OK, I know one of you has this information

How do I get in touch with a horse dealer named Oly Olson out of Washington state?

We were at the auction yesterday (yeah, we know better than to go to sales but that doesn't stop us) ostensible to buy tack (yeah, sure) and this guy got a 16.2 chestnut TB mare named Futlooseandfancyfree who is waywayway too nice to can. I mean, this mare passes the FHOTD "mare that is actually breeding quality" test. Multiple race winner, tall, big boned, great feet, super deep through chest, quiet, kind and allegedly trail rides and everything. A little short crouped/tail set on high but overall a super nice mare. He got her for $200 and of course wanted $350 for her 10 minutes later. We had a whopping $190 on us (due to our avowed intention to buy only tack).

However, since yesterday, I found someone who knows this mare's former owner and thinks they will help save her. Now I just need to get them in touch with this guy. I know half the horse world reads this blog, even if only 1% of it admits to it ;-) so surely one of you has a contact # for this guy?

I have the schedule from Hell this week and am busy with my training horse after work (who canters now, and is trotting ground poles, hooray!) so I apologize for the lack of a real entry. I'll try to get one up tomorrow night, but in the meantime...find that dealer, we have GOT to save this nice mare!

She's a jumper, and her owner is a jackass!

I love Craigslist. I really would not need to search anywhere else for material for this blog. My comments in blue.

She's a Jumper!

Reply to: sale-417872936@craigslist.org
Date: 2007-09-09, 11:48AM EDT

FOR SALE; A three year old Sorrel mare and her yearling foal (WTF, back up the bus, a three year old has a yearling foal? OMG she got bred as a YEARLING? Holy shit, how ignorant are you? I think breeding 2 year olds is bad enough) are available for a qualified person who has plans to train for jumping (Yes, after that great start she had in life foaling out at age 2, your concern for her future is touching). She will be sold with foal, so this is a deal with excellent potential (...for reducing your hay bill before winter. I'm not sure what kind of deal it is for the buyer!). The foal was sired by an Appaloosa stud, and is showing early signs of being a very beautiful horse, with light "Appy" markings already visible. (Of course, there's no mention of the mare's papers so I'm guessing...none. So we have a spotted grade yearling. Refer to yesterday's post for pictures of pretty spotted grade horses that damn near wound up as steaks.) The mare is already doing some jumping on her own, practicing by clearing metre tall electric fences from a standing start. (Translation "no fence can hold her." Yep, she'll be fun to own!) The foal is watching closely, so there could well be two jumpers soon (The foal probably has the good sense to think Momma is an idiot but is amused by watching her freaked-out antics). Both horses are green broke English, on a lead, but not yet with bridle (WTF? So you're riding the yearling? *big sigh* Of course you are.) They are gentle and inquisitive by nature, well socialized both to horses and to people (I will say, it is evidence of their tolerant natures that they don't run when they see you coming!) They are hardy and healthy, showing calm dispositions if exposed to loud noises or machinery (well, hell, after all they've been through already, how scary can a tractor be?). In fact, their tendency is to run toward new things to investigate, rather than showing fear and running away (With a banner in their teeth reading "she's bat shit crazy, please buy us and get us away from here!) The mare actually comes over when she's called, which is the opposite of what I have seen with many horses....and of course the foal follows right along (Since we've never weaned him!). Both of these horses are nuzzlers and cuddlers who seek affection from humans. They will return the favour. (I am picturing unweaned yearling stud colt...'cause you just KNOW it is a stud colt!...chewing all over human beings...isn't that kyooot!) I am advertising for the owner and will screen interested replies which will be forwarded to owner. (A word of advice: You are either just as dumb as the owner or doing yourself no favors being associated with this person. I suggest you practice the "but I'm not a horseperson, I just posted what she told me to!" defense starting now.) Location is near Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge area, easily accessible from 401. Owner is looking for a person who can buy these horses and guarantee a loving home with experienced horsemanship to encourage them to develop into their full potential.

