It’ Been Decided
Dec 11 2011
The new caretakers of FHOTD have been chosen.
The two young women, Dressage Empress and Jumper Girl, who comprise the writing team of Snarky Rider ( snarkyrider.wordpress.com), are taking on the challenge of this blog.
They are young, ambitious, talented writers with strong opinions, big hearts and thick skins.
Here is the intro from their submission:
“We’ve both been riding since we were kids, primarily English, own a single horse each and have always worked in horse barns at least part time as a means of supporting our addiction.”
Dressage Empress has a strong background in dressage. She’s currently working in an office, with a little barn work on the side. She also owns and runs a horse sales website. Jumper Girl is currently more heavily involved in the horse industry. She’s working in a couple different barns, as both a stablehand and riding instructor. She’s
dabbled a little more in various disciplines, but keeps coming back to jumpers. ”
We typically work together to write posts; DE has more flair in her writing, JG has the more editorial mind. For example, today’s post was all DE, whereas this email is more JG!”
Our idea is to create slightly more in depth posts for Fugly and leave most of the lighter stuff for SR (Snarky Rider).”
We think one of the most important aspects of Fugly is the discussion that follows each post, so we’d ideally post about twice a week, with perhaps a guest post in addition
to our original work. And of course we’d stay on top of comments and responding to readers!”
I was going to post a single example of their writing, but it will be best if you cruise over and check them out yourselves.
These young women have a fresh approach, a new eye and stick very closely to the FHOTD format you love so well. I think they can take it and keep it interesting for you.
From what I understand, they will be posting soon, but are still going through the rest of the entries in order to build a stable of guest bloggers. The guest writers will be posted once a week or so on a rotating basis.
The submissions for this job were as varied as the readers of this blog. There were some great ones, some angry ones, some amazingly self righteous ones and a lot of in betweeners. Snarky Rider really shined above and beyond.
Here’s a toast to Dressage Empress and Jumper Girl, I wish them well and hope they have fun playing with all you little kittens.
With much relief,
Mugs, formerly known as Mugly
**Quick note from DE & JG – we hadn’t really wanted to use our real names so snuck in to this post and did some editing for people who hadn’t read it yet. Ok yeah it’s out there now, we’ll deal with it, but we really wanted to be called Snugly!!! The name was suggested by one of our readers and we just think the irony is delicious, like, chocolate cake delicious.
73 comments to “It’ Been Decided”
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Congrats! Sounds like they will be a great fit.
Well, I am certainly looking forward to it, I love the SR girls
I was sure they’d be perfect as soon as they mentioned they might take on the Fugly blog.
Not gonna lie, I’m kind of disappointed…
It wouldn’t be FHOTD if I couldn’t make people unhappy!
Welcome! JG and DE. Cant wait to see how you do with this venture. Hopefully, there will be more posts than once every week or 10 days. I got really tired of scrolling thru responses to see the new ones. (Not dissing you, Mugs. I realize having 2 blogs had to be very time consuming.)
Good luck to you both. Anxious to read where this takes us.
The lack of posting was due to many other things than ‘just not posting,’ but it’s part of why I decided to give it up.
Thanks for the welcome
We’re so excited to be the new writers for Fugly! (hope you don’t mind either, we just switched our names in your comment)
Buck, buck, bawk….
WTF? Did it say anywhere in your call for submissions “must use your real names?” Then you used their real names without permission? Then you call them chicken for editing them out?
Really, wtf. That is RUDE.
Geez. Is that the best you got? I was playing with them for goodness sake! I was hoping my last WTF would actually have a point.
“Playing with them”? Publishing their real names without asking first, on a widely read blog that frequently invites threats (or at least, used to) from those who disagree IS A SERIOUS MATTER.
I also find it interesting that you praise them in the post, but then repeatedly and blatantly call them chicken in the comments. Gee, how do you really feel?
I have not commented on the blog since Fugly left, but that really bugged me. You should apologize to them.
piss + wheaties = wtf?
Agreed, it was distasteful to post their names especially without asking them first, which obviously wasn’t done. I’m looking forward to some new leadership on the new FHOTH!!!!!!!
