Spinoff: An entire farm full of horses who need to be upgraded!
Nov 16 2007
I’ve said before that I don’t have a problem with a rescue also having a breeding operation. Let me give you a hypothetical example of that:
Let’s say Gretchen Jackson, who we all know has done a lot to stop horse slaughter and is a great, loving and caring owner, with boatloads of money, decides to start a Thoroughbred rescue. Every rescued horse gets all of the care they need to return to health, training and evaluation and is placed in a carefully screened home – she shows herself to be a textbook perfect rescuer. Gretchen goes to a horse auction and rescues a skinny mare who looks like death. A tattoo search reveals that the mare is a stakes winner of over $250K. The mare is conformationally correct and sound -she just fell into the wrong hands. Gretchen rehabs her and decides to keep her as a broodmare. She receives excellent general and reproductive care and lives on a beautiful facility. What’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. Lucky mare, as far as I’m concerned!
Where I take issue with rescues breeding is exactly where I take issue with anybody else breeding…when they are breeding mixed breed fugly crap that is likely to need rescuing itself. “Indelusion” on my message board found this sterling example of what NOT to do and I’m sharing it with you all today!
Here we have your typical, low end breeding stock Appaloosa. She has an upright shoulder, a long back, a “nest,” and all the muscling of a housewife who spends her days on the couch watching the Oxygen channel.
Here is her sale description – it includes almost everything I bitch about here – breeding crappy grade horses, not knowing if mares are pregnant because you are too damn cheap/ignorant to call the vet, ditching horses because you can’t afford hay, even though you bred MORE HORSES which is why your damn hay bill is so high, blah blah…
“Brood mare only
15.1 hh. 20 years old. Brown/Black. Good weight .Good teeth.
Solid black Appaloosa mare (branded but no papers ) may be in foal to my Arab
has had 8 foals all coloured. We are retaining last filly from B&W clydie sire.
Both her filly foal and the Arabian stallion “Reverence” are here on view
$1000.Neg.
we are cutting right back so we can cope through this summer.”
It is interesting that now you have the mare on your sale page, when it still states on your rescue page that you are going to be keeping her
In case you were wondering what the Arab might look like, here ya go. Yes, he’s kind of a cute little shit, with the emphasis on little. We are breeding grade Araloosas why? I just saw one in the “canner” pen at Moses Lake. I could have sent you that one and saved you the trouble, and that one was leopard spotted!
No comment on the lack of tack and the presence of spurs on the unbroke three year old Arabian stallion. The Darwin Award was invented for a reason.
Here’s a view of the stud’s conformation. Again, he is kind of a cute little shit but he SCREAMS “geld me, please!” His shoulder is as bad as the mare’s and the hip/croup could not possibly be further from the Arabian horse conformational ideal if he were a sheep.
as he spent too much time with his front half in the air anyway and 27 is a bit old to fix, so i worked with him instead of fighting him”
Do ya think he might stop rearing if you took the long shanked bit out of his mouth and tried riding him in a bitless or a plain snaffle? Just maybe?
I wonder if there is an extra special gold merit division of the Darwin Award? I mean, she certainly gets the most points for trying to qualify!
But hey, she’s out of the rescue business: “I will no longer be rescuing any horses, due to our lack of finances from
the drought and loss of over $600 per rescue once they are rehomed or sold on to a new “for ever” owners.”
She’s parent of the year, too. Here’s her kid barefoot in the foal pen, sleeping on a foal. Because that is safe/healthy. You know it.
265 comments to “Spinoff: An entire farm full of horses who need to be upgraded!”
« Previous 1 2 3
« Previous 1 2 3
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment. Not a member? Registering is free, and you do it here!
anniebanannie – those are my thoughts exactly on this blog. BYBs aren’t going to take much stock in what she says, and i’ve seen enough attitude from people to accept that even if FHOTD were presented NICELY, their opinions and practices would probably remain the same.
Fugly’s often accused of being mean and spiteful, and of preaching to the choir. I’ll give them mean and spiteful (though i think she generally has cause for it) but you can’t make a difference by campaigning to people who won’t listen.
mac v mac said: I’m also an Aussie, and I’m not entirely sure you yanks are aware of the situation here. If you have a horse of GOOD WEIGHT in Australia at the moment, then BY GOD! You are doing something right. We are in drought, horses cannot exercise or move in two states due to bluddy govt policies, hay is through the roof and unless you live in my backyard, there is no rain to be seen. The fact this family have several horses in fantastic nick, especially in that area of the country is a total credit to them.
I fail to see how drought effects standard equine safety. Let me see if I’m following your “Australian” logic: If you’re in a drought then it’s safe to be around horses in bare feet, a good idea to let four youths ride one horse and logical to teach a horse to rear if he already has that tendency. Is this correct?
mac v mac also said: I don’t agree with breeding fuglies, having said that I want to breed one colt out of my fugly appy mare as a riding horse for myself. Not for sale, but one colt/filly to a good stallion for a more heavyset foal. So I can’t talk.
I would recommend that you don’t breed your mare. Not unless you are 100% sure that you will always be able to take care of the foal. But you can’t ever be 100% sure, not even if you just buy a horse. However, you can buy a weaner for less than what it costs to foal out a mare and raise the foal to three years old. Really, really.
I’ve got some real horse experience, however I may be a “galloping housewife” I don’t know for sure, not knowing the definition. I do have more sense than to breed horses when there are beau coup perfectly nice horses available for sale.
I always say, “Buy a nice two year old and in a year you’ll be riding a nice horse. Breed your mare and in three years you’ll be less rich and you MAY end up with a decent horse.”
I do not obsess about IF my horses are going to hurt me because I KNOW that they are going to hurt me. It’s not a matter of IF it’s a matter of WHEN.
The more you ride and/or are around horses, the more likely that a situation will arise where you or your horse are overwhelmed by circumstances and someone, horse or human, gets hurt.
It is therefore in every equestrian’s best interest to be aware and to take safety precautions to prevent the easily avertable situations. Which, IMNSHO, would nominally include foot protection.
mac v mac said: I’m also an Aussie, and I’m not entirely sure you yanks are aware of the situation here. If you have a horse of GOOD WEIGHT in Australia at the moment, then BY GOD! You are doing something right. We are in drought, horses cannot exercise or move in two states due to bluddy govt policies, hay is through the roof and unless you live in my backyard, there is no rain to be seen. The fact this family have several horses in fantastic nick, especially in that area of the country is a total credit to them.
