Posts Tagged ‘backyard breeders’
Why idiots shouldn’t own horses
Three year old paint not broke wild stud .This one has all his oats .The meek need not inquire .Raised this colt from birth will let you pet him and feed him thats about it .Cant get any more honest.Needs EVERYTHING.$100.00 CASH ONLY .SERIOUS INQIURES BY EMAIL THANK YOU PRICE IS FIRM.
It’s idiots like this guy (Yes, I’m making what some may call an “assumption”, that the seller is male. I, however, prefer to think of it as a logical deduction based upon past experience of reading lots and lots and lots of craigslist ads!) who create problem horses and then dump them. To clarify, for anyone out there who’s thinking of getting into breeding: “raising” a horse involves putting more training into the horse than just petting and feeding. (Please read the following as if in a loud, fake, stage whisper) Psst! Neither of those require any training or effort. Your horse is likely feral because you put so very little time or effort into him. From the rest of the horse-world: thanks a ton, you giant douchebag.
It’s sad because this little guy looks like he may be cute. That is to say there’s no overt fugliness; no weiner-dog-esque back, his hind legs don’t appear to be camped under… aaand that’s all we can guess at based on the photos. But, considering what typically passes as a “suitable” stud on craigslist, this guy is a freaking GQ model! *facepalm*
I guess the one good thing you could say about this ad is that the writer freely admits the horse “needs everything”. He actually acknowledges that the horse needs work – perhaps somewhere in his subconscious, deep down, buried under sports stats and fond Playboy memories, he knows he didn’t do right by this horse.
Nice horses!!! Cheap – $100
Apparently we’re using the term “nice” to describe anything and everything these days…
“Older couple trying to sell out! Herd number got outta control selling cheap for fast results. Percheron thourobred crosses, quarter horse, and thourobred. They have 1 curly mained palimino mare very sweet 9 year old is broke to ride just been a while $100, bay mare x jump horse 15 years old registered rode 6 months ago is tenderfooted on front end $100, quarter horse mare sorrel blonde main 5 years old very pretty $100, 2 blackish fillies around two years old one real gentle one has never been handled $50 for one $75 for the other, grey stud thourobred percheron cross $50 2 year old, FREE older thourobred grey 17 hand gelding one knee bigger then the other rides just been a while, FREE older percheron mare poor, not gentle only be good for breeding, FREE arabain pony never been handled stud 3 year old.FREE crippled filly and black gelding the gelding is sweet.”
Since when do mares get pregnant, drop a foal, and get pregnant again in the span of mere weeks? Gosh, you’d think something like that would make the news. Does the accelerated aging/growth continue past birth or is it limited to in utero foals? Perhaps these people would be kind enough to explain to us how this is accomplished. And, if they haven’t already, let’s patent it and make a fortune! Hazza!
Oh no wait, we know, all of a sudden their horses spontaneously and concurrently reproduced via mitosis? Now that could generate quite the herd!
No? Not buying it? Neither are we. But honestly, those are the only scenarios we could conceive of wherein their herd numbers could get “outta control”. Given that a mare’s gestation period is approximately 11 months – how the fuck does the growth of a herd sneak up on someone and become “outta control”?
More than likely they’re just complete fucktards who have their heads so far up their own asses that they lack the basic deductive skills to calculate the following
1 stallion + 1 mare = 1 more mouth to feed
“bay mare x jump horse 15 years old registered rode 6 months ago is tenderfooted on front end $100” –WTF is a “jump horse”? THAT IS NOT A BREED! Hmm 15 year old horse with tender front feet… we’re taking bets on navicular vs. laminitis/founder - anyone want in on that action?
“grey stud thourobred percheron cross $50 2 year old” and “FREE arabain pony never been handled stud 3 year old” Good gawd, please don’t tell us they’re the sires of any of your “outta control” herd. *face palm* If they aren’t contributing to the gene pool yet they will be if they’re not rehomed soon!
“FREE older percheron mare poor, not gentle only be good for breeding”. What in that sentence makes her “good for breeding” – just because you can’t do anything with her? Over at Snarky Rider we have a saying: Just because it has a uterus doesn’t mean it needs a baby. Applies quite nicely here. Seriously, we’re going to start putting that on bumper stickers or something and start mailing it to asshats like this.
