Naysa was lucky…
Nov 01 2010
Naysa (whose story has been on this blog many times) survived a vicious attack by someone who was too goddamn stupid to figure out how to load a horse in a trailer. I was actually discussing trailer loading with someone today and noted that I can’t think of a single time it has taken me more than an hour to load even the most difficult horse. Nor can I think of a time any injury more than a scratch occurred. But apparently the world is full of people who not only are completely incompetent when it comes to trailer loading, but have the frustration tolerance of a three year old child who cannot reach a cookie. These people – and we’ve all seen them – resort to beating the living shit out the horse. I have yet to see beating the living shit out of the horse result in the horse getting on the trailer, by the way. It usually results in the horse backing up, throwing his head, rearing, flipping over, and/or striking at people.
Anyway, some bottom feeding asshat Texan named Hugh Meixner managed to get a visa to work in Australia, where he recently beat a horse to death for not loading.
So let’s just briefly recap: He tried to get her onto the trailer using BREAD? She’s not a fucking pigeon, Hugh. Horses don’t come for bread. This guy got a visa to work with horses and he thinks bread is horse food? Then, when that doesn’t work (shocker!) he beats her to the point where she has internal bleeding and has to be put to sleep.
Hugh got a wrist-slap after pleading guilty. Now they are calling for him to be deported. I’m ok with that, but the USA does not want or need him back. So please just drop him somewhere in the ocean between the two countries, okay? Let’s work together on this, Australia!
And breeders: Is this how you want your horse’s life to end? They can learn to load as weanlings. Teach them! You can’t predict what kind of easily-frustrated, violent asshat they will encounter in life, but you CAN teach them to do things like load, tie, and go into a wash rack in order to decrease the chances that they will do something to set off a guy like this. Do your part to try to ensure you’ll never read a news story like this about a horse you created.
If you’re in the Los Angeles area, or up for a visit, don’t forget this great and fun event coming up to benefit Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue!
183 comments to “Naysa was lucky…”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment. Not a member? Registering is free, and you do it here!
Very, very sad. Please don’t send him back. Send him to the bush to fend for himself with his precious lariat.
a couple of whacks with a soft rope if the horse is pigging around, but never violence. obviously. unless you are a miscreant. Sad that Australia let this idiot in. I want to go work over there, and I don’t have violent tendencies.
Sure. I have no problem with using a butt rope – I think it’s highly effective. I have done things like waved a broom at a horse as encouragement. But every time you lose your temper, I guarantee you aren’t going to get the result you want. 100% of the time. I wish people had enough self-awareness to realize when they are too frustrated and need to let someone else try.
The couple of time’s I’ve used a rope around the butt it’s caused the horse to rear, even my sister’s cob who’s never done that in his life. I’d never use a rope aorund the but again – I use the premis of they get to stand nice and quiet at the trailer and get hassled away from it (backed up etc) and make it a good thing to go in (food rewards once in work well).
Maybe it’s how you use it. I run it under the tail and seesaw to create friction that is unpleasant. I don’t try to pull a horse in with the rope. I use it as an irritant.
with my old horse, we used the butt rope method to get him on the trailer once, after that all you had to do was show him the rope and on he went!
my old lady was the same. one day she decided she was bored of getting in the box and would just lean backward on u. so we used the 2 lunge rope method to force the issue a little. she was grumpy about it, but boxed eventually. and after that u just had to show her the lunge rope and she’d just about box herself
had an experience with a horse that wouldn’t load. he actually got bolshy and dangerous. he would push u over, rear up and punch u, anything to intimidate u. so we took broom handles and put them inside feedbags to make a nice irritating noise. one person held his head inside the box (or as close as possible) and two people irritated the shit our of him from behind. took a few session and he was loading like a star.
That is an excellent point about letting someone else have a try when frustration turns to anger. This summer, my 6 yro WB decided he didn’t like the mounting block. It had NEVER been a problem before. I found myself enraged after following him around the arena, mounting block in hand. Set it down, try and get on, he backs up two steps. My trainer was with me and kept saying, “Just wait him out.” I snapped and cracked him on the butt with my dressage whip when he backed up. Wrong move. He bucked and became even more agitated. Trainer, “Why don’t you take a break and let me have a go at it.” Me. “Fine.” It took her awhile but she very calmly kept at it and succeeded. These animals can be frustrating at times and it is a good idea to just back off when that frustration turns to anger. Not condoning anything this guy did.
Hey, I doubt any of us have NEVER gotten to that frustration point. It does happen. When you’ve had a horrible day anyway and the horse will not do X, even though he has done X a million times, it is easy to go over the line. Wisest thing you can possibly do is let someone else – who isn’t as fried as you are – try.
Fugs – “But every time you lose your temper, I guarantee you aren’t going to get the result you want. 100% of the time”
If I may quote a clinician who’s probably unpopular on here – “Frustration begins where knowledge ends.” No wonder we never get anything accomplished when we’re angry. :-p
I totally agree that the man is an asshat, and thoroughly deserves to be dumped in the ocean, but i have to disagree with you on one point. Horses DO come for bread.
In my corner of the world dried bread is used by people as horse treats, in the same way as carrots or apples. Left-over pieces of bread are dried an brought to the yard quite often, and while I don’t normally give any to my horse, several others do. I remember we experimented with treats when we were kid, laid out carrots, apples, bread, and some kind of “industrial treat” to see which horses like the best, and many horses go for the bread first.
Unnecessary to say, a frightened horse will hardly ever come for any treat, much less come into a scary trailer for one. Teaching a foal to load is not difficult and even less so when you have a mare who loads nicely. The foal will follow her example.
LOL….my horses LOVE bread, I give them our stale bread as a treat, and they like it as well as carrots or apples. If I go out and rattle the bread bag, they all come running……..But, it wouldn’t be the first thing I would grab if I were trying to coax them into a trailer. Then again, all our horses practically load themselves, so I’ve never had to use treats for loading, thank goodness!
http://horsefilleddays.blogspot.com/
People always come by my horses paddock and feed him treats, because he is right near a tennis and golf centre, so there are lots of kids who want to “feed the ponyyyyy” (even though he is a big, 500kg Standardbred hahaha) and I have had to put a sign up saying DO NOT FEED THE HORSES BREAD.
People can give him a carrot, or one apple, but too much sugar is asking for tooth decay and bringing laminitis one step closer… a little snack now and then is ok however. But bread constipates him. Of course all the little kiddies want to feed the pony bread, but then I’m the one who has to help him crap it all out…. >__<
I had a nice warmblood mare that I had just started under saddle that I lost to colic. She was boarded at a facility similar to yours, but in a stall. The Saturday that she colicked was a beautiful spring day, sun shine and warm, and there were people and especially kids all over the barn. When I got there to ride, there were M&Ms on the ground in front of her stall mixed in with all the bread crumbs (here in France, everyone gives the horses bread, too, which I don’t particularly care for). I took her out for a short but pleasant ride, cooled her down properly but left her sheet/cooler and asked the barn manager to take it off in a half hour or so when she’d have acclimated again to the cool temperature in her stall compared to the warm sun. 24 hours later, I was standing next to this poor mare at a vet clinic making what has, up to now, been the most difficult decision I’ve had to make.
I know she could have colicked because of any number of things, and, especially without an autopsy, I’ll never know what caused it. But there’ll always be that doubt in my mind, that all those extra goodies that everyone gave her that day did her in.
Yup, yup, most bread in the US is all sugar. one of my friends told me if you chew it for 2 minutes, it will quite litterally turn to sugar in your mouth. I don’t like bread so I never tried it. My family makes our own bread, whole wheat and quite healthy, as far as bread goes. Maybe I’ll see if my horses like it…..
Last Monday I had an appointment for my long yearling where I had to trailer him. I started the week before re orienting him to the trailer and he gleefully hopped on every time even after I took him and his pasture mate for a ride. The day of the appointment? You guessed it! He wouldn’t get on that trailer to save his sole. So there I was by myself, had taken the entire day off, and can’t get him in the trailer to go to his appointment. I even tried loading his pasture mate and that didn’t help either. I tried the butt rope which he always responded too but that didn’t help. So after trying every thing I could think of I put a chain on over his nose and let him know I was no longer playing around. He acted like the typical adolescent child throwing a few temper tantrums and I kept leading him back around in a circle and pointed his nose in the trailer. We stood there and stood there and he acted like he wanted to get on because he wouls surge ahead and then stop several times. I even tried picking up his foot and putting it on the trailer, baiting him with feed/treats, everything I could think of EXCEPT beating him with a whip which I WILL NOT DO PERIOD! I called the vet and we were trying to figure out an alternative and as we were on the phone he jumped in the trailer! The funny thing was when we arrived at the vet’s after an hour drive he was petrified and don’t ask me why because he had been trailered before and I never had any issues with him at all. He would not get off the trailer so we had to back it up to the vet’s office and bring the xray machine into the trailer to take the xrays. All the time his pasturemate is in the first trailer stall wondering what the heck is going on. When we got home they had been on that trailer for four hours and he decided he was not going to get off so I squeezed the other horse past him and he sat on the trailer by himself, doors wide open, water bucket for hydration, no halter or lead, just standing there looking at me for another hour. Finally as I was getting ready to go up to the house he decided to jump off. Was it a frustrating day for me? You bet it was but beating a horse is so counterproductive and even though it may take hours out of your day, they typically always give in. My horses do get discipline but beating them is never acceptable.
I think your horse is related to my mare. She’s an OTTB, usually trailers just fine. She was hauled to a show in my new 2H slant with another horse a few weeks ago and loaded up fine, smooth haul, nothing to spook her that I know of. A couple of weeks later I went to load her for a trail ride and it took *3 hours* to get her to get into the trailer. She threw a complete drama queen FIT. Rearing, backing, completely refusing to move, you name it. Nothing would make it better, not grain, not treats, zip. We missed the ride, and I concentrated on just getting her to get in the damn trailer instead. I used a dressage whip to tap her rear to encourage her to move forward, and she got a couple of swats on the front legs when she reared up, but nothing that remotely could be considered “beating”.
I’m still at loss as to WHY she wouldn’t load, but looking back, I think that a lot of the drama was created by the fact that we were stressed and in a hurry, and she picked up on it.
Yesterday I rode her in a lesson, than hitched up the trailer and pulled out the secret weapon…carrots. She walked calmly up to the trailer, stopped. I gave her some pressure, and asked her to come forward. Each step or stretch of the neck forward got a bit of carrot. Front feet up, standing halfway in, great! More carrots. I just parked my rear in the trailer and kept asking her to step forward until eventually she stepped up and got in and stood nicely. We had several rounds of front-feet-in-pause-nope-front-feet-out-again, but she wasn’t freaking or backing away, and if she put her fronts in, stood there and then stepped back out, I just let her step calmly back out and tried again. No panic, scrambling, freaked out reversing or stress, and because I didn’t try to drag on her head or make her feel trapped when she stepped back, she didn’t start to get nervous and it went SO much more smoothly. I think I ate almost as many carrots as she did waiting for her to get in.
I think it took about 30 minutes to get her to step all the way in and stand calmly in the trailer for a minute or two eating her reward before stepping calmly back out again. Key word: CALM. I ended it on a happy note there, then tied her to the outside of the trailer for another 5 minutes with more treats and scratches, just to keep a positive association going with the trailer. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m just going to keep doing more sessions like yesterday’s until she’s loading well again. My main goal is for her to think of the trailer as not being a scary place.
Beating a horse for not loading is just insane…all it teaches them is to be scared of the trailer. GREAT for loading next time. (sarcasm)
I definitely agree with you about the horses picking up on the stress and that is exactly what I attributed it to. I was stressed out about having to make this particular trip because it is mostly two-laned roads and at one point the road is almost the same width as the trailer and that is right in a very heavily populated area with a lot of railroad tracks, traffic lights, and lanes that end where you have to get over in a split second. I hate making that trip and he knew it. My plan was to get him back into the trailer over the weekend but I got bust with other things so that will be my plan for this weekend. I suspect we won’t have any problem at all getting him to load in a stress-free situation.
We’ve taken the worlds criminals for long enough, you can have him back lol.
Agreed!!! XD
We’ll take the bunny infestation, you can keep the criminals ;-P
The longest it ever took to load one of ours was 6 hours, however at the time we didn’t really know good techniques for loading. WIth that horse it was basically a case of being more patient and standing with the rope tight till he decided to go in. At the time he didn’t laod regularily or anything. He now goes in in about 10 minutes and you just have to wait and let him decide.
Since then I’ve worked with a few ‘difficult’ loaders, including my friends mare who reared for the smallest reason and, when I watched my fried’s dad try to load her, went over backward several times before I managed to get him to stop. Once she was allowed to calm down she went in in about 20 minutes with no force or beating.
Moron…. My bitch of a mare that starts of rearing and striking takes me 5 minutes to load. All it takes is a lunge whip and a chain. I don’t even have to use them, just show them to her and she trots right on.
Obviously no one had the brains enough to teach her how to load when she was a baby.
Thanks for writing the article on it! As I linked before, here’s the petition for the deportation:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40146.html
I don’t want him back here…maybe Mexico will want him? He sounds pretty manly.
New charro event: Human tripping.
And after that I`d love to see the Charros brand and castrate him…..
Can`t read the article. Cried like a baby After reading about Naysa on this blog, and at least SHE miraculously survived.
