I'm moving this weekend and very busy (nothing like moving with horses and cats who do not like cat carriers, fun, fun...) so I'm grateful to our guest blogger "SS" for providing this terrific guest blog on pushing horses too early and the sad results of that practice. I really agree with this. While I've ridden 2 year olds lightly (and by that I mean 15-20 minutes of weight on their back MAX, mostly walk and jog, or a little trail ride around the back hayfield), I have seen people ride the crap out of them (45 minutes loping to get them tired enough to go slow in the big money futurity, or doing high impact activities like jumping or gaming. Then there's the racing industry which insists upon riding them at 15-16 months and has a long list of fatalities every year to show for it. I'm not against racing or gaming or jumping or futurities...but let the poor things grow up first. The world would not end if we banned 2 year old riding futurities and races and personally I'm 100% in favor of that!
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I see it time and time again in almost every horse advertisement I come across:
“Hello my name is Diego and i'm a 3 year old Arab X. I trailer, tie, love baths, can go english or western. I have been on trails, sorting and jymcanna, I am a baby so i will need somone that knows how to ride but with a little work i can be a good boy.” – Craigslist
“Foaled March 2005, Great Riding horse, works off leg pressure and gives to poll. currently has been being hauled to shows and time onlys, going to be a great Futurity horse. Smooth gaits. Good stop. Loping barrel pattern. Solid and Sound.Goes on trails by himself, streets,etc. No issues. No Vices. . Don't let this horses age get you.” – Dreamhorse
I know you have seen it too, people who start horses when they are too young in order to make a quick buck.
In various horse groups I am in, I get idiotic posts like these:
“so i'm trying the traditional way of teaching side passing, with a fence, and for three weeks it hasn't helped her learn, she crow hops and rears becuase she's frustrated so i was wondering if anyone knew any other ways of teaching her to side pass, she's only three so i have plenty of time, i just don't want her to get hurt on a fence.”
The above post in and of itself was not THAT bad, but it followed with this response from the same girl…
“i suppose this is my fualt for not stateing this in the first place, first off she's been under saddle for nearly two years, and before anyone calls me a monster she is a draft/quarter x she was 16 hds when i bought her, she's heavily muscled and very strong, never had a sore spot since i've owned her, i've done all her training myself, i've worked with many stallions but she is my first mare, i know the rules of smaller horses, and if i didn't think she was at the right level i wouldn't have started her side passing. although i do appreciate everyone's point of veiw, it is very helpful.”
The fact that these are just SOME examples of what I see daily deeply saddens me. No matter how experienced you think you are with horses, if you plan on riding a horse at the ages 1 and 2, you shouldn’t own a damn horse!
At the Equine Studies Institute (www.equinestudies.org), they dedicate their time to, “fostering higher education in horsemanship.”
One of their articles, “The Ranger Piece,” is dedicated to the timing and rate of skeletal maturation in horses. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly suggest the read. In this particular article, it states that ALL horses mature at the same rate. No particular breed is a slow or fast maturing breed. However, males are slower to mature than females.
You try explaining this to, what I like to call, “The Futurity People.” Those individuals think that starting a certain breeds (namely Quarter Horses) at the age of 1 ½ or 2 is perfectly alright because they think the horse is a faster maturing breed. When confronted with articles like, “The Ranger Piece,” they are quick to reply with things like, “I love my horses,” or “Our horses have yet to have any problems.”
I will stop my rant for one moment to say that a lot of young girls (and some boys) think they really do know a great deal about horses and feel they can train a horse on their own. Majority of the time I see ignorance as the problem with these kids, well – that and parent’s who have NO idea how to take care of a horse themselves, so they let their 16 year old handle it and make the decisions. Ignorance can be fixed with educational information.
