Posts Tagged ‘free horses’
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 
Wah! Wah! I broke it! I want a new one!
From the Eugene, Oregon Craigslist comes this ad, written by someone I’m fairly sure has a lower I.Q. than the poor horse unfortunate enough to currently be in her possession:
“I have a older Quater horse Gelding that I got a few days ago that is 18-24 years of age. He is very sweet loves attention and has good manners for the most part. He was fine to ride before I got him but we have notice he got Lamanitse and is coming out of it but his hind area nerves are not healing up which is causing his back legs not funtion 100% so he is now unable to be ridden. He does have a sway back but it doesnt bother him at all. He doesnt seem to be in anykind of pain unless weight or a lot of pressure is applied to his hind area. He is a great kids horse and has been around dogs and other horses. He just needs a loving home who can give him attention and love and where he can be a pasture pet. He doesnt eat a whole lot, is up to date on his worming and shots, will load in tralior with a lil fuss picks up feet with lil fuss, but most of all he is very easy going and sweet. I would like to place him soon as I cant keep a horse as a pasture pet that I cant do trail ridding or any sort of ridding with and I wish I could afford to keep him and get another horse but I just cant. If you would like more information please contact me by email or you may txt me at 541-XXX-XXXX. Thanks for looking”
I found that her name is Rachel. Rachel, did it ever occur to you before you got a horse to do a little research about horses or their care? Or did you think you were buying a fucking golf cart that you just had to put gas in? I can’t figure out if you didn’t REALIZE he was laminitic before you got him and/or they had him buted up, or if you managed to founder him in the few days you have owned him and ruin him for good, but guess what, sunshine, this is YOUR responsibility. Cowgirl up and at least have the decency to euthanize the horse that you broke, instead of putting him on Craigslist for a kill buyer to get. And if you think you can tell who is a kill buyer, you are even dumber than your spelling skills would suggest.
The Saga of the 52 Thoroughbreds
I must begin this blog entry with this information:
I know some of you just got this, but the horses have been placed. There is no need to post about them ANYMORE. It is over.
In case you SOMEHOW have been in a coma for three days and missed it, here is the original posting
Now, let’s review the whole clusterfuck of a situation and discuss what we think is true and what isn’t. I have determined the following: Someone is lying. I’m smart like that. 
Indisputable fact #1: Dr. Stearns really did die. R.I.P.
Indisputable fact #2: Dr. Stearns really did have a lot of Thoroughbreds, and his survivors were uninterested in continuing his breeding program.
Now the story begins to diverge. The person who takes responsibility for the posting is Lynn Boggs, per this article today in The Horse. The story Boggs tells is that Dr. Stearns son did indeed intend for the horses to go to auction if they weren’t placed within a week:
“After Sterns’ son dismantled his father’s breeding and racing farm, he gave Boggs and her boyfriend, Jerry Noss, a week to find homes for the 52 horses. He planned to send any unadopted animals to auction.”
Man, he dismantled that farm FAST if his dad died on January 27th!
Boggs then backpedals (probably because Dr. Stearns son is ready to sue her ass, how much do you want to bet?) and says she never mentioned slaughter. But she doesn’t seem to have a problem with the fact that this made its way into the posting as it traveled around the ‘net, and seems to have decided the threat of The Truck was a pretty damn good marketing method.
“Although Boggs avoided mentioning “slaughter” in her original posting, subsequent posts by other concerned parties mentioned this as a possibility, should the horses not find new homes. “I didn’t want to say slaughter; I hate that word,” she said, noting she didn’t believe they would have that end. She thinks the post gained even more momentum when the word “slaughter” entered the description.”
1. I hate the word? Um, I hate the act. How can you hate the word? That’s stupid.
2. Of course they were gonna ship to kill, they were a whole shit-load of Thoroughbreds that were going to go to auction in Ohio in the middle of winter. Where the hell else were they gonna go- the garden shed? Maybe a handful would have gotten into actual homes.
3. You think it gained momentum when the ax was raised over the horses’ heads? Yeah, so do Chri$ty and $am. You guys ought to hold a horse marketing seminar.
The problem with threatening slaughter if horses are not placed is that somebody has to be the bad guy. In an attempt to learn the actual truth, Katie Merwick of Second Chance Ranch called the vet clinic old Dr. Stearns used to practice at and asked them. They told the following version:
“They ALL went to other owners/trainers and members of the racing community. These were very well bred, healthy horses. All have good homes. They were never, ever at any risk of slaughter. The son has worked tirelessly with the community to get the horses into safe homes. This is per the manager of the veterinary clinic.”
