I’d be less of a bitch if I were wrong more often!
Feb 13 2010
The first thing I want to say is that this farm has NO RELATIONSHIP to the one in Michigan of the same name, which appears to be a lovely facility. This farm is in MAINE.
This blog is now nearly three years old. Â For three years, some of the horse community has loved it and some of the horse community has bashed me as a meanie, unfair, nasty, sniping, “no right to judge” and so on. Â Well, folks, I’ll stop being such a bitch when I stop being right so often about these damn backyard breeders and krazy kolor breeders that I feature! You know, the ones that show up here protesting that their program is awesome and I don’t know WTF I am talking about and they’ve been doing this for twenty-five years and they take GREAT care of their horses and everyone in the whole world loves them and I must just be a bitter, unhappy person with no friends not to love them and their wonderful horses.
Here we go AGAIN!  When this story came to my attention, I said to myself  ”why does that farm name sound familiar?”  I did a little hunting around and, yes, it’s someone I featured in the first year of the blog when someone sent me their fugly sabino Thoroughbred colt as an example of Things Desperately Needing De-Balling.
Original Blog
From the comments of that blog (emphasis mine):
“OK well, I actually forwarded the website the colt is on to [FHOTD]… I am considering breeding my mare again, after she produced a wonderful colt(that is everything I wanted and more), and decided to take a look locally this time. I browsed the “Uncle Henry’s†to see what was close by, so I could see the stallion in person this time, rather than video and going by others oppinions. There are no photos in Uncle Henry’s, but the ad sounded professional, so I spoke with the colt’s owner and she descibed all of her stallions as wonderful sport horses, with excellent conformation and movement, that would complement most any sport horse mare. She answered my questions and refered me to her website (http://fairplayfarm.net/)for photos. The red flag on the phone was she said something along the lines of all her boys being so great, she does not have the heart to geld any of them. I saw the photos on the website and said, forget the Maine “Uncle Henry’s breedersâ€, I’ll look into stallions out of state.”
Wise choice, Gentle Reader!
So three years pass and where is Ms. Oh-My-God-My-Sporthorses-Are-So-Amazing-That-They’re-All-Stallion-Quality and how are those amazing sporthorses doing? Â HERE YA GO! Here’s how they’re doing. If that isn’t one of the worst things I’ve ever seen still on its feet…! Â HOW it is still on its feet, I don’t know, but it needs out of there NOW. If someone rehabs that horse successfully, they deserve a freaking medal!
So call me whatever you want…I’ll stop being a bitch when these asshats stop (a) breeding boatloads, er, double-decker loads of low end horses and then (b) starving them. Â I suspect I’ll go to my grave still a bitch!
Gosh, that’s one SOOPER classy “sport horse” operation you’ve got there, Alexis and Brett Ingraham (formerly Alexis Pelletier). Â I can tell by those pictures that you guys are seriously world class. I mean, just look at that facility! Â Why, it’s the equine equivalent of Great Mobile Homes of Mississippi. Â Who could fail to be impressed? Â I mean, hell, no reason you should be embarrassed or anything. Keep standing your stallion at public stud. Â Surely no one will come to your property and report you or anything.
Oh, wait, as I understand it, you’re no longer a breeder. NOW you’re claiming to be a “rescue.” Â Funny how everybody’s personal horses become rescues when they drop enough weight to look like rescues, isn’t it? It’s like magic! Â Shazam, they’re rescues! Â Now you’re not a breeder! Â You’re a rescuer! Â So the animal control people should go away because, hey, it’s not your fault.
You can’t care for your horses but you still have ALL KINDS OF TIME to post on horsey message boards. Boy isn’t THAT typical. Â Look who’s pro-slaughter. Â Honey, even the kill buyers don’t want them looking like this!
Alexis cheerfully playing on PedigreeQuery while her horses starve!
Because you should be all over COTH while horses starve and your place is a total shit heap. Â God forbid you go outside and fix a fence or anything.
Well isn’t THIS not a surprise.  Alexis sold a mare to someone and it was “accidentally” bred.  NO, REALLY?????  ’CAUSE I NEVER WOULD HAVE SEEN THAT ONE COMING!  THAT’S NOT A PATTERN WITH PEOPLE LIKE HER OR ANYTHING! Alexis’ post is on page two of the thread and she states – are ya ready – “ACCIDENTS HAPPEN.”  It’s stunning how many of us own stallions and mares and are accident-free, isn’t it? I guess we are all just super lucky that way! Or we just have amazing skillz, like, when a board gets knocked down, we get a hammer and nails and put it back up. I know, it’s just shocking that you can do that, isn’t it?  Gosh, can’t expect that from poor Alexis. She might break a nail or something!
I’m so tired of this and I know you all are too. Â My God, put a bullet in their heads before you let it get to this point. Â That would be kinder. Â HOW do you sit there in the cozy house and be all chatty on the Internet while horses who look like these are outside suffering? Â I will never understand it in a million years. This was all so stupid and avoidable and now it’s going to be ungodly expensive to clean up the mess.
So I just got pictures from a reader proving that Alexis has a long history of horse neglect and abuse. This is a stallion which was leased out to her in April 2002 looking the way you see him in the riding picture. (By the way, that’s Alexis in the riding pic).
He was rescued by the owner in October of the same year, looking the way you see him in the other picture. “It took them 6 months to take him from a gorgeous, sound stallion to a near-dead rack of bones with a collapsed front left ankle caused by a serious infection.” The owner who rescued him back had to pay for six weeks at the vet’s to save his life, none of which Alexis offered to pay for.
Of course she didn’t. This kind of person has no problem leaving a mess for others to clean up and going merrily on her way. If it’s broke, don’t fix it — just get new horses that aren’t skinny and broken! Oh wow, they became skinny and broken again, how sad…but look, there are more free ones on the Internet! We’ll just get more!
OK, readers, here’s what you can do on Monday:
Numbers to call to demand action on this particular train wreck. They’ve gotten enough calls by now that if you mention Alexis and Brett Ingraham in Clinton, ME, Fair Play Farm, they’re going to know which property you mean.
Call the state Department of Agriculture, 207 287-3419
Ask to speak with Commissioner Seth Bradstreet
State veterinarian Don Hoenig, 207 287-3701
Norma Worley, Director of Animal Welfare 207 287-3846
Clinton Police Dept. 426-9192
Other officials to contact:
Evert Fowle, DA for Kennebec and Waldo counties: 207 623-1156
Governor Baldacci’s office 207 287-3531
More about the horses on the NickerNews site.
One final note:  Alexis, your horses did not fail to sell because of U.S. slaughter or the lack thereof.  Your horses failed to sell because (a) they were  mediocre to begin with (as I pointed out in the original blog, if you want to see a quality colored sport horse, look at the True Colours horses…yours do not resemble them in any way, shape or form) (b) no one buys horses in this condition! No one! and (c) sport horses need to do a sport. When they are thin and covered in rain rot to an extent I’ve hardly seen before, they are not sport horses.  Shit, they are not even meat horses!  They are an expensive mess for someone else to fix, and I hope to Hell the law makes you pay restitution for the costs of cleaning up this cesspool of equine suffering you managed to create.
199 comments to “I’d be less of a bitch if I were wrong more often!”
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This is horrible. Those poor animals.
We were just lamenting that up here in the frozen north, we can’t seem to find decent, well trained horses. Everyone seems to want $3,000 for what wouldn’t get $500 in the lower-48. I have seen “prospects” for sale for at least that much, but with no papers, breeding, or miles in that discipline to warrant the cost.
Hopefully, this summer will loosen up the horse market up here, and allow some of the overstock to have the happy healthy lives they deserve.
I am partial to pinto coloring, not sure why, I would love to rehab that one, but that’s too far away to haul in that condition. So sad.
You have no idea how timely this is . Dealing with something exactly like this now . Barn blindness needs a telethon!
Ach, can’t seem to get that http://www.fairplayfarm.net URl to work… could it have been, erm, disabled? Anyone have a cache copy or screenshot?
Check archive.org and the Wayback Machine should work on that.
I don’t get it. I really don’t. The idea that someone has horses and doesn’t take care of them is just repulsive. I don’t understand how a person doesn’t go through the motions of basic care. What is that fence made of? I’m looking at the pics thinking ‘yes, lets put a bunch of studs near mares separated by that fence’ and surprise the mare is preggers? I’d be shocked if she wasn’t.
I have a repeat abuse/neglect offender idea: get the court paper and send them with pics to every horse association, breed asso. and discipline asso. If bad Owner is a member they get suspended (for chronic neglect/abuse, like starvation it is for life) and it gets published. I’m a big fan of public shaming.
Damn, and I feel bad because 2 of my pens are off limits because of mud.
There is always the Chinese shaming idea: offender has to stand on at a busy intersection wearing a sign that states the offenses. I like that one.
OMG OMG OMG. This makes me so angry.
A bullet would have been kinder to these horses. And a bullet is TOO kind for these people, let’s lock them in filth and starve them to death too.
I’ll die a bitch too.
Why are you suggesting rehab?
Just about every horse person I know “rescues.” Think about it. Almost every horse owner rescues. How many horses have to be in dire need for that to happen?
Everybody but the people responsible foot the tab. Next time you open your wallet to help a rescue, just say no. Why should you foot the bill?
Rescuer: “But he’s in need.”
Me: I can give you a list of thousands of horses in need.
Rescuer: But if I don’t help he/she (blah blah blah.)
Me: So.
Rescuer: It makes me feel good.
Me: If you want to feel good, feed some starving children. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/dirt-poor-haitians-eat-mu_n_168339.html
I honestly don’t know how anyone can justify spending 3000 and up on rehabbing a horse? There are just so many healthy horses out there that don’t need rehabbed. I say euthanize the sick horse, give a healthy horse a home and send difference in Spam to some kids in Hati. You think I jest.
I do not. Spam is a really good. It has a long shelf life, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and mostly importantly its high in calories.
How many can’s of spam do you think $3000 dollars would buy?
How many packs of ramen noodles?
Here’s a top notch non-profit. http://www.outreach-international.org/
I’m sorry, I love horses I do, but it eats at my conscious how much money we spend rescuing and rehabbing horses while people eat mud. Can you imagine that? Being so hungry that you were forced to eat mud.
Of course they’re not white so we don’t have to be that empathetic. And God is punishing them so we’re not obligated to care.
ps. If the last two statements riled you up, put some of that energy into helping those people. If you agreed with them, congratulations. You’re a racist. No go donate because you feel guilty.
Ray, I don’t care what color people are. I do not share your particular belief that human beings are obligated to help their own kind before they help another species. We all go to work, earn our money and may freely choose which charities to donate to. If we prefer to put it into rehabbing a horse, that is our right. If you choose to send it to Haiti, that’s your right. If someone chooses to distribute their funds between those two causes, or 36 more causes, that is their right.
To accuse ANYONE of being racist because they choose to help a starving horse instead of sending their money to Haiti is so fucked up in the head that I really don’t have words for it.
You’ve had your say here, more than once. You’re out of line, you’re offensive, and you’re out of here.
Apparently Mr. Bixler thinks he should be able to tell us how to spend our money. Ummm, no thanks, my money, I get to do what I want with it. He’s free to do whatever he wants with his money. I’ve never felt obligated to help people, there are plenty of government programs and charitable organizations to help out people (and plenty of scammers in those groups too!)
If you ban him FHOTD, thanks, tired of reading his illogical and irrelevant drivel. But that’s just me….:)
Yeah, he’s out. You can disagree here all you want but you have to make SOME kind of logical sense and that didn’t make any.
In a warped sort of way there is some logic in it, though.
It is illogical to spend all that money on rehabbing a horse that may well be beyond rehab, if we are really truthful.
Forget justifying it when children are starving for a moment, how about justifying it when half a dozen horses that can easily be saved and made into useful working animals, are being discarded for lack of funds?
Trouble is, in a situation like this, few are able to think with a logical mind, we respond with our hearts, and our hearts say these really bad case horses deserve a chance to know that humans can be good and kind……..
Awe, you got rid of my buddy Ray?! Fugs, that’s not fair! I used to come on here just to read his posts– they helped remind me that … that… Okay no really, he was mental. And a plagiarist, which as a teacher got under my skin. Bye bye Ray!
As for the poor people of Haiti– please do NOT send money to anyone but a government run agency. Haiti’s primary problem is STILL maintaining security and getting food and supplies into the country. There is currently a lot of aid that is bottlenecked and unable to reach Haiti. Until governments of other countries step in and rebuild key ports and points of entry, there is very very little that can be done. Right now, take a really close look at the scenes of protesters and ‘desperate’ Haitians. They are all mid twenties or thirties men, often carrying weapons. Donating money to some well meaning but powerless not for profit organization won’t solve Haiti’s problems, and it could make the problems worse.
Oh… and I’m not racist, much. Although I do have a strong natural aversion to idiocy. Ray is right about one thing– when doing rescue work, it’s usually wise to measure a horse’s quality of life against the amount of money you spend ‘saving’ it. If you spend $5,000 on one horse that ends up blind and lame in three legs, you might have been wiser to give help to 5 other horses that just needed a few groceries to put them on the path to a comfortable life.
That IS what he meant, right? I get so confused when he blathers….
Crap, my comment way down the thread was supposed to be in response to this one. Arrgh.
But one point: You know why people are eating mud? It’s not that there isn’t food to feed them. There is. There’s millions of dollars worth of food in warehouses in Florida, just waiting to be delivered. The problem is there’s no way of getting it to them. There are no roads, no docks, only one very small airport, and lots of armed thugs who would like to grab that food before it gets to the people it’s intended for. Everyone down there is working on it (and thank God the US army is leading it – there’s no-one better at moving supplies), but it’s not quick and not as easy as throwing money at it. So don’t feel like we’re failing for lack of empathy.
