Who needs coffee this morning?
Jan 19 2010
I am sending out a $25 Starbucks gift card to whoever can solve this mystery!
I am absolutely positive that some reader of this blog knows who this horse is. Here is what we know.
– He was rescued from the December 2009 Enumclaw Auction, so he probably came from Washington or Oregon.
– He is a true 17 hands (we sticked him) and is a tattooed Thoroughbred gelding. We are having trouble reading it. He is in his 20′s.
– He has had white line disease and his right front hoof has been resected. The farrier did an excellent job.
– No sign whatsoever of any abuse or neglect. A bit thin but we believe this horse has been living in a barn.
– We are positive he is an old show horse. You can clip his ears without a twitch and he loves being bathed and fussed over.
– He has not, however, been shown in a long time as his bridle path has been allowed to grow out fully and his whiskers were very long.
– When he arrived, he was aggressive and it seemed to be pain related/defensiveness. He bit Ron the kill buyer in the shoulder at the auction. What a good pony! 
 Now, he is a SNUGGLE BUNNY. Someone has taught this horse to give hugs – if you hug him, he wraps his neck and head around you and squeezes. He is particularly affectionate with petite women and children.
– He has some pushy behaviors on the ground and will try to whap you around with his head if he doesn’t want to stand still.
– Even lame, he is an AMAZING mover. AMAZING. If he wasn’t an A circuit horse, it was not for lack of talent.
– Ringbone (obvious) in hind right.
– VERY playful. When you turn him out, he pulls stuff off the walls to play with, knocks over my trainer’s stuff, anything he can reach is fair game.
I want to know who this horse is. If not for Second Chance Ranch, he would have gone to kill. Ron marked him as “kill only” thanks to the bite.
I also suspect that he has an old owner who loves him. I just have a feeling about it. I also have a feeling that the other people at the barn he came from have NO idea that he went to auction.
So get your week’s worth of coffee and out the asshat(s) – extra credit for proof, i.e. pictures of him at his previous location or with whoever dumped him! Who the hell sent this awesome horse to die in a slaughterhouse? They KNEW where he was going with that hoof. And why? Sick of paying the vet? What? This is a Ferrari that was nearly crushed into a cube, and I want to know why and who was responsible.
Click below for even more pictures.
151 comments to “Who needs coffee this morning?”
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This is why I can’t go to auctions anymore. I’m also glad you are all the way across the country .This sweetheart could come and live with me if he was on the East Coast. Someone took good care of that horse. I hope you find out the whole story and I really hope his owner or someone who knows him steps up and brings him home.
Oh, good luck finding out about this guy. I love a mystery. ;o)
I remember him, he was in with the cutest ever mini white mule,I remember it being the OWNERS request he go to kill(Im sure Ron wouldnt fib lol).
That’s interesting. Really, do people still exist who think slaughter is a kind end for a horse with a problem?
BTW no one who has looked at this horse thinks he NEEDS to be euthed. I wouldn’t argue if someone had euthed him because of finances – we all live in the real world here – but he doesn’t have anything wrong that can’t be fixed at least enough for him to be comfortable in the pasture for a nice retirement, and possibly for light riding use. He does have multiple issues between the white line, the ringbone, and we think some hock arthritis.
Yes, it was the owner’s request. Didn’t want anyone else wasting their time on his lameness. I was overjoyed the next day when I heard Katie had gotten him out, this guy is GORGEOUS.
You know, I wonder whether the owner dumping him was afraid of getting busted. Maybe that’s why they wanted him quietly shipped away for kill – no one would ever find him and ask questions, that way.
I am curious about the white miniature mule. When I bought my black miniature mule Laila (who is the cutest thing ever) there was a white one too. Her name is Wendy. Last I heard she went to the coast of Washington to stay at a Dressage stable and to keep the Warmbloods company. I sure hope they did not dump her at action.
Good luck finding the history on this sweet guy. Hopefully someone will recognize him so that his history can be filled in. Yes, it is obvious someone once cared for him a great deal.
I’m glad Second Chance Ranch saved him.
Thanks fugly. I wish I knew and could tell you anything about this horse.
And by golly – I would be delighted to give YOU a Starbucks card if you could solve my own horse’s mystery… I’m sure there are lots of us out there who would like to know.
Please keep us posted… sounds like an amazing horse there.
He has the most adorable face! I don’t know him at all but I certainly hope that his past is figured out.
You SURE he’s a TB… maybe a Standardbred ???
I’d say I’m 99% positive he’s a TB.
Can you read his tattoo? If you can, and if his papers followed his trail of owners, you would know who was in his life. I know it’s unlikely that his papers followed him, but it’s worth a look.
The JC does not transfer papers through their office. TB papers are transferred by signing the back of the (physical) papers. Since we don’t have the papers, there is no way to track ownership. If we do manage to read the tat, we will only be able to find out who owned him while he was racing – which was many years ago.
I have a friend who had a problem trying to read the tattoo on her tb mare she got here not that long ago. We took pictures of the tattoo and she even used a flashlight and put it up against the outer part of her lip in the dark to see the tat better and took a few pictures and between me and another couple of ladies we figured out what it read and found out that she is related to her tb gelding!
I would be willing to look at the tat if someone can get some great pics! I’m sure I can get some help and we can try to figure out WHO this pretty boy is!
email me with “TATTOO” in the subject line at sm1982s@yahoo.com
Meh – he screams thoroughbred IMO. Do Standardbred’s tattoo the lip? Thought they mostly stuck to neck tats.
(You’d think that after going to Morrisville State College I’d know the answer to this.)
What is with the bad hoof job!?!?!?! I love this guy, he’s cute! I hope you will find the culprate(s) and give them a taste of their own medicine!
It’s actually a good hoof job. He has a disease called White Line Disease, and it’s necessary to REMOVE the diseased portion of the hoof in order to save the horse’s life. I know, it looks freaky, but our vet agreed the work that was done was quality work. So he was receiving quality care…that’s why this outcome is so weird. Drop hundreds on trying to fix him and then just throw him away at the auction? Why? Why wouldn’t you euth if you had the money for corrective shoeing, etc.? Who sends a 17 hand TB to wind up in a double-decker?
The owner had not been able to get him sound and didn’t want anyone else to waste their time and money on him.
And god forbid they “waste” THEIR money on euthanasia so that he didn’t have to suffer. Nope, let’s cram a 17 hand horse into a double-decker on a bad foot for a couple of days on the way to the slaughterhouse.
Asshats.
Okay, I am very curious: zebradreams07 here seems to know an awful lot about the previous owner’s wishes for this horse. Does she/he KNOW the owner? In fact, is she/he actually the owner HERSELF? I am surprised no one has asked about this already!
Regardless, I completely agree that the owner, whomever it was, should have euth’d the horse rather than send him to the killers. I simply can’t imagine consigning a horse to such a fate rather than allowing him a peaceful ending. Also hard to believe that euthanasia was “not in the budget,’ given the surely somewhat expensive cost of the hoof resection. What’s the deal, they were trying to recoup some of their investment with the few hundred bucks the kill buyer was going to pay for him?
No, it wasn’t her horse. I know who she is and she doesn’t run horses to the auction – her intentions are good, she wants to see them rescued. I am curious if she actually SPOKE to the owner or is just repeating what she heard?
This is what I heard when he was run through. I was paying particular attention because he caught my eye beforehand, and Ron said that he was dead lame, the owner had spent a lot of money trying to make him comfortable and was sure there was nothing more to be done for him. He certainly didn’t seem upset at the prospect of taking him but it didn’t seem like it was his choice.
Please don’t think that I agree with that attitude; I just don’t want people to misinterpret what was said.
I really, do not understand that! You are so right about the fact that if they had the fiances to pay for the corrective farrier work, why not the 1-$300 for euthanasia? Could this wonderful boy have done something so bad that he angered his owner THAT MUCH?
It makes you wonder if it wasn’t something like a divorce situation, where there’s a lot of spite flying around.
Or he was stolen and someone needed to dump him fast.
Thats what I thought too. Sounds like someone stole him, out of spite? (Maybe Divorce situation?) Panicked, then send him to kill.