I fail to see how drought effects standard equine safety. Let me see if I’m following your “Australian” logic: If you’re in a drought then it’s safe to be around horses in bare feet, a good idea to let four youths ride one horse and logical to teach a horse to rear if he already has that tendency. Is this correct?
mac v mac also said: I don’t agree with breeding fuglies, having said that I want to breed one colt out of my fugly appy mare as a riding horse for myself. Not for sale, but one colt/filly to a good stallion for a more heavyset foal. So I can’t talk.
I would recommend that you don’t breed your mare. Not unless you are 100% sure that you will always be able to take care of the foal. But you can’t ever be 100% sure, not even if you just buy a horse. However, you can buy a weaner for less than what it costs to foal out a mare and raise the foal to three years old. Really, really.
I’ve got some real horse experience, however I may be a “galloping housewife” I don’t know for sure, not knowing the definition. I do have more sense than to breed horses when there are beau coup perfectly nice horses available for sale.
I always say, “Buy a nice two year old and in a year you’ll be riding a nice horse. Breed your mare and in three years you’ll be less rich and you MAY end up with a decent horse.”
I do not obsess about IF my horses are going to hurt me because I KNOW that they are going to hurt me. It’s not a matter of IF it’s a matter of WHEN.
The more you ride and/or are around horses, the more likely that a situation will arise where you or your horse are overwhelmed by circumstances and someone, horse or human, gets hurt.
It is therefore in every equestrian’s best interest to be aware and to take safety precautions to prevent the easily avertable situations. Which, IMNSHO, would nominally include foot protection.
LMAO – if only people who were “100% sure of being able to take care of the foal” were to breed, then by cripes! No one would ever be able to breed again!
I don’t know how people manage to read comments and miss important grammatical points. Like full stops. Talking about weight does not equal talking about bare feet. Totally different sentence. Same again for “BUTs”. I think she’s a good owner BUT for the niggly point of breeding grades for sale. But. Except. Despite. Same day, different weather.
And I may breed my fugly mare because I aim to imprint train the foal. Can’t do that with a weaner. I have one 11yo retiree already, what will happen to him if I die coz horse stepped on my big toe and I feel over dead in shock? Perhaps my family will take care of them. If no forever home is forthcoming, they would be put down. Simple. My horses are cared for FOR LIFE.
That’s not say they can’t be sold. But sold on condition that they are returned, not sold on, or auctioned etc. I’d rather my horses given a dignified death then an uncertain future, especially the retiree with spinal issues.
I would never breed random grades to sell, and I don’t condone the behaviour. I campaign for ending the sale of mammals in petstores, and ridding the world of BYBs in the dog industry.
just a bit of nitpick, it may not be proven that fish, birds, and amphibian/reptiles feel pain in the same way that mammals do, but they are suffering just as badly from low-end breeders and petshops as mammals are, and require way more care than most people give them.
I love reading your blog but it’s really getting old reading negative comments and repeated posts. I really liked it how you first picked out bad conformation but now it seems that you are bitching about the same old BYB crap.
There is always going to be people like this and bitching about it in a blog isn’t goona make things different.
What would make things different is YOU getting your ass out there and buying up all these fuglys, gelding/spaying them and providing a forever home.
It makes me sick that these horses are being bred but bitching about it won’t make things change. You cannot control how people act or do with their horses.
In a perfect Wal-Greens type of world there would be no fuglys and every horse would be well bred, fed and loved but this is reality and it isn’t so fluffy and cute.
I hope you write about in your next blog about what some big name trainers do to their horses in order to win: Drugging, Rollkur, cobra vemon, terrible training methods(Power and Paint pony), showing week after week and how some toss the broke down ones aside like garbage.
Thank you.
Mac v mac said : LMAO – if only people who were “100% sure of being able to take care of the foal” were to breed, then by cripes! No one would ever be able to breed again!
I don’t know how people manage to read comments and miss important grammatical points. Like full stops. Talking about weight does not equal talking about bare feet. Totally different sentence. Same again for “BUTs”. I think she’s a good owner BUT for the niggly point of breeding grades for sale. But. Except. Despite. Same day, different weather.
Point taken.
However, I did also say that one can never be sure of the final disposition of a horse even if it is bought, so you too my friend are guilty of not reading completely. Eh?
Did anyone say she was a bad owner? I tried to read most of the posts however with 200+ it’s difficult. When did anyone say she was a bad owner relative to facilities and conditioning? Like you said, most people were complaining about her breeding grades for sale but also included her attention to safety and questionable training.
Exactly how can you be sure that your family will follow your wishes upon your death? You’re dead; you can’t control people from beyond the grave. I have a rider in my will that describes how my animals are to be treated, however, I know better than to believe that it will necessarily be followed to the letter.
I’m not sure that imprinting is all that and then some, but if you believe it’s de facto important, knock yourself out. I’ve started lots of mustangs and have a mare that is more devoted to me than any foal I imprinted when I worked for the Pt. Reyes National Sea Shore Morgan Horse farm.
Breed your mare. I hope it works out. Personally, I’d rather pick out a horse that’s already here than make a new one.
It’s not that I’m not tempted though. Every spring when Molly is acting all slutty and I see other people’s foals, I revert to 5-year-old thoughts and think, “Oooooh, I want a baby horsie.†But eventually, my five decades of experience and adult thought processes win out. Or I end up with yet another free horse fixer-upper which re-directs my thoughts.
What is wrong with mammals being sold in pet stores? What’s up with that? Pet stores are bad? Pet ownership is bad? Or is it non-traditional pets that shouldn’t be sold in pet stores? Is this one of those PETA things? Freeing animals from self-serving humanistic rule? I can see working on the BYB’s in any industry, but are you thinking that if pet stores were not able to sell mammals then there wouldn’t be any BYB’s? I’m curious.
um, halfpint, THAT’S WHAT THE BLOG IS ABOUT.
It happens that she does save those that she has the room and money to save.
This blog has also helped place at least one horse, and nearly another, that were most likely doomed for the canners.
Finally, it’s a blog. And it’s her blog. She gets to bitch about whatever she wants, regardless of whether or not that bitching makes a difference.
So uh, suck it up or run along because to paraphrase what you said, you cannot control how people act or do [with their blogs].
ciao :0)
Monstah,
I appreciate your viewpoints, but please do not put Americans down because we are speaking of the horse market here and not making exceptions for every other country in the world. In general, comments on this blog may be presumed to be referring to the U.S. horse industry, since it is a U.S. based site. We love hearing from folks around the world, because it gives us a broader perspective and knowledge base. I can’t recall anyone qualifying a statement about the horse market by stating “all around the world.”
