Posts Tagged ‘AQHA’
Stop. Just F*#$(ng Stop.
“7 year old bay broodmare(Has Pappers) – $200 – I have a bay broodmare for sale. Her name is Chinowa. I bought her for $250 for a riding horse but I rode her and a month later I found out she was lame. If I do not ride her then she is not lame but if I ride her then she is lame in bolth frount feet. She is good size and well taken care for. She can live in any invierment. She is papperd and healthy. She would make a great foal. She is QHPA. It hurts me so much and I love her but I cant afford to keep a horse I cant ride. If she is not sold by April 7th then she will be put down. Please save her I cant see a good horse like her go to wast. You can trailer or I can. If I trailer then there will be a cost of gas.”
Stop telling us that your horse is going to be put down unless someone with an actual beating heart comes and buys her from you. No one’s making you do that shit and it is not a valid fucking marketing ploy. People like this make me so goddamned angry! As soon as this poor mare is sold, or shot, this person is going to go out and buy another one that she can ride! “I cant afford to keep a horse I cant ride” -see? So if the mare is rideable then she’s worth something to you. Super.
How much do you want to bet that this person hasn’t even had a vet out to try to figure out why the mare goes lame under saddle? Or maybe even a farrier?
Just how is it that she “rode her and a month later I found out she was lame”. It took her a month to figure out that wasn’t the horse’s natural gait? Maybe she thought she was pacing or some such bullshit? Sweetheart, if you ride a horse for a month and then it comes up lame, you need to get a vet out and determine what’s causing it. If you’re going to own a horse you have to be willing to properly care for it. Not just shoot them at the first sign of trouble.
Tell me, what is it about this fugly little mare that would make “a great foal”? Name one thing about her that recommends her for breeding. I dares ya! She’s apparently a “good size” – what exactly defines a “good size”? I tend to lean towards the 17hh-ers but I’m one of the few who define that as a “good size”. The mare’s also apparently “well taken care for” – umm, given the little information provided in the above ad, I tend to doubt that! “She is pappered and healthy” I haven’t the foggiest what “pappered” is (ok, that’s a lie, I’m sure she meant “papered”) but this mare sure as shit isn’t healthy! SHE’S LAME! That’s not healthy! I also tend to doubt that the writer of the ad would know what a “healthy” horse was even if it bit her on the ass (and at some point I sincerely hope some horse does!). I’m assuming by QHPA, the seller meant AQHA, perhaps the “P” stood for “pappered” in her mind?
“Please save her I cant see a good horse like her go to wast.” Oh sure you can. YOU’RE THE ONE “WAST”-ING HER! You’re doing this to her. You’re the one who has put an expiry date on her, not anyone else. It’s not up to the rest of the population to save her, she’s your responsibility.
And do us all a favor, learn to spell! GOOD GAWD I wanted to claw my eyes out!
If It Has A Uterus It Must Be A Broodmare!
Let’s have some fun today, in a twisted sort of way.
I’ve been photo hunting again, this time for broodmare prospects. With times being as tough as they are, there are a lot of really nice broodmares available for very little dough.
I’m thinking the economy is finally teaching some people to back off their breeding programs.
No matter how convinced they are that their horses deserve to be bred, having a pasture full of babies nobody will ever look at might be getting the message across.
Of course I still found plenty of these. Please note, all of these mares, except for the nicely bred bay, are the current, gotta have it colors. This is where color breeding gets you.
Make sure your hat’s on tight or your helmet is buckled, because we’re going for a ride…
not on the majority of these mares though, most of them are only halter broke.
All righty then. The only redeemable feature this AQHA perlino mare has to offer is her color. Which many people don’t like.
Maybe she’s nice, sweet tempered, could be a great ride, but nobody will ever know because she’s not broke. I doubt she’d be much fun anyway, she won’t steer with her thick neck and low tie-in, her gait will be short and choppy because of her upright shoulder and short hip. Since it would be A REALLY BAD IDEA to breed this thing, I guess you could just buy her feed and pet her coarse head.
THIS MARE IS CRIBBING IN HER SALE PHOTO!!!! ‘Nuff said.
Greetings, your Butt-Highness.
Here’s bad Foundation breeding at its finest. This 8-year-old mare’s owner listed the names of a bunch of famous, yet long dead, horses on her papers, six and seven generations back, as justification for her crappy build. They didn’t forget to add the impressive primitive dun stripes and shadows either. She’s not broke to ride, probably because the saddle kept slipping over her head.