I wonder if it’s a divorce case? When I worked at a pet bird store we kept the boarding room locked to prevent custody issues. We even had a lovebird in that situation dumped on us. I’ve heard of wives or husbands taking a healthy dog or cat to vet after vet looking for one who would put it down because they wanted to hurt their formally-significant other. Something like that may or may not be reported to the police depending on whether the owner is afraid of their spouse.
He is gorgeous and sounds like a treasure. I hope you can find a past owner who misses him very much, or at the very least a loving new owner.
Can’t be certain (as I only met the horse once) but it looks remarkably like an old horse a friend had. She picked him up from a lady who was scared of him (yes, he had a bit of aggressive issues) and she rode/showed him dressage and some jumping before flipping him. He was sold to western wa, but not sure where. The horse I am thinking of was an OTTB, he was well trained, and he did have lameness issues that were confirmed before the sale [the lady who bought him knew about it]. I’ll try finding some pics and see if they match…
That sounds promising – I’ll look forward to hearing more.
He definitely has that streak – I can see him being aggressive if he was hurting, or if he just plain thought he could buffalo you. He’s like my Crabby Old Bat mare that I just lost this winter…if you’re super confident around him and just go up to him and hug him, he loves you. But I can see him using his size against someone who could be intimidated by it. And I know he charged someone on the longe line when he was right off the auction yard and they were just trying to see how sound he was. He also struck at someone. None of that now though. I get the impression he was stressed out of his mind at the auction. Thoroughbreds are so sensitive. He KNEW things were going bad for him.
Really, I ought to be able to get 100 people to support him for the rest of his life just on the basis that he bit Ron Mariotti.
I had heard that he bit Ron, maybe he needs his own Facebook Fan page? I’d become a fan of any Equine who bit Ron. He’s a beauty of a horse and Kudos to Katie at SCR for her great work!
http://www.wildponybeast.blogspot.com
OK that’s awesome – make him a fan page! We are calling him “Hercules.”
I’ll totally become a fan of him!!
I can totally make him a fan page tonight when I get back from the barn. Let me know if he needs one!!
We could also put this info on it, A LOT of non-horse people have facebook pages and they might have had a friend who had a horse who went to auction… It could be a good way to try to find info on him.
If you go to Facebook and type in Hercules the horse you can become a fan of him!
It’s not that great of a page, but I didn’t want to copy too much stuff w/o your permission. I did borrow the picture. Let me know what I should add! You can contact me through my blog. http://www.wildponybeast.blogspot.com
This horse can be helped with proper hoof care. Equicasts have worked wonders. Logistically I am not in a position to offer my help but there should be someone out there that could offer their assistance with rehab. The owner of Equicast is very helpful, you may want to run it by him, I would bet he will offer his support with consultations.
I’ll look into that, thanks!
By the way – PLEASE cross post this, particularly to any boards that have a lot of PNW readership.
He reminds me of a horse I knew, but I think yours is too old. Does he by any chance have something unusual about his incisors? A doule row, a few extra, something like that?
He reminds me of my pony club instructors horse that she had while she was going for her A rating. His name was Budget Leak. I don’t know if this guy might be too old, but I think not as I knew the horse nearly eight years ago and he wasn’t super young even then if I remember correctly.
Oh, and I’m pretty sure he was originally from BC and the instructor’s name was Emily Fischer. I doubt she personally would have shipped him, but if it’s him, you’d probably be able to get additional info.
I found an Emily Fischer-Bushaw who is with the Thurston County Prosecuter’s office and also lists “Self-Employed Equestrian Instructor at Western Washington ” on her linked profile. I sent an e-mail to her attention at the Prosecuter’s office with a link to this blog entry & comments.
Emily Fischer-Bushaw replied to my e-mail. She still owns her horse “Budgetleak”. He is 20 years old and enjoying retirement in the same field where he grew up (since age 3).
I appreciate your efforts to find information about this horse, but this is NOT my horse and there is NO WAY I’d ever take any horse to an auction – let alone Budgetleak. Budetleak is still with me, now age 20 and retired in the same field he’s been in since age 3.
On another note, although I understand your concern for this horse, please be careful not to suggest names of possible owners on the internet. I have a professional reputation to uphold in both the horse community as well as in my career and I do not want anyone to think that I had any involvement in the history, sale, or treatment of this horse. I have already received an anonymous email (from a reader of this blog) at my work address regarding this horse, which I find wholly inappropriate.
Emily
I can’t imagine why you would be upset that someone was merely wanted to let you know that a former horse of yours might be in danger. Unless they were rude or nasty, which you don’t note. You’ve clarified it isn’t your horse and kudos to you for giving your old guy a good home. Now, we will proceed to examine other leads.
Personally I’d be thrilled if someone took the time to let me know a former horse of mine might need a home.
You’re right… I am THRILLED. Thrilled that my name is now posted on this blog for who knows how long. I’m thrilled that I was emailed at my place of business over a personal matter, and now I am even more thrilled that my personal information is also posted on the internet. Gosh – thank you so much!
Let me be clear, I don’t mind being contacted about the horse; I mind having my personal information put out on the internet for all to see.
My only suggestions are: 1) don’t post people names or personal information on internet blogs. If you think you might know someone, contact them on your own and 2) don’t contact people at their place of business regarding personal matters. I could have easily been sent an email via the linkedin network.
Thanks for understanding and good luck on your search.
Your personal information was ALREADY posted on the Internet, on other web sites including apparently something related to your job – that is how someone contacted you. If you are upset with that, complain to those who put it up there for someone to find.
In this Internet day and age, BudgetLeak’s mom is being a little hypersensitive, IMHO, about work email. If you get a personal email at your work account, you simply forward it to your personal email account and reply from there. No biggie.
However, in this internet day and age where things typed can be easily taken out of context, can be cross-posted and can linger for years, people could to be more sensitive about posting full names and personal details when purely speculating like we are here. Web pages are indexed by search engines meaning that a person’s name can be associated with a subject such as “horse abuse” or “dumped at auction” and pages by Google, Yahoo and Bing highlighting the name and subject together. Until the end of time.
Imagine someone considering a trainer and googling their name only to find discussions involving said trainer and dumped horses. How many people will actually take the time to read archived threads to get to the bottom of what could be a confusing he said, she said? And how many will think “YUCK, this trainer is an asshat!” and just move along to someone else?
Yeah, it’s almost a free for all on these internets of ours, but it doesn’t hurt to be sensitive about posting full names and personal information. Would it be so hard to instead post, “Hey, horse looks vaguely familiar, I’ll chase down a lead and get back to y’all.”
Of course if it’s confirmed asshats we’re talking about, POST AWAY!
Just sayin’.
Personally I agree with budgetleak. It was inappropriate for anyone to post her name here based on mere speculation that the horse *might* be hers. There are some good people who follow this blog. Unfortunately there are also a lot of nut cases as well and for them anything goes. Why put someone innocent in harms way? It is always better to err on the side of discretion and safety.
Thanks Barnyard Punch & KJJ – You hit the nail on the head, Well said.
You’re right budgetleak. That was inappropriate. I got caught up in the mystery and didn’t stop to think. However, I would like to remind everyone on this blog that I posted something to the effect that I doubt the horse would have been shipped by the instructor, so budgetleak, if you’re worried about your professional reputation, I seriously doubt this little interlude will have affected it.
Best Regards, BWPBaby
You might have more luck getting info on him by finding the farrier. Good luck! I can’t imagine the reasoning on spending a good chunk of change on fixing his feet just to send him off to auction.
Cross post!
Sometimes I just get “feelings” about things and they’re rarely wrong. My feeling here is that:
(a) there are people who know this horse who are going to be horrified at what almost happened to him
(b) there’s someone out there who would have taken him and retired him if they’d have known what the owners were planning
I could be wrong, we’ll see.
I am so interested in this! That horse looks adorable and I would LOVE to know the story behind him getting dumped. Let’s all guess the scenario. I’m thinking, little spoiled rich girl moved on to a nicer younger sounder show horse and daddy told her he was sending this one “to the farm where he can run and play all day”…?
