Looking for the one that got away?

You all know that I've been working on HorseReunions.com for awhile now - a site designed to help reunite horses with former owners, breeders, or others who care about them and want to be contacted if the horse needs help. I'm happy to announce we've pretty much completed the "beta" phase - the site is going strong and ready for you to use!

http://www.horsereunions.com

Check out the information on how to use the site. It's pretty simple - just sign up and then you can log in and use the "add a horse" feature or use "browse horses" or "find a horse" to see if any horses have been uploaded that you know. Broadly crafted searches will return the best results - a simple search for, for example, black Arabian, will work best. You don't have to fill out all the fields.

The site is for anyone who would like to find a horse. It can be used to find information on your childhood horses, or horses you bred or sold, or horses you rode and wished you could have bought at the time. Rescuers, please post all of your horses - there may be someone out there looking for that horse. Duplicate listings of the same horse by multiple people interested in the horse are just fine. Use the comments section to describe your situation - do you have the horse or are you looking for the horse? What can you tell us about what you do know about the horse?

Even if you've already added yourself to the breeders' list, I highly recommend adding your individual horses to the site. That will greatly improve the chances that you will be contacted if one is in need. For you rescuers, please be sure to bookmark the breeder's list and check it when you get a new horse in who has his papers with him! These breeders are willing and able to step up to help that horse and that opens up the space for you to help another.

We will continue to refine and improve the site, so suggestions are welcomed. I know we've had a thread here about horses you'd like to find but now you have a permanent place to put that information and it's 100% free to use, so please check it out!

As always, please check out any new home before placing a horse - even if it's the horse's breeder. Anyone may put up a listing and we cannot verify how good of a home it is. I have written up some tips on finding a good home that may help. The main page has a variety of other articles on topics I've been asked to repeat here, so look there for tips on things like tattoo research, feeding senior horses, or buying a horse from an auction. More to come!

Also, check out our first sponsor, the Northwest Equine Stewardship Center. This is a great new charity designed to help rescued horses with top-notch veterinary care. Check out their rescue stories to see some of the equines they have already helped.

I'm having fun just browsing the horses who are already there. Remember, if it's a registered horse, there are many of us who can search the registry and see who the horse is registered to today (except of course for Thoroughbreds, which don't transfer through a registry). Just ask on the message board and someone will be happy to help!

The KB's thank you for keeping up their supply!

Well, where to begin? We'll start out with the complete cluelessness about HYPP. "In 2010, I will have my 2007 Dun Tobiano Stallion, Tuff Drifter Music, up for stud. If you like him, sign up early and name you own price of Stud Fee. When the funds are available I will have him tested for HYPP (Impressive is in pedigree). Since his gene pool is large the gene shouldn't be present, but for those who are concerned I will have him tested and post them here (when I can)." You know what, you can have a HYPP positive horse who has one cross to Impressive six generations back. The size of the gene pool is irrelevant. And are you seriously saying you can't afford a $50 HYPP test? And while most yearlings look funky, I am pretty sure this one is not going to grow out of his short neck, upright shoulder and nonexistant hip. Nor is it a good idea to deal with the downhill appearance of a typical stock breed yearling by parking him out like a saddleseat horse!

Of course, Sunshine Stallion Owner is posting all over about her horses. When asked if she is going to geld Spotty Colt up there, she responds "I would like to keep him intacked." Priceless! Of course, when she is called out by the message board on the fact that it might just be inappropriate to (a) breed this colt (b) ride him for an hour at nineteen months of age, she gets defensive and asks if that person is just trying to make her mad.

"Yes, I would like to breed him and yes I have rode him once for an hour. I asked my farrier if that would be a problem, he is also a trainer, and he said as long as the rides aren't for very long. His knees are as soild as my 7 yr old mares, this is the only reason why I rode him."

YES! 'Cause the FARRIER is the one who knows if a yearling is ready to ride! But hey, he's a TRAINER too and you know that means he's super SUPER smart. God forbid we ask the VET... And don't we all get on your greenies while they are tied to a sapling? My eyes are going to roll their way out my ears and fall out...

