Parent of the Year, Today’s Edition – Thanks to a guest blogger!
Aug 31 2007
She did a great job adding to this wonderful ad, so I’m going to put it on the blog! Her comments are in blue.
FHOTD: *big sigh*
If you’d like to submit a guest blog, feel free to do so at this e-mail. Send your text & pictures and if I like it, I’ll put it up for all to enjoy. Please note whether you would or wouldn’t like to be credited in some way (name, screen name, or just Mystery Guest Blogger of the Day).
38 comments to “Parent of the Year, Today’s Edition – Thanks to a guest blogger!”
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I was shocked when I signed on to check the FUGLY blog today and saw the photo and comments I sent in. Glad you liked it!
I admit at 13 my friends and I did stupid things on horses. We did usually wear helmets, but we would ride bareback, two up, switch who was in front. Flip flops and shorts, on our knees, it’s ok, we’re 13 we won’t die. And somehow we didn’t die.
But no not that stupid.
Wow!!!! How dumb is this parent? Wait, don’t answer that……..
Where was this pic found? I would like to see more photos; he is an interesting color!
……….. pretty dumb!
Sarah:
I did stupid things too, but never within eyesight of any adult! And if someone had “proof” (in the way of a photo) my butt would still be stinging! I guarantee my parents would NEVER thing it admirable and post for the world to see!!!
ok, I admit I did some REALLY stupid things as a young teen. A lot of it involved bareback riding. My mom refused to take me to the barn where I was leasing a horse with my babysitting money, because she “didn’t actually want to see me die, a call from the hospital would suffice”
at least I wore a helmet.
Like Sarah my friends and I did stupid things. None of them involved nominating ourselves for future Darwin awards by playing monkey on a tree on a stallion’s neck though…
But hey at least the horse is pretty! Some champagne shade or another. He still should be gelded although as tolerant as he is maybe that disposition should be preserved! Too bad you can’t bottle it…
Good point. My mom saw parts of it but very little. But I’m the baby, my brother grew up on an arab stud (in the 60s) and my cousins did sillier things than I did. We’re all alive, the worst horse related accident for any of us was one falling out of the barn loft when a yearling reared.
Yeah, I’d yell at the kid for the monkey hang, but it’s their own choice (as parents of the year) as to whether to let their kids ride helmetless and in flip flops…I’d ride in flip flops when I was 13 if we were going to ride into the lake, but even then I’d wear my helmet, even when nobody else did. That’s because our post-swim game was to race in circles around the pond on our wet horses until somebody fell off.
But why would you choose that as a sale ad? “He’s very well-behaved, but we’ll make sure that changes.” “If he’s good, we’ll reward him by hauling on the curb and bashing him in the mouth. He’ll be that much more well-mannered by the time he comes to you.”
Am I the only one with a sore mouth after looking at that poor pony? Notice the nice way that little Ms. Parelli is pulling on the reins.
And we wonder where all of these fugly breeders come from? DUH, they RAISE them! An extreme eye for loving and reproducing the fugly can’t be taught, it is bred into someone and engrained into their minds from an early age.
America, I give you your Next Big Backyard Breeder.
Enjoy.
jeeplee:
here you are
http://cloud9walkers.com/Gunsmoke.htm
one of the best lines on that website:
“In a pasture with 30 broodmares, he is the easiest to catch.” …is this stallion that never gets ridden (therefore doesn’t have any show record, or any real reason to breed) really kept with 30 mares?! Oh right, we just want colour…
Oh yeah. he looks JUST THRILLED about that.
SHREEEEEEEIIIIIIIIKKKKK! WTF is wrong with people? Christ on a bike!
Looking at the rest of their site, I’m a little heartened. Other than that one photo, their website isn’t too bad. He’s a good looking TW, and he has good bloodlines. Several of his babies are pretty cute. If it weren’t for that one photo, the rest of that ride doesn’t look so bad — it was a hug turned into something weird. Now, whether there is a market for all those babies is another question…but he looks like he would be a nice riding gelding.
So I couldn’t help it…I went and checked out this gal’s website.
She has a link: “Safely & Pleasure tips,” where she explains the finer points of riding. Actually, it’s not a bad collection of advice – made me wonder what 4-H or Basic Horsemanship Handbook she copied it from.