(I work for the Red Cross – admittedly not in the emergency services department and about as far away from the Haiti operation as any employee of the Red Cross can be, but we get frequent updates and this is a major topic of discussion.)
My personal charity philosophy is home before abroad…although I did give a little bit to Haiti, just because it’s such a HUGE mess that nobody could ignore it.
I don’t normally donate to a charity that serves people or animals located more than fifty miles away. However, I would absolutely not tell anyone else, EVER, they should follow that rule.
Me: If you want to feel good, feed some starving children. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/19/dirt-poor-haitians-eat-mu_n_168339.html
“I honestly don’t know how anyone can justify spending 3000 and up on rehabbing a horse? There are just so many healthy horses out there that don’t need rehabbed. I say euthanize the sick horse, give a healthy horse a home and send difference in Spam to some kids in Hati. You think I jest.
I do not. Spam is a really good. It has a long shelf life, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and mostly importantly its high in calories.
How many can’s of spam do you think $3000 dollars would buy?
How many packs of ramen noodles?”
Know what Ray-I DON”T GIVE A SHIT. I happen to have a salary, and a job that most of the time I enjoy. I also do a fair bit of philanthropy. Where I send my donations and where ANYONE sends their donations is their own decision. Personally, my choice is to make donations to animal related charities more often than charities serving people. That’s what I choose to do with my money, and I can live with that choice.
I just wanted to interject at the next possible point that I believe that charity begins at home. I’d worry about starving people in America first before abroad. That’s the US 50, for anyone wanting to try and argue points.
Ray,
On your way out the door here is something I’d like to share with you, since it has been suggested that you are a vet. I grew up in a non-affluent family. I ate plenty of spam (not sure ramen had been invented yet) and other really cheap meals (hot dog pizza). My family lived very frugally, but my parents still contributed to charities (I hope I’ve done half as well with what I have today-they were a great example). So, today, since your conscience is eating you while you are playing on the computer on a a slow Saturday waiting to vaccinate puppies, why don’t you try Travelocity, book a ticket to Haiti, go home and eat some of that good Spam yourself (contribute whatever you save from that to whatever charity you choose). Take a winter vacation in Haiti. While you are there you can assist the AVMA disaster relief effort (or perhaps HSUS and AWI who arrived within 2 days of the initial quake), and you can probably alternate between treating animals and saving children. It looks like it would be a hell of an opportunity and a win-win situation to me, and I bet you’d sleep better!
Ray could probably help out with all the animals that are suffering in Haiti, too … we haven’t even HEARD about them. I don’t know how many horses were/are on the island, but I am sure for dogs and cats things aren’t looking too good.
I did understand what he was saying, but if everyone felt that way, then no animals anywhere would ever get helped — because there is always work supporting human charities. Instead of being negative about animal “rescue”, how about a positive attitude that a small percentage of the world’s population cares about the welfare of animals — a rather recent historical trend, in fact, starting only about 150 years ago or so. Horses and other animals deserve our efforts as well.
Ray, how dare you send money to starving children in Haiti when we have our very own Americans dying of AIDS!!! Why are you going to waste your money on spam when you could contribute to medical research???
Wait, what’s that? Because the starving children in Haiti are ALSO important, just like medical research is? And BOTH contributions have the power to save lives? And it’s possibly to be helpful and passionate about MULTIPLE CAUSES?!?!?
Whoa, this is too much to handle. I guess it’s a good thing that individual people have their own unique passions, otherwise all of the money would be going to one cause and nobody else would ever get any help. Good thing we live in a world where we each get to choose, otherwise you might have to donate your money to a botanical gardens or prison rehabilitation projects instead of being able to buy spam for the kids in Haiti. I’m glad you have the right to donate to a cause of your choice, Ray.
Wow, you’re an idiot.
1 Spending money to rescue a horse DOES NOT preclude spending money to rescue a child. Yes, it is possible to donate to BOTH. Plenty of people here donate to BOTH. Since this is a horse-related blog they just don’t talk about Haiti.
2 The money being donated NOW to Haiti probably won’t reach there for another month or so. The organizations down there helping out are using money that was already donated to them. So unless you donate on a regular basis to the Red Cross or Doctors Without Borders your money is not currently being used in Haiti.
You, sir, need to get a life. Who in the appointed you the moral compass of all things rightous and true? Sure as hell wasn’t me so I’m gonna keep spending MY money on MY horses and maybe I’ll go rescue another tomorrow just to piss you off. And by the way, I am spending plenty to help the mud-eating Haitians in the way of my tax dollars and so is everyone else on here that is gainfully employed.
The other people on here might have too much class and manners to say this, but I do not share that luxury:
So raybixler1- YOU CAN KISS MY LILLY-WHITE ASS.
I will give my rescued horses a kiss just for you tomorrow while I am at the barn cleaning their stalls and feeding them their VERY expensive senior feed that comes out of my pocket. I will even donate them a bag of carrots in your name.
Hope you have a nice day
Hey Ray, why don’t you go give the Haitians the sandwich you packed for the day and stay there while you are at it? And I’ll spend my money however I damn well please without your help. There will always be starving people until their individual countries take responsibility for their people and their actions, or they nut up and have a revolution and make it happen, whether we have natural disasters or not. People here in America choose to help animals in a lot of cases and that’s just too damn bad. Have you had any junk food, of any kind, this week? I’ll bet you have…well, why didn’t you give that money to the Haitians?!
It comes down to this: I like horses better than I like people. Also, I don’t see starving Haitian children in front of me like I see starving, neglected horses in front of me. If someone starves a horse, and I see it, seeing it makes me responsible. Horses don’t have the autonomy that even starving Haitians have. If they’re trapped in a pen, they can’t seek greener pastures. The one group of people who’s circumstances I would liken to that of a penned up, starving horse is the people of Myanmar/Burma. I’d send them 3000 dollars worth of SPAM if I had it right now.
However, that’s not to say I don’t think human lives are precious. I DO donate to human charities too. But if I’m gonna get hands on, it’s gonna be for the horses.
There is a lot of need out there in the world; there are many charitable causes to attract our time and money. When someone criticizes another’s specific choice as not being the best and highest, I wonder two things: 1) Do YOU actually donate to any charitable cause or do you just criticize other people’s choices? I really suspect that people who make that argument don’t give to ANY causes, whether they be human, animal, political, or whatever. 2) What do you spend YOUR spare money on? Do you go to movies? Own a car? Live in a nice home? Eat in restaurants? Smoke? Drink? Gamble? Fish? Watch cable TV? You surely own a computer and pay an internet provider. You can’t imagine how “anyone can justify spending 3000 and up on rehabbing a horse?” But you say you love horses. You own horses? Dogs? How much in vet bills have YOU spent? How much in feed and care?
Most of us have some disposable income, and the point is that we all spend our time and money on things that make us happy, fulfilled or entertained. I wonder about your assumption that people who care about animals and donate to animal causes are doing so to the exclusion of other charities. I would bet money that the opposite is true, and that people who are compassionate about animals also tend to donate to other causes. But since you are so passionate about relief for Haiti, which is commendable, think of all the good you could do, think of the THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS you could donate if you were to say, cut off your Cable, Internet Service and subscription to Beef Industry Magazines, because I honestly don’t know how anyone can justify spending hundreds of dollars a year on things like television? There are just so many other forms of free media out there. I say cut the cable, listen to your car radio and send the difference in Spam to some kids in Haiti.
As for euthanizing sick horses, I agree that it is difficult to decide when to draw the line with vet bills. Many people on this site agree with you that there are situations where euthanizing a horse is the best decision; It’s too bad you had to go off on that weird rant about racism, and it’s too ironic, because the next time you use your internet service, cable TV or any other frivolity, you yourself will be guilty of your own accusation.
Just noticed fugly booted him off…good job! Now let us all say a solemn goodbye to raybixler the internet troll.
Wow fugly blog managed to find itself a fourm troll. I cannot take someone seriously when their main messege is ‘lolololracisthorseluvrs’. I can put my money where I want to when it comes to charity.
Horrible conditions, poor animals, these people are incredibly mean. This is so not a rescue. I’m sorry, I’m no longer buying the mentally ill, hoarder thing..They are standing in slop, malnourished, etc. Then, I read about Greta, at the rescue below, look at the photo. She is clean and neat, standing on dry ground, doesn’t look the least bit ratty or uncomfortable. That’s how a horse at a legitimate rescue should look.
Yes, and I’m eternally grateful for the legitimate rescues. I just wish I had a magical money tree to fund them!
Words fail.
How do I send you more info, pics ect????? This has been going on for many years! I have photos and vet records dating as far back as 2002. Thanks Becky
resqtb@yahoo.com. Send it along!
You got it coming soon! Becky
Fugs… you are NOT a bitch! If speaking out against the abuse of others constitutes as being a bitch, then the world has a history full of heroes who fall into that same category!
Slave owners probably felt the same way about abolishionists.
Child abusers probably feel the same way about CPS.
Oh well. If people would take a minute to swallow their pride and consider the criticism they’re getting, they might be able to see that they could live a much better life if they’d listen!
Ya I totally Agree… How can you be called nastey For standing up against abuse, neglect and cruelty… of any kind!
and by the way… I bet ALOT of the readers have already donated what they could manage to aid for Haiti… Its kinda what us “bleeding heart hippies” Do.
And yes, I mispelled abolitionist. =) I started to write “abolishment” and then changed it and I guess the spelling was stuck in my head!
Well behaved women seldom make history.
God I am SO sick and tired of this sort of thing happening…….really, every single day another one turns up, I lose patience with them.
I no longer have any interest in whether they are sick in the head or what, just throw them in a pen and lose the key somewhere and let them fend for themselves and see how long they last, I am not interested in paying to keep them, let them find their own way, not one, not ONE single bloody hoarder has EVER skipped a meal themselves.
I have personal knowledge of a fat cow who walked past her starving ponies every day, to get her shopping form the car to the house, to bring in fish and chips to feed her face, she had to walk past her ponies.
I am sick of it.
Put them in a pen somewhere and let them find their own food.
Even that is too good for them but, you know what? Two wrongs do not make a right, so I could never actually do to them what they do to these animals.
Any chance of an e-mail address, Cathy, I can’t really afford and International call!!!
So not only has she been starving her horses, but she was doing that classic hoarder thing of trolling all over the CoTH Freebies page looking for new ones.
She pulled this nice colt off the track listings of CANTER PA. People on several sites were drooling over him, and he ends up in hell. Wonder how he has fared
( Old Canter listing that had been posted on a Coth Canter Cuties thread: Baby Rusch, black bay colt, 16.0 hands, coming 6 years old. Hubba, hubba – this horse is a HUNK, absolutely gorgeous! Beautifully put together, this boy looks like a power house, but with the elegance for which Thoroughbreds are bred. Baby Rusch is still intact so he could be sought after for breeding or he could easily be gelded and you’d end up with a horse who has the looks of a stallion and the personality of a pet. This horse is super sweet and respectful with a very intelligent, but soft eye. His trainer describes the horse as a VERY good mover and from what we saw, we fully agree. The trainer only has the horse’s best interest in mind and wants to see him go to someone who values the boy the way he does. Unfortunately, he had a suspensory injury last week and full diagnostics have not yet been completed. Based on this type of injury, he will most likely be looking for a non-jumping home and a certain amount of layup will be required, but this horse is clearly worth it. This horse is STUNNING, you will not be disappointed! $500, with special considerations to the perfect home. http://www.canterusa.org/pennsylvania/horsephotos/BabyRusch-1.jpg ).
Isn’t that him in the lower center stallion ad? http://www.equinenow.com/farm/fair_play_farm.htm Time for him to have an upgrade.
Oh.. and Fugs, You are so NOT a bitch..Someone has to spotlight these folks, I appreciate the fact that you choose to do it.
Fugs… You will never run short of fodder. The system is Setup for the abuser.
I have a theory. Over the last 30-40 years we’ve allowed every excuse imaginable to enable our standards to slide to the bottom. Excuses like being PC, don’t hurt peoples self-esteem, everyone is a winner, it’s my right, I can do as I please. It never ends. There is always an excuse to enable people to do the wrong thing. Standards, values and ethics slide to the bottom in an effort to make sure such individuals (as this) are allowed to do as they please. Personal freedoms taken to the extreme. Maybe I’m the only one in the US that sees this, don’t know, but it isn’t helping.
Ever since we stopped a good old paddling behind the woodshed, things sure have gone down hill at alarming speed. There is no excuse for this shit – None! Anyone with a lick of common sense knows this.
You are certainly NOT the only one who sees this as the source, or at least a HYOOOUGE contributor to these problems. You are spot on-we have several generations of youngish Americans that cannot be responsible for themselves let alone anything else-no responsibility, no ethics, no limits, and it is everywhere-professionals to streetkids.
You hit the nail on the head! No accountability because it’s ‘my right’ or ‘somebody else’s fault’ or even ‘it’s child abuse to paddle your child’, so now we have all this happening far too often. When are people going to wake up and admit that things have gotten out of hand? Life is full of choices and it’s the rewards and consequences of those choices that teach people right from wrong. Take away the consequences and what do you have? Suffering like this.
I totally agree with this mindset. I can also make the safe assumption that each person who agrees with this is nearing middle age or older. I can honestly say I didn’t do it to my kids. I personally kicked their asses whenever the need arose..