The other person on the board quite correctly responded "No, I'm not trying to make you mad. I'm just having a heart attack that you rode a 19 month old colt for an hour. A full grown adult." Amen, sister! Me too. Another poster points out "I'm not trying to be mean, just honest. Your horse is not stallion material. He doesn't have the conformation." Bingo. Sunshine of course thinks he's a reining prospect...'cause he does slide stops in the field. She keeps arguing. Finally a frustrated poster responds "I was being nice. If I was trying to get my point across without being nice, I would tell you that your colt looks like he will make foals that will wind up in a double decker bound for Mexico."

Like THIS one that Sunshine sold for $100? She's not by that colt, but she's definitely a double-decker prospect. Thin, wormy and neglected looking. Sold for $100 on the Internet.

So sad. It just amazes me. This girl has Internet access but it doesn't seem like she's learning anything from it. Someone actually posted a picture of their Reserve WC APHA stallion and asked her if she could see the difference. No response.

If you ever wanted a perfect example of irresponsible breeding, I think we've found it. The only good thing is that she's not doing it on a large scale. I really hope she can take some of the good advice from the people on her message board and just stop.

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Petition to revoke the licenses of the vets in the "horse towing a car" incident. No, I don't know if these do any good, either - but it can't hurt.

Interesting comment on the CTV site about the situation. I don't know if this is true but I sure hope we find out. Someone needs to be fired if it's true!

"Know who can't sleep? The fellow who was first to arrive at the scene, when the vehicle was in the ditch and before the horse got involved. He offered to pay for a tow truck but the woman declined saying that her husband was bringing a horse to pull the vehicle out.
The witness observed that the vehicle had no license plate. He then saw a man leading a horse wearing a cooler and carrying a lunge line. At this point a police cruiser arrived with a female constable. The witness said he was relieved that the police had arrived and then left the scene believing that they would handle the situation. He returned after getting his groceries about 15-20 mins later and saw the constable standing there with her hands on her hips looking at the horse lying in the ditch. The rest was on the news but there was no mention of the female police constable who allowed this to happen to the horse. Despicable. I hope she has lost sleep over this too. She was the last hope this horse had to not suffer and die as it did."

More info on the case from a local in the horse community:

"It really scares the shit out of me to think that the health of my horses and my friends horses have been left in the hands of these people. Sure they were creepy but they volunteered so much of their time and seemed nice enough that no one would have suspected this. Their daughter is honestly a good person i can't believe she let her parents starve her horses (I'd send mine to jail before my horses would go hungry), and you wouldn't know her parents were such screw ups by meeting her. Mark and Carol were never good vets in my opinion(they told a friend of mine that they could continue onto the next phase even though their horse had blood gushing from its nose). The horse council of B.C has been everyone well informed and the horses have temporary homes. Apparently the horse that was killed was the daughters horse Jacques. Previously this year the daughter had a horse taken away by its owner because it was too skinny. I honestly didn't believe it because at events this summer her horses weren't that skinny, a little on the lean side but not emaciated. I feel horrible for the daughter she won't be able to show her face for a while. I wasn't comfortable posting this for everyone to see because the girl is a friend of mine, but I thought you'd like some background info. The horse community in the lower mainland is in shock (especially pony club)."

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And finally...

A boy, a saintly three year old horse, and a father who needs to be smacked.

Do you ever think that some people should have skipped having kids and gotten a trained poodle? That does tricks too and you can film it and everything!

A star is born!

I just had to post this because I think it's cool and I know we have a lot of Thoroughbred fans here! My friend Vickie Sampson just won a Harley-Davidson short film contest with this fun little movie in which a woman decides she might want to add an alternate form of transportation to her stable and give her horse a break. The horse featured is an ex-racer named Cowboy BeBop.

Vickie points out "just for those sensitive people, she is NOT giving up the horse for a bike - it's just for those times when "her need for speed exceeds her steed!" LOL. Yeah, I'm one of those sensitive people but I know a well cared for horse when I see one and this is one lucky OTTB. And now he's a star!

Today's time waster!

Google has this Life Magazine photo search and it's totally addictive...wow, I could have totally done the Fugly blog fifty years ago!


(Pictured) OMG! It's the precursor to Parelli training! :-)

Yeah. That will make him go in the trailer.

OMFG! It's the very first Krazy Kolor Breeder!

Holy crap. How high is that?

Here's some equitation for you!

Oh yeah. I would have had plenty to blog about, even fifty years ago!

Much better. May not be modern equitation but he isn't hindering the horse.