FHOTD back in: Experienced people are going to run screaming from the train wreck you have created: Let's review, 3 year old mare bred as a yearling, who knows how much damage that caused, no mention of height in ad - perhaps stunted by nutritional drain of foal while she was still growing?), mare cannot be kept in fence but jumps out, yearling already being ridden but not weaned, $50 says not gelded, probably nippy as all hell, and sounds like nothing is registered or registerable. Thank you for contributing to the horse overpopulation problem. Canada is building more slaughterhouses as we speak and thanks to people like you, I doubt they will have a problem finding a supply of horses to process.

*head explodes*

Excellent herd sire - just $300!

Today's Craigslist train wreck.

"6 year old bay unregistered Quarter Horse Stallion for sale. He is halter broke and has a saddle and bridle on him but not ridden. He is a very sweet and quiet stallion. He is an excellent herd stallion and has produced some really pretty babies. The pictures below him are a couple of his 2007 foals. I am only selling him because I need to cut back on the number of horses I own."

Check out that topline and hip. This one is really special. You can't quite see his legs in the weeds but I do believe he's waaaay back at the knee also. People, people. If it's worth $300, it's NOT a stallion. How can anybody think that breeding this fuuugly critter was a good idea?

All right, hope everybody has time to read 1,000 comments...

This was mentioned in the comments of my last post, and it is time to discuss it here. I suspect it will be my most controversial post ever, but I'd like to get my 2 cents in and you're all welcome to respond. I know some of you will disagree with me 100% and that's fine. As always - we have free speech here and you are welcome to speak your piece.

I also want to note that this post refers to conditions in the United States and Canada. My understanding is that slaughter is very different in Europe and you can literally march a horse into your local butcher shop and have it shot in the head. That would be something I wouldn't have a problem with. Nor do I have a problem with shooting them in the head and feeding them to hounds or big game, as long as they are not traumatized at any point in the process. A bullet to the head is humane euthanasia. When I refer to slaughter in this post, I am talking about the process here in America - the auction, the loose horse pen, the double decker where they are kicked and bitten, days without food or water, and the captive bolt/throat cut method of slaughter.

Everybody (well any of you with an IQ over 80) recognizes that there are more horses than good homes and certainly more unbroke horses than homes with the knowledge to train a horse or the money to send one to a trainer. It's a fact that there are too many horses - but what can we do about that?

The horse world is split about 50/50 about slaughter. Some horsepeople believe slaughter is a necessary way to dispose of the excess horses. Others, like myself, believe slaughter simply provides an easy way out to those who overproduce crap horses, thoughtlessly break down horses, etc.

Now that slaughter has ended (for now) in the U.S., many horsepeople are upset that the horses are going to inhumane Mexican slaughterhouses. Well, for anybody who thinks slaughter in the U.S. was somehow "humane" merely because USDA inspectors were present, watch the video. (Warning: Extremely graphic). The fact is, the captive bolt was designed for animals like cows that are not known for their quick movements. It is not a humane tool to take down a thrashing, panicking horse. But it is true, Mexico is (more video) worse.

My opinion? Any slaughter of horses is unacceptable. It provides an easy way out for irresponsible owners and one that puts cash in their hands for their bad behavior. Slaughter rewards bad ownership. Even if it were humane, it would still be bad news for horses for this reason. It allows someone to breed a ton of, as my friend very descriptively calls them, shitters, and still walk away with a profit, particularly if all said shitters have done is eat grass and received no vet, farrier, or other care.

I do not think that we should keep slaughter legal in the U.S. as the lesser of two evils. I think that it's a great thing that it has been made illegal BUT now we DO have to come up with solutions for the unwanted horses. The solution, in my opinion, is no different than the solution with dogs and cats: euthanasia. Now, there are a couple of issues here:

1. Equine euthanasia/disposal is expensive, assuming you can't simply shoot them in the head and bury them with a backhoe on your own property. Like it or not, the government is going to have to pick up the tab for low income horse owners. Yes, your taxes may go up. Yes, this sucks, but it's no different from having to pick up the tab for all the dingbats that keep popping out children they can't afford.