And last, but certainly not least, we unfortunately have “FREE crippled filly and black gelding the gelding is sweet”. So the crippled filly isn’t sweet? Could she perhaps be a little bit ornery because they’ve somehow crippled her? Ok, it’s a bit of a leap to assume these people are the cause of the filly’s lameness, but come on. It’s not exactly a stretch of the imagination in this case.
Why is it that people like this can’t get it into their heads that just because their horse isn’t suited for the show ring doesn’t mean they should be popping out babies! A fugly, useless mare is not magically transformed into a useful horse when you have it impregnated. All you’ve succeeded in doing is compounding the problem. In 11 months you’ll have 2 useless mouths to feed! You know what’s sad? These people are apparently an older couple – they should know better. In our society, age is somehow equated with wisdom – presumably the assumption stems from people gathering life experiences as they age and learning from them, however, this is clearly not always the case. People like this serve as nothing more than a reminder that we should always think for ourselves and be very careful who we choose as role models.
Damn, that got a little preachy. Oh well 
The Slaughter Debate
Going through the many, many submissions for the FHOTD writer’s job, a theme very quickly became apparent. Horse slaughter and the recent change in US law are very popular topics (forgive us, but; duh). It’s funny, because before we even started going through all the emails, we were making big plans for our first post. We wanted to address something topical and a little controversial, something that would really fire up a good debate. We wanted a topic that we felt strongly about. You guessed it – we were going to write about horse slaughter!
Since reading all the submissions, instead we’re going to throw this one out to the other writers who were hoping to contribute to Fugly. There were a lot of well written articles submitted. From those we’ve chosen two that we feel took an original approach to the topic.
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This first piece is by The Naughty Tobiano.
The Black Market Horse Meat Industry—Could Domestic Slaughter STOP this Atrocity?
While the debate of should horses be slaughtered has been a very hot, hot topic since the late 1990s; and it’s heating up even more with Obama’s signing of a bill that would repeal the ban on USDA inspectors essentially making it legal to slaughter horses again the U.S. except for in CA and IL. Both sides are vehemently arguing their points.
The anti-slaughter side argues that slaughtering a horse is inhumane and cruel as horses have souls and feelings; and that they should be considered pets or companion animals—not livestock. They point fingers at the breeding industry, back yard breeders, incentive programs offered by registries, and the money hungry horse dealers who only see $$$$$. They demand more laws, in some cases suggesting restrictions on who gets to own a horse is the answer. Others state a “foal tax” is the answer.
However, many of the horses standing in kill pens waiting to die are in the prime of their life: 8-15 yr olds, born BEFORE the ban on USDA inspectors went into effect. It is this point as well as some of the suffering slaughter bound horses face that have many pro-slaughter advocates suggesting Obama’s signature was a good thing. They argue the horses are suffering in Canadian and Mexican slaughter houses where the method of slaughter is NOT regulated. Evidence suggests horses’ throats are slit and the butchering begins before they are dead. The pro-slaughter side argues they want to lessen the suffering of horses that are presently bound for slaughter by tightly controlling the manner in which horses are treated at the new “equine processing plants” and ensure the slaughter is humane. They further cite how re-opening slaughter will reduce the unwanted horse population and restore the once lucrative economic market that the horse industry brought to all parts of the U.S.
Some people worry about the BLM mustangs. Some people worry about the race horses.
There is another argument that has little to do with the welfare of horses but instead focuses on the human consumption element of horse slaughter.
One anti-slaughter argument points to repeated European bans on U.S. horse meat (http://www.pennsylvaniaequestrian.com/news/EU-ban-1009.php ; http://www.foodproductiondaily.com/Quality-Safety/Tainted-US-horse-meat-puts-world-consumers-at-risk-welfare-body ) and state that it is ethically wrong for the U.S. to slaughter horses and export the meat when many American horses have been treated with medicines that clearly state on the label “not intended for use in horses for human consumption”. On the flip side, reports are showing there is little evidence that bute , ivemectrin, pyrantel, and other equine drugs stay in the horse’s system long enough to cause harm to humans. The paleo diet movement actually encourages horse meat, stating that humans were meant to eat horse: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/horse-meat/
But there is a much, much darker side to the unavailability of domestically processed and inspected meat: the black market for horse meat.
The following links are actual news stories concerning a growing problem in Southern Florida. Horses are being STOLEN and butchered on the side of the road, often while still alive, to supply meat for the black horsemeat market.