Trojan Mouse and I have a difference of opinion about "trainer equitation." I do think it's possible to be extremely effective and not hamper the horse despite an unconventional style. Here's a good example.

This pretty Thoroughbred is hoping they invent the mounting block soon!

This dude is hoping they invent the hard hat soon!

Shetland ponies hoping they invent box stalls for Shetland ponies soon!

Very nice, Mr. President. Heels down, back straight - you would have been welcome on any of my horses any time!

Not breeding quality and would you please FEED them?

Emaciated horses at backyard pony breeder's

WTF on the FEET?

WTF?

Some training methods haven't changed a bit in 50 years!

I did not start your stupid war, please fight on foot.

Yeah. Invent the fucking tank, already. I didn't enlist!


Wing Commander wonders why there is a pillowcase on his tail.

World's biggest Jolly Ball!

If this were still going on, I would be picketing it and protesting.

Smart mare - I think this was all a scam to get herself a safe home back in the days before retirement boarding!

Asshats.

Please move saddle to horse's actual back...kthx

Interesting to see what's changed - stall guard and halter, not a bit. Pail? Totally!

Oh yeah. This shit would have SO made the blog.

Awwww. 17 years ago, who would have thought we'd all be texting away as we cool them out. (You know you do it! So do I!)

Enjoy! You'll be wasting your time there for the next hour, I know I did!

The topic no one wants to talk about

We just had a local barn fire where 15 boarded horses died (caused by a space heater in the tack room) so I want to talk about this.

Losing a horse in a barn fire is probably my worst nightmare. I fear it more than finding out a horse of mine went to slaughter. I think many horsepeople would agree with me that there's nothing more horrifying than the thought of your horse burning to death locked in a stall. But do you really know how to minimize your chances of this happening? Do you know if your barn, or the one you board at, is a fire risk?

I realized I didn't know much about this. I mean, I knew the obvious - no smoking in the barn, watch out for faulty wiring or outlets that spark. But I didn't know enough, so I decided to do some research and talk about this today.

Check out this great site on preventing barn fires. Read her charts and stats about how often it happens. It'll scare you right out to your barn to start de-cobwebbing.

Some of the basic tips:

1. Never block doors or aisleways. Don't leave the manure spreader parked in the aisle - I know a lot of barns that will do that, because they don't have an equipment storage shed. I know, I know, but just tarp it if you don't. You don't want to be scrambling over a spreader to try to evacuate horses.

2. Barns should have wide enough doors that two handlers with horses can exit simultaneously. Can you open your barn door with one hand if your other is being used to control a panicking horse? I've been in a lot of barns where I had to throw my body against the main door to make it budge.

3. Floor to ceiling dividers every 4 stalls or so in a large barn can prevent fires from spreading. (They are not a bad idea anyway - they give you places to put horses in quarantine, or stallion stalls)

4. Hay storage in a separate building is the ideal but if not possible, hay lofts are preferable to simply storing hay in aisles or stalls. Loveland doesn't comment on the common practice of storing hay in the back of the riding arena. I've always thought that seems fairly safe because fire doesn't spread through dirt with nothing to feed on, but I could be wrong.

5. Electrical appliances like space heaters and coffee makers should be unplugged when not in use. Space heaters should shut off automatically if tipped over. I am hearing reports that the space heater that caused the recent fire was so old it didn't have an automatic shut-off. New ones that do shut off are a whopping $10 at Wal-Mart.

6. For those of you in areas that have brush fires, like southern California, clear the brush from around the barn. Loveland even suggests leaving a 15 foot wide strip of dirt between your pasture and the road because people throw cigarettes out of car windows.

Past that, most of the advice is the common sense we already know (or hopefully do) - watch for hazards like exposed wiring or smoking in the barn. Cobwebs are flammable - it's worth taking the time to remove them. Don't store flammable things in or near the barn - whether it's gasoline for the tractor, a pile of old wood fence or a stack of heating wood.

I had to laugh at this: "Sprinkler systems are effective suppression devices and contrary to commonly-held notions, no person or animal has drowned under the spray, nor panicked as a result of the shower." Ha ha. Typical excuse developed for not doing something that is a good idea but costs money. Now, I'll admit I've never priced out a sprinkler system for a boarding barn so I don't know if the cost is prohibitive -- but it seems to me it might be a pretty good investment if you want to keep your horses as safe as possible.