The low tie-in on the neck and the short hip, complete with a high tail set must be in style, at least with the fancy colors. This 1992 AQHA, PHBA model has had several foals, so there’s a bunch out there just like her. It seems she was so busy popping out one baby after the other nobody ever had time to break her to ride. Now she’s 19, poorly built and has no skills. It makes me want to beat somebody.
Wait a minute, this mare is pretty cute.
She’s young and nicely bred – 9 year old mare by Shiney Spark Two X Shining Spark (3 Million Dollar NRHA Sire).
She is double bred Two Eyed Jack with Zan Par Bar and Ichibon on her papers.
The owner states, ” She is absolutely wonderful to handle in every way. Kind, meet you at the gate kind of horse. She is very well balanced, correct mare with a beautiful head, nice clean neck, great withers, and a huge hip. She is broke and gentle.
So what’s the problem? This mare has NAVICULAR. So her owner bred her and put her up for sale. The last time I checked, navicular is an inheritable trait. But hey, why not breed a few more crippled horses with good bloodlines?
Here we go again, Foundation, Hancock bred mare. She might be OK if her back end was the same size as her front end. She looks like an experiment on the Island of Dr. Moreau. She’s at least green broke, but in my experience 8-year-old green broke Hancocks can be a bit of a handful. Her breeding could be why she’s still green. Of course she’s homozygous black and the ever trendy blue roan, who cares?
I’ll close with my favorite. this CL ad said it so well I’ll let it speak for itself.
“Princess is a 14 year old chestnut mare pony. She is a standard size pony. She is halter broke, leads, is broke to ride, and quite easy to catch in the pasture.
We had the saddle on her a few Saturdays ago, and she did really good! She does need a little work with reining. (Note Dad clutching the halter-Mugly)
She stands about 12 Hands High. She would make a nice pony for anyone who has the time for her.
She has had 3 babies in the past, 2 colts and 1 filly. She is A very good brood mare.
Please give her a good home! (Cuz we sure haven’t! – Mugly)
Only Serious Buyers Inquire!
AQHA – National Promoters of Backyard Breeders
I am a QH fan, they are the breed I ride by choice and had the most success with in my career.
I am also PO’d with the American Quarter Horse Association on so many levels I can’t fit them all in one post. So I’m guessing there will be quite a few before I’ve said it all.
By then of course I’m sure the AQHA will have come up with new ways to screw its members and horses around and give me much more to write about.
My first pet peeve is the standard approach of flooding the market with the progeny of whatever the latest big winner in the show pen is.
AQHA rates the success of their studs by the money earned by their offspring. The goal is for the elite to become million dollar sires and the ultra-elite to become five million dollars and up money earners.
This comes from the life time earnings of their sons and daughters, their own winnings are in a separate category and can be unimportant as long as those babies win big.
So what’s the fastest, easiest way to get those earnings up? Breed to any cow with an owner that has with the stud fee, and hope enough cream rises to the top to get some earning on your horse.
“Own son/daughter of,” is a western term that you will see used quite often in sales jargon. The phrase comes from the need to make sure the prospective buyer understands how famous the stud is. I have seen many advertisements for studs which read, “sired by an own son of So and So, a son of Who and Where, the Gazillion Dollar Sire.”
This is a way to avoid admitting we’re already at the third generation. To the unsuspecting mare owner, this sounds really important and special.It even sounds a little like the horse they picked for their mare’s baby-daddy might have won some money too. The idea of stallion owners wanting to draw in clients this ignorant gives you an idea of how it’s not about quality, but all about quantity.
If a horse has a famous, or big money earner, on the same page, (first page of the pedigree) it is usually considered worth breeding, even if it’s never done a thing. QH people line up to breed their horses to the get of a famous stallion, sometimes several generations back. The horse will still be advertised as a “Shining Spark,” or a “Smart Chic Olena,’ even if the relationship only begins with a cousin twice removed.
This 6-year-old Shining Spark Grandson is pretty headed, shiny and so butt high he will never be able to get under himself. He is about as upright and tiny-footed as a halter horse and a walking advertisement of what’s going wrong in this industry.
This flood-the-market approach is an example of backyard breeding at it’s finest, from a single horse owner to a ranch which produces 700 foals a year. A stud with a magic name in it’s pedigree will be bred over and over again, only because of a tenuous relationship to a current favorite in the show pen. It doesn’t need a show record or to even be sound, just color and a name.
I’m sure the breeder was thrilled to get the right color…there is nothing else. At least this weak loined, slab sided Shining Spark grandson is gelded.
