Hello Fugly Posse! My name is Judy Berkley. I’ve documented my devastating experiences with an Arabian horse trainer in a new book entitled Justice for Speedy: A True Horse Story (available at Amazon.com). The book discusses drugging and brutal training practices at Class A horse shows and delves into many topics that the Arabian horse industry has been sweeping under the carpet for years. I also talk about the overuse of corticosteroid injections linked to laminitis.

As a longtime reader of the Fugly blog, I was always particularly attentive whenever the topic of bad trainers came up. As a former journalist, who was in the process of investigating what happened to my horse, Speedy, I hoped to read something I missed. One of the recommendations for assessing trainers is to check out their premises for evidence of good horse-keeping. Is the place a mess or are things tidy? Obviously, if there’s sagging barbed wire and green algae floating in the stock tanks, you need to shop elsewhere. But, what if the tack room is spotless, the stalls picked a couple times a day, the horses well-groomed, the trophy case full of ribbons, and everything seems to speak to good care for the horses? Is that a good indicator? In my experience, no. A bad trainer is not going to leave his mistakes out where visitors can see them. Lame horses, visibly abused horses with spur and whip marks and bloody mouths, horses driven out of their minds by violent training methods, are going to be hidden away from view.

What about talking to other clients at the trainer’s facility? Well, if the trainer is abusive, his clients, who are knowledgeable horse people and who love their horses, will already have taken a hike. Having to make special note of people “who love their horses” is a sad but necessary stipulation. Sadly, there are people in the show world whose priorities are greed, ambition, ego gratification, and winning at any cost. In the quest of those goals, they will tolerate whatever their trainer dictates. Sadly, too, there may be clients, who love their horses, but are new to the show scene and are completely bamboozled by a smooth-talking trainer.

Checking the Internet for discussions of bad trainers is not often helpful. While posters may outline problems they’ve had, they usually stop short of publically naming names for fear of defamation lawsuits, which, as so often happens nowadays, help to protect the bad guys.

What about a written contract with a trainer, will that guarantee good treatment for your horse? In my opinion, no. When you leave your horse at a trainer and drive away, you’ve lost control of your property. A bad trainer probably has a good line of BS. All the sunshine and lollipops, which convinced you that your horse would be in good hands, can go right out the window the moment you leave.  The trainer can willfully violate the terms of the contract and you may never know what’s been done to your horse. And, if your horse comes back to you lame or schizophrenic, well, horses do go lame and some of them are not as trainable as others, the trainer will say. Here’s a final word on contracts: If the provisions of the contract give the trainer complete control of your property, everything from feeding, shoeing, and vet care, to training and show decisions, think about what you’d be signing! You’re relinquishing all rights to your property! Even if you can find evidence of trainer misconduct, you have no legal recourse.

In closing, on a subject that I could expound on at length (well, actually I did, in a book called Justice for Speedy) I offer this final thought: Horse training is a completely unregulated industry. Anyone, who wants to fence in a five acre patch of ground and hang out a “Horse Trainer” shingle, or who can convince an investor to build a fancy training barn, can call themselves a trainer. No professional license required, no evidence of qualifications or resumes, and, for sure, no liability insurance to cover major screwups. Who else gets to work in such an accountability-free environment? Whether you’re a teacher, cosmetologist, plumber, or any kind of professional, you have to assume some responsibility for the work you do. Yet, we turn over valuable property, our beloved horses, to people, who are only required to say they are horse trainers.

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I have a love/hate relationship with cell phones. Reception is spotty where I live, so I tend to think of them in terms of incoming calls only. My horse time needs no chatting, interruption, or impromptu lectures from well-meaning relatives. The phone is just something to drop, then cringe over as it clatters on the hard floor and somehow manages to bounce repeatedly. Why do I always drop it in the barn aisle, and how does plastic bounce? And why does Witty Horse never answer her phone?