Now, have we (Americans) butchered the English language? Yes, but when you are on your high horse chastizing us for how we write or speak the “ENGLISH” language, remember where you are – New Zealand is it? I lived in England for five years, and can say that every region (Ireland, Scotland, Wales) and other European countries spoke the English language in their own way. Why don’t you go after them? America is it’s own country, with a continent larger than all of Europe. Of course we will have different dialects, slang, and manners of speaking – just as regions around the world do. And yes, I am sensitive to Americans being bashed for supposedly “butchering” the Queen’s English.
You also speak of going barefoot around ponies when you are putting their rugs on or walking them short distances, yet you mention Pony Club in the same paragraph. Go ahead and walk around your mounts barefoot within eye shot of a PC leader. It is irresponsile and dangerous. Can you imagine the damage to your foot if you had not been wearing boots when you were injured? I’m glad you did have boots on, in order to avoid any permanent disability. Additionally, I bet if we saw your animals they are happy and well cared for. Thank you for your contributions to the blog, but please give our culture the sam respect you see we give all others on this blog.
Charlescitycat,
I didn’t notice how I messed up the numbers for how long I lived there. I lived 24/7/365 in NH for 24 years and lived 24/7/365 in Virginia for 2 1/2 years. There are a lot of top quality OTTB in both areas. A lot of the quality of prospects and price is how one approaches the trainers and others on the track about purchasing a horse. Also, the time of year makes a difference, especially on tracks that do not race year-round (fall is best). Never tell the seller/trainer you are looking for a hunter/jumper/eventer/sporthorse – the $$$ start flashing in their eyes. IMO, the best thing one can do when looking for OTTBs is to develop a strong, positive relationship with the track vet. The track vet knows many of the horses better than out vets know our horses. The track vet often has firsthand knowledge of soundness and temperament issues on individuals. They can also point you to the more respectable, truthful trainers, and can give a heads up when a good prospect is coming up for sale. Get your own PPE and x-rays, and talk to the exercise riders and grooms for the horse, if possible.
Mac v Mac,
BRAVO! on that last post about horses for life. So many folks don’t think about the “what ifs.” And yes, we do need to read comments more closely!
City,
The $3,500 horse was purchased in NH. That site was awesome, and those horses are worth every penny! The thing is, that farm has a history of obtaining those prices for their stock. Farms like that are the exception, and usually have a broad clientelle base that are repeat customers. I should probably qualify a lot about the state of the market in reference to folks like me and other “small timers” who haven’t been around for ages. There are many high dollar horses, though, that are going for a lot less than what they are worth. Buyers market for the most part.
monstah,
From the American dictionary on of the definitions for the word “broke”
to train to obedience; tame
Also, a quote from you Queen’s english, the term is most definitely broken (unbroken), and I confess that while I understand it’s a US thing, I still cringe somewhat when I read the dopped “n”, as it seems ill-educated, or lazy.
Is it a New Zealand thing to use “dopped” instead of “dropped” or where you just being lazy? Glass houses… glass houses…
I cringe every time I read some statement to the effect of “a US thing” or “you Americans.” I was raised to not make gross generalizations about others from different countries or races from my own country.
I suppose it’s all vogue to trash citizens of the United States of America, and I understand it considering what is going on in the world. It does not make it any more palatable to me as a compassionate human being to be tarred with the same brush as some persons in currently in power.
But if it makes you feel better, yee haaa, have at us.
anniebannanie: About pet stores. Heavens no it isn’t a PETA thing. It does perpetuate the mass breeding and sending of dogs to market in semi trucks from large scale puppy mills. And it also has caused price gouging (IMO) of the public for even mixed breed dogs.
I’d rather see the public buy from a breeder directly. Well, I’d rather see the public well educated and buying from a breeder of nice, healthy dogs that can do whatever job they are bred to do with parents that are proven. A good breeder will have temperament tested their puppies and help a buyer pick just the right pup to fit their personality and lifestyle. A pet store can’t do that kind of thing- it’s way more about collecting the money for them. Seriously, puppies are perishable inventory for the pet store and a good breeder will keep every last pup until the right home is found, even if it means placing that pup as an adult dog.
I’ve never seen a 100% healthy puppy come from a pet store either. A breeder doing things right will not let go of any puppies if they are ill.
And birds do feel just about the same as mammals do. My bird can communicate happiness, sadness, fear, frustration. She’s just a little thing too.
So not a PETA thing but there are much better ways to go about buying a dog that doesn’t support mass breeding.
Did you know that puppy mill breeding animals are sold at auction, kind of like horses? With all the dogs being put to death in every city across the US, we really don’t need to support such an industry.
Does that answer you question?
I think it depends on the pet shop. Smaller, independently owned shops are usually better about knowing about their animals, how to care for them properly, and where they were supplied from. On the other end of the spectrum are the big box stores like Pet Smart. In most cases, their workers aren’t as well versed in the variety of animals they sell, including fish, they don’t know how to tell people how to care for them properly or where to point them to learn, and really don’t know how to care for them themselves, so they may not be as healthy from the get-go.
anniebanannie said…
What is wrong with mammals being sold in pet stores? What’s up with that? Pet stores are bad? Pet ownership is bad? Or is it non-traditional pets that shouldn’t be sold in pet stores? Is this one of those PETA things? Freeing animals from self-serving humanistic rule? I can see working on the BYB’s in any industry, but are you thinking that if pet stores were not able to sell mammals then there wouldn’t be any BYB’s? I’m curious.
Because petstores are supplied by millers and USDA mass-breeders, NOT by BYB breeders, which are of a different ilk. These animals (rabbits, rats, hamsters, guinea pigs, parakeets, dogs, etc) are mass-produced without regard to long-term health, inbreeding, genetics, temperament; are kept in substandard housing and given substandard care; and they are bred back-to-back-to-back because the millers are making money in QUANTITY, not quality.
Every time you go to a petstore and purchase one of these poor creatures (and yes, I’ve heard people saying they’re “rescuing” an animal from the petstore, especially animals like rats or mice that may end up as feeders) you are SUPPORTING the millers and mass-breeders. You’re “saving” ONE animal, which is likely to be unhealthy and have a shorter lifespan, a questionable temperament, and completely unknown genetic background, and simply creating a vacancy for the millers to fill.
So yes, if no one would patronize petstores that sell animals… they would stop. This isn’t PETA nonsense, this is just economics.
Some pet stores now have arrangements with shelters such as the SPCA, to showcase pets for adoption. This avoids the puppymill source. I don’t feel that pet stores are the place to sell animals. It is stressful for them, there is no guarantee that the clerk knows how to care for them properly, and they are subject to impulse buying, by a new owner who may be completely unprepared.