FHOTH???
mugly
Welcome DE and JG! I hope that the two of you have a reasonably good experience here. Thank you for taking the blog on and best of luck to you both. Having a two person team actually sounds ideal.
Thank you so much! (we hope you don’t mind too much but we editing our names our of your comment – we were going for annonymitiy… lol) We’re super excited to have been chosen and can’t wait to get started
I am clucking… a little bit like a chicken.
No problem, and your names have already been forgotten!
Can’t say I’m not a little disappointed I didn’t get the gig, but the Snarky girls definitely have it on me in actual blogging experience, and my last horse blog kinda failed because I was having problems coming up with enough topics.
They’ll do a great job of it! (And Mugly, they can still have my sample post, if they want it).
Cool! And welcome ladies!
Now for the first subject. Can we discuss the little bitch who stood by and watched as her relatives killed off Credit Card, who belonged to the Rodeo team? Can we? Please? Please?
Over “romantic issues” yet. They won’t give specifics, but my guess is the Poor kid probably dumped her because he realized she was psycho but had no idea just how psycho she really was.
Meh, she’s an easy one.
She’ll lose any scholarship she might have had, there isn’t a university in the U.S. that will touch her for admission, she’s going to owe a minimum of 100K (plus any student loans she might have) for those rather expensive horses she decided to steal and abuse, and I imagine she has about as much chance of getting a job or owning an animal as that Tanya Harding chick has of becoming an Olympic ice skating coach.
Let’s talk about the chance her mother’s boyfriend has of surviving long enough to make his trial date. One thing about the rodeo industry– these cowboys are for real, and they don’t take abusing a good roping horse lightly. I’ve already seen multiple threats online from people who seem to know exactly who he is, and exactly what they plan to do to him.
I’m sorry. I have not followed the blog lately and am behind the times. What is the full story here?
I hadn’t heard it either – that’s exactly why I need fugly!
Remember the stolen college rodeo team horses? All but one were recovered although they had been starved, left without water, and painted in camo colors. One was found shot and dismembered. The person responsible is another student, Jaci Rae Jackson, who appears to have been dating the boy who was the leader of the rodeo team. The story has it that she had “romantic problems with a member of the team.” So she had her mom’s boyfriend steal the horses and murder one in particular.
Google Jaci Rae Jackson and you will find articles on her. The comments on the articles tend to be a little bloodthirsty, which I can’t blame anyone for. I’m having trouble thinking of any good reason this lady needs to continue having food and water and air wasted on her, either. At least she is facing felony charges for the theft, not just misdemeanor animal cruelty charges like so many of these cases end up with.
I’m glad there has been a decision. Mugly, good work! Now get your butt over here in the cheap seats next to me.
Snugly? Pretty good, although I’m hoping Snarkly is sharpening her fangs…
Id be willing to guest blog now and then, I didn’t submit my entry because there’s no way I would have had time to be the primary writer with my new job. I feel I can really add a unique perspective to the blog since I’m Canadian and I have experience in a wide variety of disciplines but I primarily stick to thoroughbred horse racing. Let me know where to send it and I will gladly submit an entry. Feel free to give me a topic if you have something in mind. Email me abarron@live.ca if you would like.
I am overjoyed to see these two got the job. I LOVE Snarky Rider and was very excited to hear they were throwing their hats into the ring for the fugly blog. Their posts on Snarky Rider are interesting, truthful and original. I can’t wait to see what they post here. I am glad Mugly is sticking around, her passionate posts are a delight to read and are very down to earth to a country gal like me
. I can’t wait to see where this blog goes in the future 
BTW: One request please. (Yes, I am going to start whining already
) More conformation and tack discussions. I feel that these posts really help beginners (and in some cases so called experts) and are interesting in the comment sections. I would LOVE to see at least one a week/every other week.
GO SNUGLY! *does a little fan girl dance*
OK, I’m gonna be the bitch who says it: I sure hope these girls do more proofreading here than on their own blog. I’ve never seen SnarkyRider before, and when my first impression was a typo in the first sentence of the most recent post, it didn’t make me very excited about them taking over my favorite equestrian blog.
“We are so exciting!!!” Unless you two really are THAT narcissistic, I think you meant “We are so excited!!!”
Also, how about looking up how to spell words you’re not sure of, rather than writing (sp?) after them? Lazy writers spell things wrong and highlight it with a note to clarify that they know they probably spelled it wrong, but were too lazy to check. Good writers check their spelling before posting.
I stuck around for the Mugly transition even though I missed Cathy and as sweet and lovely as Mugwump seems, I agree she’s not right for the audience here.
I don’t think I’ll keep reading if I have to wade through typos and lazy writing every time I check the blog.
Every reader’s time is valuable. The occasional typo is completely forgivable, but having several in every post (and there are a few in your comments in this thread, too) is not. If you want a few minutes of every morning when I get online to check my favorite blogs, show me that you respect my time enough to take some of your time to give me a polished, error-free post to read most days. Do that, and the occasional error will go nearly unnoticed, since everyone will know that it just slipped by and wasn’t a result of failure to proofread. Right now, it doesn’t look like you bother to proofread at all.
I’ll give the new writers a completely fair chance and continue reading for at least as long as I read the Mugly posts. However, if I don’t feel that they’re respecting my time enough to provide clear, proofread posts that are, for the most part, error-free and pleasant to read, I will not stick around. I doubt I’m alone in that.
Replying to myself because I feel the need to be the bitch again — out of love for the blog, and because I don’t want to see it die a slow death.
DG/JG/, in addition to more proofreading (SO much more! Geez, there’s not a single post on the first page of your blog that’s without errors!) you may wish to consider being more careful about photo choices here than you are on SnarkyRider. There are some copyrighted, watermarked professional photos in your “dressing horses up” post that don’t seem to have a “used by permission” tag or attribution to the photographer. It’s usually okay to republish Craigslist photos and the like, but if a professional photographer has watermarked a photo, it’s a good bet that they aren’t making it available for free Web use. I would hate to see the new blog owner dealing with angry photographers who have legitimate DMCA claims.
On the positive side, I will say that you two do seem to have a voice that fits the blog pretty well. I forced myself to get past the writing in the most recent post and read down a bit. Some of the other recent posts did make me chuckle or do a quiet “YEAH, girl!”
Just get the writing mechanics down and I’ll be happy. C’mon. Download Firefox. It has an automatic spellchecker that will catch things like “marshmellow.” You’ll still need to proofread for things like “From the angle of the photo is looks like” and “The sheer weight of it’s head in proportion to the rest of it’s body is going to cause it to tip at any moment!” (For the record, “it’s” means “it is.” The possessive is “its.”
Try reading every post out loud before clicking “publish.” You’ll catch more errors that way than simply skimming it on the computer.
Awwww muffin!
Edgy commentary?check Wicked good sense of humor?check Passionate involvment in the world of equine welfare? check Sarcastic outlook? check
What was I thinking….throw them out for not spelling marshmallow correctly.
Corse that thars whut happins when a dumb unederdated hick like myself is left in charge. Yup, yup, yup.
Well, they’ve been offered a paying job as writers, and at least 13 of the readers who are supporting the blog by providing it with traffic appear to agree that the paid writers should spellcheck their posts. Especially when it takes about thirty seconds to download a browser that will do so for you without even an extra click per post on your part.
I don’t know about you, but when someone is paying me to do something, I do my best to do it correctly. If someone points out that I’m doing a consistently poor job with one of the core components of a task, I might be offended at first, but I’ll probably eventually thank them for their feedback. I would gain a great deal of respect for DG/JG if they took the time to do the same, rather than sending Mama Mugly to snark at me for providing a correct, constructive criticism of the work they’re, again, being paid to do, with dollars that come from people viewing the blog, who may not remain as eager to view it if DG/JG are too good for spellcheck.
We appreciate Mugs sticking up for us, but we certainly didn’t ask her to! We’re both rather embarrassed by the typos, especially in regards to yesterday’s post. We do best when we proofread each other’s work; it’s often far easier to catch the mistakes that way. We haven’t had time recently to do so, but we’re hoping to get back to that. There’s no issue with your critisism as far as we’re concerned. We’ll be working on it!
Snarkly
Actually I was sticking up for my choice in you as the new FHOTD, I figure you two can stick up for yourselves.
Mugly
Wow, reading what people type in the comments must render you apoplectic. The majority of readers either won’t notice misspellings, grammatical errors and typos, or won’t care about them. When you arrive pre-offended, you’re not likely to be disappointed.
I care, and I don’t think I’m alone in that.
Spelling and grammar are the clothes you wear on the internet. Ignoring them is like showing up at someone’s house wearing dirty pajama pants, with your hair uncombed, needing a shower. It shows a lack of respect for the other people around you.
In regards to photography, they are made publicly available on the internet, they can be used under the fair use policy in law to allow commentary negating the requirement for permission, and meaning there’s not a snowball’s chance in hell of any sort of legal action against them.
Don’t want your photos used by other people online? Don’t post them online. Simples.
This is not even a little bit true. Posting a photograph online does not grant anyone the right to use it. It may provide the opportunity, but if I have the opportunity to take something you worked hard to create and use it for my own benefit without your permission, should I? Photographs can be posted with a Creative Commons license that does give others the right to use them (with attribution, typically) but there is absolutely nothing about the act of posting a photo online that results in relinquishment of copyright.
Another point to make in regards to photography. I am curious why you think the rights of a craigslist photographer are any less than a professional photographer? Watermarking is meaningless when it comes to the law. The photographer of a craigslist photo has just the same legal rights as someone who slaps a watermark on. It doesn’t matter if it’s a poor quality snapshot or a polished portfolio piece.
The rights for the photograph belong to the photographer (worth noting, not the owner of the horse – even if you have bought the photograph, unless you have purchased full rights to it, which is often not the case).
“Don’t want your photos used by other people online? Don’t post them online. Simples. “? Such an interesting blanket statement. How else would you prefer that photographers offer event proofs for sale? No window-shopping? Going back to print proofs?
Savvy pros and ammies alike also put watermarks on their finished pieces and only upload them in small sizes and low resolution. If I post mine, they’re for enjoyment, not for re-purposing and certainly not for making money for other people such as through derivative works.
Snugs, if you want to use any of mine, contact me with the probably six-digit filename or screen print and I’ll provide one without a centered watermark. Maybe you guys could develop a list of pros who are willing to help you illustrate your points. I have a rogues gallery of stuff I have NOT put up with both rider and horse faults, though mostly in endurance competition.
Wow, we don’t even have a first post and already we people complaining? DE and JG, you best get your full body armors and helmets on cos it’s gonna be a bumpy ride!
Btw, I don’t remember anyone jumping on Mugly cos she spelled Wikipedia wrong twice…
Oh yes, they crawled all over me.
While they are probably a good choice for this blog as their predecessor and most of the posters REGULARLY bitch and moan about poor grammar in ads, use of the wrong word (the constant conformation vs confirmation confusion), and nitpicking of horse related websites when it comes to grammar, syntax, semantics, and even photo choices, one would think they would have been a little more careful with their very first post.
I’m sure they will do just fine given the fact they insist upon their readers complaining by calling them “bitches” in the salutation………..
Thank you.
There are typos, and there’s apathy. Some people seem to think their opinion is so valuable, spelling is some sort of hindrance to their thought process. To point out mistakes is elitist. Why, can’t you see they’re too passionate to worry about spelling? Readers are supposed to know what they meant, not what they wrote.
2 + 2 = 5. See? Wrong is wrong. Simple. Grade school stuff.
It would be nice to start out the new blog with better spelling. After that, worry about the misuse of words like ‘confirmation’ and batshit crazy random noun capitalization.
(Fingers crossed.)
While not being anal about their spelling and whatnot, this is a paid job here, and installing a spell check on their browser to allow them to quickly skim posts for errors isn’t a hardship. Since you may think readers should work out what they mean, but in fact it’s proven easier if they just write what they mean the first time round without deciphering required.
Did you apply for the blog job? I REALLY like your style and sarcasm. You made me laugh!!!
YAY =D
I really like your other blog and I’m looking forward to reading more of your work. I’m sure you guys will do a great job, ignore everyone who instantly bashes you from the beginning – they are probably just annoyed that ‘you’re not Cathy!’, but anyone who is open to listening to you guys will be able to take something valuable away. Your writing style is very similar to Cathy’s anyway! Good Luck.
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
Welcome ladies. I LOVE snarky and look forward to your posts. I liked Mug’s topics, I’m also a ‘cowpony’ owner and her training mentality was very similar to mine and she rode in the right kind of saddle
and has a big heart.
I’m also contemplating taking jumping lessons to get over a ridiculous fear laid in place by my well-meaning but QH style ‘boing me over the log’ Paint mare. So I look forward to points of view from other disciplines.
There are people who need guidance and assholes who need to be cruicified. With your names in hiding, hope you go after the latter with a hell hath no fury like a woman (or 2!) scorned!
I would be lying if I didn’t say I’m a little disappointed. Not in the actual people chosen, but in the disciplines represented. I have always enjoyed that, even though Fugly mostly rode English-type disciplines, she still tried hard to cover important issues in all parts of the horse world (for example, Dually, WP trainers, ropers).
I have followed this blog closely for many years, but as a predominantly Western rider I feel that my interest is going to wane if the only things covered pertain to Dressage, Eventing, etc.
In my defense, I am not saying this because I “don’t like” or “don’t care about” English riding. I actually think that English riders are taught to have better seats and hands (yes, I’ll admit it) and as such made a point of taking English lessons for years (and still do- if I can find the time!). I am only saying that I read this blog for enjoyment and I can’t garner enjoyment from something that doesn’t interest me.
So DE and JG- will it be mostly English from here on out? Or will you continue to sprinkle in rodeo and WP tidbits?
Obviously you weren’t riding with the right western trainers.
English riders may have good seats, but I’m not so sure about the hands. A girl I ride with rides English. She has a great seat and is very good with the horses, but seems rather heavy handed. She has constant contact with the horse’s mouth and never release pressure. Of course you can’t generalize all riders into one category. Most of the western riders I know work more off of leg and seat position than they do hands (most, not all).
I was thinking the same thing. I don’t have anything against (good) english riders, but IME english riders DO seem to be more heavy handed.
A finished western horse should neck rein – meaning that there is no bit contact required. As far as I know, english riders mostly direct rein, which means there is contact and often english riders have a light contact throughout an entire ride. That might be normal in english disciplines and I certainly don’t think having contact means that you have bad hands, but I think it is a very unfair statement to say that english riders inherently have better hands than western riders, especially when you consider the fact that on a finished western horse, you will rarely need to touch the reins at all. To my knowledge english riders mostly direct rein. Not to mention rollkur. .
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
Would it be a fair statement to say good hands and good seats aren’t created by the saddle choice? – Mugly
I think it about evens out.
English riders in the United States entirely direct rein. In England, neck reining is actually very commonly taught, especially to ponies – it’s used in gaming and when out on the trail.
However, I say it evens out, because of bit choice. As a general rule, western riders use a shanked bit on almost everything…everything other than green horses being trained in a snaffle or bosal. (Yes, I am sure quite a few western riders do keep horses in snaffles, but shanked bits are the norm).
English riders keep most horses in a snaffle and used curbs and shanked bits only on finished horses (and then not always) or animals that are harder to control.
IN GENERAL, English riders use milder bits and ride on a contact. Western riders use harsher bits, but use them as little as possible.
Also, when a shanked bit IS used in English, it is correctly used with two reins (I do not consider using roundings or just the bottom rein to be correct). The snaffle rein is used to maintain the contact and control the impulsion and the curb bit is used to give refined but clear cues to the horse.
Now, I’m talking about CORRECT English riding, so please don’t toss all the examples of asshats doing it wrong at me
.