My new phone has a video feature, which was the one thing that excited me. Videos of my rides! Why, I can even use it to make videos of inhumane horse treatment. Like that video of the woman screeching as she tried to beat a horse into his stall. It was the Blair Witch Project of questionable horsemanship. Some screeching woman(?), girl(?), chupacabra(?) was screaming, slapping, and just in general losing her shit because she was still angry over the horse’s behavior down in the arena. Yeah…..he doesn’t remember or link together events that likely happened within an hour of each other. Grudges are for creeping Facebook to see if your high school ex got fat, not for training horses.

Nobody at my barn carries on like a banshee and I give zero shits about chatting while I try to trim bridlepaths or do supplement baggies or whatever. So the phone is for out-going calls only.

Unless an animal is bleeding, swollen, colicking, or I’m bleeding and swollen (my bleeding and swelling are borderline), I’m not reaching for my phone. But it’s good to have for emergencies.

It should be my second favorite safety device, only second to my helmet. I know I should carry it on rides, and I’m getting better at remembering. I’m a few scared straight moments away from every time, every ride. I  sometimes leave it in the car, only to find it “waiting up for me” with six missed calls. Worse still are the times when I admit to someone, “Yes, I would’ve picked up but the phone fell out of my pocket while riding and I eventually found it at X! It was halted there! Flexed to the right, sure, but halted! Get it? X?”

I’m going to try to be better about carrying my phone, and even have a velcro pouch for it that I once took great pains to order. I think the pouch is under a pair of shipping boots in my tack trunk.

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In this most recent incident of abuse, multiple complaints were filed and yet the LCAS says no legal action will be taken.  There is concern that not all complaints have even been documented!  The LCAS ain’t kidding when they say they “don’t do any criminal investigations”.  They receive complaints and reports of abuse, but their hands are tied (while their budget remains safely intact) and they’re unable to perform criminal investigations.  Oh well.  Dems da brakes, right?  C’est la vie.

The following is from Darla Clark of Strawberry Mountain Mustangs who is better acquainted with how things work in Oregon and was able to provide excellent insight into this (most recent) incident:

LCAS has stated that no criminal charges will be pursued because the horses have been given away. Obviously, when an owner willingly surrenders the animals, it certainly reduces the time spent on paperwork, but it does not negate the fact that a crime has already been committed. If anything, it makes the prosecution of the case easier and more cost effective. (Law enforcement officers from nearby counties have watched this unfold on social networking sites and have messaged me to express their disbelief and anger.)

The fact that horses were removed from the same owner/property in 2010 shows an obvious pattern with this individual.  A pattern LCAS was well aware of. Emerald Valley Equine Assistance has removed horses from this owner/property for years prior to that, potentially as early as 2007. At times, LCAS has accompanied parties to the property, other times community members acted alone out of desperation.

While LCAS seems to do a perfectly adequate job addressing companion animal issues, they seem to be lacking the training or structure to handle large animal cases. Personnel use more man hours to side step these issues than to effectively and adequately address the problems the first time around. The pictures in this email depict only a few of the issues that seem to stem from large animal calls to LCAS. Complainants often state that they get no response or that they are told “skinny” horses are the norm in winter months, with one caller being chastised for not knowing what “winter thin” was – as if a horse’s emaciated state were perfectly acceptable.

ALDF and the Oregon Animal Control Council are working toward an aggravated neglect statute for the 2013 legislative session. If passed, this statute will make repeat offenses of neglect, neglect in the presence of minors, and neglect of multiple animals a felony offense. Rose Buckholtz fits all three criteria. Unfortunately, because Lane County has failed to adequately document her crimes, even with multiple complaints filed, it will not help the animals in her care any time soon. Again, filing violations in lower justice courts is no longer a solution. Simply talking an owner into surrendering animals to avoid criminal prosecution is only perpetuating the cycle of abuse and neglect.

