Posts Tagged ‘WTF’
Yearlings: Good ribby v. Bad ribby
One thing you will hear the first time you own a young horse is how important it is not to overfeed them. It is absolutely true that stuffing a young horse full of tons of grain in an attempt to keep him fat and beautiful is likely to lead to a variety of problems. We have good old epithysitis, responsible for the crippled condition of many ex-halter champions, and OCD, a common problem in fast-growing warmbloods and other sport horse types.
Here’s a good primer on these kinds of nutrition-related leg problems.
Here’s one of my favorite pages on how to feed young horses so that you do not have these problems. It is not good enough to assume that just because something is labeled as a “junior feed,” it is the right choice for your youngster. You really need to do your research!
That said, how can you look at a young horse and know if he is ribby because he is growing or ribby because he is starving? Yearlings, particularly yearlings who will top out at 16 hands or taller, look ridiculous. There are few things fuglier than a yearling warmblood, even though the same horse will be breathtakingly beautiful at three! We all joke about hiding them behind the barn for a reason. But that’s different from a yearling who is ribby, pot bellied, and has no butt. That yearling is nutritionally deficient and not getting what he needs to grow. He can and will be stunted and never reach his full height if the situation is not corrected.
Here is a classic example of the starving yearling. (Click on the pic to see a larger version) This is a Trakehner/Spotted Saddle Horse cross, so first question is of course WTF were you trying to accomplish with that nonsense cross? Second question, what are you feeding him, hay you scraped off the bottom of your neighbor’s barn floor from three years ago? They claim he is UTD on deworming. I would be embarrassed to put this for sale on the Internet. His spine is sticking up and so are his hip bones, his whole rib cage is visible and he has no butt. This one is as bad as “Prince” who thankfully got rescued. He is in Illinois and the picture title should tip you off as to the ad location if you are interested.
Now, here is a ribby yearling in otherwise good condition. (Click to see a larger picture so that you can see all the details). She is butt-high and it’s obvious she’s in the middle of a growth spurt. You can see ribs but her butt is rounded, her spine does not show and her withers are not sticking up like a 30 year old cart horse’s. There is no “worm belly” hanging down announcing the existence of parasites.
This is a yearling in correct weight, who can and did mature into a sound, healthy adult horse.
Now, here is one that is mid-rehab after being rescued from a BYB where he did not receive proper care. He has gained back some of his weight and the effects of deworming are starting to show. The belly is tucking up from where it was and his back/hip are filling out. He still needs a few pounds, but he is getting there.
While a slim neck is desirable on a stock breed pleasure horse, it should be slim because the horse is fit and well muscled, not because of a lack of flesh. For example, this horse is a healthy weight with a pretty, pleasure horse “pencil neck.” She is in beautiful condition – fit and ready to show but without any sign of being tucked up/drawn up. (and what a pretty mare…you can drop that one off at my house anytime!)
Now, in case you were wondering what a grossly overfed yearling likely to be a crippled-up mess by age five looks like…HERE YA GO!
For $7000, I’d rather have a used luxury car. It will run many more years than this filly, and won’t flip over on me while having a HYPP seizure.
You people breeding this stuff suck beyond words. Gross.
The Craigslist stallion extravaganza!
Ah yes, still plenty of folks like our friend last night who have their heads in the sand about overbreeding and the economy…here’s a sampling of Craigslist stallions for your, um, consideration!
Beauty – always in the eye of the beholder. (pictured at left)
But I really need money for college, so breed to my stallion. Maybe in college, they will teach her how to spell her horse’s breed!
And we’ve been riding him since the day he turned two! Hony-sized spotted stallion, “out of” two horses (Studley Has Two Mommies?)
Sattle Broke Stud. Damned if I can tell what it is. Mustang, maybe?
WTF – are you writing a personal ad? Amorous rendezvous? Is he gonna buy the mare flowers first? I think this is a cute horse but why are we whoring him out for $100? Do you think THAT will lead to improving your breed?
Bucksin Stallion – comes complete with herd of small children. No mention of HERDA status and primary accomplishment seems to be siring color out of a breeding stock mare once.