If there is anyone here younger than 40 that can make the same valuation, I’d be surprised. You would be more not of the …
ah shit! I just had a senior moment and forgot what the heck I was saying. No shit!
never mind
I’ll concur to that sentiment, and I’m 29 and a college instructor. I see the “I’m entitled to everything” mentality in most of my students (not that I don’t get a handful of hard workers every semester–those are the ones that keep me teaching), as well as the “It’s everyone’s faulty but mine” attitude when they fail the semester and contact me about extra credit or a makeup test AFTER I’ve posted their final grades. These kids must have some mental “Do Over” button that they push everytime some event or situation doesn’t go their way, and it baffles them when the rest of the adults around them don’t dance for them like puppets on strings. The “You’ve GOT to pass me, my tuition pays your salary” argument gets me laughing so hard I’m fits and knots every time.
That mindset or attitude didn’t appear overnight, and it’s not genetic…but it IS taught and shared from role model to student, or parent to child. I really think our society has given the benefit of the doubt so often to animal abusers or hoarders that it now has an enabling effect all its own. Legitimate rescue efforts will always be two steps behind, as will tighter legislation and penalties, but that doesn’t mean we can’t throw every book we have at them. But I really believe in public shame; I teach anthropology, and one of my interests is how communities enforce social restrictions without resorting to legal means. Many societies use public humiliation, gossip, ridicule, and avoidance as punishment for transgressions, and I think those actions carry even more weight within specialized communities–such as the horse or rescue industry–than stiffer legal penalties ever would. Again, I do think the laws should be tightened in states that only meet incredible cruelty with a $500 fine and a “mommy lecture”, but you all know that movements within the community are what push legislators to put some serious teeth into anti-cruelty laws. If people like Dean Solomon or that over-fed excuse for a mule’s mud-cushion up in Canada (the one who left his horses in a blizzard for others to dig out) get tacked with a neon sign that warns any potential soft touch with a big bank account to stay several counties away through the actions of the horse community, then I see prosecution as the icing on the cake.
Goodness, what a tangent. The short version of my point: blogs and discussions like this are not just informative, they are essential. Laws will always be reactionary, so the collective response of serious and legitimate people in the horse business are in fact the most powerful tools and means to enforce acceptable behaviour. Now pardon me while I refill my wine glass.
Regarding education though – one thing I didn’t know ’til I worked in it is that the stupid accreditation system REQUIRES a school to pass X percent of the class or their accreditation is in danger. While I’m sure the intent was to guarantee quality instruction, it instead guarantees completely lax grading and grading on a curve. Someone did not think that one through very well!
Accredation is a big issue, and now so is freshman retention. There’s been a big hoopla at one of the universities I teach at about the percentage of Ds and Fs among the freshman class; anthropology was the highest of the social sciences (we ranked up there with intro to algebra, chemistry and biology–algebra had the highest rate at 52%), so now the administration is pressuring us to come up with some solution to pass more students–i.e. relax our grading policies. I won’t go into all the faults in how the bigwigs crunched those numbers, but if the faculty wasn’t forced to enable or encourage this unrealistic and childish mentality among the students before, they definitely will be now. I don’t need to wonder what caliber of person or society this situation will create–many of your animal abuse repeat offenders are excellent examples.
Exactly!
Sorry, but some people flunk out as freshmen because some people either:
a) don’t really have what it takes for college and should be pursuing a well-paid technical trade
OR
b) aren’t MENTALLY ready to buckle down and work and should take some years off and work first – a few years of retail or other low-end employment convinces many a kid of the value of higher education
Neither is indicative of a failure on the part of the school.
I turned 29 on the 5th, and I completely agree! Too many people don’t teach their kids responsibility anymore. You can see it everywhere, from how they act to other people to how they treat their pets to how they -drive.-
I have 3 step sisters (all younger than me) that were -never- disciplined as they grew up, and they’re the most bratty, stuck up people I know! They have no respect for anything and expect the world to be handed to them on a silver platter. My mother took them into her home after their mother kicked them out, and they treated her like dirt. I still apologize to her for being even a 1/4 as bad as them. My worst offenses were not cleaning my room*, and hiding my reportcards, since my then step-father was an abusive ass.
(* – I do have OCD/hoarding tendencies in relation to paper products, especially art papers. I am very conscious about the number of animals I have! Not counting my partner’s family’s dogs (they usually pay for the care for them, but I do help with them), I have 1 dwarf hamster, 3 fish, and a turtle. That’s it. It’s in my affordable range, and I won’t go out of it!)
I agree too! I fall into the younger age range (31) and see it all the time! That self-entitlement mindset runs rampant in today’s youger crowd. A lot of people my age and younger are afflicted with it. I, thank goodness, had someone like you when I was growing up that would lay the the smack-down on me anytime I got a little uppity and thought I was too good for hard work and responsibility.
I’m 28, and completely agree that there is a serious lack of accountability in all aspects of our society. It seems like expectations across the board have been relaxed. My husband teaches a graduate class at the NJ Institue of Technology. Last semester I ended up grading all his his final essays, which he made the students write by hand in class. I was APPALLED! These were graduate students and the quality of the write was overall terrible. At least 2/3rds of the class used plus signs for “and”, w/ for “with”, and @ for “at”. I docked them all points, and wrote “you are NOT texting” in their comments. My 39 year old sister is one of those “it’s never my fault” sort of people. I have zero patience with her. She’s dug her own grave many times over and I have no desire to listen to her whine about how unfair everthing is. So, I take care of my animals to the best of my ability, and I teach my step-kids compassion and responsibility (since their mother doesn’t).
GRADUATE students used textspeak in essays???
Next blog after this one: A Nation of Idiots (and how we’ve created it)
I tell *anyone* who uses textspeak with me to stop. I told my *mother* to stop (She’s a teacher and started to pick up the habit from her students).
If they say why, I tell them ‘It’s a bad habit you need to get out of, before you do it in a school essay and end up losing a grade’. Or I tell them ‘You realize blind people use the internet? Textspeak messes up their screen readers’.
(The latter is quite, quite true).
Usually both of those get most of the kids typing in English again
.
Ugh…I’m also 28 and I have a nephew that will be 17 in a few weeks. He ALWAYS uses text speak….symbols instead of letters, etc. It makes me feel very old to say that I don’t get it…I mean, isn’t it more effort to think about what symbols to use than it is to just use regular ole letters? Maybe it’s just me, and if so, someone bring me a cane and a rocker….
Take away the consequences and what do you have?
Exactly! No consequences for their (bad) actions and bingo, you have this type of behaviour. The majority of parents are raising their children like this and they don’t seem to be catching on.
Oh so true, Doc.
I don’t know what’s wrong with me… I got spanked three times in my life, and was somewhat indulged, but I turned out OK as far as ethics and good manners are concerned. Oh, wait a minute, I know! I had a family full of good role models, and good ethics, and good manners. I went to good schools with work ethics, with consequences, where the emphasis was on learning, and critical thinking. Pass rates and “self-esteem” were not part of the equation.
The “self-esteem” movement is the final nail in the coffin. When grades, ethics, and rewards take a back seat to “Love yourself – nobody else matters,” society degenerates. Heck, these days we make society at the end of the Roman Empire look like a church social!
drsgjunky, I have to wonder how old you are. I’m over 60 and I’m here to tell you that things were not all that great 60 years ago.
The big difference I see is that people talk about the bad now. When I was a child, there was strong pressure to stay silent about anything that certain people did wrong. So long as a wrong doer was white, paid their bills on time and attended church once a month or so, they could get away with virtually anything, including raping children and abusing animals.
I should know, I was one of the children who was raped by an adult (a school official). I found out later that he’d molested many other girls at the school… but no one ever said a word at the time. At the time it was happening, I didn’t even have words for what he was doing because there was no such thing as sex ed. Girls didn’t get pregnant out of wedlock back then, they “visited an aunt” in a different city for six months and came back with sad eyes.
Everyone in my neighbourhood knew about Those People down the street. You know, Those People, from whose house you could hear screaming every weekend, whose son was sullen and visibly bruised most Monday mornings and whose dog was beaten to death in the back yard. There were witnesses to the dog being beaten to death (I thank the ghods that be that I was away at summer camp at the time), both children and adult. Not one person lifted a hand because it was his right to beat his child not quite to death and to beat his dog to death.
When people reminisce about the “good old days” they almost invariably mean pre-1960s and I have to wonder why they don’t remember just what triggered the social revolution of the 60s.
Well, I was there and I remember. I remember that young people just couldn’t be silent any longer about the many injustices around them. It wasn’t okay with them to kill “negroes” for wanting true equality. It wasn’t okay with them to hide the domestic violence that claimed so many victims. It wasn’t okay to silently ignore the plight of the mentally ill warehoused in places that you wouldn’t consider fit to house a horse these days.
The abuse and neglect of animals and children is nothing new. It happened a lot in those good old days but people didn’t talk about it. Nowadays, people talk. Legal action is taken. If this were the 1950s, Jason Meduna would still be happily starving mustangs on his death ranch and would never have faced charges.
I cannot see this as anything but a vast improvement. I wouldn’t go back to the way things were for anything.
I think we all agree that those things are huge improvements. The point was that, somewhere along the way, we went too far. Somewhere along the way it became “not okay” to give a child a well-deserved spanking, to take away privileges, to basically hold them to a strict standard of behavior. Instead, no matter how they behave, kids get cell-phones, cable tv in their rooms, computers, etc. That produces adults that think they should get to do whatever they want and that there will be no consequences and people will still give them things. That was the point, definitely not that everything in the good old days was good. For animals, it sucked FAR worse than today, for example.
I’m just wondering if this lady is related to the Pelletier logging family in Maine??? There’s a show on Discovery Channel, American Loggers, that follow the family in their logging business. They’ve been in it for generations. If so, I wonder how the rest of the family feels about someone “caring” for horses this way???
Unlikely that they’re closely related. Pelletier is a very common name in these parts.
Thanks. The name just caught my attention, since my husband and I watch a lot on the Discovery Channel…
Fugs, check her out on facebook. It would appear that in addition to not being able to care for her horses, she is procreating a human at this very moment.
Sick, sick…. how in the world could someone allow an animal to reach that condition.
Perhaps Ray could send her some SPAM for the kid, tho.
Long-time lurker, first-time poster.
Words just fail me. I honestly don’t understand the mindset here. I’ve wanted a horse since I can remember, but I’ve never found myself in a place where I felt confident, financially, to make the decades-long commitment to *have* a horse (now that I’m 32, I wonder if I’ll ever be able to make the plunge or if that ship has sailed). I’m in Northern Virginia, so there’s really no such thing as inexpensive boarding or inexpensive horses.
I lesson when I can, and am currently chore-leasing a sweet gelding (who is probably a little fugly but I love him too much to acknowledge it), but I dream of having a horse of my own. How can people *do* this? How can they watch any animal go through starvation?
I have three cats, and their food (homemade raw and/or grain-free commercial) is taken care of before ours. My husband is just as dedicated to taking good care of our animals as I am — how can all the people that surrounded this woman have ignored what was happening in front of them?
It makes me sick. All I want is a horse that is safe, sane, and happy to W/T/C (maybe a wee bit of G) on trails, but I know I’m not in the right place in my life to guarantee proper care to a horse for life, so I don’t have one. Why is that such a hard decision to make?
I always remind myself of how many people cannot put together the necessary logic to realize they are not in the right place in their life for a baby, so it’s really no surprise they do the same thing with a horse. What I don’t get is 40 or 50 or more horses. I mean, fairies don’t just drop them off at night. How do you accumulate those numbers? She was actively pursuing MORE HORSES on the message boards LAST WEEK! WTF.
I swear there’s a very interesting variation of hoarding called “If People Are Nice To Me On The Internet And The Horses Look Good On My Web Site, There Isn’t A Problem.” I have known people exactly like this. They B.S. to people online that any naysayers just have personal issues with them, while they walk right by their un-cared-for horses to sit on their ass online all day propounding their theories about breeding and their alleged horse expertise and pretending to be a quality farm. It’s like they don’t even see how bad their horses look. They’re like anorexics who look in the mirror and see fat where it doesn’t exist, except they do it with regard to their animals!
You honestly mean to tell me you have never heard of the Filly Fairy or the Berry Elf???
Gosh, Cathy, where have you been all your life???
I think people like this get addicted to the “rush” of acquiring a new animal, but they don’t get the same level of enjoyment out of the work and expense required to maintain the health of that horse.
It’s hard because you are being responsible about it. I hope you get your horse someday. Maybe you can find a stable that will let you work off board. When I was starting out and didn’t have a lot of money I found a strict budget and second-hand equiptment helped alot. Also a special savings account strictly for my horse that I added to every month, and a credit card strictly for vet emergencies. Hope you find a way to make it happen, good luck!
I hope you see this, and are encouraged. As a teen, I wanted a horse so very badly… even in college, the dream was very much alive. But, as a schoolteacher I saw no way I could ever afford the land I’d need to have a horse (it was a time of my town ‘reaching out’, of McMansions going up on 5-10 acre tracts within communting distance, property taxes skyrocketing and ‘demand’ driving home prices far out of my reach.
I figured I could never have a horse.. so why waste energy wanting one. SO, I pretended I didn’t even like them. For years and years.
Moved to Ocala, FL and doors began to open. I rode other people’s horses.. free leased for awhile (that was great!) rode horses for two families who didn’t want their horses to be yard taters — and often went home vowing to swear off horses again after seeing how lackadaisical so many people were in taking care of the ones they had.
More doors opened.. and in my late forties, I finally got my horse; he was a yearling when I met him, and two when I brought him home. Six years later, he’s still the apple of my eye — along with the mare I ended up with a year later.