So the reason I am blogging about this today is so that we can play the eternally popular game: WHO IS THE LIAR HERE? Is it Ms. Boggs, who slandered Mr. Stearns by painting him as an eeevil guy about to send his deceased father’s horses to kill and painted herself as a heroine? Or is it Mr. Stearns, who really WAS going to send the horses to kill except for Ms. Boggs’ Internet blitz which saved their lives? I know that if we talk about this long enough, the insiders will crawl out of the woodwork and the truth will come out — it always does!
Here’s what I really want: I want a list of the Stearns horses, so we can Internet stalk them and see if they wind up at Sugarcreek or another auction after all. Who has got that? One possibility that has come to my mind — maybe I’m just a skeptic — is that these horses are being quietly shuttled off to auction anyway. I mean, how the hell do you place 52 horses in a couple of days? Really? Who has them? Can we track this? Where did they go?
I know everybody wants to believe the fairytale that FACEBOOK SAVED 52 THOROUGHBREDS! but you guys know, I live in the land of reality and skepticism…and I want to hear what really happened here!
You can always tell winter’s coming
When you start seeing these ads!
Must Sell, No Food For Winter!
In case it is flagged, here is the text. Be adults (even if you aren’t) and don’t crank call the owner. Only call if you’re serious about offering a home and can keep your temper in check. Anything else is pointless and likely to help the horses get onto a double-decker faster. You can’t fix stupid and you CAN get in trouble with the law if you are perceived as making threats or harassing someone. Don’t be even dumber than the dude who can’t feed his horses.
“MUST SELL NO FOOD FOR THE WINTER!!! Quarter Horse Buckskin Mare. 6 yrs old, has been used as a trail horse. This mare has been ridden at the big Carolyn ride a few years ago. Was registered but I never got the papers She is truly worth taking a look at her! $100.00
Also, a 2 yr old Warm Blood. Not gelded. Has had a saddle as a yearling and we have lead children around on him. Asking $400.00 will consider all offers.
I am posting this for the neighbor next door so please refer to his phone # for any questions or make an appointment to come and see them. Emails will not be answered. Wausau Area
Phone Josh at 715-370-0555″
A rescuer friend of mine got a call yesterday from some folks who wanted her to take a mare off their hands because she was skinny because of the four month old foal at her side. And they couldn’t afford the vet because they had just taken in two other mares, one of them pregnant!
Cheeseandrice, people, I am the farthest thing from Suze Orman but can’t any of you fucking COUNT? Especially you, Josh in Wisconsin. Hay is still pretty freaking cheap in Wisconsin, so to feed two horses all winter is only going to be about $100 a month. YOU CAN’T COME UP WITH $100 A MONTH? Then why did you EVER think you could own horses to begin with???
And the colt isn’t gelded so dollars to donuts that mare is expecting a grade some sort of funky part warmblood part quarter horse foal. AWESOME. Because apparently you coudn’t come up with $100 to geld him WHICH WOULD HAVE PREVENTED THE CREATION OF ANOTHER MOUTH TO FEED.
Who is going to feed all of these mouths? Not the rescues. The rescues are only capable of absorbing a little over 10% of the horses being dumped these days.
Someone said in an article recently that the backyard breeders aren’t the ones responsible for the glut of horses. I think they are, because I think horses like these wind up in bad situations at a much greater rate than horses from a quality program even if the quality program is still breeding way too many horses for today’s market. Let’s face it, if you can have a free registered show quality horse or one of these, which are you going to choose to open your empty stall to? Odds are it’ll be the first one. Heck, I know of a Bey Shah/Ivanhoe Tsultan grandson, freaking CUTE and sound, up for grabs. You can e-mail me if you’re interested and near Washington state.
It’s sad, and it’s only October…much more to come. And lots of foals being born this spring with absolutely no home waiting for them and no guarantee their mom will even live long enough to nurse them. Plenty of horses still showing up in the kill pens. Don’t like that? Spay, neuter and geld. Offer to pay for gelding if you have a neighbor like Josh. It’ll be $100 well spent and you’ll feel better!
(Or take your $100 and go get that mare. Honestly, that one is WAY too nice to go to kill, papers or not.)
Show us why YOU don’t get burned out!
Someone asked yesterday how you can be involved in rescue and not get burned out by all the negative things you see, and all of the animals you cannot help. I thought about it, and it gave me an idea for today’s thread.
