Guest Post: Buying vs. Rescuing
Jan 27 2012
This guest post is by a regular reader; you may know her from the comments section as “Charm”.
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The Rescue Fetish
I recently traded for a new horse. Believe me, I really tried to turn Sugar into a forever horse; she just wasn’t the one for me. She needed someone younger, who didn’t mind the dancing, prancing, and sometimes manic behavior of an 11 year old mare who consistently wanted to GOOOOO…
Yes, I traded her away. In her place is a much quieter, more laid back little mare who is already squirming her way into my heart. Sugar’s new owner seems very happy so far, I’m happy, and the other people involved are happy. Of course there are a few grumbles, elsewhere—just a few little whispers on the wind—why didn’t I rescue instead of buying? Why didn’t I SAVE A HORSE?
Oh believe me, I considered rescue. I’ve actually rescued horses before. I thought about getting something from Camelot, or one of the hundred other venues that are popping up like Orville Redenbacher in a high powered microwave. So I looked online, and I looked at what was out there. The pressure to rescue instead of purchasing is huge; shopping for a horse is like trying to watch a PBS special during their fund raising period; I try to enjoy the show, but all around are voices demanding that I donate. So I looked at the rescue posts. I looked at the brokered horses. Unfortunately, I discovered that I was far too picky. My list of demands is just too…well… demanding.
- I would like a sound horse. Yes, I know it; it’s really unreasonable for me to want a horse I can ride. And because I want the horse to be sound longer than a week or a month, I’m also demanding a horse without a structural defect that is going to turn into lameness soon.
- I would like to try out the horse first. I get it—the truck is coming! Someone is going to buy her first! I can’t go to the feedlot or babies in Africa will starve to death! That doesn’t change the fact that I want to try the horse out. Otherwise it’s like buying clothing at Walmart without trying it on first—it might fit nicely, or it might not. At least at Walmart my purchase is $3 on the clearance rack, instead of hundreds. Besides, I can return items at Walmart.
- Papers that are up to date would be nice. I don’t need to breed or show, nor do I get a kick out of waving my papers in random strangers’ faces screaming, “Look! Her great granddaddy is Northern Dancer!” However, I do like knowing where my horse came from, who handled her, and whether she has ever actually been ridden outside of a barn aisle in an auction lot. Unfortunately, in this modern day world of genetic diseases, I won’t even look at a stock horse anymore without a set of papers; HYPP is too heartbreaking.
- I want to pay what the horse is worth. I just read a Facebook post that was trying desperately to find this lovely nice Tennessee Walking Horse mare a nice new home. She deserved it! She was in terrible danger! She was going to slaughter! She was ON THE FEED LOT! And for the low low reasonable price of $600 plus Coggins plus shots plus quarantine plus shipping she could be mine.
~insert announcer’s voice~ “Now taking all major credit cards and wire transfers and first born sons”
Folks, that is not rescue. You are buying a horse off of a feed lot from a seller who is checking to see if he can make a lot more money by selling his horses to private buyers like us. We want to save them all, and instead we have created a fake industry in which horses at certain auctions are sold for a higher price, just so a dealer can spin the ‘rescue’ angle and make a few hundred dollars. Think about it; they have companies that will ship anywhere in the U.S., they have people who will quarantine your horse for you (for a price of course), and they can pull blood for a little bit of nothing, almost any day of the week. It’s an entire industry, in existence because we are desperate as an equine society to ‘save them all’.
Some of these organizations are truly legitimate. Some of them truly care about the horses. That isn’t my point. My point is actually this: Why buy a horse like that when you can take your money and go to a quality breeding or training farm and purchase a horse that has been well treated, well trained, and well kept? Imagine what kind of world we would have if we personally visited the farm of the horse we wished to purchase? You go there, and you see happy, healthy horses, owners and trainers and breeders who know how to care for horses, and a facility that is clearly safe and healthy. THIS is where you should spend your money. There may not be that horrid tug on your heartstrings—you know, the one you get when your prospective purchase is standing knee deep in muck, with dingle berries hanging from his belly and hips, nibbling old straw—but this way your money is going to someone who will spend it wisely.
There are great rescues out there, places that carefully vet, feed, and retrain their horses and then offer such horses for a reasonable adoption fee to the RIGHT new owner. Such places take their time to make sure the horse matches the new owner. There is no pressure on the buyer/adopter, and like the better farms in the world, the owners of these facilities are trying to create a long term home for the horse. So tell me, where have you been that deserves a shout out? What farm has well cared for horses? Which people in our industry deserve to get that money you were going to spend bailing out some unknown skinny mistreated wreck? Wouldn’t it be lovely if we changed society so that you received maximum credit for purchasing your horses from a quality caring organization, instead of getting credit for buying a horse sight-unseen from the other side of the country so you could save it?