2. Policing the borders to make sure American horses don't go to Mexico (if and when that is outlawed - right now it's totally legal). Ha, ha, ha. Yeah, I know. We can't keep the illegal immigrants out, how are we going to keep horses in? I agree, policing the border is kind of a lost cause. The government isn't going to do it. A better option is fighting to make double-decker transport of horses illegal in ALL states (it currently is not). Then, you go after them on transport violations. Transport violations = revenue. The states LOVE to police things that bring in MONEY. That is why you get pulled over for speeding but the double decker going to Mexico goes merrily on its way. If you can make hauling horses in a double decker punishable by a big ass fine, you will start to affect the profit margin involved in slaughtering horses. That's how you stop horse slaughter.

3. We have an awful lot of vets marching around out there with the "moral" belief that they won't euth a healthy horse. Well, that's cute. Did you want to take them home and feed them? As long as the average citizen doesn't have access to the drugs to do it, I believe that the government needs to mandate some vets in every part of the country do euthanasia as requested on absolutely anything. There are going to be train wrecks. There are going to be the breeders who, oopsy, have 72 weanlings and lost their job and can't feed them. If private rescues can pick up some of that mess, great, but if they can't, euthanasia beats the hell out of starvation or slaughter. Anybody who thinks there is some third solution is dreaming. As long as we have "freedom," people are going to mass produce animals that they cannot afford to feed, and that are so poor in quality that no one else wants to feed them either. Having to make some disappear is a reality. Euthanasia is much kinder than slaughter.

4. Do you know what improves most human behavior? It's not the law. It's the fear of social censure. Fearing that one's friends and family and (worse yet) adversaries will know that you did something bad and scorn you because of it is a far greater inhibitor to bad behavior than any law on earth. Almost everybody feels the need to "fit in" and be liked and thought of as a good person. However, for years, the horse industry has allowed breeders to discreetly dump their culls/mistakes/broken down failed training experiments at auction and has turned a blind eye to it. The horse dealers work with the breeders/trainers to quietly make those horses disappear, leaving the breeders/trainers with a handful of cash. This has to end. We need to start "outing" the people who routinely do this, so that those of us who are anti-slaughter can vote with our dollars and choose not to do business with them. I am tired of seeing hardworking individuals struggle to pay for retirement board on their seniors while Mr. Big Rancher who has 500 acres ships his old broodmares off to kill. No, we can't legislate responsibility but we can sure as hell publicly embarrass the people like Mr. Big Rancher and hurt their business, and it is time we did that. Likewise, we should be able to know who the responsible breeders/trainers are, who do retire their old horses at their expense, and who do euthanize instead of slaughter, and choose to give them our business. I mean, look at this dun mare. She is not a shitter. She has a big old leg but she's sound and I'd bet any kind of money she came from a good breeder...once upon a time. Yet, someone dumped her off to die.

When I go to the Woodburn, Oregon auction, I see these nice Saddlebreds getting dumped. OK, who's the asshole? They dumped this mare and foal a few months ago. Mare was just panic stricken, it was awful. Damn near flipped over in the parking lot on the concrete trying to get loaded. They actually DID go to a home and not slaughter but they got lucky. There can't be that many Saddlebred breeders in the Portland/Salem area, so tell me, somebody knows, who is responsible for this?

There is a ton of retirement boarding out there, some of it at very low cost, if you don't have your own property and can't afford to keep a horse who has become unrideable at your current boarding barn. Yes, you may have to ship it a few states away. I am sick to death of hearing people who show A circuit whine that they can't afford to keep the horse that broke down carting their ass around a show ring. YES, YOU CAN. If you can afford to show freakin' A circuit, you can afford retirement board somewhere in the South or Midwest where it is cheap! $150 a month is NOTHING to you - do not lie and say that it is. Buy one less pair of shoes, for fuck's sake. Learn to braid your own damn horse, that alone should save you the money required. I'm all for finding a good home if the horse is still usable for light work (and has the right disposition for the kind of rider who only does light work) but when all is said and done, the ONLY way you guarantee a horse a safe future is keeping them in your possession.

