Posts Tagged ‘updates’
I think she might be one of the happiest little mares in the world now!
Back in July of 2008, I blogged about the amazing recovery of a little mare named Naysa from an attack so violent that I think the critter that did it should have just been shot immediately – and I don’t care if he walks on two legs.
This might be the toughest little mare in the world
The good news: Â Naysa is fine! Â Naysa is great, actually. Â The pic at left is from last week!
Naysa today at her wonderful home in Florida.
I don’t know which I love more, the pics of her cuddling with people or the pic of her with her own sleazy hood and blankie! Â You know she never lived that well in her life before this. I am happy just looking at those pictures! Â You can totally see that her faith in humans has been restored. Every kudo on earth to you, Jolee!
You guys know how often I talk about how everybody is right up there wanting to help a horse when the rescue is “fresh” and you get to be in the spotlight for doing it. Â But the real rescuers are the ones who are still just as committed to taking care of the horse a year, two years, ten years down the road. Â And that’s why I’m so delighted to be able to show you all of these new pics of Naysa — because this is a case where it was all done right. Â Habitat For Horses did it right in rescuing her and rehabbing her, then carefully selecting just the right home for her. Â Jolee has done it right in giving her a loving home from the day she brought her home, where she could learn to trust again and finally feel forever safe.
Now this is about as cute as it gets! Â And look at the size of that field that little miss Naysa has to play in!
I read something really stupid this week about how you should try to be nicer and more compassionate to avoid “rescuer burnout.” Â Screw THAT. Â I just need to look at things like this very happy ending to avoid feeling burned out and hopeless! Â Feeling hatred toward people like the asshat who did this helps keep me fired up and motivated and that’s a good thing!
So that brings me to the fly in the ointment, the one thing that keeps this from being a perfect rescue story:
The man who did this, Tony Meyers, aka evil incarnate, perpetrator of what is arguably one of the cruelest incidents of abuse toward a horse reported in recent years, has not been tried yet! Â Yes, I know. Â Our legal system at work. Â This bottom-feeding, knuckle-dragging waste of oxygen gets postponement after postponement. Â It is ridiculous, ludicrous, unacceptable and needs to stop.
So today, please take 15 minutes to write or call the prosecutor and demand that Tony Meyers be brought to justice. If you appreciate my blog at all, please do this one thing. I can’t deal with this maggot going unpunished one more year.
Assistant District Attorney Chester Cedars: Â ccedars@16jda.com or phone number:Â 337-394-2222
The Case No. to reference is 07-00009229Â (important – no one will know what you are talking about without it)
As always, be POLITE and RESPECTFUL. You are calling to ask when he will be going to trial, and want to share your opinion that he should receive the maximum penalty allowable by law. It is never okay to use profanity or get angry. You don’t want to sound crazier than the crazy person you are trying to have put away. Be calm, clear and have the facts ready to discuss. Please let me know what you are told in response. Thanks!
For you locals who’d been going nuts over this
Remember how Dean Solomon got some hapless person to buy a Thoroughbred mare for her at the December Enumclaw Auction? A mare that she’d owned before and given away to someone who apparently dumped her at the sale yet again?
Well, Dean never picked up the mare (good) but whoever the idiot is (someone named Shelly? No, no one that I know, some Shelly in Orting, I believe) didn’t take care of her, either, and now she looks like this. As we all know, birds of a feather flock together so it is no big surprise that a pal of Dean’s would let a mare get into this condition.
Her breeder had indicated to me previously that they would be interested in helping her, so I’ve just sent them an e-mail. Â Hopefully they are still interested.
Oh, and Dean? JUST FUCKING STOP IT, WILL YOU? You’re not helping. If you hadn’t bid on this mare, she might have gone to a real home or been picked up by a real rescue. Just sit your photoshopped ass down in front of the computer and stop going to auctions. You going to the auction is like an alcoholic going to a wine-tasting. JUST STOP. Â At the point where you have to plead guilty to animal cruelty, that is a sign that your rescue career is OVER. Â Find something new to collect, something that doesn’t breathe or eat.
Did you get your veterinary degree from a Cracker Jack box?