Keep your dream alive, and take slow steps toward it — and one day it just might come to fruition. You’re already learning how much work and time it takes to care for a horse well.
As Joseph Campbell used to say — Follow your bliss!
There is a train wreak waiting to happen to an old friend of mine. She is the 20-something year old ‘trainer’ and ‘breeder’ with fugly stock that have all been trained to rear. She actually sounds a lot like this girl you blogged about- if a horse gets sick or broken, why, you just get a new one. Her new toy is a fugly grade stud that she refuses to geld. She thinks owning a stud makes her look like a ‘good trainer’ or something stupid like that. She has been flagged several times for mistreating her horses, but no one will actually do anything about it “because over all her horses are well cared horse”.
I used to board my mare with her until the stud started breaking down fences to get at her. When I would bring this up with the girl she promptly told me I was responsible for fixing the fencing her stud broke AND if my mare (her studs dam) got knocked up I owed her a stud fee. I pulled my horse outta so fast I’m sure it made some heads spin. I reported all the abuse to my vet and she passed it along to others, but the girl was under surveillance for about a month, then the case was dropped. They couldn’t gather enough to pin her, and she made up excuses for the several rack of bones in the field.
It’s all just very maddening.
Fugly,
Thank you, thank you for featuring Alexis Pelletier on your blog today. Perhaps someone with some authority will finally do something abouth the hellish condidtion in which she keeps her horses. Unfortunately, I think you may have only exposed the tip of the iceberg- several credible people have told me the Alexis has managed to acquire over FIFTY OTTBs that she is currently starving, out of sight, on her parent’s farm in Burnham, Maine. Those of us who are local will continue to contact the authorities but, if your readers could help us keep the heat on, it would be deeply appreciated.
Hey, someone in Burnham needs to drive by and take pics if that’s the case. The address is no secret. Don’t trespass, just bring your zoom lens, and keep an eye out for “sale” ads that might be her in order to get onto the properly legally and take pics. Camera phones are your friend.
If you’re looking for sale ads she certainly has plenty out there… several in uncle henry’s and craigslist as well as some other websites. http://www.equinenow.com/farm/fair_play_farm.htm
Back on…for a bit.
Good God! I don’t have the nerve or I would but I know you do Cathy. On that link you should send her a message with your ID and in the comments state: ” you’ve been FHOTD Blogged” ! Jeesh! That might get her ass in gear… since apparently she is pretty naive about her situation. What a fucked up ass.
I never e-mail anyone unless they e-mail me first due to the things that have happened with people e-mailing and SAYING they were me. So now I just have a flat policy that I don’t unless they contact me first and I respond – then they know it really came from *my* e-mail address.
A little confusion here. Lexi leased this horse, she never owned him. But you all get the point!
Sorry! I’ll fix that, I thought she bought him and he got repo-’ed.
First off, Fugly, you are not a bitch, nor have you ever been. Everything you post holds within undeniable elements of truth which many people cannot accept. This woman is ridiculous: After lurking her facebook page I noticed the quote “Somewhere…somewhere in time’s own space, There must be some sweet pastured place, Where creeks sing and tall trees grow, Some paradise where horses go, For by the love that guides my pen, I know great horses live again!” That place is obviously not her farm. Her farm (if it is even deserving of a name with such tranquil connotations: Maybe ‘unofficial feedlot’ would be more fitting) would probably be described more like this: “Where horses starve with feet un-trimmed, rainrot down their backs, they see not sunlight nor a green pasture, but suffer quietly from within. They live the life of a sinner condemned to the flaming pit of hell, their captor a woman who knows not of consequence, but only childish desire. These horses may not live again.” Now, you know, you KNOW this is not just ignorance: How could anyone who claims to have been around horses all of their lives not notice or understand that presumably 5+ horses are starving???
How silly. Of course Fugs is a *itch. If she were a sweet little angel, people wouldn’t be nearly so nervous about catching her attention. Sheesh. Like it’s a bad thing?
The other site is really heating up, btw. Evidently the beloved farm owner keeps posting on there, pretending to be someone else, and threatening libel. I suggested that she simply provide the documentation to prove that the horses arrived in poor condition, and were improving. She… uh.. DOES have that proof, right? Because I’m not even an official rescue, and even I am smart enough to take pictures of skinny or lame horses when they arrive, and provide proper vet care if they need it.
Fugs, one of my favorite t-shirt slogans is “You say bitch like it’s a bad thing.” “Bitch” is used to describe a woman not doing what the insulting person wants. Nothing more, nothing less. If you were male there would be other epithets used. Can anyone see those pictures of starving horses, read the stories of humanity at it’s worst, and not be loud, rude, angry, impolite? Do you think a polite “please don’t starve your horsies?” would be effective? Actually, words are worthless compared to action, which few rural counties are willing to take. I hope someone helps these horses, that animal control, or humane society or someone of authority gets after this.
I have a t-shirt that reads “I’ll try to be nicer if you try to be smarter”. Seems like a fitting motto for this situation.
Right on!
1. Women began being called bitches when we showed the fierce protectiveness of a wolf bitch. If I don’t want to mate with you, Mr. Less-Than-Alpha, I show my pearly whites. Oh, you wanna put your paws on my cubs? You’re DEAD; and
2. One of my favorite T-shirts says, “B.I.T.C.H.: Being In Total Control of Herself.”
From her face book page-
“A small town girl who was raised by and around her horses. Honestly I attribute everything I have really learned in life to them and the education about the world they have given me. I have a soft spot for them…always will…esp for one I miss with all my heart. ”
-So you learned everything you know about life from horses, huh? Well your teachers are starving and living in filth. Is that how you repay them for their knowledge?
“Ok well apart from making poor decisions and having my past eat me up…”- so you admit to making wrong decisions yet repeat them regardless?
“Im overly optimistic about everything in life…tell me I cannot and I will prove you wrong every time! ” -ok your right, you have clearly proven that you cannot feed an animal, clean up after the animal, or give them proper shelter.
“What else um, Im not a person to cross…revenge is a dish best served cold is all I have to say….”- I wonder what these poor horses did to deserve such horrific revenge. I would classify a slow painful starving death something heartless.
You Alexis are a disgrace of a human being.
http://discus.equinesite.net/discus/messages/4/32012.html?1266007544
fyi- the moderator can be a total douche and pull threads. But fugs- please check THIS out.
silly fugly! of course you are a bitch! that’s what people are called now when they stand up for what’s right. that’s the name for those who say “take responsibility for your own actions, don’t blame and make excuses”. that’s what one is called when one dares to point out that someone is failing and torturing some poor creature that can’t speak for itself. so yeah, you are a bitch. wear it proudly. oh and if you are right 90% or more of the time, yeah, that DOES give you the right.
These are the two most relevant email addresses for complaints about this situation. Complaints can be filed online at the top address. Please follow the instructions given here: http://www.maine.gov/agriculture/aw/index.html
Following instructions makes the staff’s lives easier, and we need their cooperation.
animal.welfare@maine.gov
norma.j.worley@maine.gov
Terrible!
I googled Alexis Pelletier and her location – she’s listed as a “Safe Farm” for horses in need. http://www.cyberfoal.com/res_disaster.htm#Maine
Please join me in emailing the creator of cyberfoal (his email addy is at the top of the page – http://www.cyberfoal.com/index.htm), hopefully he’ll remove her from the “Safe Farm” list.
Looks like she’s already gone. Don’t see anyone by her name on that page. Fast work!
Rants like his usually strike me this way:
Do you do things you enjoy? OMG how dare you do things you enjoy when children are starving!
Now replace ‘things you enjoy’ with ‘watch tv’, ‘own a nice car’, ‘give money to your church’, ‘help horses’, or anything else in the world that isn’t helping starving children. We all have a responsibility to give something back to the world around us, yes, but he’s trying to hold up one specific charity as TEH ULTIMATE MOST IMPORTANT CAUSE EVAR and say that it’s morally wrong to donate to others – where’s the sense in that? Honestly I often think it’s more important to help clean up messes in your own backyard (so to speak), such as teen pregnancy, homelessness, pollution, and animal abuse, than it is to send money overseas.
Oh, and we’ve done pretty darn good at the whole sending money overseas thing. I work for the Red Cross (my version of giving back to the world), and there’s been some discussion about how we’re going to spend the massive amounts of money that has been donated for Haiti, and what to do if we end up with extra. It’s pretty overwhelming. Major thanks to everyone! (There are chapters of the Red Cross that are in danger of collapsing due to lack of funds – they can’t make their budgets meet and still provide a reasonable level of services – because people would rather donate to ‘sexy’ causes like Haiti rather than to ‘unsexy’ and ‘wasteful’ causes like operating overhead. But that’s a debate for another day.)
Thank you for booting the people who we’ve heard multiple times before and aren’t adding anything to the conversation. They’re not missed.
“How dare you donate to children in Haiti when there are children in the US who are starving!” Or, “how dare you spend money sending astronauts to space when there are starving children!” or (my favorite) “How dare you spend money to save an endangered species when there are [fill in the blank]!”*
I think it’s just an excuse to not do anything at all.
*(That one always gets me because the people saying it seem to believe that breeding and habitat restoration programs are super expensive when in mos cases those programs are run on a shoestring budget. I remember one program I worked for only getting funding for a much needed remodel after a six-foot long ceiling support beam, the kind that looks like a railway tie, fell down in an occupied aviary and ripped a hole in the roof! Fortunately the Hawaiian Crow in it wasn’t injured and didn’t escape)
Move over, I’m in the Bitch Line also.
The subject of today’s post appears to be one of those hopeless cases. She’ll never change. She’ll go on thru life leaving a trail of destruction behind her. And it will never ever be her fault–just ask her.
Yech.
sagebeasties.blogspot.com
You know sometimes it takes a bitch to get things done. If I were being starved and abused Id want a bitch like you in my corner! LOL
Off topic, but possibly good for a groan:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/tac/grd/1599516156.html
Randy Byers, now watering down horsemanship and propagating shitty training via the 3g network, also! Now available everywhere!
*gags*
They removed this one already
Oh, it was an iPhone App by Randy Byers about his method of “training” horses. It was revolting.
It’s at the iTunes store if anyone wants to see it. There are no reviews right now, I suggest leaving one. I’m not familiar with him (I take he’s a NH trainer with questionable methods ???), so it should be someone else. (I don’t like reviewing stuff I’m not familiar with)
I don’t know the guy personally, but word on the street is that he’s an abusive piece of sh*t. I could be wrong, but I think he’s been discussed on FHOTD before. Something about how he exhausted and beat a young girl’s 20yr old arab mare that was in for a light refresher with him. He does claim to be natural horsemanship, but there’s a huge difference between NH and abuse, in most cases. I don’t care what you call yourself, if you “train” a horse in a way that results in that horse’s death, you’re a piece of sh*t. That goes for conventional horsemanship, too. A person can be a shitty trainer no matter what label they use to market themselves, and Randy falls in the POS category, or so I’ve heard.
Yeah, you can find Randy in the search box. He’s about the worst trainer I have ever heard about. He plays nice when clients are around and beats the crap out of the horse behind their back. He has zero knowledge of conditioning. He’s just another asshat trying to make money on the NH express.
Wow, just read this post and the similarities with the case of a Vernon, BC woman, Carla Christman, are startling…right down to the “accidental horse breedings”.
The SPCA recently seized 28 thin emaciated horses from her property (she has another 58), and 40 plus dogs she was using for a puppy mill. She claims to be running a ‘rescue’ when everybody knows its just an out of control breeding operation.
Everyone from the neighbors, Spca, visitors, other rescue groups and the RCMP have all been accused of being an organized hate group against her and she also spends all her free time on internet forums, trying to cover her ass.
Despicable!
Speaking of KRAZY KOLOR BREEDERS…. check out this bright light!
She thinks her FUGLY 2 year old Cremello (obviously!) stallion sexually assaulting her weanling is SOOOO KUH-YOOT!!!
Someone needs to GELD him AND them! Ugh!
Here’s the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYmIL-W-gu8&feature=player_embedded
Here’s the world champions webpage: http://www.chevyacres.com/
She needs to get that baby out of there ASAP. He’s playing like a normal stallion and he doesn’t appear particularly mean, but he needs another colt or gelding his own size! That weanling is going to get hurt.
Check out the future stud prospects. Little baby yaks if I ever saw them!
http://www.chevyacres.com/stallionscolts.cfm
I just have one question – when did AQHA register “Smoky Cream Grulla” as a color?? That colt looks like a cremello to me, not a cute one either. It’s one thing to be a Krazy Kolor breeder…..but I don’t htink you get to make up your own colors. And they wonder why people don’t take them seriously.
They make up new colors all the time. It’s like listening to someone order at Starbucks…”I’ll have a Silver Chocolate Cream Latte with some Agouti sprinkles, extra fugly.”
After being a regular on this board for so long, I am now SO skeptical of “rescues” that claim to be doing nice things. In fact, I don’t support the 501c rescue nearest me because of my dealings with them over the years (no real abuse, just sleazy tactics IMO).
I really feel that this board is doing such an important service for the horse community, opening up people’s eyes. Thanks Cathy.
I love the comment “we need a telethon for barn blindess”! Amen, sister.
Norma is the one to contact as the Animal Welfar Director. State veterinarians such as Dr. Hoenig are often involved more with regulartory issues than animal welfare/humane issues
I don’t blame people for getting fed up with fashion breeders that do not have homes ready for the next weanling to go to and even worse those that pretend to be animal rescuers and intelligent horse lovers that nearly kill a horse in 6 months! UNFRIGGINBELIEVABLE!