Just another idea: you could post “who dunnit” ads on craigslist for the surrounding areas (or any other online classifieds that target PNW), asking if anyone knows that horse. You know, for that slim margin of horse people who might not read your blog daily and see it here =) Just refer them to come to the blog and out the person so they can get their $25 gift card.
Anyone in the PNW could maybe print out a picture and ask around at their barn. Surely someone knows someone who remembers him from a show and remembers the group of people he was there with. I would not only be curious to know who the owners are, but also if they are working consistently with a trainer, what the trainer’s opinion/awareness is on the horse being dumped. I’m not saying people aren’t responsible for their own actions, but I’d just be curious if there was any influence from the trainer. Maybe trainer wanted to sell an expensive horse to rich girl so she told rich girl’s horse-ignorant daddy that it is TOTALLY normal for old horses to be sold at auction for “humane” slaughter so pony can go be happy in pony heaven now….. Man, so curious!!! I can’t wait!
BTW, sooooo happy you guys have him, but so scary to know how easy it is for the ones we sell to get strung down the wrong path from one good owner to one mediocre owner to a not so good owner to a kill buyer. If only it was legally required to keep up with registration papers, it would be easy to track your horse through whatever series of owners and check in with them. I think we need to start implanting tracking devices.
in my country microchips are compulsory for all show horses. it’s not quite as good as a tracking device, but if people know to look for one then it’s much more reliable then a tattoo or a burn mark. they aren’t very expensive either.
Wow…people really suck….what is so hard about doing the right thing by your horses?!! He was obviously loved and taken care of…how could anyone think sending him to slaughter would be OK? I will never understand the mentality of some people….but I am so glad he escaped the horror of the slaughterhouse, way to go!!
http://horsefilleddays.blogspot.com/
If he gets a fan page, I am SO there!
Sounds like he may have hurt someone. I long ago witnessed a complete dispersal of a quarter horse herd of blue roans. Mares, young stock and a stallion. One person’s whole life in horses. The owner sat near the front of the auction ring with a huge bandage on his head and big black stitches on his skull – or staples maybe – really ugly – his cowboy hat didn’t cover it all. He was in his late fifties. One of those horses had struck him on the head (apparently when being fed in a stall) cracked his skull and nearly killed him. He would not say which one, but everyone at the auction assumed it was the stallion. He nearly lost his life, and just lost heart in his horses. It hurt his feelings more than his head, I think. And then he did not want anyone else hurt. If this horse doesn’t mind biting, striking and bossing, he may have hurt someone who wasn’t as confident or horse-smart or on-their-toes as they needed to be around him.
Very possible, though it always upsets me when people get vengeful. Doing the right thing with a truly aggressive horse (which I don’t think this guy is – I think he is defensive when he’s hurting or scared – I can’t emphasize how nice and snuggly he is now, after a month of safety in a good barn) means euthanasia, not the auction.
“Doing the right thing with a truly aggressive horse means euthanasia, not the auction.”
Totally agree with this and in fact had to make that hard decision with a 4 yr old that after almost a year in our care suddenly started striking and attacking people in the paddock (not even messing with him) for no known reason (vet figured brain tumor – which became more likely when he was PTS) – and not every time – VERY dangerous. People have to remember it’s our feelings about euthanasia not the horses – the horse knows no difference in being put out for surgery or being PTS. The auction (and what follows) is not only cruel for the horse, but dangerous to humans as well if the horse is truly a dangerous animal – as you can see this ‘kill only’ horse was pulled.
This sounds like a very good possibility. I’m sure we have all seen our fair share of horses that were allegedly dangerous for reasons that the horse’s handlers were oblivious to (but obvious reasons to the rest of us!). Especially if this is an older horse with show miles. Perhaps someone selling this horse was naturally confident and rode the horse daily and felt the horse would be a good match for a beginner, but it actually wasn’t. I could see how that might happen. I personally would consider my horse to be beginner safe on most days, but of course he’s never been in consistent work with beginners. He’s in consistent work with ME who knows every single game before he even tries to play it, so he rarely even tries. If he was solely worked with by a beginner, especially if they didn’t work with him daily, I could see him becoming pushy, maybe even flighty, and potentially dangerous after trying a few games and realizing he can win them. He’s not mean at all, but he has a devious sense of humor.
Here’s the thing: If I advertised a horse as beginner safe and then the beginner buyer called me a few months later to tell me that my horse went crazy, I’d take him back in a heartbeat. I would hope they’d have the consideration to make that phone call to me before dumping him.
My mom recently rescued and rehomed a mini. Rescued her from a BYB (although she’s very nice quality and fancy, but had no “connection” to humans), got her used to socializing with people, started her on the lungeline, and then gave her for free to a woman who was looking for a new driving prospect. My mom has emailed the new owners several times to check in and make sure she’s working out. They have emailed pictures of them working her, first ground driving in a harness, and then already had her hooked up and driving. Now how is that for continuity??!! My mom can rest assured that her pony is not just sitting somewhere; she has proof of her in action! There’s nothing wrong with following through on the new home. When I bought my first horse at age 9, the girl selling him asked my mom if she could call every so often and ask about him. She did, and we mailed her pictures throughout the first year or two of me taking lessons on him, our first horse show, joining pony club, etc.
This pertains to yesterday’s post. Here is another horror story about a very bad trainer starving/killing horses. I’d love it if you could out them. Here is the link to the info:
http://artisticgold.webs.com/neglectstarvationdeath.htm
The owner leased her two very nice warmblood mares out for breeding, and only one made it home, half starved to death. There are pictures and links to other owners who found their horses in the same condition. This breeder/trainer should have their name posted all over the internet so that no one will ever let them near a horse again.
She’s the one who knows who they are – she is the one who needs to out them. I’m happy to leave the link here in the comments, but if she wants to protect others, she needs to name names.
I agree. Just telling terrible stories clearly doesn’t help — look at the other party’s link, where she tells a very similar story — but again, no names. She has *proof* that the one mare was severely neglected and that the lease contract was breached.
Now, I have to add something — I have leased mares for breeding, and I have leased out mares for breeding. I have *never* leased or been a lessee a horse without requiring (or being required to secure) INSURANCE listing the horse’s owner as the beneficiary.
It doesn’t bring back the horse — but since the person who has leased the horse is responsible for the costs of the claim (necropsy, for example), it tends to make them a bit more aware that the horse *must* have a standard of care.
Extreme long shot, just because I’ve been looking for him and the height and age are right- try TB named Holderman, foaled in 87, by Lydian out of Pewter Pitcher. I can find his tat number if you give me a few hours.
Swale, although this is totally off topic, a really good friend of mine owns a half brother to the horse you are looking for – also out of Pewter Pitcher! Please feel free to contact me if you want to compare notes!
“it always upsets me when people get vengeful” Indeed. NHR, but not long ago a very skinny stray dog at a construction site in Greece, very shy of people, was finally caught. The rescuer found the dog’s mouth zip-tied shut. Maybe bit someone, but still… revenge against an animal is just unconscionable.
Just a question. If any owner or agent specifically states that their horse is “for kill only”, does the auction barn have any responsibility to see that the horse is not sold to the public? The auction barn would have no idea if, say a horse killed someone, and was sent to kill. Then, what if some 4-H kid bought it? Who would be liable? The owner sent it to kill, and the auction barn, sold it “back to the farm”. I knew a horse once who would flip on it’s rider. It was a well bred horse, but was sent to auction. She wasn’t marked kill only, and was sold to someone. In that case, I’d say if you buy at auction, it’s always buyer beware. It’s usually there for a reason. What happens if someone is hurt on your horse if you don’t declare it dangerous before it’s sold at auction? You pay your money and take your chances? In the case of a known dangerous horse marked for kill because of it, is the auction barn liable if they run it thru the sale and let it go to someone who “feels sorry for it”, or who wants to “rescue it because it looks well bred”? If I sold a dangerous horse to action for kill only, I would be hopping mad if I found out some parent bought it for their 4-Her kid.
Ponykins, an owner concerned about his horse hurting someone because its behavior is dangerous certainly should not send it to an auction! Such an owner has no right to be “hopping mad” at anyone. Once someone owns the animal, there is no way to control what they do with it — for worse or for better. The only way to assure a dangerous horse never injures anyone is to euth it, NOT send it off to auction (assuming it was really untrainable or the genesis of the behavioral problem was biological/organic).