All the pictures in this post are horses that were thrown away by someone to go to slaughter. The mare at left has a brand on her left shoulder that had been deliberately cut and obliterated to hide her origin. Nice. If this post ever gets back to one of their former owners, all I can say is shame on you. How incredibly sad that rescuers who never met your horse care more about him or her than you did.

Half wits breeding half breds

We've had this discussion before, but I want to clarify that not all crossbreds are bad. For example, you can cross a show quality Saddlebred and a show quality Arabian and get an equally nice, show quality National Show Horse. Those are two breeds that blend well together. They are targeted toward the same disciplines and their conformation is complementary. The resultant foal may be registered and shown in breed shows.


The problems come when someone cannot afford a 100% Trendy Horse Breed Du Jour and therefore decides that a nifty solution would be horses that are 50% Trendy Horse Breed Du Jour. Typically, these folks don't give a rat's ass about the quality of the Trendy Sire (if it's a Gypsy Vanner or a Friesian or, in this case, a Norwegian Fjord, it must be good, right? Like all Mercedes are good! Yeah, okay...) and they think the Magikal Sperm of the Trendy Sire will overcome any weaknesses in their shitty, backyard auction-rescued mixed breed puke of a mare.


Sadly, that is not how it works, and this is proven in today's example, described by its owner as a "grade sport pony type filly." Owner goes on to brag that "has had 3 weeks worth of bandaging twice a day so she is great with her legs!" This is because she injured her right foreleg. Looking at that fence, and the amount of crap laying around everywhere, I simply cannot imagine how such a thing could have happened. They note that she is for sale because she is smaller than they had anticipated, although they state she will mature 13-14 hh. Well, their mare was 14 hh and the sire was a Fjord, exactly what were they expecting? You are not going to get 16.2 from that cross!







This filly is not going to win any beauty contests. Her head reminds me of a polo pony I used to know called Scout, but referred to behind his owner's back as "Snout." Her shoulder's good but her neck is short and unattractive. There are no decent pictures here - she looks sickle hocked but may be ok, it's hard to say. Her front pasterns are very long and weak and she's not just toed out - if you look below, her knees point out - the leg isn't straight at any point. I am ok with her being downhill because she's 16 months but the other things, she isn't going to grow out of. The lump of proud flesh just adds to the picture! (Did you know there are remedies for that? Yes, there are!)























You know why I gripe about heads? I agree with you all who say you can't ride the head. That's true. But no one wants to buy an ugly pony. They don't. Try to sell one and you will see how true this is! Face it, judges want a whole picture. They want a pony that is elegant to look at, moves well, and jumps well - and buyers want a pony with a good disposition that their kid can manage without major drama. If you are going to breed sport ponies, you had better be breeding for all of these elements or you are going to wind up with a herd of fugly ponies in the backyard that you can't get rid of, much like this lady.



But hey, the half Fjord pony can be yours for the low low price of only $2000 or trade for a stock trailer. Here's the problem with that: So can the pony at left. This pony is five years old. Here is her description "She is currently being schooled over poles and cross poles. She is willing and going very nicely. Moves off your leg and collects up. Flat knee and nice stride. Canter is cadenced and balanced. She is great outside or in the arena. Pretty little mare with tons of potential. Likes to jump." While this isn't a $20,000 conformation pony either (I suspect it is just a midget QH, the ad doesn't say), if you have $2000 to spend, you'd be a lot smarter buying this pony - who you could resell after one show season and make a tidy profit.





(The really funny part is, I could probably convince a buyer that this dun filly is a half Fjord before I could convince them the filly at the top is!)

Moral of the story, as usual: STOP BREEDING CRAP. There is absolutely NO incentive for a buyer to purchase your crooked-legged, fugly headed yearling when they can take the same $2000 and buy a cute, trendy colored pony that only needs minimal finishing to go show. The horse market did not get this way overnight. Doing a tiny bit of research would have revealed the facts of life to you 2 years ago, BEFORE you bred your backyard pony to someone's Fjord. Think, think, think before you bring horses into the world that there is no market for!