There are many out there that do believe, as you have pointed out nearly on a weekly basis, just because it is capable of breeding, it should be bred from! They then want to cry on your shoulder because they can not sell their latest clutch of young stock or thousands for a horse just because it is a particular colour with no performance record in the ring.
Our Appy we purchased off someone that had bought him a few months before to breed colour horses, at 17 months she was selling him as a colt because “I am moving into breeding Arabs, but if you can keep him entire, I’d like him to cover my mares” He was gelded the week after coming here because 1) he was not conformation correct as far as I could see 2) isn’t there enough unwanted unregistered horses out there without adding to it? 3) We are not into breeding horses and do not want to keep a stallion and keep him seperated from the rest. He is now rising 5 and what a great young riding horse he is and hopefully a future sporting horse for our daughter when they are both a bit older
The Arab we bought in Nov ’09 was quite skinny, saddle sores, neck pain, mouth pain and had also a dull coat. The sellers daughter was really worried about him leaving them because “I don’t know them for all we know he may get abused” hmm didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that remark, poor bloody horse! I had our farrier come up the first week to look at his hooves as he had had no attention for nearly 3 years and what he said was “well one thing is for sure they certainly didn’t spend any money on feeding him either” The equine dentist that came up the following week whilst he was still on trial was just as disappointed, and here they were worried about who he was going to!
It is now mid Feb ’10, he has bulked up, had his teeth attended to, now ridden in a bitless bridle (because that is all he needs), we have bought and sold a few saddles to finally find one that fits him really well, he is rugged daily, groomed and fed twice daily with our hands and eyes going over him to ensure he does not slip back. He is a wonderful horse, gives our young daughter so much pleasure and at last I think he can say he wants for nothing
Nov ’08
Jan ’10
Feb ’10
As for faux rescurers, we did buy a abused mare a few years ago unbeknown to us at the time as we what we thought we were buying was ‘riding pony my 5 y.o son rides unaided), but she was a complete train wreck in the mind for a young child to ride. A local lady came to look at her, assured me that she rescues horses and I even went up for a visit and it all seemed quite legite and that she would never breed from her and she would have a companion home forever, we gave her to this lady on those privisos only to find Rosie back on the market 9 months later as “breading (sic) mare” I tried contacting her a few times and asked her to bring her back, she never did, we finally found Rosie again and she has at last found herself with a loving companion family home
Faux rescuers are the thorn in many a horses owners side
Bitch is good – no one listens if you’re the nice quiet person in the corner. People don’t like being on this site because it damages whatever business they are trying and people stop giving them horses as easily – therefore it’s a good thing.
One thing I’ve found in the UK is a lot of the time the RSPCA type aren’t really interested if it’s not high profile – I had a TB out on loan 350 miles away, he had to be moved within a couple of days because the loanee got very ill very quickly. He went to a guy who the references were good and I was supposed to be going down about 6 weeks later to check on him and possible sell if I was happy. 2 days before I was due to go down I got an call and the guy basically said he didn’t want him any more and he was selling him next week – I busted my ass and got enough money together for the trip and went and picked him up. In those 6 weeks he’d gone from a podgy (the farier has said he was getting too fat) healthy tb to a very thin boy with severe cellulitis from untreated mud fever, very squint pelvis and very cow-hocked (normal sound and good confirmation). When I saw him we loaded and left asap – I didn’t trust myself and I wanted him out of there. When we got back he got immediate vet treatment and photos taken etc. I imformed the RSPCA (this guy still had 40 other horses on his yard – not all his but o full livery types) and they never even bothered to call me back – without sites like this there are so many more places like this and horses like my tb who would suffer so keep going. On a good note I got my boy sound and healthy again and he was sucessfully reloaned and did really well till he had to be euthed for unrelated reasons – freak accident
Keep bitching and outing all these idiots and pushing the issue!
Thank you, Fugs, for making sure to point out that this is in no way related to the Fair Play Farm in Michigan. I personally know the owner/trainer at Fair Play Farm here in MI. I worked for her for many years, and even when i wasn’t working for her i was working for the owners of her previous barn (Red House Farm, which she left when she was able to build her own facilities), so i got to know her very well. She is a fantastic lady, and is not a breeder at all. Her horses and those she trains get the best of care (trust me, I was the one who was feeding/turning out/cleaning their stalls for several years in the mid- to late 90′s and I know how high her standards are!!) and are happy, healthy and well fed. I would hate for anyone to think this was in any way related to her so I am VERY glad you stated that right up front.
Yeah, I found HER web site when I was researching and thought uh-oh, I hope people don’t get confused, because it looked like a super nice facility!
At the ripe old age of 54, I do not own my own horse – although it is my dream to do so. Why – because I am not sure that I can afford board, vet and farrier care – especially in case of an accident or emergency. That said, I am lucky – I ride and take lessons at a barn that has 15 horses at present and I have a trainer/BO that is happy to pass on any knowledge she possesses as to care, horsemanship etc. Hers, and her boarder’s horses, get fed 2x per day and have free choice hay, all day every day. Horse looking a little “thin” – simple, beet pulp in the am and pm – and, on occasion with 2 tb’s who thought it was more fun to stand under a tree rather than actually eat the free choice hay – lunch. Stalls get cleaned every day – no exceptions. 15 stalls – depending on how many people – 3 hours tops.
Fences – well, horses will be horses and boards get broken, etc. I have certainly fixed my share of boards – with the help of the ponies, of course, although I am never quite sure if they are “helping” or watching what I do so they know how to take it apart.
Point being – it’s not that hard to care for most horses. “Ours” get fed at 8 am, and turned out for the day. They get brought in about 7 or 7:30 and fed again at 8. So, if you feed at 8 and turn out by 8:30, bring in at 7:00 and feed again at 8:00 – that’s what, a whole 1.5 hours out of your busy day to feed your horses?
Add that to stall cleaning (picking, shavings, putting in hay for night, filling water buckets) you are now up to a whopping 4.5 hours – and still have time to go out for lunch!
Fugs, you are not a bitch – and if you are, it is a supreme compliment – I should only hope to be half the bitch you are!
As a quasi-update – I feed at my barn on Sundays. Normally, there are a couple of kids (teens) with me to help. We feed, turn out, go to breakfast and do stalls after wards.
OMG – this past Sunday, both kids wimped out – what’s a “girl” to do?????? It was cold – hovering right at about 32 when I got to the barn, all by my lonesome.
Tell you what a “girl” does – she feeds all 15 horses and then turns them out. She takes herself out for a nice breakfast, comes back, cranks up the tractor and cleans stalls.
And not one of these horses belongs to me.
It seems that some people forget that a rescue is meant to save horses that other people screwed up. It doesn’t count if you’ve already screwed up enough of your horses to create a rescue of your own. Disgusting.
CRAIGSLIST MUST READ
pluse a trailorpark sale ad to top off!
HUR HUR, He’s dropped five live fools on the ground: http://stlouis.craigslist.org/grd/1594168300.html
Look how good she doesn’t move when I stand on her: http://www.equinenow.com/horse-ad-94562
Geld immediately – we don’t need any more fools. Check the FHOTD archive for plenty of examples.
Hang on, isn’t there one born every minute.
I say embrace the bitchiness! It is holding people accountable, which is something our society has a HUGE problem doing. Most people don’t want to make waves or follow through by investing the time to make something happen so they just stick their heads in the sand. It is hard getting law enforcement to step up and in some cases you have to shove the evidence down their throat to get them to take action. And yes, I do believe this is because the laws are in favor of the abusers. Add to that the fact that in many cases you are dealing with mentally unstable hoarders and abusers and most people just don’t want to deal with it.
Prime example: Guy I used to work for decided his hack stable wasn’t making money anymore so he wasn’t going to care for the horses. The place fell apart, horses started getting sick and dying and everyone pissed and moaned about it but nobody would say anything. I hadn’t worked there in several years at this point (left because I couldn’t stand the owner) but was getting calls from people who did. Did the pics and videos thing, even took a vet there with me one day to document conditions. AC did nothing because he had food and water there.
One day I got a call saying a mare had broken her back and he had drug her down a gravel road with his backhoe, dug a hole in the “pasture” and buried her alive. Not only did these people not report it-they helped! Ordinarily these were good people, but instead of standing up to this guy or reporting him they actually went along with the abuse! They were afraid of causing trouble. And AC couldn’t do anything about it because not one person would make a statement after I reported it.
Myself and another former employee (who has much better people skills than me) finally talked him into giving us the remaining horses. They were a mess. Did it suck? Yes. Was it fun? No. Did we want to take on 8 horses that were sick, skinny and piling up vet bills? No. Did certian friends of his give us shit for giving him a hard time? Yes. Did we suck it up and do it anyway? Yes. Would we do it again? Hell yes.
If more people who knew what was going on first hand had stood up against him maybe it wouldn’t have gotten that bad. Maybe he would have turned over the horses sooner if more people would have stood up and told him what an asshole he was. But no, they just kept enabling him because they didn’t want to be involved in a confrontation, while whining to other people they hoped would stand up and do something in their place. And isn’t that what we are when we just sit back and hope somebody else will step in and clean up the mess, enablers?
I know I got a little off-topic and started ranting, but damn that shit just pisses me off! Everyone sitting back and watching abuse and neglect happen needs to stop worrying about their own comfort and do something about it!
I really don’t know why people are so afraid of “causing trouble.” Everybody is afraid of lawsuits but is there anybody reading this who has been sued successfully for telling the truth about someone’s documented, photographed farm conditions on the Internet?
Even one?
I suspect I’ll hear crickets.
Truly tragic. I noticed that she, ahem, purdied his mane by cutting it with scissors….(groan) I cannot understand how folks can sleep at night when seeing/knowing what they’re doing to these animals! But like its been pointed out again and again THEY DON’T CARE!! Here’s hoping there is KARMA..
I just read this! My first thought when I saw the first pic was “Oh. My. Dearsweetlord.” Going down the blog, it became “WTH?!?!” Then I saw the before/after pics of her with the gray stud. THAT PERSON SHOULD SUE HER ASS DRY.
It was 8 years ago and I’m guessing they spent too much money on the vet bills to have any left for lawyers!
Drat. Soo.. We start a “Sue Alexis P. For Ruining Horses’ Lives” fund! I’m sure we’d have plenty of poster horses. Not sure that it would be legally legit or anything but I like the idea…
Oh, I also read your 2007 blog on the krazy kolor breeders. I totally agree, Cinco (my avatar pic) is a grade Grullo, but I would never dream of breeding him. Apparently his previous owners thought so, he loooooves his girl friends, and has a very thick neck. That or they left something behind. Do you think you could do a thing on proud cut (that’s the term around here) geldings?
Sure! I don’t think I have covered that, so good idea!
FHOTD, glad that you are finally banning Ray. One of the things I like about your site is that it is remarkably troll free. Unlike Ray’s favorite Huffington Post which is trolling with crawls, or crawling with trolls, however you want to put it.
Hear, hear. There’s only so much Jerry Springeresque one can take.
I don’t mind a troll with Rays attitude, just one now and again is no bother, it’s just that, well, it was so mindless and pointless.
If it was someone who disagreed strongly with everything that we do here, OK, no problem.
But if he had a point, it got lost in his ramblinghs…not even really ranting!!
It was a waste of space.
Ban him for being boring, please do, but I know you would never ban him for disagreeing, however strongly, and I should never like to see that happen, either.
Kerri, it’s not about disagreeing- according to the urban dictionary, a troll is “one who posts a deliberberately provacitive message to a newsgroup or messageboard with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument”
Maybe his intent wasn’t to be deliberately trollish, but I think it had the same effect. I hope that people who disagree can always post here- that’s the other thing that I like about FHOTD. Who wants a board that’s an echo chamber?
Inkeesgirl, you have it exactly right. I was a bit irritated to have to scroll down through pages of people replying to Ray-the-troll, in order to get back to the topic.
How do you kill trolls? DON’T REPLY! Sure, type away and blow off steam (as I frequently do), but don’t hit “send.”
Ruthie
You go right ahead and be a bitch! There are always farms that deserve it, even without the outstandingly disgusting examples that you generally go after. For example, years ago I used to take lessons at a riding academy that seemed to have its act together. They had good facilities and healthy horses. Anyone looking from the outside would’ve thought they were great. But the horses were extremely unhappy with their jobs, and the stable owner was an absolute monster. She was so greedy, and she used her horses more as money machines than anything else! To this day, it says on her website: “There is a fee of $40.00 or $50.00 for lessons that are no-shows or are canceled with less than three hours notice. The reasons for this are…”
She lists several, one of which is “A horse has been fed, shod, vetted and tacked up to provide you with a lesson.”
There’s nothing illegal about that statement, but REALLY? You only feed the horses, give them shoes, and take them to the vet so that other people can ride them? What? If they can’t be ridden one week, you just don’t feed them? There are millions of horse owners that are getting away with neglect or abuse in all different forms and in varying degrees. Good for you for pointing that out. Keep bitching away.
I am still new to this blog and I am overwhelmed by how often this happens. I remember my freshman year of high school we had to pick a foreign language to learn and I picked French. About halfway through the year an article in Horse Illustrated (I’m 90% sure it was in Horse Illustrated) came out about horse slaughter. It listed France as the country that bought the most horse meat from us (by a lot if I remember correctly). I went to my guidance counselor that very day and told him I could not take French any longer. He made me wait until the end of that semester before he let me switch but I stopped studying that language because I was so horrified by that article. It was probably not very logical, after all I’m sure there are Spanish speaking people in the world who consume horse meat but it was honest and it was real to me at the time. And then I grew up…
Maybe I just got busy with my own life or just learned to tune out these atrocities because they are so horrible and it is so easy to feel overwhelmed and helpless but until I started reading this blog about a month or so ago I very rarely heard of this kind of crap and on the few occasions I did it seemed to be happening far away (translate sad but not really my problem). Not so long ago I was talking to a vet who had come out to the farm to do shots and he was telling me how the end of horse slaughter had been such a big mistake, how horses were suffering more now than they did then because they were starving to death, etc, etc, etc… And you know I found myself believing him. His arguments sounded logical and I thought it was the “pragmatic” way of thinking. And then I started reading this blog and it reminded me of how I felt when I was in high school and it completely changed my mind about horse slaughter and made me want to do what I could to help neglected and abused horses. I have always loved horses, that has never changed, I just needed a reminder.