Update on those horses in Tulsa that the local woman was trying to get some help for:
http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=11568390
So, the owner simply moved the skinnies elsewhere, and this dumbass local vet refuses to say there was cruelty here, so now the police won’t do anything. Look, I agree that bark eating doesn’t always mean they’re starving, but THIS PICTURE means IT IS STARVING! I didn’t have to go to vet school to know that, and I can’t believe this guy’s “oh, well” response toward the horses’ condition.
“The veterinarian who examined the four horses got there after the others have been moved, but he says there’s enough grass in the pasture for them, and should have been enough there for the others to at least keep from starving.”
Well, gee, I’m glad that we have SUCH high expectations for our animal owners in Oklahoma! Maybe we can “at least keep them from starving.” To death, I guess, because this horse on the left is ALREADY starving. (And I’m curious – if you’re in Oklahoma, is the grass good enough in January to support horses without hay? Because it isn’t in most of the parts of the country that I have lived, even if the temperatures are mild.)
This is where I start wanting to bang my head against a wall. That poor woman who reported this did all of the right things. She filed a report and she went to the media. She risked her own safety by very publicly speaking out against this horse owner. And what did she get? Dr. DoNothing comes out and shrugs his shoulder and says, oh well. And the police listen to Dr. DoNothing and decline to press charges. *HEADDESK* I’m sorry, but really, does ANYONE need any specialized training to see that the horse in this picture is actionably thin? This is another case where I’ll bet any of you could show this to your non-horsey significant other and their response would be “OMG, what is wrong with that poor horse?” I’m guessing Dr. Mike Alexander is drinking buddies with whoever owns these poor horses, and that makes me want to puke. It sounds like they are dropping the whole thing, instead of demanding that the horse owner produce the thin horses and make them subject to a vet inspection at once. Great.
Update: Judy Caton’s in the news
High-End Monroe Horse Breeder Investigated
It it always a relief to know that animal control is involved and the situation has been made truly public by the media (not just on the message boards and blogs, where it is easier for defenders to claim the person is being railroaded and there is no truth to the accusations). Â I want to particularly commend Doug Stroud, Tana Hanson and Lori Goulet for filing an actual report and not going along with the “protect our own” mentality that allows so many “big names” to escape the consequences of their actions. Â I am sure that some of Judy’s friends will snark at you guys at next year’s shows. Â I’ll pass you a helping of extra-thick skin from my collection — you surely did the right thing on this one and all the real horsepeople will back you up 100%. Â Hopefully others will follow your example and not just post anonymously on message boards or send me covert “but don’t mention MY name” e-mails and instead actually march down to animal control and file a report. That is what gets results. Â That is what helps the horses. Â Do it.
Oh, and from the article:
“The three said when they asked Caton about the condition of her horses, she told them one of her teenage daughters forgot to feed them.”
For the one millionth time, YOU’RE THE PARENT. Â YOU’RE THE LEGAL HORSE OWNER. Â It’s YOUR responsibility. Â By the way, I wonder what Judy’s teenage daughter has to say about that allegation? Â It is hard to feed invisible hay. Â I think it is a bit much to blame dozens of starving horses on a child not yet old enough to vote, Mother-of-The-Year. Â And nobody forgets anything for the several months’ time it took for the horses to get that thin. Â It is not like someone forgets to feed a meal and they all drop 300 pounds.
(Just once, wouldn’t it be SO refreshing for someone like this to say “I have no excuse. I was trying to hide how broke I was. I was embarrassed and didn’t want to ask for help. Â It was the wrong thing to do, and I’m sorry that my animals suffered.” Â Never happens. Â Blame the drought, blame the economy, blame a teenager…the finger is always pointed elsewhere. )
Original blog entry here.
Training timelines – reasonable or ridiculous?
A friend of a friend has had a horse in training for over a year now. The horse came into the barn with a history of schooling second level dressage. I don’t believe he’d been shown yet, and being a big goofy young gelding, he was definitely still having the occasional big goofy moment. Normal enough, right? His owner wanted better manners both on the ground and under saddle, and this trainer promised to deliver.
The trainer did a lot of ground work with the horse and his manners did improve. But every month, he was not quite ready to ride yet. He had a lot of issues, you see, and she was trying to form a relationship with him on the ground first. His owner kept writing the checks, and they weren’t small checks. Over a year later, the trainer has not yet been on his back.
My personal opinion? This is ridiculous. The previous trainer had no problem schooling second level dressage on the big, goofy young horse. Many of you ride BGYH’s daily, amazingly enough, and deal with the goofy moments and move on, and shazam, the horse gets trained. The only thing that has progressed here is the bill.