Then there are the trainers of the world who simply feel starting a horse out at any age is appropriate because they want to turn a profit as soon as possible. I had a girl tell me that she trained with [insert big name trainer here] and they start horses under saddle at 1 ½ or 2 to get them finished by 3, so if they do it, it must be absolutely right and correct. I will say it now, and keep repeating it again and again and again and again (you get the picture) until people understand that just because some big name trainer does it – it doesn’t make it right!
Again, I come back to the point that a horse’s skeletal structure is not mature enough to start at 2 years old!
Now why am I all bent out of shape about this? I have volunteered a lot of time at various rescues, some for thoroughbreds and some for all breeds. At EVERY rescue, there have been over a dozen horses that were once solid gymkhana/reiner/dressage/jumper/etc… horses. Why are they at a rescue? Because they were ALL lame and could only be used to pasture pals. You try watching a horse that was started too young, lame at 7; have its knees blow out at the age of 8. You watch it writhe around in pain until you can get the vet out there to put it out of its misery. Once you do that a dozen or so times, then you tell me that it is OKAY to start you horse young and cause overcrowding in rescues.
It seems as though the time and rate of skeletal maturation in horses is scientific fact, there are plenty of breeders and “trainers” who feel that starting a horse out young is perfectly alright. Really, if these people were in it for the love of the animal and *not* for the money, you would think that they wouldn’t be starting these horses until they were 5 or 6 years old. If they loved their horses as much as they claim, they would do the right thing and start their horses out at a later age as a preventative measure. And to those who claim that they have horses that have yet to have a problem, how old are they 11 – 20ish? Do you know that a horse’s life expectancy can be over 35 years? How many of your futurity horses have lasted an entire 35 years with absolutely no lameness issues?
Please everyone spread the word that starting horses out too young is NOT acceptable. Educate others, do not support those people who believe that it is alright to chance a horses suffering in the long run just to make a quick buck for themselves!
Sincerely,
SS of SS Training Stables
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Guest blog - A Few Words on Child Labor
Friday, September 14, 2007
Celebrity guest blogger!
I am extremely honored to present to all of you a guest blog today by the famous Bazzy Boy. If you haven't already seen his web site, you can find it here. If you think I am funny, I just have to tell you, I have nothing on this horse.
Hey Fugly, loves ya site, Dad was telling me about it the other day whist I was pretending to work out with him and I thought, Hey I know a Fugly Horse so I thought I'd send him over. I know your site is not just about Fugly horses but when you know one this Fugly it would be wrong not to send it in.
This here strange fellow on the right is "Bobby" the woofty coloured, no knackers shortarse. He's a TB (Yawn) albeit a very small one :) I just call him "Nobby no-nuts" it sort of suits him.He's very much into dressage and can often be seen running around the paddock in a tu-tu or three.
He thinks he's pretty hot to trot with the girls and is trying to hit on my girlfriend Cherry by poking his nose in her bum. He's so small he never made it to the track, oh and so slow too. Unlike me of course who is a legend of a racehorse, well sortta, maybe.
I can't make my mind up whether he has a small head or a fat tummy, don't suppose it matters really either way he looks Fugly and stoopid, which might be ok if he had some personality, but alas, no. He's short in that department too.
Anyway if you could pop this on your site so I can get my Dad to print it off and stick it on Nobby's head that would really make my day :)
And if you want some more dirt on Nobby there is plenty of stuff on my website (http://www.bazzyboy.net/) cos I'm always hanging it on him for trying to muscle in on my Cherry.
CYa's
Neeeeiigggghhh! Bazzy boy (and his hapless humans)
p.s Dad wants to know if he can put a link up on my Blog to Fugly horse?
I give up...
Good GOD how many you do have??? It's a sea of legs!
The HYPP apologist of the day!
Believe it or not, the American Halter Horse Association actually does have a sponsor who intended to sponsor them (as opposed to the other companies that were shocked to find out that they were on the web site). It's a company called USA Embroidery which customizes things like shirts and jackets and caps.
Here's their representative Ric Banks' e-mail to someone who complained about their endorsement of an organization that bars nothing from registration based upon its genetic defects (although he seems to be using someone named Wendy's e-mail). I will let his writing style speak for itself. My comments in blue.
