Posts Tagged ‘slaughter’
I tried, but I can’t figure out a way to buy more minutes!
I’m going to do something on the blog today that I never do…I’m going to put a smile on the face of all the pro-slaughter asshats, faux rescues and abusive, money-grubbing trainers in America, with one single statement: I have gotten too busy to maintain this blog. This probably won’t come as a big shock to my regular readers; you’ve been patiently waiting longer and longer for blog entries and comments to be approved. I kept trying to scramble my schedule and find time to write, but it just isn’t happening, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. So the blog is for sale. It sells with the domain and the rights to all content written to date, which I suspect could be quite lucrative for someone who knows what they are doing (I don’t, and I’m too busy to find out). It is selling to the public with no restrictions; it may or may not go to someone who wishes to continue doing a blog about this subject matter. If you have any desire to bid on it yourself and have your opportunity for a whole lot of horse people to read your two cents worth, here is the listing.
Will I ever do another blog? Maybe, if my schedule changed a lot. I don’t see that in the foreseeable future. Right now I am at the “can I get in a 45 minute nap before I have to do X” point.
Will I still write elsewhere? Maybe. I just did a piece in the July 2011 Horse Illustrated about planning for your horse’s future if something unexpected happened to you. I do enjoy writing the educational, snark-free stuff…truly I do…and I do welcome offers to do so.
I’ll still Tweet. I seem to do a lot of that from horseback, or while waiting in line, no problem, so I’ll do my best to keep spreading the word about the kind of topics I’ve covered here on FHOTD.
Are there stories I wish I could have gotten to? YES. Oh my God…I have so much piled up in my e-mail. But it just isn’t going to happen. I sincerely apologize for all the unread e-mails in my account and the stories I just didn’t have time to deal with. I know some of them are big stories that should have been covered. Again, one of the reasons I’m quitting is because I know I’m not really doing my job here anymore and I am missing things that should be publicized. That said, there are many other blogs and Facebook pages now that share news to the horse community — many more than existed in 2007 when I started the blog. You guys know how to spread the word when the word needs to be spread — you don’t need a particular blog or particular forum to do it.
Am I retiring in response to some threat? LOL, of course not. You all know my response to threats: I have always said, please feel free to sue me if you believe you have cause. So far, haven’t seen a single complaint. And so far, none of the people who were going to shoot me have found me. Well, either that, or they are not very good shots, because I am sitting here typing this.
Hoover is doing great and will be looking for a home soon, if anyone has the desire to have a VERY snuggly older warmblood who has had a rough life reside with them. I would like to get him out of SoCal…he hates the heat and doesn’t do well in it. He does have some fetlock lameness and he’s not quite fat enough that I’d sit on him yet but my best guess is that he’d be fine for light riding but that is all. Honestly, I’d love for him to have a pet home…he’s been through Hell and he’s so happy to be safe now. Big galoot just lays his big old head in my arms for snuggles…E-mail Katie at Second Chance Ranch if you’re interested in giving Hoover a safe spot for the rest of his life.
The best part about doing the blog, bar none, has been the e-mails from readers thanking me for advice that helped them overcome a training problem or resolve a horse health issue, like a senior horse who needed to gain weight. I absolutely love those. I’m glad I could help. Right up there are the happy endings that I know took place for horses posted here for adoption. Some are in the most fabulous homes!
Here are some of the things I hope you have learned (if you didn’t already know them):
- Old horses are never skinny because they are old. Old horses that are skinny have a problem that can be fixed 99% of the time.- Slaughter is never the right answer. Slaughter provides a paycheck for irresponsible ownership and irresponsible breeding. Are there more horses than homes right now? You bet. The solution is the same sort of anti-breeding campaign that has worked VERY successfully in dogs and cats. I want to see this chart for horses, don’t you?
- There is no miracle about birth. Mosquitos breed. A thirty year old horse that is still in a great home and receiving excellent care…THAT is a miracle and something to be heartily applauded.