What an excellent idea! I also like the branding and gelding idea for afterwards
I’m waiting for bull fighting where they don’t put weighted lances to bleed and weaken the bulls before putting the matadors in. Takes a real big man to bring down a wounded animal that’s half bled to death you know…
I found this on another group and posted it to a FaceBook friend who is a horse person and lives in Australia.. he is on a RAMPAGE!!! I am sure Ozzie land will send the a-hole back here…
I know we don’t want him back.. but he won’t get a slap on the wrist, if he does something like that here…
I hope so any way.
Good for him and I support his rampage!
Ok, I have loaded many a bad pony with nothing more than a lead rope, a tapping (NOT HITTING) whip on the butt, and a lot of patience. It’s not hard, nor is it rocket science. Point horse at trailer, and tap, tap, tap that butt. When the horse takes a step forward, stop tapping for a second and pet him. Then start over. Ignore all behavior that isn’t walking towards that trailer and keep tapping. Eventually, horse will get in the trailer. No beating, no coercion, just tapping. It takes patience, and in some cases a fair amount of time. But it always seems to work. And the next time, it takes less time. The time after that even less. Eventually you point said horse at the trailer, and whoops, he climbs right on.
There was one horse that took us a week to load. Literally. The first day after two hours, we got her two steps closer to the trailer, she was praised, put away. Every day, she was closer. On the fifth day, she walked right up to it, and we convinced her to put a foot in it. She was put away. On the sixth day, she put two feet in it. On the seventh day, she walked in after 20 minutes. She got fed a grain treat, carrots, and taken off the trailer. She now self loads. It wasn’t easy, nor was it quick. But it was humane, and it didn’t stress the horse out overly much.
Fugly, I have to agree with you. Drop him in the middle of the ocean, we don’t want him back here…..
Arrow- I too use the tap tap method. It is highly promoted by all the NH trainers, and you can dislike NH all you want, buy this method has been wonderful. All my horses “self load” onto my trailer now. Truly, I open the door and POINT in the trailer and they go in. I had a NH trainer show me the method on one of my colts, and then stay there with me to coach timing as I taught the next horse. Now, I never need go inside the trailer with them (I snap their ties on from my drop down window). They quiely back out too.
Years ago, before learning this method, I had always had my colts loading on the trailer by the time they were two weeks old. You just never know when you may need to trailer them to the vet or in a disaster. It was part of the fun of having a colt, getting them halter broke, trailer broke, clipper broke and feet picked up during their first few weeks. Learning the timing/release is the most important part. I highly recomend this methode. There are plenty of videos on this subject.
Never mind the NH guys, I learned this method in a Sheila Varian clinic over 40 years ago, and we called it “Varianing” for a long time.
It does require some empathy and awareness of where the horse’s brain (and weight) is to be most successful, but it works almost every time.
When it doesn’t, I have about three methods, none of which involve beating, scaring, or otherwise abusing the horse (or endangering the horse or humans involved).
The one thing often forgotten during trailer training — and the one that causes horses that you think are trained to load to “forget how” — is that the horse must learn to *unload*, too. That means stopping the intense focus on getting all four feet in and slamming the door. Fore feet in, reward, back out. Pretty soon horse is perfectly delighted to do that, and *then* ask for the hind feet — reward and back out.
The cheapest thing you have for loading any horse is time. The most expensive things are anger and hurry.
That’s what I use, too, but modified. I have a naughty pony who was a horrible chronic rearer (is that a word? She used to rear a lot. For stupid reasons.) and ignores tap tap tap. You absolutely can not ever PULL on her, or up and over she’ll go. And she hates trailers with a passion. She’ll walk up to them and stop, even put her front feet in, but wont go all the way. Usually I start off by just letting her stand and decide how she’s feeling. If she backs up, she gets whapped on the butt. She can only go forward, NEVER backward. She knows to not go backwards (this is also one of my rules for riding and ground work. I do not like having known rearers back up, for any reason, ever. I will even willingly lose ribbons at a show for declining to back up, I feel that passionate about it). After a few minutes, she usually gives up and goes in.
Even once she’s in, I keep the whip at the ready, because she had been known to try to fly backwards out of the trailer, too. So if she starts to even shift her weight backwards, she gets tapped again as a reminder to NOT GO BACKWARDS. I wont even try to close the door of the trailer until I’m sure she wont move a muscle. (I also hate how dangerous it is to try to quickly slam a trailer door shut with a horse who might decide to fly back out the second they realize what’s happening.)
But after dealing with the pony, and several of my dressage trainer’s horses (and Dressage trainer’s lectures), I never try to PULL a horse into a trailer. That’s just bad news right there. If the horses doesn’t already know how to rear, that’s the best way to teach it.
Yes, we use the tap-tap-tap method as well, using a regular broom flat against the top of the croup. Tap-tap-tap until they hop on. Can take five minutes the first time, but by the third loading all we need do is show them the broom. I’ve seen my trainer do this at shows for other people and they seem amazed, but months later see them doing the same thing. We’re not into NH at all, just do what works.
Arrow, I too use the tap tap method and swear by it. It got my mischievous little arab mare to self load very quickly and now she’s a dream to load every time whereas before she was playing silly games continuously and only loaded when SHE was good and ready. Have used it on many problem loaders with great success.
I’m in Australia and no, we don’t want the scummy bottom feeder staying here – perhaps they could drop him in a volcano on the way back to the US?
I signed the petition to get him deported and if it would help, I’d be happy to pay his fare as well, just to be rid of the SOB – we have our own share of crazy cruel bastards, we don’t need yours as well!
I’ve imprinted the horses I’ve bred, and worked them in the trailer with their dam at 48-72 hours old. Never, ever had a problem getting them to load and hauled them quite a bit too. This foundation is rock solid in adulthood unless some asshole fucks it up. Had an American Warmblood who was about 1800 lbs. and not only did I teach him to self load, I also taught him the trick of backing into a two horse trailer…yep, as in him lifting his back feet in, and actually picking up his front feet one by one and placing them in the trailer, the standing there quietly for a moment before I closed the door. This takes a horse that not only has a lot of groundwork done on him, but who also thoroughly understands what is being asked of him and it can’t be rushed, had to be taught in baby steps, plus he had his own size working against him when his back end was in the trailer, but could do it once he knew what was being asked for. A horse that size certainly cannot be forced into anything he truly doesn’t want to do!
Completely agree. They don’t forget how to load. So much easier to teach it WHEN THEY ARE SMALL!
Lol just make sure u have a big enough trailer.
We had a 17.2 hh Standardbred who had been used to big trucks during his racing days.
The lady who owned him tried loading him into a normal straight load 2 horse type trailer, he promptly went on and knocked his head on the roof…. Never went willingly on a float after that, he was fine with trucks, though.
You don’t EVER want them to have bad experiances because then they think there is a reason to be scared, rather than just being scared of the unknown…
“Drop him in the ocean between the two countries” What an excellent idea for this waste of blood. But alas, they will ship him back to Texas, where his temper will get out of control and at some point he will kill a person. But there is a silver lining to that, in Texas, they kill you back.
Maybe we instead of the ocean we should send him out on the great barrier reef at night. Tell him theres a horse out there that won’t get into the boat and let him down with his lariat and let God deal with him. (God = Great White sharks, Man O’War jellyfish, etc)
Read the article posted, and one question remains to me: what the FUCK is with this owner?! You’re damned right they should have bashed him! Where did their spine go and what’s with that wet noodle in their back?! “Don’t look”, my ass! I am quite sure their hearing would suffice! Couldn’t they hear how badly the horse was being beaten?! STUPID…
I am not pleased with how few details are in the article. The horse owner’s name should be in there, and who was the horse? Nothing about her other than a 4 year old mare.
From the news paper article I have, the owner’s name is Ian Carbis. Don’t know about the mare, but coming from that part of Australia I am almost certain she would be an Australian Stock horse.
Typical sadistic behavior of people who have no control over their emotions. Many times I’ve been frustrated with a horse that refuses to load for whatever reason and several times I’ve caught myself getting out of control about the situation particularly when its 105 degrees and the horse has been hauled all over the country… But to totally lose it and beat an animal to death over a trailer ride? Can you imagine what he’d do to his wife or a child?
I think I can speak for most Texans..Australia, please drop this waste of air in the outback and lose him for the rest of humanity.
A hemaetoma on her vulva. Meaning he lifted her tail to whip her in her genitals.
Isn’t there supposed to be a step in between coaxing and beating to death? Hitting doesn’t solve anything. It makes you feel better, but it doesn’t teach anyone anything. The horse doesn’t know you’re hitting them because you want them to get on the trailer and hitting them harder doesn’t make it any clearer to them than talking louder to someone that doesn’t speak your language makes them able to understand.
I know there are a lot of Natural Horsemanship haters on here. Know how we teach a horse to load? You go up into the trailer and stand there. The horse will eventually come forward because they don’t have any other directions to go. The release is the reward, when they move forward the pressure is released (this is in a halter, btw) and and they are rewarded for moving forward into the trailer. OMG. The horse learned that going into the trailer is good.
Stupid bullshit cruelty like this makes me want to cry. I hope the idiot asshat owner that LET THIS HAPPEN is going up on charges for negligence. We had some idiot in the US not too long ago that sat and watched while a “trainer” beat her 9 month old GSD puppy to death trying to “teach” it. Knowing it’s happening and letting it happen and NOT DOING ANYTHING is just as bad as if you’re the one doing the crime. I think it’s called being an accessory.
I’m waiting breathlessly for your promised blog about cruelty and abuse (posted in the comments after Smallpenis McGee down in Texas left his horses in a trailer to die and you commented on his family).
And those of us who don’t do NH simply teach a horse that when we pull on the halter, you walk forward. You trust us to walk where you just walked without incident. I use tricks like loading a horse who jumps right in first – that convinces the horse it’s safe when his buddy has no fear. I once walked into what had been an hours-long fight and solved the problem by loading the pasture buddy first. Sure, the horse had to later actually learn to load but it got him safely onto the trailer that day so that the drama could end.
Halle-freaking-lujah! No beating!
Yes, and there *are* times when cracking on a horse is warranted…like when you have to load him for someone else who is taking their horse to a hospital to save his life from a colic, and he doesn’t want to pay attention enough to even want to mind you in leading him to the trailer. But there is a “right” way and a wrong way to do it. When it’s not your horse and they don’t know the NH principles (and I’m talking the original old stuff here, not the “Buy my stuff or YOU can’t ride!” crap) you sometimes have to get tough. But there are still principles you can fall back on that help and make it less severe and will help that loading happen. Like NOT standing there and blocking the door, looking back at the horse while you’re trying to get him to come forward! Can’t tell you how many times I have seen people do it…what the HELL is that?!
“I know there are a lot of Natural Horsemanship haters on here. Know how we teach a horse to load? You go up into the trailer and stand there. The horse will eventually come forward because they don’t have any other directions to go. The release is the reward, when they move forward the pressure is released (this is in a halter, btw) and and they are rewarded for moving forward into the trailer. OMG. The horse learned that going into the trailer is good.”
Using release as a reward is not exclusive to “Natual Horsemanship” and has been practiced by traditional trainers, including my own, for decades if not centuries. Nothing about the NH movement is new, it is just branded differently so it sells faster and for more money.
The NH trainer we use doesn’t do the “buy this gadget” or the “spend a year on the ground before getting in the saddle” NH training. She uses more of the “This is how a horse would see this” or “this is how a horse would respond” to teach you to think like your horse.
I’ve had a lot of info crammed into my brain over the last few years and the line between what is Natural Horsemanship is what is traditional horsemanship is blurred – like all good training it crosses over and adds new stuff.
I am not above giving my horse a whack when he’s earned it. He grabbed me and bit me under the armpit (that tendon from your bicep to your pectoral – yeah, that hurt) and he got it twice in the face with a lead rope. He didn’t get cut or bruised, no swollen eyes or other body parts but the funny thing is that he hasn’t bitten me again either. My OTTB liked to crowd and by crowd I mean walk so close that he’d be walking on my heels. So I’d have a dressage whip behind my back and give him a smack in the side to make him move over. I remember punching him several times in the shoulder as he was standing completely on my foot. Took him a while to move so I can’t imagine it hurt him too much.
There’s nothing wrong with giving a horse a smack for disciplinary purposes (kicking or biting) or using a crop or whip as a training tool (bucking, rearing, refusing – generally just needing them to move). But if your horse has injuries on his/her genitals that’s just sadistic cruelty by someone who is frustrated, angry and out of control.
I have had days that I am pissed off at my horse. I have had that frustrating ride that he’s not getting it and I’m having a hard time and it doesn’t seem like anything I do is getting through to him. So I do something stupidly simple (such as a transition or direction change) that he knows well to end on a good note and WALK AWAY FROM THE HORSE.
I grew up in Oz and know for a fact that there are LOTS of places that prime example of knuckle dragging de-evolution can be dropped off never seen or heard from again.
I spent some time there as well, and thought the same thing. Australia is mostly scary, empty desert filled with things that will leave holes or kill you (9 most poisonous snakes in the world). Setting him down anywheres about 200KM outside Alice Springs with no water, in January, should be effective.
As for the bread… I volunteered for Riding for the Disabled out there, and a good chunk of the horse’s ration was leftover bread donated by a local bakery. I was initially shocked, but the horses were sleek and healthy, no apparent health issues from their odd (to Americans anyway) diet. I got the impression it’s not unusual there.
