Broke, Confused Yak Breeder with Gypsy Stallion Seeks Mares!
Sep 08 2010
I WISH I were making that up!
Here’s the ad:
“I have looking for several good quality mares. Must be sound for breeding (they do not have to be riding sound but able to comfortably carry a foal to term). Must be large boned, good mover, good conformation, must have a quiet mind and be level headed. Older mares are okay as long as the have foaled recently. These are the breeds I am interested in any draft or draft cross, warmblood, heavy TB, paint, qh, gaited or large polish arab. Will consider all breeds quality is most important. Color is also important but again quality first. I am looking for mares to breed to my gypsy stallion. Our ranch in Idaho is 474 acres, there are ponds, trees, springs and hills. Mares are on pasture about 8 months out of the year. This is a permadant home so if you have a mare that you love and can no longer use or care for please let me know, we will be making a trip back to Idaho around the end of September. Jennifer 909-208-8457″
So I googled the phone number. Apparently Jennifer has a petting zoo…and a yak herd. From the yak herd ad, in case it gets flagged or deleted: “Due to financial situation we must sell.”
DUE TO FINANCIAL SITUATION? So you have to sell the yaks, but you’re on Craigslist in a different state trolling for mares, acting like you’re a, and I quote, “permadant home” for them?
Found another ad for the yaks, again crying poor “Due to financial hardship we must regretfully sell this herd.” Jennifer, here’s a clue: You’d have a lot fewer financial hardships if you stopped offering to take in lame mares and then breeding them to your Gypsy stallion for a bunch of part-Gypsy pukes. When you have financial hardships in life, you should plan on having FEWER mouths to feed, not more. Unless, of course, you are actually collecting these lame mares in order to ship them to kill, which wouldn’t shock me any.
Of course, maybe you’ll get some extra cash. Maybe you’ll sell the zebra. *insert massive eye rolling*
And again, THIS is why we have (a) a horse overpopulation problem in this country and (b) an endless supply of backyard breeder train wrecks that our local animal control and human societies and rescues have to knock themselves out trying desperately to clean up. Jennifer, JUST STOP! And Los Angeles folks, don’t be dumb enough to give her your mares! If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS. Please don’t send your poor mare 1000 miles away to be a foal factory in some financially distressed corner of Hell. She deserves better – they all do.Â
177 comments to “Broke, Confused Yak Breeder with Gypsy Stallion Seeks Mares!”
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So wait… why isn’t she keeping the zebra? It says he’s a stallion, wouldnt zebra/draft/gaited/tb/arab/paint crosses be much more rare=valuable than gypsy/draft/gaited/tb/arab/paint crosses? Egads this woman has no business sense… no wonder the economy is in the toilet!
for this comment you win at life…i laughed so hard my snuggle kitten ran away and is looking at me like i’m nuts through the door
Haha thanks! I misread your comment at first and thought you thought I was being serious lol. When I look back and read it again, all I can think is “gah, I read this blog too much!” (as if there were such a thing)
On another note, I have a real pretty buckskin pinto half arab mare, do you think she would be a nice cross on the zebra? I would have THE most unique dressage prospect….
only if you crossed her to a Friesian or a gypsy first ^_~
No, you breed the Zebra stud to one of the Gypsy/Unknown x fillies to get a Draft Zebra with tons of feather fluff. Now THAT’S Flashy! We’ll make it a Dressage horse!
ANYONE IN THE MO AREA????
I’m trying to find a horse that sold at the Rolla auction this saturday. He’s a huge bay pacer (probably standardbred) Reposting my thread from another forum:
I litterally feel ill right now… after all my work to save horses from slaughter, I’ve let one slip through my fingers.
A horse from my stable that I’ve ridden for years (the owner lets boarders ride his horses) went lame a few months ago. Me and some other boarders decided to put together money for his euthanasia if it came down to it. I guess we thought he had until winter (when the horses come in to get grained) but yesterday the owner pulled up with an empty trailer. He dropped the horse off at the auction; didn’t even stay to lead him through. (amazing, wonderful, broke broke broke horse, just lame…)
I learned about this this morning, and called the auction house to see if the kill buyer horses (I’m almost 100% sure that’s where he ended up, an obviously lame horse that was run through) were still there and if I could buy him back, but the manager said all horses left last night and wouldn’t tell me who he sold to (“privacy issue”) and told me he could only give my number to him, and maybe he’ll call me. I’m hoping the kb will want to make a quick couple of bucks off me and sell him back for a profit, but who knows…
I am kicking myself right now for not having him put down before this happened.
Does anybody have any “ins” in the Missouri slaughter pipeline? This was the Rolla horse auction. I will buy this horse back and have him put down, if only I can find him.
email stairgj@slu.edu if you know of how I can get ahold of kill buyers or feed lots that buy from the Rolla, MO auction.
I hope you find him. Please let us know when you do.
Someone replied to my craigslist ad saying he sold to a slaughter buyer called “JR” -ring any bells to anyone?
Does he for sure need put down? It might make more sense to have him vetted and find out if there are any therapies that would help him be sound.
The ‘seller’ should be able to find out who the buyer is– it’s always written on any receipt I get from a sale barn. Give the seller some sob story about how you loved that horse and can’t live without him and didn’t realize he was going to be sold and you are desperate to get him back– it usually works.
If he sold in MO yesterday, he’s probably still around somewhere.
He’s been vetted and the lameness is probably neurological from an old West Nile infection. I have thought about donating him to a therapeutic riding place because he’s that broke, but I don’t know if they’d want to take on an already lame horse. Though, the old owner didn’t really try lots of bute.
See thats what I’m talkin about for business sense! Me and you need to join forces, buy that zebra, recruit some gypsy cross mares (they have to be black and white, fluffy, and fertile. Those are my only requirements), and start our own breeding operation! We will have the most amazing dressage horses EVER! Imagine this…. black and white striped AND spotted horses in a black saddle white pad combo…. no doubt we would turn heads! lol
Anybody with photoshop care to give us an idea what the end result would look like? I have a picture in my head. It’s a doosey.
I’m also picturing the bright white dressage pad matched with a black saddle. And striped feathers, if the feathers don’t have stripes it’s straight to kill. The mare can go with it. If her stupid uterus can’t produce striped feathers then she’s out.
Ah crap you made me blow coffee out my nose! On a totally serious note, I am thinking I have seen zebra print dressage pads… and am going to get one just for shits. I am the youngest person at my barn and they all know I’m fairly obnoxious, what with my hot purple spandex saddle cover and all…. why not a zebra print pad to go with it? Lol
Oh, god….yes yes yes, please, somebody make this happen! (The photoshopping) That would be EPIC.
Yeesh.
Sign me up for one of those QH x Gypsy foals….. that’ll be a real winner.
Not.
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth. Gack.
As much as I think she’s a trainwreck, the picture of the zebra is *really* cute.
Where the hell do people like this getyaks and zebras? And you just KNOW that they are going to sell to some BYB with a desire for “Zedonks,” or something else ludicrous because they think it will bring in the big bucks.
It’s the same as these BYB’s who bring in part Friesian horses irregardless of what they look like because they know that there are stupid people out there just salivating at the idea of breeding to a horse with Frieisan blood.
Selling their yaks due to financial hardship but begging for mares because they surely don’t cost any more to feed than Yaks! Next thing you know, we’ll be reading about one hell of a lot of starved horses.
More like a stripey Gypsy-Yak with cup holders.
How much money do ya wana bet she thought she could put that Gypsy Stallion over a Yak and get something amazingly (ugly) rare and expensive out of it!?!?
Ya know, maybe Craigslist should be banning these kind of ads versus those for “adult services.” The horses end up innocent victims, the “adult services” customers end up abusing themselves one way or another. Difference is the humans consent, the equines certainly do not … LOL
How much of this would be solved is spaying a mare was faster/easier/less risky/less expensive?
ya know, I was told by a breeder about an hour away from me that he spays many of his mares, because his market is good solid broke trail horses, and many people prefer a spayed mare– no heat cycles to deal with. He claimed it cost him between $100 and $200 to spay his mares. If that is so, it’s not really any more than the cost to geld a stallion, and it’s less than dealing with a crypt. Any ideas, guys?
Oh wow!! I am going to have to talk to my vet! That would be awesome is it was that cheap to spay mares. Every mare I owned would get snippy snippy! No more heat, no more peeing everywere, no more pissy mare additudes, no more geldings fighting to be closest to the mare.. it would be AWESOME! Heck, they can do me while they are at it…lol
Having mares spayed would have just saved me a lot of money too….. just pulled blood on all the auction/rescue horses we got in and sent it in for preg checking. Much easier than palpating.
Plus it would give you more peace of mind when rehoming them, you don’t have to wourry about someone breeding them.
It cost me a little over $500 to have my mare done 6 years ago. She was 8 years old, had one foal and then was barren 5 years in a row despite our efforts for otherwise. While she was fine under saddle while in heat, her ground manners totally went out the window. She “forgot” how to lead, kicked at people, would smoosh you between her and the wall, wouldn’t stay in her stall, and was overal just a rotten bitch. When not in heat she is a total doll. Had her spayed and sold her to a 12yr old girl whos been happily doing pony club and such with her for the last 5 years
It was unfortunate that she was exceptionally well bred, and very well put together, and her one filly made just under $500,000, but she couldn’t have foals anyway so she was a very good candidate for the procedure.