At the same time, I understand being hesitant to criticize a trainer’s progress. We’ve certainly seen the other side of the spectrum – where the client thinks the horse should have a reining spin, a sidepass and be baking cupcakes at the end of thirty days. Most trainers have had to deal with those clients and it is certainly frustrating.
And as the owner, we know we’re not watching every session. We don’t know what problems the trainer is encountering. Another friend of mine just had a very funny experience where her four year old headed off to the trainer and promptly put on an impressive acting job entitled “I have never been handled. I swear it.” In reality, her horse longes, ground drives, wears tack, and I’ve laid over his saddle – but when he saw the new person coming with a saddle, he swore he’d never seen such a thing before. That’s typical horsey nature. We had a good laugh and noted that his grand plan had been ruined by the humans’ ability to communicate and compare notes.
So – you don’t want to be the client from hell and you certainly don’t want to push/rush your horse. But at the same time, you don’t want to be used or scammed. So how do you draw the line? My take on it is that you always want to be able to see progress. If a horse starts out not even halter broke, and at the end of thirty days he ties and longes and wears a horse blanket and is started clipping, hey, I think that’s pretty good! Now, if he starts out with all the ground work done and done well, I’d assume he’d have some rides on him by the end of thirty days. Sure, there’s always a deviation from the “norm.” I’ve seen horses come into a new barn and need a few weeks just to begin to get their head on straight in a new location. It happens.
Now, what if the horse is a broke horse with a problem, and the problem doesn’t seem to be getting fixed at the end of thirty days? To me, a good trainer should have some idea what the stumbling block is and be able to tell you. Perhaps the horse has some soreness somewhere? In my opinion, the trainer’s job is broader than just riding. Since trainers often work with clients who do not have the knowledge they do, being able to identify soreness, recommend treatment, evaluate shoeing, and recommend if a vet or chiropractor is needed is part of the trainer’s job. I am very wary of trainers who fail to pick up on soreness, and unfortunately I’ve seen a lot of that. If nobody notices pain, it tends to quickly turn into misbehavior, which is then punished, and a vicious cycle begins – one that tends to keep the horse in training with Clueless Chrissy to fix the misbehavior!
Make sure you’re not solely relying upon the trainer’s word about your horse’s progress. You really do need to make those visits and watch the horse being worked or ride the horse yourself to know if you’re getting your money’s worth. Not to mention to ensure your horse is good weight, uninjured and shows no signs of abuse! If the distance is great, video updates will show you a lot of what you need to see and I think it’s reasonable to ask for them. Look at it like you look at a daycare provider…no matter how much you may like the person, you’re entrusting them with something extremely precious to you and a little checking up is in order. Good trainers, like good daycare providers, will welcome your visits as long as you respect their schedule and don’t expect them to drop everything and entertain you.
A good trainer is also going to be honest about your horse’s potential or lack thereof. You may not like what you hear. You may hear that your horse isn’t good at the discipline you’re interested in, that your horse is never going to be seriously competitive, or that your horse isn’t right for you. Don’t get angry when a trainer does this – they may be doing you a huge favor and saving you a great deal of money! If you aren’t sure you believe the verdict, get a second opinion like you would with anything else, but remember it’s so much better to get an honest opinion than smoke blown up your ass and paying for $5,000 of training on a $1,500 horse.
It’s always been a problem in horses that a fast talker can make an awful lot of money doing a frighteningly small amount of work. And let’s face it – lots of times the training dollars are coming from women and lots of women still feel uncomfortable about confronting any kind of service provider about whether or not the work is acceptable. They were raised to get along with people and not make a fuss, and as a result they are wonderful targets. When an amateur or the parents of a youth get scammed for thousands of dollars, it makes the whole industry look bad and may even scare them completely out of horse ownership. But ultimately it’s your job to protect yourself – make those visits, watch some training sessions and make sure you communicate what your goals are. If your kid finished the 1st grade and had no clue how to read, I bet you’d be the first one in the principal’s office screaming, so make sure you have some reasonable expectations for your training too. You’re not a bitch just because you’d like to see your horse get trained at training – so speak up!
The gorgeous pencil drawing is something I found online by an artist named Joyce (don’t see the last name) but here is the link if you’d like to purchase it as a print or on cards.