- That sick feeling in your stomach is NEVER wrong. If you feel it about a trainer, barn, etc. – RUN and take your horse(s) with you.
- Breeding animals responsibly isn’t easy. It actually takes a lot of research, knowledge and money. Most people should never breed an animal.
- Horses appreciate having a kind, fair, consistent leader — not a best friend that they can plow over and push around.
- That said, temper tantrums are counterproductive in everything from horse training to the job world. Learn to have self control. Not every impulse needs to convert itself into an action. Walking away is always better than losing it.
- Every time you think “oh, I should fix that, but it’ll be fine for tonight” — it won’t be. This is like a law of nature. Fix it tonight.
- Every time you think that something might be a bad idea, it is probably a bad idea. Remember the gal who tied the lead rope to her waist…
- The reason you have to report abuse or neglect is because horses and other animals can’t type or use the telephone. You are the only chance they have. Take pictures FROM THE ROAD…NEVER trespass. Go down to animal control or the sheriff’s and file a report. Call in a few weeks and follow up. If you fear you are being ignored, and that the situation is urgent, call your local media. Post to horsey message boards and blogs with the numbers to call to demand action. Getting a prosecution is a long, difficult but very rewarding road, especially when you see the horses safe in new homes that do take care of them.
- You cannot tell a rescue is good from their web site or Facebook page. Please support GFAS Accredited Rescues or rescues that you can visit in person (ideally, on a regular basis) and verify are taking proper care of their animals. Also look for a lot of before/after pictures proving the horse improved, as well as the ability to account for the whereabouts of horses adopted out years ago.
- You will not enjoy riding and your horse more from attending clinics or watching videos. You will enjoy riding and your horse more from riding a lot and taking lessons from a good trainer so that riding becomes easier and your ability to communicate with your horse improves. The better you ride, the less equine misbehavior you will experience. If you have fear issues, the #1 most valuable thing you can do to combat them is improve your riding, because that makes scary things happen less often.
- Also, on fear issues, allow me to quote something I read on Facebook and loved: “Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not, in fact, just surrounded by assholes. ~ William Gibson” Stop thinking you’re a shitty rider because your trainer is an insecure asshat who has to yell at and belittle students to make him/herself feel better. GET A NEW TRAINER.
- Turn-out is NOT optional. How well would you perform if you were locked in a shower stall whenever you weren’t at work? All horses need regular turn-out.
- Colic is 99% avoidable with daily turnout, regular rotational deworming (or fecals to determine what is needed), fresh and clean water available 24/7, a low stress environment, sand treatment if you’re in the sandy part of the country, and a consistent diet. If you are having colics frequently, figure out why.
- Proper conditioning is the #1 thing you can do to lower your vet bills and extend your horse’s useful life. When you do not ride all week and then go out on hilly trails for six hours on Saturday, do not come crying to me when your horse pulls a suspensory. That is like you trying to run 20 miles once a week after sitting in your recliner eating Ding Dongs the rest of the time … let’s see you do it. And folks, when your trainer is telling you in a lesson to push your horse past what YOU know your horse’s fitness level is, you have to say no. Ask yourself who will be paying the vet bill…will it be your trainer? Uh, no. So you have to have the guts to say, he’s tired, I want to quit now and cool him out. Even if he’s being bad, do something easy that he can get right, and then quit. There’s no value to making a training “point” that results in a horse that is out of commission for six months!
- It really is true…the vast majority of equine misbehavior results from pain. Before you punish, check for a sore back or neck, lameness, or dental problems. Check saddle fit, make sure the horse hasn’t been crammed into too-small shoes.
- Parents, put a helmet on your child every time they are on a horse. It is a long way down and all it takes is landing wrong to be a quadriplegic. When you are an adult, you can do as you see fit, and assume the risks you see fit, but a 5 year old cannot make those kind of adult choices. While we’re on the topic, stop overmounting your kid…the rest of us are all tired of watching in horror to see if the child will survive the parade on the jiggy horse who looks about to explode, or the hunter round on the horse who is clearly running off, or the barrel run on the horse who is bouncing off the arena walls like the meth head stripper on “Intervention” was bouncing off her room walls.