I know that this is a horse-related blog, but this site (where the evil Jennifer flogs her wares) just breaks my heart:
http://www.exoticanimalsforsale.net
I thought you had to have special license or permission to have exotic animals, to breed them and to sell them. Makes me wonder how much underhanded stuff is getting by with her. I just dont beleive in cooping up wild animals as such in cages with no to little stimulation to keep them happy and active. In a few of the pictures I see those animals in plain cages. I mean for crying out loud……so not fair.
I think it depends on the state- in Michigan you don’t need a license as far as I know. I could buy a monkey if I wanted to, or an alligator, etc. Not that I would, that would be really awful – but the point is that even on Hoobly you can find ads for animals like that in Michigan.
*is looking through the ads* Wow, people really can’t spell O_O
In one of the ads (for fox pups), it says that both are “pretty tame, but will take a lot of work to be good pets. Be better off as breeders.” Because everyone knows that if you can’t train them, breed them!
er… they use foxes for fur. They aren’t talking about breeding them for pets.
Welcome to Kuska Paku Alpaca farm home of the Kuskaloosa. < I near died when I read that, I have no clue what a Kuskaloosa is, but I know a few appaloosa crosses that look like alpacas…
I am completely clueless as to why my farm wound up on this discussion page?
however since it was posted here I will clarify.. we are alpaca farmers for past 10 yrs.. we specialize in very rare appaloosa alpacas ( the rarest of all alpacas), our farm name is kuska paku.. our appaloosa line are called kuskaloosas…
It is merely an appaloosa spotted alpaca….
again not sure why on earth this person mentioned my farm here? we seem to have nothing to do with the discussions on this page…
you can visit us online at http://www.kuskapaku.com
Kuska Paku
actually i would probably prefer to have any association with my farm and this topic of discussion removed… Fiere.. why did you post about my farm under this heading?
My animals live on wide open pastures and are very happy..
why am i mentioned on this site?
Kuska Paku
I don’t remove things here but you’re very welcome to respond if you feel any incorrect information has been conveyed. Feel free to post to your heart’s content!
OK,
Well since my farm is going to turn up on search engines in connection with this thread, then I will certainly take a moment to fill everyone in on alpacas..
Alpacas are NOT exotics, even the USDA has confirmed that they are regular livestock. They are very much like sheep.
They are kind gentle animals that live in herds. We shear our alpacas yearly before it gets hot out. They produce the finest wool in the world.. much softer that sheep and with no lanolin so products made from alpaca are soft and do not itch, and YES, We sell all of our fiber/fleece every year.
Our animals are very well cared for.. Although we ourselves have taken in about 15 rescue alpacas over the years in need of help. We concentrate on their health and well being, once they are completely well again we then either place them at new homes our retain them here to live out their days. I am sad to say it but rescue work seems to be needed in all animal breeds … It is very sad what some people allow their animals to get to. I do feel much joy when one of the rescues heads off to a new home all healthy and happy again to start a new life.
I deeply care for my animals and spend most of my days caring for these wonderful gifts of nature. I love my life with alpacas, and my children are home schooled and help me every day with the animals.. It is for sure a labor of love.
Again I have no idea why this person included our farm on this post?
If you are interested in knowing more about alpacas, please feel free to drop us a line. you can find our contact info at http://www.kukapaku.com.
We do specialize in rare colors of alpacas.. This does not mean we breed them with horses??? or whatever else some of these people are doing? We just have gathered a herd of very rare colored alpacas in the hope to preserve the wonderful 22 colors, with over 250 shades, that alpacas come in. Many farms in the US have bred out the color to have only solid white herds. We strive to preserve the rarest colors of alpacas.
I hope this clarifys that we had no place to even be mentioned here and if the person starting the thread could have just read on a bit she would have known exactly what a kuskaloosa was.. ” an appaloosa alpaca from the Kuska farm”.
Not really such a dramatic thing. : )
Take care,
Kuska Paku
OOooooo! Looking at the pictures of their fleece on your home page makes me want to grab my drop spindle and start spinning! I was lucky enough to have a friend send me some alpaca to try spinning and i hated going back to sheep’s wool.
“These are bad reasons to buy one and the exotic animals end up in sanctuaries or released into the wild.”
OH NO can you believe they might wind up in a nasty sanctuary and/or be released into the yucky wild?!?!
This is disgusting.
OMG all the different types of animals you can just buy… I never even knew that they were so readily available in the US…….
Well, it’s true enough that it would be nice if sanctuary’s resources were spent NOT taking care of animals that were given up by idiots who had no business owning one in the first place.
As far as releasing into the wild, rehabbing most species that were bred and raised in captivity to actually survive in the wild is very challenging. In some cases it’s impossible (too human habituated, or many of the predators get defanged or declawed). And that’s assuming “the wild” in question has room for one more whatever-it-is, or was even an appropriate location to begin with. The Cherry Headed Conures of Telegraph Hill are one thing (and if they were in an agricultural area they would be a lot worse), boa constrictors and pythons are another.
I see the “Must sell” ad was dated August 24….I wonder if they sold. This is a very weird combination of 4-legged ventures!
Sounds like Idaho horse rescues & animal control should familiarize themselves with the Three Strikes effort. Lessons learned from that whole event will come in really handy in a couple of years….
Also, we joke on here about fugly yaklike stallions all the time, so I was surprised to see that she has REAL yaks. Are they a niche meat/milk/cheese market? Or merely a novelty exotic thing? I remember learning once that yak milk is pink!
Yak wool is highly desirable to fiber collectors/weavers. I have a friend who weaves and loves exotic fibers. Yak is soft like cashmere and fairly expensive.
I wonder why she doesn’t just sell the wool (or whatever you call) it then. That should get her some money, shouldn’t it?
Wait… It just dawned on me that she would actually have to do some work for that to happen……. Never mind, I am sure unhandled FuYak-Gypsy-Quartarabs which can be ran onto a meat truck through a chute will be worth much more with much less maintenance…
Here she is aswell: http://www.partypop.com/Vendors/4333106.htm
No end to the amount of animals she seems to have!
“ANIMALS AVAILABLE: Goats (Nubians, La Mancha, Alpine, Saneen, Nigerian Dwarf, Pygmy, Angora, Pygora, Boer), Sheep (Shetland, Romanov, Cheviot, Painted Desert, Barbado, Karakul, Dorper), miniature pigs (Juliani, potbelly, Yucatan ), camels, llamas, alpacas, zebra, mini horses and mini donkeys, standard and mammoth donkeys, ponies, horses, yaks, water buffalo, Scottish Highland cattle, mini zebu cattle, Sundog miniature cattle, red kangaroo”
and of course “a bible animal program” for the kids !!!
Does that come with it’s own, free, Ark??
~ the woman groans~
“Ark? Ark?! Drat! I thought they meant Aardvark!”
~puts the aardvark on Craigslist~
When I saw the list of all the animals she has, my mind boggled, but what really made me do a double take was…”She has a kangaroo? Who the hell would want one of those?”
This lady….boy, she’s….a real piece of work, isn’t she? To say nothing of the zebra.
Wow….just, wow. This woman’s got the crazy like whoa. Sounds like she’s trying to recreate Noah’s Ark.
And she’s a fundie. Of course. *Disclaimer:* NOT knocking Christians here-just the crazy ones like this lady-and it seems that animal hoarders/BYBS tend to be the religious type, nine times out of ten.
Oh no! saw this too:
“BABY BARNS/NUSERIES/MATERNITY BARNS: Best for longer events, great when used in conjunction with our petting zoo. Goats, sheep, and pigs are best for this display as they will normally birth during the day and have no problem having babies in from of an audience.”
So she’ll let pregnant animals travel to events to give birth for an audience???
I dunno, I think it’s a better alternative than people breeding their cat/dog/goat/horse/whatever for the sole purpose of the kids witnessing the birth. As long as the animals don’t get stressed out, I don’t see a problem with it.
“So she’ll let pregnant animals travel to events to give birth for an audience???”
and I know how this ends: with a poor animal being chased by an SUV and people who have no clue how to catch a heavily pregant dairy cow safely, and then deciding to shoot the poor thing multiple times in the side, before she dies, along with the unborn calf… mind you, the decision to shoot the cow was made after deciding that a tranq shot was tooooooo dangerous for such a pregnant cow an dher calf. Grrr im still fuming about that. http://challengeoppression.com/2010/07/27/cow-shot-at-state-fair-was-not-a-nutcase/
But seriously… we are gonna be reading about her in about 1 year after her grass is gone and the ponds dry up.
But, she’s a PROFESSIONAL
“Here are the breeds I am interested in-… ALL OF THEM.” *insert maniacal laughter*
Yaks didn’t make her rich quick, maybe bootyful gypsy crosses are the answer!!
Hahaha…. well, at least she spelled “conformation” right, that’s a plus, isn’t it?
Oh, she’s not confused–she’s delusional. A quote from her second yak ad: “Will be willing to trade for hay or something that doesn’t eat”. Maybe she should shift her focus to ponies–they’re more like air ferns than land-yacht drafts. I can’t imagine she has unlimited numbers of rolling hills of pasture to sustain all the big-boned mares she wants donated to her. And she mentioned that she would be making a trip back to Idaho soon–so does that mean she doesn’t actually live at her ranch, or she spends most of the year driving around California trolling for free baby factories?