First of all, if the horse was truly dangerous he should have been euthanized not sent to an auction. No true horseman would risk injury to people in attendance at the auction or auction employees just to make a buck! The auction barn has no responsibility to the person that buys the horse, all sales are final and you buy at your own risk. You can not mark a horse “kill only” and then send it to an auction, once in the ring anyone can bid on it. The only way to guarantee your horse goes to kill is have it euthanized or take it to the slaughterhouse yourself. Even selling directly to the meat man is no guarantee, if they can make a buck selling it to another individual or taking it to another auction that is what they are going to do.
I do not understand why people would send a dangerous horse to an auction, and then complain if it didn’t go for kill. Take some responsibility, it is your duty to make sure that no one is injured by a dangerous animal that you own so do the right thing and have it put to sleep.
Thank you alpha mare. The only horse that I ever dealt with that was dangerous enough to be euthed was a weanling hackney cross pony. By dangerous, I mean that he would charge the front of his stall and leap into the bars, striking, so that his little front legs were sticking out. No sense of self preservation AT ALL. God help the human that tried to enter the stall. He would ATTACK. Teeth, front feet, hind feet, the whole bit. This animal was not mistreated. He ran in a field with Mama and all of the other babies from that year until we rounded everyone up and discovered how “not right” he was. We tried very hard to get him safe to handle. It was very freaky and very scary… and he was just a little guy! NO WAY would that animal be safe enough to run through an auction. Someone would get hurt.
Maybe I didn’t see it right, but some of the auction pictures show the horse being ridden (western saddle). If they(the owners) wanted it to be sold to slaughter, why would it be ridden through?
The only responsible thing to do in a situation where you have a “rogue” horse is to euth. Sending it through an auction is highly irresponsible and unfair to both the horse and anyone else who may come into contact with the animal.
Seconded. Though I have no experience with a truly aggressive horse, I do have a fear-reactive Border Collie. He is beyond wonderful with family/people he knows (heck, my agility trainer says he is the most affectionate dog she has ever met, and she’s competed internationally), but will snap/growl/lunge at strangers. He has never bitten, but he certainly could one day. My husband and I are very, very aware of this, and manage him like crazy. We make a lot of sacrifices in lifestyle to be able to keep him safe, and keep others safe from him. I’ve told my parents before that if my husband and I both died in a horrible car crash (or whatever), I want him euthanised. I have no doubt that my parents would love to keep him, but I don’t believe they understand and/or are truly willing to make the sacrifices to manage his environment and I don’t want anyone to get hurt (or him to be so scared that he feels like he must bite someone).
If I won’t even let my own parents keep my dog, I can’t imagine someone allowing a complete stranger to buy their aggressive horse from an auction.
How sad. Just think if Second Chance Ranch hadn’t rescued him! Hope someone knows his story.
Also, OT, but I think I just found the Bad Parent of the day!
http://saginaw.craigslist.org/grd/1551919913.html
He looks an awful lot like a horse I used to know named Strikey (pretty sure that’s not the name he started with) over on the Olympic Peninsula. I’ll ask around.
Also, must say that I disagree with the White Line Disease treatment. If anyone cares, I’ll tell you what I would have done
There are some pretty effective treatments that don’t call for the potential destabilization of the hoof capsule by resection. I’ve never had a problem getting it healed quite effectively. Anyhow, if I learn any more, I’ll repost.
I haven’t (LUCKILY!) had a WLD case in 20 years myself, so it looked like a good job to me but I do understand that this is a rather old school way of dealing with it and there are other ways now.
Please tell me your cure isn’t garlic!
*giggles*
No, garlic has it’s uses, but WLD requires sterner stuff! In my opinion, WLD can often also be classified as LOFD (lack of farrier disease). The reason why it can be nearly impossible to cure with conventional methods is that you’re dealing with a white line (which is basically the “seam” between the outside layer on the horse’s foot bone and the hoof wall) that has been stretched apart, almost always by lack of care or bad care (which can be even worse than no care in certain circumstances!) that leaves the hoof capsule (the hard wall and sole parts) unbalanced and pulling apart where they shouldn’t be.
The white line cannot hold up your horse! What I mean is, if the wall grows way out and is allowed to become unbalanced, that little seam of the white line cannot support the weight of the horse as it “dangles” from that long, overgrown wall, the length of which is often added to by the height of a shoe. The sole of the hoof begins to descend within the capsule – the horse’s weight pushes the bones down toward the ground. Now you’ve got real trouble – the soft stretched out white line is a delicious snack for a whole host of disgusting microbes. The infection creeps up into the capsule. As fast as the horse can grow hoof, the microbes ensure that it isn’t attached to the bone – they actually separate that seam between the hoof and the horse (the white line). A whole bunch of other stuff is going on now, too, but I only have all day….
The reason why they used to resect is that it is so difficult to kill germs way up in the hoof. The entire diseased portion would be removed and the prognosis was often pretty poor. The risk of further infection of the now exposed inner tissue (think about what you see stuck on the outside of your horses’ hooves – eeww) was very high, bumping the naked hoof could cause ugly bruising/abscesses, plus, NO support for the poor coffin bone (the actual horse!) on the front of the hoof. The coffin bones would often rotate as a result, and it got sad and ugly after that.
The new improved method involves more frequent care or owner assistance (don’t be afraid to help care for your horse’s feet – ask your farrier if it would be helpful if you rasped your horse once during his hoof care cycle – ask if there’s anything you can do to help, and they’re often happy to show you how to help your horse have even better feet. We can’t be there every day!
) to keep the separated portions of the hoof from bearing the horse’s weight while well-attached hoof grows down to meet the ground. This means that the horse’s weight will be supported on the bottom of the hoof and whatever wall is well-attached. This is the way it is meant to be – the dirt is supposed to “push back” and help hold the sole and the bones of the hoof from falling out the bottom! Pray you never see that.
The second prong of the attack involves addressing the germs. The world’s finest farrier could attend your horse moment by moment, but if the germs are happily occupying the Ritz Laminae (room service there is great), nothing will help. I know that a lot of barefoot hoof care advocates (I am one) have gotten pretty soft on the chemicals, and for the most part I agree, but when it comes to hoof germs, NUKE ‘EM. Do NOT mess around — I do tell people to use White Lightning or CleanTrax and soak. Those products are controversial in some circles, but I say a few hours soaking to potentially save the horse’s life is worth it. It’s a pain in the neck, but the people who go through with it are the ones whose horses recover beautifully.
Then you’ve just got to keep them maintained and never let them get stretched out again.
Also: people, do NOT let your foal’s hooves go untrimmed. Unless the little buggers are moving 7-10 miles per day, they are not getting enough wear. Their little necks are so short that they spread their legs to eat. This wears off the inside of the hoof, but not the outside. This causes babies that toe out – you cannot fix that as effectvely after the horse is about 10 mos old. Get your foals trimmed within the first month by someone very gentle and patient (I like to trim one of the mare’s hooves, then one of the baby’s, etc so as not to wear them out). You will set them up for soundness and a better chance at life because of that. Good horses end up at the feed lot because they’re dangerous with their feet – don’t let it be your little darlin’.
Whew – you should know better than to ask me a question – I’ll answer it!
You may be opening a real can of worms here. First, I must say I do not agree with putting this horse on a “kill” truck. But, if that was the owners specific instructions to the kill buyer (Ron) and he then sold the horse to an individual rather then actually loading him on the truck, there could be repercussions on him (Ron). By your advertizing that he (Ron) did not follow instructions he (Ron) may never again allow someone to purchase and “save” a kill bound horse that came into his possession in this manner. It is possibable that in this instance you could be hurting a lot more horses than this one sweet guy you just saved.
I have always, and will always, “out” and shame people who do this. I understand the argument that it might hurt other horses because it may encourage owners to simply cover things up better, but you could use that argument with regard to virtually ANY crime that we cover in any form of media. I believe that public shame and possible harm to their income if they are in the horse business is likely to increase the odds that someone will pay for euthanasia rather than put the horse on a kill truck. As a group, horsepeople need to stand up and say THIS ISN’T OKAY and mean it.