My dog came from a well known pet store in my area. I got him when he was two, when his then-owners decided that they didn’t have enough time for him. I had him until he was almost 16, and I cursed puppy mills and the dogs they produce every time I had to deal with his skin and ear problems (sometimes almost daily!). He was a Cocker Spaniel, bought from the pet store at 12 weeks, bought from the breeder at 6 weeks, at which time he was shipped from the breeder in Wisconsin to Vancouver Canada. Not an ideal situation for a young puppy.
A neighbor had a Cocker bitch in the same blond color, and suggested we breed them. My daughter was astounded that anyone would want more smelly, itchy, allergy ridden, over-sized spaniels like Rex. Thankfully he arrived neutered and never reproduced himself, even though he had a lovely temperment and was well trained. I would never knowingly get another pet store animal, except, perhaps, fish.
annie bannannie wrote: “What is wrong with mammals being sold in pet stores? What’s up with that? Pet stores are bad?”
In the case of puppies being sold from pet stores, there are a whole bunch of problems with it! To explain just a few:
Given half a chance, puppies don’t want to pee or poop where they eat and sleep. Pet stores that keep puppies in wire bottom crates force the puppies to violate that instinct and those puppies are really difficult to housetrain. Considering that inappropriate elimination is one of the major reasons dogs end up at shelters, it’s not a good thing to do.
Even pet stores that keep puppies in runs don’t provide enough separation of sleeping and eating areas from elimination areas, resulting in puppies that have no hesitation about walking through their own feces. Which is gross, to say the least. How long do you think puppies with that habit remain house dogs? Statistics show that outside only dogs are at much greater risk for ending up in shelters, have more illnesses and less longevity than dogs that are house dogs.
Most pet store personnel know very little about various breeds and make very little attempt to match up sellers to puppies of breeds that might be appropriate for that particular seller. For instance, my heartdog was a Belgian Tervuren bitch bred in Kansas and sold out of a Long Island pet store at seven weeks of age to a family who wanted her for their ten year old daughter who had multiple disabilities. Including unpredictable fits of spasticity, where the child would involuntarily clench her arms to her body, even if she were carrying a puppy around. The child didn’t mean to hurt the puppy but the puppy did not understand that.
Belgian Tervuren are highly touch sensitive and highly reactive herding breeds, which means that nipping is pretty high on their list of options. By fourteen weeks, that puppy had the entire family so frightened of her that they took her to their vet to be euthanized. Fortunately the vet referred them to breed rescue (and that’s how I got her). If that vet hadn’t known about breed rescue? Her life would have been over at 14 weeks old.
Those people paid approximately four times what I paid for a Belgian Tervuren bitch puppy out of five solid generations of conformation champions with advanced working titles. The pet store puppy? Had good breeding up close because her father was well bred who ended up in the wrong hands. On the mother’s side, you had to go back at least four generations to see anything with any sort of title.
My well bred Terv bitch would probably have been able to deal appropriately with the child hurting her because she was bred for a stable temperament. My pet store puppy bitch? Not so stable. Her method of coping nearly got her a death sentence.
That child would have been much better off with an adult, trained dog of a medium sized (50-75 pounds) breed that was bred specifically for physical insensitivity. Such a dog wouldn’t even *notice* her clenching it, stepping on it or anything else short of dropping a 16 ton safe on its head. The size of the dog would have precluded the child picking it up at all.
But such dogs aren’t available in pet stores, so that family wouldn’t get that sort of recommendation in most pet stores that sell puppies.
Another common problem with pet store puppies is that they have been heavily treated with antibiotics and intensive vaccination schedules nearly from birth (to maximize growth rates). The drawback to this is that if they’re sick when they go to the pet store, it is almost always some bacteria that is antibiotic resistant.
The longer term drawback to that intensive vaccination schedule is that those puppies frequently grow up to be adult dogs with allergies and hypothyroidism.
Allergies doesn’t sound so bad until you discover that they can be extremely expensive to treat in dogs. For instance, many such dogs manifest food allergies. There are diets specifically to address this problem–that can cost up to $85/17 pounds. That’s more than I spend on food for myself; how many pet people do you think are willing or able to spend that sort of money for the dog’s diet?
Every well bred puppy I’ve ever gotten came with a basic assurance: if at any point during that dog’s life I could not keep it, the breeder would take it back, no questions asked.
In my breed of choice, it’s standard for breeders to reserve first right of refusal when they sell a puppy and it’s pretty common for the stud owner to reserve second right of refusal. In other words, two unrelated people would have to either die or have their lives completely destruct before a puppy they were responsible for creating was in danger of going to a shelter. I have never heard of a pet store that offered that sort of assurance on a puppy; most of them will only accept a puppy back within three days of sale.
Puppies from pet stores have been exposed to all sorts of people who treat them in all sorts of ways. They’re often indiscriminately handled by children who are rough, who pull on the puppy’s ears, legs, tail or coat, who scream, who tease the puppy, etc. This often leads to puppies that are deeply suspicious of children.
By contrast, a responsible breeder develops contacts with a variety of families with children and educates the children carefully on how to handle puppies properly long before the puppies are born. After the puppies are old enough to start socialization, the breeder has a variety of pre-trained kids that will give the puppies the sort of good experience that leaves the puppies thinking that kids are terrific human beings.
Back to my example of my pet store bitch rescue. She was born in Kansas and sold out of a Long Island pet store when she was 7 weeks old. How old do you suppose she was when she was removed from the litter and transported halfway across the country? Probably not more than 6 weeks old, if that.
Research shows that 5-8 weeks is the age when a puppy’s social skills with other dogs are developed. Removing them from the litter too early puts them at higher risk of becoming dog aggressive. My bitch was fortunate–she was not dog aggressive and, in fact, had excellent dog skills. A lot of puppies are not so fortunate.
A normal, healthy bitch remains fertile for life; she comes into season 1-3 times per year. A responsible breeder breeds a bitch 1-4 times in her entire lifetime. Puppy mills breed bitches at every season and by the time they are 4-7 years old, the bitches are what they call “bred out.” Their health and body resources have been so drained by non-stop pregnancy that they no longer come into season or are no longer able to get pregnant.
By contrast, my current service dog was born when his mother was bred for the second time at eight years old. In other words, she was able to bear a normal litter a year after puppy mill bitches are no longer able to do so.