Dear (name),
Thank you very much for taking the time to email us and we have noted your concerns, HOWEVER i also bred and show halter horses and i test every one of them before breeding as do most of the top breeders in the USA and other countries. (You test them but does that make you stop breeding them? There's the question.) Education is a much better tool than slander. (For the one millionth time, it is only slander if it is not true. The AHHA has their rules on their web site for all to see, I didn't make this stuff up about them gleefully registering horses with genetic defects.) The American Halter Horse Assoc. takes pride in promoting Top Quality breeders and trainer. (If by top quality, you mean those who breed HYPP positive horses!) IN ALL events and breed of animals there will always be those sthat do not care and will always do as they please regardless of the outcome. (You're right, but if you bar them from registration and showing, there will be no financial incentive for them to breed genetically defective animals and they will stop. The AHHA is doing the opposite.) Stopping to purchase items from me has no affect on the industry , I am here to educate the pros and cons of the industry, (If you care about the industry, you do not endorse organizations that allow the registration of horses that have been banned from their OWN registry for a REASON) I can help you however are hurting the industry with your all negative ideas (Like that horses shouldn't have to flail around on the ground gasping for air when it's totally avoidable? Why, how very negative of her.) , First find the problem then find the solution, case closed. (We have found the problem and the solution is NOT BREEDING any H/H or N/H horses. However, the AHHA provides a way to AVOID the solution, and you have endorsed them by advertising proudly on their web site.) HH horses are no longer allowed to be used in a breeding program if you had all the fact you would however already know this. (You are the clueless one. AQHA does not allow H/H horses to be registered anymore. Other registries still do, and the AHHA allows them to breed and show with no restrictions.) And not all NH horse show signs, should we put them down because of the lineage? (No, but we should not BREED them and having an association that encourages that is ridiculous.) Do we do that to our children when they have health issues, or defects, I think not, we love them anyway and we care for them for the rest of their lives and beyond. (Um, apples and oranges but if you want to get into a debate with me about whether or not it's ethical to reproduce if you know you carry a severe genetic defect, I'd take the same side I take with the horses.) If given a CHANCE The American Halter Horse can and will make changes to the industry to help promote good and quality breedings among their members. (By their policy that they will register horses with any genetic defect at all? That promotes good and quality breeding?) I AM VERY PROUD TO BE A MEMBER AND A SPONSOR for The American Halter Horse Assoc. (Potential customers: Take note!) This is a group that can make a difference, you ask me why?or how? (No, I don't ask how. I know how they will make a difference - they will help perpetuate a fatal genetic defect well into the future that we could stamp out in thirty years except for people like you.) Because this group is made up of concerned adn caring breeders like myself. (Your concern is touching. It makes me want to tie you to a chair and watch that video of that mare gasping for air while her foal runs around her about 65,216 times in a row.) Again Thanks for your time and i request your spend more time finding answers to the problems rather than writing evil emails, as we know they serve no purpose. (WE HAVE AN ANSWER TO THE PROBLEM...it's called NOT BREEDING any N/H or H/H horses. It's not like this is a MYSTERY!) Just for the record I work for over 20 years for the State Vet. (No...comment) I know somewhat about what i am writing about..Again Thanks Ric Banks USA EMBROIDERY.( Proud Sponsor of AHHA..)
FHOTD: It's just unbelievable, isn't it? They don't get it. They don't get it at all.
One generation of not breeding these things and the ENTIRE DISEASE would be GONE.
There are no variables here. No mysteries.
Just greedy jackasses that don't want to do the right thing when there's money to be made doing the wrong thing!
Can I make her the official veterinarian of the FHOTD blog?
Geld 'em!
OK, I LOVE her. The part about "proud cut" is freaking HYSTERICAL. She is a woman after my own heart - she does not mince words!