WARNING…….The videos are graphic and photos horrific.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61rD3rBC2L4&feature=related
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6478115
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7VMcna1PAE
Though presently focused on a trend in Florida only, is black market horse meat reaching other ethnic communities around the U.S.? Though it appears the killers for this market are sticking to a small locality of Florida, what makes people think the horse meat is not traveling through the underground market to other states with heavy populations of Hispanic communities. Furthermore, is the desire for horsemeat reserved for the Hispanic culture or are other ethnic groups also feeding the greed of the black market.
Having said that, is it reasonable to believe that if the USDA began offering inspected, legal, domestic horse meat would the black market disappear?
This same argument has been made for the legalization of marijuana.
But….it was also made long before that in another still heated Pro Vs. Anti fight: Abortion. Prior to the legalization of abortion, thousands of women died while having an illegal abortion. But, once legalized, the back alley, black market diminished and women could safely make the choice concerning their own body.
Could this rationale not be applied to the black market for horse meat? Is it not reasonable to assume that IF people who wanted to eat horse meat due to their culture or their own personal health beliefs had access to a safe, legal source the black market would essentially disappear?
Obviously the current situation is grim as there are repeated reports of horses being stolen and simply disappearing. The anti-slaughter side points their fingers to the current “kill buyers” but I sincerely have my doubts that the dealers who sell to the feed lots are all running around Southern Florida snatching up family’s beloved horses? Why would they when there is a myriad of FREE ones on craigslist just a short trailer ride from many auction houses and feed lots.
So…..would the black market crumble if horse meat were domestically available? No matter how many videos of a captive bolt coming down on a horse I see, I cannot compare it to the terror and pain a horse like Geronimo suffered at the hands of the butchers who took him from his barn and tortured him just a half a mile from his family.
It may be a very distasteful thing to think about; but, under tightly regulated USDA supervised situations, could humane slaughter stop this atrocity?
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Check back tomorrow for another submission on this issue.
Clyde the Wonder Stud
It’s been mentioned a few times, and we’ve received a few emails requesting it as well, so we’ve taken the hint and have a couple of very special craigslist ads to share with you today! This is, afterall, a topic that is very dear to our hearts; one of our favorite things to post about, in fact.
Someone commented on a post yesterday that they were disappointed we hadn’t come out with anything new since their last visit and provided links to two craigslist ads as entertainment for everyone while waiting for our next post. (We want to predicate the following sentence by stating there’s no sarcasm intended!) We’re very sorry to keep you waiting! We thought we’d take those two ads and throw some of our own snarky commentary at them.
First up on the chopping block comes to us from Wisconsin. Now, there may be some people out there who are going “oh ya, Wisonsin, eh? Didn’t see that coming!” Or maybe that’s just us… Wisconsiners! You’re not helping yourself by posting this kind of crap! This is not a good advertisement of your stallion!
Breeding stock Appy Stallion – $200
“Clyde is an 11 year old Stallion. Not Broke not Registered. No training.. “
We wish we were kidding, but you can’t make this stuff up! First off, if you’re not familiar with the Appy (Appaloosa) breed, you may be wondering where his spots are. Well, it is possible for an Appaloosa to be a solid color – it’s not very common, and certainly not what the breed is known for, but it happens. From wiki: “Not every Appaloosa exhibits visible coat spotting, but even apparently solid-colored horses that carry at least one dominant LP allele will exhibit characteristics such as vertically striped hooves, white sclera of the eye, and mottled skin around the eyes, lips, and genitalia.”
Next we have the two excellent selling points the current owner thoughtfully included: “not broke” and “not registered”. There are just so many things to be said about this horse not being broke to ride that we’re unsure where to start! Is he unbroke because you’re lazy or because there’s an underlying medical cause? Or perhaps the horse is barely halter broke and is too dangerous for anyone but an honest-to-goodness, bronc ridin’ cowboy to break? Next to being unbroke the fact that he’s unregistered pales in comparison. Sure it brings to mind the question of whether the owner was too lazy vs. the horse actually being unregisterable – which brings up one last question to ponder (and also kind of sums up the ad as a whole): What exactly about this horse makes him viable “breeding stock”?!
Our next contestant is another stallion, this time an AQHA.
