Conversations with the vampire...er, kill buyer

So, yesterday was a typical Adventure in Horse Rescue. It began with the alarm going off at 4 AM and trying to get out the door to wake up the horses and feed them. As I opened the door, the barn cat rocketed in like a furry black missile, causing me to dive after him while simultaneously attempting to make no noise that would set off the three large dog-shaped alarm clocks and wake up the completely innocent non-rescuer type person sleeping on the couch.




Believe it or not, I actually accomplished this, and also accomplished getting 200 miles away to pay for the elusive Futlooseanfancyfree mare from last week's auction, who had been spotted the previous night by an alert friend, who unfortunately was not an alert friend in possession of $350 or a paypal card. While I did not have any spare cash either, I did have a paypal card, and another rescuer kind enough to send money to it, so off I went to save the Way Too Nice To Can mare.



(I confess. I'm a bad rescuer. I don't think all horses are equal and beautiful. I do think some horses are Too Nice To Can and for others it is unfortunate and cruel, and I wish they'd have been euthanized instead if there was no home for them, and I wish slaughter by the current methods was illegal, but I am not sorry they are out of the gene pool. Yes, I know, this is against the Rescue Oath and I'm going to Hell now, but at least I am honest about it.)

We finally got there and Ole's assistant cheerfully led us to the pen where they'd separated out the mare. Only, it wasn't the mare. It was a big fugly flaxen chestnut mare that looked nothing like our mare. "Oh shit," she said, "I was afraid of that. We loaded up in the dark last night.

Argh! 4 hours drive and no mare? Did we just miss her by 10 hours? I began asking if there was any way at all to pull a mare off that truck once it got started. I said I could probably hop online and get someone to pick her up pretty much anywhere in the USA. We then began searching the pens of horses. In the last one we looked in, I saw a cluster of horses grouped around a plentiful supply of hay. I looked down and saw an old bowed tendon on the right front. Suffice it to say, I have never been so happy in my life to see a bowed tendon.



So here's the lucky girl on the left. I had to back up in a 10 x 15 pen to take this picture, so it is an example of really bad photography, but you can still see what attracted us to her. This is a big mare with a hip like a Quarter Horse, big bones, big feet and deep through the heart. Her neck is longer than it looks in the pic, and her head isn't fancy but she is still a super mare and (also important) a multiple race winner with a sweet and friendly disposition. She is just one that fell through the cracks - she got traded around a bunch lately and wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time.





I actually had a nice chat with the buyer. He says he tries to resell the ones that ride well and he works with various other resellers to do that - he has guys in various cities who put riding time on horses, fatten them up and try to resell for a profit. He did, however, and listen up, all of you crossbred breeders who think I am picking on them, say that "if a mare don't have papers, I can her." Well, yes. That is what most of these guys do. Because, for the one millionth time, there is NOWHERE NEAR the market for these horses that the delusional crossbred "sport horse" breeders seem to believe there is. Most people want to buy a good broke AQHA or Paint gelding. That is the VAST MAJORITY of the low end, under $2500, market. I don't mean "most people at YOUR barn." I mean most people who buy from auctions and horse dealers. So those of you who think your 1/4 Friesian, 1/4 Clydesdale, 1/4 Arabian and 1/4 TB is special, just so you know, you better keep her forever because Mr. Kill Buyer does not think so. A fugly AQHA mare with AQHA papers is much more likely to get on the trailer to the resale-for-riding guy than your part-draft "sport horse" is.

Now I'm going to put forth an opinion that may be unpopular (ha ha, 'cause that never happens here!) Ole or any other dealer who sells some to slaughter is not the villain here. The villain here, in this particular case, is a girl named Dawn. Dawn had this mare last, according to her papers.

Dawn has big, round, perky handwriting. It's the handwriting of a young girl. She's probably under 25, if not under 21. Dawn had written a note on the pen at Enumclaw to say that this mare rides well, trail rides, goes english, blah blah. Well, you know what Dawn? You are full of shit. This mare isn't riding sound. I can see it in the hind end when she walks. You knew that. Now, you only owned her for two months so maybe the person who sold her to you lied to you, too, but I don't care. This nice mare was pushed on a floodtide of lies down the wrong path and you, Dawn, had the chance to change that path. A little time and effort and a good pic on DreamHorse, and she would have had a broodmare home. Or you could have listed her with a rescue and tried to place her as a companion. But I guess that was too much work for you, Dawn, or maybe you just HAD to have her gone and HAD to have your $200 (shit, less than that, the auction took their cut), because you left her at the auction with no reserve and she was in the ring for maybe 30 seconds and went straight to the dealer. She didn't have a mark on her at the sale; now she has numerous little bites and scrapes from being thrown in a trailer with strange horses and then out in that pen. You, Dawn, are the one who sucks here. Slaughter isn't the problem, not really. It's irresponsible, cheap, heartless, careless and/or just plain ignorant ownership that is the problem.