Read the website - she gives great advice about how to react if you do encounter a fire, to maximize the chances that no lives will be lost. Read the logs - you'll see valuable information about how fires start. How many of you light your show horses 24/7 with auxiliary lights? Do you know that those lights are safe? Are they far enough away that a horse cannot chew on the wiring? Do you, right now, have a heat lamp on baby animals in your barn? Here's one they probably didn't anticipate - "plastic feed sacks set afire after being pulled into generator by foal." All the horses were rescued, that time.

You know, all the fire safety stuff is the sort of routine maintenance that we all get busy and have trouble finding time to do. And it's true, 99% of us are going to dodge the bullet and never have a barn fire. But I don't know anybody who's been in the 1% that has ever really recovered from it - so please put reading this information and taking the advice on your to-do list this holiday. It's one of the nicest holiday presents you can give your horses!

Some days this blog even horrifies me...

I've been in horses a long time. I have seen a lot of ignorance. But some days even I am shocked and this is one of them.

Don't follow the link if you don't want to see a dead horse. Here's the story. I bolded certain parts.


The seven-year-old emaciated gelding used by its owners to pull a sedan out of a muddy ditch on Wednesday has been put down and five other horses seized. The owners, a man and a woman claiming to be veterinarians, face animal cruelty charges, confirm the SPCA.

The Langley residents were arrested after SPCA investigators found out the couple had tethered the horse to the sedan, which had gone off road in front of their property in the 2000 block of 208 Street.

Langley RCMP confirm the car wasn’t insured and the SPCA estimates the horse was labouring in the mud for more than 45 minutes before emergency responders came on the scene.
They were trying to get him to pull the vehicle out of the ditch when the animal simply collapsed and couldn’t get up, said SPCA senior animal protection officer Eileen Drever.

The SPCA determined the young horse to be in critical distress and humanely euthanized it.

“It was terribly upsetting for all the investigators involved,” said Drever.

“We thought he might have a chance when he tried to stand a couple of times but he just couldn’t muster the strength.”

The Langley Animal Protection Society, RCMP and Township firefighters responded and called the SPCA.

Langley Township fire department specializes in large animal rescues, and is often called to other municipalities to help in similar situations.

Crews were able to sedate the horse and hoist it to safety, using a tow truck.

The animal was moved to a patch of grass at the side of the road before being covered with a blanket and given an IV drip, food and water.

A video by Times photographer John Gordon shows the horse being lifted from the ditch and attempts to get him to stand.

An additional five horses located on the owners’ property were surrendered to the SPCA and are currently receiving care at the society’s Surrey branch.

The horses were also in extremely poor condition — completely emaciated — and are receiving veterinary care, said Drever.

“I can’t call the horse in the ditch a walking skeleton because by the time we reached him, he was too weak to walk,” said Drever, who estimates the gelding would score 1.5 out of 10 on a body condition scale.

A necropsy will be conducted on the gelding’s body. Drever said the prognosis for the remaining animals is hopeful but will require a lot of care.

SPCA spokesperson Lorie Chortyk said the owners were already under investigation at the time.

A woman who came upon the scene is looking into a way she could possibly take in one or two of the horses and care for them on her farm.

We've had these cases before on the blog. Remember the crazy brindle-breeding veterinarian in Australia? They never do fail to shock, though. If these people are not lying about being veterinarians, that makes the case so much more appalling than the norm. While I don't accept ignorance as an excuse for neglect, knowing that the abuser is a horse care expert and still chose to abuse is worse.

And when it's a husband and wife team, that's worse still. One person may be mentally ill and not know what they are doing but what are the odds that both are? Slim to none. No, either they both do not care about their animals' condition, or one partner simply will not go against the other - even when animals are dying. Disturbing in either event.

I am sure we will hear a lot more about this story and I'd like to hear more from locals who may already know. What happened here? This has got to be one of the craziest abuse cases I've ever read. That poor horse.

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Finally, I have a request. If you are an animal control officer and have had to deal with a situation where an abuser could not be stopped/convicted because the eyewitnesses failed to report out of fear or just plain indifference, send me your story. I'll change the names but I want to talk more about situations where animals die because of failure to report/failure to document and I also want your advice for my readers on how to deal with a suspected abuser/hoarder. Hopefully we can present something constructive and informative here!

I hear you!