BUT there were two items there that REALLY caught my eye:
21. Never completely trust a stallion! While a lot of Tennessee Walking Horse stallions are remarkably docile and even quite loveable, they are driven (and ruled) by a hormonal urge to reproduce, and their instinct to be territorial can be dangerous if you should lower your guard and get caught in the crossfire! I used to ride a stallion which was exceptionally quiet and docile, but every once in a while, a certain gelding would set his temper off, and he would charge them, even with me in the saddle. Always err on the side of caution and never drop your guard with a stallion, no matter how well you think you know him.
22. Wear safety gear! Although I frequently don’t practice what I preach (I’ve been known to ride barefooted and bareback quite often!), I do believe boots are mandatory around horses. I have had horses with shoes on step on my bare foot and then twist and turn on it. Also, a bare foot will go right through a stirrup and if your horse should ever get spooked and catch you off guard, bolting and running, you might be dragged from the stirrup. A young girl in East Texas died this way in 2002, so it does happen. When placing your foot in the stirrup, be sure to have the ball of your feet ONLY on the stirrup. Don’t have your arches in the stirrup — that’s too far in. An approve safety helmet is a good idea, too. These precautions are recommendations just as seat belts are in a car.
Ummm…yeah. Obviously this advice is for OTHER people with OTHER stallions, not this mighty beast.
One more before I go home: that photo reminded me of a picture I saw years and years ago – probably 1985 or 86. It was in the NY Daily News, and it was a photo of a horse crossing the finish line at Saratoga or Aqueduct (can’t remember which), with his jockey wrapped around his neck in the same fashion, holding on for dear life. As long as the jockey didn’t touch the ground, his horse would not be disqualified. It was a pretty amazing sight. And at least the jock wasn’t jabbing his horse in the mouth at the time…
Wow. Just. Wow.
(He’s a pretty color, at least…) (And apparently tolerant of major stupidity!)
I do like the horse. He’s got a much nicer build than many, many TWH’s I’ve seen.
Someday we’ll do a topic here on what was your worst accident and whether or not it was on a “safe” horse. My worst accident was on a very safe, close to bomb proof horse. I bet a lot of you have similar stories.
I saw that the other day and I almost sent it. Poor horse.
Ok I’ve done that once…and only once. And it was with a 19 hand Belgian gelding, out in the pasture, on a double dare from brother that I couldn’t hold on. And you know what he won:) And when the gelding threw his head up…well the landing wasn’t the best…and I think I was around 10. Same gelding I decided to ride for the first time in the field…sprained ankle. Yep did many dumb things as a kid, but no pictures, thank god.
Because, y’know, advertising your piece of crap stallion either for sale or for stud to make MORE pieces of crap is FAR MORE IMPORTANT than your child’s grey matter or spinal cord.
You have to have priorities, don’tcha know.
I hadn’t noticed the tight reins until someone mentioned them and I went back and looked – and that bit has what? 6″ shanks??? Ouch! Poor horse.
That picture just goes to prove that some parents think that no matter what their little poopsie does that is soooo stupid…well, it’s just so gosh darn cute that I just had to get a picture of it.
And, of course, it totally wouldn’t be little poopsie’s fault at all if that poor horse flung little poopsie into the next county and caused some serious injury!
Sigh….
I think most riders (especially if you started young)have done truly stupid things. It does not mean you earn bragging rights just because you lived.
hes a pretty nice looking stallion over all, much more of the older plantation type walker like they used to be before “big lick” and fashion of breeding walking horses, rackers and saddlebreds ten feet high and slim as a rail.
aside from that one picture the rest of them look pretty good and that young rider has a very good seat and hands. the long shanked bit is standard in the walking horse world, its a mullen mouth im sure. im not quite sure when the long shanked mullen mouth bit became popular but now many people now think you need to use to ride a walking horse or racking horse.
i was raised with horses and i was raised to have “horse sence” and the way to develope that is through a “live and learn” approach. my mother let me learn a lot things the hard way. i got stopped on with no shoes on, tied my horse by the reins, tried a new bit i was unqualified to use and whole slew of other stupid ass things. but you know what, i NEVER did any of those things again once the disaster was over! with that being said there were some things my mother would have never let me do, and would have BEAT MY ASS if i had. inapproprietly handling a stallion is one of them! the rules for stallions were SET IN STONE and breaking those rules brought down the wrath of god. because stallions are not only dangerous to me but also very capable of hurting bystandards the “safety of others” rule went into effect.
that kid in that photo is just asking to get her head stopped on and trampled if that stud catches wiff of a mare or suddenly feels the need to challange another horse. i sincerly hope she got an arse-whooping after photo was taken. then her parents could put the photo on the fridge with a caption “dont ever do anything this stupid again!”….i know my mom would have.