I once went with a gal who was given a free draft type horse. All she had to do was go pick it up. Since the owner had never bothered to train his 5year old horse to do anything, including leading, she was hard to catch and lead. He had us back the big open stock trailer into her pasture. We got a rope on her and got her up to the back of the trailer. When she planted her feet, we tried a little “encouragement”. The owner was so upset that he dared even pull on her halter, than he said he would load her. So we backed off and let him do it. He turned her loose. After all the time we spent catching her!!!! First, he stood in the middle of the open trailer door and tried “calling” her, “Come here. Come here.” The horse completly ignored him and walked off to eat grass. Then he ran around behind her, as he walked around in the big pasture telling her to “Get in the trailer. Go get in the trailer.” like she was a person. She trotted off to get away from him. If we could have had him go inside his house for a minute or two, we could have gotten the horse into the trailer, but he wanted us to “talk” her into it without touching her. Without some type of chute leading up to the trailer that we could have funneled her into, like a wild horse, it was impossible. People are idiots some times. In the end, she was walked to her new home, where she quickly learned to go under saddle and in harness. Her owner had her for 5 years and the only thing he could do with her was feed her. Oy!
They’re everywhere! We went to select and buy a 3-yo Paint from a breeder in another state. When we tried to get him in the trailer it immediately became obvious that he hadn’t been taught to load….or do anything else. The husband kept nattering on about how he “TOLD her she should work with the babies” and the breeder got into the trailer, lay on her back and kissed to him, pushed, pulled, put his dam in the trailer and tried to load him alongside, all to no avail. We left with the understanding that they would trailer-train him and deliver him the following week. Guess you know the end of that story. I wonder if they still have him….
Horse or human, let’s not blame the victim here. If it’s not trailer loading, these kind of assholes will FIND something to be an asshole about. Even if they’re perfect, not doing it fast enough or doing the thing he asked for instead of the thing he was thinking about is gonna get them beat on; scum won’t stop at the first sign of submission if they can bully you into more. How many horses get smacked for not winning a blue ribbon? I get what you’re going for in the last paragraph and I agree training saves lives, but not loading on the trailer wasn’t the trigger for this kind of asshat, I assure you. It’s never the horse’s fault for being owned by someone who can’t control themselves.
I rarely load my horses for anything, since I don’t show, don’t drive, and don’t have anyone to go somewhere with, so loading can be a struggle when it comes up. I really want to trade in my dinky two horse for a stock type trailer for easier loading and some versatility for what we can haul! Even my nervous nelly mare got in easier with the open trailers I tried at my trainers.
Do we want to contemplate what this guy would do to a horse that bucked him off? Or kicked him?
Foals can be taught to load with their mothers, and if you have a big quiet presence (a gelding that likes other animals), you can reinforce the loading thing the DAY you wean them. My first horse, AQHA, was “born” a “brood gelding.” He LOVED “babies” — dogs, cats, goats, sheep, foals — and always suffered mightily at the “teeth” of protective broodmares with foals, until THEY realized he was a great babysitter and wouldn’t hurt their babies. They’d be off grazing and he’d have all the foals together, discussing important stuff, I’m sure.
Patience is a virtue with older horses that are reluctant to load, but I’ve seen enough “experts” with various techniques to know that even a MORON can get a horse to load without beating it. Can’t remember now who it is that RIDES the horse up to the trailer and then grabs the top and slips off before he gets decapitated (that would be one of the morons ;o), and I don’t like any method where the horse RUNS into the trailer (walking works WAY better for me, thanks).
When I got my OTTB, he was a stock trailer type. I had a 2H bumper pull straight load. I used a kid’s lasso around his butt like a comealong, and he went right in, without my having to go in with him. Today I don’t need to use that, but it may take him a time or two walking up and looking inside before he loads at home. When we’ve had a lesson elsewhere, he loads right up first time because he knows he’s going home AND there will be a treat — a goody bucket — involved.
Goody/Bridbe buckets are wonderful at solving so many problems!
Feeding him to the crocs would be a fitting punishment in this case.
I’ve had to load difficult horses and the hardest one I had a couple of guys help create a human fence where we helped a mare in. She was scared I was taking back to the auction house I think.
The idea I had for training foals was taking an old straight load with good sides and solid floors. Fixing the whole thing so it does not move. Then opening the bottom doors and feeding the foal in there away from mother mare. Let the foal go in and out on his or her own. Some one I met did this and that was the easiest to load horse that she ever had.
I prefer straight loads, do to them being harder to load into than slant loads. Also you can normally find straight loads for less money.
If you have the space for it secure the trailer load inline with a fence and then only feed the horse you’re working on in the trailer. If your horse loves grain maybe only graining them in the trailer. Keep a closer eye on this horse and make sure they don’t start starving.
Yes this can take more time but, the results are better.
I have only ever known two horses that had to be beat into a trailer and it actually worked. The first one wasn’t her fault, her owners coddled her to death and when she refused to get in a trailer they gave up so she learned not to go. Then came the day she HAD to GET ON THE TRAILER. Being nice didn’t work with her- she would actually kick out and run backwards even if you were gentle but assertive. Once she was in the trailer though, she didn’t want to leave because she was content eating her apples and hay, as she was a greedy fat cow because the owners let her be one, so she had to be forced out too. After that she never had a problem though, and the owners got a firm talk with the trainer because that horse was so spoiled she was dangerous.
She’s fine now though 
The only other horse that needed a bit of a walloping was mine, ONCE, and all it took was firm swatting with the long whip and a butt rope. The only time he got really smacked was when he kicked out or tried to run someone over. Once he was in he got apples and goodies and now he jumps in the trailer without a fuss.
HOWEVER beating a horse to cause internal bleeding, or even open skin and cause damage, is WAY TOO FAR. The article stated that he used a lariat, but when I googled it I came up with ropes and trucks… it sounds more like he tried to use the truck lariat, not the rope lariat!! All that spoiled mare needed was a long whip and a butt rope as well as people standing on either side to keep her from running behind the doors. The only time she was smacked was when she ran into people and tried to run them down to get away, other than that she was just told with firm taps to get in the trailer, and it took almost two hours the first time or two, but now she jumps in without a problem, and not out of fear but respect for her handler.
And does he not know you’re supposed to push the horse forward from behind, by applying pressure on his buttucks!? Holy crap!!!! This guy must have roid rage or something, how will a horse move forward into a trailer if you’re beating it’s head and front legs??? And the idiot owner should have intervened, but the owner is too stupid to train the horse to go into a trailer without a fuss as foals, when you can literally pick them up and place them in there… so the owner must be too dumb to know what abuse is, too. I hate people. >:(
We bought two young Paso Finos last fall, and they both loaded and unloaded perfectly from the seller’s slant load gooseneck.
Unfortunately we had a straight-load two horse bumperpull. We spent HOURS trying to get each of them to load. Wish you could have been there to either help, or see that’s it’s not always that easy!
Zorro’s response to any pressure (driving forward or pulling the halter) was to rear and try to bolt. If you spanked him with anything, he would back up into it! We had to do everything soooooo slowly with him, with TONS of praise for the tiniest amount of progress. If we got impatient and rushed, he’d rear and panic, and we’d have to start all over again. It took 3 hours to load him the first time, then progressively less each time we did it. It now takes him about 10 minutes to load. He’s stubborn, so we have to prove we’re more stubborn than him! Treats and praise help a lot with loading him.
But Amiga was especially hard. (This is the psycho mare who used to refuse to eat treats!) We tried spanking her rump with a broom. We did the butt rope thing. She just stood there and took it. Never got mad, never fought back, but she was trembling and refused to move even one step forward. Eventually had to stop because she was getting welts. We even tried whipping her back pasterns, but that just made her step her legs up and down like one of those awful Mexican dancing horses. Finally, we called our trainer, who is an NH enthusiast. She and her husband took turns lunging the crap out of poor Amiga, letting her rest near the trailer every few minutes. Finally after almost an hour they got her to get in the trailer, but she flew right back out. So they worked her more. When she was standing quietly in the trailer (still trembling, the poor thing) they let her have all the rest she wanted. Didn’t tie her up or put up the butt bar, so if she came out she had to work again.
The whole thing was horribly traumatic for poor Amiga, but she was not physically harmed beyond a few welts from the butt rope. I feel so awful about what it took to get her in that trailer. We were beginners, but we researched ahead of time to learn what to do, and we had some professional help. Was there anything else we could have done? (Remember, treats/food meant nothing to her)
Both horses now load easily. We load both horses about once every week or so, to make sure they don’t “forget” or anything.
It sounds like you did the best you knew and you had the horses’ best interests at heart. It sounds like the NH trainers you had did a good job, and since both your horses load well now, obviously there is no lasting trauma.
A few months ago I got a mare with a supposedly “serious” loading problem. Apparently she would throw an absolute fit every time you tried to load her, and she had been forced in to the trailer every time. I spent a month or so on groundwork, teaching her to follow me and also doing some driving work. What’s really helpful is having things like platforms to lead them over, and barrels and poles to lead or drive them between, it gets them used to the idea of going into tight spaces. Unfortunately I didn’t have those options, so we just did basic ground work. I then spent four days, about 15-20 minutes a day, working on the trailer. The first day all I asked was one foot in the trailer. The second day it was both front feet. The third day she had to get all the way in, but I let her back out again. The fourth day I asked her to get in and stay in the trailer. A few weeks later I hauled her for the first time. It took about five minutes to load her the first time, and then five or ten to load her to come home. No fits, no fights. This is an easily stressed mare, so I never pushed her past what her brain could handle. If she got too upset, we went for a walk and then came back to the trailer. I had a lunge whip, but I never did more than tap her on the hindquarters with it, I never actually hit her. Really it just comes down to knowing the horse and knowing how far you can push them.
Regarding the two Paso Finos– Spanish-blooded horses in my experience react very badly to any attempt at physical intimidation. In short, the surest way to piss them off is to whip them or slap at them with a whip or rope. They ae very intelligent and have an exaggerated sense of self-importance–AND –they are easily offended. The trick with them is to get them to think that what ever you want them to do was Their idea in the first place. They– little self-absorbed things that they are– also respond very well to praise an positive reenforcement. If you like horses with “brio” then be prepared to deal with their prima dona personalities. But really they are interesting horses.
As far as bread goes– ALL of mine would climb Mt. Everest if they thought there were a slice of bread waiting for them at the top. They positively LOVE bread! I go to the day-old bread store and buy that stuff in the big 20 pound sacks. Then I keep it in the freezer to keep from becoming moldy, etc. They really like some cold bread right out of the freezer in the summer. I have a Paso Fino, a Peruvian, several old walkers, a Morgan cross and three Percherons– they ALL love bread. I feed them the whole grain bread — no bagels, white bread or raisin bread.
I agree with a lot of what you said about Spanish horses! I have learned A LOT since those trailering drama days, but at the time we were new horse owners and new to the Paso Fino breed.
The only way to load Zorro is to point him at the trailer and wait for him to decide he wants to go somewhere. Sometimes it’s 10 seconds, sometimes it’s 10 minutes, sometimes it’s an hour. Trailering is not optional, so we will wait for him until he goes in, so that he never “wins” but if we add pressure, that usually makes everything worse.
He is VERY sensitive to any hurried or stressful feelings us humans have, so the most important thing to do is try to relax. You can be firm with him, but don’t be angry or annoyed. If you don’t have a lot of time, don’t do anything more than groom him for that day.
oh trailering…I did have a horse that nearly tried to kill us time and time again us but nope we still did not kill her like that crazy jerk (maybe sometimes we wanted to though), sold her with full disclosure to folks that never seem to need to trailer anywhere. Best trailering advice/demonstration ever that my girlfriends and I learned when we were teenagers –from and old gruff cowboy that taught us all things great and wonderful–he told us he was going to teach us how to haul horses so he loaded us up inside a horse trailer and drove us around nicely at first and then terribly…it sure made quite an impression that I have since used to teach my husband and daughter before they hauled horses.
People make me sick. I think that man should be beaten with the same lariat he inflicted those horrific injuries with. And the magistrate that gave him a suspended sentence should recieve the same.
I went to pick up a horse that wouldn’t load, so that I could work on his trailer loading issue for a couple of weeks. I brought along a friend and her little girl for company. She packed us a lunch and brought a blanket for them to sit on and we planned to spend whatever amount of time that it would take. This horse absolutely would not load for it’s owner..a rather mild mannered lady that was also a friend of mine. My friend set herself and her child up a safe distance away and prepared to wait and chat while I retrieved the horse from his paddock. We then walked up to the trailer like there was no issue and he walked one foot in and stopped. I chatted with my friend while rewarding each tiny effort the horse made..even looking at the trailer. Less than 10 minutes later we had loaded several times and backed out..and then loaded and headed down the road to my house. If you plan on it taking all day, you won’t be apprehensive and worried and it usually goes better.
I have never, ever had one of my own bred horses refuse to load. They are taught to TRUST, after that you do not really need to teach them the other basics like loading and halter training and all the rest, you just need to point it out to them and give them a few good reason to cooperate and that is that. Same with backing them, I have never had a horse buck with me. Why would it?
I cannot understand this man’s mentality, but I can bet you I do know what happened. At some point the mare just “Sulled up” and then it was all over, you could, at that point, have cut her head off with a blunt saw and she would not move. I had an Uncle used to work with BIG mules, in the army, and he said , when this happened, and he also used the term which I am pretty sure is American in origin, “sull up” you could light a fire (and they DID!!) under them and they would not get up. The only thing that worked was to work out why they were sulled (usually the load was too heavy or badly packed) and remove the cause, then leave the mule to get up in it’s own time. He had one lie down and die, because a sergeant would not listen. This poor mare was not capable of responding, she was too far out of it. Only good thing about this is that she probably did not feel most of what he inflicted.