I don’t get burned out because I pay attention to the positive outcomes. Let me give you an example. In October or November of 2008, a lady named Kerri Regimbal found out about two broodmares that had been abandoned on a breeding farm in Yakima, Washington and were heading to Chuck the kill buyer’s on the weekend if no one took them. Kerri took the time out of her day to put pictures of the mares on the Free Speech message board (the ex-FHOTD forum). Now, I hardly ever read that board, but I just happened to be particularly bored and clicked on the link that day to see a perky-eared adorable picture of a mare who looked just like an old mare I’d loved and had to put down a few months earlier. Well, we all know that’s a sign, right?  I decided to take the mare, registered name Thai’s My Mama, although she was 23 years old, probably hadn’t been ridden since the track and I knew her chances of finding a home were poor. So what. I had that moment where something in a picture called my name and said, hey, YOU, I’m way too cute to be a sandwich. So I called my friend Karen Vermilion and asked her if she’d board a horse for me until spring, since it’s not safe to haul over the mountains in Washington in the winter with a trailer. She said she would. She hung on to Thai until Spring 2009 and then I brought her home. Thai turned out to be quite a nice ride, green but sweet, and the cute face wasn’t an act – it came with an equally adorable personality. She made silly faces when you scratched her. She nickered adorably for her mush and her treats. I rode her in a halter, and my friend Sara came out and put some more rides on her with tack.
Well, believe it or not, I met someone last fall who mentioned that her daughter and son in law had a little farm and wanted a rescue horse. Of course I marched into it with my usual skepticism, but these people were serious. The older daughter had been in lessons for a year, and they didn’t balk a bit when I made them replace all of their fence and clean up every possible hazard in their yard to horse-proof it. They were fine with the idea that the mare would need company and promptly acquired two little alpacas from someone in money trouble who needed to rehome them. Everything looked great, and they came out to meet the mare at my trainer’s — where she promptly threw a grand scale, classic Thoroughbred hissy fit the likes of which I had never previously seen from her in the cross-ties.
Oh…yeah. I never did try to cross-tie her before, did I? We didn’t have them at home. Oops.
I was sure this was a deal breaker, even though I got on her afterward and rode her around on a long rein and she was perfect. Most people are not going to be interested in dragging home a 24 year old that just stood on her hind legs like hi-ho Silver and broke a pair of cross ties in front of them. Well, I was wrong. They understood she had only been reacting to a new place and a different way of tying and they decided to adopt her anyway. And they have been absolutely great adopters! That mare lives like a queen. The mom has dedicated herself to becoming a horse expert, reading this blog as well as other resources I recommended, and the mare literally could not BE better cared for.
What were the odds?
Now I’m going to tell you the spookiest part of this story. I recently found out that Thai’s last foal has been racing at Portland Meadows. Her name is Out ‘Til Dawn. Guess who her sire is? Champagne Til Dawn. Yes, the stallion we pulled out of the kill pen at Enumclaw. He didn’t make it, Thai did, and I’m hoping to acquire their daughter at some point, because if anything has my name on it, I guess it would be her!
So you win some – like Thai – and you lose some – like Champ. But if you do nothing, your failure rate is 100%. I remember some article I read that said “The only way to guarantee failure is by failing to act.” That’s absolutely the truth and it’s why so many people are still rescuing, whether it’s dogs, cats, or horses. You WILL lose some. But, wow, the wins are the best thing in your life. Do you know how I felt when I got these recent pictures of Thai? Thai is fat and happy and loved because Kerri posted her picture and Karen offered to board her and I took her in and Sara helped ride her. Without us, she’d have been hanging from a hook 2 years ago.  Could there possibly be any BETTER use of our time and money than something that makes the difference between hanging from a hook and living in a backyard with 2 little girls to spoil you and a pail of hot, delicious old horse smush twice a day and cookies and brushing and brand new waterproof blankets?  I mean, if we weren’t doing this, what would we spend our money on? Shoes? Hey, I like shoes as much as the next girl — but they don’t give me THIS feeling. Not even the Manolos!
(That last one is the face she makes when she is getting her withers scratched.)
Okay, rescuers, show us YOUR update pictures received from happy adopters! You don’t have to be a formal rescue – if you rescued a horse from the auction and sold them to a new home and they’re doing great, that counts too. But I don’t want pictures of horses still in your care – we’ve done that. This time, I want to see the ones that you trusted someone else with, the happy endings in a new home.