Perhaps… but they sent the horse to auction where anyone with a bid number could buy him. I’m not 100% sure that it is even legal for the auctioneer to only allow the bids of certain people at a public auction. Therefore it could be argued that there was no expectation or guarantee that the horse would go to kill, just simply the owners expressed preference. Same deal as when an owner says “no kill buyers” but still sends their horse through the ring…
When putting an animal, or any other “commodity” up for public auction, there really is no picking and choosing of bidders. (If it were some kind of “private” auction, that would be different. But a PUBLIC auction, where anyone can attend and bid, there is no such thing as specifying what bidders you want, or what you want the bidder to do with the horse once they’ve bought it. Perhaps some try, with the “kill only” labels, but legally there is no such thing. Anyone can bid, and once they’ve bought, they can do anything they like with the horse.
The people who decide to send their horses to auction are throwing the animal’s life into the roulette wheel. There is no telling where they are going to end up.
The only responsible ways to deal with a horse that is deemed dangerous is to pay to investigate why it is behaving that way, give it away to a person who is more knowledgable and may be able to fix it, or put it to sleep.
These speculations about “responsibility” on Cathy’s part or the auction house’s part or the killbuyers part are all completely moot. They did nothing wrong. Responsibility was given up when the owner dumped the horse there.
I suppose that if you can win in a court because you were not informed that a fishburger is seafood than it is probably possible to sue the person who sold you a horse who bucked you off. But still, what kind of person sends their pet to kill to avoid a lawsuit? If you cannot handle your horse, you seek proffessional help or in a worst instance euth the horse. Most of the horses I know have hurt at least one person in their lives (spooking, having a bad day, being in a wrong place in a wrong time) – s.h.i.t happens, they are just over 1000 lbs annimals – but no one has ever thought about sueing the previous owner. If the horse turns out not to be what was promised, someone might want their money back but hell – if you are not horsey enough to go horse shopping by yourself, ASK someone competent for help.
As much as I enjoyed living in the US, the law system is just grotesque…
Olala- not sure what country you are from but we stayed in the Netherlands for 3 months last winter and I can say that I will take our laws over their laws ANY day. (while we were there a girl was charged with assault for pepper spraying a man who tried to rape her. The man got charged with rape and she got charged with assault. I suppose that is fair in a very twisted messed up sort of way.)
Anyone who sends a horse to auction “for kill only” is a bottom-feeding asshat.
I don’t care how rich, educated, successful in business, or respected in your church you are, that is just WRONG. I’m so SICK of people who somehow salve their consciences with their exalted financial state. I don’t know how they do it, but it’s been going on for millennia I suppose.
A horse of this caliber is not owned by poor people, or even middle-class people.
If they REALLY wanted this horse dead, they should’ve made a couple of phone calls to the vet & renderer type person, and have done with it.
If they were worried about their precious reputation, selling an old horse with lameness issues, they could’ve come up with a little notarized contract in about 5 minutes.
People need to keep in mind that at his age, with the obvious care that has gone in to him, that perhaps his owner may be deceased and being at the auction is the end result of having no heirs to take over his ownership. Just a theory…..
A friend who knows TB’s suggested that a vet armed with a blacklight may be able to decipher the lip tattoo. Worth a try!
When I was trying to figure out my standardbred’s tatoo, someone told me to take pictures of it from different distances and then looking at the photos can help. They were right…I could see details in the photos that couldn’t be seen when the horse was moving his lip around. I was able to verify four out of five characters. Don’t know about the Jockey Club, but the Standardbred registry lets you search on standardbred tatoos, and you can substitute wildcards for characters you can’t figure out. I was told by a previous owner he was a certain horse, and when I substituted a wildcard for the unknown character, I came up with a list of potential horses….most were the wrong color, didn’t have the right markings, were way too young or the wrong sex…only one horse came up with 4 out of 5 characters and had all the right statistics. And it was exactly the name the previous owners told me.
Solving the tatoo might not help with the last owner’s names, but having a registered name and age might help find out more about him.
Netposse.com lists stolen horses, but they also list horses that people are trying to find info about. The website is a good idea…but I think very poorly designed and could be alot more effective if designed right. But you can check to see if he was stolen, or list him to ask for info about him.
think commenter “Ahinahina” is on the money.
If you were to send out an email to farriers in the PNW area asking if they knew about this horse and his treatment, it’s possible someone might remember?
WLD is rare enough here that a farrier would remember him, vets too. Could you post a pic of his lip tat? I have a lot of pony club/4-H friends in PNW and Seattle that will spread the word. I hope he gets a good home, and he definetely should have a fan page, please give us a link if one gets made.
One thing you could try if you suspect he was shown, call show barns and see if they remember him. Vets probably won’t give you a copy of the coggins because of privacy issues but someone at a barn might be willing to do some digging.
Hercules is a really nice horse and fingers crossed you find him a home. We went for a short walk in the sun yesterday and when put into the arena for exercise he just hung his head over the wall to be with everyone in the common area. He is very relaxed and calm, a perfect gentleman.
I think i may actually have a little information here. This horse looks EXACTLY like my 7 year old TB rescue. I did a little research on him a while ago to find out his lineage. This horse has exactly the same face as my horse, so i looked up his dad and compared it to him. Oddly enough, the whole page was taken down.
Sunset Stallions is no longer a working site. So, I googled the Stallion, and guess who has EXACTLY the same markings as the horse pictured above? His name is Warbuck, here is the cached cite. I know he doesnt fit 100%, but thats the best I could do. (from Colorado I believe)
If you can see the thumbnail, thats him.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sunsetstallions.com/Warbuck.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.sunsetstallions.com/warbuck.htm&usg=__3i-t2iyzicFNBOGVKRKKCZxDgSA=&h=309&w=348&sz=69&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=dP3d9Sq_QIfCMM:&tbnh=107&tbnw=120&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dsunset%2Bstallion%2Bwarbuck%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dfirefox-a%26rls%3Dorg.mozilla:en-US:official%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
He is only about 10 years old though, so I do not know if that is him for sure. But he is out of Art of Living, another TB, but I cant find any pictures of him. He was foaled in 1990.
I LOVE my rescue, who looks just like that boy, except for one marking on his leg. Otherwise I would be scared right now! lol
reply to my post for more info if you want it.
Nope, that’s not the correct horse. The foot markings are backwards. The horse you are linking to has two white backs and one right front, the mystery horse has to white fronts and one white back.
I would say it is going to be impossibly to figure out exactly who this horse is based on the photos alone. There are … I don’t know how many, but a lot, of bay TB-type horses with white strips and stockings.
The best way to track down the identity of the horse is by trying to decipher the lip-tattoo or talking to someone who has interacted with the horse in his past. Who delivered the horse to the auction? Start there.
I realize that this is an old post, but I positively let you know that this is not the Thoroughbred Stallion, Warbuck. The reason I know is because I own him. Thankfully he has always been in a loving home and not suffered like your beautiful rescue. Best wishes to him and hopefully all is going well with this lucky horse now.
Do we know *to an absolute certainty* that the owner sent the horse “for kill” for whatever reason? I do not see any evidence that anyone but the redoubtable Ron made this statement, and certainly (1) he is perfectly capable of telling a tale to cover his ass, and (2) if this were so — is Ron not a kill buyer? Something doesn’t seem to add up here.
Successfully reading the tattoo should at least provide his name and age, as well as his last racing owner, who might or might not have additional information about subsequent owners.
It sounds like Zebradreams talked to the actual owner, but I wasn’t there. I was told that Ron decided he was kill only after the biting incident. My understanding is he was not offered to the public for sale, but again, I wasn’t there.
No, he was run through the public sale… he was #426 and sold to kill for $85. There were stories written up for him and the little mule… two women posted the stories on the stall. Apparently the little white mule filly was his “stall companion” at the barn where he lived as he had been on stall rest for a long time. I have photos of the mule and frankly someone might remember seeing her quicker then a bay TB. If he was stabled at a public barn then SOMEONE should be able to recognize him. I mean… how many 17+ hh TBs are on stall rest for months with a teeny tiny pure white mule filly in their stalls with them?
