At some point in time, every horse owner has been a buyer. For many owners, they've also been a seller.
Some sellers buy young horses with the intent to train and re-sell. Some breed to sell. Some "horse flip," going to the local sale each week, coming home with a trailer load to post on Craigslist, and whatever doesn't sell that week goes back to the sale the following week. Some sellers have simply outgrown - physically or in terms of discipline or ability - their current animal. Some sellers genuinely care about the horses they advertise; some don't.
A seller holds the key to which buyer takes the horse home. If something just doesn't feel right, if the person is obviously in over their head or not ready for the type of horse the seller is offering - the seller has the right to say so. The seller can say, I just don't think this is a good match for you, but I'll be happy to help you find a horse that will work for you. The seller has the right to say, how about if Horse stays here for another 30 days of training which I will discount X amount, and Buyer, you come out every Saturday for a lesson with Horse to make sure this is a good fit. Sure, it takes a little more time. But imagine when Buyer tells all her friends what this seller has taken the time to do. Seller might run out of horses to sell because he took a little responsibility for the animal and the person buying it.
Sellers, your mama and your preacher were right: Honesty is the best policy.
If the horse you're selling requires a joint supplement, special shoes, or 10 minutes of lunging before riding - this information is critical to ensuring the horse a long-term home, rather than bouncing place to place until ending up neglected, unsound, ruined, dumped at the sale. The right buyer will not walk away because of an issue they are told about up front.
Seriously, if you have put any kind of time into training the horse, how does it make any sense to send your substantial investment off with someone who will undo all your hard work? Because they've handed you a check? Really? How do you take any pride in your work if you're willing to send a colt with 60 days training off to a beginner owner/rider who isn't equipped to be in this situation but trusts that you know best because you're far more experienced?
Remember that "unwanted horses" were once wanted; starving and neglected horses picked up by rescues may have once been someone else's favorite show prospect or their little girl's pet. If the horse market is to regain some level of value; if the number of "unwanted horses" is to be reduced - each and every seller out there needs to step up and take a little bit of responsibility for the horses they are putting into the marketplace.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
A sad day-after follow-up
For those who might say that yesterday's blog was some sort of vindictive something against some poor woman, today's LSN contains this sad plea from an innocent bystander:
Have u seen this horse Sampson
I am trying to find my horse he was traded by my mom to a woman named teri vincent at teris lookout meadow farms in Murfreesboro in May. i was told he went to a nice home somewhere outside of Nashville but it turns out that this woman has lied about everything and treats her horses terribly ( including starving them, no medical care, trading and selling sick or near death horses),she bought a trailer from the same ppl who have sampson . i would like to know that he is safe and taken care of. if you know where he is or if you have him you can contact me i would really appreciate it . Sampson is about 15-16 hh has three white socks one black and white on his face. When he eats grain he holds his head up in the air and tends to choke on carrots. feel free to call!! Link to LSN ad
I hope Sampson is another lucky one.......but chances are truly not on his side.
Have u seen this horse Sampson
I am trying to find my horse he was traded by my mom to a woman named teri vincent at teris lookout meadow farms in Murfreesboro in May. i was told he went to a nice home somewhere outside of Nashville but it turns out that this woman has lied about everything and treats her horses terribly ( including starving them, no medical care, trading and selling sick or near death horses),she bought a trailer from the same ppl who have sampson . i would like to know that he is safe and taken care of. if you know where he is or if you have him you can contact me i would really appreciate it . Sampson is about 15-16 hh has three white socks one black and white on his face. When he eats grain he holds his head up in the air and tends to choke on carrots. feel free to call!! Link to LSN ad
I hope Sampson is another lucky one.......but chances are truly not on his side.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Crappaloosa sandwich, anyone?
We begin today’s eye-opening look into the world of horse breeders with an ad from “Local Sales Network” (similar to Craigslist for Tennessee and Kentucky).
I'll mention, in passing, her questionable conformation, though it's not a flattering picture angle that makes her look pig eyed, hammer headed, with a croup you could ski-jump off of…What I am going to address is the comment that the mare will be 4, came from “Lookout Meadow Farm” for $1000 this spring basically un-handled and is “registerable but not registered.”
With a visit to our friend Google, we find…What a surprise! http://terricvincenttlmf.vpweb.com/ More fugly, overpriced crappaloosas, such as her “junior stallion Tucker” – who you can own for just $6500 - what a deal!