I have loaded some pretty hairy horses in my time, but I have never (yet) been beaten, and I have never yet nor shall I ever, beaten a horse!!
Softly softly loady horsey!!!
This post and the statement that “they are taught to TRUST” really struck me. We have a very big ex-Amish horse. This horse did not know the meaning of the word trust – all he knew was that humans were cruel creatures meant to be feared. We’ve now had him for two years and he finally trusts us in his safe environment. I can put my hand up to pet his nose and he no longer flinches and turns away – AFTER TWO YEARS! This is a milestone.
But get him near that trailer and he acts as though the gates of hell have opened up to swallow him whole. And when a big ass Belgian is scared, you better believe he can make it known! I swear they must have drugged him to get him to our farm. I KNOW that I need to work on this with him, I KNOW that it is dangerous to have a horse that won’t load. And I have absolutely every intention of doing so – I just needed him to get to the point where he understands that I will not ask him for anything he isn’t capable of giving and I will not beat him if he is afraid to give it.
So, I really appreciate every single comment here that gives advice on how to deal with this issue without violence. Thank you.
You know, I know it’s super old school but I really HAVE seen parking a stock trailer in the pasture with food in it work…hard to hate the place the grain bucket is inside of.
(you do NOT starve the horse…you still hay outside of it…but the yummiest stuff is inside the trailer…you can leave a trail like breadcrumbs LOL…)
I accidentally stumbled upon this particular method. My young Friesian was scared to death of trailers, but I left my 2-horse straight load parked out in the pasture (still attached to the truck) while I unloaded and took care of another horse. So she investigated the trailer (I guess because there was hay in it), and proceeded to load and unload herself calmly for the next 45 minutes. Wish I had a video–it was pretty funny. I thought it was a fluke, but she has done it several times since then. In fact, she’s become so obsessed with loading herself in the trailer, I’ve had to fence off the pasture from the load/unload area to keep her away from it while I’m dealing with other horses. Who knew? Easiest trailer training ever!
Before thinking about the trailer, make sure your horse is halter broke. Not that it just wears a halter but also responds to light pressure to turn left, right, back and forward. Teach the horse to follow the pull – point forward and get a couple steps forward, pull back and the horse backs. Repeat until the horse is light as a feather and use a crop if necessary to have instantaneous responses. I use rope halters and never, ever a chain. That makes the situation worse and just tells me that my horse isn’t halter broke if I need it!
When your horse is lighter in the halter, block off 2 hours of your day. Practice 1 step forward, release and praise at the point where you feel resistance is another foot closer to the trailer. Back a step, walk 2 forward. Rest, look at a bird or cloud, breathe, scratch the horse between the eyes. Keep the horse facing the inside of the trailer 100% of the time, don’t even pet him(her) on the neck, only between the eyes. Look for lip-licking, sighs or a cocked leg. The ask for another step, stop. Do it one step at a time and rest & release all tension on your lead. If the horse backs up, keep tension on the line until you can get one step forward, then two, etc. Stay calm but be a leader and be firm on what you want. Eyes on the trailer always. Act like you have all day to do it, do not rush the horse. He will tell you when he’s ready.
Once you’re loaded, back (or walk if you have step-up) right back out immediately. Do NOT close up the trailer. Load again, and again, and again until your horse walks right on without hesitation. When he’ll stand still in there, give a treat and tons of praise. I think the bigget mistake people make is closing the trailer as soon as the horse is on. Then you’ve done exactly what he expected you to do – you trapped him. This method takes time but they’ll load for life.
The one thing you have to have clear in your mind is what you are arguing about. NEVER argue about “not loading” the whole argument is purely about the fact that the horse will not walk forward when you tell it to. No encouragement, no butt tapping, ropes, shouting, etc should ever be done when the horse is facing the trailer as this is ALL you are asking it to do. Stand, quietly, in front of the trailer.
And even with your witless Belgian, you can get quiet cross about the fact that he is misbehaving, show him you are upset, stamp your foot, tell him off. BUT all you are upset about is that he will not stand and face the trailer.
Once he does that, without throwing a fit, you can progress to asking him for a foot in the trailer, or, if you have a ramp, a foot on the ramp. If he tries to go on push him off, do not let him. This is on YOUR terms, not his. Once he has one foot on the trailer/ramp, finish the lesson. Next lesson you want two feet on the ramp/trailer. Again, if he tries to go in, prevent him.
It once took me a week to get a big Andalusian mare on BUT once she was on she would walk up a very steep ramp, she would stand unrestrained in the box, she would walk down the ramp one step at a time, stop, on the ramp, stand, alk on again. She was never any trouble ever agian because she understood.
One day, one lesson at a time.
Always stop when you want to stop, never when the horse does, and always stop on a good note.
You would not dream of going out and slapping a saddle on a four year old, because it was four years old, why would you expect a horse to load without the correct training??
Horses think there are horse eating monsters living at the front of all horse transporters so, unless you quietly disillusion them, as soon as you put pressure on them they become CERTAIN there is a monster in the vehicle.
If I had a dollar for every time a frustrated owner had told me “He isn’t scared” I should be very rich. YES ,he is, he wasn’t but, now you have thumped him and poked him with a broom, he is scared!!!!
You would not thump a horse that would not wear a saddle, why on earth would you thump a horse that will not load?
Wow, I was betting you’d be blogging about the 62 Icelandic horses on the Washington feedlot that people are frantically trying to find homes for.
Instead, you write about this horse murderer posing as a horseman. Wonder why a guy from Texas has to go all the way to Australia to find work. Aren’t there lots of horses in Texas? Could it be that this guy already has a reputation in Texas and surrounding states? Has anyone checked his record stateside? I’m betting this isn’t the first horse that he’s beaten, although, if he thinks a horse will be tempted by bread, it could be that he’s a complete charlatan.
I’m not about to blog about the Icelandics until we figure out what farm dumped them. I will NOT put money in $am’s pocket and I hope no one else will, either.
Shoudn’t be too hard. Icelandics aren’t a dime a dozen like QH’s out here. Unless they aren’t really Icelandics and are just ponies that look like them. PLEASE, IF YOU WANT ONE, BUY DIRECTLY FROM CHUCK.
There’s so many new people on their fb asking to help… I’m sure anything I post will be deleted immediately, though
Off topic, but this is in our local craigslist: http://kpr.craigslist.org/grd/2036415853.html
Icelandics Dumped in Feedlot (Zillah, WA)
Please go save these ponies from slaughter! 370 Palen Rd in Zillah. A bunch of Icelandic ponies were left at the feedlot to go to slaughter.
* Location: Zillah, WA
On topic:
I have loaded an unhandled mustang into a trailer. No one, including the horse, got hurt. With a few extra people and a butt rope, miracles can happen.
As with children — as soon as you lose your temper, you lose control of the situation and Nothing good can happen. Much better to put the horse away and try again when you aren’t mad. The extra work that letting them get away with not loading once, is more than balanced by the trouble that scaring a horse to death trying to load him will leave you with.
DO NOT SAVE THOSE PONIES UNLESS YOU GO DIRECTLY TO CHUCK WALKER AND REFUSE TO DEAL WITH SAMANTHA MILBREDT! This is CBER again and you guys are all sitting there cross-posting and putting money in her pocket AGAIN. LEARN and GOOGLE. I have talked about CBER enough on this site. I don’t care what they’re calling it now, same shit, different name.
Oops. Didn’t realize it was Scamming Sam. Zillah not being the usual Yakima threw me off my game, sorry.
I actually would be surprised if any of these go to meat — not even a meat dealer like Chuck is stupid enough to can a horse he can get much more money for selling to an individual.
Zillah actually always was the feedlot – Yakima is the biggest city it is close to, so it was often referred to as the Yakima feedlot. Same place. I am just frustrated because $am is going to make a mint AGAIN off of marking up these horses and preying upon peoples’ emotions. UGH!
Ok, really? Come on, now, people….
What a horrific list of injuries, but I have to ask this rhetorical question (because I don’t really want to know)….how on earth did this man cause a hematoma to the mare’s vulva???? And why on God’s green earth would he think that injuring a horse in that region would make it get on a trailer??? Gahh!!!! People and their stupidity…..there are just no words.
That said, I have to say that a good majority of people get way too worked up about trailer loading. More than once, I have gone to transport a horse, and the owner/handler immerdiately goes for a chain and a whip….for pete’s sake, give the horse a chance to be good first. I remember going to pick up a 3 year old Thoroughbred a friend had just purchased, and her former owners did exactly that…they got the chain out and the whip and prepared to chase the horse into the trailer. I asked them to let me try loading her first, and wouldn’t you know, after leading her up to the trailer and letting her have a look inside, she went right in. No harm done. Was she nervous? Sure! But that’s the nature of the horse, and they look to us humans for reassurance and calm, and most of the time, if the handler is calm and gives them half a chance(and you know, has some patience), they give it a try. They don’t deserve to be beaten for their natural instincts.
The rescue I used to work with saved a mare who had the tar beaten out of her for refusing to load, until finally the boarding stable owner stepped in and told the owner that he could either put the mare back in her stall and leave the property and never come back, or she could call the police. (Wish she’d called the police anyway!)
As it turned out he was trying to load the mare to take her to slaughter. When the rescue trailer came to pick her up to haul her away for a happy life of grass-munching, she hopped right in.
Shame they’re such dumb animals, right?
I LOVE THAT STORY!
You know, they may not be smart in the traditional sense, but they have fabulous instincts.
They sure do! Anyone who’s been around horses long enough has a story or two like that. The mare is still living as a companion horse in sanctuary at the rescue, with a lifetime home unless someone decides they want to adopt a slightly bratty red mare with ringbone to keep their other horses company. She suffered a concussion and several lacerations and contusions from the beating, but recovered easily and seems to have suffered no lasting emotional damage–in fact, she’s a volunteer favorite because she’s so sassy.
Human beings tend to ignore their sixth sense. However, horses do not, and this is a classic example.
What a great story!
“And breeders: Is this how you want your horse’s life to end? They can learn to load as weanlings. Teach them! You can’t predict what kind of easily-frustrated, violent asshat they will encounter in life, but you CAN teach them to do things like load, tie, and go into a wash rack in order to decrease the chances that they will do something to set off a guy like this. Do your part to try to ensure you’ll never read a news story like this about a horse you created. ”
Yes – yes, I can predict what kind of asshat my horses will encounter – NONE. I will keep them. And no, I will never read a news story like this about one of my own creations. I cant save or protect them all, but dammit, I can protect my own.
Ugh, I agree, trailering can be a nightmare, but it doesn’t have to be a violent process!
Fugly of the day: Free Arabian mare in WI packs around three helmetless kids at once! Check out the tiny, barefoot, helmetless baby sitting on the horse’s back with the horse’s leadrop around her waist, and the awesome video with the “cowboy” in western boots and plaid shorts. This mare’s a saint. Problem: she foundered. Anyone want to upgrade and rehabilitate? I’m all full
http://appleton.craigslist.org/grd/2032962442.html
Video available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaf44nZA1DQ
I have owned this horse for 5 years. We are letting her go as a light riding horse or companion horse only. The reason for that is because two years ago she had laminitis. She has recovered and just has some seedy toe that remains from the incident. She gets a little sore right after a trim but does well once she starts to grow out a little bit. We have put shoes on the front in the past which does help her a lot if you plan to ride her. Right now she does not have shoes because she has been more of a companion this summer with very light amount of riding. She is also one of those horses that you can get right on even if she hasn’t been ridden in a while. She always has every winter off because we don’t have access to an indoor but we are still able to just throw a saddle on and go every spring.
She is a great horse for kids to ride in an indoor or enclosed setting. Our younger kids have ridden her in our outdoor round pen and she does great but we do not have an indoor arena.
Outside an enclosed area she does require a confident and late beginner/intermediate rider. She does have that Arab spirit out on the trail but a confident or little more experienced rider should be able to handle her.
As a companion for other horses she does well too. She doesn’t ever kick at any of the other horses even though she is our lead mare at this time. She was also a very good horse to help wean a foal. She was a safe companion for a weanling and as we slowly introduced the weanling into the herd she also helped protect the foal from the other horses.
Video available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaf44nZA1DQ
The kids need to be upgraded too. Uggg.
As someone who’s from Texas.. i think i can speak for all of us when i say we don’t really want him back here either.
Exactly. Drop him in the ocean, the sharks need to eat.
This has become my number 1 pet peeve as of late: People who do dumbass shit when it comes to horses and trailers. What is it about a trailer plus horse that makes people lose their brain cells? It really isn’t rocket science- even when you have the most difficult loader/unloader.
Here are some simple rules:
Be patient. Practice when possible before hand.
Always use a leather halter. (For difficult loaders I may sometimes put a rope halter UNDER the leather halter for the loading part).
Make sure your trailer and tow vehicle is safe to operate and you are not maxxed out in towing capacity.
Check your lights and your hitch before loading a horse- even if you just hook-up the trailer- check again.
Know your travel route before leaving.
Make sure you have a good auto emergency kit PLUS a medical kit for horse and human.
Bring a spare halter and lead.
Check the interior of the trailer for hazards before loading a horse.
NOW you may actually get the horse.
Be patient but be firm with the horse. If you dilly and hesitate, the horse will too.