Thanks for all of the additional info. That should help a lot!
What happened to the little mule? Slaughter?
No, someone bought her.
Hard to believe he is dangerous if he bunked with a little mule filly. She never would have made it to auction.
Here is a photo of him standing in the auction ring…
More auction photos….
Ugh. Those pictures give me sick memories of my one and only auction experience (and the day that Denali came into my life.) I know when I bought Denali her “owner” (AKA, the Jockey’s wife) rode her through. Wouldn’t the girl on his back be his owner? Is there anyway to zoom in on the picture and see if anyone recognizes HER? She might be easier to pick out than a TB. Just an idea. http://www.wildponybeast.blogspot.com
Zebradreams07 seems to know a lot about this horse. How about questioning this person first privately. At least this horse is not where he could have ended up. Everyhorse from auction has a story. Either they were stolen tossed away abuse, or just not up to par anymore. Every horse has a story. Some lived comfortably in well to do homes while others roughed it out in the weather, with minimal care. Its important to get the stories on these horses. There is always a why did this happen? How could it happen? I think its important to tell the stories of theses horses so the public can learn about auctions and what happens. Horses dont have a voice. People do. And others need to know. We cant bash someone until we find the whole story. Being more open is the only way we are going to get the information on this horse. We dont know who owned this horse, so we cant pass judgement on someone until we hear from them. it could have been a bad sale for all we know. Maybe this person is looking for their horse that was stolen. Who knows. I dont understand why put all that work into an older horse and then bring it to auction. That part just doesnt add up. I think the person will be more willing to come forward if we keep our cool. Even though it makes you mad to see such a nice horse going to the killbuyer. Maybe this person thought that the horse might have a better chance finding a home. The market is tough. There are so many horses that are in need of homes and not enough homes. I am glad this horse has asecond chance. As too many healthier horses dont even get a chance like this. Good equine rescues always have to bail out these horses that dont get to decide on where they end up in life.
I A horse doesnt choose to be with you. You choose to be with the horse.
Actually, the odds that someone who does NOT like the seller and does NOT like what they did with the horse is going to come forward and speak up are a LOT higher than the odds of the actual seller coming forward to admit they dumped a crippled horse at the auction. How are crimes solved? Very often, by someone who has fallen out with the criminal and now WANTS them to get busted.
The nice approach sounds great in theory, but it never works in practice. People take horses to Enumclaw for the precise reason of making them disappear. If they wanted to do the right thing, they had plenty of opportunities to do so before they put the horse in the trailer and hauled him off to become a horse steak.
An old timer told me this one – White Line Disease Treatment – 50% raw honey, 50% iodine. Warm the honey so it will mix with the iodine. Find the “bottom” the the WLD – probe up the hoof wall until you find where it become healthy. Drill a small hole through the hoof wall. Put an epoxy all along the bottom of the hoof, leaving a small opening (easiest to cut a nail down to 1/4 inch and put it up in the diseased WL Hold in place with duct tape- remove tape and nail after the epoxy sets). Put the mixture in a squirter bottle so you can apply the mixture (squirting gently through the hole in the hoof wall and let soak down until the mixture runs out the bottom hole). Use silly putty or plumber’s putty to “plug” the hole on the bottom and “top off” with the mixture. Let stand for four hours. Remove the plug and let drain (must be on concrete or a mat – not dirt). Repeat twice daily for 14 days. Put on a shoe and let the hoof grow out naturally.
You probably should check into the TB named Holderman and the black light idea.
Also, this may be impossible bcs. of the WLD and also a little far-fetched, but how does he react to jumps? If he seems eager about them/familiarized then he may be a hunter/eq. over fences guy…the tall height makes me want to think that. If hes like WTH then you can pretty much cross those two disciplines off the list.
You should also call some Seattle/PNW big time boarder barns and email them a flyer to post. Surely SOMEONE who’s been showing the local circuits will recognize him!
Too bad he hasnt raced in 15 years or else you could hit up the local race trainers for some info!! ):
Good Luck on your search!!
I hope no one gives up on the tattoo. Taking a picture of it with a digital camera might help. And the Jockey Club would help with a partial along with a description of the horse. It’s the strongest lead we have at this point.
I bet he was up to date on shots at one point. Maybe someone could check with the big-name vets?
Sadly, I don’t recognize him, but I did put up a link to the blog and a picture of him on my own blog. I don’t think anyone reads it much, I mainly just post there to chronicle my lessons with Jack, but hopefully someone will stumble over it who may know something.
Best of luck!
http://alittleblackpony.blogspot.com/
FUGS-I KNOW you’ll solve this one….and PLEASE tell me he is reunited with his little white mule buddy:) Or at least got a “REAL” home and not a trip to Canada.
Here personally I would get wrote up for ANY internet use on my work computer. And email is shared, so everyone could know. Jobs are too precious these days.
I apologize for the off-topic nature, but in Kansas City there’s a guy who “rescues” horses from the auctions, yet just a couple weeks ago during the cold snap didn’t notice he had 4 dead ones in the pasture. He even admitted that one died in the pond, but his excuse was: “One of them went through the ice — fell through the ice. He was old,” Sharon said.
The guy has bison, llamas, goats, sheep, geese, and way too many horses for the land – and no regular source of water in the winter excepted the iced-over pond (that smells like a cesspool), though he’s right across from a neighborhood full of $500k houses. Been “investigated” many a time, but somehow always gets away with it.
http://www.nbcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Dead-Horses-Found-in-Johnson-County-Pasture/KgI7D-Q5bEioHl2dyuYw8g.cspx
Living close to Stateline Rd myself, I’m pretty familiar with the land in question. And while I do think that there are far too many animals for the space I have heard from my horsey friends that he typically takes in old animals for retirement. I don’t believe the animals discussed in the article were starved or malnourished, just old. The ground here is still pretty frozen so it would be difficult to buy them. That being said, he shouldn’t have left them just dead out in the open like that near two busy roads, but then again, if he had something to hide he probably wouldn’t have.
I want to make it clear that I’m not defending anyone, if I saw multiple dead horses on a piece of property I would certainly call be calling animal control but there are two sides to every story. As long as they weren’t starved/injured or signs of abuse/neglect then I don’t think there is much of an issue.
Aww that old man is adorable! I can’t believe that someone would toss him out like that
He deserves a retirement after putting in all those years of hard work for people. Good job keeping him from going to the slaughter house! I hope he finds a good home! I wish I could take another one, he would be it!
OT: But here is seriously sweet guy that needs a home and at that price who knows who will snatch him up! With some work he could prob be the perfect horse to truck around the younger ones!
http://canterusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1713:update-11810-price-reduced-qchicoq&catid=58:pa-trainer-listings&directory=305
I don’t think you need to worry too much about who snap him up. That horse is available through CANTER, which is a rehoming group for Thoroughbreds. They are a pretty trusted group around Michigan, and I don’t believe just anyone can get them.
Well, there is a *little* reason to worry. That’s a CANTER trainer-listing. Since the horse is not CANTER-owned, it won’t be subject to the same adoption applications & site checks as a CANTER-owned horse would be. That said, the trainer knows and cares enough to list through CANTER, so hopefully he won’t allow himself to be fooled by someone who wants the horse for no good reason!
I found a horse that I had been trying to buy from the owners for 10 years. The horse had issues mainly being greenbroke and abused by the owner’s father. He had been put thru the auction and went to one of the kill buyers. The auction had been on a Wednesday and I found out on the Saturday that same week. I was having a party with friends over, when one of my friends shows up late and tells me the horse went thru the auction to slaughter. Party over, I started making phone calls. I called the barn manager who refused to talk to me about it (they also convinced the owners not to sell him to me, afraid the horse might be proven to actually be trainable and a good horse).
I called the auction and reached the auction dealer’s wife, who told me who brought the horse in and where he went to. I tracked down the buyer, a horse trader who also was a kill buyer. I raced to the trader’s barn on Sunday with my trailer and enough money to convince him to sell me the horse. He yelled at me that the horse was nasty and bit and kicked, and was lame, why would I want him? But money talks and I got him.