She has “lotsa” babies and look! a “third in line” stallion! And, let’s don’t forget, her website looks like it hasn’t been updated since late 2008 or early 2009. But, most of her business comes from “repeat customers and referrals” because she “delivers some of the best appaloosas in the industry”. Hmm, judging from the mare for sale and the no-halter-non-groomed, flip-flop clad photo above, that sounds believable, doesn’t it?
Now, what the sale ad and the website won’t tell you…but perhaps you are beginning to suspect…is that this woman has seventy horses. You read that right. 7-0. Thirty are her “broodmares” and “breeding stock.” – the rest are colts or just random horses that “need training” or are “for sale.”
Now, if you've read all that without vomitting on your keyboard, here comes the personal knowledge part of this sad, sad situation.
In the process of breeding what she already has, she’s also constantly scanning places like Craigslist and continuing to purchase horses. She has someone who goes to the weekend sales and comes home with horses by the trailer load...they'll stand on the property still wearing their hip tags from whichever sale they've been run through.
Recently, Terri has been looking for some farm help because “her health is getting bad.” Well, you know teenage girls love to play with baby horses. And, you also know they love to talk. And, it turns out, Terri is doing even worse than I’ve already described. She is selling horses directly to kill.
You read that right. She advertises these colts as “the best in the industry,” honestly won’t sell them – won’t look at an offer - for under $800, but will turn around and ship to Mexico.
Even with her “poor health,” she’s still looking for mares to breed in the spring, she's still buying from sales, and she's now, apparently (based on the email I received from the teenager), calling herself a "rescue" as well -- is this a veil for how skinny some of the horses are? Or an attempt to get some donations?
One of the teenage “helpers” snapped this picture with her cell phone – these were supposed to be the first horses for “training” so she thought it would be cool to have a “before” picture of them – four days later, they were shipped. The two on the left are obviously young – what was their crime, being born solid instead of spotted? The paint looks to be a gelding – I guess he must’ve been picked up at a sale.
Proof once again that an online claim and a website don’t make you reputable…and proof once again that you can only hide your dirty laundry for so long before someone airs it out! Know who you're buying from, Google them, expect a level of professionalism when dealing with someone who claims to be an industry leader. Putting up a website doesn't make fantasy, reality.
The mare that’s for sale on LSN….she was one of the lucky ones. Hopefully, she’ll be lucky the second time around.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Thought for the day: if you don't know anything about it, why make more of it?
Last night, I saw an advertisement on a local classified website for "heeler puppies". Not many stock dogs are advertised on this particular website, so out of curiousity, I clicked through. They were blue heeler pups, about 4 weeks old, in that cute little ears starting to stand up, hair starting to blue-out stage. They weren't registered and weren't "breed standard" - most of them had some body spotting.
The ad text read that these were "the white kind of blue heelers and both mother and father have some of the white hair the puppies have."
Now, if you've never seen a blue (or red) heeler or aren't familiar with the breed, you probably don't know that the pups are born white and color within the first few weeks of life. Blues will have black paw pads and skin; reds will have tan/chocolate colored paw pads and skin. But, someone who has a male and a female that they clearly don't care to neuter and spay, someone who clearly intends to breedbreedbreed, should be aware of this very basic fact. A "breeder" who doesn't know this, probably doesn't know what vaccinations to give a puppy or pregnant bitch dog, when do deworm them, doesn't know a good working dog (that has a chance at a good home) from a hyperactive, obsessive-compulsive house-destroyer that's going to sooner or later end up in a shelter or rescue or abandoned because very few people want to try to re-train a heeler that's been ruined by an ignorant owner. Nor do they care whether they are breeding the former or the latter.
I use the heelers as an example for uneducated horse breeders. Horse owner has a mare of no particular breeding that's been a big pet for 9 or 10 years; they decide to breed her because the neighbor has a stud that's a pretty color and it will only cost them $50. They don't know about fescue toxicity, pre-natal vaccinations, confirming a single embryo versus twins...Mare foals out with complications. Mare dies. Now they are raising an orphan that grows up completely spoiled and becomes dangerous. Now baby that was so important to make is dumped at local livestock sale for $30.
Or, mare foals out fine and has a colt. Mare and colt live together, colt is never weaned. It's so cute how much they "love" each other. Owner never considers gelding the colt because he "wouldn't do that with his mother." Two years later, colt starts running through fencing to get at other mares. Colt is loaded up and sold at the sale. Original mare has a foal in the dead of winter; it dies of hypothermia before owner notices mare has foaled. Congratulations, owner of mare. You are part of the problem. Gelding is a cheap procedure. $75 to $150, and you won't have to worry about any stallion "problems". Not every stallion needs to keep his testicles, and not every mare needs to be bred. Mares don't have human emotions; they don't need to "have a baby to feel complete." Give me a break - ladies - don't put your human desire onto your horse.