With the advent of artificial insemination the situation got even worse. Now the desired blood line can be sent to any gunzel with an open mare, or three, or 100.
The arrival of Hollywood Dunnit and Shining Spark on the show scene brought with it not only a high level of performance, but also a bunch of reiner wannabes looking at the pretty color. Somehow, duns and palominos began to be equated with high performance. So now, not only did the breeding plan become, “anything with a hint of the desired bloodline,” but now, “it’s gotta have color,” as well.
Here we have a Shining Spark granddaughter. Of course she’s being marketed as broodmare prospect-with guaranteed color,nobody is supposed to notice she’s as butt fugly as a bulldog chewing gum.My guess is somebody won’t and she’ll be producing the next Shining Spark Lite.
Peptoboonsmal (Pepto) is a cutting horse of unequaled success. His offspring have earned over sixteen million dollars. He is also a cool roan color, so again, the name and the color have influenced the QH industry in every direction. He has relatives all over the cutting, cow horse, reining and versatility world. Now he has progeny even showing up in the pleasure horse arena. They’re also showing up in droves on the fair to crappy list.
Performance, conformation, heartiness, good temperament – these are the hard things, the right things, to breed for. So why do we go for color and a name? It doesn’t take careful selection of good proven stock. It takes a smattering of genetics and the desire for bragging rights. Meanwhile AQHA’s pockets grow fatter and my beloved breed weaker.
Once it goes to second generation the quality of many crosses plummets, by third the horses seem to meld into pile of “meh’s” if not fuglies. Of course they will still be considered breeding prospects because of the one drop of fancy blood left in them.
Top QH’s are usually bred responsibly for the first generation, but then it’s anybody’s game. Second generation studs will be bred to more mares than the original with a lot less requirements. Third generation will be bred randomly and without thought.
Normally I would pass on a goose-rumped, short crouped thing like this, and I haven’t even gotten to the upright shoulder and stick neck. But hey, she’s a Pepto granddaughter and a roan, so she’s got to be better than she looks, right?
I’ve been told the indiscriminate breeding should strengthen the lower levels, not weaken the upper. This theory should be how it works, but it can’t if there is no careful selection of mares, or a critical eye put on the stud, no matter what side of the economic and breeding track they come from. Once ability and conformation go out the door there is no room for improvement, but there seems to be an unending availability of QH registrations. It’s getting harder to find quality QH, not easier. You’d think with all the breeding going on we’d start to get it right wouldn’t you?
AAAAUGH! My eyes! My eyes!
A Day at The Auction
I hate auctions. I hate the little ones, the big ones, the “good ones,” and especially the “bad ones.”
No matter the reputation of the sale barn, the look of terror in the horses eyes is always the same. I can only imagine how it feels to these horses, but in my mind I see a herd animal alone, a claustrophobic animal in a pit, a prey animal surrounded by the glittering eyes of predators.
Up until agreeing to take on this blog I avoided auctions like the plague.
I now feel there is a responsibility here. I’m going to have to explore the world of auctions, kill buyers and rescue at a higher level than I’ve done before.
I’m starting by attending every monthly horse sale in Calhan CO. and learning as much as I can about the process, the people, and the horses which get caught up in this horrible side of the equine world.
It will take me time to infiltrate the ins and outs of this dumping ground for animals which spend their lives pressed into our service, but I plan on sharing each step of the way.
I attended my first sale in many years while researching a column last winter. Most of the horses were pretty darn fugly. There were late summer/early fall born foals, old broodies, broken down kid horses and lots of lame ones. Their weight went from pretty good to starving.
This month’s auction was a whole different story.
I was reminded of an article I covered on the housing market and foreclosures a few years back. It was explained to me foreclosures generally went in three waves.
The first wave is comprised of the people already on the edge. Folks who could barely keep up their payments,or had over mortgaged themselves, or had managed to land a loan they couldn’t afford to keep.
The second wave was made up of houses owned by people who lost their jobs and didn’t have the savings to ride the wave, or the people who had to move and couldn’t sell their homes. Young people owning their first house were hit the hardest.
The third wave was where the tale of the current economy would unfold. In this wave the houses being foreclosed on were owned by long term home owners who had managed to hang on for quite a while. These were the homes of responsible people who had standard loans, emergency funds and good solid credit. They were the people who had hung on by their toenails until they couldn’t hang on any more.
This auction was the third wave.
All of the horses, except one poor old dude horse, were in good flesh, most had healthy feet and a well cared for appearance. They weren’t just broke, most had some quality training, some had a lot. By their demeanor and patient acceptance of the situation they were in the horses seemed like they had been appreciated and treated well until now, some had obviously been loved.