She is SO being invited to speak at our FHOTD convention (which yes, we are still going to do...I'll probably get those details finalized next month but for those of you who are newcomers, we were talking January in Vegas).
Thursday, September 13, 2007
An inconvenient truth...about horses
I know this blog entry is going to open up a can of worms and the comments will probably be more drama-filled than the last 2 hoochie mamas fightin' fo' they man Flavor Flav in the series finale...but I'm going to say it anyway, after reading the drama about the vet who doesn't make house calls and the broken down truck on the other thread.
HORSES ARE A LUXURY.
To clarify: there are basically 2 kinds of things any of us pay for with our paychecks: necessities and luxuries.
Necessities are things like rent/mortgage, food, clothing, insurance, car payment if we don't have it paid off, gasoline to get to work or bus/train pass, tuition if we have kids in school, taxes, garbage bags, utilities.
Luxuries are everything else. A pumpkin spice frappucino. A bracelet. Shoes that don't come from Famous Footwear. Bags that don't come from Ross Dress for Less. Extra gasoline for five hour drive on the weekend to see a friend or family member. A playstation. Pokemon cards. Cable TV. Tickets to something. New towels for the bathroom because the old ones are ugly, not because the old ones are threadbare.
When we are short on cash, anything that can be cut out - that does not interfere with our actual survival is a luxury. Therefore all pet ownership, including horses, is a luxury. Luxuries are not just things like Vuitton purses. They are anything that is not a necessity.
When I say this - read carefully now, I don't want to read that I said otherwise - I do not mean that you must be wealthy to own horses. And I am not saying that wealth equals good horse care. We've all seen exceptions. However, you must have the financial wherewithal to provide proper nutrition, medical care, equipment and a safe, healthy and clean place for your horse(s) to live or you should not own horses.
I don't think that all horses must live on 40 acres of white-fenced beauty in Virginia. Sure, they'd like to. I'd like to live in a Malibu mansion, too. Horses, like people, are not all going to have A+++ standards of living, but some things should never be a compromise.
For example - if your horse needs the vet and the vet cannot come to you, you must be able to get your horse to the vet, even if that means paying someone else to haul him. This is totally not negotiable. If your budget does not provide for this, you are not providing responsible and acceptable ownership.
Another example - if you are going to own a stallion, you must have appropriate stallion facilities. While some stallions do fine in hot tape (some really do!), if yours does not and has broken out, you must be able to provide something more sturdy, panels for example, to keep him confined. It is not responsible horse ownership to let him get loose and run around the neighborhood. What if he runs out in front of a car and the driver dies? You absolutely must be able to confine your livestock and the law requires that you do so.
Extreme vet bills are a tricky topic. I really do understand someone choosing euthanasia over a $5,000 colic surgery. I do, and I don't judge that person. The horse doesn't know or care that he's not going to be alive next week. He is just not that advanced a creature. Euthanasia puts him out of his pain, and that's all he cares about at the moment. What I do not understand is not calling the vet, like that asswipe in Florida who tried to bury the colicking horse still alive.
Almost everybody who is not Paris Hilton will go through some point in their life where money is tight. Maybe you lose a job. Maybe you get a divorce. Maybe you get sick. Life happens. There are OK ways to economize during those periods and still keep your horse and be responsible. Most horses can go barefoot. Most can live comfortably in the right pasture board situation, with safe fence and a herd that has been put together intelligently to minimize drama. No horse is going to die from the yearly tooth floating being 6 months late, or his hooves going 3 months instead of 2 between trims. It's not ideal care but it's not abusive. If you have to cut costs for a while until things improve, I get it.
However, when money is tight, there is absolutely NO excuse to produce more horses! For god's sake! They don't just fall from the sky! STOP BREEDING and you won't HAVE so many mouths to feed and you won't BE so broke. ALMOST NO ONE MAKES MONEY BREEDING HORSES, in case you somehow didn't get the memo! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE THE EXCEPTION TO THAT RULE!