Having worked for the State of Oregon Judicial Department for nearly 10 years, through it’s last budget crisis, I am well aware of the high cost of prosecuting these cases. Jail is not a necessity. Documentation is. Organizations such as the Animal Legal Defense Fund assist counties in whatever way they can to make sure the job gets done with a minimal cost. The Oregon Hay Bank has offered assistance to several counties around the state during seizures to help feed horses until they are relinquished. The same assistance is available to Lane County.  Equine rescues throughout the state have worked in conjunction with the Oregon Hay Bank, ALDF, and Crook, Marion, Lincoln, Lake and Douglas Counties just in recent months to address horse neglect cases. There ARE resources available to assist you in the handling of large animal neglect cases. Failing to prosecute these offenses has a much higher toll on your community, your children, and the reputation of your enforcement of humane laws.

I certainly hope that Lane County will seek the assistance of ALDF in the matter of Rose Buckholtz.

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Woohoo! Congratulations! You’ve created a three year old child who doesn’t have enough common sense to be afraid of the immense quadruped that could crush her like a bug.  Good job you!

First of all, that little girl should not be “lunging” that horse (I put lunging in quotations because that really wasn’t lunging) – the rope was dragging on the ground when she was starting out simply because the girl is too small and lacks the coordinated motor skills to safely hold on to the line.  Next is the issue of what would happen if the horse spooked? An almost unheard of phenomena in horses, I know, but it still bears at least a fleeting thought by someone.

Did anyone else think it a tad unfair to the horse the way the little girl yanked on the bit to get her to stop?  Both while lunging and riding? Isn’t that one of the reasons to keep young children safely on lead lines? So they don’t yank unnecessarily on the horse’s mouth?

My absolute favorite part of this whole thing?  The video poster’s comments: “Sianna is required to wear a helmet every time she rides. She was riding Lady right before we did this video and I missed it that she took the helmet off. It was super hot and she must have set the helmet by the gate.”

HOW DO YOU MISS THAT YOUR THREE YEAR OLD CHILD IS RIDING WITHOUT A HELMET ON?!  I mean, I know the helmet is a small, innocuous piece of equipment… Most of the kids I see riding these days are required to wear eventing vests AS WELL as a helmet!

Oh no wait, it’s ok, she wears a (bike) helmet in this video of her riding a 4 year old…

(haha there was a pre-established tag for “bad parent du jour”.  Sad, but still funny)

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Nice try. I grew up in England. Until I emigrated to the United States in the late 1990s, I had never heard the word ‘navicular’. I didn’t know what navicular syndrome was. As a child I probably rode over 100 horses and came into contact with many more. (My trainer flipped horses and dealt on the side, so there were always horses coming and going). Not a single one of them had navicular syndrome. Not. A. One. Were they all barefoot? Heck, no. Nobody was shod who didn’t need to be, but a fairly high proportion needed to be for whatever reason – poor hoof quality, soles close to the ground, etc.

My friend who runs a riding barn lost a horse to navicular a few years back. Out of the thirty horses in the barn, two currently suffer from the disease (one is managed with egg bar shoes the other, which is more severely affected, goes better in the special navicular trim that is now being advocated in some quarters). Three out of…let’s see, in that time period…50. As opposed to zero out of hundreds?

Maybe English farriers are super farriers who know how to shoe and trim a horse so it never gets navicular! Maybe American farriers just suck. If that was the case, wouldn’t the American barn have even more cases?

Why is navicular far more common in the United States than it is in Europe?

Here’s news. *Just because something doesn’t have a specific gene or genes directly associated with it doesn’t mean it’s not hereditary!*

Sure, it’s nice to be able to track a gene. Then we can eliminate…oh, wait *cough* HYPP *cough*.

Maybe, just maybe, there’s a conformation issue here? And maybe, just maybe, that conformation fault is more common in America because, guess what, it’s rampant in an American breed. Have I mentioned that of the three horses with navicular, two are Quarter Horses and the third is a Paint? Aha. Maybe we’re onto something.

Why don’t we take a look?

Oh, look. Upright pasterns. Quarter Horse.

Ooh. Upright pasterns. Breeding Quarter Horse stallion.

What about this Paint Horse…squint past the wonderful pattern and what do we see? *Upright pasterns!*

And it was amazingly hard to find these pictures. For some reason, people seem to like to pose their stock horses in grass up to the fetlocks. I wonder why *that* might be?

Now for something different:

Welsh Cob. Now look…nice, sloping pasterns.

Nice little dun Welsh Pony. Ooh, his pasterns slope too, what’s going on here?

Ah, but they’re ponies. Maybe ponies just have sloping pasterns? Well, how about this. Cleveland Bay stallion. Ooh. Look at those front pasterns…those slope too!

Aha. So maybe, just maybe, navicular is caused by upright pasterns? Sure, we don’t know exactly, but wouldn’t that rather explain why Quarter Horses and stock horse breeds get it more often – because they tend to have upright pasterns? I’m not knocking the Quarter Horse breed. I’ve handled and ridden some absolutely gorgeous ones and quite a few I’d bring home tomorrow if I could. I’m not even saying they all have upright pasterns or that you never see upright pasterns in England. And heck, maybe upright pasterns give you an advantage when turning quickly to chase a cow? There has to be some reason you see so many more of them in the stock horse breeds.

But I’m saying maybe if we want fewer horses with navicular, maybe we need to stop breeding as many upright pasterns. And stop blaming the poor farriers, who are only doing their job. Most of them, anyway.

———-

By the omnipresent Anonymous!

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Billy Hamilton, accused of killing Credit Card (one of the stolen SAU horses) has been arrested.

Here’s hoping the next update I get to post about him will be about his conviction and harsh sentence.

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These guys are OBVIOUSLY way too big for these horses.  Although, presumably that’s where the hilarity comes from.  Oh what comic genius!  Big man on small horse! Ha ha! Larry, Moe and Curly would be proud, I’m sure.

Hey, it’s all good.  It was to settle an all important grudge. A grudge so big, so hideous in nature that it was eroding the moral fiber of the whole event.  Had it not been settled the grounds would have been lost to chaos; exhibitors and attendees alike would have run amok.  Anarchy in the UK!  Or, Oklahoma.  I’m sure the zombie apocalypse would have followed shortly thereafter so, all in all, it was a very good thing that they settled their dispute.  Besides, since it was such a dire need, certainly they had a carte blanche to do so by any means necessary?  I mean, what kind of a world would this be if we didn’t do everything in our power to prevent an apocalypse of zombieness?

Obviously the little ponies weren’t injured.  Sure a little pull on the spine here, a kick to the knee there and about a bazillion kicks to the ribs…  But they left the arena without limping though so it’s a wash right? No harm, no foul.  There’s no way tom-foolery such as this could cause lasting physical damage to these ponies.  No way, no how!

In all seriousness, I understand this event was staged for entertainment purposes, but couldn’t they have had them joust with some form of wiffle bat on size:weight ratio appropriate horses? I’m sure Cyndi Plasch could have loaned them one!  (That was a little bit of an offside remark.)  I just mean that there were other forms of entertainment available to them that wouldn’t have asshats oops, I mean adults, on miniature horses.  Sometimes it’s appropriate to make use of that squishy thing between your ears.  Certainly not all of the time, you don’t want to tire it out, but occasionally take it for a spin so it doesn’t get rusty or gather cobwebs.

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The readers question was whether or not something was wrong with the mare.  The fall itself hadn’t hurt her, she walked away fine afterwards (and stayed sound since) but she felt this wasn’t normal behaviour for a horse.  She asked if it was normal for a horse to go halfway down like that and not get back up immediately.