The kill buyers sat on their hands, waiting for the loose stock. I don’t know how that went, I was too shook to stay and watch. I’m going to get to where I can make it to the end, but I didn’t last week.
This first horse was the high sale of the day at $1350. He was a Silky Fox, Dry Doc,2006 AQHA gelding. I saw a little soreness in his left front, it could have been why he was being sold or it could have been from his newly trimmed feet.
If I had been looking for a sharp looking riding horse I would have taken the chance. He had a great handle on him and had been used in the cattle yard for the previous eight days.
This bothered me on so many levels I can’t keep count. These little boys were selling their ponies because they outgrew them.
I have no problem with teaching our children to accept the realities of horse ownership and I have no problem with selling a horse when the situation calls for it.
But taking two loved ponies to the local sale? This father is teaching his boys to dump their pets when they no longer want them. He’s devaluing a relationship he should have been nurturing and teaching these boys a callousness they don’t need or deserve.
For the money they made, $45 and $50 consecutively, I would think the ponies could have been given to another set of ranch kids who needed to get started in the horse world. Teaching these boys to pass on their pets to a good home with, oh I don’t know, an agreement to either rehome them in another good place when the next set of kids outgrew them, or to give them back, would have gone a long way to teaching these boys real responsibility, with a little bit of kindness thrown in.
The boy with the chestnut was proud and cold through the whole sale, his brother spent the whole afternoon holding back tears.
I wanted to own this gelding. A flea-bitten gray 7-year-old grade ranch horse, he was neither a color I’m fond of or the build I look for. It didn’t matter. He was soft, kind, solid and calm. Broke to death, he turned with precision and kept one ear on the crowd and the other on his rider through the entire bidding process. I fell a little bit in love.
He was lucky, he was picked up by a family for $375.
I NEEDED this AQHA yearling filly so bad I got sick to my stomach. She is everything I look for in a prospect. From her kind eye, friendly and calm nature, to her build and color, I wanted this horse. Being a grown-up and aware of my income realities I sat and watched her go for $120.
This palomino 2009 AQHA registered stud colt was kind of halter broke. He sold for $240.What would he have brought if he was gelded and handled?
Finally, watching the sale of these three horses just tore me up. At first I was inclined to laugh at the old guy who rode them in. I didn’t get the tiny little saddle at all.
Then I watched his face as he rode his lovely, broke-to-ride broodmares, and saw the sadness going deeper with every low bid.Every time someone raised the bid another five dollars he winced, as if he was being struck between the shoulders.He stayed steady and showed his horses well.
The single mare was a 1993 registered saddlebred mare. She had a successful show career on the east coast and had had 7 healthy foals. She sold for $250.
The mare and colt were registered NSH. The 9-year-old mare had been used on his ranch, she would work cattle, was solid on the trail, and could be roped off of. Her colt was a gelded yearling and champion sired. He was started using Parelli methods and was gentle and easy to catch.
Histories and papers were in order.
The mare sold for $500, her colt for $135.
At the end of the bidding the old man rubbed his colt’s neck and we could see him say, “I’m going to miss you.”
His shoulders slumped and he couldn’t find the gate to leave the arena. He left his tiny little saddle in the dirt.
Other horses I noted and didn’t get photos of:
17-year-old john mule, broke to pack, not ride. $25.
Cute, sound 3-year-old green broke grade gelding, broke to pack in the mountains. $195
10-year-old,trail broke in the mountains, dun BLM mustang, complete with stripes and frosting in his “Spirit” mane. $150. – So much for government protection.
Thin, 17-7ear-old palomino dude horse gelding. $95
One owner, 15-year-old Dash for Cash barrel racer. Severe arthritis in her knees. Does this make you as sick as it does me? $150
Very fat, broke and foundered AQHA 1998 mare. Her breeding saved her, she’s a Rocky Mountain Major daughter. Now she gets to go on with a life in pain, just like a Pez dispenser,popping out one baby after another that nobody will buy. $750.
One bright spot: There was a total of 63 horses sold. The monthly numbers have been dropping steadily over the past year. Are things starting to finally even out? I hope so.
Equine Affaire 2011
Sorry for the non-Californians but I want to take today to discuss this year’s Equine Affaire and some things that I saw there, and hopefully hear from others who were there as well — I want to hear what you thought of these presentations (and other ones I didn’t get to see).