A question concerning riding vs. breeding lameness: is there a fine line between the two, or are there some forms of lameness that would likely never affect how a mare carries a foal? The types of lameness I’ve worked with have often been founder to varying degrees of severity, and I would probably not consider those horses sound for breeding.
My thought on is it that it’s ok to breed a mare who is lame from an accident or a performance related injury (like a suspensory). Not ok to breed a mare with navicular, DSLD, a club foot that isn’t from an injury, or a mare that is obviously lame at a walk (that’s too lame to carry a foal in my book). I would not personally feel comfortable breeding a mare with a history of founder.
There’s a point to be made that most causes of lameness are heritable. Unless lameness was caused by injury, it shouldn’t really be passed on.
Founder has a tendency to rear its ugly head over and over during periods of stress in a horse’s life. Therefore, some mares will refounder when bred or nursing foals. Others will be just fine. Examine how bad the founder is before making a breeding decision.
When I see a potential broodmare, I ask myself– COULD she be ridden? If she could bear the weight of a rider, but just isn’t moving even– therefore not usable– then she’s probably okay to breed (conformation and history assumed okay). If you would hesitate to put a rider’s weight on her, then she probably isn’t up to carrying around a fetus for a few odd months, let alone chasing after a young fractious foal.
Having said that, I’ve seen some pretty horridly lame broodmares still happily producing babies and loving every second of their mothering time. I think each case is different, and we have to consider the horse’s behavior and pain tolerance too. Some horses hate being lame and are in a lot of pain– others limp like crazy, but seem happy and in minimal to no pain.
you hit it right on the head, fugs: do not send your good old mares to this idiot. horses are expensive to keep, and anyone in financial straits cannot and should not be trolling for more horses. this has future train wreck written all over it. plus, what does she mean that they will be going “back” to idaho soon? do they not live on this 474 acre paradise (bleh)?
retirement for our old horses needs to be safe. they give everything to us, we should certainly offer them either a humane ending or a secure, healthy, well-fed retirement. not be shipped off to who-knows-what.
Gotta love the line in the second ad,
“Will consider trade for hay. Will also consider trade for something of equal value that does not eat”
Somebody should tell her broodmares eat, and one the have their gypsy “snort” partbreed foals they are gonna eat even more.
This woman is looking to make a living by jumping on the trend wagon of animal breeding. Instead of breeding horses and training them to have a value she will colored feathered fuglys which she will find no market for. Wasn’t the PMU farms putting out hundreds of colored feathered babys every year, not too many of thoses were snapped up either.
Wow. You couldn’t make this up. This one really does breed yaks.
hey if i had the space, money, and time, i’d take the zebra. but yaks? really? 15,000 bucks? you’ve gotta be kidding me.
Gypsy Vanners and Fresians: two breeds that (in my humble opinion) are well on their way to destruction due to this kind of random, backyard breeding that goes on. So in a few years we are going to see an abundance of big, hairy horses on craigslist advertised as Gypsy Vanner or Fresian crosses who are ‘green broke but willing’, who maybe (MAYBE) have their ground manners in place. The kill buyers are lining up as we speak.
I completely agree. Thank God for the handful of truly quality Friesian breeders who are committed to preserving the breed as it is meant to be.
Good thing about the KFPS (European Friesian studbook) is that if a registered stallion – one approved for breeding – breeds to a non-approaved/registered Friesain mare then the stallion looses his approved status. To be eligible for the Friesian studbook, both parents must be approved. This does help reduce the number of random crosses that are done.
And not Chestnut.
What is it with Americans and the need to change everything?
So we have Champagne Andalusians and Chestnut Friesans!
I am not having a cheap pop here, I should really like to know!
It’s a bit like spotted Haflingers…
Then again, where I was born (Germany) Haflingers straight from the Breeder with good quality lines and papers go straight to Italy if they don’t sell at the Stud auction to make room for the next lot…. (They breed A LOT of them every year)
I suppose it doesn’t make a difference to them, whether they get butchered there or in Mexico and whether they are chestnut with flaxen manes, as intended, or chestnut-ish with crazy spots and any colour mane, steak is always the same colour
I think it matters a lot. There are no laws about humane treatment of any animal in Mexico, and Canada isn’t much better. From what I’ve read, Italy does have such laws, and they are enforced. I don’t know how they transport horses from Germany to Italy, but the trucks they use from the US to Canada or Mexico are an abomination.
Well, to be fair, I think they used to have chestnut Fresians. That change to all black occurred in the last few decades, I think? If so, then probably the argument could be made that as long as the horse is purebred, allowing alternate colors would be alright by some standards. It’s when people choose to breed out to get that color that I have issues with it. If it crops up naturally in pure bloodlines, without connected or harmful mutations, then I don’t really understand the objection. Breeding against a color seems almost as silly as breeding FOR a color, unless there is a medical reason to avoid it.
The chestnut or red friesians are homozygous for a recessive red gene that’s been in their gene pool since the establishment of the breed, but chestnut friesians were traditionally not considered good stock (I’ve tried to verify whether the official studbook disqualified them at any point in time–anyone know?). Now if everyone strictly followed the old breeding standards, the gene would have remained a very rare occurence, but an increasing number of breeders in the States have been seeking out and perpetuating the gene. Here’s a farm in Pennsylvania that’s bred and presented red friesians for inclusion in the registry:
http://www.ronnisfriesians.com/ronnisfriesians.com/Home.html
I also found out that one of the friesians from the Magical World of Dancing Horses is a red. I can’t wait to see what a zebriesian cross looks like.
Yeh – they used to be most solid colours but when the current studbook was set up after the breed almost died out for some reason they required black only and they can’t even have any white apart from a tiny star if the rest of the horse good. Any horse with white markings isn’t allowed to be registered past the foal book (I think they can still be registered in the foal book but can’t ever be graded for breeding) If a horse fulfills the full breed standard other than a small white star then it’s allowed but generally they have to be completly black although because of the small gene pool which has founded the curreny friesains there are occasionally foals born which are different colours or have white markings.
really guys if you are going to go on about Friesian breed rules and standards, look it up, its easy, and makes you sound less ignorant than the people you are ragging on.
Heck, ‘Gypsy Vanners’ aren’t even, technically, a BREED. The only registry for them where they come from is a color/type registry.
You can buy them for a few hundred guineas, TOPS, at livestock auctions in England…often three and four year olds broken to harness (It’s my honest opinion that a horse broken to harness first often makes a better riding horse). Most of them end up in lesson barns, pony trekking centers and family back yards…they’re great quiet beginner horses, great trail horses, the second most bombproof horse I ever met was one (the most bombproof was the Highland Pony named Buster who reacted to the firecrackers with ‘Oh, what’s that, lets go check it out’…but then Highlands were originally bred to pack deer for hunters and were historically used as moving shooting hides…so they’re bred to be bombproof).
They are not fantastic baroque horses, they are emphatically NOT worth five figures, they are not good dressage horses (beyond the fact that any well trained English horse should be able to do a competent training test), they’re too heavy to jump…and they’re NOT EVEN PUREBREDS. (Although I personally think that makes them healthier). The entire gypsy vanner thing is little more than a scam being perpetuated by the English travelers on wealthy Americans
.
Well, you can’t get a good one under two grand nowadays.
At one time you could have picked one up for a couple of hundred, but not any more.
The thing that gets me is the Welsh people, with their sabino cobs, jumping on the bandwagon and selling them as “rare” “overo” Cobs!!!
Oh deary, deary me.
But they have all that HAIR!!!
I find the people most attracted to Fresians and Vanners are new to horses.
Here is someone who regularly asks five figures for his Vanners. Seems he is having trouble selling them.
http://www.virginiaequestrian.com/main.cfm?action=Classifieds&sub=view&ID=60122
Jan
I would completly disagree with that – while you can buy a coloured cob (otherwise known as gypsy vanners) youngster for a couple of hundred pounds (one guinea is one pound and 5 pence) an adult trained horse who is decently put together is easily worth in the thousands in the UK. Coloured cobs are extremly popular currently and so worth more. A nice one will easily fetch £3 or 4 thou depending upon the level of schooling
They are not that stereotypical – my sisters 14’2 cob can easily jump a 3′ course of jumps and there’s a cob around where I live which competes at medium dressage level so they can definately jump and compete succesfully at dressage. My cob mare, while she isn’t coloured herself comes from that sort of horse, has a massive amount of dressage potential which hopefully I won’t mess up
and she jumps beautifully so to say all cobs can’t jump or do dressage is extremly stereotypical and simply wrong.
I would also disagree that only people new to horses go for friesians and cobs – I will never have anything but cobs or friesians and I’ve been riding since I was 5 and owned horses for 8 years now. My cob is fabulous – she looks after me but is fun and challenging without too much lunacy. Yes some people go straight for cobs and friesains cause of how they look but once you go past the looks they have so many good points
That’s unusual. The colored cobs I remember were great horses if you wanted to dabble in a lot of different things, but none of them did any one thing that well…they could do dressage, but not to a high level, jump but not *that* high, etc. They certainly made good pony club horses, though
.