The ad text read that these were "the white kind of blue heelers and both mother and father have some of the white hair the puppies have."
Now, if you've never seen a blue (or red) heeler or aren't familiar with the breed, you probably don't know that the pups are born white and color within the first few weeks of life. Blues will have black paw pads and skin; reds will have tan/chocolate colored paw pads and skin. But, someone who has a male and a female that they clearly don't care to neuter and spay, someone who clearly intends to breedbreedbreed, should be aware of this very basic fact. A "breeder" who doesn't know this, probably doesn't know what vaccinations to give a puppy or pregnant bitch dog, when do deworm them, doesn't know a good working dog (that has a chance at a good home) from a hyperactive, obsessive-compulsive house-destroyer that's going to sooner or later end up in a shelter or rescue or abandoned because very few people want to try to re-train a heeler that's been ruined by an ignorant owner. Nor do they care whether they are breeding the former or the latter.
I use the heelers as an example for uneducated horse breeders. Horse owner has a mare of no particular breeding that's been a big pet for 9 or 10 years; they decide to breed her because the neighbor has a stud that's a pretty color and it will only cost them $50. They don't know about fescue toxicity, pre-natal vaccinations, confirming a single embryo versus twins...Mare foals out with complications. Mare dies. Now they are raising an orphan that grows up completely spoiled and becomes dangerous. Now baby that was so important to make is dumped at local livestock sale for $30.
Or, mare foals out fine and has a colt. Mare and colt live together, colt is never weaned. It's so cute how much they "love" each other. Owner never considers gelding the colt because he "wouldn't do that with his mother." Two years later, colt starts running through fencing to get at other mares. Colt is loaded up and sold at the sale. Original mare has a foal in the dead of winter; it dies of hypothermia before owner notices mare has foaled. Congratulations, owner of mare. You are part of the problem. Gelding is a cheap procedure. $75 to $150, and you won't have to worry about any stallion "problems". Not every stallion needs to keep his testicles, and not every mare needs to be bred. Mares don't have human emotions; they don't need to "have a baby to feel complete." Give me a break - ladies - don't put your human desire onto your horse.
Monday, December 19, 2011
This is how we're raising the next generation?!?
This news story is gruesome and disturbing on many levels. Horse Carcasses Found Chained To Dogs In LeFlore County -- graphic image warning.
A statment from the sheriff of LeFlore County read as follows: According to Sheriff Bruce Curnutt, his department received a call Tuesday evening in reference to the McReynolds' animals in need of care. When deputies arrived, they discovered 6 dead horses, 2 dead dogs, 2 dead hogs and animal remains on the property.
“This case is beyond cruel,” said Curnutt. “It is just gruesome. You don't treat animals this way. It looked like a scene from a horror movie.”
“One of the horse carcasses had been placed inside a hog pen for the hogs to feed on, while another carcass was lying in the yard with a dog chained to it,” said Curnutt. “In all my years I have never seen such cruelty.”
Two living horses found on the property were so emaciated that they were unable to stand and could not be saved.
Albert McReynolds is 66 - his grandson William McReynolds is 18. Nothing like raising the kid to think like a serial killer. The pair is out on bond.
A statment from the sheriff of LeFlore County read as follows: According to Sheriff Bruce Curnutt, his department received a call Tuesday evening in reference to the McReynolds' animals in need of care. When deputies arrived, they discovered 6 dead horses, 2 dead dogs, 2 dead hogs and animal remains on the property.
“This case is beyond cruel,” said Curnutt. “It is just gruesome. You don't treat animals this way. It looked like a scene from a horror movie.”
“One of the horse carcasses had been placed inside a hog pen for the hogs to feed on, while another carcass was lying in the yard with a dog chained to it,” said Curnutt. “In all my years I have never seen such cruelty.”
Two living horses found on the property were so emaciated that they were unable to stand and could not be saved.
Albert McReynolds is 66 - his grandson William McReynolds is 18. Nothing like raising the kid to think like a serial killer. The pair is out on bond.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Will trade horses for..........common sense???
Unfortunately, ads like this one are not all that uncommon. This particular ad came from the Evansville, IN Craigslist. The "don't have room to keep them all" followed by "this mare is bred, this mare is bred, this mare is bred" defines all common sense.
If you don't have room to keep them, why are you breeding the ones you have? What did you think would happen when you breed stallion to mare? Instead of 2 horses, you then have 3. When you breed multiple mares, multiple foals result.