Never strike the horse. Never make them ‘rush’ on or off a trailer. They should be taught to load and unload in a quiet/confident manner.
Also I know that many people like to haul with tack on… please reconsider. I’ve seen incidents where the tack horse has gotten injured because they got hung up loading or unloading or hung up on their tack in transist. In particular- one horse (excellent loader) was getting in a step up, slipped and slid partially under the back end. Had the horse NOT been tacked up, he might have had an easier time getting up with maybe just minor scraps. But no, the saddle hindered him and he ended up even further under the trailer and eventually getting hung up.
Likewise, don’t let your horse’s heads hang out the drop down windows while driving either. Too much debris bounces up off the road and other vehicles to EVER make this a safe thing to do.
Excellent advice. I agree that I do not like to see horses hauled with tack on. Too easy to catch something and cause a major wreck. C’mon folks, it’s not THAT complicated to tack them up tied to the trailer!
And one more: For god’s sake don’t let halters hang from long lead ropes on the side of your trailer. Loop the crownpiece up high & buckle when you remove it from a horse. I have SEEN a horse get hung up in a dangling halter and it is very frightening.
We used to deal with an old time horse trader when I first got into horses and he swore by bread for a treat. Every horse we got from him was a bread fiend and it wasn’t long before every horse we owned loved it. They would all come charging across the pasture if you shook a bread sack.
There’s a place nearby that every couple of days dumps all their bread for free because it’s passed it’s freshness date. A friend of mine brings her pickup and loads her up. One of her best customers gives the cinnamon raisin to her horses. Horses do like bread.
Amen to reminding the people who raise horses that they have a responsibility to see to their early education. I own a gelding raised on a “hobby” ranch by people who ignored him until he was four and then wanted a colt starter to make him into a finished ranch horse in one summer. This is a kind, intelligent and athletic horse whose life has been much harder than it needed to be just because the people who bred him never handled him as a youngster. If you did that with a human child, it would be child abuse. Animals who are going to be expected to live among humans need to be socialized and habituated to our needs and whims. Not doing so does not serve the animal nor anyone who ever interacts with him the rest of his life. It’s lazy and short-sighted.
Oh, and add my vote to the “drop the guy in the ocean” option.
I LOVE your post because you totally hit the nail on the head — your horse could have had a much easier life if only the work had been done when he was young! SO true.
I had a “hobby” farm too & raised two colts: How can you NOT work with the babies? As in, how can you stay away from them? I thought foals were like super magnets to horse lovers. Heck, I couldn’t stay away from them – I LOVED working with them. And how could I do anything with them if I didn’t do basic handling training first? Can’t fathom having foals in your backyard & actually being able to ignore them. That’d be like ignoring the new baby at the family reunion – not happening. Oh, and trailer loading “training”? It really didn’t feel much like training. First time for both colts was like they were old pros. They were so trusting & used to being asked to do new things, they just jumped right in & checked out the new digs. One sold, but I still have the other, and have yet to find anything he won’t do willingly.
Agreed though if given a choice between a horse handled wrong at birth and started and worked to hard too soon and a horse who left alone until 4, I pick the horse left alone til 4. It’s a lot easier to start from scratch then undo.
Absolutely. Can’t undo the damage to the legs, for one thing.
I wish I was shocked to hear this, but sadly I am not. There are so many stories about things just like this.
I have been known to but a young sale horse here and there bring it home, teach it something, and sell it again. (Its just kind of something to do if I have the time and extra “allowance” =)
The one that I am obsessive about it that they know basics. Tying, lunging, bathing, loading, pony-ing, clipping, you know all of the everyday things. That way they have less of a chance later on getting in trouble with some asshat. I know then that I have done as much as I can for them when they go back out in to the world. (Cant keep em all, sadly) Look at it like school, if they have an education, they have a better chance to succeed!
This man is truly an asshat. I would say he is at least a 10 gallon asshat if not more.
I am in no way defending this jerk, but I wanted to point out that I knew some horses that ate bread. There was this crazy old man that had a huge herd of appaloosa fuglies that he could not afford to buy hay for so he went to the grocery store and got all their old cast-off stale bread. The horses learned to eat it and were all very fat and happy (at least, in the short term, not sure what eating bread for six months would do for their health). My dad ended up with one of the horses and he would eat a bun over oats any day.
I am a pretty darn good loader. My secret weapon is a method I learned from a book called “Training your own young horse” – an oldie but goodie that is still in print. Absolutely the most common sense book of horse training tips ever.
http://www.amazon.com/Training-Your-Own-Young-Horse/dp/1439211116/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288639402&sr=8-1
Anyway, she advises you to use a butt rope, but not in the typical way. You run the butt rope behind the horse and just squeeze it tight with steady pressure, and you wait. Eventually the horse will get tired of this and move up a step. Nice horsie, pat pat, and then you squeeze again and wait. Meditate if you must. Horse will eventually step up. Rinse and repeat. I have trained the most stubborn loaders to get in using this method and once they learn, they learn for good. Key point – do not, under any circumstances, let anyone pull the lead rope while you are using the butt rope – all you get is resistance and backing up, which you do not want.
No matter what method you use, notice what the common denominators of the successful methods are: PATIENCE, firmness, release, and reward. These were all in short supply with the asshat under discussion, not to mention that he’s a sociopath.
I would like to add to the novelty idea of being patient with a horse over trailer loading…
PLEASE people, be patient while DRIVING with a horse in the trailer!!!!
So many people do not understand why the horse that loaded just fine when they bought it, all of a sudden doesn’t want to get into the trailer anymore. These people often assume the horse is “just stubborn” and then they start resorting to butt ropes and other methods of force and coercion. When all they need to do is SLOW THE HELL DOWN!!!
You drive like you have a full setting of the most expensive china in the world in that trailer. You brake early and softly, you corner gently and slowly, you accelerate gently and slowly. WHY is this concept so hard for people to understand??? The horse’s center of gravity is very high and they have no way of predicting that you are going to stop, go and turn, so you must give them time to adjust their balance.
MANY trailer loading issues, as well as pawing, banging and rocking in the trailer can be solved by careful, courteous (to the horse) driving.
So, if you have trailer loading issues, try loading your horse and then taking it to the store, or just for a drive, and really concentrate and focus on doing everything in super slow motion. Your horse may appreciate it and reward you by loading better next time!
I’m with you. Every time someone tells me their horse is hard to load or throws a fit in the trailer, I ask how they are driving! If everytime they get in, they get scared, well duh…they aren’t going to want to get in.
When I was at Pony Club it was always “my horse wont load, and when it does it falls over when we go around corners”. My dad, being the kind courteous fellow that he is, would always say “well stop taking the corners at 70k”.
There was one family that was horrible at it, they used to buy horses good to float and wonder why they couldn’t float them. It was shocking. They once offered me a lift to a show and I very quickly declined!
I don’t understand how people can’t put the one issue with the other. I would have thought it would be obvious!
And — if you know you are driving poperly, but your horse suddenly develops trailer issues, take the trailer to a good mechanic. There are problems with shocks/springs/axles that will give the horse a bad ride long before you notice any difference from the tow vehicle. (Oh, don’t forget to have the wheel bearing checked regularly!)
One more thing that might be overlooked – always check the trailer for bees and wasps before you load. Even if it is stored closed up – those little boogers have a way of working their way in and making nests. One bad experience with bees and you might never get a horse back in the trailer.
If you have bees collect the comb and make mead. Wear protective clothing and make loads of smoke while collecting the comb.
If you have hornets/wasps wear protective gear and use high quality hornet/wasp spray and then let it air out a couple of days before loading your horse into it.
What a piece of work ! Disgusting! Lets deport this piece of scum. Preferably half way across the Atlantic with a pair of cement boots on. ( Dare i presume the USA don’t want him back).
I have linked the petition to my facebook page to help speed up the process.
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40146.html
Cheers from Down Under.
I am from Douwnunder and this has been a hot topic on the forum where I am a regular contributor. It was one of my fellow forum-ites who initiated the petition.
Firstly, everyone asks why the owner didn’t stop him if he said “Don’t look at this”. It was because that comment was apparently made AFTER the incident occurred when the horse was dropped off at the owner’s place. The wife of Hugh Mexner claims that that comment was completely fabricated by the police and in fact, the whole case was persecution from the horse’s owner, the police, the stock squad AND the vet. This is highly unlikely because incidents of animal cruelty are extremely unlikely to go to court (same as in the US, by the sounds of it) unless there really is a case. Plus, this case was prosecuted by the police, not just the RSPCS (who have a rep for being overzealous at times – but that’s another story).
Here is the link to the wife’s defence of her husband (scroll down to the post by Treacle):
http://forum.cyberhorse.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=80924&page=12
And here is what one of the legal eagles who also play on our forum had to say:
“There is a lot of pressure on people to plead guilty but it does not come from the bench.
Justice costs.
Legal Aid doesn’t fund a whole lot and sometimes people simply cannot afford to mount a defence.
You get a discount on the punishment for a plea of guilty…sometimes people just know the system (sometimes better than lawyers) and simply try to get it out of the way
There is a minimum of two sides to each story.
I would put my money on the prosecution here.
He pleaded guilty. The court recorded a conviction therefore he is guilty. Perhaps there are mitigating circumstances…perhaps not but there is no “innocent…the Court got it wrong”.
He had legal advice, solicitor and counsel and still entered a plea. Says it was a slam dunk to the prosecution to me.
I have known police to lie or beat things up. It is very, very, very rare….I have only seen it done to shore up something they know to be wrong. In general in a line call I will believe the police over a punter. It is not worth their career any more than it is worth mine to lie in Court.”
I believe she has the right of it here. Anyway, he can’t get deported because he has married an Aussie and become a naturalised Australian (lucky us). So you don’t need to worry over there, he’s not coming your way any time soon. And the only way he will get eaten by sharks, Fugs, is if he goes swimming on one of our beaches – haha. We can only hope!
REGARDING THE ICELANDICS
A friend of mine just talked to Chuck. “Chuck won’t even talk to anyone about the Icelandics. Said, and I quote, “I don’t want to cut Sam out of the deal.” Says in a week or so she hasn’t sold them all, he will make the whatever is left available. She’s already picked up 1/2 of them.”
So keep funding her scam, dumb asses…keep cross posting and begging for money …wouldn’t want her to have to get a job!
So, who is the scumbag, disgusiting excuse of a human being that dumped them at the feedlot??
That is what I want to know!!!
It is not like having 62 Icelandics is common. That community is pretty damn small. Bet someone outs them.
Yes, probably any other Icelandic breeder would know who this person is. And I would think other Icelandic breeders would do anything to save these horses from going to a feedlot! I would really like to know if this “breeder” even offered them to other breeders, or just wanted the quick buck they got from dumping them at Chuck’s! This makes me so angry! The one time I rode with an Icelandic I was so impressed by it’s tough little personality, and of course by it’s adorable looks!
Unbelievable.
You’d have to be a mongrel to be able to beat anything living that hard and not feel ill. The sounds alone would make me retch.
Recently my young TB decided he didn’t want to load in my trailer. It was because of confusion I believe. Before I got him he’d only trucked, and when we got him we loaded him the old fashioned way – I would lead him straight on and dad would shut the ramp. He went a whole season like this, going to shows, and even taking a 3 hour drive to a clinic down south. Everything was good.
But when I moved I no longer had the help of my dad so I had to teach him to self load. And that’s where he got horribly confused. The poor little (16.3hh little) guy had a bit of a meltdown because he didn’t understand. Nothing untoward happened – he just spun around and buggered off back to his paddock once or twice while I was trying the “tap, tap” method. So I concluded that method wasn’t going to work. I did shut my gate so he couldn’t get all the way back to the paddock, but that resulted in my angry tantrum pants boy threatening me as he felt cornered.
I left it and decided to try a new tactic. Instead of making it a big deal, I now make his dinner up and feed him in the float. If he doesn’t go in, fine, he goes without dinner. It didn’t even take that – he saw me tie the feed bowl in there and that was that – he walked right in. The first day he ate it mouthful by mouthful, backing out in between, but he got over that and now will eat the whole meal in there. Next step is to lift the ramp and leave him eating in there, and then from there to take him around the block. It has taken a lot longer to build his trust up then I would have liked, but this particular horse is an elephant and he never forgets! So it’s very worth it!
Sure, it can be frustrating and I broke down and cried to my partner telling him we’d have to sell up so I could afford a truck. But when you sit down, relax, and think about things you often come up with a solution suitable for the horse.
I’m dubious of “professionals” or people who kindly offer a hand at shows if your horse decides it doesn’t want to go home, which has only happened to me once. I know they mean well, and sure by all means could do it fine, but it only takes one person to do it horribly wrong and you’ll never be able to load the horse easily again! One of these people once got a friends of mine pony into a horrible sweat spinning it around in a circle and stressing the poor thing out – interesting enough that didn’t get the horse on at all. Funny that.
While it can sometimes not be a fun experience, it certainly is never something worth loosing your temper over.
A client of mine once hauled a horse over to use my arena. When I arrived home later in the day said horse was still in my arena. The horse refused to go back into the trailer, so the person hauling the horse beat it so severely with a whip that it had welts all over its flanks. Apparently the horse had flipped over during the loading and also got its feet caught on top of the trailer. The lights were broken and pieces of cracked plastic were all over the ground. The horse was exhausted and terrified. It stood dripping with sweat and trembling with fright. I told the hauler to leave since there was no way the horse was going in the trailer that day. Three days later the now lame horse was still in my arena. In an attempt to haul her back home, I opened up the back of my trailer and she walked right in with the encouragement of a little grain. Some people need more training before they work with a horse!