And I agree that the better conformed ones would sell well, but that’s so not what I see people over here trying to get good money for as ‘gypsy vanners’. For one thing, half of the gypsy vanners I see advertised look to be at least a quarter Clydesdale to me. They’re COBS, not DRAFT HORSES. They’re not even supposed to be THAT heavily feathered.
See, here a $10,000 one now!
http://www.virginiaequestrian.com/main.cfm?action=classifieds&sub=view&ID=60702
LOL, I myself love Gyspy Vanners/Cobs or whatever you call them. If I were rich, I’d probably fly to England, purchase a nice, well-put together one, and bring it back here (or heck, I might even get two! Who knows? I’m thinking maybe a nice gelding and mare) because well…as you may guess from my username, I love the baroque/draft/cart/war type horses. My main reason for getting them is that I’ve heard they have really sweet, amiable natures, plus, I’m somewhat of a larger person, and I like larger, bulkier horses.
Of course, I do agree with you that imported Gyspy Vanners are a scam brought to the Americas being charged for outrageous prices, and that they’re nothing more than a type of pretty spotted cart horse (essentially, I suppose you’d call them “mutts.”) However, I do think they’re quite lovely animals, and wouldn’t mind having one myself. :3
There’s a little bit of a difference, I think. Gypsies are cute, but unless you happen to drive a wagon, they’re short and not all that useful and I can’t imagine a case where crossing them with anything would improve either side. Whereas Friesians are a little more versatile, and a lot of Friesian crosses I’ve seen turned out nicer than the parents. But then I’m the beneficiary of a dumb Friesian breeder who crossed hers with a Shire – and produced a most excellent mare, who I drove this weekend with my mom. She’s black, she has the most beautiful feathers ever, she’s pretty nigh 17 hands, sweet temper, floaty gaits, solid as a mountain, beautiful baroque head. I love this mare more every time I see her. Although she’s turning into a tub of lard on the late summer pasture. Hate to muzzle her, but it’s getting to where her harness won’t fit!
Friesans never used to be that size, they were 15.2hh tops. They were also always back, for at least the last hundred, possibly more, years, maybe you are thinking of Hanoverians, who used to be Cream? They were the famous “Windsors Greys” that pulled that awful god “coronation” coach, they were actually, in the original incarnation, Cream, and a whole stable of them was kept, and bred. Then the Royal Family lost interest and the stud was sold up, and the Creams died out. But Friesans were always black. Of course there are Chestnuts but, as with Andalusians, they were just discarded. There were also dwarfs, and they are being eliminated too.
It’s a bit like saying that Dobes do not need the tan markings. Basically, yes, they do, or they are not correct Dobes, even though losing the tan markings would not hurt them in ay way. It is the trademark of the breed, irrespective of the coat colour.
Friesans are Black, Haflingers are Chestnut, Fjords are Dun, etc.
And Welsh are NOT Pinto!!!!
I’m not sure where you got the idea that I was saying either that the Friesian parent was not black (the blackness came from the Friesian) or that it was that tall (the height came from the Shire.)
Wow. Another self proclaimed Christian ruining it for the rest of us. Check out her facebook with the pics of alllll the KYOOT NEW BABIES!
I just looked at it… “I’ve watched thousands of babies be born… and I never get tired of it!”
That’s just… thousands? I hope she’s exaggerating.
So let me get this straight. She wants mares “quality first”, but they can be any breed, to breed to her Gypsy. I’m guessing “quality” means they have four legs and a tail, since apparently she’s ok with creating weird crosses between breeds that have no similarities at all and will most likely produce fugly babies.
Perhaps she just ought to breed that stallion to her yaks? Flashy colors, lots of hair, and superduper rare- what could go wrong?
When I clicked on the “Yak Herd” link, I expected to see some really low-end horses – not literal yaks! LOL!
It seems to me that the Gypsies are the passing horses of the moment, as were Fresians. First, everyone had to have one and they were pretty pricey until the market was flooded. Now the goal is to outcross them to create a ‘new’ breed in hopes of regenerating the downed market. People keep trying to find a new nitch to support a breeding program and it’s going to fail just like most of the purebreds are failing. I think that anyone who wants to breed multiple horses in this economy MUST go to a horse auction and watch the quality animals going to slaughter. Then they should scroll around Dreamhorse and see the hundreds, maybe thousands of purebred weanlings for sale for next to nothing. Maybe after that, they should take a drive to all the rescues within a hundred mile radius and view the ‘before’ pictures and hear the stories.
If they still don’t change their plan, then they’re just arrogant, ignorant and hopeless. A person with an average IQ would rethink their position and maybe agree to breed just 1 or 2 mares. Then raise, train and market the BROKE progeny with some under saddle skills. But how much do you want to bet Jennifer doesn’t herself have the ability to start a horse? So, add in a trainer for 5 months and we now have $6000 into a 3-yr old (feed, vet, training) and what is the value of this horse? Maybe $2500? IT DOESN’T WORK!
Now now, don’t ya eye roll at my dream of training a Zebra to rein, jump or dressage it up! I’m going to name him Argyle.
OMG I just wet my pants I think…
ROTFL
How am I the first to comment on this?? LOL
So apparently the Vanner X market is going to be more lucrative than the yak market in the midst of the “Great Recession”? Where do these people come up with their business plans, the side of a Cheerio box or maybe the Fucktard School of Business?
Wow, just wow.
People like this just piss me off. If you can’t afford to feed what you currently have, WHY ARE YOU BUYING MORE???
Gah.
When you said “yak breeder” I was sure you were going to link to a picture of poorly-conformed, hairy
yaklingsyearlings. I was not expecting to see an actual yak herd.Sadly, I think there may be so many unwanted mares out there right now, that this idiot is likely to have many offers.
Geez, I’ve always wanted a yak. They’re a very useful animal. Milk, fur, I think they even ride them!
Sheesh…I didn’t open the links to her ads and/or website. Just the mention that she has Yaks and a Zebra sends chills up my spine. Why of why do people get into exotic animals that have little value outside a zoo???!!! UNLESS you can and will take care of them for life, and safely! I say this because I’m an avid herpetologist, but do NOT breed and/or sell carelessly. In fact, we’re becoming a dumping ground for unwanted herps that have gotten too big, or “Little Suzie” has outgrown her love of the animal, or worse…”Little Andy” bought something that’s WAY out of his expertise. We keep these animals until they die, end of story. We do NOT advertise for more animals. We do take on extra jobs to make ends meet as every animal eats, and the more animals the more food, plus shelter, warmth, etc, etc! Back to the matter at hand, hopefully her ads will go unnoticed and/or disregarded.
How does ones thinking get so messed up? A huge amount of people think like this. It’s as if they’re minds were never developed but left to wonder freely without any structure or discipline while growing up. A complete disconnect with reality. Most of these people are adults acting like children, living a fantasy void of all responsibility.
The damage it causes…
You echo a lot of my thoughts. I feel like I just eternally marvel at the complete LACK of any common sense. There are so many people out there who will make more mouths to feed (human and animal!) when they are broke. I just do NOT get it. When I’m broke, I do whatever I need to CUT my expenses. Why is this such a toughie?
My education on the mindset of people of ahem, modest means, who have things they probably should not, went something like this:
When I was a kid, I NEVER understood why, when we drove through the “wrong side of the tracks” type neighborhood in a town near us, the driveways were full of Cadillacs and Lincolns. I myself would always be riding in one of our series of Ford station wagon. The houses ranged from run-down to derelict, the kids playing outside looked scraggly, the adults were often seen lounging midday on the porch with a crumpled paper bag in hand – so I just flat-out didn’t get it. “Mom, how come those folks have expensive cars and we don’t?” Her sage reply: “Some people just have different priorities.” The same reasoning was also applied when I questioned, when we drove by rank upon rank of tenement apartment buildings in the greater Manhattan area, virtually ALL sprouting window air conditioners, why I was made to swelter at home in our unbearably hot but lovely suburban dwelling. This all seemed grossly unfair. Now I realize that Mom was correct, but a lot of those people were probably taking advantage of the welfare state as well. I guess she was trying to be PC about it… or maybe she just didn’t want me learning that one could, in fact, get by without actually working.
Fast forward to my mid-twenties, when I began dating a guy who worked in a storefront loan office which specialized in high-interest loans to people with poor credit and a pressing need for a new household item. One extremely plus-sized couple told him they HAD to buy a new couch because they “loved to snuggle” and had broken several in a row already. The same couple was preceded into the office by a fleet of children. The mother made a joke to the BF about how she had popped ‘em out one after the other, in order to keep the Aid to Dependent Children cash flow coming on a steady basis… “Can’t have ‘em all aging out, now can I?” Hahahah. I was floored when I heard this story; until then I’d had absolutely no idea some people actually had children on purpose for money??? Since then I’ve seen/heard the stories about people with a bunch of foster children, taken in for the same reason. (And that is really and truly a shame, because they are outnumbered by the many, many WONDERFUL foster parents who have my great gratitude and acclaim)
So here I sit, at my JOB, with my TWO children slaving away on HW at home. They are wonderful, smart gorgeous children (yes, of course I’m biased but I am also told by many that they’re quite attractive and nice) and I was an excellent baby-maker. I wager I COULD have had 10 kids with no trouble. How stupid of me to quit at two! Never mind that’s all we can afford… barely. For some dumb reason I like to keep them properly fed, housed and clothed. (Full disclosure: I will, however, be relying on Federal student loans/scholarships for college – don’t think that’s too unusual, though!