Or as I like to say, the slaughter buyer is merely the garbageman. He is not the one who put the horse out with the trash.

Thanks to Marilyn of High Desert Equine Rescue in California, who fronted the cash to make sure this mare didn't become a steak. My understanding is the mare's breeder wants her back and we will be coordinating that today. I have another interested party if he doesn't want her.

When bad things happen at good barns

This isn't a post about a fugly horse, but it's certainly about some fugly people.

You sell or lease a horse, and you're as careful as you know how to be. You do a site check, or you have friends who know of the barn and the owners, and everything looks rosy - it's a fine facility full of happy and well cared for horses. So, without further worry, you send your horse off to his or her new home and wait eagerly for updates of how things are going. You are sure everything will be fine because this is a nice show barn you've sent the horse to - not some barbed-wire-surrounded shack back in the woods somewhere.


Unfortunately, just because a facility looks good, it doesn't mean it is good. I have an animal control officer friend who has told me numerous stories of successful folks with lovely farms, new aluminum trailers - and a starving horse or two out back that was bad enough to impound. In one case, the story was of an old horse whose cannon bones had come through the bottom of his feet. Usually these cases are born out of total ignorance that a horse is more complicated than buying the kids a Playstation - in that case, the owner thought that horse was "just lazy" because he was down most of the time. And while ignorance is no excuse, it is somewhat more easy to understand than when things go bad at a barn where plenty of knowledgeable people are around and yet no one says a thing.



Before I begin this post, I want to say that this case is pending. Here's the news story. Charges have been filed, but there has been no determination of guilt. I have an opinion, as I do about most things, and my opinion is that this is inexcusable. No excuse in the world will ever answer the important questions for me, which are: Why did you let it go this far? What the hell kind of an idiot lets a horse just deteriorate like this? Did you ever learn to give a shot properly? And the rest of the people at this barn...did none of you have the cojones to call the owner or Animal Control except for the one person (who was just there for a party) who FINALLY reported this to the owner? It boggles the mind.




The people in the pictures rescued her and are NOT the ones who let her get into this condition.

The person who took the pictures described her condition as follows: "Her hip was smashed. It brought tears to everyones eyes, including the vet. One of the hardest things, I have ever had to look at. The big lump on Tuna's neck, was a large abcess from a missed IV shot. What the pictures can't show you, is how Tuna was struggling to even breathe, she could be heard outside the barn." The pony was euthanized just as soon as her condition had been documented.

They go on to describe what kind of pony she was. "She was a the ultimate kids pony. She could be seen in the Children's pony division early in life, to the mini stirrup in her later years. You never had to worry about your child when they working around or riding Tuna. She had a heart of gold. She loved life, and loved the kids. She was a veteran show pony, and was winning ribbons just last year. She was the type of pony everyone hopes their kids learn on."

Well, this is the end she came to, after all of those years. Her owner thought she was doing a kind thing by leasing her out to a 4 year old child who could enjoy her - and this is the end she came to, thanks to that child being surrounded by adults whose behavior is absolutely inexplicable. Did they really let this pony get this bad because they were too chicken shit to tell the owner she had been injured so severely she needed to be put down? You know, I'm always horrified by people who let horses who need to be euthanized go on too long because "it's just too upsetting for them" and various other selfish reasons, but this takes this freakin' cake. Can't wait to hear what they say in court.





Some of the (alleged, remember this is the Internet) boarders at the barn posted to this other board where it was discussed and stated they were afraid to speak up for fear Ms. Parks would throw them out of the barn. While this is a believable consequence, given her ranting and misspelled e-mails to people who gave her their 2 cents about her standard of horse care, WHY THE HELL would you WANT to stay in a barn where shit like this goes on? This may come as news but it wasn't the only barn in New Jersey. TAKE PICTURES FOR PROOF, then MOVE OUT and CALL ANIMAL CONTROL. Not that complicated.