I am so tired of hearing the excuses about why you have to ditch all of these horses when you are the one who made them happen. And common sense will tell you that horses sell better in the SPRING, not in September. If you have any doubt in May that you will be able to afford hay all the next winter, put them up for sale OR get off your butt and get a second job while you still have time to earn the money. Don't sit on your butt and la la la keep letting your stallion breed everything on the property. Don't wait 'til October and then beg someone to buy them because you can't afford to feed them, especially when you have them BRED. That just makes me, and everybody else, want to clock you one upside your stupid head. (Yes, we understand it is not legal to do so. However, in my opinion, it should be.)
The showing question is an interesting can of worms because I think everybody here agrees that showing on the breed show level or the A/B level is extremely expensive. It IS. Training is expensive, good training is hard to find. Merely purchasing a saddle good enough to go to the breed shows with is several thousand at the very least. However, I've said before that showing isn't the only thing that counts to me. There are other forms of competition/performance/use that are equally valid. I'd rather breed to a stallion who cleans house at the open shows than one that isn't broke. Or goes to local team pennings or barrel races and comes home with a check. Or spends his days chasing cattle as part of the team on a working ranch. If you can't afford to show, what about a video of your stallion being ridden on your web site? Just something that shows that he has a talent other than impregnating mares. You can do that, and it will not break the bank.
Everybody finds it challenging to balance their budget and horses are a very expensive hobby. If you are reading this and think other people just have more money than you do, it's generally not true. I'm a typical horseowner who has a decent income that is pretty much totally annihilated by my horse expenses. A big vet bill will send me to Craigslist to hunt down some freelance work. I can't remember the last time I only had my full time job and no other source of income. I'm not bitching - it's a choice I make in order to afford horses. If I got rid of the horses, I could sit on my butt all weekend and shop for cute shoes and get my nails done. But, we all have our priorities. And no, I don't expect you to put your horses above necessities for your kids, but when I see people make those remarks, it proves my point that your budget is so tight that you probably can't afford horse ownership period, much less breeding. A lot can go wrong with breeding. Mares have bad deliveries - they tear, they have breech foals, they NEED the vet. Mares who are not ultrasounded may be carrying twins and mares are not designed to pop out twins with no problems. Something is probably going to die - could be a foal, could be both and your mare too. There's no excuse for that to happen. It's 2007, not 1807.
In closing, you don't have to make $200K a year to afford horses, but you do have to honestly look at the budget you do have. If you can't keep up with basic care - hoof trims, deworming, quality feed, supplements as needed, safe fencing, adequate shelter - or if you can't afford to call a vet and have to just let something suffer, you are overwhelmed. You need to either sell some horses or increase your income by getting a better job/second job or cutting back on some other luxury like canceling your cable TV, and you absolutely need to STOP BREEDING.
This isn't being mean or elitist. It's just being realistic.
P.S. The other thing about some of you who refuse to admit you can't afford horses? You keep stiffing barn owners and trainers and farriers and hay suppliers and that is just a shitty and unconscionable thing to do. Those people are all working hard to earn a living and they don't deserve to have to waste their time chasing you for money and getting stableman's liens on your horses and taking you to court and trying to collect on a judgment when it's obvious that your assets consist of fifteen fugly, ribby, wormy, untrained Araloosatekes, a mobile home, a collection of velvet based works of art and a broke down 1972 F-150. Everybody in the horse business has had to go to CASH UP FRONT and a TRUST NO ONE policy because of people like you. You're ruining the business for everybody. STOP IT.
All right, those of you with no reading comprehension skills may now begin ranting about how I hate poor people, and I'm an elitist bitch, and I'm probably fugly and the reason I don't have a bunch of rugrats to complain about having to take care of is because no one would want to have sex with me anyway...have at it. :-)
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
You know where you can stick that?
I don't know if this is a genuine Parelli TM carrot stick but I do know this guy got EXACTLY what he was asking for!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXHOMWadofM
