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.