This was sent to me by many, many people and I have waited until the charges were filed to post. I sincerely hope the book, hell, the whole library, is thrown at the worthless sack of shit "Trainer" and the either ignorant or equally worthless "Lessee." The story does serve as a great illustration of my original point though - a beautiful barn is not always the sign of a true horseman/woman, nor is a place that is shabby (but safe) a sign of a poor one.

Kudos to the person who finally reported this to the owner, to the owner for quickly taking action to end the pony's suffering, and to the people on The Outside Course message board who did everything they could to ensure that this case was not swept under the rug.

The mare from the auction...

We believe we have located the mare I posted about from the sale, and are driving out to see her/pay for her in the morning. I need a ride for her from the auction yard and a place for her to quarantine board in the Moses Lake, Washington vicinity. If you haven't done it before, this means you have a place to put the mare totally separate from any other horse, no shared fencelines, no shared water troughs, etc. as she may have been exposed to diseases at the auctions.

This is a well behaved mare (person who knows former owner described her as an extremely sweet mare who never had a crabby day) who just needs a place to go until I can get in touch with said former owner, who unfortunately I do not have a phone # for. Former owner wants this mare back, so she has a home, we're just having communication difficulties most likely caused by the fact that it's Saturday night and most normal people are out partying and are not on the Internet to receive my WE FOUND HER!!!! private messages :-)

If you are in the area and can help, please e-mail me but be sure to put QUARANTINE OFFER in big letters in the subject line as I am a million e-mails behind (it feels like).

Thanks, a better update with pictures will come if we have her safely in our possession tomorrow!

And the question of the day is...

Since I'm endlessly fascinated with the topic of how we breed horses who have the greatest chance of being kept for a lifetime by a loving owner, I'd like to hear from those of you who have "lifers." For the purposes of this post, let's say this is a horse who is 20 or older, who you have owned for over ten years, that you absolutely will not, under any circumstances, ever get rid of. This is a horse for whom you would work a second job, sell off valuables and trade in your car for a cheaper model rather than get rid of, if times were tough. I'm interested in the factors that led to that kind of loyalty from you, particularly if you - like me - have been in the horse business and bought and sold many, many horses.

1. How old were you when you got the horse, and how old was the horse?

2. What attracted you to the horse in the first place?

3. Why was the horse sold to you, and what did you pay if you are comfortable sharing?

4. What breed or combination thereof is the horse?

5. What discipline, if any, did you pursue with the horse?

6. What gender is the horse?

This is all just for my own curiosity - I'm wondering if there are any consistent patterns. I'll answer the questions myself since I have 2 sitting on retirement board that will never leave my ownership unless they outlive me. They are pictured recently - the gray is 27 and the bay is 28.

1. I was 17 when we got the gray mare, 20 when we got the bay. The gray was 5, the bay was 9.

2. The gray was beyond beautiful and I thought it was a challenge to sort her out. She and I always had the "special connection" that horsepeople talk about. The bay, I hated and thought was an unredeemable idiot and my boyfriend bought her anyway. Then she and I clicked as we went along and she wound up being one of my all time favorites. She was one of the first horses who truly taught me that idiot horses are usually just the product of idiot riders!

3. Gray: Had just broken someone's collarbone. Bay: Too much horse for 70+ year old owner, and screwed up deal to be sold to pro polo player for lots of money by slicing her fetlock open on crappy wire fence. Gray $1000, bay $1800.

4. Thoroughbreds. The gray is part Argentine which is not strictly TB...it's called an Argentine TB but it's part criollo (stock horse). Kind of like an Appendix.

5. Both played polo, were used for lessons, and jumped. The gray ran barrels and poles a bit as well. Neither one ever became safe to trail ride and no doubt would launch my butt today if I tried it. :-)

6. Mares.

All right, what about the rest of you? Who is/are your lifer/s and tell me all about why!

Perhaps a camel saddle should come with her?

First, one quick note: Please do not e-mail me until further notice. I have 528 unread e-mails. I still do not have Internet and am using a friend's computer for limited amounts of time. I am never going to get through all of these e-mails. Commenting on the blog is far more likely to get my attention at this point. Thanks for understanding!


I'm so overtired/brain dead at this point that I cannot remember if I've posted this ad before (I know I've seen it before) but I KNOW I have not posted this picture. Holy moly. OK we've found the official WORST roach back on the planet...and of course, she is in foal!