The lucky bred out bitches go into rescue. The not so lucky bred out bitches are euthanized. The unlucky bred out bitches go to auction, where they are sold to dealers for “research purposes” under 24 hours alive guarantees (the seller guarantees the animal will breathe for at least 24 hours beyond the moment of purchase with normal treatment). Their fates… well, if the buyers only need them to be alive for 24 hours after sale, it’s probably not good.
Pet stores are the single largest purchasers of puppy mill puppies. Supporting pet stores means supporting puppy mills that are treating dogs in ways that verge on inhumane.
I could go on and on (in fact, I already have!); there are lots more reasons why puppies are inappropriate as merchandise. I doubt that FHOTD would appreciate me filling her blog with even more screens of text, though!
I have to ask,
Why does everyone have to know basic grammar and spelling? Has anyone actually considered that some people simply don’t know how to spell or know grammar?
There is no law saying everyone must know how to spell, yes it is easier for the reader, but there are people out there who can’t spell.
Also, is there something about flaming another person that makes you feel good about yourself? The owner of those horses loves them to death, and they are all well looked after, so what does it matter that they are deemed ‘fugly’? She doesn’t lie about them if they are being sold, the truth is told. So why is it a huge problem?
anette said: Does that answer you question?
No, because I wasn’t talking to you. I was asking mac v mac a question.
mac v mac said something about getting the sales of mammals banned. Which would include hamsters, rats, rabbits, gerbils, Guinea pigs etc. I wanted to know what was up with that. Puppymills I know about; I was asking about banning ALL mammals being sold in pet stores.
Grainne Dhu and Just Kreeping Up also made little reference to the actual content of my post and therefore were not very helpful at all.
Only fancy rat actually read my post and provided some actual real information and thank you for that.
My3Arabs said…
Ladybrinx said…
ara-pinta-loosas… nice.
Here go and look at this HA Pintaloosa:
http://tinyurl.com/33xkr4
He is a Khemosabi grandson who ended up being 15.3, with a stick. He did keep getting more Snowflakes all over him as he aged. He is now a working ranch horse at 5 yrs old and according to his new owner he does better at it than his AQHA gelding ever did.
It’s not the conformation that I’m talking about, I don’t like the mixture of the paint and appy patterns. I LOVE loud paints, and I LOVE loud appys, but I do NOT like the WAY to loud paint appy cross. I don’t like the way the spots happen. I guess that’s the only way I can explain it. That’s all I meant. There’s a crazy BYB on one of the local horse boards that was breeding pintaloosa’s on purpose, and she started a “breed registry” for them, the Spotted horse registry or something like that, just so they would be registerable. BUNCH of fugly nasty looking horses.
Starrynightxxi:
But why dose she have to focus on the BYB and the poor folk? How about she write a blog on the people who have money for nice show horses and take every means possible to win like drugging, inhumane training methods to killing them for insurence money?
How about that poor Power and Paint pony with his head tied to his chest? Why not rip on that trainer? Is it cause she is a BNT and therefore cannot be touched?
How about those who horse show week in and week out chasing points? Isn’t that abuse too, making a horse show all the time?
And if she is going to pick on horrbile riding positions then why doesn’t she show how silly those pro hunter riders look over the fences, with their legs swung way back, the horrible ducking and asinine releases? Is it because since they winning it’s ok?
I wish the blog wasn’t so one sided(those those pants are really gross)
And kudos for her taking in horses and letting them live a healty life. If one horse can be saved then that’s great.
Halfpint:
I think you meant Pro Jumper riders, not hunter. The jumper riders are not judged on their form, they aren’t judged at all. It is about getting the horse over the fences clear and within a certain time. Those fences are BIG and it is hard to keep classic form over them.
Hunters are a different story. It is all about form. Horses need to have the correct form to be winners and the rider (if in eq classes) as well. The riders who go in non-eq classes do not need to have perfect form but they have to present a certain picture to the judges and extreme leg position and releases are going to distract from that pictue.
Halfpint said…
Starrynightxxi:
But why dose she have to focus on the BYB and the poor folk? How about she write a blog on the people who have money for nice show horses and take every means possible to win like drugging, inhumane training methods to killing them for insurence money?
How about that poor Power and Paint pony with his head tied to his chest? Why not rip on that trainer? Is it cause she is a BNT and therefore cannot be touched?
How about those who horse show week in and week out chasing points? Isn’t that abuse too, making a horse show all the time?
And if she is going to pick on horrbile riding positions then why doesn’t she show how silly those pro hunter riders look over the fences, with their legs swung way back, the horrible ducking and asinine releases? Is it because since they winning it’s ok?
I wish the blog wasn’t so one sided(those those pants are really gross)
And kudos for her taking in horses and letting them live a healty life. If one horse can be saved then that’s great.
November 18, 2007 8:11 AM
because, dipshit. the name of the fucking blog is ‘FUGLY HORSE’, not ‘taking on BNTers’.
if you want to blog on BNTers methods, feel free to do so.
There is no law saying everyone must know how to spell, yes it is easier for the reader, but there are people out there who can’t spell.
All those things they teach in school? They are important. You should learn them.
Educated means you know all that stuff they teach in school. People who can’t spell come off as uneducated.
And I don’t mean the people who misspell conceive or statuatory. I’m talking about the people who have no clue when to use they’re, their, and there or misspell words you would read 300 times a day if you bothered to look at the words around you.
And of course there are exceptions, but on the interwebz you are judged by your writing. If someone starts their post with “I seen a horse what…” I’m going to just pass right on by.
p.s. I’m not a writer. I know basic grammar, but I mess up and misspell words all the time. That’s why I don’t have a popular blog, like most of my writer friends do.
anniebannanie: Then I apologize – I took your question to be on the sales of ALL animals.
IMO rodents have to be sold because pet snakes have to eat.
Grainne Dhu,
You need to find a way to publish what you wrote. I can’t disagree wit a single statement – you nailed it! As a vet tech, I wish what you wrote was standard reading for everyone looking for new puppy.
I purchased a wonderul German Shepherd from a breeder I knew for two years (she was a client at the clinic I worked at). I visited the puppies at 5 weeks old, and picked out a wonderful sable male. I played with the bitch (who I knew and loved) and met the sire. I wouldn’t be able to take the puppy home until he was 12 weeks old, since I was moving and didn’t want him subjected to that. The breeder “mandated” that I visit with him at least twice a week, since he was approaching the age when he developed his fears. The “visitations” made the transition smooth, and it was wonderful to have already developed a great relationship with my pup. It made the transition from his breeder to my home much leass stressful as well.
half pint,
1. Read through every post on this blog, and you will see that training and abuse issues are addressed throughout. Review the archives.