- No one person has all the answers when it comes to horses. Any of you might come up with an amazing solution to a training or health issue (or diagnose a pesky health issue that the vet couldn’t figure out). Read, read, read, and watch the trainers in your discipline whose horses are both performing well and seem happy (i.e. bright expression, happy ears, fluid movement, a general aura of enthusiasm while performing). I highly recommend The Horse for learning more about horse health. I also highly recommend the Chronicle of the Horse message board as a resource…you’ll find excellent information there.
- Finally, when you are between that proverbial rock and a hard place, and I know those situations happen, euthanasia is (100% of the time) a better solution than the auction. Yes, it will cost a few hundred dollars, so make the call while you still can, after you have made a true good faith effort to place the horse in a checked-out, proper home, but before you are down to your last $50 and your unemployment has run out. The only one who suffers when a horse is euthanized is his owner…he just goes to sleep. I never think of euthanasia as a tragedy. I always think of a horse being shoved onto a double-decker as a tragedy. Now I have three questions for you guys: 1) What was your favorite blog entry or topic here? For sheer entertainment, I do not think you can beat some of the Parelli stuff I had to comment on. I mean, how can you beat the Parellis telling someone to feed carrots to their biting horse? The only thing that isn’t funny about it is that, for example, a horse showed up in the Enumclaw kill pen a month or two ago that was required to go to slaughter because of how aggressive he was. Well, how do you think he got that way? 2) I also want to know what you think was THE fugliest horse ever posted here. I still say this is the winner:
To whoever bred this horse: You need a new hobby
3) And finally, if you have a horse that you adopted because you saw him/her on this blog, can you give us an update? Extra credit for before/after pictures!All right – let’s see if we can find a home for one more! This cutie pie is Cricket, at Shiloh Horse Rescue outside of Las Vegas, Nevada. I know someone is out there who would absolutely love this little mare.
Wonder if they get more for Straight Egyptian in the butcher shops in France?
I got a shocking e-mail today from someone filling me in that the owner of a large Texas Arabian farm had passed away, and that the family, after making a token attempt to sell some horses, had decided they did not want the hassle and sold them all to kill buyer Bill Richardson for $200 each.
I’m going to leave it to you guys to name the farm in the comments. I want to see if the news has spread. I almost have a hard time believing it myself, looking at their (out of date) web site (still up) and seeing the beautiful horses there. Many were Straight Egyptian, many were black (which is often more marketable despite the fact that, like roan in Quarter Horses, it is a color that has been bred for without a thought to the quality of the horse that carries it). I don’t want to think of them on a double-decker to Mexico, even though I believe this person’s email that it did happen. If it did, there is a special place in hell for the family member responsible (but it also appears the deceased gentleman had a gf or wife with him, so WTF was wrong with her? Ladies, learn to take a little responsibility for the animals living on your property and stop wanting everybody else to handle your problems…THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS.)
But again…over 100 horses. Obviously no provision for them in his will or this would not have happened. Though I’m told this person wasn’t exactly Responsible Breeder of the Year, and his pastures were generally dotted with underweight horses with poor hoof care. He just took pictures of the select few that he kept fattened up and cared for.