I thought about it for a bit and the only thing I could logically come up with was that the mare was tired of giving lessons.  She’s telling them that she’s ready for retirement.  And to me, it sounds like she’s earned it!

This, of course, got my wheels a turnin’ about how do you know when your horse is ready for retirement?  For a lot of us that have been with our horses for quite some time, we’ll just see the change in their demeanor and know.  My boy, for whatever reason, loves to be ridden.  He doesn’t love to work, but he does love going for rides.  I know this because he’s a 17.3hh horse and brings his head down and opens his mouth for the bit (I mean, he sees me grabbing the bridle and keeps his mouth open until the bit is in there) every single time.  Even when we were in full training and I knew he wasn’t pleased with my instructor (he tried to kick her while I was riding him, but that’s another story for another time) he never once tried to evade having the bridle put on.  Plus, and you’ll just have to take me at my word for this, he has the most bright eyed, pleasant expression on his face when we ride.  We can ride in a freakin monsoon and he’s as happy as a clam.  Because of all of this, I know that one day he’ll tell me he doesn’t want to ride – either by avoiding having the bridle put on, or maybe his expression won’t be so happy, but some way, some how, he’ll tell me.

But what about when you haven’t spent 15 years with a horse?  How do you know when a lesson horse is ready for retirement?  I’ve seen a lot of lesson horses over the years and the majority of them do not share my boys happy-go-lucky expression.  Which is unfortunate – both that they have to go through that and because we, the horse community, haven’t found a workable alternative wherein new riders are created without seemingly crushing the souls of lesson horses.  (Cue the stories of happy-happy lesson horses I agree, it’s possible – and certainly preferable!   The people you really want to be taking lessons from have the happiest horses.)  So how do you tell?  Is there a magical number? Does there come a point wherein it costs more to keep the lesson horse going than they’re going to bring in and thus it’s time to give them away to be a lawn ornament? (And I mean that in the best way possible.)

How will you know when your horse is ready for retirement?

Quick edit: I just got permission to use the persons original email in this post but can’t take too much time adding it while at work! So here’s her original email:

Well I may be worried over nothing, but my question is about an older mare not trying to get up after she tripped and fell to her knees at the end of a lesson.

She’s a 27 year-old mare who has taught everyone younger than she is at the barn how to ride. She’s in great shape, minimal arthritis in one of her hind legs and is still pretty darn active. She can do everything the younger horses do. She does have some breathing problems, but they are kept under control with medication and her breathing is watched carefully during lessons and if she’s doing strenuous work, she’s given breaks more often to catch her breath.

Well, the other day she was being used in a lesson in the small arena next to the larger arena my group lesson was working in. I was stopped waiting for my turn to run the course and decided to watch the lesson over there. Well the lesson had just ended, and the kids (this was only their second lesson or so) were stopping their horses so they could get off and lead them away to get pampered. Well, just before she stopped, the mare tripped. The girl riding her did the right thing and let her have her head to catch herself. She is normally very good at catching herself, but this time she fell to her knees and stayed there. The instructor had to walk over and urge her to her feet. She just sighed and hauled herself up again. As far as I know/have seen, the mare has been normal since then.

Well, I’m rambling, but here’s my question: “Is it nothing to be alarmed about when a horse doesn’t try to get up when they fall?” I would think even if they are someplace comfortable, their instincts wouldn’t allow them to simply stay there in such a vulnerable position. Especially when they fell and didn’t voluntarily get down on their knees. Her knees didn’t seem injured and she was walking fine, so I don’t think she hurt herself. Am I just worried over nothing or could something be wrong with her?

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Your babydaddy drawls out something about a helmet or some such witch craft-voodoo-bullshit, but you know better, you’re the boys mamma!  He’s not going to fall off, the mare wouldn’t hurt a fly!  Besides, it’d ruin the artistic integrity of the photo.

See?

 Now if that isn’t a Pulitzer prize worthy photo, I don’t know what is.