AQHA STALLION must go soon – $2250
“needs a new home. he is a good horse. sweet in all ways and rides too. very nice blood lines. owner having twin boys and no time for the horse. grandson of KAY CEE LEAGURE. “
First of all, we’d like to commend the owners on their bravery in including that particular photo in the ad. It’s rare these days for people to have enough self-confidence to say ”who cares” to the world and showcase their potentially beautiful stud in a puddle of water so frakking deep you can’t see his hooves. You really have to have a “who gives a flying f#(%”-type attitude to show the world that you feel it’s ok to keep your horse (we hope it’s not horses) in these sorts of conditions. Hell, maybe they used this photo because the water successfully hides his feet (toes so long they make him look like he’s on skis?) and his head/neck hides his front legs completely. Then again, if you follow horsey news you can easily believe this stud has it better than lots of other horses out there. At least he has food and water! Perhaps it’s all a matter of perspective. Oi, now we’re depressed. Moving on.
This boy has all you could ever want in a stud! He’s “a good horse” and he’s “sweet” – and not just in one way, in all ways! (bonus!). As if that wasn’t enough, he also rides! Awkward phrasing aside, this is actually where he’s heads and tails above Clyde (sorry Clyde, the truth hurts).
And now for the obvious: NEITHER AD MENTIONS HEIGHT AND ONLY ONE OF THEM MENTIONS AGE! But hey, don’t sweat it sellers, just because those details are among the first that most people fill out on those fancy-schmancy horse selling websites, doesn’t mean they’re important! Minor details, clearly. Only some people actually find them noteworthy.
*head desk*
Totally Predictable Outcome but…Just Add Drama!
Texas Prison Horses May be on One Way Trip to the Mexican Border
I just want to make sure you are all sitting down now, because I know you are all going to be shocked and stunned that a bunch of grade Quarter Horse-Percheron mixes just went to kill. In fact, allow me to put on my Madame Cleo hat and psychically determine that they weren’t ridden through the auction. I am gonna bet you the “culls” were halter broke at best and presented themselves pretty much like a herd of wild, fugly buffalo at the auction. And they went to kill…NO SHIT, REALLY??? OMG! What will happen next, Lindsey Lohan getting caught with drugs or something???
This is, seriously, one of the dumbest horse-related articles I’ve ever read. They brag about the horses’ bloodlines dating back to the 1800′s. Dude, every single horse’s bloodlines date back to fifty million years ago or so when Eohippus walked the earth. So what? Mere age or a recording of pedigree does not make bloodlines valuable. THEY’RE NOT WINE!
If anyone had done two minutes of research online, they’d have realized:
1) There was no need to breed draft crosses for prison guards to ride. AMERICA IS FULL OF THEM thanks to our overpopulation of douchebag “sport horse” breeders who think every mix between a light horse and a draft horse purchased at the local auction is Olympic bound, despite the fact that their horses’ primary skill is knocking their breeder ass-over-teakettle when s/he tries to walk through the pasture carrying a bucket.
2) Although, while we’re on the subject, why are all your prison guards 300 lbs.? It is time for Weight Watchers at Work, not bigger horses.
3) If you are sending 100 culls to auction every year, guess what, MOST are going to kill. Again, allow me to guess that you are not “culling” the ones that are rideable and usable. You’re sending off stuff you thought wasn’t good enough to train, or stuff you couldn’t get trained. Why the dramz now? Is this the first time someone noticed? Uh-oh buuuuusted. Sort of plays hell with your P.R. that this is some sort of genetically perfect herd. Puhleeese. It is a herd of a whole lot of Nothing Special. Some of them may become well broke enough to have a value as riding horses for larger people or hunting pack horses, but without the training (which, again, I doubt you put on the ones you dump at auction), they are worth about sixty cents a pound.
You need to get your heads out of your butts and look beyond the razor wire at the real world once in a while. There is no need whatsoever to produce a ton of supersized grade QH crosses. You could easily mount your guards on draft crosses from RESCUES. Truly, it is not that hard to find untrained brick shithouses with short backs and no withers if that is your ideal. I really doubt any of your inmates are that desperately in need of any lessons about the miracle of life from watching mares foal; most of them are probably way behind on their own child support. So why don’t you set a good example and STOP BREEDING GRADE CRAP instead of acting all traumatized and stunned when the low end of your grade crap breeding program very predictably winds up on the double-decker to Hell? I mean, what was wrong with making license plates…if you made too many of THOSE, nobody got hurt!
P.S. Texas taxpayers…so this is what you’re stuck funding, a backyard breeding program to produce unwanted horses that wind up going to kill? Um…I’d be pissed!
For those of you who love grays, check out this lovely young mare at Mid-Atlantic Horse Rescue in Maryland!