Isn’t that so typical of some people. They have to make things way more difficult then they need to be. There’s nothing wrong with training a horse to do things like, catch, load, clip and take a bit by using grain or some other tasty treat. SO much easier than negative reinforcement when it works. Which it most often does.
My horse stands so still for clipping because I took the time to teach her it wasn’t scary. I don’t like horses having to be twitched because no one ever bothered to take the time to train them that clipping is not something to freak out about. It took me like one and half short sessions to teach my mare to stand for clipping. Now I can clip without an assistant. Much easier.
OT
Urgent situation:
Of course the mares are bred and inbred. No excuse, wheelchair and all. That is all I’ve got:
“The appaloosa horses are outside of Douglas, AZ, at a former breeding facility that is going under. They have had sporadic food. Last week they had some hay; this week, none.
Owner has been trying to give them away and does not want them to go to auction/slaughter.
There are a few stallions (friesian) that are not friendly and about 40-45 mares with babies; some are pregnant (probably bred back to their sons). The mares are halter broke and rideable, thought they haven’t been handled much in a few years. Many have foundered. Many have moon blindness and some may be blind. Some are spotted.
All have rain rot, ring worm, and bad teeth. Most are super skinny, some near death, and are wormy.
There are maybe 10 miniature donkeys (some females, but mostly jacks) out in a field that are probably not used to being handled. They look in pretty good shape but will need homes too.
Animal control has tried to place them with rescues but all are full.
The owner is wheelchair bound and cannot feed or care for them or afford euthanasia. She doesn’t want them to go to slaughter but will cooperate for them to go to homes or rescue. She doesn’t have a phone or a computer, so the only contact person I have is Kristina at 719 580 0374. She is from out of state but she can put anyone who is interested in helping in contact with someone in the area who can take them to the animals.
Thanks for any help to end the suffering of these poor babies.”
SCAM alert. Kristina is a major scammer, I’m told by Arizonans.
Wheelchair bound or no, if she’s adult, human and her body is still warm, she’s responsible for the horses. My educated guess would be that this is a hoarder, and how is someone in the Colorado area code of 719 going to help this situation??? Just not buying the wheelchair excuse and smelling a rat here.
Punishment should fit the crime. Beat him till he had internal injuries then put him down! (But take your time)
I agree completely!
Very sad, count me as another vote for making him shark food!!!
I had a Shetland when I was a kid, she was a free pony who’d been outgrown and left out to pasture for years, and a total terror. My friend and I decided to sign up for a charity ride-a-thon, we got tons of sponsors and the people running it provided free trailering so we got our ponies ready that morning and waited. Neither of us had ever loaded our ponies as we did not go to shows or anything, nor did we have access to a trailer to try it.
A HUGE man showed up the morning of the ride-a-thon to pick us up. My friend’s angelic little Welsh who would do anything at all just walked right in, but my Brownie totally refused. She just dug in her feet and refused to do anything in her typical (LOL) Shetland fashion-she was a huge curmudgeon at the best of times! The man took over as he was getting impatient with her, at this point she was backwards on the ramp with her butt facing the trailer, and he just put his hands on her chest and pushed her in, the look on her face was priceless…all four legs locked but sliding up the ramp. She was used to getting her own way with an inexperienced kid owner, without adult help, and she’d come as a half wild extremely bratty pony…..I had to laugh at her disgusted look and he did not hurt her in any way, even as a ten year old I would have put a stop to that! And she hopped on no problem on the way home. Of course this would only work with a 400 lb man and a 600 pound pony LOL!
Pahaha! I quite litterally chuckled when I read your post.
It reminds me of my dad sitting in the back of the truck holding a 4 day old calf – all the way home. 
I once took a 36 inch mare as company for an eventer who was a bit hard to load.
He was 16.2hh.
At the end of the day he walked on perfectly and little Madame planted herself at the bottom of the ramp. Four big Rugby players walked up, took a leg each and walked calmly up the ramp. As she slid past me she had a look on her face that just has to be seen, you could not imagine it!!
I was mortified but happy and the mare was unharmed.
Maybe Yemen will take him.
So can we offer alternate suggestions to the Australian government instead of sending him back to the states? There are so many countries that wouldn’t care about a scum sucking low life with such a tiny penis he has to beat animals to death to prove what a man he is.
My mare was TERRIFIED of the trailer when I first bought her. Would not go in if her life depended on it. All it took was some dedicated time (a couple of Saturday mornings) some patients, carrots and some love and now she loads like a dream. She walks right in as calm as calm can be and rides quietly. I took the TIME IT TAKES to get her used to just hanging around the trailer, put some hay on the ramp and let her eat it, I ate my lunch with her and we just hung out together – didn’t even try to load her. On the third day she walked right in.
These ass-bites that don’t take the time to set their horses up for sucess just PISS ME OFF. Then when the horse fails (because of their dumb-ass owners) it’s the horse that suffers. It’s either beaten or God knows what else.
C’mon stupid dumb asses out there – Do what’s right by your horse. Take the time and set your horse up to do the right things the right way! GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
wow that is totally wrong! all i’ve ever needed to load even the most ornery horse is a halter, lead rope, lunge whip(to crack, not hit the horse), and a couple carrots!
OT: I’m workin on a speech for ffa and speech team, and I cannot seem to find an un-biased source for information about horse slaughter. I’m writting the speech on anti-horse slaughter, but I want to find a site with plain old facts and not a lot of emotional stuff to make my paper/speech sound like i did research and didn’t only base the speech on emotion or personal opinion. tons of thanks for anybody who can help me raise awareness to my entire high school about horse slaughter!!! and if i can actually make it to nationals, the speech could be aired on national tv, meaning tons of people will hear about how horse slaughter is not an option!
Oh, and one more OT thing…the new debate team(yes i know im kinda a nerd for being in ffa, debate, and speech=) topic for this month in mn(and i think the nation) is cyberbullying, and my instructor/coach used this blog as and example of cyberbullying, and i stood up and was like “its not bullying if its the facts! fugs helps save tons of horses each year by raising awareness of these people who make stupid mistakes resulting in horses who are abused, neglected, extremely poorly bred, and all in all not the type of horse that needs to be bred in these times or ever!” yeah my coach was kinda pissed, but it made my day=)
Why is everyone so determined to poison the sharks?
They have found license plates and even pieces of tires in the stomachs of great whites. It’s VERY hard to poison a shark! My only concern is that it would be too fast. I’d personally prefer a jellyfish sting…that’s about 72 hours of excruciating untreatable pain. They can keep you from dying but that’s about it.
Good grief. My only “bad” trailering incident involved buying a yearling and 2 year old from a woman that didn’t lead and had never seen a trailer. It look 45 minutes to load both. The yearling was small enough that my husband pretty much lifted him in the trailer. The filly took a little more effort. We stood in front of the trailer once we got her to understand the leading concept for about 15 minutes to let her smell and investigate. She tried stepping up and the thump scared her. We then got a butt rope and helped her a little closer with many steps up in and back down with her front feet for 25 minutes. I then went to the truck and got my daughters animal crackers and boom, she was in the trailer as soon as she smelled them.
I already replied to Arrow’s broom tapping method, and forgot to mention that when we sent my feral colt to Cowboy Kindergarten he was trained to self-load with the rope thrown over his withers, and when the hauler came to pick him up to ship to the driving trainer, and noticed this 2 year old was extremely “reactive” he asked “how do you load him” and the darling Cowboy said “like this” and tossed the leadrope over his back and stepped aside. Colt hopped into stock trailer and made a smooth journey across five states to his new digs. And this was the colt we could not halter in a box stall despite wise & patient efforts, who did indeed go to a cowboy to learn the manners he missed as a baby. And FWIW, I call him a colt being 2, but he is gelded.
As I understand it male horses under four years of age are colts whether or not they have testicles. If there is another name for a young gelding, I don’t know it.
Colts are intact horses under four. A gelding is a gelding even if it’s a weanling.
Sorry, been there done that. The term “colt” references age and “gelding” references lack of testicles (equid or not). I’ve been corrected before by horse people. A male horse under four is either a gelded colt or a colt. Paraphrased dictionary definitions:
Colt–noun
1. a young male animal of the horse family.
2. a male horse of not more than four years of age.
3. a young or inexperienced person.
Gelding-noun
1. a castrated male animal, esp. a horse.
2. a eunuch.
One thing I truly love about the farm I’m at… the imprinting techniques are great. The foals are fearless, friendly and so trusting. One filly had to go to the equine hospital for chest x-rays since she was born 10 days early and was aspirating milk. At about four hours old, she trotted out the barn in her little Baker blanket and jumped right up onto the trailer behind mom. Her expression said “Where we going, Mom?” One of the damndest cute things I ever saw.
I vote for dropping the bastard in the ocean with a note to the sharks from Santa of the Sea regarding an early Christmas.
My trainer is amazing. I have yet to see a horse he couldn’t load and he never even raises his voice to do so.
I had a day where my timing was going to be tight to get everything done. And this was the day I was supposed to drop a filly off at the trainer. She absolutely would not go in even though she has been on a trailer a many times. (I suspect she sensed my anxiety for overbooking my day.) So I called my trainer to ask what I need to do.
He immediately picked up on my frustration and said the solution was simple: Put the filly back in her stall because I was too wound up to acomplish anything on that day. He was right and I did as he told me. Wouldn’t you know it? She hopped right on the trailer the next day for her trip to the trainer.
That’s awful! If you are beginning to lose your patience and temper, maybe its time to step back, take a breather, and try again when you’re calmer.
How do you teach a horse that a trailer is not going to hurt it? Or how do you teach a horse that had been in a similar situation as the horse in this entry, that he won’t get hurt with you? Obviously patience and positive reinforcement, but what’s the whole process otherwise?
I have worked as a jillaroo out on cattle and sheep stations. There are some very good horsepeople out there, but also some real bottom feeders. Worked with one guy who treated his horse like crap and wanted to ride mine because my horse was quiet, obedient and could be ridden with just a halter. I told him the day I catch him near my horse is his last day on earth.
Any child that takes riding lessons should also be taught how to handle horses on the ground. That should include grooming, hoof care,proper way to tie,and trailer loading. Unfortunately many stables bring the horse out,saddledand bridled and put the rider on for a lesson which ends after an hour with no training in otherareas.
agreed 100%!!! I used to take lessons at a barn where the horse was brought out to you all tacked up, and after you took your lesson, they took the horse from you. i learned not a thing about proper horse care whatsoever! I’m glad to say that i now take lessons at an amazing stable where you are expected to learn horsemanship and not just riding! I think it should almost me made a law haha
i have never had to ride a stabled horse, i have always had my own. i have always loved grooming, trimming, clipping, washing, tacking, feeding horses almost more that i like riding them. You need to have that kind of bonding time. It also explains why some people from that type of environment treat their horses like machines.
I was only five when I started taking huntseat lessons at a barn in NJ, and even then, I was expected to groom, pick the feet and tack every pony or horse that I rode – and some of them were pretty big (I must have had some help at first, but I just remember doing it myself). I LOVED it. I even loved having my own grooming tools, one or two of which I still own to this day! That truly was invaluable learning and bonding time. I have many priceless memories of hanging around the barn, combing and braiding manes and tails just for fun. I remember having to climb on the manger in order to bridle my favorite horse; he was a real pain about that, but I adored him anyway. I can’t imagine not having had this time with the horses. I’ve never owned my own horse, but the grooming time I’ve spent with all I’ve known is some of the best hours of my life.
I heard as a kid that at “fancy” barns, like the former Hunterdon, the ponies/horses were brought to you tacked up and ready to go. Part of me was a little jealous, but then I’d remember how proud I’d be when Grey’s chest hair was as soft and smooth as I could get it, or Mare’s white spots were gleaming. Nowadays I go to shows and see the kids jump off the hunter/jumper, hand the reins and the CO helmet to a groom, and make tracks for the snack bar while gabbing or texting on their phone. I have never, ever, not once in my life gotten off a horse and left it for someone else to deal with. Unless it was a paying trail ride, in which case I WISHED I could untack the poor horse and give it a break!
There are lots of great tips on horse loading here. I add one more: make sure that the horse can see into the trailor. I had a mare who would take much longer to muster up the courage to enter the trailor if the inside was in dark. I am sure that she thought that sabre toothed tigers were lurking in there.
If at night we would use a bright light inside. In the day, we would line the trailor up to the sunllight so that it was not in shadow. End of problems. She would peer inside cautiously and then load herself in a minute or two.
Cathy, are you going to do an entry about CBER and all those 62+ Icelandics? Hot topic right now that’s got everyone in a wad
As an Australian, all I can say is that I am yet again disappointed and disgusted by our pathetic legal system. There was no justice for this mare, none at all. At least the RSPCA are pushing to have more done… but the decision has already been made, by the looks of it. If I was in QLD I would be on the Minister or Premiers steps voicing my opinion, but unfortunately from down here in VIC all I can do is spam the heck out of facebook and get people talking about this, and send some angry emails around to our members of parliament.