2. It is Fugly’s blog. If you have a problem with the focus, create your own blog and post a link to it on your profile here. We will visit it and have discussions, just like here. Go to http://www.blogger.com. You can have your blog set up in five minutes.
3. Her blog is titled “Fugly Horse of the Day,” not, “Horrible, Nasty Trainers.” She prefers to focus on the idiots who are neglectful and irresponsible with regard to animal husbandry and breeding issues.
4. The Internet provides lots of fodder regarding BYB, idiodic parents, and irresponsible breeders.
5. Again, create your own blog if you don’t like the topics here.
6. Review her post that discusses her reasons and the “whats” and “whys” of this blog.
These are my thoughts and my not necessarily reflect Fugly’s reasons for her posts.
Annette said…
anniebannanie: Then I apologize – I took your question to be on the sales of ALL animals.
IMO rodents have to be sold because pet snakes have to eat.
That is also incorrect. I worked in the herpetarium of the local major zoo for years and we NEVER fed live animals to the reptiles and small mammals, NEVER. They were fed dead-and-warmed, because a live $4 rodent who panics can tear the eye out of a $10,000 snake and kill it. Live feeding is stupid and cruel, to the rodent AND to the reptile.
And the garbage about “my snake refuses to eat prekill” and “it’s not NATURAL for my snake to eat dead meat” are both BS. Snakes can be trained to eat prekill if they are hungry enough. We used to drag the dead rats on the floor of the enclosure to interest the snakes – and they ate it. Many of these animals were wild-caught. And what’s NATURAL about having a large reptile living in a glass box in your house? Nothing.
There’s no reason that rodents need to be sold live for herps to eat. None. Most petstores sell frozen prekill, and/or snake sausage, which works just fine. People who like to watch a live mouse get devoured by their snake are sick sadistic folk, that’s all.
Here’s my idea, and if it sounds naive or unworkable, I guess that depends upon how hard horse owners and lovers work at it.
I am owned by two elderly horses, one of whom just got diagnosed with Cushings. We love him — he is important to us — so we are doing everything in our power to keep him healthy for as long as we can. The other elderly horse has stringhalt sometimes and, at other times, she is perfectly healthy.
I am also owned by two babies, a two year old gelding and a two and a half year old filly. We love them, too, and we are training them ourselves to make sure they don’t get screwed up by ignorant people. I plan to start putting a little weight on the filly in spring, but I MEAN a LITTLE weight.
My point? Every horse lover might consider, in addition to getting a high points show winner, a champion jumper, a super cutting or reining horse, etc., a horse that is a great babysitter, a wonderful companion, a trusted trail partner, if still ridable, and a riding instructor you will not get elsewhere.
Adopt or buy one elderly horse — or a pair of them, as we did, and you will be endlessly entertained and taught and joyfully “managed” by horses that have been around long enough to know what’s what. There’s a reason why horses live that long. Actually, there are several reasons — genetics, determination, intelligence, survival knowledge and basically good health until the very last of their lives.
We will replace Rusty with another old one when he dies — not right away. We’ll have to get over the grief first. But we will find another one as much like him as we can manage.
Now, imagine — if show people and other snobs stopped worrying about the glitz and glamour and started looking at horses as living, breathing, joyful and intelligent pets, perhaps there would be fewer homeless horses in the world — young and old.
Our old ones are fugly, by the way. We don’t care. We love them. Our young ones aren’t perfect either, but they are a little less fugly — but who cares? We love them, too, and they are healthy and strong with quite a lot of potential.
Rusty and Tilly were rescued from a feed lot by someone else to become lesson horses, and then we bought them from the new owner. We had nothing to do with the initial rescue — but you folks could with some other horses that need it.
Just an idea to reduce the surplus population of horses who need homes and don’t need to wind up on a Frenchman’s plate.
Cadence sayeth:
Why does everyone have to know basic grammar and spelling? Has anyone actually considered that some people simply don’t know how to spell or know grammar?
Because those skills are basic to our language. If you want to sound ignorant and be ignored by many people as a result, go ahead and malaprop/misspell/kill grammar to your heart’s content — but sooner or later, you will have to submit a resume somewhere or speak to an educated person or write a charming thank you note or just function in this world in general.
Get an education. There’s nothing more important you can do for yourself.
halfpint said…
Starrynightxxi:
But why dose she have to focus on the BYB and the poor folk?
should they get special treatment just because they are poor? Perhaps they wouldn’t be so poor if they would stop breeding or “rescuing” horses that they can’t afford and no one wants to buy!
Yes, many training methods can be considered abusive and/or stupid, and many of them have at least gotten their mention on this blog, but that isn’t what this is about here. .
“YOU obviously “JUST DONT GET IT”
I actually don’t care, I did breed him.
you do not know the facts nor have you asked..shows you for the blind fool that you are.so full of yourself you dont even ask for both sides of the story.what a dick.
i do not have to justify myself to you or anyone else.
so bugger off and go torment another poor soul
i have bred my fugly mongrel wanabe arab, and am thrilled with the idea of 2 fugly wanabe mongrel foals being born next year ! get over it.”
Just thought you guys would like to see what the owner of these horses is saying! Obviously she doesnt give a shit about breeding crappy horses.
*****NEWS FLASH******
hi my name is linda, and i own “paintedappys”, yes a whole farm full of horses that need upgrading.
(based on the opinion of one truly “Fugly” person, fowllowed by many many sheep.)
I have a really really REALLY fugly wanna be arab stallion who i bred to 2 really really REALLY fugly mongrel mares.which I still do not regret…gee, that sucks after all the trouble you lot went to to try and “educate” poor hick me.
I also have a dozen horses that i abuse, by all kinds of hick riding styles etc…shame on me.
*shakes head*
how silly of me…oh, my , the feral brats forgot their shoes again…poo.
I really should ring child wealfare and hand them in, even though they are all working young adults now, who STILL don’t wear shoes…Bugga.I am such a bad bad BAD mummy.
oh, yes, nearly forgot to let you know, we will do our best to not handle the 2 fugly fugly foals when they hit the dirt next year, so they will, without a doubt, go to the slaughter yards and do the right thing by the doggy industry, and fill up those empty spaces on the cheapo grocery store shelves, where the poor people can buy nasty cheap dog food for their mongrel mutts.
PS. Nothing has changed, nothing will change..