Click here for the official ad, that is, until they take it down.

Golly, they’re so polite, saying hi to us all first!

CRAP! I just reread the ad and saw that it’s her dad in the picture.  So that would be his grandson on the horse.  Am I wearing the wrong glasses or does he not look old enough to have a grandson?

I would love to know how these people came to own an unbroke two year old mare.  Did they think that horses were born broke to ride?  That once they reach an appropriate height/weight/age you just throw a saddle on and off you go, riding into the sunset together?

Your kids are fighting over the one riding horse?  Tell them they should thank their lucky stars they have a horse to ride whenever they like and teach them the value of sharing!  At least until you can spend some time helping this mare learn to like the “bridal” and hopefully make her of interest to someone other than a KB. On a side note, your two year old, untrained mare doesn’t like the bridle?! I AM SHOCKED! That’s never happened before.  There must be some sort of mistake.  They must have actually meant “bridal”; as in, “she don’t like the bridal” party, those bitches be trippin’.

Aight, yo?

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Does anyone else feel that C4 Cattle Company is quite aptly named?  C4 is defined as “a type of plastic explosive” and while they may not be blowing anything up, they’re certainly doing a massive amount of damage to any and all horses unlucky enough to pass through there.  In stark contrast, Dorian Ayache’s Three Angels Farm makes you think of a rescue operation, not a KB who sends horses to one of the worst feedlots in America.

Since 2010, C4 has been investigated regarding abandoning horses rejected by Mexican slaughter plants, they are currently on the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ)’s list of pending actions (see page 113), and they’ve been cited for dumping over 50 horse carcasses in a creek bed between October 2010 and August 2011.  According to this article on Straight From the Horse’s Heart (SFTHH), there are signed statements from eye witnesses reporting “horses without food & water, and ‘non-ambulatory horses dying where they lay in puddles of mud and urine.’”  Considering this has been an ongoing case of extreme cruelty against a disturbing amount of horses, the Sheriff’s office apparently only got involved 10 months later, in August of 2011.  I know the pace of life tends to move slower the further south you go, but that is ridiculous.

How is it that these people at C4 Cattle Company are being allowed to treat horses in such a horrible, disgusting manner?  In the span of two years they have caused the deaths of over 50 horses that were dumped in a dry creek bed!  Even if we err on the side of caution and say that’s all of them.  50 horses in two years killed by one company.  I feel it still begs the obvious question: Why are they not up on charges?!  Are we that apathetic?  They’re going to slaughter anyways, why bother!  Are they giving up all pretense of humane slaughter now?

Is this really what the pro-slaughter people are arguing in favor of?  I mean, the feedlot is obviously a necessary step along the horse’s journey to being served on a plate – otherwise KBs and slaughter houses would just get rid of them; no one wants to give away a cut of their profits if they don’t have to!  But there’s obviously little to no money to be made by operating a feedlot!  Think about it for a second.  We all know it costs a hell of a lot to feed horses these days, but horse prices are in the toilet – and that includes the price per pound that slaughter houses are prepared to fork out (pun intended, if slightly off-putting).  On the other hand, wouldn’t well fed horses fetch better prices?  I guess it’s not enough to make it worthwhile to the subclass of humanoids who run these feedlots and clearly take a certain, sick pleasure in starving defenseless animals.

Either way,  the point is that we wouldn’t let individual owners get away with horses dying on their properties in these conditions – so why hasn’t the Sheriff’s office launched an investigation?  Apparently they promised to… LAST AUGUST!  According to the above SFTHH article the Sheriff even acknowledged the receipt of a complaint and “confirmed that 2 cruelty investigations were ongoing”.  Come on Barney Fife!  How long does it take to investigate?!  What’s this? No one knows if there is, in fact, an ongoing investigation into C4 Cattle Company?  So I guess the money that would have otherwise been spent to feed these poor horses is being used to line the pockets of some politically minded individuals.

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