Update on Credit Card
May 08 2012
This is just a quick post – an announcement really. Had to make sure everyone heard the good news!
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.
Grown men barrel racing… minis?
May 07 2012
I recently did a post over on Snarky Rider that sparked a leeeetle bit of controversy with regards to riding minis. For some reason, silly, naive me, thought I had featured two uncaring, uneducated (hopefully) individuals and that they were a fair representation of the asshat adults who feel it’s alright to ride miniature horses. Boy, was I wrong!
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.
Ready for Retirement?
May 04 2012
A reader emailed me last night with a question about the behaviour of a school horse that she had witnessed. This school horse is a 27 year old mare and has been given lessons and taking care of youngsters for quite some time. She’s apparently very well cared for and her age/fitness level is taken into consideration during her lessons. However, the other day, at the end of a lesson, the mare tripped to her knees and didn’t get up right away. In fact, the mare stayed on her knees until the instructor came over to urge her to get up.
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?
Two year old on a two year old
May 03 2012
Did you ever wake up and think to yourself, hey, my toddler should learn how to ride. He’s clearly mastered the art of walking – well, for the most part – so why not throw him atop a horse? But then, to your great dismay, you look around only to find no trained horses! Rather than miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity, you set eyes upon your two year old filly and think to yourself, “Gawsh, it’s about time that lazy-ass mare earn her keep.” So you holler at your babydaddy to get the saddle, cinch it on up and, finding that the filly isn’t really phased by this thing on her back, you grab your kidlet and up he goes!
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?
Back in January there was an incident wherein a trailer belonging to Dorian Ayache of Three Angels Farm overturned on the I-40 west of Nashville. There were 38 horses on board that trailer, 3 of which had to be euthanized after the accident. The driver of the truck informed news crews that he was on his way to Presidio, Texas – although, Mr. Ayache denied this, stating that the horses were actually going to Oklahoma to be rehomed. I bring this up because Animal Angels have recently filed a report against C4 Cattle Company, a feedlot in Presidio, TX that is known to have worked with Ayache both in the past and a lot more recently.
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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