I found out later thru the barn grapevine that the horse had been force loaded with a rope around his rear and whipped, and that he had flipped over on the cement injuring his sacroliliac severely. He was sound until this happened, so he went thru the auction “in the sand” as they say for lame horses.
My point of this story is, sometimes the auction house will tell you if you deal with them nicely, who brought the horse in.
I do not agree with slaughter, but the auction house is a business and while many of them don’t care either way where these poor horses go, some have come to realize that they get more business if they work with the rescue groups.
I paid that horse trader $1890.00 for a horse he paid $550.00 for.
That horse is priceless. He is such a gem, and at 20 years old, still a bit greenbroke, but ever-willing and happy to do whatever I ask of him.
Try calling the auction house, they have to have a record of the seller. They may not tell you, but you never know.
Another suggestion…
The person who took Hercules to auction might be the weak link because they wouldn’t be too keen on talking about it.
But if you circulated those photos and pretended to be interested in the cute little white mule…
(As long as the little mule didn’t go to kill; I hope he/she didn’t?)
fugs, is there even the slightest indication of what the tattoo *might* be? We can try different letters around how old he seems to be, and if there’s even two digits that are readable I could search from there. Or even if you don’t know for sure but the number could be a 5 or a 6… that could be a start in ID.
I will start by saying I do no know this horse. However, I have a 4yr old OTTB with horrendous feet. Left front is clubby with lamanitic changes along with previous founder as a 2yr old. I will blame the incredible amounts of steroids- apparently the race trainer didnt think to check that he could be metabolic. Over the past two years I have tried countless ways to build a better hoof. He was shod/rebalanced every 4 weeks, given hoof hardeners, smartpaks Ultra Hoof etc. My farrier said the same thing every month “well its not better, but its not worse either”. The walls were shelly and flakey and his sole was 3mm’s thick. The dead laminitc tissue would peel off his toe like string cheese.
He was on superbute and ulcergaurd cocktails to keep him comfortable. I almost lost him over the summer twice due to a mystery illness (still did not find the source)- he has major dental problems a compromised stifle (floating patella) and will stock up if left in too long. Yeah- he is a real healthy one. However I will say that I have fixed his feet- and the main source of his correction is Formula 4 Feet. Over the fall I found the Lamanitis Clinic of the UK’s website and poured over it. I purchased this pelleted feed and can honestly say it saved his life. If he continued on as uncomfortably as he had been, he would have been put down. At the end of November my farrier was scheduled to come out and had conflicting issues (sick, vacations, holiday) over and over again…my boy was 3 weeks overdue by the time he saw him. During this time his shoes stayed on and he remained comfortable. When the farrier finally arrived he could not believe the condition of his feet and ended up not even touching them. He felt that whatever he was being fed was actually FIXING his feet. His soles are HARD and the dead tissue from the laminits is showing blood flow! His backfeet look like a barefoot warmblood!
My point to all this is if this guy has such horrible problems with his feet, I suggest Formula 4 Feet to whomever adopts him. It may actually change his life! And its a safe supplement because it is designed for horses who cannot have sugar in their diets (a common TB issue).
The reason I said I wonder if he hurt someone is it seems no one would take a horse to an auction and sell it for $85 if they did not have some sort of grudge against the horse. But then I am not a money person, and the grudge could have come from the person who felt they were spending entirely too much money for this lame horse – plus providing him with a stall companion – all for nothing! The grudge was they didn’t get their money’s worth and they didn’t just want to get rid of him, they wanted to punish him as well. “I’m not putting another dime into that horse!” That’s what can happen to wonderful horses as they age and get passed along. I knew a woman whose whole career in Arabian horses started with a really lovely gelding that she went to the top with. He was her first horse and her parents bought her the best. When he was old and getting navicular she sold him. She said, “He was only going to get lamer.” These people have no soul.
My farrier suggested posting a photo of the bottom of the hooves, especially the resected one, as he suspects the shoes were custom made and farriers often initial their shoes or someone will recognize the work. There are a lot of farriers in Washington, but probably not a lot that could/would do that kind of corrective work.
Any update this morning?
Agreed. My farrier can ID most of the custom jobs in our area based on the way the shoes are made and corrective work that’s been done.
I found Heracles’ Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hercules-the-horse/288516742215?ref=search&sid=27317898.302389674..1&v=wall
I would be surprised if you could get a farrier to come forward and participate in outing an owner for shipping a difficult or unfixable horse to the sale. Farriers see a lot of creepy stuff around the barns that they work at – but it’s not in their best interest to pass judgement or go blabbing and/or making waves as it could lose them accounts. Unless, of course, they are fed up with the owners and didn’t care if they got fired.
check us out on Facebook!
http://www.facebook.com/farriers.hoofprints
I believe this is Pal. He belonged to one of my clients and I have notified her to see if I am right. If so, she will be heartbroken to hear this story because she did everything to give him a good life even after he got scared and started stopping. He was a jumper in CA – we made him a dressage horse and his owner (who had paid a lot for him) sold him to a girl for almost nothing to give him a good home. This is a very sad story, but with a nice end. I will let everyone know if my guess was correct on his identity.
My friend who helped save him said her feeling was that he was a quality horse who was given or sold cheap to someone who swore they’d give him a good home and then did this. Would not surprise me.
I know from dealing with him that someone just LOVED this horse. He has too many cute habits. Somewhere in his past is a fine owner who is going to be thrilled he was saved and maybe want him back or want to help him.
I can be reached directly at ricrider05@msn.com. Erica
Point: Is the intent to identify the horse, or shame the last owners? Because hyperbole or not, selling at auction’s not against the law. Tracking down the owner via the auction is reasonable if it’s to ask them who the horse is. But one person has already apparently gotten a harrassing e-mail (and no, posting your identity on-line for WORK is not the same as saying “Send a nasty e-mail and put my name out there in association with a horse sold for slaughter before you know if I am remotely connected to the matter.” I’m listed on my employer’s web site as [my job] with my work e-mail. That isn’t an invitation to send me personal notes there.)
Regarding the tattoo–try the blacklight. If you can get even a couple numbers, it shouldn’t be too hard to search the JC tattoo lookup (for those who haven’t done it, it’s fairly easy–if you have a partial, put in as much as you can of the number and any white markings and it will take you the horse descriptions that are close matches, and you can pick the one that is closest to what you’re looking at and see if the horse is a match. The descriptions of the white marks are VERY specific, making it easier to narrow down likely candidates.) If you can guestimate the age, just fill in the letter for the appropriate year and go up or down one or two.
Both. It’s not against the law but it’s a shitty thing to do and I am GOING to out the person who did it.
He’s an old horse – he has had plenty of owners who didn’t suck. One will find him here and identify him.
As far as outing the farm who starved the leased horses, first you google Senter Stage and find the name of the farm that had him.
Then you go to the wayback machine and do a search for that farm:
http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.sundownfarmva.com/
I wonder what happened there because a year or so ago things were not that bad there…. At least they didn’t seem to be.
your right. there has been plenty of opportunity for someone to speak up, and maybe being more blunt about things is better, instead of the tip toeing around the issue. You know the business and how people work. You have seen it first hand. You know how to deal with people like that. I think your blog helps find a lot of these cowards. It helps give others a head up on how a certain person is working. I just cant believe people can jsut dump their horses in a place like that. The night I bought my mare. There was so many that needed homes. They had no expression in their eyes.
It was only me and another person bidding on my mare. I bought her for a little under $1000. She was 14 and had a bit of a swayback. Something about her. She had spunk and attitude. She showed confidence and she owned the ground she walked on. And she is the biggest sweetheart. With some work and and good fitting tack and special pads she is great to ride. I was lucky to be able to contact her previous owner that raised her. He use to run her on the trails. He said she could go all day. So she never really learned that she can actually walk. She would jig a lot. But with my trainer I have a horse that can walk and not jig and relax after a canter. But I just wish I could have given all those horses a home. This auction they do a lot with the horses. He was happy that I called him. And was saying that if he could have kept her he would have, and how great the horse was etc. Well she couldnt have been to great for him just to get tossed aside. But if it is not for your blog and exposuring asshats, they wont get caught. You do let us know of good quality breeding farms and good quality rescues. We are just sooo lucky to have horses and there are people who just treat them like their everyday bag of trash. I dont understand why people put their horses through the torture of just being at an auction house, instead of being put down,especially if they are injured. They deserve more then that. they need to be put down and out of their misery if you cant keep them because of an injury and you cant find a decent home. But why even dump your problems on someone else. I know someone that bought a horse from a vet that had EPM. She found out that was why the vet got rid of him. But my friend gave the horse a comfortable life and was euthanized last year at 22.