)
Therefore, I chalk up the air of entitlement expressed by SO MANY people featured on this blog as “I DESERVE to have 100 horses/10 kids/a Lincoln/a puppy mill/a zebra and a herd of yaks. After all, I will make MONEY of them one way or another. After I win the LOTTERY, with those tickets I bought with the food stamps I cashed in.” *headdesk* *headdesk* *headdesk*
Well put. I am constantly amazed by the behavior of some people.
Though I have to say, the little zebra is adorable.
Fundamentalist Mormons call this kind of subsidized procreative behaviour “bleeding the beast”.
She is also advertizing in California Horsetrader for retirement pasture for $200 a month.
Yes, imagine how safe your horse wouldn’t be…scary.
You HAVE to check out retirement facilities carefully.
DUH!!!- Why can’t people understand–Breeding horses is NOT a way to make money– it is a way to LOSE money so you can take a big tax write-off– unless you are extremely lucky or expremely well-connected in your chosen breed or you are breeding horses like cattle to ship (heaven forbid) to slaughter. In this economy even majickal full-blooded Gypsy Horses are experiencing extremely deflated prices– if you look at the Internet horse sales sites.
If you couldn’t make it as a Yak breeder– a rare animal whose soft undercoat is said to make excellent yarn– what makes you think you can make it as a breeder of HALF- Gypsy Horses?? If you have the land, and are just looking for something to do with it, get a clue and go into organic gardening, free-range chickens or tree farming- For heaven’s sake DON’T breed more horses!!!! Not even HALF Gypsy ones.
Oh come on–you know the best way to make a million dollars in the horse industry– start with two million!!
No one can lose money in a business year after year to “take a tax write off.” You just go out of business. hth
“If you have the land, and are just looking for something to do with it…”
You know, that makes me think about something that occurred to me the other day. I’m glad I have been reading this site for a while now because if I suddenly find myself with a big piece of land, well…from what I’ve read here I’ve figured out *EXACTLY* what I could do with that land to make good money with it.
Breed horses? Nope!
Breed yaks? Hell to the NO!
Build a boarding barn? Maybe…naaaahhh!
Grow hay? Strictly for sale?
DINGDINGDINGDINGDINGDING!!!! We have a winnah!
How many exotic animals can one person have? I had no idea anybody in America even HAD a yak herd. Yak wool is supposed to be awesome. This is like a circus train wreck….
“This is a permadant home so if you have a mare that you love and can no longer use or care for please let me know”
a “permadant” home — a home where horses are kept until the money runs out or loses interest
vs.
a PERMANENT home — meaning continuing or enduring without fundamental or marked change : stable
As much as I detest government interference in all its many forms, people like the subject of today’s topic demonstrates the need for lots of rules (zoning, homeowners associations, health department, ??) and a full-time social worker-slash-keeper to make certain they toe the line.
I go home to my two neutered doggies and the gelding in my barn and thank my lucky stars I’m not in her same predicament.
I mean, there are such things as “entrepreneurs” who want to build better mousetraps and all that, but I don’t think she qualifies. Some ideas pretty much suck, y’know?
WHo the hell wants a half Gypsy half Arabian or other breed for that matter? If I want a Gypsy I would want a pure bred, registered and yes exspensive Gypsy with a correct conformation and sound mind. If I wanted a half breed/ mutt I can go down to the local horse trader and get 1. Hell they are dime a dozen now days. I cant beleive how utterly stupid some ppl are. I guess some ppl are blessed with plain ol common sense. I mean a retarded chicken has more sense for crying out loud and I have owned a retarded chicken. Man (I mean Human) can screw up anvils….mummble mummbe mummble……………
Another dumbass moron who shops at “Dumb Asses R Us” .
My best friend had a retarded rooster named Special Ed. Seems to me he eventually went into the stew-pot. Special and retarded had the same meaning. I bet he tasted as good as a smart one.
Yaks are a great comodity…………if you live in nomad land in Europe. If there was a use for them here in the States they could be of some value. I mean there is alot you can get from a Yak and not just meat product. Cheese, butter, butter wax, oils used for cooking and for fuel (for lighting not vehicle), hair for clothing, bedding, floor mats, and the list is endless. Even Yaks in nomad territory in the Europeans are not being used much any longer. Its just not economical any more. Shame though realy. Do yaks make good pets??????
Ehm, in “nomad Europe??! Hate to bust your bubble here, but we have electricity and power and stuff. :-0
Yaks have never lived in Europe, they are from Asia…
Gypsy Vanners were very much in fashion a few years ago but now a lot of people have realized that they can be quite a handful. Horse traders bought yound vanners in Ireland, brought the green horses over here and sold them for lots of money.
If you can´t afford a Friesan, you usually buy a Vanner, hey, they are hairy, too!!
I should have been more specific. I actually meant further east than Europe like as in England, France, and such but more east like the Mongolian nomads. In all of reality I suppose that is further east than European area. Sorry
YUK, not yak, to this womans ethics on what she is not doing right for the animal kingdom. Apart from the petting zoo, the keeping of exoctic animals that should remain wild and roaming free IMO, the taking of pregnant animals and using them as a novelty (aka education) display to teach kids the birthing process (why not just Google for such videos) the breeding of her Gypsy stallion to unsound mares etc is not smart breeding especially if she does not have the money to care for the animals she has already in her care!
And those that have stated that such BYB’s are placing the truly magnificent Fresians and Gypsy’s future in jeopardy is no understatement, the quality is diminishing, as they like so many other animals have been turned into a fashion victim. I hope that she does not get to have too many mares go to her stallion, there are so many horses out there that are in desperate need of suitable homes, why add to it?
WOW! I am a mare owner and this post just floors me. People do realize that mares have more value than a uterus… right? Mares can actually be ridden with lots of success. Think of Blue Hors Matinee, A Touch of Class, Bretina, and countless other well trained and famous females. I wish that people would start thinking of mares as athletes and not just baby machines.
Plus, what is the story with the Gypsy Vanners? What do they do besides look pretty? I am not trying to be cheeky, I am just not sure what their job is suppose to be? I think that every horse needs a job and shockingly, most people don’t want to pay for feathery lawn mower that whinnies. Horses should be raised to do something… that will make the horse happier and it will increase the likelihood of it living a long and happy life should it ever get sold.
Gypsy vanners originate from gypsy horses which were breed to be good doers = cheep to keep, to be ride and drive horses for pulling the caravan and a general jack of all trades. You can pretty much do anything with a cob – they might not be at the top of lots of equestrian sports but they make fabulous all rounders and usually have a level headed approach to most things, not always though. (My sister’s is an idiot when it comes to traffic, logs, drain covers, hay bales etc)
Yeah. They make great trail horses, *fantastic* lesson and trail string horses (90% of them are insanely level headed…I don’t know many other breeds you could routinely have safe for beginners after 60 days professional training) and good Pony Club horses for the rider who wants to do *everything*. Its rare for them to be really good at any one thing, but if you want to jump low courses, do training level dressage, go out for trail rides, follow the hounds every now and then, lend the horse to your aged grandmother AND drive…all with one horse…they’re great. They were originally bred to pull caravans and England’s small canal barges (one reason they’re so small is so they can fit on narrow tow paths and one of my BIG issues with American gypsy vanners is they have too much draft blood…they are not supposed to have plow horse feet!) and to be handled and cared for primarily by the youngest children…the travelers would expect even a breeding stud to be sufficiently well mannered that a five year old could take it to water in a halter.
What they are NOT is magical feathery dressage horses and they are NOTHING like Friesians…
While I wholeheartedly agree that a trained, well socialized, exposed horse is much easier to re-home and has a higher likelihood of living a longer life than one that is not I do not believe that a horse needs a job to be “happy”. If a horse is in a herd where he can roam and graze, run and socialize, most do not stand around and wish that the big sack of potatoes human would come out (unless they bring food) and rip around on that metal bit in his mouth, cinch him up tight and ride him in circles. I don’t care how well schooled we are as riders and gentle we are tacking up, we still lose our balance occasionally and the horse gets it. If a horse is in an unnatural setting such as being isolated or in a stall then yes, he needs to get out and exercise and be stimulated by us but I get so tired of people saying “Oh he needs to be somewhere where he will be used. He is so unhappy.” I call bullshit on that. (I am not attacking your comment. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, just a good lead in to get a pet peeve off my chest that I hear on a daily basis
I do know horses that get excited about getting out and leap into the trailer ready for the next adventure but they certainly don’t become clinically depressed waiting around for it to happen.
Awhile back, I posted a request on a horse chat room for a friend looking for a horse. I listed what he was looking for :
Draft cross
Must be pinto spotted
Must be at least 16 hands
Broke, safe, and sound or trail riding.
The replies I got ranged from “Good luck finding such a horse”. to “Be prepared to pay ALOT”. No one had one for sale.
While we all make fun of BYB, who are pumping out weird crosses with no rhyme or reason, there are people out there still looking for them. If this breeder is wanting to prove her stallion, she sure wouldn’t be willing to cross him with basicly “any” type of mares that anyone is willing to give her – could be a Clydesdale, could be a QH. I can just see her ads for these future foals. How would you ever keep the bloodlines straight?