"Grade Friesian Mare/Wonderful Family Horse, $5,500, Mare, Black, Age: 6, 17.2H, Miss Camel is a wonderful grade Friesian mare. She has a great temperament and loves attention. She is calm and easy to handle. Her only fault is she has a "Roach back". Vet has cleared her for riding bareback or with saddle. She is bred to Registered Friesian for '08 foal. Miss Camel is all black. We have many horses available at all levels of training and a wide variety of types/breeds. We offer training packages and payment plans to meet every budget. We accept Credit Cards/Paypal Payments." FHOTD in: Of course you do. Hell, you'd probably swap her for two six packs, a side of beef and a wall hanging of pit bulls playing poker! P.S. The roach back is NOT her only fault. As a matter of fact, I am hard pressed to find something I like about this mare. Cover the part of the screen that has her back half on it with your hand. You still don't like her, do you? Neither do I. She looks to be back at the knee, her neck is set on high and there's no smoothness to it and that is one big honking head in comparison to the rest of her. But hey! She is only $5500. (If anybody out there would seriously consider paying that for this horse, can you just send it to me instead? I saw a whole lot of nice TB mares go to kill the other day for $200 a pop and any of them would have been a better investment that this critter.)

Folks, the reason breeds like the Friesian developed the idea of APPROVALS was to keep culls from breeding on. This mare has CULL written all over her. She may be a kind sweet horse who can hold up to light riding (beats me what you'd saddle her with, I am thinking a bareback pad is as structured as you could get) but she has absolutely no business being pregnant and you folks who orchestrated that are doing the Friesian breed NO favors.


Here's another brain donor.


"Needs New Home NOW!, $800, Mare, Chestnut, Age: 16, 15H, ASHA #121277, Foaled: 1991, **PRICE REDUCED TO $600 UNTIL 9-19-07** Mare is out in pasture, no feed!! She is losing weight, but will put it right back on. I am moving, and taking the horses with me (all the horses where I board are losing weight). Callie MUST GO NOW. Easy to handle on the ground, needs confident intermediate or better rider. She is blind in one eye, but she doesn't act like it. Price is negotiable to good home. MUST GO!"

Must sell because I am too dumb to go to the feed store! Well, I guess that is a new one.


The next one came with such a GREAT comment by the person who submitted it that I am including it (the person's comment is in blue)


Penny
Penny is a 7 year old mare who is reaady to drop a cult any day. She was breed to blizzard early may of last year, she is broke for any one to ride and guarantee a palamino colt. She has also been on many trail rides. She is 59 inches tall. Our price: $2,500.00

WHAT she's dropping a CULT! now that is a trick! Maybe next year we can breed her back for a full blown religion!


FHOTD in: Classic.

Of course, this just led me to their web site where I observed that they also have a "philly" for sale. Then I saw the picture including the flabby fishbelly white shirtless guy, and went blind.

"Tennessee philly coming a 2 year old, broke to ride and has been trail ridden many times, she is 61 inches tall. easy to get on and off of.
Our price: $1,500.00"

One wonders if she comes complete with cheese and a bun? But don't worry, if you aren't looking for a philly or a tabiano, they also have a pacafino for sale!

One thing about a skinny horse, you can see their bone structure clearly. This mare is proudly advertised as a branded Oldenburg. I'm the first to admit I don't know a lot about warmbloods and am not sure if branding has any relationship to being approved, but I know what I like and this mare isn't it. She's got bad, bad post legs, an upright shoulder, a short neck, crooked forelegs, very short croup, tail set on as high as an Arab's, she's long, weak hip, and long, weak pasterns. Yes, she also needs 200 lbs. desperately. They blame her condition on a bad lease and that may be true, but #1 why photograph her for sale before you've returned her to health and #2 this is NOT a breeding quality mare in my book. But hey, she's 5 years old and lame, so what else are they going to do with her? *headdesk*

In case there wasn't enough impulsive breeding going on, now they are selling stallion breedings on ebay.




I love this picture as it shows both questionable parenting at work ("C'mon kids, crawl under the stallion's belly for the picture, I want to PROVE how quiet he is!") and the worst possible pose for this stallion.

Um, honey, your stallion has a shitty front end. He looks like Donald Duck. He is a cute little squirt otherwise and I have no doubt he is a nice, good tempered boy - he has that tolerant look on his face (much like an old school horse) - but if you insist upon breeding your mediocre horse, which I am sure you do, try photographing him from the side next time.



It might also be good to use his registered name when advertising him and not his barn name, which is apparently the name of a greek deity that you cannot spell.

Final note: I am playing e-mail tag with the person who knows the former owner of the mare from the sale and I do not know if she got in touch with the dealer or not. You will know something when I do.

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*