Best and Worst of 2014 + News

I hope you had a lovely Christmas, and that your horses did too! It's now 2015. Before we get too far into the cold, cold new year, lets take look back at the best and worst of 2014.

By 2014, the Barb Thiry saga was winding down, and although it is still not resolved, the horses are safe for now (but I WILL be watching). We got a new baddie though! In February, we met one of the worst horse people in Wisconsin: Juslain LuMaye. I'm not sure how you could have missed that story, but if you did, you can read it here, and the follow-up here. The short version is that she's a "trainer" out to make a buck, regardless of who suffers. If anyone has any updates on the surviving horses, I'd be much obliged if you'd post them here in the comments. Fortunately for Wisconsin, Juslain has moved to Minnesota, where she has started a custom tack business called Wyoming Custom Gear. Hopefully she'll do less harm there. (Sorry Minnesota.)

Fortunately, there were also some truly wonderful people who helped horses in 2014. I named a bunch of individuals in my Equine Valentines post. Of course the many Wisconsin horse rescues did their part. We said hello to New Equine Resource, a brand new Wisconsin rescue. We said a fond farewell to Mary and Bill of Saint Francis Horse Rescue, who have (mostly) retired after decades of helping equines. (I hear new people may start up the rescue soon though!)

It's hard to recognize all those who fought the good fight, in big battles and in tiny ones. I think you know who are you, but I don't think you know how much good you do. So many of you deserve a medal. I'd like to thank Kelly, Faith, Karyn and Scott, Tricia, and many others... so many others. I couldn't fit you all in if I wrote for hours. Real quick, I'm just going to pick a couple of recent Facebook comments at random to celebrate:

Good job Beth! That's the best present to ask for!

Jessie was tireless in her efforts to educate people about the risks of breeding, especially breeding older mares. So many links, and so many comments on different forums. Thanks for trying to protect mares Jessie! 

On a personal note, in 2014 I brought home Ruffi and Riven, after a long struggle to get them away from their abuser. You can read the whole saga here. (Much love to Mary for the support on that one!) Ruffi got a new home with some really excellent people, kind and patient trainers who will ensure her future. Riven is still with me, and doing great.

My personal favorite North Horse blog post of 2014 was on March 28th, "Open Letter to a Backyard Breeder," which resulted in easily the most hilarious comments ever seen on North Horse:

...and then much further down:

Yes, this lady really did pretend to be from the Feds in order to try to intimidate me into taking down my post. It's amazing what shady people will try!

Speaking of backyard breeding, here's one I just saw on Facebook and can't resist posting:

Most of you already know exactly what I think about this crap, but sing along with me anyway:

- A grade 2 year old stud colt with a hernia is not worth $2,000, not even with magic Friesian blood

- Shame on Excalibur for breeding Friesian + Andalusian + Thoroughbred just 'cuz it's trendy

- Capone may be sweet, but has anyone bothered to look at his conformation? The pic ain't much.

- Grade school level science tells us that if you mate Horse of breed A to Horse of breed B, the offspring will almost certainly NOT be a 50-50 hybrid of A and B. Genes can be dominant or recessive (that's why human children usually look or act more like one parent than the other). This colt could genetically be 76% TB. Forget that "half Friesian" stuff, this guy is a mutt. Nothing wrong with mutts, mind you, I own mutts-- it's just that this guy shouldn't have been bred, and shouldn't breed unless I'm missing some truly incredible conformation and talent he has.

- I'm glad the seller wants to be "very picky" about Capone's potential new owner... but I wish she would have GELDED him and gotten his hernia fixed BEFORE listing him for sale!! Somewhere out there, someone equally ignorant is looking at this ad and thinking, "Ooo, I could keep him intact and breed him to my TWH mare for a gaited Friesian-Thoroughbred-Andalusian-Walker!!" *facepalm*

OKAY folks, time to wrap this up.

Brief news Updates:

If you bought any Gastrotec equine anti-ulcer meds, return them or throw them away-- they were recalled. *sigh* Darn it, we would all like a less expensive alternative to UlcerGard, but I guess this isn't it.

I'm not sure what exactly is going on in this case, but it smells bad to me. Sounds like neglectful assholes being all indignant that the authorities finally took their starving critters away. What do you know about this?  Couple Sues Ashland County for Euthanizing Donkey, Horse. I think once we know this was justified, we should write authorities and tell them "thank you for doing the right thing." It's rare that cops do this, and when they do, we need to make sure they know we appreciate it!

Just a reminder, horses do get infected with rabies, as this recent case shows us, so don't skip vaccinations!

One more thing: I have created a Wisconsin Horse Events calendar. However, I don't have nearly all of the important stuff on there. Help me out! Tell me about events WI horse people should know about. Shoot me a date, time, and brief description here, or at northhorseblog@gmail.com, or on Facebook.