Gypsy/TB/Shetland/Arab, Gypsy/QH/Walker/Paint, but more common would be Gypsy/Unknown, Gypsy/Unknown.
Damn. When I clicked on the Yak herd I thought I would see a herd of super Fugly [where'd that neck come from?] Krazy Kolored on the leg Horsie-burgers, but alas, they were actually YAKS.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000941858370&v=wall&ref=search
I believe this might be her Facebook. Notice the oodles of random animals being born??
If, like me, you wondered what the heck is a Golden Royal Yak, here’s the information.
http://www.yakbreeder.com/yaks_in_color.html
Basically, they are the yak equivalent of a chestnut pinto.
I had to fire up the ‘puter and log on just to say, I’m watching the hotty on “Dirty Jobs” rounding up yaks. Yep, and they have goats also. Wonder if it’s the same place?
MySanity…….your post makes me laugh. I assume you are talking about Mike Rowe…..I think he is hot too. My daughter thinks I’m nuts when we are watching the show and I talk about how gorgeous he is. Glad to see I’m not the only one who thinks so!
Me three. Mike Rowe rocks.
I’m only 24 and I totally think he’s hot.
Those of us in the Baltimore area used to see him a lot, he had his own TV thing (Your New Home) on one of the local stations.
Even though he’s the age of my mom, I wouldn’t mind a piece of that, lmao! I would be very jealous if my mom started dating him
Another Mike Rowe fan here. How many guys out there can look studly-hot even when they are up to their
elbows in poo?? He’s one good lookin’ manly man.
‘nother Mike Rowe fan here. He’s the hottest thing on TV right now. I can (and have) watched him all day.
Oooooh, break me off a piece of that Mike Rowe too, please!!!
LOVE his jeans commercial, only problem is it does NOT show his butt.
He supposedly lives in San Francisco. I live close to SF. But I hate SF, so no Mike Rowe stalking for this girl!
*time for a cole shower now lol*
OOOOH, yeah, he is one fine piece of man-candy!
And he’s exactly my age, too… Yep, Mike Rowe is my No.2, right after George. (I don’t think I need to tell you HIS last name)
This summer I was at a massive Boy Scout gathering here in St. Louis, celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Scouting. I actually went with my Venture Crew, which is co-ed, so my daughter was there, too, along with other moms and daughters. We knew there was to be some kind of special performance at the evening ceremony, but we didn’t know what/who was coming. Our whole campsite got VERY excited when we found out it was going to be MIKE ROWE!!! The guys thought it was good, too, but believe me, all of us girls were hopped up.
Unfortunately, Mike had a conflict at the last minute so what we got instead was a taped speech. I was crushed, even though he would have been just a speck on the stage far away. His speech WAS really good; turns out he’s an Eagle Scout, and his pep talk about Scouts was very inspiring. (Vern from Mythbusters came instead of Mike – he was fun and the kids loved him)
Since we’re already competely OT here (WTH, it’s not like my husband reads Fugly so I can let it all hang out), how ’bout that Chase Sapphire guy, too? SMOKIN’ hot! Guess you know you’re getting older when the men you find the most attractive have some grey hair…
So really the only thing she is missing is a facebook page of her knocked up, barefoot, holding some kind of semi automatic assault riffle talking about her baby daddy and playing farmville all day?!
Sad thing is that if she had taken the TIME and ENERGY I think the Yaks would have turned a profit for her but she would have had to maintain them. God knows we wouldnt he up every morning milking and brushing them, then advertising and researching how to grow the business :-O My friends mom weaves/knits/crochets and would die if she could get her hands on some yak fur….I’m just saying.
http://www.exoticanimalsforsale.net/sale/1147_KUSKA_PAKU_ALPACAS_-_KUSKALOOSAS.asp
If a walkafriesaloosa isn’t enough for you, now you can buy a yakaloosa. And of course “Kuska offers 0% financing on all of our alpacas with low down payments and easy monthly pay offs!”
I’ve officially seen it all.
Btw, we should *really* start breeding zorses.
They look like this:
This zorse was born in Germany a few years ago:
http://file1.carookee.com/forum/Albania/12/file/3893152/Das%20Zebroid.jpg?w
Look, it´s really colorful!
http://file1.carookee.com/forum/Albania/12/file/3893154/Das%20Zorse.jpg?w
Or what about a zonkey??
http://www.andreaswindsio.de/zesel2.jpg
Now we just jave to get them more fluffy!
)
My husband listened to both ads with a straight face, then said, “Call her, I want a pig race.”
Are these people carnies? I mean, carny trash is like several degrees trashier than trailer trash.
Allie, I like your husband’s sense of humor.
A pig race or especially baby animals being born would certainly lend a different flavor to little Johnny’s birthday party. Who cares about boring old clowns or pony rides, you can have the “miracle of birth!” And speaking of those, I wonder how Jennifer times the births for an event – giant syringe of pitocin, anyone?
What about these “Blazers” someone’s breeding in ID for $100 a pop?
Registered American Blazer Horses for sale. $100.00 Several colors to choose from including red-silvers, blue-silvers, palominos and buckskins among others. Studs, geldings, mares and yearling fillies and colts still available. Unbroke but gentle dispositions. Make excellent kid’s horse but also great for adults. Make outstanding endurance racing, cow-penning or cutting horses, as well as speed events, queening and parading or a great pleasure horse. Call 208-761-5738 for more information.
WTF is an American Blazer? Guess I gotta look it up. YLSNED (You Learn Something New Every Day – came up with that one myself! As far as I know).
Also, here’s a question that might have been asked before about a typical phrase in horse ads: “Price neg. to the right home.” Does that mean price is firm to a questionable home?
American Blazers…hmmm…I believe this rare breed was manufactured by Chevy in the 80′s & 90′s. Sorry to hear they’re only worth 100 bucks these days.
Now, I have seen the red & silver as well as the blue and silver Blazers – however, never a palomino or buckskin. You’d think this rare coloring would add a few thousand to the asking price.
I thought they pretty much all went to kill a year or two ago. I have blogged on it several times – search BLAZER in the search box and you’ll find it.
Okay, I’m going to be the voice of mild dissent here. Except for her stupid venture into breeding Gypsy crosses, I don’t see Jennifer Gregston as evil embodied. I’m not saying she’s my role model but I can’t get excited about any of this except the future equine entrees which she is trying to produce. That definitely bothers me. I don’t believe the “must sell due to finances†plea is more than just a sales gimmick, although, who knows, maybe her move to Idaho hasn’t been lucrative. My reasoning is:
I have no problem with petting zoos if they are well run and even if you have a zebra.
I don’t care if people sell domestic cattle, whether they are yaks, Scottish Highlands or Herefords.
I even don’t care if you sell a (as in one) litter of mixed breed puppies, although I think you are an ass for not spaying and neutering your dogs. At least she’s not giving them away for dog fighting bait.
This woman has years of experience operating her petting zoo and she seems to have done it well. She operated at high-exposure venues, like the Orange County Fair and she maintained the proper insurance, (I saw a list online).
Her sales photos of her Scottish Highland cattle show her new ranch to have good, safe and sturdy fences, roomy paddocks, a substantial and good-looking barn, and clean, green, junk-free land in the background. There is a refreshing and notable lack of rusty large appliances, junked vehicles and barbed wire. Maybe she does have a clue how to care for a large animal. All the animals I have seen on her sites look well-fed and healthy (not that I could be sure with all that hair). I searched extensively and didn’t find any complaints online about her care of her animals, so as far as boarding horses, I would not assume she doesn’t take care of her animals, but I would definitely investigate further.
Examples of what I saw online:
1. There is a nice article about her (Jennifer Wilkinson’s) animal zoo “All Creatures Great and Small Educational Petting Zoo†at the Orange County Fair appears in the Daily Pilot website http://articles.dailypilot.com/2004-07-30/news/export10220_1_touch-and-feed-zebra-animals . The article, “Wild ones†is written by Jimmy Stroup on July 30, 2004.
2. She (Jennifer Wilkerson) is also interviewed as the “co-owner of All Creatures Great and Small Petting Zoo in Romoland, Calif†in an article about petting zoos and E-Coli cases in Florida. It is a factual piece where Jennifer Wilkerson is quoted advocating common sense and hand washing to prevent such occurrences. The article was dated April 6, 2005 in a publication by Amusement Business and appears on the site Allbusiness at http://www.allbusiness.com/services/amusement-recreation-services/4591042-1.html. It is titled “Owners of petting zoos brace for fallout,†by James Zoltak
3. The ad for her Scottish Highland cattle with photos: http://www.ranchworldads.com/classified.php?listing=6201
But it’s half Friesian, it can’t be fugly!
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/evl/grd/1940669505.html
Good gawd is that mare leggy. Holy cow… Would make a good Dressage prospect?? WTF…?? Cause every Dressage judge wants to see a high-knee -actioned baroque style fox trotter… wow…
Personally, I drive as well as ride and my husband drives too, and we have always speculated about how interesting it would be to break a zebra to harness. Wonder if we could show with a zebra? Bet it would drive the other horses NUTS, especially if it brays. LOL.
I think this lady is definitely out there on some other planet she doesn’t quite share with the rest of us. I guess she wants to trade the yak herd for something that doesn’t eat, but she’s looking for free mares of any type to breed to her stallion – so… is she not planning on feeding the broodmares? Will that help her turn a bigger profit on the high-dollar POS foals then?