Nice horses!!! Cheap – $100
Jan 25 2012
Apparently we’re using the term “nice” to describe anything and everything these days…
“Older couple trying to sell out! Herd number got outta control selling cheap for fast results. Percheron thourobred crosses, quarter horse, and thourobred. They have 1 curly mained palimino mare very sweet 9 year old is broke to ride just been a while $100, bay mare x jump horse 15 years old registered rode 6 months ago is tenderfooted on front end $100, quarter horse mare sorrel blonde main 5 years old very pretty $100, 2 blackish fillies around two years old one real gentle one has never been handled $50 for one $75 for the other, grey stud thourobred percheron cross $50 2 year old, FREE older thourobred grey 17 hand gelding one knee bigger then the other rides just been a while, FREE older percheron mare poor, not gentle only be good for breeding, FREE arabain pony never been handled stud 3 year old.FREE crippled filly and black gelding the gelding is sweet.”
Since when do mares get pregnant, drop a foal, and get pregnant again in the span of mere weeks? Gosh, you’d think something like that would make the news. Does the accelerated aging/growth continue past birth or is it limited to in utero foals? Perhaps these people would be kind enough to explain to us how this is accomplished. And, if they haven’t already, let’s patent it and make a fortune! Hazza!
Oh no wait, we know, all of a sudden their horses spontaneously and concurrently reproduced via mitosis? Now that could generate quite the herd!
No? Not buying it? Neither are we. But honestly, those are the only scenarios we could conceive of wherein their herd numbers could get “outta control”. Given that a mare’s gestation period is approximately 11 months – how the fuck does the growth of a herd sneak up on someone and become “outta control”?
More than likely they’re just complete fucktards who have their heads so far up their own asses that they lack the basic deductive skills to calculate the following
1 stallion + 1 mare = 1 more mouth to feed
“bay mare x jump horse 15 years old registered rode 6 months ago is tenderfooted on front end $100” –WTF is a “jump horse”? THAT IS NOT A BREED! Hmm 15 year old horse with tender front feet… we’re taking bets on navicular vs. laminitis/founder - anyone want in on that action?
“grey stud thourobred percheron cross $50 2 year old” and “FREE arabain pony never been handled stud 3 year old” Good gawd, please don’t tell us they’re the sires of any of your “outta control” herd. *face palm* If they aren’t contributing to the gene pool yet they will be if they’re not rehomed soon!
“FREE older percheron mare poor, not gentle only be good for breeding”. What in that sentence makes her “good for breeding” – just because you can’t do anything with her? Over at Snarky Rider we have a saying: Just because it has a uterus doesn’t mean it needs a baby. Applies quite nicely here. Seriously, we’re going to start putting that on bumper stickers or something and start mailing it to asshats like this.
And last, but certainly not least, we unfortunately have “FREE crippled filly and black gelding the gelding is sweet”. So the crippled filly isn’t sweet? Could she perhaps be a little bit ornery because they’ve somehow crippled her? Ok, it’s a bit of a leap to assume these people are the cause of the filly’s lameness, but come on. It’s not exactly a stretch of the imagination in this case.
Why is it that people like this can’t get it into their heads that just because their horse isn’t suited for the show ring doesn’t mean they should be popping out babies! A fugly, useless mare is not magically transformed into a useful horse when you have it impregnated. All you’ve succeeded in doing is compounding the problem. In 11 months you’ll have 2 useless mouths to feed! You know what’s sad? These people are apparently an older couple – they should know better. In our society, age is somehow equated with wisdom – presumably the assumption stems from people gathering life experiences as they age and learning from them, however, this is clearly not always the case. People like this serve as nothing more than a reminder that we should always think for ourselves and be very careful who we choose as role models.
Damn, that got a little preachy. Oh well 
Equestrian Social Media Awards
Jan 21 2012
Fugly Horse of the Day is a finalist in the Equestrian Social Media Awards! We’re super excited for the blog 
This is a testament to the previous writers who worked hard to build and develop the blog to where it is today: an excellent place for discussion and a meeting of equestrian minds. If you’ve got a minute, please follow the below link and vote for Fugly Blog!
We’d also like to take this chance to remind everyone about the rescue database we’re working to build up. If you, or anyone you know, is involved in the rescue biz and would be willing to answer some questions every once in a while, please email us at fuglyblog@hotmail.com. Your contact info will not be given out to others, rather we’ll forward any inquiries we get to you for you to answer if you’re able to help.
Lucifer was an angel…
Jan 19 2012
One of the readers here sent us an email asking about “Three Angels Farm” and the very recent accident wherein their trailer containing 38 horses overturned on the I-40 west of Nashville.
There are quite a few reports on this incident so please bear with us as we wade through the bullshit and attempt to reel in some facts.