Very well-manured Spotted Draft Stud
Here you go. Buy your own stud for just $500! (pictured at left)
Do you suppose if they sell some breedings, they will be able to afford to feed him better?
The back view shot is not your friend.
Bloodlines date back nearly 200 years! (And whose do not?)
Well, he’s dog broke and homozygous – what more do you want?
And amid that, plenty of decent stallions with “reduced stud fees due to the economy.” The economy shouldn’t make you reduce your stud fees – it should make you either hold steady in the hopes that only those who are financially stable will breed their mare, or (even better) announce that your stallion is taking a year off or his book will be limited due to the economy. That’s an ad I’d like to see!
Our WTF Equine Product of the Day!
Joining the ranks of crazy horse-related contraptions like the No Buck Trainer, we now have the EZEE WEAN Halter and Strap.
Yes, it’s what you think. It’s a baby halter with PRONGS on the nosepiece to keep the mare from allowing the baby to nurse!
“When the baby attempts to nurse, both animals are made uncomfortable because there are several soft flexible prongs (blunt ended) that touch the mare in the flanks and it also bumps the baby in the nose.”
WTF?
Here’s a video of it supposedly working. I only see a very annoyed mare, who finally gives up and lets the baby nurse anyway.
A quick look at the web site copy reveals just who this product is being marketed to…the same middle-aged, overly emotional ladies who give Pat Parelli their life savings because they want to have a relationship with their horse and be their horse’s friend.
“Most often the caregiver is reluctant to start the weaning process because of the undesirable symptoms that occur when using the abrupt separation method. The heart wrenching whinnying is very disturbing for the passionate caregiver.”
Heart wrenching whinnying? I’m sorry, weaning doesn’t exactly wrench my heart. I have been around for plenty of it. Most babies whinny a little. The real wimps whinny for a day. Two days out, they are all hanging with their baby friends and have forgotten Momma ever existed. “Forced separation” as this overly-dramatic web site calls it is actually quite a bit kinder than nature, in which Momma gets fed up with baby eventually and starts chasing him off of her with bared teeth.
I can only imagine how Momma will feel about future foals nursing after she gets poked about a zillion times by the rubber prongs on this thing. Nurse mares are expensive!
And yes, a few paragraphs down, we see proof that this person is yet another Natural Horsemanship Wacko:
“I feel the application of “natural horse savvy†to a foal will increase the animal’s marketability. Horses that have been imprinted at birth and with continued handling using natural horse savvy techniques are commanding and obtaining high prices.”
THEY ARE NOT. What are you smoking? I can show you hundred horses that can do 684 levels of Parelli that nobody wants because you can’t walk, trot, and canter on them without drama. They know every game in the book but they don’t have manners and aren’t ready for any competitive discipline. Please, please, please show me where a horse trained this way has commanded a “high price.” I’ve never seen it.
“The first time horse owner has a greater chance of having a positive riding experience when natural horse techniques are understood and practiced.”
The first time horse owner has a greater chance of having a positive riding experience when they TAKE LESSONS so that they can stay on, discipline the horse, and the horse can’t WALK ALL OVER THEM.
(Please refer to Mugwump for further clarification on this)
“Owners using their animals for competition have reported a greater improvement, overall, believing the results are directly related to the use of natural horse techniques.”
OK, those of you who seriously compete – how many of you would agree with this statement? Can someone please point to a single World Show top ten or Nationals top ten horse trained with “natural horse techniques?” (Or weaned with a freaking prong halter?)
The lunacy continues…along with the bad spelling.
“When separation of mother and baby is too soon and granny mare was not available, I have found the foal will typically mature having a personality of either extremely aggressive or extremely timid. As an example, can you remember your horse be attack by another horse for no apparent reason while you were moving along peacefully on a trail ride? Your horse didn’t make a single wrong move and the other horse came, ears pinned and bearing teeth. That’s an aggressive personality.”
Yes, and it’s not caused by early weaning, it’s caused by a rider it has no respect for. Do you know what I’d do to a horse who thought he could attack another horse while I was in the saddle? Again, refer back to RIDING LESSONS.