ALL horses run through the Enumclaw Auction have the last name of the person who brought them in written on the back of the plastic auction number on their butts. Peel it off and look.
That’s a good idea!! I still have mine, and will always hold onto it.
http://www.wildponybeast.blogspot.com
They’re not always legibile, though–they were never able to get a clear read off the tag on the one I bought. In the end it wasn’t particularly important where he came from as even if there were papers on an unbroken maybe-ten-year-old gelding who might be an Arab, he’s never going to do anything where he’ll need them, and they obviously don’t want him. And while I did google what they could read, and there were a couple hits that might or might not be the person, but in the end, it’s really not all that important. They don’t own him any more. (He was 402 from the October sale, now named Mr. T and living happily with his new owner.)
If someone can email me pics of the tattoo, I’d be MORE THAN HAPPY to try to read it. You can email me at sm1982s@yahoo.com with the subject line of TATTOO please…. I’d love to find out who this pretty boy is and help OUT the asshat who did this to him!
Fortunately and unfortunately, this is not Pal. Pal had more white on his face. But, I truly believe his past will come to light eventually. At least he is in good hands and a loving home now!!
I really hope we can solve this one. I was hoping it would happen fast! The suspense is killing me!
To the people who feel we shouldn’t out the person who sent the horse: think of the most important horse in your life, the one that you adored more than anything. Maybe you were able to keep it forever, but if something came up where you had to sell it, wouldn’t you be FURIOUS to know it got dumped? If not, then you probably should not have horses. The horse world needs to be aware of people who do this so we don’t sell our horses to them.
I agree with you, I kept my beloved pony Angel till she was 35, I laid her to rest on my farm. My favorite mare Jet is now 27, she will be with me for the rest of her life, when the time comes she will be next to my dear Angel. I could not imagine dumping her at a sale or “giving her away” to someone just because she is old.
By the way, just because they were/are old, doesn’t mean they are/were thin!
Depends on why it got sold. If I sold it, and it ended up flipping and killing someone, I’d prefer they have shot it for foxhounds or to compost but I could see why. (I prefer shooting and humane killers, which are basically hand-held captive bolt guns, to chemical euthanasia, which is a toxin nightmare and makes it even more expensive to dispose of the body because it’s now unfit for animals, unsafe to compost, a hazard to drinking water, etc.) It would be nice if we had knackers who would come for horses, but we don’t have that most places.
Not to mention a lot of horses came through Camelot a couple weeks back who were marked as court-ordered sales. Their owners didn’t choose to put them there, the law said they had to be sold at public auction and this one is the nearest. In the case of divorce, intestate deaths, lawsuits, seizures, abandoned property, foreclosures, animals can end up at auction not because people are MEEEAAANNNN but because there is a legal mandate for a public sale at auction. Horses end up at sales for reasons other than people having deliberate evil intentions, so maybe hold off on the tar and feathers.
I don’t know, I see it differently. Any horse can flip and kill people if they’re in the wrong situation. I see my horses like a mother sees their child. If my horse flipped and killed someone, well, that person probably had no business having my horse. People need to use better judgement when they buy and sell horses to avoid this. There are some crazy horses out there who can be GREAT horses in the hands of the right person. And, there are some perfectly sane horses out there who BECOME crazy in the hands of the wrong person. It’s the sellers responsibility to know the horse they are selling and be honest about it and refuse to sell the horse to someone they don’t feel is qualified. I am still in favor of the tar and feathers. =)
With that being said, I would be amongst those tarred and feathered. Maybe that’s why I feel so strongly about it– guilt. When I was in junior high, my parents bought this adorable little 4 yr old grey arabian gelding who was a TERRIBLE match for them. Neither of them had much formal training, and neither had the horse, and both of them tend to get nervous easily, and so did the horse, and after about a year of bolting and bucking they decided to sell him. A lady came out to see him who had taken lessons as a teenager, then took time off to go to school and have babies, and now wanted to get back into lessons. Key word “wanted”, as opposed to “had already”. She seemed sincere enough, and it was the first horse we’d ever sold so what did we know? We knew the barn she kept him at and every time we drove past there he was sitting in the same field with the same muddy spots on him, indicating he STILL was not receiving any training and getting older. Who knows what ever ended up happening to him… Why didn’t we just give him to a teenage upper level pony clubber to train for a year and flip for a profit? That would have given the horse training and given the rider confidence in a possible horse career. He wasn’t dangerous at all with an experienced rider on his back, just with a green nervous one. If only we knew then what we know now…. But, the important thing is we DO know NOW, so no more mistakes and excuses ever again.
I don’t know who he is, but I’ve been constantly checking in to see if the Mystery has been solved. Because of his height, someone must know him, I believe it’s only a matter of time.. And I’ve become a fan..Wishing him the best!~
Me too! I find this horse so compelling that I have been checking to see if he has been identified each day before I read my own mail or cook dinner. Thankfully he seems to have found fairy godmothers to take care of him now. I still expect a good end to his story. (But then I still like fairy tales.)
I hope you do find out his full story.
We have been hunting our new horse, Arab or Arab x with brands, since Nov last year with no luck and like this horse, ours was loved very much at one stage as he is highly educated and never flinched with the clippers etc. before he fell into hands that allowed his health to deteriorate. He is starting to bloom again and my daughter happily rides in a bitless bridel adn is now jumping him. We have advertised everywhere in our country, contacted the registries etc no luck, I would love to find out more about Clancy, just as you are hunting up this boys history
Just on a side note about slaughter, I do not believe in sending horses to slaughter, why not just PTS where they live instead of so muc stress and sense of death before it is their turn. These are horses, no longer beasts of burden but mostly pets, they deserve a better ending then slaughter yards.
But, rescueing horses with behavour issues can be frought with danger for the unsuspecting. I recall a very experienced horsey neighbour of years ago had bought a beaitful bay for her to return to riding and competition, now she was a racetrack strapper for many years, so knew how to deal with difficult situations. This horse was wonderful until asked to canter, he would then rear up and fall over backwards, she narrowly missed being tragically squashed the first time and the second time she was well prepared.
She was sending him to slaughter when someone heard about the horse and felt sorry for him, so paid a minimal fee to my friend on the condition she would be VERY careful on who rode him and my neighbour was totally honest about the horse. What did this idiot woman do? Put KIDS ON HIM! Not sure what happened in the future, she lost track of where the horse went, I just hope to God that nothing ever happend to another rider.
in some situations it is best to PTS rather then play devils advocate
Good luck with your search
I thought I would try posting here: I’m looking for an old horse we used to have TB registered name is Bushmill’s Point big (16.2-17hh) Sorrel gelding born in 1986, we called him Buddy. Bred in Sacramento county, My Aunt bought him from an abusive trainer (one of those beat the horse into submission types) when he was two or three. I don’t know if he raced (I was 9 when we had him). He was a different definition of ‘greenbroke’ than my mom’s and aunt’s. I think he was twitched for saddling because he blew up the first time we did it. He was also really scared of men, but we worked on him for a year. And, uhm, he liked kids…cause he had no problem with us getting up on his back. He went into hunter/jumper training possibly at the Moody Ranch.
I’d like to offer Buddy a retirement home, here in the gelding pasture. If anyone hears about Bushmill’s Point let me know, please. I don’t want him at a auction.
holly.meeks@gmail.com
The little white mule looks like Wendy. I took the picture posted and sent it to the person who sold the little white mule, as I have the partner little black mule, about the same size. I will see what she says, but I know that she sold it to a dressage barn to be a friend for a horse.
Any luck with this? It sounds very promising!
She just emailed me and told me to have Fugly check her email, and that I was the 3rd person who asked her. She said she sent Fugly the info.