Here’s an idea…
We would ALL LOVE to see an end to BYB dummies like this, but since that is clearly never gonna happen…. how about we say… instead of coming up with your own new breed of horse that no one on this Earth is going to want… why not at least get a proven, registered experienced brood mare… (if you don’t have a ton of money to spend, I’m sure you can pick up something somewhere that at least as some kind of show record for cheap) and pick a decent, show-proven and registered stallion. At least *try* to produce something that someone out there might want. You can have your 1 broodmare and try to make a little money, ridding the world of dozens upon dozens free-roaming untouchables, and at least putting a cloak of wanting to look like you know what you’re doing.
Probably not gonna happen…
http://www.kshai1715.wordpress.com
A barrel horse learns to jump
Zebras do not bray!
To be fair, it’s a yearling– they are often butt ugly at times. I don’t mind her too much, except for those front legs at the ankles. Are her legs wonky there, or is it just a baby thing?
That’s not the first foxtrotter/fresian cross I’ve seen. Not sure why people cross them to gaited horses, although with all the compliments my black floaty fluffy Tennessee Walking gelding gets, maybe people like the idea of a naturally fancy gaited horse? It would sure beat putting chains and sores on them to get that movement.
Poor girl really does look like a yak. Pretty much everything is fugly at rising two, though. She may turn out okay, or at least better than that. Should turn out 17 hh though? Why? I mean, neither foxtrotters nor Friesians are known for being that tall. Since she’s about twice as tall as she is long right now, I’m hoping any growth will be in the other direction! And why, if you want a dressage horse, would you toss a Foxtrotter into the mix? Why, if you want a jumper, throw either one into the mix? I love Friesian crosses but Friesians mostly suck at jumping.
I don’t see anything fugly about her at all. Looks to me like she’s going though an ugly growth stage. She should shape up to me a nice mare.
Yeah, fugly is too harsh, “common” is a better adjective. If this was advertised as a Foxtrotter cross, would anyone have slapped a $2000 price tag on it? The original asking price was considerably higher. It’s that magic Friesian blood that makes everything it touches into a dressage horse.
Man, I just had the greatest daydream.
PETA and the ASPCA gave me a license to kill. I’ll just use Fugly’s blog as a list, pack my sniper rifle and go party!
Seriously though, I wish to hell stupidity like this would be made into a capital crime.
I was just sent this by a colleague…please to enjoy everyone: A Day in the Life of an Equine Vet
http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/7041337/
Ohmygoodness…..this is perfect!
I know! “Can you do this for free because he is a rescue? I rescued this horse from the track and I did not expect to spend any money on him. I love this horse very much which is why I spend all my money on supplements and research his problems online every day.”
I died.
Wow, what’s funny is I looked at the ad, and a random ad came up that caught my eye…
This is a little girl with no helmet, no control over this STALLION because he has no bridle on. I don’t care how gentle he is, he is a STUD and if kids have to wear helmets on seasoned lesson horses..then this one should most surely be wearing one if the parents insist (which should not be happening in the first place!) on perching their child up there to sell their stud . Arghhh…
http://www.equinehits.com/horses-for-sale/horse-193111
That stallion is actually damn cute and I am sure he IS a sweetheart. But that woman sucks as a parent – check out this page for more bareheaded children on the stud – and look at his poor front hooves. Ever hear of a farrier?
http://www.aqhastallions.com/colors.html
Let’s hope he gets upgraded. Nice horse, HYPP N/N, good disposition – I’m all for him reproducing. I’d just like him to get his feet done every 6-8 weeks while we’re at it. C’mon folks, it’s not that damn hard.
What a story! And you are correct, you just can’t make a story like this up. What’s frustrating though, is that when I talk to most horse loving people I know, even my own DH, the majority does not believe that these people are really that bad or that stupid. Somebody always says that they are misunderstood, or that I’m stereotyping, or there are some circumstances that we-animal-fanatics are not aware of.
Here is my own example. About a year ago we bought a flatbed trailer from a lady that lives between our house and the pasture we rent for our horses. She too has horses. Her house sits on 2 acres that slope at a 30+ degree angle down the mountain. The “pasture†is divided into pens, using barbed wire and/or field fence. At the time, she had 3 horses, at least one mare, a gelding and a younger uncut colt. Soon the lady asked if she could borrow the trailer when she had to go get hay for her horses. We agreed. She borrows it regularly, about once a week or two – she does feed them, that’s a plus! Once she had my DH look at the gelding’s feet to advise on how to trim them better, and mentioned that she hasn’t been able to trim the colt’s feet because he won’t let her. I asked when she’ll have him gelded, to which she replied “Oh, no! The bloodlines! His daddy won … races…†etc. Fugly little colt, too. Ok, few months later, we’re driving by and observe them unloading a new horse. Come to find out, she wanted a palomino for her birthday. They bought this mare, on the small size, a two year old. Brought her home and read through (she’s a very poor reader) the reg. papers – it said the mare was 4 years old. So now they were owners of a QH of about 13 hands tall, probably stunted. Skip a few months and I hear of new developments: the lady tried to train the mare to ride, but the palomino would literally buckle when she’d climb in the saddle. So, and I quote: “I sent her to get bred. I figured if I couldn’t ride her, she might as well be doing somethingâ€. Aha! Oh, and the stud colt is getting so nasty tempered that the lady’s husband is afraid of him, and so is she. I figured it’s a matter of time before she’ll be calling me asking to help untangle the colt’s penis out of the barbed wire following an attempt to breed mares on the other side…
And the punch line: the lady doesn’t work, her husband is on disability (due to alcoholism). I think it’s a miracle that they are affording all that hay, and of pretty nice quality actually. But the rest is Fugly textbook case.
The only GOOD thing in that scenario is that they know you. Yes, you’ll be cleaning up the mess but at least SOMEONE will!
…if I had the money, I would buy the zebra. I’m not even kidding. He deserved a wonderful home and I have always wanted one since I saw photographs of dressage zebras. Bless him, and here’s to hoping someone gets him out of her incompetent hands!
The following ad has been bothering me for weeks since it appearred on a locally run free classifieds website. So since we’re on the topic of breeding fuglies, I’m going to share it. I find it disturbing and so misguided or maybe just ignorant.
“I have a 16 Year old TB mare im looking to Breed, Retired off the track. currently has a borther and 3 babies who all race and do wonders from what I understand. I’m looking to breed her for either cheap or free as I don’t have much money, I would like to get a nice baby to keep of my own out of her before she gets too old. This has been a dream of mine since our first year together. If you could help me out I’d really appreciate it. ”
Because babies are also cheap to keep? Because training a racehorse and getting it to the track is cheap or free? I just don’t understand how someone writes this ad and doesn’t see the irony in what they’re saying. They don’t have any money but want to breed old Lazy Susan off the track because she doesn’t know for sure but old Sue might have siblings out there that did ‘wonders’ on the track. What then becomes of the foal? I truly hope that no one answered her ad that has been running for weeks on a high traffic website but I think I know how the ending to this story goes.
I would never want a zebra. They are known to be, in a word, CRAZY. My coworker’s dad just got one and is planning on getting another as its ‘mate’. Ugh! The guy doesn’t even know anything about horses, though that didn’t keep him from breeding, raising, and racing TB’s. His son (my coworker) did all the work up to the time for track training, from staying up all night with a mare about to birth to getting on their backs for the first time. Now he’s bored with TB’s (points for him – the retired and/or too slow live/d out their days on his farm) so is going for the zebras. My coworker thinks he’s crazy but has determined he will break the things to ride. I say he doesn’t survive the ‘breaking’ unscathed. Crazy people. Crazy RICH people. Eesh.
THAT said, I want a giant cavy in THE WORST WAY. I’ve always said I wouldn’t ever buy an exotic animal for as many moral as practical reasons, but I want one of those so badly. Doesn’t matter which genus, just bigger than a guinea pig (which I have owned all of my life. Just the natural progression…. right?). I’ll never get one I’m sure, but damn >.<
Yo, fellow pig-person here! In fact, I found FHOTD three years ago via a Guinea Lynx forum (I have a feeling you know the site). I have zero piggies at the moment (I know, how can I live, unfort. dog & her medical issues are soaking up pet budget) but that impending capybara litter on the exotics website caught my eye as well!
Hiya! I probably do… used to be on some forums there but left ’cause they were extreme even for me. I still go there for resources but that’s it.
I’m actually down to one piggie now. My oldest died recently and I’m having a hard time finding an older male as a new buddy without resorting to a pet shop … and after losing two thanks to one who ended up sick after adopting (yes he was quarantined first) I’m leery of adopting as well. My single guy gets lots of attention during the day though, and has a stuffed animal to snuggle with at night, so he’s doing okay for now. He may be my last for good, as we have two families living together now with all our pets and it’s just getting too hard to make sure everyone gets enough attention, especially as my son gets older and his focus moves more to school and riding which takes up most of our time. So… yah. No more pets to add soon, especially huge exotic rodents… but doesn’t keep me from dreaming!
Idaho has a history of exotic animal disasters. I lived by Ligertown. That was a scary place. A few years later there was a huge seizure of wolf hybrids. As a zoo volunteer I’ve spent a lot of time with exotics and they do not belong private homes. Wild animals are not pets, I don’t care how cute and cuddly they are. And zebras are very difficult to handle.
