasional spam and extremely severe racist remarks) and there are no exceptions for (a) friends (b) friends of friends (c) trainers that my friends happen to like (d) people who have lots of supporters who have lots of time to write me e-mails. Of course, due to the same policy, you may use this blog to defend yourself to your heart's content, supply any information that you fear is not "out there," etc. Everybody has the same rights.
4. If I do not delete negative shit about MY horse, odds are excellent I'm not going to delete negative shit about YOUR horse. Again, refer to the DO NOT DELETE policy.
5. You have two good responses to criticism: (a) ignore it and it will go away (this blog is extremely ADD in nature and everybody will have something new to bitch about tomorrow, if not in an hour) or (b) honestly answer questions to the best of your ability without inserting any whining or complaining or any of the following high drama words: mean, spiteful, hurtful, hateful, harassment, persecution, traumatized, and so on. First hint: Including high drama language makes others think there is probably something to all of the negative posts about you, because it makes you come off as an overly emotional wack job, not a grown-up who is capable of responding to criticism in a logical manner, secure in the knowledge that it is unfounded. Second hint: avoiding questions and instead providing an overly general response that addresses no specifics makes you look guilty 100% of the time even when you are not. Third hint: Answer and then MOVE ON...bickering back and forth forever over every single detail prolongs the agony and the drama and, again, makes you look like you skipped your meds.
6. Good LORD people, this is why NO ONE WANTS TO RESCUE. Because no matter how much they may love animals, they have better things to do with their life than respond to angry e-mails all fricken' day. So if I stopped responding to yours, it is because I thought I would do something constructive like grooming and riding some rescue horses. Which I did.
I swear, if this crap continues I am gonna invent software that recognizes rescue drama, deletes the e-mail unread and snail mails the sender a bottle of Prozac and a fifth of vodka. The really amazing thing is that some of you seem to think you can bitch/buffalo/threaten me into saying what you want on this blog. Um, are you new?
I'm not naming names but don't tempt me.