If you don't have the room for the mares you have, plus the babies they'll be birthing in the spring, why do you want to trade them for another mare? Please tell me it's not to breed them, too.
I don't understand how or why anyone thinks that a bred mare is going to be more valuable than a nicely trained trail mare in this economy, with the value of an average horse with average bloodlines and not trained in a particular discipline being next to nothing compared to five years ago. If anything, it decreases a mare's value because most people want to buy a horse to ride right now, not fool with the birthing process, weaning a foal, deciding whether to keep or sell one or the other. People may not have the facilities for a bred mare, or to separate and wean colt from mare, or to pay board on two horses instead of one - so you immediately exclude a large group of horse shoppers from taking a second glance at your mare, regardless of how nice she may be. And especially not when someone who does want to raise a foal can find a weanling for under $1000, and many worthwhile projects under $500, without having to worry about late-term bred-mare care, foaling, and weaning.
I'm not picking on this particular poster, either...I see it all the time. I would bet there is a similar post on at least 50% of the Craigslists nationwide.
If you don't have room to keep them, why are you breeding the ones you have? What did you think would happen when you breed stallion to mare? Instead of 2 horses, you then have 3. When you breed multiple mares, multiple foals result.
If you don't have the room for the mares you have, plus the babies they'll be birthing in the spring, why do you want to trade them for another mare? Please tell me it's not to breed them, too.
I don't understand how or why anyone thinks that a bred mare is going to be more valuable than a nicely trained trail mare in this economy, with the value of an average horse with average bloodlines and not trained in a particular discipline being next to nothing compared to five years ago. If anything, it decreases a mare's value because most people want to buy a horse to ride right now, not fool with the birthing process, weaning a foal, deciding whether to keep or sell one or the other. People may not have the facilities for a bred mare, or to separate and wean colt from mare, or to pay board on two horses instead of one - so you immediately exclude a large group of horse shoppers from taking a second glance at your mare, regardless of how nice she may be. And especially not when someone who does want to raise a foal can find a weanling for under $1000, and many worthwhile projects under $500, without having to worry about late-term bred-mare care, foaling, and weaning.
I'm not picking on this particular poster, either...I see it all the time. I would bet there is a similar post on at least 50% of the Craigslists nationwide.
Monday, December 12, 2011
A simple question
In Adams County, Pennsylvania recently, James Houseman was charged with 22 counts of animal cruelty. Houseman will have his day in court and I'm not interested in playing judge and jury.
This story summarizes the charges and the background of the case, complete with a photo of one of the 3 thoroughbred weanlings that died as a result of malnourishment. Houseman also has horses boarded across the state line in Maryland, and horse-owning neighbors have gotten animal control involved in the condition of the horses on that property, as well.
As for the owners of these thoroughbred broodmares and weanlings - why?
Why would you have broodmares that you don't personally check on occassionally?
Why wouldn't you want to see the foals - either in video, detailed photos, or best yet in person - that were so important to your pocketbook that they had to be born in Pennsylvania?
Why would you "assume" everything is okay if you can't get the stable manager on the phone?
Why wouldn't you hop a plane or get in the car and go check to be sure your horses were where they were supposed to be, and receiving proper care, when you started getting the run-around?
The owners who wanted their mares to foal in Pennsylvania wanted to do so for the incentive money. They didn't have an internal panic button that horse owners who love their horses as family generally have. I think it's safe to say if you or I were in a situation where we had to board a horse far from home - suppose we had to move cross-country for a job and can't move the horse right away, for example - we would expect weekly photos and updates from the person taking care of our equine companion. If we didn't get them, we'd be on the next flight back to make sure our horse was okay. The owners of these broodmares, however, saw them as an investment. It took the property owner of the Pennsylvania farm calling the authorities about the condition of these horses for something to be done. The authorities still haven't identified all the owners of the horses.
So much for breeding the next Kentucky Derby winner; instead, you've got a bunch of starved babies, 3 dead babies and at least one dead mare.
Will they be able to be registered? Will they overcome their rough start and grow up able to race or perform? Will the owners surrender them for adoption? And, if so, will responsible homes be able to be found?
This story summarizes the charges and the background of the case, complete with a photo of one of the 3 thoroughbred weanlings that died as a result of malnourishment. Houseman also has horses boarded across the state line in Maryland, and horse-owning neighbors have gotten animal control involved in the condition of the horses on that property, as well.
As for the owners of these thoroughbred broodmares and weanlings - why?
Why would you have broodmares that you don't personally check on occassionally?
Why wouldn't you want to see the foals - either in video, detailed photos, or best yet in person - that were so important to your pocketbook that they had to be born in Pennsylvania?