I realize there are people who do think that you (FHOTD) are a bitch and think you are mean and just a bully who can’t play nice, but for whatever it is worth, thank you for not hiding the truth behind polite lies. If you look back through history you can easily see that most radical changes (for the better) did not come about through people being polite and behaving “properly.” Think about Nellie Bly the female reporter who posed as an inmate in an insane asylum to expose the horrible living conditions of the inmates, I’m sure there were a whole bunch of people who thought she was a nasty bitch. It just seems to be human nature to want to hide the ugliness in the world under a carpet. I guess pretending that it doesn’t exist is easier than having to actually try to fix it.
Not sure where I was going with all that except to say thanks and from now I will do my best to be LOUD about these issues and screw being the nice SAHM. I want my kids to grow up knowing that it is okay to fight for what they believe and especially to fight for anyone or thing that can’t speak/fight for itself.
>>Not sure where I was going with all that except to say thanks and from now I will do my best to be LOUD about these issues and screw being the nice SAHM.<<
You go girl!
Here's the point. Let's say I convince 3 people not to breed their mares, or to keep their old horse and not just give it away on Craigslist, or to obtain vet care when an old horse is skinny, or whatever.
Now let's say you convince 3 people the same. And they see that your advice was correct, and they each convince three people…
This is how change happens.
Why do you think people get so angry? It's because we are winning. We are making it extremely socially unacceptable to backyard breed, and dump your old horses to slaughter. They would not be so angry if we were having no effect!
Not only that, but you have convinced at least one person – me – to take better care of her horses, beyond the basics of food, vet, and farrier. We’re all happier!
And you have made me realize the awfulness of the place where I gained almost all of my hours in the saddle. That lady would have been a Fugly “Star”: poor facilities, barbed wire, no farrier, little or no vet care, letting her little stud (the one I trained) breed every mare on the place… Against the odds, I learned a lot there – but from my own study, observations, and experiments. In a way, she made me the horsewoman I am today. Argh!
So you go ahead and be a bitch, and keep spreading the word about the slime at the bottom of the horse world.
Ruthie
Yes, you are right in the fact that the French are not the only ones to slaughter horses for human consumption…it happens right here, in the US, outside of major cities like Chicago here. Horses that are tripped in these backyard/ethnic rodeos become dinner later on after their legs are broken. That is one reason why I think the closure of the slaughterhouses to try and end this was so stupid…because now, instead of the horses going to some place where some sort of oversight might actually take place, and they might actually be bought by other buyers, they are being exposed to even more cruel conditions than they would have in the first place. Only the prices of the meat and the faces eating them have changed, and the auction venues…now instead of horses being sold to a killer buyer at an auction, where other buyers are also buying, the auctions are setting up at caballero barns and bringing the horse sellers right there with truckloads of horses. It has happened and will continue to happen because it happens on private property and the perpetrators are very good at hiding it. They can put a sign out and anyone can buy there, but most people don’t. Why wouldn’t they be good at hiding it? They can own horses…unlike a closed slaughterhouse, where people would be suspicious if horses started showing up, they do horse riding and other activities too. People want to dispose of horses and these people will buy, and truly, unless a whole bunch of jackbooted thugs show up and seize everything on the spot, which we all know they won’t do, I don’t know how this can be prevented. They haven’t even stopped the illegal rodeos that go on. Like so many other illegal animal activities, they would have to be caught on the spot, and in many places the slaughter of animals for the dinner table is not illegal. I commend you for making your views known to your teacher, but the truth of the matter is, we could ban a bunch of foreign languages from our schools tomorrow and it wouldn’t stop a thing. People eat dogs in the US too, and there is a lot more popularity in dogs as pets than there is in horses.
I don’t really want to ban any foreign languages of course, lol. This was *ahem* many years ago when I was in high school. And I didn’t want to take French any longer b/c I was afraid if I ever visited the country and went to a McDonald’s I might somehow accidentally get a horse-burger. (I know that is silly now but it made perfect sense at the time.)
Are you saying that ending horse slaughter in the States was a mistake b/c people are going to do it anyways? I think that is what you are saying and if so then I have to disagree. It’s pretty much the same argument that we should make drugs legal b/c people are going to do them anyways. I just don’t buy it. That’s like throwing up our hands and saying the bad guys win. There are always going to be people who do the wrong thing and unfortunately there will always be innocents (be they animal or human) who end up suffering for it, that doesn’t mean we should just go ahead and let them have their way.
I was going to respond, but you already did it better. Banning horse slaughter in this country obviously does not end horse suffering immediately—but it’s a good first baby step towards eliminating the rock-bottom market, so that overbreeders have to at least put some thought into the economics of what they’re doing.
Well, yes, I am saying that, and I’m also saying I feel the drugs should be legalized and regulated. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t do drugs, never even smoked a cigarette. I don’t think people should do them. But I know that history has borne out that Prohibition did not work, only increased the crime rate exponentially. Like with drugs…too much money in it now, and the thugs take over. Prohibition did not prevent alcoholism.
I have to laugh about the whole McDonald’s thing you said! Yeah, that would be pretty bad…I can see some sort of horsey character for the fry goblins or Mayor McCheese to ride! Yuck!
I think there should be either a cash reward or a huge tax break for Americans who submit to random drug testing whenever the government chooses, and come up clean. I would sign up in a HEARTBEAT. Where is the reward for being clean? There needs to be one, and then you will see more of it. Bribery for good behavior has worked on many a teenager, and it will work on adults, too. Considering the cost to society of ONE drug addict, I would think we could give a healthy incentive for being clean & sober and still wind up ahead!
Whoops, take out the “but” in the last paragraph… That says something that I didn’t mean to say!
The more I read the more I realize that Animal Control offices need to have a huge overhaul! Why does it come up constantly that these officials cannot do anything, or don’t care, or somehow think that starving horses are okay? Revise the standards, get them more education, whatever it takes, but something needs to be done about the one arm of government that can actually do something about these horrible situations.
Also, not to put my feminist birkenstocks on, but I notice that many husbands, including mine, think this is a silly message board … wake up, gentlemen, we upstart, loudmouthed women are making a difference! Isn’t that always the way.
FYI, my stats say the readership is about 37% male. It’s not ALL ladies here. I think they just aren’t as likely to post their two cents worth.
Being one of the 37%, I find that interesting. Much higher than I thought. Nothing in the blog (IMO) is silly. I think it brings a great awareness to many people (and amusing). If only other blogs/boards were as honest, open and straightforward the world would be a better place for horses and horse people.
Thanks, Man!
I’d like to see more of the male 37% take a page from your book, and have the balls to post along with all us bitches!
“I think it brings a great awareness to many people (and amusing).”
Doc, you have that right. Too many animal welfare sites spend waaaay too much time preaching. That only keeps my attention for a couple of paragraphs. But Cathy both makes me indignant, and makes me laugh. That wakes me up and makes me think!
The pics are also great. Even an illiterate can see the difference between starving and well-fed, by looking at “before and after” pics. Ditto for pics of bad stalls and good ones, and other things.
Doing it right takes more than compassion. It also takes critical thinking, pragmatism, and knowledge of one’s limits. If any of us lacks any of these four qualities, we’re not doing it right.
Ruthie
OMG! I will NOT tell you what my husband refers to the blog as (Fugs STOP LYAO). He does NOT think the topics discussed are silly at all, though! He is just amused that the equestrian world that he sees is largely female.
I think part of getting people who are non-horsey involved is about making it seem important. My husband is non-horsey. He was raised by a harness racer/trainer in PA, and had the horses an land I always dreamed about. He just doesn’t like horses, and has always been afraid after a childhood incident.
Despite this, he reacts well when I talk to him about the Fugly blog. I think in part it is because of how I explain things to him. I talk only about the most important parts, like about the abuse in this blog, or about people breeding animals without a home. To be an ambassador of the horses, so to speak, I’ve learned to be very selective about what I talk about to all the non-horsey people in my life. It’s almost like being the media, picking the sensational stories, the ones with the awful pictures. I have to show them the stuff that really is intense then slowly do less sensational stories downward. I don’t think anyone sane would look at the pictures in today’s blog, for example, and think you are just a silly little woman with your heart on your sleeves. A person who would look at that horse and say you’re being a baby is a person you don’t really want in your life, because they are the kind that enable this bad behavior and don’t report the starving animals next door.
Very true. My SO is not a horse person (he is actually a bit scared of them, but my horse likes him for the timidly-fed carrots) but he relates to them as pets because he loves animals and despises (actually he would be first in line for the priveledge of putting them to death) people who abuse helpless animals or children. My sister, neice and nephew are not horse people but are into dogs (adopted theirs from their local rescue and get the overbreeding and puppy-mill issues) and they all relate to my rabid anti-horse-abuse outlook.
I share a lot of stories from here with my husband, ones I feel are exceptionally shocking or outrageous (which is most of them, eh). My husband thinks it is great. He isn’t a horse person (though he adores our horses and brags about them as if they are our kids), but he is an animal lover and more than that he thinks: “anything that gives a bitchslap to idiots is fine by me!”
BYB: in my area people tell you you’re making a stupid choice.
Post on CL
I am new to the horse world and in need of some info and guidance as well.
I just bought a thoroughbred mare, however she is unregistered.
I am looking to breed her to an Arabian stallion, are there any at stud here in the central valley?
I see a lot of ads for many types of horses, but not many for Arabian stallions at stud.
Any and all info would be greatly appreciated!
If you can send me pictures of the Stallion!
Response on CL
In today’s economy with folks losing their jobs and homes being foreclosed, the last thing you want to do is breed an unshown, unraced, unproven, unregistered, possibly Thoroughbred mare. The finest of horses, registered, with show training, show records, lovely animals, are being given away on Craigslist every day. But, horses who do not have distinguished careers or excellent training or breeding cannot be sold and cannot be given away. They are being abandoned as their owners can no longer afford to feed them. They end up in the “kill pens” at auctions, sold for $50, heading for the slaughterhouses in Mexico.
Do NOT add to this group by breeding your unregistered mare.
In the best of worlds, you may find a handsome, show-winning, proven Arabian sire who will accept your unregistered mare and you will produce a nice half-Arabian, half-something foal. Let’s say the stud fee is $1000. Without complications, the feed, vitamins, farrier and vet bills for the mare through her pregnancy will be about $2000. After the foal is born, you have at least three years of feed, vet, farrier bills. Let’s add another $2500 there. This is before you send your horse out to the trainers. Professional training will run about $600 a month. Add the minimum of four months of training. Add another $2400. For a barely broke, registered half-bred, half-grade, unshown horse, you have got $7,900.00 into him.
Are you starting to see the folly of this???
Do NOT breed this mare. If you would like another horse, do our horse world a favor. Go RESCUE one of the many, many horses who need homes right now. And if you want an Arabian or an Anglo-Arabian (registered half-Arab, half TB), there are hundreds of them within driving distance of Fresno waiting for you to give them a home.
PLEASE!
But if anyone want a pretty 8 y/o gelding:
http://fresno.craigslist.org/grd/1596276652.html
$500 that’s it? All I need is more room and a 9 day week… uhm…help.
GREAT response!
Norma is out until the 22nd of February. People should use the url for posting online complaints that I gave several posts above here. Can use Norma’s too, which I gave, but she may not get anything until the 22nd.
People have been abusing horses since they started domesticating them. Preventing overbreeding is much more effective. But then “rescues” invokes a much more emotional response. And I don’t see many blogs dedicated to the process of gelding.
Actually, many blogs–including this one and the rescue organizations who are linked from this one–are huge proponents of gelding.
As Becky said earlier, this is not a new problem here in Maine… Several years ago, a group of us got together in Maine to try to pressure the Animal Welfare Program to step up and start addressing the epidemic of horse neglect in Maine. We attended hearings and meetings, got the media involved, presented documentation of ongoing neglect at certain facilities and gave specific examples of farms being notified in advance of AWP investigations heading their way… but nothing changed. Ms. Worley has been ineffective as the Director of AWP and has numerous groups in all aspects of animal husbandry (from dog breeders and hunting groups to food animal producers, to rescues and shelters and everything in between) really pissed at her. Check out some of these articles:
American Chronicle
Sporting Dog Alliance blasts breeder bill
The SDA has even begun to pressure the Dept of Agriculture and the Governor’s office to fire Worley:
Fire Worley petition initiated by the Sporting Dog Alliance
While Maine has some of the most progressive animal welfare laws in the nation, in general we do a really crappy job of enforcing them when it comes to horses. She has used some pretty lame excuses for not enforcing these laws and doing her job, from whining about budget (which admittedly is shitty but she could do better at networking with rescues and shelters, developing alternative funding sources and foundations outside of the state coffers) to crabbing about the lack of facility space (thought she never calls to get regular updates from shelters). Her irrational hostility toward the private facilities runs so deep that she was caught stating in one interview that horse rescues only want her to seize horses and place them at their facilities for the $10.00 per diem rate that the state is statutorily required to pay… I don’t think I need to express what an utterly hateful and obviously wrong-minded thing that is to say… I’ve taken in four horses for the state in two years (two emaciated) and have received not one red cent for their care! Others have as well and do so in spite of her, not for her. To make a long story short, the buck stops with the irresponsible owners, but in absence of personal responsibility, the state does have a statutory mandate to enforce humane law and should not be allowed to so selectively enforce them, seizing cute (and easily placeable dogs and puppies) left and right but allowing horses to languish in hell while she drags her ass.