My first thought about this situation was she wants these mares for auction. Being financially strapped a truck load of big boned mares might help with her feed bill.
And the photo i saw looked like the property was not ideal for grazing animals. I’m not familiar with that area but Idaho has a lot of sparse desert covered in sagebrush and lava rock. Not the ideal place to retire horses.
http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/article/20100909/NEWS01/309090005/Underfed-horses-seized-at-Oakland-County-farm#pluckcomment
Here’s one from my neck of the woods, weird, she put fly masks on the horses but didn’t feed them. One of them didn’t even rate a score of 1.
http://theoaklandpress.com/articles/2010/09/09/news/local_news/doc4c883604a91eb311935198.txt
Here’s more, and it figures, she was a crazy color mixed breed breeder, and she had crappy fences.
originaly 19 horses on 8 acres of land? 8 acres will hold a max of 8 horses at 1 acre per head. THough the average is 1.5 acres per head without taxing your pasture to death. Whilst 2 acres per head is better.
I arrived at the barn I ride at yesterday to see two new horses…there’s apparently a bad situation around here and the BO got these two out ahead of them going to an auction. The pony MIGHT have found a home, but I’m pretty sure the Paint mare would have ended up on a double decker.
Sigh. She is MAYBE a 3, cribs badly even with a strap on, I can’t tell whether she’s seriously fugly conformation wise or whether its just that there is zero muscle on her topline and she’s obviously depressed. Oh yes, and apparently she was in a ‘tiny paddock that was mostly mud’. Nobody told me it was fenced with barbed wire, but judging by the almost healed cut on her flank…
I have a feeling there’s a good horse hiding in there somewhere. The pony that was with her is also a bit underweight, but not as badly…no doubt because it takes talent to starve ponies…and is so fantastic my trainer is considering taking him for her five year old daughter to ride, but who knows with the mare. She seems very quiet now…
…but she’s SAFE. And needs a name…anyone got any suggestions for a name for a sad looking chestnut overo mare? I tried a few out, but the BO didn’t like any of mine. (I want to call her Promise, but she didn’t like that).
I’m really quite proud of the BO right now. Of course, if it works out, she gets a horse for the price of plenty of quality hay and a few doses of dewormer…and if it doesn’t, my trainer WILL find a place for this horse. I’m hoping to ride it once its healthy.
Fugly,
This was on my Facebook today, it needs to go viral. Down in the panhandle of Florida, a judge throw out an animal abuse case for “lack of evidence”. Poor little Champ is in danger of being returned to his abusers. PLEASE CALL Judge Green 850-892-8131 and voice your opinion! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=7197386&id=158008639615&fbid=499496849615&ref=nf#!/AlaquaAnimalRefuge
Watch this video!
http://www.waltonsun.com/news/protests-5429-abuse-throws.html
Just blogged it before I read your post!
!!! Stolen horse alert !!!
NetPosse
Stolen form the Chuck Wagon Races in AR this past weekend.
OK Folks, I had to jump in “irregardless” of some of the more hostile comments towards yaks. We have been raising yaks for six years. We started with pets that essentially gave my elderly father a reason to get up in the morning. They are not for everyone but they are domesticated bovines (cows). Many jurisdictions classify them as exotic. Yaks were introduced into North America by the USDA at the turn of the last century. (That’s around 1900 for the folks with IQ’s like mine) Like cattle, horses, pigs, and chickens, they are not indigenous to this continent. So removing the pet – indigenous – exotic debate, one should only choose yaks if you are certain you can create a viable economic outcome from their ability to turn sunshine into capital, unless you just “like them”. Please don’t make up your mind about yaks based on this person’s example.
By the way, our yak calves think the neigh-bors Gypsies are far more interesting than this blog!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/theyakranch/4940569490/in/set-72157624837580004/
http://www.theYakRanch.com
Best “irregards”…. (not really. it is important for all of us to challenge neglect where ever we see it)
Thanks for reading my rant.
It’s almost four am here…LAST comment before I go to bed, promise.
Anyways…I decided to google “horse/zebra crossbred to see what I would get. Well, the results were…interesting. I think that if she were to breed a horse with a zebra, she’d get something like this:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-464723/Meet-Eclyse–amazing-zebra-crossing.html
I think that she could very well end up with foals with that bizarre patchwork coat of solid color and stripes. I remember seeing that horse/zebra thing on the news a long while back and just about doing a double take because it was one of the strangest things I’d ever seen. I think Zebra/horse foals would just be too damn WEIRD for most people. I find myself thinking “Zebra and horse? Who the HELL would breed that on purpose?” But then, we are talking Backyard Breeders here. They’re the type that will pretty much breed anything with a pulse and intact reproductive organs. I’ve been reading this blog for awhile now. I really should know better by now that common sense in logic in these idiots is pretty much nonexistent, at best.
There’s even an, errr, foundation for horse/zebra crossbreds. The hell?! http://www.izzza.com/
….Yeah. Like THAT’LL catch on.
sounds like she is going to have a pmu farm to me, unsound mares and out on pasture only for a few months of the year. wacko if you ask me.
Is she breeding for Farmville? I can see the new spam ad posting to walls everywhere now: “Click Like and Share to ALL your friends and be the first get your FREE RARE Painted Polish Gypsy Party Yak!”
OK, all kidding aside (although the descriptions of various critter crosses in the comments have totally cracked me up) – I have to say that while having yaks and petting zoos is not in and of itself bad, I DO take BIG issue with people who advertise in one market that they have to dump their animals for financial reasons at the same time they’re advertising in a different market that they want MORE animals (and it sounded like they’re prefer them free). That screams ‘SCAM’ to me. I also take issue with turning out a gadzillion cross-bred critters with no apparent purpose (other than profit) – I see many young ‘rare Gypsy cross’ horses being dumped on the market in the next few years – how many will see the inside of a kill pen?
All you need is some lady Clairol and you can have whatever color you want wherever you want. I think a Perlino Zebra with feathers would be good. A person could get some fake tails sand braid them in to make feathers if necessary.
Oh my goodness what has my imagination started on now. I’ll have nightmares for sure.
On a sad note my husband’s Quarter Horese is quite lame. He appears to be arthritic in his shoulders. I treated him with Bute and gave him a massage with Absorbine, put a blanket on and he seems better today. I will still get the vet to take a look and see if there is long term treatment plan. As long as he isn’t suffering he can be retired and just hang around eating grass. Once he gets to the point that he is having to much pain I will have him euthanized. I have a lot of arthritis as well so me and Billy will hang around together. I refuse to eat grass though.
I haven’t posted in a couple years…been busy I suppose…but a problem has cropped up with my horses and I need some advice. I’m not looking for perfection and the ultimate answer to whether God created the universe, I just need some fresh thinking and perspective. I have found in the past there are some level-headed, intelligenct contributors on this site and right now I don’t need Pat Parelli, I need some cowboy solutions. Also, if I put this question in the wrong thread, I apologize – I couldn’t find another and have little experience with blogs. Please move it wherever it needs to go.
I’ve got four horses – two geldings, two mares, all riders. My wife just bought a new mare – very, very, very nice horse. Expertly trained, well-behaved, relaxed, easy on the eyes. She’s without question the best horse we own. She’s been at another barn for two months and we brought her home three weeks ago. I put her in our corral for three days to get acquainted with the herd. There was typical angst and a bit of squealing and one of the geldings set about expressing his dominance including some “rushing the fence” kid of behavior and herding his favorite mare away from the corral, etc.
On the fourth day, nice sunny afternoon, I released her. The usual pecking order displays, pushing each other off hay piles, etc. Pretty routine…but the gelding seemed to have an elevated sense of “not on my farm” and was pretty aggressive. Three hours later, the new girl had a six inch gash across her upper right hind. Four inches lower and she’d have a broken leg. This gash was deep and nasty – the gelding got perpendicular to her and caught her but good. An immediate call to the vet and within 90 minutes she was stitched up. Three days later, infection, then five days of pennicillin (that was entertaining), then the stitches popped anyway and now we’re treating with scarlet oil, gentle cleaning, and patience. Her lovely flank will sport a nasty scar, says the vet, but she’ll heal.
My question is: Are these two going to “work it out” or does the gelding have to go?
Option two would bother me…he’s my horse and a very fine retired roper that is “husband safe” and I get along with well. I don’t want to part with him but I can’t have another $700 in vet bills either…not to mention a broken leg and you know what comes next.
I’m open to ideas.
(FHOTD in: My theory is always that cross fencing is almost ALWAYS cheaper than a major vet bill (or loss of a horse).
I’d be making a trip for some electric tape and posts…cap the posts, make sure the electric is HOT, and get those two separated.)
Go to an auction sale and purchase a big gelding that is slated to go for meat. Your gelding at home will pick on him instead and if he is big he will have a better chance at defending himself. You would help your mare and save a horse at the same time. All horse herds pick on the newest member. If the gelding goes the other horses will pick on her instead. This mare obviously does not know about herd pecking order. If you don’t want to take a chance on her getting hurt you will have to keep her seperate from the others. I am not a Parelli follower as such. I just take ideas that I think make sense and try them if I need to.
I don`t expect my horse to love me but i do require her respect. I feed her and pay the vet bills after all.