-The trailer is a single level livestock trailer, owned by Three Angels Farm
-38 horses were on board, 3 were euthanized by vets due to injuries sustained in the accident.
-Three Angels Farm is not a rescue – in fact, according to one news video (linked to below), the owner (Dorian Ayache) is a registered livestock dealer (which is defined as “any person who buys, receives, or assembles livestock for resale, either for such person’s own account or that of another person” by Tennessee’s Department of Agriculture).
-According to Animals’ Angels, in July of 2011 a Three Angels Farm single level trailer was at the Mayfield Horse Auction, backed up to the loading ramp.
-Ayache confirmed to WSMV Channel 4 (see below video) that he had previously sent horses to C4 Cattle Inc. in Presidio, TX and that his company has been involved with them (C4 was investigated in 2010 regarding their abandonment of horses that were rejected by Mexican slaughter plants)
-According to Big Bend Now, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) released a report which they stated confirmed that C4 Cattle Inc. “illegally dumped 46 horse carcasses in and along a creek bed in Presidio” – oh and by the way, C4 Cattle Inc. is currently on TCEQ’s list of pending actions (page 210).
Check out this video for a detailed account of the situation: WSMV Channel 4
To say that Ayache is involved with some shady characters over at C4 Cattle Inc. would be a gross understatement.
-Ayache told troopers that the horses were going to a farm (some reports say feedlot) in Oklahoma; meanwhile the driver involved in the accident said he was going to Presidio, Texas.
-WKRN spoke to Ayache on the phone and reported “owner Dorian Ayache told Nashville’s News 2 media reports that the horses were being transported to a slaughterhouse in Texas are untrue. He said the horses were on their way to a range in Oklahoma where they were to be prepped to be sold to horse owners.”
-At this point it is still being investigated whether the proper documentation was in place for the horses.
-According to NewsChannel5.com’s video, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture will not be conducting an investigation into Ayache (by the way, if you watch this video pay special attention to the Ayache quote they show on screen where he nicely contradicts himself)
-The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration told the same news channel that Ayache failed a safety audit in 2010…
-Dr. Monty McInturff, one of the vets on scene, reported to NewsChannel5.com that the horses were, in fact, being transported humanely.
Then what are the issues here? The horses were being transported humanely. Of the horses you can see in the videos, those look to be well fed. So if we leave out the pro vs. anti slaughter angle, isn’t it just an unfortunate accident that actually ended a lot better than it could have been?
Umm. Hold on a sec. WHAT ABOUT AYACHE’S INVOLVEMENT WITH C4 CATTLE INC.?!
This guy has admitted, to a news source, that he has been involved with a company that was reported to have dumped 46 horse carcasses. So let’s err on the side of a lot of caution and say that these horses had been treated relatively well up to and including the accident. They sure as shit weren’t heading to a good place! Remember? C4 is currently under investigation! That is one shady dude, sending these horses off to a morally bankrupt company, where if they’re lucky… Wait. No. There’s no good scenario for them here.
“Three angels” my ass.
And that’s the other thing. Ayache definitely does not operate a rescue organization here. All signs (including the flashing neon ones we could easily envision as we watched the aerial shots of his farm) are pointing to him dealing in horses for the purpose of slaughtering them. So what is with the “Three Angels Farm” name? And why is he so insistent that horses were being sent to Oklahoma to be re-homed, even after the truck driver stated otherwise? We’re wondering how many of these horses were procured under the guise of finding them better homes. Regardless of where you stand in the pro vs. anti debate, presenting yourself as rescue when you are exactly the opposite is incredibly sleazy and possibly illegal.
In fact, it’s all starting to remind us of another case that’s been making the news lately. Has everyone heard of Kelsey Lefever? For those of you who have so far remained blissfully unaware, she’s a 23 year old horse broker who promoted herself as an expert at re-training and re-homing ex-racehorses. She had apparently taken in approximately 120 horses and sent nearly all of them straight to slaughter. What tripped her up was a tattoo check at New Holland that actually got back to the guy who had paid her to take the horse. Unfortunately it didn’t happen in time to save the gelding, but it did lead to something positive: Lefever has now been charged with multiple felonies, including deceptive business practices and theft by deception.
News story sensationalism isn’t always a good thing, but in this case we sincerely hope this story gets as much press and online virality as possible. This is definitely a situation where awareness may have saved many equine lives. We can’t even begin to imagine what the owners of those horses have gone through; one day thinking their horses were being re-trained and re-homed and the next knowing that they had been sent to slaughter. We sincerely hope they find some measure of closure through the charging and, should she be found guilty, sentencing of Kelsey Lefever. Not only that, but it will hopefully set precedent so that in the future it will be easier to hold people accountable when they engage in similar “business” practices.
Which is something we suspect Dorian Ayache should take into consideration.