“Can you remember when you had to hand feed a horse separately? It stayed off to the side and it would not move up to the feeding area with the rest of horses. This is a timid personality. I believe both of these examples are typical of horses that were forced from their mother to soon.”
Well, you believe wrong. I’ve seen both personality types in horses that were NEVER weaned and grew up with their dams…particularly in hoarder/BYB cases. I have worked with numerous horses who were never separated from their dams or even handled until 8-10 years of age, and their personalities were…middle of the herd. The idea that traditional weaning causes personality extremes is just plain silly.
The truth is that the mare’s personality often dictates the foal’s personality. An alpha mare will tend to raise little alphas who are bullying the other babies from day one. A pushy mare will raise a pushy baby that will be a little harder to teach manners to. A timid, spooky mare will transfer her fears to her foal who will often be the bottom of the pecking order his whole life. This isn’t true 100% of the time, but it’s true more often than not.
Another truth is that separating mares and foals using SAFE fencing and ideally getting them out of earshot of one another works just fine. However, that’s a method that doesn’t put $75 in this chick’s pocket!
Unbelievable. I wonder how many people will actually fall for this one?
It’s getting to be like a broken record
OK, you were all waiting for #10 on my STFU list. Well, guess who got 8 horses taken away from her again last night? I have provided a visual clue at left.
She is claiming they’re not hers, of course. She says they used to be hers but she gave them to someone named Nancy Pacey, who seems to be the latest person covering up for our favorite batshit crazy hoarder. Of course, Nancy has a gazillion horses of her own that she can’t feed. She’s been getting her hay bought for her by Jules, long-time hay-buying enabler of ol’ Photoshopped Ass. Wow, Jules, you must have a lot of money to be financing all this faux rescuing – or are you simply maxing out your credit cards, second-and-third mortgaging your own home and well on your way to complete and total financial ruin like everybody else who comes near Dean? I hear your generosity is being rewarded by a full plate of backstabbing and lies. If you’d like to spill all the beans, that’s what this blog is for – come on over and tell us all about it!
I’m curious to hear which horses are among the eight. Perhaps Kimmie, who was supposed to be given to SOS Equines, but strangely never showed up? Dean claimed Kimmie was impossible to load, yet Kimmie has been moved three times by Dean since all the drama started. Amazing! Of course, the other mare that you can’t even halter without it trying to kick you into the next galaxy…that one showed up.
(For those of you whining about my absence this morning, I was waiting to confirm this story before posting…’cause I know all of you inquiring minds wanted to know!)
Is it going to end? No, no, it’s not. Dean will always charm people into covering for her and enabling her. That is what she does well. And I suspect that many of you who read this and think “WTF is wrong with these people who help her?” are teetering on the edge of similar situations yourselves. I’ve been there too. We all want to help out a friend in need, a friend who is going through a tough time and it’s admirable to do so…but how long does the tough time have to last before you acknowledge that it’s not a tough time, it’s how things are and the person is taking no constructive steps to change it? How many jobs do you think Dean has applied for in the past year or two? How many of Dean’s personal luxuries has she sold to provide hay and care for her horses? Uh-huh. If you are helping a friend feed their horses right now, take a step back and ask yourself – are they really working to get out of their rut themselves? Or have you acquired an oversized, overaged dependent – complete with four legged sub-dependents?
Definitely something to think about in these difficult times…
Back on the Chain Gang!
Click to see it larger if you think your eyes are deceiving you. Yes, that’s a foal chained to its dam. Why? Why, you ask? What an excellent question, one that the reader who sent it to me was asking, along with many others:
“Why is a foal tethered to its dam in the first place? I though nature provided that bond!”
I am truly baffled. This is a real WTF moment.
Agreed. I particularly cringe at nylon halters when the mare has a foal at side. The foal can get caught in it too, you know.
“Love the extra-wide neck collar (also not breakaway) for the foal — so he can strangle even faster than with a halter??”
And what is that neck collar anyway? I know he’s a draft, but are we trying to teach him to pull his mother?
Good question.
It really does look like an emergency vet call waiting to happen.
See, and we bitched when “Glamour” did this. A veterinary magazine really should get 30 lashes with a wet noodle for this one!
*shakes head.* Another day, another idiot or ten…