PSS
don’t you all forget to come back to “Paintedappys” in 11 months or so, and rip the phuck out of us again, when we have 2 more starving abused neglected,fugly as all hell baby wanna be part arab part god knows what feral foals, that i will be sure to take photo’s of with the grandkids in no shoes and having a sleep in the dirt with.
will do my best to get them shit fat before they tin them so we make megga bucks from the sales and feed lots of doggies.
and by all means, feel free to NOT enjoy your life.
Regards Linda
i hope you don’t think anyone here cares what you have to say anymore than you care what we say.
I am INFAMOUS
i am not meant to care.that is what being a bad person is all about.
anyway, i have a whole page all about ME..your just jealous, you snotty little brown nose sheep, how does it feel to have your nose so far up fugly’s butt? nice and warm?
Wow, you’re acting like you’re about 2 years old.
omg – oh. ouch. you got me -lol- i tried to be nice to you before, i’m sorry you’re too blinded by your own ego to see that, but whatever.
Fancyrat:
I personally do not own snakes but my boss has Ball Pythons, California Kings, Mexican Mountian Kings, Corn Snakes, and Rat Snakes. She starts her king babies by scenting pinkies with her Bearded Dragon’s scents. She keeps them all at the grooming shop where I work.
She has had no luck with frozen foods for her snakes and as there is such a huge market for live feeder mice and rats, she assumes this is all normal. She thumps larger mice and rats before feeding.
Personally, I cannot watch the whole mess and I HATE that she feeds rats at all. If you could direct me to information on how to train snakes to eat frozen/rewarmed food then I will very happily pass it on to her.
The day she brings in a rat that is semi easy to handle without getting bitten then I will probably steal it and bring it home. My prior experience with small rodents has not been good (gerbils) but I do have good experience with guinea pigs and my guess is that a rat makes an even better pet.
Thanks in advance.
hey fugly,
why dont you go scratch through your answered eamil from several months back
WHEN I ASKED YOU IF MY ARAB WAS OK TO BREED A FOAL WITH FOR MYSELF
you said he was average…yes..thats what you said
no lecture about cutting his nuts off.
you even admired some of my horses.
would you like me to go dig up my copy?
dear god i hope i still have it.
but i doubt you could consider the offer of a “sorry”
hypocrite
i actually asked you, before he was bred to anything..yes…i did…..yer…wow.
no, you did not scream..”GELD HIM”.
you said he was average.you didnt say much else, except that some of my geldings were really nice.
choke on that
you are no friend to any
Hey Crunchberry’s mom:
I’m not a dipshit and name calling just lets me know that you are very angry and immature.
Get a life.
Starrynightxxi, thank you for your response. I also agree that if they are poor, then either find the horses a home or stop breeding.
I see it here where I live and it makes me sick. What I wish would happen is that horse owners would have to get a breeding license to breed horses.
OMG,
I’m no expert but I gather from reading this blog that average means that he shouldn’t be bred.
To breed for yourself I’d say you’d be better served by sending your best mare to an outstanding, proven stud who is very strong where she is weak.
ratgirl said…
I have for years wanted to shake the teeth out of the losers that send 8 crappy colts through a sale with burrs in their tails and shake their heads in anger when they only get $50-$75 a head.
People Suck.
November 16, 2007 12:40 PM
I was at the sale yesterday where they were doing exactly that!
Except most of them could only get $10 a head AND for the papered ones they had to pay a $50 consignment fee! So they lost $40 per colt/filly that they sold. NUTS! But I have to admit, there wasn’t one, not a single one that I would’ve bought, not even for the low low price of $10.
Wow, I strongly disagree with most of what this site portrays. That only perfect, purebred, champion horses should be bred? Who would have horses than except for rich snobs if there weren’t “fugly” horses in the world. Not everyone wants a champion.
fuglyhorseoftheday said…
Scaperjess – Sheila Varian has always been one of the gold standard Arabian breeders. She was way ahead of her time – when everybody else was breeding a lot of pretty nitwits, she was breeding performance horses that you could do ranch work on. Her breeding program shows that it’s not either/or – you CAN and SHOULD be breeding a horse who can trail ride AND win at the A shows. These are not mutually exclusive abilities!
November 16, 2007 3:03 PM
Sheila Varian is one of my idols!!
I had e-mailed the site because Huckleberry Bey is Vantilly’s grand sire (paternal line) and I was researching her papers. She called me back personally 20 minutes later. I about fell off my chair!!
She wanted to know more about Vantilly’s bloodlines. By the time we got done talking, she had discovered that VT’s paternal grand dam was Balaquina (Bask dgtr) and that she had once tried to buy Balaquina, but the owners weren’t selling. She said that I had a really well bred little girl.
She told me that if Vantilly was sucessful in the show ring and if I ever decided to breed her, that Maclintock V would be a good choice. She’s such a nice, classy lady!
I know for a fact that she won’t ever “breed for trendy”!
not that you all care,set on your witch hunt,as you are, but the truth is, i have not bred a single foal
not one
not ever
not yet
not that you asked
good at assuming
pathetic at asking
fugly is truly fugly
inside your are as rotten as a corpse.
try researching your facts
before condemning the innocent
using nothing more than basic public infomation is not good enough.
try going to the person and asking for all the facts
before big mouthing yourself as a hero.
your followers are no better
very few looked at the web site and only one asked quetions.
bottom line is the site was put up for enjoyment not judgment.
no where on the site do i ask for others opinions.
no where do i say i am educated
no where do i say my horses are perfect
shows you for the spiteful bitch that you are
Carly – having worked at a breeding farm where conformation and pedigree is important, and performance preferable, I can assure you, there would still be “fuglies” born every day during the foaling season, even if the only people breeding were those that had enough money to keep the high-money horses.
And even if not a single fugly were ever born again – which would be fine as what makes a horse fugly is generally his conformation, which can affect his soundness and health – then eventually there would be a glut of QUALITY horses, and who could possibly complain about THAT?
halfpint – although I understand why people say they wish there was a license for breeding horses (or any animal), I fail to see how it would actually help. Trust me, most people who starve horses, it’s not because they think horses don’t need to eat. People don’t speed because they think it’s NOT illegal.
OMG:
Your 15 minutes are up. Move on.
Yeah, half-pint, it’s bad enough that Appaloosas are being turned into non-colored Quarterloosas with the approval of the breed registry, but mixing Paint/Appy just DRIVES ME UP THE WALL!!
The Arab/Appy cross used to (website no longer seems to function) an organization (not a registry, I believe) and they used the term “Araloosa.” I don’t intend to “register” with them if they still exist. My boy is AHA registered for now, and I’ll probably register him with ApHC for the ACAAP program, and with ApSHA for dressage/USDF recognition.