I remember, umpteen years ago, when I was 14 or 15, being borrowed to groom for a friend of a friend. Who was moderately successful at local (unrated) hunter shows. Anyway, the thing I remember is she had a young horse, maybe a three year old (no older, he might have been two) and the horse balked at loading and this FOAF went BALLISTIC– screaming, shrieking at this young horse, yanking the hell out of its mouth (it was bridled at the time), snapping the reins, multiple smacks with a crop as the horse was backing up– really over the top. I was apparently visibly upset at her behavior, because I got a lecture about being unfamiliar with “how to handle young horses.”
Some people are just temperamentally unsuited to working with animals. Unfortunately, there seems to be a dedicated percentage of abusive assholes who are attracted to horses. But *beating a horse to death*???? Don’t drop him in the ocean, that’s too quick. Drop him on Palmyra Island on his deported way, and let him serve his jail sentence there.
Well, this is the second time in a week I’ve just posted without reading all the posts, so again, apologies if I’m just saying what everyone else is saying.
Two types of trailer loading:
Type 1: I have to get to point B sometime today, and this horse needs to get into THAT trailer to get there. My options for this type of loading are: Scare the horse into the trailer. This is best with two people– one to coax the horse from the front, one to come at the horse from forty feet back, bellowing and cracking the whip. 100% effective on hesitant horses, but isn’t really useful for everyday loading, because it takes two people. Next option: Drugs. Yes, drugs. remember to give the horse enough to take away the fight, not so much to disturb balance. Final option: Treats. This is the poorest option for instant compliance– too many people stink at timing, and the horse quickly learns to play games instead of getting on the trailer.
Type 2: I want my horse to load, when I want it to load, whenever I want it to load. I also want it to get back out again in good order, on my say so. There are multiple ways to do this, so let’s talk about what doesn’t work. Butt ropes: ANY horse that loads safely with a butt rope would load safely without one. The rest of them will get rope burns, get upset, flip over, and generally not have a good experience. The old “Tie them to a winch and force them in” method: This works beautifully on tractors and lawnmowers. Horses break legs, skin shins, and bash heads with this method. The “work them til they learn better” method: Great if the timing is perfect. The other 99 % of the time, the horse trots in circles for hours around its handler, trying desperately to figure out why the hell its handler takes it to the trailer, then runs it in circles. Last dumb method: Hurt the horse. ANY training method that actually causes an injury is no longer working on an animal’s mind, it’s just giving the handler his or her dominance jollies.
Horses are compliant animals. With a degree of sensitivity, with some patience, and with attention to body language, ANY handler can win a horse’s cooperation. There is nothing wrong with using force, as long as you understand which force, when to use it, and how much to use. That changes with every single horse you touch, and if you notice that you aren’t changing your handling for each horse, then… you need to go back to school.
OR just ask a trainer. Saves A-LOT of time.
That’s an interesting answer. Honestly, I was raised by horse trainers and instructors who believe that you are either untraining or training a horse any time you mess with it. So while I agree that trainers are important, I also feel that ANYONE who deals with horses needs to be able to handle horses correctly. Having your trainer on speed dial is nice, but not the end solution to basic problems like trailer loading.
Is it terrible that I’m not even surprised all he got was a slap on the wrist? When it comes to animal cruelty in Australia I’m generally not very impressed.
Only horse I’ve had to deal with that was difficult to float was my part arabian mare, She was sold to us at an extra discount since the owners had said she was ‘difficult but would get on a normal horse float’ …Yeah.. We ended up using a small cattle truck to transport her
She lost her eye in an accident involving a horse float so her fears were kinda understandable really. Luckily for us (And her I guess) once she got off that trailer she was staying on our farm which was the only place our horses ever went anyway so her not wanting to travel wasn’t an issue.
We eventually had to sell her as the farm was being sold and i was moving to the city, The lady who bought her as a brood mare (sight unseen) paid for her transport through a company that generally transports racehorses. She also bought my TB gelding as i wanted them to stay together. Well we warned the guy who was coming to pick her up that she’d likely be difficult, so he turned up a bit earlier than originally planned. Huge truck, hardly fit down our driveway.
Well my TB gelding strolled on no worries, Being a country racehorse he’d probably been transported on these trucks a few times anyway. (Plus he was the easy going dumb sort
) My little mare however took one look at the truck and planted her feet. Long story short an hour and a half and after jokes of tying her legs together and putting her on with a forklift we finally got her up the ramp and secured before she could duck under the sidebars (again). I have to say the guy from the trucking company was an absolute saint, never lost his temper with her once and just kept trying until she eventually realized she wasnt going anywhere but up that ramp.
Lucky for her she got off that ramp 5 hours later and now has been living a live of relevant luxury popping out cute colored babies
(Her and this years foal)
She certainly wasnt the best choice for a broodmare but apparently her last foal sold to a show home and she is happy and healthy looking so no complaints from me
When I bought my horse (just barely three at the time) I was concerned because he hadn’t been hauled since he was a weanling and we had to load on the side of a busy rural highway and into a huge trailer without any other horses in it. I had all sorts of tools ready including cones to divert traffic but he took one look at the trailer and hoped right in. I was so happy. (Way to make a new owner feel good about a new horse!)
He self loads easily and only once in the many many many hauls since then has he ever had an issue. We were in a hurry, it was about 3 am, it was pouring down rain, and he decided that his stall was the better place to be. Instead of self loading he tried to turn around and go back to the barn. We just tied him to the side of the trailer (in the rain) and made him wait while the other three horses were loaded. He hopped right in after that. Apparently the trailer was better than the rain.
I once heard Craig Cameron phrase the whole beating a horse at the trailer from the horses point of view: “I don’t know what this idiot wants. He leads me over to the trailer and then every time we get there he starts beating the hell out of me. Then he acts like he doesn’t want me to leave.” (paraphrased)
I think a lot of loading problems start when people rush the horse and it starts to panic and then the whole thing becomes a battle. Maybe something is different, from a horse point of view, about the trailer that day (smell, shadow, etc). I don’t let them back away from the trailer (they may get a “I mean it” swat for that if they know better and keep doing it), and if they stand there longer than several minutes, i take a dressage whip and start tapping them on the croup. Not enough to hurt, but enough that it will eventually get irritating. When they move forward, you stop tapping and gently rub them as praise. If they stop half way in, you start up the tapping again. No big deal. When they load you give them a second, and if they don’t back up on their own, gently back them out and do it again and again, (if you have the time – if not, do it later) each time letting them rest longer in the trailer.
The number one thing is to stay calm. Why would a horse who senses your anger walk into a tight space where she can’t get away from you if you lost your cool?
I’ve worked with a few problem loaders over the years, but the one that still stumps me is my own bloody horse. 28 years old, the most amazing refined ground skills- just shift your body and he responds. But as soon as you point him at a float- NUP. Stubborn. Just stops, and stands, and will for ages.
Have tried bum ropes, tapping, tapping harder, sedating, pushing (literally 5 of us pushing), pulling, moving each leg individually, coaxing with food.
Thing is, once he gets up the ramp, he just powers the rest of the way on, stands there quietly, floats like a dream and unloads quietly. Have floated him 3 times (moving unfortunately), first time took 15 minutes to load, second time half an hour- most recently 2 hours.
I want to float train him over the summer but jeebus, I’m stumped as to where to start. He’s by no means afraid of it, just as stubborn as a mule! I think I may have to literally set an entire day aside to start. Blegh.
I have anxiety and anger issues, and over time when working with horses, if I feel my anger rising- I walk away. I know it gets me nowhere, but at the same time I also understand how it can consume people. No excuses for the bastard who flogged the mare at all, mind you, but I pity those who- like me- can get embroiled in their own emotions.
How wonderful that you have the self-awareness to know when to walk away.
So many problems are caused by people simply not being in touch with their feelings and having that inner control that says, ok, I know that how I FEEL may make me DO something bad so I’m going to CHOOSE not to.
(I had very much the same conversation recently with someone on the topic of divorced parents being good in front of the kids. Same thing. It is admirable to have the self control to simply decide that things you feel are not going to come out of your mouth around your kids. If you don’t have that kind of self control, you will be doing everybody a favor in your future life if you work hard to develop it!)
It is difficult for most people to control their passions at any level much less with their ex-spouse.
I’ve had “bad-to-loads” before and for those who do not respond to the standard methods, I try “bore them to death” program. It requires a hitched up trailer, a book, a longe line, a chair, a hat, sunscreen and a lot of time. Set up the chair with the book near the back of the trailer. Run the longe line through the hitching loop or manger door depending on what type of trailer you have. Walk the horse up to the longe line clip and clip the longe line onto the halter and throw the lead over its back. Sit in the chair and give the longe line a tug. When the horse balks, hold gentle pressure on the line and wait for them to step forward. If this takes a long time, get involved in the book. When the horse steps up toward the pressure, say “Good” and give it moment before asking for them to move forward again.
Obviously you have to be prepared for weirdness and you need to be committed. I had a mare who would not get within one longe line of a trailer. I don’t know what happened to her, if anything, to cause her to be so freaked out, nor I did not care the cause. All my horses trailer, so I hooked up two longe lines, kept up the pressure and read a book. When she finally loaded, I let her unload herself and blow and then I asked her to load again… and then again and again and again. It took about 4 hours, but she was a good girl after that. I have used this on various horses over the years, but this was the only horse to really push my patience level.
I tried a similar method today! My back isn’t so great at the moment so didn’t even bother with pulling- but I grabbed a milk crate, sat in the float with a loose lead rope and just ensured that his attention stayed ON the float, he didn’t wander off.
Took an hour and a half, and a bit of coaxing towards the end- seems he does have apprehension about the ramp- but I had him fully loaded twice. Hoping now that if I do this every day for a while I’ll have a calm consistent loader before too long!
The few times I’ve gone to get horses that were “unknown” about trailer loading, and I knew that I didn’t want to screwball around with getting them on the trailer in somebody’s driveway or parking lot, I’ve gone to my vet and said, I need a little dormosedan. If I couldn’t get the horse loaded within three tries, I just drugged it, loaded it, and then have all the time in the world to play around with trailer-loading training at my own place, on my own schedule.
Why is this such a hard concept? Just bring some drugs with you. Makes life so simple if you don’t want to spend the time loading a horse.
I remember another story about a mare that wouldn’t get on the trailer in an auction lot, so the guy tied her the trailer and dragged her behind it. It’s up on YouTube somewhere.. Anyway, I am pretty sure that mare lived, but was in horrible condition when someone finally stopped the guy from dragging her.
I have had unsuccessful trailer loading episodes myself, especially when least expected. I used to own a mare that hated me. She hated me on every level and hated everything about me. When I took her to vet #11 for evaluation as to why I couldn’t ride her, this was the first vet that didn’t jump to the lameness or back problems or rare disease idea. He just said she was a bitch and I should bring her to a trainer. She jumped right on the trailer at home – eager to get the hell away from me and the place where I kept her. While we were waiting for the vet, I put the mare into a stall and she flirted with the horses next to her.
When we went to leave, she would not load back up. She was trying to go back to the barn. She liked the vet’s place so much, she wanted to stay, and believe me, after 2 years of fighting with her and paying a ton of money for evaluations and medications on a horse I could barely touch, I was ready to leave her there. I took over an hour to get her on the trailer. I know to this day, the only reason she wouldn’t load, was because she did not want to come home with me. She had always loaded before for me, even when I did ride her and took her to lessons, hopped on and hopped off with no problems. It was not a pretty scene getting her into the trailer. The vet finally drugged her so we could force her on. That mare really did not want to come back home with me. I took her to my trainer’s just after that and she never had a problem with her, so I gave her to my trainer.
What a nightmare. I can’t imagine beating a horse so badly that you create welts and INTERNAL bleeding??!!!? If I was that horse’s owner, I would have started beating the guy.
Wow, just wow. I agree the USA definitely should not want this guy back. Somewhere in the middle of the ocean sounds good to me!
http://www.kshai1715.wordpress.com
A Barrel Horse Learns to Jump
Some people are very anti-drugs. I am not. When you are in a hurry and for whatever reason, simply cannot take the time for something like loading or clipping, a little tranquilizer is a good thing. Beats the heck out of traumatizing the horse. Sometimes you simply have to get them on the trailer – I remember one case with a neighbor’s 2 year old that had been gelded and gotten an infection. He HAD to go to the vet clinic or he was going to DIE. The vet came out, tranq’ed him to the ground and we got all the big neighborhood guys to simply pick him up and put him in the trailer. He lived (and the neighbor got a VERY good lesson about WHY we work with our young stock BEFORE we have a crisis!)
Administered by someone who knows how to tranq a horse, I think that sedation is a GOOD thing. I wish more people would make that decision, instead of trying to win a big fight. To be honest, I have known trainers and breeders who regularly would give a small amount of sedation to horses before new experiences, such as feet trimming or shaving. It takes the fear out of the situation, and if done right can actually create a positive experience for the horse, making it much easier next time.
OFF TOPIC BUT I know maybe there are some people on this blog that are vegans. Is there any good subsitute for cream in my coffee?
Silk Soy Beverage for Coffee (I get the french vanilla flavour). I’m not even vegan (just vegetarian), but this stuff tastes better than regular flavoured cream so I get it instead. the only downside is that all the salesmen at the office steal it for their coffee as well! It costs about the same as regular flavoured coffee cream.
I love Silk Almond Milk!
OK, obviously there’s a consensus that we’d all like to beat him within an inch of his life – and leave some nasty bruises on his genital area. Then we can feed him to the sharks: Save the seals & penguins! Feed the scumbags to the sharks!