I had to laugh. Saddlebred Rescue's Nealia posted what she called her version of this blog and I couldn't agree more with what she had to say.

http://forum.saveasaddlebred.org/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2408

Here's pretty much the same thing:

"Wouldn't you love to give Cindy a home for Christmas! This is a retired thoroughbred, she is very sound, and gentle, but she still has a lot of fire in her, in other words she would need an experienced rider. I've put her on craig's list twice but continue to get inquires for riding her with children or beginners. Cindy really needs a good home, we can not afford to feed her and are pairing down our animals due to the economy. I contacted horse rescue legues who say the market is flooded with unwanted horses and I should put her down!!!!! This is a very nice mare, won several races in California, good companion and weed control for pasture. If you've been looking for a good price on a great older horse, bring your trailer and have a happy holidays. "

OHHHH NOOOOES! Those MEANIES at the horse rescue said I should put her down!

Let's review:

1) You cannot afford to feed her. Well, join the club, honey. The economy has given most people a pretty solid whack. The guy down the road from you isn't rolling in money to support your discarded pets, either.

2) Do you know how many good homes I have found for old, hot TB mares? One. Ever. Lifetime. If I take one in, I assume it's a lifer. I happen to like old, hot, red-headed TB mares but my experience has shown me that is not a common preference. In fact, I'd say as a rough estimate, there are probably 100 or more old, hot TB mares desperately looking for homes in Washington state right now, and maybe 2 or 3 homes that can squeeze one more in, and actually have the knowledge level to properly feed, handle, care for and ride an old, hot TB mare. The picture is pretty damn bleak.

3) If the thought of a gentle, veterinary-assisted euthanasia horrifies you, I would recommend watching some video of slaughter in Mexico to put things in proper perspective.

Again, once you let that free hard-to-place horse out of your hands, unless you are very, very careful (some tips on finding a good home here) and sometimes even then, that horse has a very good chance of winding up at New Holland, or Enumclaw or any one of a couple hundred similar auctions, and going straight to a Mexican vacation they won't be enjoying one bit.

I have heard people say "oh, let them go to auction - at least they have a chance." Really, is that a gamble you want to take? Here are the options - a veterinarian quietly puts them to sleep at home. The horse is calm, not scared a bit, and is off to la-la land and oblivion without any hint that anything bad is happening to him. Remember, it's a horse - not a person. It doesn't know it's being euthanized.

Then there's the alternative. The horse goes to the auction and goes to Joe Kill Buyer, or it goes to Bertha BigHeartandNoBrains who doesn't know how to feed a Thoroughbred and who will put her kids on it in a western saddle that sits on her withers and a $5 nickle plated curb bit from the farm store and send them out to the back yard to yee-haw around. The actual chance of being dragged home by a knowledgeable fan of old, hot TB mares is painfully slim. It's not a chance I'd want to take with any horse of mine. You know, ol' Casper won the lottery last weekend...but how many horses at the same sale lost?

Food for thought. We can't rescue them all. We can't feed them all. We made too many of them, too many people dropped the ball on training them, the economy is in the toilet, and we're going to continue to see that euthanasia is the most ethical of the available choices. I know nobody likes it...I don't either, but avoiding reality isn't the answer.

On a related note: Yes, I have heard that Madeleine Pickens is sure making her best effort to avoid what I see as the inevitable necessity of a lot of euthanasia. And I wish her luck. I just don't know how she will effectively administer the care of so many horses, many of them difficult and untrained. You know, all the money in the world isn't the only issue here (though it sure does help!) I still have questions about who is going to do the hands-on care. Who is going to do the training. Who is going to oversee all of this and make sure there is no train wreck? It is very hard to administer a huge animal sanctuary. Ask Best Friends! They do a good job but it is not easy and they've had their issues and growing pains like everybody else. What Ms. Pickens wants to do is exponentially larger than Best Friends and I can't help but see a lot of potential drama with staffing and ensuring consistent care. Hey, I hope I'm wrong. If she can get the right people on board, that will make all of the difference and she has the money to pay them. We'll see how it goes. I realize I may be too skeptical but boy, I've just seen so many of these "sanctuaries" go bad...despite people with $$ being at the helm. They weren't able to do the hands-on supervision and the on-site management dropped the ball. I don't know Ms. Pickens - I just hope she's not the trusting kind.

P.S. One more thing about Cindy...WEED CONTROL? She's a Thoroughbred, not a goat!