Just to give you an idea of the state’s reticence in horse cases, these are pics of horses that we took in AFTER the state was called and did nothing…other rescues and individuals (Becky above has taken in a few herself) can report the same sorts of horror stories that the state failed to act on.
Nero Before:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Nero042.jpg
Nero Before:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Nero015.jpg
Nero After 5 months of rehab:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Fallhorsepics039.jpg
Pete before:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Pete005.jpg
Pete’s feet:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Petesfeet.jpg
Pete after 3 months of rehab:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Pete2026.jpg
Pete’s feet after 3 trims:
http://s8.photobucket.com/albums/a2/mainehorsenut/?action=view¤t=Pete047.jpg
Why they wait until the horses are close to death and very nearly beyond rehabilitation is a mystery, because statute permits for seizure FAR before they get to such deplorable conditions..
Spirit of Hope Farm,
Don’t be disheartened and don’t give up! You and your friends are doing a wonderful thing to advocate for horses, but when it seems like time is going by and not much is happening, think of other public education campaigns. I like to think of seatbelts, drunk driving and cigarette smoking. When I was young, state vehicles would park right outside the bars after work and the workers would be inside drinking, later driving their state vehicles home. A prosecutor had a hard time getting a conviction for drunk driving. Similarly, everyone (it seemed) smoked cigarettes– in houses, child-filled vehicles, restaurants, the workplace, everywhere. And there were no seatbelts in cars. The thing is, public education campaigns were fueled by a lot of dedicated people like yourself and they took years to take effect. But look at the changes!
Keep up the good work, and remember, your will and passion to advocate change is stronger than the indifference and incompetence of a politician who is, after all, a temporary fixture.
From her Facebook page the end of january -”is wondering if its legal in the state of maine to feed square bales to horses or if they have to have Hay in front of them 24 hours a day….just curious?” “just wanted to double check on the square bale rules cause that’s what some of mine got this morning till I could pick up my rounds and apparently someone thought they weren’t getting fed….seems like someone needs to find a hobby lol”
So my question is if that is what “Some of” hers got – what did the rest of hers get???
Feeding of squares is certainly legal as long as one is feeding ENOUGH squares to the number of horses one has!
So I checked out the blog last night, and my husband glanced over at my laptop screen. “Oh”, he said, “Are you looking at the cave paintings of Lascaux?”. I stared at him for a second, then realized he was viewing the first picture of the starved horse.
“No, honey, that’s a real, honest to god horse.” I told him.
He was horrified. As am I. Poor creatures.
See, one of my tests for “cruelty there is NO excuse for” is when a layperson/non-equestrian is horrified. This case definitely meets that standard.
I have been using my husband’s reaction for ages. he can’t tell a somewhat too thin back yard horse from a really fit racehorse, to him they both just look “skinny”… so when he looks at a picture and blurts out “What the hell?!?!” I know it has passed from abuse to “there is never any excuse for this” abuse.
Unfortunately (said tongue in cheek, since there is nothing really unfortunate about it) he is starting to learn more just from hanging around with me, and he now picks up on more subtle signs of neglect. Recently i was looking at some ads and a horse had overgrown but not grossly bad feet and he sighed and said, “someone needs to have a foot trimmer person come out!” There are some horse people I know who probably wouldn’t have picked up on that… so I may need to find a suitably non-horsey person in the future now that he is catching on better, lol.
Could you do a post on conformation? I’m in a horse judging class, and I’m specifically having trouble seeing differences in shoulder angle. Or maybe you’ve already got a post like that, so I just need pointed in the right direction. Thanks!
There’s a search box in the upper right that will help you, but I’d recommend going back to the first year of the blog, 2007 – there’s an archive link if you scroll down – which is when I went over a lot of the different conformation issues.
I’ve been studying shoulder angles, and finding that the more I learn, the more I need to learn. I used to think it was pretty simple… Turns out it’s much more than just the area you can see, where the neck meets the body. In fact, that’s the wrong line to look at.
Shoulder angle is defined by the spine of the scapula (the ridge that runs along the middle of the scapula), which is not visible. It usually runs from the middle of the withers to the point of the shoulder. The “ideal” is 45 degrees, but there’s a lot of variation.
A leg with an upright shoulder cannot reach out as far as a leg with a well sloped one. I believe there is some proof out there that a straight shoulder makes for shorter strides. (A stride is the distance between the point where the hoof touches the ground, and the point where the same hoof hits the ground again.) A horse that takes more strides to cover a mile will get tired sooner than a long-strided horse.
The assembly of the scapula and humerus is also the main shock absorber for the front legs. (The other is the pastern.) The straighter the shoulder, the worse the shock absorption. That affects both endurance and rider comfort.
There’s a foolish rumor that says a straight shoulder makes for higher knee action. I think a horse dealer with a straight-shouldered Saddlebred or Hackney made that up. It’s unmitigated B.S.! Jumpers need to get their knees pretty high, too. I’m a Saddlebred fan, and I’ve never seen an upright shoulder on a great show horse.
Hope this helps.
Ruthie
So, I just remembered a story from my youth pertaining to horse leasing. The stallion in the blog jogged my memory.
I grew up riding a pony of who belonged to the daughter of the owners of the barn I often rode at. This pony was an absolute sweetheart, best pony ever for teaching young people to ride. Well, the owner of the pony outgrew him and he needed a job, so they started looking for a lease home for him, long term. They didn’t want to sell him, just wanted him to have a little girl to teach. They find this family that just looks fantastic and seems to really like the pony and they think it’s gonna be perfect. They signed a lease with the people with the condition that if for any reason they didn’t like the pony, they could send him home at any point. Also that the owner was allowed to check up on him. Well, a few weeks into the lease the owner of the pony e-mails to ask about her pony and the response was along the lines that the girl was scared of the pony, and it was heavily implied that the pony had been dispatched with a bullet. There is no reason why stories like this have to exist, yet they do. I’m not sure what could have saved that pony, if anything, but it’s always made me incredibly wary about sending my horse out on a lease. Fugs, have you done a post on leasing horses and how to keep your horse as safe as possible while out on lease? I don’t know about others, but I do know that I personally would like to have a discussion about that.
We leased out one of our Minis about two years ago. Went to drop off some paperwork (they were local) and went back to see the horses- and were appalled. Immediately went home and got the trailer and pulled our horse out. He must have been a 2-3, you could see all his ribs and hip bones. Their excuse? “None of the feed we use seems to work…” Well, it only works if you GIVE it to them!!
It didn’t take long for him to pop right back. It’s a wonder what feed and hay will do!
So, no, unless the leasee stays here, we won’t lease anymore.
Isn’t a person responsible for animals kept on their property (even if they belong to someone else)? So, if she is keeping horses at her parents home, aren’t her parents going to be held responsible if they are being neglected (you know, it’s going to be THEIR names in the complaint/newspaper article). Maybe someone should inform her parents of this.
Yes, at least in most places I’ve lived, they are. If it’s your property, you can’t just let them starve. You have to report it.
Wanted to comment on the leasing thing — I think it rarely works, unless tightly controlled. BWPbaby, why wouldn’t the lessors owe the owner the sale value of that pony? They disposed of someone else’s property, without permission.
This is the only way I would lease out my horse:
– don’t email, visit. Often. If you can’t visit, call — and if they aren’t returning your phone calls, go see. Which makes leasing a pain in the rear, but at least you know where the horse is and what condition it’s in (or if the horse has been moved, you aren’t finding out about it months later). Best case, lease out of your barn so you really keep control of the horse.
– have it all spelled out in writing. What happens if the horse goes lame? Gets really sick? Needs colic surgery? What if he comes back to you lame and it was the lessors fault? How about his training being trashed? Who is responsible? Make the lessor pay some insurance if the horse is worth anything. Hold onto the papers!
– if the horse is boarded, make sure the barn owner knows who the actual owner is: you. And you have permission to visit or even remove the horse. It’s still yours, they are just borrowing it. Now, you shouldn’t be an ass and just go yank your horse out from under the lessor, but at least you have the ability to retrieve the horse if something is going wrong.
I am of the opinion that selling a horse is really much better than leasing if you can’t be really hands on with it (as in the case of the pony, why wouldn’t they sell it instead, which might make those people think twice about their reactions to a bad situation), only because so many misundersandings can arise. Instead of leasing, how about letting someone ride the horse at your barn? I know people lease broodmares, but I heard many horror stories about that. Sell with a right of first refusal. They are not worth the paper they are printed on, but at least it’s something.
My friend and I have discussed this at length, and even tho we trust each other, we agreed that rather than a long term lease to buy the horse in question for $1.00 so there is a sale, with a right of refusal if one of us didn’t want the horse anymore. But there’s no question of who is responsible for the horse and pays the bills if it’s a sale. And I don’t think we would do it with anyone else.
I know a horse is not a car, but who would borrow someone’s car and then trash it? When you lease a car, rather than buy it, it had better be as clean as it came off the showroom floor or you get heavily penalized monetarily when you return it.
My personal experiences in the horse world have been that no matter how earnestly people state a horse has a forever home with them, it’s not usually the case. In this economy, the horse is the first to go. I am such a cynic now!
I totally agree that leasing has to be very carefully controlled. My riding instructor offers “half” leases to those of her students who have demonstrted they are trustworthy. The lessee is entitled to ride on 3 prearranged days/week and the horse stays at her barn. She pays for the farrier, vet, supplements, etc. I leased one of her horses for a month while my guy was recuperating from an illness. It worked out really well for everyone including the horse who seemed to enjoy getting out of the arena and onto the trails. Not only did she see the horse every day, but we talked several times a week about how things were going. She suggested little tweaks to make the experience even more enjoyable. I’ve talked to her other students who have take part in the program and everybody loved it. In fact, several people who started out leasing, actually purchased the horse they were riding. The only thing I would change in her program would be to put everything in writing.
I’m a cynic right along with you:) I think “forever” means “long-term if all goes well” in most cases. All that you mentioned is really good advice, but my main issue with leasing is that, if something happens to the horse or if it gets sold without permission, even if everything is spelled out in writing (which it was in the case I mentioned) once that happens, it’s too late. It’s not even about the money, necessarily, for me, though a reimbursement would definitely be in the cards (however, I think the kind of people who would break contract when it came to the horse would also probably need to be strong armed into paying you back), for me it’s about the fact that I care a LOT about my horses, and I want the best for them. The reason I wouldn’t want to sell a horse is because I would anticipate wanting to have that horse in the future, or because I wanted to be able to keep a weather eye on its well being. I think the most sensible thing really is to do a local lease, like you mentioned, and everything else is just window dressing. The people I mentioned were challenged by the fact that they were in a VERY small community (island with a population of 2000, not all of whom are horse people) so it forced them to seek non local options, since they were not interested in selling outright, due to the reasons I mentioned above. I feel this person would have been equally as devastated if she had sold the pony and this had happened.
Thank you for your input! Some of it was a good reminder, and some of it was things I hadn’t thought of, but it was all helpful, so thank you.
Do you help starving children? How dare you help starving children when there are other starving children!
LOL! And once every starving child on the planet is fed, how dare you feed starving animals until every one of those children are educated? And until they get Master’s degrees in Animal Education, how dare you adopt a starving horse, cat or dog? And until everybody in the world is cured of AIDS, and Malaria and Cholera are diseases of the past, how dare you give an aspirin to a co-worker who has a headache?
If we’re waiting for a perfectly-organised world to contribute what we can, we will be waiting a loooooong time. There’s nothing wrong with contributing to whatever charities we believe in, today. Whether they result in a perfect world, or just make this one a little better.
And there’s evidence to suggest that many people who give to charities such as Red Cross and United Way, are also longtime donors or volunteers for their local animal and people charities.
“And until everybody in the world is cured of AIDS, and Malaria and Cholera are diseases of the past, how dare you give an aspirin to a co-worker who has a headache?”
That is so beautiful it brought a tear to my eye.
ROTFL that is DEFINITELY a WIN!
Alexis is gogopony7 over at COTH. Last year she took in more horses, including at least one from CANTER, and was keeping her eyes peeled for more “broodie prospects”.
Is there a way to get her information circulated among the CANTER people? Because ending up at Alexis’ place is no better off than if the poor horse goes to slaughter.
I’m pretty sure CANTER people read this blog…besides, someone will post this to COTH if they haven’t done so already. COTH is not Horsetopia…it may be moderated but they will still get the point across that this kind of behavior is unwelcome and so is Alexis.
Thought I would let everyone here know about updates on this situation. Several people have indicated that dozens of horses were moved from this facility yesterday & today. Reports range from “horses brought to other farms” to “horses brought to landfills/holes and shot & buried.” No way to know the fate of these horses right now, except that they are NOT AT THE CLINTON FARM. The 35+ horses I witnessed three days ago is now reportedly about 10-15. Please see the NickerNews website below for updates. Any assistance is greatly appreciated.
http://www.nickernews.net/clinton-horses-still-suffer.aspx
Fhotd, thanks for the blog. My neighbor routinely leaves her animals without food or water. Though we’ve had the sheriff out more than once, they’ve done nothing. I even offered to sign the complaint, and also nothing. Apparently a claim that they’ve taken the animal to the vet is enough to get them off the hook, rather than the actual condition of the animals, a lack of a receipt for treatment or food on the premises notwithstanding. Photos and media attention will be the next methods tried.