Anyway, with all the other trailer stories, I have to share the funniest one I’ve got. Several years ago, I took my grumpy prima donna mare camping with my dogs. Both were yellow labs, but one was “special”, as in no lights on in the attic special. He was sweet, but always clueless. So after three days camping, it’s time to go home, and prima donna decides she doesn’t want to get in the trailer. Never been a problem before, nothing scary or painful, just her being the stubborn creature she is. So my friend and I are trying to get her to go in, I’m inside with the rope and a bucket, friend is outside giving her a few open palm smacks on the rump. Her feet are planted & she’s not moving – just looking at us calmly with her “I know I outweigh both of you by a thousand pounds & you can’t make me do anything” look. I swear she was just amusing herself by being uncooperative & seeing what we would do to bribe or convince her (she’s never had a bad experience with people in her life). The dogs are hanging around waiting for their turn to jump in the cab of the truck. Mr. Clueless is watching us, and I swear I could see the lightbulb go off in his brain. For the first time in his life, he knew what was going on. All of the sudden he walks up behind the mare, stands up on his hind legs, puts his paws on her rump & looks at us with a clear expression of expectation of approval. Mare is taken off guard (again, not scared – the horses & dogs have been together a long time), and is so surprised at the unexpected “help”, that she just forgets she was being stubborn and walked right in. The dog was so pleased with himself to have “helped”, and my friend and I were both laughing so hard we were in tears. I should have been worried she’d kick him, or that she would panic (which she’s never done) but it all happened so fast and was over so quickly, laughter was the only reaction left.
OT: That made my laugh kinda hard. My dog’s lights have bad wiring too. She is a little scared of the big dogs (horses) she’s seen though and her brother listens best when his ‘mommy’ is on one of those big dogs.
Then my girlfriend’s father has a dog of the same breed who tried to play keep away with his big draft cross that does not like dogs. He took bone out to the big dog and then tried to tease the big dog with his bone to try and get the the big dog to play with him. Knowing both animal it was funny to think about that happening.
I know I’m kinda late to this topic (I’m always late, lol), but i get frustrated very easily (I’m working on it) so when i found myself with a problem loader I quickly found out i could not expect him to get in the trailer happily all in one day. i’m just not that good a trainer.
So i took him every now and then after i’d finished working him for the day to the trailer, and asked for one more step. the first time I just lunged him a little bit around the trailer. Then i opened the door and lunged him between me and the open door. Then I used the tap, tap method to get him to put his head in and sniff around. Then pawing with one foot, then two feet. We haven’t gotten any further because I want to hook the trailer to the truck before I try and get him all the way in. Oh, and everytime it looked like he was getting bored investigating the trailer, I backed him out and away from it. I tried to keep him curious. To date, no rearing, backing up out of fear, or really any form of protesting.
OT— MORE Islandics are supposed to be on the way to the feed lot– 50 more to be exact. There was a post by someone called Raven on the naturalwalkinghorse yahoo group list thet said 50 Islandics were headed to slaughter– that’s 50 more than the original 62 posted about here yesterday. Apparently the posts and cross posts are flying thick and heavy in an attempt to line up rescuers (read $uckers) in $am’s apparently most recent scam. People NEED to be warned!!!!!
I have had personal experience to the tune of several hundred dollars with the now defunct CBER — I and several other people apparently sent way more than the $750 needed to bail out an aged walking horse from Chuck’s feed lot several years ago. The funds were never fully accounted for, but the good news is that the horse did end up with a caring person — a FORMER CBER supporter who had her eyes opened because of this and other incidents.
OT. Fugly. Seems to me this oughtta be looked at just a tad. Some folks seem to have gotten the wanderlust bad and decided without much forethought or thoughtful preparation to do the cross country thing with their horses/mules/drafties – whatever. Take the case of KATHLEEN DODDS for example, Pacific NW horse trainer (or was until she became what appears from photos to be morbidly obese). Decided to ride across the US. Apparently without much conditioning of her horse or her dog. Dog was 12 years old fer chrissakes and died most likely of exhaustion not a few weeks after leaving home. Take the case of the “horselogger” guy. Saw him in western Oregon about to hitch up his Suffolks and drive Hwy 58 heading east (Hwy 58 also known as “death valley highway” for the numbers of big truck-caused fatalities). Horses well fed as was he – but shocking hoof conditions, and they were tied to his horse drawn rig so unsafely that I had to walk away in fear that I would see a major tangling/strangulation wreck. He is doing his wandering journey making his horses go completely barefoot, literally hundreds of miles on pavement with nothing to protect their hooves like hoof boots. Now that the weather has turned they spend most of their nights in the cold and rain standing on paved feed store parking lots, no shelter. Kathleen has admitted when she can’t get donations “the horses went hungry.”
So.
Is this about the horses? The dogs? Fundraising? NO. It’s all about their getting attention, getting donations for scraping by so they don’t have to get a “real” job. It isn’t about spreading the word about environmentally conscious logging with horses nor “discovering America” unless as in Kathleen’s case you are trying to find “the best bacon cheeseburger in America” – a worthwhile endeavor to be sure but does a 12-year-old dog have to be sacrificed in that “cause”?
Just my opinion but well-organized “long rides” and there ARE some out there, past and present, bear no resemblance to the sojourning individuals whose concern is not their long-suffering horses (or dogs) but themselves – as in, “me me me look at what I’m doing and gimme money and food and supplies and attention so I don’t have to be a RESPONSIBLE ADULT”. Read their blogs, listen to their interviews, I think you might agree with my opinion: It’s all about THEM.
And just IMO seems to me this approaches, meets and probably exceeds the threshold of stupid cruelty.
Wonder if Fugly would consider a blog post about this.
This has been covered several times…use the search feature
I think these cross-country rides are a bad idea 100% of the time. Horses + traffic = dead horses, damn near every time.
Thanks I’ll look at those, what tags did you use? I mainly wanted to bring this to your attention because Dodds claims to be a “professional instructor” which means the stupidity and cruelty are as seems usual with so many professionals these days – being perpetuated.
This is entirely unacceptable behavior. BEYOND unacceptable. I’m floored. I don’t know what to say.
I worked for a lady in the U.K who had a stubborn OTTB, she’d owned him his entire life, and he was a hit and miss loader. Sometimes, he’d load no problem, other times, no matter what tricks and bribery you used, it just wouldn’t happen. He hadn’t had a bad trailering experience or been beaten or forced, he was just a stubborn old mule. One day, she loaded him no problem to go fox hunting in Devon. They had a great day out hunting, and went to load up to go home. The horse would not load. Flash forward five hours later. It’s pouring rain, and pitch black outside in October. She took off the horses halter in a fit of rage, and screamed, ‘FINE! GO FREE! SEE IF I CARE!’ and was going to leave him on the dales
. She went to put her halter into the cab, and the horse loaded himself into the trailer.
Hi Everyone,
LONG time reader, 1st time poster.
I would LOVE to clarify some things on this case, if I may…
Okay, where to start?
This case is not as cut & dry as Everyone here thinks.
Firstly. Hugh is a Naturalised Australian Citizen. This is only the 1st thing that News Atricle got wrong! And believe me…they got ALOT wrong.
The mare’s injuries were sustained from throwing herself around & off a TRUCK’s (not float or trailer) loading ramp.
She had a “bum rope” used on her & the only time she was hit, was when the lariat was slapped on her butt. She was not beaten. Alcohol was not involved. A friend had asked Hugh to help him by taking & riding his “problem” mare. Hugh soon found out that the mare would randomly pull back when leading, wouldn’t tie safely & was only half broke.
Hugh got her to a contract mustering job, had unloaded her. When it came to load back up, the mare went rank & wouldn’t load. She threw herself down, off the ramp & threw herself around in the truck.
He couldn’t leave her at that property…she HAD to get home to her owners.
When he got her home & noticed that she was ill (injuries were NOT as bad as reported in the article & NO…there was NO vet testimony to say there was!), Hugh called a vet for her & payed for it himself. How many animal abusers do that after trying to beat a horse to death? Hmm…doesn’t add up does it?
The owners took the horse, then proceeded the following day to lay charges.
Hugh pled guilty for 2 reasons, 1 he felt responsible since she was hurt in his care & 2 because it costs ALOT of $$$ to fight against charges like that, especially in a remote community…with a judge who doesn’t understand animals whatsoever. He gave a guilty verdict because he felt it was wrong to make a horse walk up a truck loading ramp.
The horse was PTS 1 month after the “incident”. With no autopsy. No photographs. Nothing. Just the owners “say so” that she died of injuries sustained in the care of Hugh.
Alot of what was in that article was either totally fabricated, lies or just plain wrong.
The news paper has disabled comments on it’s page…but as far hasn’t rescinded it’s article. And they may be a defamation case in the works.
Well, if the papers told the a fabrication then they need to be held liable and the owners if they lied at all about this need to be charged with abuse and liable. If it is true that this man did not abuse the horse as described and in fact had done his best to save this horse then I would politely retract my idea of feeding him to the crocs.
I am told there is a defamation case in the works. And I know the head of one of the paper’s involved has personally been out to talk to Hugh.
I am ALL for kicking ass when it comes to deadshits beating or neglecting animals….but this case has been blown out of the water. There was NO actual documentation re:the wounds inflicted. The owners apparently didn’t get a vet out. She was only seen by a vet when HUGH called one out to her, after she threw herself about. Which he paid for himself.
The owners had said that the mare was a problem horse they needed help with. Hugh thought they were friends & agreed to try & help. He is totally regretting that now!
Actually some horses love bread. The property owner where I once boarded my ponies had an elderly mother who liked to walk to the day-old bread store almost daily because the staff there was kind to her. She felt she needed to buy something if she was going to the store (and NO, I do NOT think the store staff was taking advantage of her). If she didn’t need anything, she would buy things for her daughter. It might be several more days before they were delivered. We recieved some inedible sweet rolls and stuff that just had to be thrown away. One day the PO was cleaning the accumulation of hamburger buns from her freezer and decided to see if the horses would eat them. They ate them with relish. Bread is refined grain and seems to be like cake to some horses.
Every week the PO told her mother she could use some hamburger buns. The mother’s memory had reached the point that she did not remember that she had bought her hamburger buns the week before. The mother enjoyed her walks to the bread store, the horses enjoyed eating the hamburger buns: Win/Win.
A couple of these horses, one of mine and one of hers, would do just about anything for a peanut butter sandwich, but that is another story. My pony would not eat a peanut butter sandwich spiked with medicine or wormer, but I never beat her to death for it.
Bread? I had a horse that ate someone’s…. I think it was a pastrami sandwich she had set it down when she had come out to pet him and then when she was distracted he ate it and wanted more. I was boarding for free with a neighbor at the time we had to feed+water+clean but the horse got to stay there for free because the neighbor lady liked having horses on property without having to own them and pay the bills for them just petting them was fun. Taught my horse, at the time, a few bad habits though had to sell him….. long story.
I found out about another horse that would steal and eat cheese burgers meat and all while at the being shown at the fair. From what I was told it was a 4H thing and you had to be at the at your horse’s stall the whole time except time to use the head and get something to eat. The gal that had this mare had gone and got herself a cheese burger, had come back and was going to sit down, she came up to the stall and the mare first nosed her and then quickly went for the cheese burger. It didn’t happen to me I was told about it from a friend who was there.
Then my girlfriend had a mare who learned how to steal hay they figured it out because they rations had not changed but the hay was going away faster than it should and this mare was getting fat. Finally she stuck around the barn and let the horse think she had left she caught the horse in the act and fixed a previously unnoticed design flaw in the barn.
The US has to many assholes like this piece of dung heap so I say drop him off in the Atlantic or Pacific and let the sharks have him.
I remember spending about 14 hours getting my batshit insane arab/racing appy gelding to load years ago. Treats… of course. And oh yes, he got whipped – not beat, but it wasn’t just a couple of baby taps either. We finally got him in and he glared at us in the car behind him the whole ride down to my new base. Crazy old bastard
I still have him, of course – he’s in great shape and I will never put him on a trailer again if I don’t have to. I -did- have some luck with this thing when I had to move him to where he’s been for I don’t know, 8 years now? http://udderlyez.com/stableizer.php We didn’t jerk him around with it or anything, Ernie would have just fought that, but it calmed him down a lot. My two young guys just get on the trailer, and that’s the only kind of horse I ever want again. No horse deserves to be beaten, but if a good trainer can’t resolve the issue, that horse is going to cause drama every single time you want to take him somewhere. I think some people like the drama of a horse that has problems, but I -soooo- appreciate a good mind on a horse.
My horse was generally a terrible loader, especially in our straight load with a ramp, he would often go most of the way in after some coaxing but like to leave one foot just past the edge of the hinge so you couldn’t close the door, and if you tried any more he would throw a fit and back out again. We were unaware of this issue until we changed barns last spring so that we could have some trail riding in the summer. The owner of our barn was a decent horse person, but she did have a little bit of a temper and after offering to help us load him she became very impatient with my boy. Although she wasn’t excessively violent, she did put a chain on him and was pulling much more than i like to see (he ended up with a bald spot on his nose from the rubbing an a bruise) and it turned into a lot of rearing and almost flipping (never happened before or since). after about half an hour i intervened and said that i would work with him. I spent the next few days feeding him dinner in his trailer and rubbing buttbars all over his body. after the the third day he loaded into the trailer within 15 minutes and allowed us to close the door.
i don’t understand how people think they can just force a horse into a trailer. the only method i’ve ever seen work is a lot of patience and a few calm training sessions.