Look, Ma, no brains!

This guest blog on trailer safety was sent to me by cutnjump, and I think it's great, but I'm also going to add to it as this is a topic I could talk about all day. Please note that THE PICTURE BELOW IS USED FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY. NO ONE IS ALLEGING THE HORSES IN THE PICTURE WERE HAULED DOWN THE ROAD LIKE THIS.

"While this trailer is NOT MOVING, as noted by the open LQ/TR door, I see my fair share on a daily basis that ARE! On the streets in our neighborhood, busy surface streets in town, and yes on the freeways too. While this trailer is equipped with window bars, which could be put in place while traveling, and still allowing PLENTY of fresh air into the trailer, many I have seen moving down the road, DO NOT have even those UP.
Instead the horses traveling are just like you see here. I have even seen some without even a halter on. They are loose inside with their heads hanging out. If the trailer were to flip for whatever reason and their head or leg stuck out as everything goes over, I image the least thing they would lose is some skin and a little hair.

While some horses travel better loose, as in not tied, most travel better standing backwards, it has been shown to reduce their stress levels. It would not be difficult if they all traveled with the drop down doors, or at least the window bars- UP! The horses will not be as likely to be frightened by large trucks, motorcycles (aka crotch rockets), rice burner cars with special mufflers that make them sound like a giant swarm of killer bees... You get the idea.

Besides, most drop down doors have windows in them that can be secured open and they usually have screens on the outside and bars on the inside to keep hooves and nosey slobbers- horse boogers off of them. Pretty much standard on any trailer now too are the two way roof vents, to help keep the climate inside the trailer in a comfortable range.

Is it just us, or do these people have no clue about what could happen? I know a lot of us, in all parts of the country, (and world for our fugly friends abroad) have at some time, had some type of debris (rocks or any sorts of stuff that fell off a work or construction vehicle) that was on the road, fly up and hit the windshield on the car,truck, van, SUV, whatever you drive. Sometimes the stuff bounces right off, without leaving a mark. Most of the time it at least leaves a *star* shaped crack. Can you imagine what it would do to your horses head, or worse yet their eye?

Here's a different scenario for everyone to think about when they see a horse hanging their head out the drop down window going down the road. Back when slant loads and drop downs first became an option, my husband was traveling within a caravan of trailers, showing across the country going to shows in various states. They just finished up at one show and everyone was going on to the next one. (much like the rodeo circut) One of the guys in the group was traveling with his drop downs open, horses relaxed with their heads hagning out. One of the rigs had a blow out, so everyone pulled over to help change the tire and get the procession back on the road quickly.
While they were on the side of the road a semi went past them, going however fast. One of the mares on the trailer happened to stick her head out in time to have it taken off by the passing truck. It was horrible, let alone extremely gruesome. It was instant and I'm sure she didn't feel much, but the other horses in the trailer seemed to sense what had just happened. She was in the middle of the trailer and since it was a slant load, there were horses in front of her to be unloaded.

They still had to travel on down the road to a place where they could unload all of the horses, so I can't begin to imagine how bad must it have been for those who were still inside to now have the doors up and this mares body at their feet, and the smell of death in the air. I do not know if the trailer had an escape door on the front like most now do, but even so you still have to pull dividers to get everyone out, which can take some time to manage.

The other sad part was that the mare had just cleaned house at the last show, several class wins, Championships and Reserves. I cannot imagine how badly the driver must have felt since it was his choice to leave the drop downs open. Let alone having to explain what happened and WHY, to the horses' owners.

Whenever I see this on the road, I cringe for the sake of the horses. Yes, I roll down my window and yell at the drivers for being so ignorant. Usually I ask them if they have ever had a horse literally, lose it's head over their stupid behaviour? If there is a phone number or farm name on the side of said truck or trailer, you can better believe they get a phone call."