After we got done shopping (aka staring in wonder at the $189 Chris Cox Speshul Bridle and wondering who is dumb enough to buy one…it’s a fricken’ training bridle with a snaffle and cord reins, $189, seriously wtf…) and eating and browsing around, we wanted to get good seats in the main arena, so we headed inside in time to watch Jeff Cook’s clinic on correct position for the jumper ring. I’ve never seen Jeff present before, and I have to say, he is probably one of the best hunter-jumper people I’ve ever listened to. He has a great eye and the ability to explain to the student in a way that works…I saw for myself how the four riders were able to make adjustments and improve their rides even in the high-pressure situation of being watched by so many people at a horse expo. There was one girl who was on a big, feisty warmblood (I think) who had clearly lost his pea brain about the entire Equine Affaire experience. Her name was Elizabeth, and I gotta say, Elizabeth, you are a good rider and I give you credit for not getting off. I also give you credit for staying on when he tried to dart the opposite way that you were going and you lost your stirrups. It is nice to see that whoever trained you did not neglect the basics, so they get kudos too.
Jeff got on Elizabeth’s case for needing to be more subtle with her hands but, hey, I totally get it. I’d have been scared shitless on that horse — he was totally giving off the I’m-a-powderkeg-and-I’m-Gonna-Blow vibe. But ultimately Jeff was right, of course. The more you ride off your seat (and fortunately for Elizabeth, she HAS a great seat) and legs, and the less off your hands, the more that Pea Brain is gonna settle down and do something constructive with his energy. And he is a beautiful, athletic horse. Now, there was another girl who really needs to scale back and work on her flatwork, because her horse was repeatedly jumping her out of the tack and that was way scarier to watch that Pea Brain, because at least I knew the girl on Pea Brain could handle him.
As for Alyssa, I just gotta say, her horse is ADORABLE. I wanted to kiss his nose the whole time, and she rode him well despite his occasional high-spirited airs above the ground. If you were watching this presentation, I think it was a good example of a horse who was in a lot of bit but it was a good idea. Because Alyssa isn’t harsh with her hands, the gag bridle was merely a way to get adjustability when she needed it. I agreed with Jeff when he said she wouldn’t need it forever. Right now it’s a way for this horse to get into the habit of listening to Alyssa. I’d much rather see more bit like this than another horse in the group who was totally running off in a snaffle, rooting and diving and having a huge tug-of-war with his rider. Really, if they video’d this and you can get your hands on it, and you jump, watch it. I couldn’t have agreed more with every single comment he made, and he was very good at actually explaining things. Some people are brilliant riders themselves but useless at explaining. This guy has a real talent as an instructor.
The Extreme Cowboy Race is always fun to watch, and I liked everything about this year’s winner. His name is Greg Robinson and he was riding an adorable, very high quality AQHA stallion called Smart Spooks Playboy. His ride was really pretty fricken’ flawless, but it wasn’t just that. It was that this little horse was as happy and quiet of a horse as I’ve ever seen. Although he was absolutely broke-to-death with killer reining spins and a slide stop to die for, there were no sour behaviors. He looked like he was having a blast, and when they were done, Greg snuggled that horse as bad as I snuggle my VLC. 
So I got home and went to his site and I realized that he was a rather rare thing: A clinician who CAN ACTUALLY WIN SHIT. Witness the list of accomplishments:
Well, THAT Is a step in the right direction, isn’t it? Here is Greg riding the horse in a reining competition.
You think the world might be getting smarter, and people might actually start spending money on training and clinics with guys like Greg who can actually accomplish something, as opposed to the sea of posers who have never put so much as a ROM on a horse? We can hope, I guess!
The rest of the competitors were a pretty awesome bunch, too. I was particularly taken with the prettiest blue roan AQHA stallion I have EVER seen. He came in 4th. Everyone I was with said the same thing – what the hell, it’s a PRETTY blue roan, how did THAT happen? We are so used to seeing the hammerheaded Hancocks with the long backs. This horse was a freaking KNOCKOUT…big hip, gorgeous head, great legs, just pretty as the day is long, and of course super athletic and well broke to take 4th in the competition. His name is Dry Doc’s Blue Cowboy. See, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a certain color, I just want it to look like THIS…
Not like THIS…
Fair enough?
Finally, while we all think it is great that the Equine Affaire sells beer, when you start telling everybody behind me really loudly that a standing martingale is a tie-down and only the ones with rings are martingales, that is gonna make this blog. You are wrong – one is a standing martingale and one is a running martingale. A tie-down is a piece of western equipment that generally bears little or no resemblance to a hunt seat martingale. You’re welcome