First of all, I’m curious if you guys know what farm I’ve talking about and have details to add. EDITED: OK, the word is out. It was Ramses Arabians in Texas and the horses CAN still be saved. Here is the info: “Darlene Cruite is corresponding with Bill Richardson. She is trying to compile a list of available horses. Bill bought 150 for $20,000 ( about $150 each)He has to keep them 2 to 4 weeks to have their paper work ready for them to cross the border. We only have that much time to find homes and get them moved. Darlene’s contact info is: home; 903-893-8690, cell; 940-368-3329, e mail ; 4kuhaylan@prodigy.net. Bill is not returning Lett’s calls. His contact info is; Penncross Ranch 121 85 FM Rd., Kilgore, Texas 75662 . Phone; 903-984-3819, 903-649-1658, e mail; penncross@tyler.net The clock is ticking, get this info on all the egyptian forums ASAP”
I’M SERIOUS PEOPLE…don’t call unless you can save a horse. I don’t want to hear that someone started shit and acted like an idiot. If I find out you did, you will be featured here…prominently. P.S. The kill buyer no more cares that you think he’s a fuckhead than Charles Manson cares that you think that. Don’t talk to him unless you can be NICE. It accomplishes nothing except endangering horses to do otherwise.
Secondly, and this goes for ALL breeds, what do you think is the best solution to these 100, 200, 700 horse clusterfucks we seem to be seeing? Do you think there should be restrictions on how many animals you can own without showing proof of financial stability and ability to care for them? If you are the owner of a very large farm like one of these, I’m especially interested to hear from you what restrictions you think are fair and would not punish the good people.
I have been saying for years that there needs to be a $50 or $100 per foal municipal tax. The local municipalities would LOVE to enforce it as a source of income. It would not harshly affect the breeders of quality foals that are going to sell for good money. What it would discourage is the breeding of a large quantity of foals, or the breeding of foals likely to sell for $500 or less.
I know this is America, and we’re the land of the free, but we genuinely can’t afford to keep cleaning up someone’s 100 or 200 or 300 horse mistakes, and I think it’s atrocious that many were deliberately created just to wind up going to slaughter. Again, if horses were more rare, your prices WOULD be back up. It has nothing to do with slaughter, it has to do with the fact that we’re still breeding more horses than the market will bear, and plenty of them aren’t getting any training. How in the world do we make breeders scale back/take a break? I know many of you are already doing that, but I don’t mean you — I mean the arrogant idiots who think their horses are more valuable than gold even though their inability to sell any contradicts that. Is there ANYTHING that you’ve seen work on these people? What do you think might?
I know you are all very concerned about EHV-1. The latest info, state by state, is at The Horse, so check it out there for sure. The only travel restriction right now is for horses coming into Wyoming, so if you need to get in there, you MUST read the article and make sure you have a health certificate within 72 hours with VERY specific language and a temperature reading or you aren’t getting in! I’ll continue to post the news if other travel restrictions go into effect.
For those of you in the PNW with a soft spot for old broodmares, here is some recent video of Exclusive Report. She is still at Second Chance Ranch looking for a home. She had several months of professional training last year and was riding nicely at a walk, trot and canter at that point but she has been vegging out for a while now. This is a lovely mare who is sound and loves people. Watch her video here.
So, Karin Struck, exactly WHY are your two old broodies in the kill pen?
You know, the ones that are still listed for sale on your web site? MHR Eunizara and Red Sonia. Why are they in Ron’s kill pen at the Enumclaw sale, scared and afraid to be separated?
Mrs. Pepin, you should have been a Fugly blog reader…
Yes, just another example where a lady who had two unrideable horses got scammed out of them by a shady dealer named Sandy Boudreau, aka Amy Adams, of Raven Rock Farm. Check out Ms. Boudreau’s pic – doesn’t she look like a nice lady? That is why you can’t go by what people look like when deciding whether to trust them with their horses. You, too, can be fooled. Ms. Boudreau seems to think she has done nothing wrong here but let’s start with, why do you even USE an alias if you are such an above-board, honest individual? Bullshit. I don’t walk around using aliases, and neither do any of you, do you, dear readers? You know who uses a fake name? People in the witness protection program … and criminals. I think it is a safe bet that Ms. Boudreau is not in the witness protection program, don’t you?
However, while I think it’s horrible that Boudreau didn’t say the following words to Mrs. Pepin BEFORE taking the horses on false pretenses, I am glad she said them in the newspaper for all to see:
“Ms. Boudreau said once the horse has been given to her, the owners can’t expect any more from her after that.