FHOTD in: Great guest blog! I would also like to add a couple of other trailer safety issues for your consideration and discussion.

1a. Close the back door/butt bar behind you BEFORE you tie the horse.

1b. You UNTIE the horse BEFORE you open the back door/butt bar.

There really is no telling the number of wrecks that would be saved by people adhering to these simple rules. It is a horse's natural instinct to start backing and trying to get out as soon as that back door opens, and an iffy loader will often fly backwards at 95 MPH without warning if you leave that back door gaping open. In a two horse, reach in the escape door and untie first. In a slant load, open the back door only big enough to slip your body through and have someone hold it closed as you enter and untie the horse who is in the last divided section. Then, open the door and unload.

2. Six foot trailers are cow trailers. I will argue this with anybody. Expecting a horse to go into a six foot tall is not fair to the horse. He is going to be afraid to take a jump off the ground to get in for fear of whacking his head, and this creates loading issues. He also stands a good chance of whacking his head once inside. Get the 7 footer, or the oversized 7+ if you have tall horses. You won't regret it.

3. Having a professional check over your trailer in the spring - floors, lights, brakes, etc. - is a whole lot cheaper and less traumatic than having a foot go through the floor or having someone slam into the back of your trailer because the lights failed. Don't skimp on your trailer maintenance, it's just not worth it. Just because a trailer LOOKS to be in good condition does not mean it is.

4. Shipping boots or not? All I will say is that bare legs are safer than a boot that is not put on tightly enough that slips down and trips the horse/creates a slippery place for them to have to stand on. If you are going to use boots or wraps, learn to do it snugly enough that the boot is in the same place you applied it when you get to your destination. I do like them, and they are a must in an undivided trailer, but you have to do them right.

5. For those of you with undivided trailers: If you really want to save on drama and vet bills, invest in muzzles. Seriously. They are a beautiful thing. You will have a much quieter and safer ride when no one can nip his or her neighbor.

6. Tack in the trailer: There is a reason most trailers have tack areas/tack compartments. That's where you put your tack. I strongly disagree with hauling fully tacked horses. There are a million things that can get caught and cause an accident. It's just laziness. Tack up when you get where you're going!

7. Here's a huge pet peeve of mine: Halters hanging from the horse trailer, often next to a horse who is tied. This is just asking for a broken leg. Unsnap your halters, or loop the crowpiece through and hang them up high.

8. Load intelligently, particularly if you don't have dividers. The alpha bitch goes LAST with her butt against the back door and a muzzle on her nose! The wimpiest horse goes first so he at least has a wall on one side of him. Pasture buddies go together. Never try to load the bad loader first, that has never worked. You put the bad loader's buddy in and THEN you load him. He is much more likely to go in there if his buddy is in first.

9. There are lots of things you can make yourself, at home. HORSE TRAILERS ARE NOT ONE OF THOSE THINGS.

Good God. I sure hope the cops ticketed this jackass.

10. Finally, this should be a no brainer but I see it all the time...GET A PROPER HAULING VEHICLE! This is not any of the following: a Jeep Cherokee, a Ford Taurus, a 1977 Pontiac Parisienne Wagon, a Ford Explorer, a midget pick up, anything made by Subaru, etc. A proper hauling vehicle is a full size truck, no smaller than a half ton and a typical half ton is only going to pull 2 horses max, or a full size Suburban. Duallies really are better - once you haul with a dually, you'll never go back.

Yes, I know everybody wants to use the SUV they already own because it's cheaper. If you can't afford a hauling vehicle, just pay for someone who HAS one to haul you. It's a much better idea.

(Both horses survived this accident. Amazingly.)

Sometimes I fear that people are putting these pictures on the Internet just to get their 15 minutes of fame for being stupid on this blog...

The State of the Industry

The Horse magazine put up a great article called The State of the Industry some time back and it was mentioned in the comments but I do not think everybody saw it, so I'm going to give you a link now.

The State of the Industry

Anybody who thinks they can breed low end horses and make money needs to read this. It is the absolute truth about how things are right now.