Very good points. I just wanted to say thank you for taking them time to write a well thought out response, that points out misconceptions I had. I had no idea that in England it was not unusual for an english horse to neck rein and while I know that bit choice alone does not dictate how harsh a person is with the bit, I did forget to think about that. I do keep my western horses in a snaffle (except one, who is bitless) so I had forgotten that the bits do seem harsher in western sometimes. I also think we get more idiots who think they can ride because they have watched John Wayne movies than english world would encounter.
http://www.operationhorserescue.blogspot.com
Good grief TBrock- do you expect me to read your answers when you don’t know when to use “release” and “releases?”- Mugly
Really Mugly? You are going to complain about a letter missing from one word? I have been respectful and cordial of your attitude and thoughts, up until now. I have never criticized your posts, your writing style, your spelling, your grammar, or your content, yet you post something stupid like this over ONE LETTER. If you don’t want to ready my posts, then don’t. Nothing lost on this end. Being snarky and being a royal be-ach are two completely different things.
And now you are posting under Snugly and Snarkly’s name? Can’t you figure out how to open your own account? It isn’t that difficult.
By the way, you spelled my screen name wrong. Hypocrite.
Ahhh, TB. I give. Not because it isn’t fun harrassing you, you feisty little chihuahua, but I’m causing trouble for Snarkly and Snugly on their first day.
So adios, have fun picking on the mundane and missing the message.
Go Snugly and Snarkly!
I have a vengeful nature and I do hope that the Psycho B*tch and her Entourage are graced with the same kindness and benevolence that they bestowed upon the horses they wronged.
After I read the decision topic and gave a reply, I then went to your SnarkyRider blog. Really liked what I read and have to tell you that I enjoyed it. Humorous, serious (barn safety=no fire), poking a little fun at yourselves and a little bit snippy to boot. SnarkyRider also made my favorites list. It is good to see something light-hearted.
Not to say serious issues shouldn’t be discussed. Dark and gloomy issues are just part of life. Have to be faced, have light shed on the assholes and twisted jerks that are out there. Throw in the funny and goofy once in a while. A good balance will keep many coming back for more.
It looks like a good fit. However, I’m sure the other western-only riders out there agree with me- we’re going to miss you and your western-ness! For me, it was nice because I could relate to a lot of the things you wrote about. But- I am excited for the new writers, welcome aboard, DE & JG!
Come by and visit the Chronicles for your western-ness fix….
OMG, I had never heard of their site so I went over and had a look… I love them!!!
Judging by what I’ve just read its a brilliant choice….
I’m looking forward to some insightful commentary here! Content is more important than style, but I must agree that content is better delivered if the vehicle is correctly employed!
Good luck to both of you, and remember the old saying, “Vengeance is a dish best served cold.” Sometimes it’s worthwhile to rein in the impassioned response in favour of one that can be delivered with an icy edge.
Congratulations! Keep up the good work.
Seems like a very good fit for the blog, content and style wise.
I’m hoping you will follow abuse cases as well as snarky comments on riding, breeding and showing as I feel it’s important that abuse cases are highlighted via mediums such as this.
Agreed.
I have a blog and I no doubt make my own fair share of spelling and grammar mistakes (although I always run it through Word first to at least catch the spelling). I don’t think pointing out spelling errors is being picky or anal or bitchy. If it was on someones personal blog… well, that is a different story. But this isn’t a small personal blog. This is the Fugly Blog!
If you’re lucky enough to have an audience of thousands, use spell check. Or, as OneMuddyTB suggested, get Firefox. Best of luck! I enjoyed stopping by Snarky Rider on occasion, even though I didn’t always agree with what you had to say… but I think that is what will make you good writers for Fugly, as long as you ditch the “na na na I’m right you’re wrong” attitude you sometimes seem to have in your replies.
Ick. this would have made more sense if it was posted as a reply to one muddy tb. Well, just imagine it’s halfway up the comments.
Cogratulations ladies! I look forward to reading your posts!
Tis the season to be jolly…falalalalalalalala
Ladies acting like a molly…. Falalalalalalalala
Now we don our claws and bitch words
Falalalalalalalala
Or a cat fight now commencing
Falalalalalalalala
HA!
Mugs