“First of all, I don’t want to be bothered,†she said. “I don’t want people hounding me over something where I am basically making no money. Why bother? If they sent the horse to rescue, they wouldn’t tell them that information, so why should I? So they can go and hound somebody else? Once they gave up the horse, they gave up the horse. If they didn’t want to do that, they shouldn’t have gone onto a public site to give it up. Not one person asked to see my farm or checked me out. They could have given it to Joe Blow or anybody else and they would be hounding that person. They never should have given their horses away if they felt so strongly. They should have kept them until they die or let them spend the money to put the horse down.â€
Yeah, she sounds like a bitch but she’s not wrong. Euthanasia would have been a lot kinder than what I am sure happened to those horses. Mrs. Pepin should have checked things out. She should have gotten a written contract. But like most people, she wanted to believe in a happy ending – no matter how unrealistic the odds were of that happy ending. Now she will feel guilty the rest of her life.
It’s not worth it. Look, no one enjoys holding the horse while the vet gives the shot, but even if you can’t do that, even if you walk away and let the vet handled it, you’re being so much kinder than letting the horse go out there to any fate at all. Giving your horse away free on Craigslist? You might as well open the pasture gate and let him run out.
It should not be news to you, as an adult, that people like Ms. Boudreau exist — YOU are what’s standing between your horse and that fate. Only you. Don’t drop the ball.
P.S. If you do not want to be hounded, I recommend NOT lying to people in order to pick up their free horses from Craigslist. Because it is amazing how often those stories make it into the media, whether that’s the newspaper or the Fugly blog. Just a helpful tip – don’t DO this crap and you won’t get “hounded” by the 99.9% of Americans who think you DID do something wrong here! And those of you who buy hunter/jumpers on the East coast, as always…vote with your wallets.
At this point, everybody SHOULD sue everybody else!
Fatal Transaction (AKA what happened to Munition)
My original blog about this story, from December
First of all, I’m so glad the Telegram covered this in such depth. We can’t tell people too many times what happens to horses when we sell them to homes we did not check out thoroughly.
Second of all, while I believe Mara was just flat out clueless about who Noone was, I really do have to give her some credit for continuing to pursue legal action against Noone for his misrepresentations. I think she did get lied to. It’s par for the course for KB’s to promise a good home and nobody ever sues them for it. I wish people would. However, I would love to know why Mara didn’t return the horse to the original owner if she couldn’t afford him? Did she try and get told they wouldn’t take him back? Or did she not try? She has never answered the question (that I have found) so I have to assume she did not try, which of course puts her squarely in the wrong, particularly if she DID sign the contract Clarke alleges she signed. If she did, Clarke should sue her and I hope he does.
Third, why do none of the dates match here? Clarke says the horse was sold to Noone 5 days after he was given to Mara. Later, in the same article, it says Mara was unable to afford boarding after a couple of weeks and sold the horse. This article claims Feld listed him for sale ONE DAY after taking possession of him. And this thread seems to say that Feld owned the horse for one month. Personally, I think the latter is more likely. Would you bring a horse home and in one day, climb on him and have your picture taken in a big open field? A horse that was right off the track? I’m guessing she did have him for a month. (The more I read, the more my head hurts…no one seems to have this story 100% straight)
The only person I find credible anymore at this point is Clarke, but I will find him more credible if he sues Feld. After all, if you have a contract, prove it. File suit. Feld made more than one major error here and there is no rational explanation for “suddenly” discovering you cannot afford a horse. She has answered the questions she wanted to answer and swerved the questions she didn’t want to answer, and that alone makes her look awfully guilty in my eyes. Bottom line: poor horse. He certainly did not deserve any of this.
On a happier note, check out this lovely mare, a Second Chance Ranch alumni, at her first show over fences. This mare raced until she was nine and that is a 12 year old riding her. If you want one like her, and you are in the PNW, check out SCR’s web site or their Facebook page.