Alas, in an area where the people don’t take care of themselves, taking care of animals doesn’t incite much support. I don’t recommend Elko, NV if you have serious objections to neglect and abuse of any species.
As far as the poster who thinks that rescuing humans is more important, I say think again. That is merely human conceit, an excuse to get those who mistreat animals off the hook for their behavior. The fact that it is has been going on for untold generations does not make it right, nor does it lend credence to the idea that human life is more important than other life. If you need to believe that to justify your own existence, feel free to continue. Fortunately, your opinion does not change my reality, or, apparently, that of many others on this list. You merely validate the idea that some peple are only alive because it’s against the law to shoot them (and/or to do stupid things to that we don’t have to).
I’m sure both Brett and Alexis will be reading this thread. I have a message for them- you did the right thing over this summer with Java- it’s time to do more of the right thing. To Fugs and her readership. We all know the horse world is small…. incredibly small even when looking coast to coast. Last year a whole heck of a lot of drama in ‘our’ world played out… my sister’s leased TB “Java” was given away by the leasee to a known not-so-good horse broker, Wilbur McCall, in Maine. Remember his name. He’s a fellon and can’t personally ship stock into Canada but he’ll sell to KBers who can. He also likes to pretend he is a rescue. Wilbur listed Java for sale. We tried to inquire about Java’s welfare and I personally tried to negotiate a purchase of Java but Wilbur is… well… a dick and decided that he was going to make Java disappear and to this day I don’t know why the hell he just didn’t let me pay the ransom and get the damn horse back. I have to say right here that without help from several people including Alexis, Wilbur would have been successful. Wilbur instead ‘sold’ Java to Brett who turns out was ticked off that Wilbur handed him what was basically a stolen horse. (Yes several local and state police departments were involved but timing is critical in such matters). Brett did trailer Java to safety. Alexis admitted ‘a past’ and the police dept had told us she had ‘a past’, I guess it’s not so much in the past is it? So anyway I’m glad to know that Java is safe but again- Alexis and Brett- if you were capable of such a selfless deed as what you did with one horse please PLEASE do not be the same shitty type of people as Wilbur and the idiot leasee and her boyfriend/husband whoso casually discarded Java over to Wilbur. Change your life and those of the horses- do the right thing… having horses is not a requirement.
I have spent the last three weeks reading your blog from the beginning and I’m finally caught up! I have to say I love your blog and I wish there were more people out there that had your common sense and aren’t afraid to take a stand even if they will be called “A Bitch.”. I am horrified by the ignorant and careless people out there and have learned a lot from reading your posts, some things I wish I hadn’t learned LIKE THE FACT THAT THERE ARE A LOT OF PEOPLE LIKE THIS OUT THERE!!! This is disgusting but I want to say thank you for what you are doing and bringing these horrors to light so that something can be done about them.
I want to plug a rescue here in Arizona while Im here haha. I board my horse at a farm in Chandler called Marley Farms and they operate a great animal rescue. It is owned by an ex baseball player and his wife. I love their facility and think they do amazing work. Check it out if you have time guys! http://www.marleyfarms.com/
Also I have to say I am in LOVE with True Colours farm and their cremello stallion.. That is a quality animal right there if you want to get a nice colored sport horse… which I do lol
Thanks again for your informative and snarky blog.. I love it
I have been following this since it broke middle of last week imagine my shock when reading this on Nickernews in an interview “Worley has given a blanket order to her Animal Welfare agents to NOT seize any large animals from this farm or any other farm, regardless of the situation.” What the?! The person refferred to is the Director of the Animal Welfare Department! I checked this quote and it is factual. The horror story behind this disaster is that the Department that is supposed to handling this type of situation and enforcing the laws is doing nothing! Response from a member of the Animal Welfare Advisory Council indicates more of the same! To date I have only received one positive response from a Representative who is not on the Agriculture Committee or involved with the Animal Welfare Advisory Council. Something is very wrong with this picture!
Thanks Nony Mouse for posting and taking the time to write and be heard! Are you in Maine? We, the voice of Maine horses suffering, have got to be heard this time!!! If you are in Maine check out the little news blip on ABI TV5, Bangor, I think it is CBS, not 100% on that!
Becky,
I wasn’t able to view the news broadcast last night but saw it today, as I was watching it my hubby’s comment, she doesn’t have anything to hide but she needs an attorney present for the news crews? Very valid point! Yes we live in Maine.
Don’t know if it’s too late to make another comment (just finished reading the rest of the posts), and this is off-topic from the blog entry, but, is kind of revelent (I think) to some of the comments regarding leasing (don’t know if this story has been mentioned before).
I found a reference to this case: http://www.animallaw.info/cases/causky44sw3d806.htm in the book “Every Dog’s Legal Guide” Had to search it to get the details, and even though it happened 9-10 years ago I think it’s great that this poor woman got a settlement (not that it will stop her nightmares or is anywhere near the punishment that these assholes deserved).
Coverage of the Clinton, Maine farm on WABI Bangor. Video is not linked yet, but will be soon.
http://www.wabi.tv/news/10063/horse-care-in-clinton-questioned
I am glad it hit the news, and of course Alexis has done a good job of mostly putting the decent looking ones outside. I would have loved to have seen the inside of her barn, wouldn’t you? She is not showing THAT to reporters, is she?
Is anyone sure how many horses are on this property, conservatively 30? It doesn’t take a genius (Alexis) to realize you cannot possibly afford to take even minimal care of that many horses. You are not now, nor are you in the future ever going to cut a profit off of any of these animals. Is the State is paying to feed your herd now and are we all going to have to pay for your kid too?
Will you please stop breeding (yourself included) it’s time to get a real job (one that pays the bills) and grip on reality. You are not a trainer, reputable breeder, quality boarding facility, rescue, or a sane person.
Now what – I am a legal moron. Does Maine have a place for 30+ horses if seized, or do we have 30+ qualified homes for them? If not can they be removed and/or humanly euthanized before they starve to death or are trucked off to be hidden or sold to slaughter? How long do the legal wheels turn before this mess is cleaned up and the Alexis of the world; are they legally prohibited from doing this sort of thing again?
Many things are worse that a peaceful death can’t Maine grant them that?
We do have a rescue willing to take the horses in, so in this case we’re set, just waiting on legal action.
>>Will you please stop breeding (yourself included) it’s time to get a real job (one that pays the bills) and grip on reality. You are not a trainer, reputable breeder, quality boarding facility, rescue, or a sane person.<<
There are just so many people I'd like to say that to that it's not even funny.
Came by to post the MPBN story, but see it’s already here! Thank you! PLEASE BE SURE YOU CLICK ON THE PHOTO to see additional photos on flickr…you will not be disappointed with MPBN’s work! The younger horse was BRED & BORN at Fair Play Farm, and we have located “before” pictures to go with these lovely “after” photos.
On Feb 11th, 31 or 32 horses were photographed in the main paddock area. There were approximately another 10-15 horses in the “stallion” paddocks – not photographed. There are reportedly several others in the barn, but no way to know how many. 18-20 stalls in the barn.
Today, 25 or 26 horses were photographed in the main paddock area. Maybe 9 or 10 in the stallion area. From the MPBN story, there are at least two in the barn.
An e-mail from Norma Worley dated Feb 11 states “between 50-60 on site”. What does one do with 10-20 horses that they don’t want seen?
We are all exhausted, but hooray for adrenalin! State officials are back to work in a few hours, so we are hoping for an interesting day!
Keep up the good work. I know how frustrating it is when it just seems that nothing can get done, but it’s your kind of follow up (finding pictures to prove horses are NOT recently acquired rescues!) that helps law enforcement make their case. GREAT WORK!
I was so disappointed to find this entry wasn’t about Moon Run Farm and Bray Anderson. She’s a fine upstanding horse dealer that picks up horses cheap then triples their price to sell them. Even if they are useless and Fugly. The oones that aren’t useless she drives them into the ground until they’re lame, THEN sells them. She was so pissed that her workers spent $5000 in vet care on her sick Welsh pony stallion while she was on her vacation (I think she was in Europe that time) that she didn’t give him the medications the vet gave her and by the time she decided he was sick enough to go to the vet all they could do was put him down. Luckily she bred him to everything she had before he died. She’ll play FarmVille on Facebook instead of doing silly things like give the horses water. She wonders why she doesn’t have any boarders but I digress.
Don’t bother calling Norma. She’s the most useless sack of shit that has ever held a public office. She’s so busy trying to violate people’s personal rights – she’s trying to get a bill passed that Animal Control officers and investigators for the Animal Welfare Board can enter a person’s home and sieze their animals on suspicion of neglect/abuse – that she doesn’t have time to deal with actual issues. The above quoted Bray Anderson has been reported to her numerous times including pictures of a mare who looked as bad as the skinny colt you posted but somehow nothing happened. She probably knows these people and her investigators turn the other way. The horse finally dropped dead in the field one day.
Given the number of horses in Maine and the very CLEARLY spelled out laws about water and shelter you’d think it would be easier to enforce laws when people are clearly starving their horses. But hey, why take care of horses when you can trample on people’s constitutional rights?
I contacted Norma as well as the Agriculture guy, they couldn’t give a crap less about what anyone has to say to them. After all, it’s not an elected position, they don’t have to listen.
Yes, I’m this bitter.
I understand bitter. We ALL hate to see horses suffer.
Have you looked at Nickernews? It looks like they are compliling a list of reported complaints that were not investigated.
I have and I will update on this story later this week, I promise!
Here’s another news link
http://www.mpbn.net/Home/tabid/36/ctl/ViewItem/mid/3478/ItemId/10997/Default.aspx
she is now dumping horses on Dreamworks..no pictures
http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_list.php3?form_owner_list=Y&srch_owner_id=6449
I know it was a typo, but I’m giggling about Dreamworks dumping horses…now THAT would be a story!
I was driving to work yesterday and heard an interview on MPBN (maine public broadcast network). The asshats were telling the reporter that the state vet (Hoenig) had only been there once but they have been working with their vet. Worley said “it was being addressed”. AND PIGS FLY OUT MY BUTT! I know these people – worley and hoenig too. MPBN stated that “the case was receiving national attention due to the internet.” Keep the phone calls and email coming.
Spectators are always crying abuse and starvation about fairs and the pulling ponies/horses. Hoenig and Worley are always on top of these people. As someone that assists in assessing these animals, I can honestly state that they are, forthe most part, well kept. Those that aren’t are pulled from competition, a report filed and YES, followed up on.
I have seen too many cases like the Ingrahams walk but honest people (most fair goers) screwed.
This is so horrifying, I hope she will get what she deserves (but won’t because even if she serves any prison time, she will at least be fed, better than her/their horses were). Thanks to the wonders of search engines, I found her FB page, and noticed her ID there is the same as on CoTH, and just as someone else remarked, a review of posts on that forum do indeed show she was either trying to get more horses from the giveaways, or bragging about her ‘rescues’. Thanks for outing the abusers, Fugs, that is a very good thing to do!
Bitch or not, somebody has to lead the charge and all of us have to take a stand. I live in Mississippi where animal cruelty laws are routinely broken and prosecution rarely takes place, if at all. My daughter routinely reads your blogs and has enlightened me on just how bad these animals are being treated when they cease to provide usefulness or pleasure. I want to submit this poem she wrote to let you know how you have positively influenced her. I hope it will touch all of you the way it did me. Enjoy and God Bless!
All that’s there is all that’s good
By Hillary Stovall
Here is to a helpless mare
Who, without a thought and without a care,
Was broken down for no good reason
Other than the showing season
When she could not show for her master
Her life was quickly turned to disaster
*
She’s always been a well-mannered horse
Though she was treated and trained with brutal force
She never reared and never bucked
But still she’s left alone in mud and muck
Her world will never be the same
With no one to brush her mane and tail
Her life has now begun to wane
She’ll soon be in a living hell
*
Their only care is of the costs
It’s cheaper even if she’s lost
To them her love doesn’t count for much
She’ll never know a gentle touch
*
When did they become so jaded
That the meaning of her life has faded
When someone can look into her eyes
And not care about the pain she knows
When no one stops, and no one cries
This is not the life she chose
*
You can count her ribs and feel her spine
She does not have much more time
Her head hangs low now as if defeated
She is depressed and will not eat
Her coat is rough and weather beaten
She cannot make it to her feet
*
She died alone in a stall
No one there to care at all
Perhaps it was better that way
At least she had peace and pride
She was not bothered on her last day
With that they would not be satisfied
They would have poked and prodded ‘til her last breath
She would’ve had no peace even in death
*
They beat her will to stay alive
With TLC she could’ve thrived
But what could’ve been has gone away
She will not see a brighter day
Then when she crosses rainbow bridge
She’ll be loved more than she’s aware
No matter what her lineage
She’ll never have a tangled hair
You can’t count her ribs anymore
Living life won’t be a chore
She can frolic the way she should
Because that’s there is all that’s good
*
She suffered but she could have lived
She had so much left to give
But at least I hear her happy neigh
She’s living in paradise today
She feels the love and warmth she should
Because all that’s there is all that’s good
*
Though our lives are worlds apart
I love this mare with all my heart
I’ve never met this girl before
But I’ve heard her story and many more
She is black and gray and red and bay
She’s any horse on any day
She won’t be missed by her owners
But to me her death will matter
*
Every horse is worth her hay
And that will be recognized someday
Let’s pray she does not die in vain
That those whose lives she touched will take a stand
and save another from this pain
and stop the needless deaths by selfish hands