Why would you "assume" everything is okay if you can't get the stable manager on the phone?
Why wouldn't you hop a plane or get in the car and go check to be sure your horses were where they were supposed to be, and receiving proper care, when you started getting the run-around?
The owners who wanted their mares to foal in Pennsylvania wanted to do so for the incentive money. They didn't have an internal panic button that horse owners who love their horses as family generally have. I think it's safe to say if you or I were in a situation where we had to board a horse far from home - suppose we had to move cross-country for a job and can't move the horse right away, for example - we would expect weekly photos and updates from the person taking care of our equine companion. If we didn't get them, we'd be on the next flight back to make sure our horse was okay. The owners of these broodmares, however, saw them as an investment. It took the property owner of the Pennsylvania farm calling the authorities about the condition of these horses for something to be done. The authorities still haven't identified all the owners of the horses.
So much for breeding the next Kentucky Derby winner; instead, you've got a bunch of starved babies, 3 dead babies and at least one dead mare.
Will they be able to be registered? Will they overcome their rough start and grow up able to race or perform? Will the owners surrender them for adoption? And, if so, will responsible homes be able to be found?
Thursday, December 8, 2011
An introduction and (further) explanation of the blog title
Good morning. I'm a lifelong horse lover who was cleaning stalls long before I was allowed on the back of a horse. I started riding as a pre-teen and, with the exception of some long college semesters far from home without access to a place to ride, have been riding ever since. Along with riding, I have worked at various horse-related facilities, I have owned, ridden and trained various breeds in different areas of the country, and I have always been hungry for knowledge - whether from my farriers, my vets, my feed store owners, or elderly riders and trainers who have been handling horses far longer than I.
This blog will draw upon many stories from personal experience. It will also be a place to discuss current events. I'm also not going to be able to resist the draw of "bad for sale ads" although I will do my best to protect the guilty (owners) and innocent (horses) as I share them. It's my hope that we can learn something from each other, and from the oftentimes sad things that we as humans do to each other and animals in our care.
I'm not going to re-post the brief explanation of the blog title that is in my profile (to the right); however, I would like to expand on it. If you have been around horses long enough, you have met one of these people. The owner of a trail string has a mare that's packed kids around for the past 4 summers come up lame, so he dumps her at the local auction for $50. What does he care, he's got 20 horses to feed this winter that won't make him a dime 'til spring. The trainer who has six young prospects in the barn; they are all for sale. Some folks show up who don't have much riding experience and who have never owned a horse; they are interested in a colt that's had 30 days of riding. What does the trainer care, money is money, it doesn't matter if the horse winds up sold to a trader in 3 months because the owners were totally unprepared to finish its training. The owner who posts her horse for sale on Craigslist when he starts bucking out of the blue or stays sore when ridden - rather than look for the cause - because she can 'replace' him cheaper than she can 'fix' him. The breeder still producing 30 babies a year because they have "special" bloodlines and "someone" will buy them, even though last year's (now) yearlings and the year before's (now) 2-year-olds are still on the property and have barely been handled.
They're all named Wildfire. They are all disposable, replaceable, too much trouble if creating an inconvenience.
This blog will draw upon many stories from personal experience. It will also be a place to discuss current events. I'm also not going to be able to resist the draw of "bad for sale ads" although I will do my best to protect the guilty (owners) and innocent (horses) as I share them. It's my hope that we can learn something from each other, and from the oftentimes sad things that we as humans do to each other and animals in our care.
I'm not going to re-post the brief explanation of the blog title that is in my profile (to the right); however, I would like to expand on it. If you have been around horses long enough, you have met one of these people. The owner of a trail string has a mare that's packed kids around for the past 4 summers come up lame, so he dumps her at the local auction for $50. What does he care, he's got 20 horses to feed this winter that won't make him a dime 'til spring. The trainer who has six young prospects in the barn; they are all for sale. Some folks show up who don't have much riding experience and who have never owned a horse; they are interested in a colt that's had 30 days of riding. What does the trainer care, money is money, it doesn't matter if the horse winds up sold to a trader in 3 months because the owners were totally unprepared to finish its training. The owner who posts her horse for sale on Craigslist when he starts bucking out of the blue or stays sore when ridden - rather than look for the cause - because she can 'replace' him cheaper than she can 'fix' him. The breeder still producing 30 babies a year because they have "special" bloodlines and "someone" will buy them, even though last year's (now) yearlings and the year before's (now) 2-year-olds are still on the property and have barely been handled.
They're all named Wildfire. They are all disposable, replaceable, too much trouble if creating an inconvenience.
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