Sorry, that was Landbrinx made the comment re Paint/Appy crosses to which I was responding.
“You are not the Flying Wallendas. Stop with the theatrical asshattery.”
Brilliant!
That’s my quote of the day.
Halfpint said…
Hey Crunchberry’s mom:
I’m not a dipshit and name calling just lets me know that you are very angry and immature.
Get a life.
obviously you ARE a dipshit. dipshit.
omg,
O.J. Simpson, Hitler, and Jeffrey Dahmer are infamous as well. I wouldn’t take it as a compliment.
Making the posts you have on this blog in other threads and hen allowing what goes on at your place makes you such a hypocrit.
Lynne–LMAO I couldnt agree with you more!
rosesr4evr,
Sheila Varian rocks! She is such a classy lady. Your experience with her is typical of Sheila’s love for the breed and devotion to producing the BEST! I was at an open house of hers where she set up a “living pedigree” in the ring. At one end of the ring was an awesonme Arab, and behind the horse was its parents, grandparents and great grandparents. Absolutely unbelieveable. It was such a learning experience to look at every generation and see what traits persevered – good and bad! I bet there has never been a V horse on a double decker.
I was at the Cow Palace the year she won the reining with Ronteza even after the mare fell while doing her cow work. Mare slipped on wet spot, Sheila, being so tall, just stood, mare hopped up under her and caught the cow before it could get away. Great thing to see that little A-Rab beat all the QHs. A friend had a Mikado foal bred by Sheila – lovely little grey gelding, did well in jumpers and sidesaddle at breed shows, eventing through training level. Her colors for eventing were blue and while, and she had a great picture of him jumping one of the big brush jumps on the Bird Rock Course at Pebble Beach, dapple grey silhouetted against the ocean… beautiful.
Carlie:
Have you missed the posts that pertain to auction reports? I hate to break this to you, but crappy horses are going for meat right now. We’re in an economic downturn at the moment, no matter what the administration tries to spin it as. People are not buying luxury goods as much at the moment, and that includes horses. If people are going to buy, they’re gonna want the nicest horses they can afford, and that sure isn’t going to be some profoundly ugly, non-papered, unsound critter.
Annette said…
Fancyrat:
Personally, I cannot watch the whole mess and I HATE that she feeds rats at all. If you could direct me to information on how to train snakes to eat frozen/rewarmed food then I will very happily pass it on to her.
Here are a couple of good articles. They also have some good links at the bottom to more.
http://www.anapsid.org/ratbites.html
http://www.anapsid.org/prekill.html
The day she brings in a rat that is semi easy to handle without getting bitten then I will probably steal it and bring it home. My prior experience with small rodents has not been good (gerbils) but I do have good experience with guinea pigs and my guess is that a rat makes an even better pet.
They really do – I started out with (horrible) hamsters, (biting) gerbils and (stogy and not-too-bright) guinea pigs for years and years before I got rats, and it was like a breath of fresh air!
I would, however, recommend against getting a rat that is bred to be a feeder. It may seem cruel, but those rats usually have very offputting or aggressive temperaments (frankly, so would I!!) and are subject to poor health and short lifespans and can rack up quite the veterinary bill (or medical bill if they bite you badly.) They need to be carefully handled and socialized to make up for not having been socialized as babies. Also, rats need to be kept at least in pairs. I really recommend going to a local breeder if there is one – I can recommend some for you if you like.
Thanks in advance.
bvr.rats @ yahoo . com if you want to discuss this further and get some links or recommendations!
galen said…
OMG:
Your 15 minutes are up. Move on.
November 19, 2007 7:54 AM
really ?
**claps hands with childish joy, and skips home to mumma**
To tell her that fugly school is out and she has been a lernin’ lotsa new and exciten’ kinda shit, like what a
“fugly corpse rotten sour old bitch” is,
“yes , mumma, its fugly herself, they all call her that, so’s she musta be mumma”, and what a
“brown nosed sheep” is
“yes mumma, its awla dem dere brain dead followa’s what wants fugly to be so’s proud of dem dat dey justs do abouts anythin’ to get them their noses furder up her big fat sloppy corpse smelling arse”
“Mumma,
I is so’s a’proud o’ what i does lernt from dat dere fugly skank !!!
and mumma, I is for eva an’ eva gonna be on dat dere pretttyy wall o’ shame, i is just so’s proud, i is !!”
Oh Jesus…
and I thought it couldn’t get any worse from OMG!! ROFLMFAO!!!
I don’t think I could write lke that if I tried!! TOO FUNNY!!!
Well at least I can go to work laughing!
Lynne-WOW! I would love to go to one of her open houses or one of the presentations she puts on!! She’s so awesome!!! How wonderful to see how the attributes come through in a whole living generation of carefully and lovingly bred horses!!
Sandy M- You bitch!! HA HA just kidding!! I really envy you having been able to actually BE THERE when she won the COW PALACE with Ronteza. I got to read the story and it’s not half as good as I bet it was in person!! To be there to watch a 19yo GIRL (first female to win the Palace) and on a A-Rab in a sea of stock horses. That would’ve been the most!!!! WOW WOW WOW!!!! “I’m sooo jealous” TEE HEE.
OMG—Holy cow, it takes a special kind of person to write like that! You just continue to make an even bigger fool out of yourself!
Ann, at this point she’s trolling. Don’t feed the trolls.
Roses4ever – It was truly remarkable. There was just a huge GASP! from the crowd when she went down, and cheers and clapping when she instantly was back on her feet and instantly caught/turned the steer back into the wall. I was always PO’s for years afterward when each year they’d have a display window of the “Cow Horse Hall of Fame” at the Cow Palace and EVERY SINGLE HORSE PICTURED WAS A QH – Not ONE picture of Ronteza (who had won the Hackamore championship the year before her Open Reining/Stock Horse Championship).
The story of her Ronteza son, Bay Event (?), is also remarkable: If my memory is correct, he won the reining championship at the Arabian Nationals one year, was SERIOUSLY injured in a pasture accident thereafter, and after a looong convalescence, with doubts that he’d ever be sound again, won the Championship again.
And to keep it “FUGLY” – I believe he was a son of Bay Abi out of Rontez, and she gelded him young. People said, “But he’s so well bred and would make a marvelous stallion,” and Sheila replied, “He’ll make an ever nicer show gelding for me!”
Well OMG you have no only already proven yourself as a BYB but you have also proven yourself to be trash. Not only trash in the equine world for your pitiful breeding decisions but trash of the kind that is to be pitied for it’s ignorance.