>>I think most riders (especially if you started young)have done truly stupid things.< <
Yep, but usually not with our parents WATCHING and TAKING PICTURES! I think that’s the point here.
Uhh… I know a lot of young, playful stallions that would knock this girl under their knees and use her for a chew toy, much like a stall ball, if someone instigated something like this.
Only they’re better looking. And bay.
If I’d pulled stunts like that when I was a kid, my mother would have MURDERED me. She’s bad enough when I don’t do anything outside of what is considered ‘safe’ to do with horses. The one time a friend and I went out tandem on her pony, we were fully kitted up with helmets and proper boots.
Didn’t stop us both falling off. That was a day. Good job kids bounce.
This horse looks almost exactly like my lazy, champagne, gaited grade TWH. The only difference? Mine’s a gelding.
dang i wouldn’t trust him..or any horse..no matter the sex..he could’a spooked..considering he’s a prety animal..with technically a “predator” animal around his neck *sigh* oh well..
he is nice looking..
not to mention yeah if he did catch a whiff of a mare..woah..i remember once i rode on a 2 or 3 year old stud..he caught the scent of one of my mares..and went all batshit just about..same when my mom rode him..my sis was STUPID enough to bring the “in-heat” mare closer..haha
Good lord. I’ve been in that position (on a gelding) once, but it was an accident, not something deliberate! I started to fall off mid-jump and grabbed whatever was going by, and then couldn’t let go because I was underneath his neck and the horse was still moving.
Could you imagine if the horse spooked and trampled over the young girl…how her mother would explain what happened to the hospital? Geeze.
I actually like him. And I’ve done that on my horse…..only it was a bareback riding moment gone bad and ended up like that! Hahahaha! (And I wasn’t wearing flip flops!) But you gotta admit thats a pretty good horse to put up with that bull hockey.
These parents need a clue-by-four vigorously applied to the head. Repeatedly. Okay, everyone does goofy stuff, you could even argue vaulters do. But without a helmet and yanking at the mouth at the same time? Geez.
But for a really fine example of People Who Need to be Shot, here’s a beauty I found the other day while hunting around for that mustang I asked about the conformation of on an earlier post (anyone have any comments on him–not the one with the certified subtard on his back, but the horse I was asking about, with a pic of him trotting? Any advice on evaluating _any_ horse in a pic where they’re not standing still?) :
http://www.lacrossetribune.com/articles/2007/
08/12/news/z05mustang12.txt
hahaha sadly my worst horse accident was NOT with a ‘safe’ horse but it was the next best thing – 100% my fault. i mean it was the horse handling equivalent of stripping naked in jeffrey dahmers apartment and declaring you LOVE to do rohypnol!
I actually think they are pretty good breeders – they look like they can ride, and they seem to have a responsible attitude – look at the horses we have sold page.
i think that although the safety equipment thing is stupid, in the us it seems there are a lot of stupid people about safety equipment. (here in the uk our stupid people pick other things to be stupid about, like fencing, or over horsing themselves). and to be honest, although i would not choose to put that photo for the world to see, i am sure most of us have done some stupid stuff that would look worse on a piccy.
Riding bareback with a curb. Stupid, without eve adding the part about hanging under the horses neck. I can envision at least 6 ways for the rider to get thrown and hurt.
That poor horse… That expression is just screaming ‘get-the-hell-off-me!’ Someone ought to find that person and tie 20-30 pounds of deadweight to their neck and see how they like it! Doesn’t help that she has a deathgrip on his mouth…
Oh wow. The new type of russian roulette, but with stallions.
Gosh, if I tried that on my well mannered, sweet little pony, she’d just be like, Na ha, off you hop.