Craigslist Day

It's Craigslist day, folks.

First of all, you might remember the filly I posted on the North Horse Facebook page yesterday:

 I had emailed the seller, expressing my concern that such a young foal was being offered for sale. Foals, of course, shouldn't be weaned until 5-6 months old, and this little girl is two months old.The seller sent me the following:

"We dont have room for her and didnt know the mare was breed when we bought her mom. we wont let her go till shes 4 months because shes still on the mare. I always wean babies at 4month but i will put them up for sale before then to get them sold."

The ad has since been removed.

Nice all-caps description. Are you shouting to be heard over your own stupidity? I'm assuming so, because in your other picture, your granddaughter is riding in sandals and with no helmet, on concrete. I'm confused though, what does "DON'T LOOK AT THE FENCE, (SMOOTH WIRE )" mean? You don't want me to look at your fence? Is the fence shy? Your horses don't look at the fence? Ohhh, I see, they don't have a tendency to break out of the fence. Could it be because there is a never-ending, founder-inducing field for them to eat inside the fence? "EASY KEEPER." Oh God. If this pony gets any "easier to keep" it will burst like an overcooked hotdog. *sigh*  Grandpa seller here actually sounds like a decent gentleman, and this is not a bad price for a cart, harness and pony. Can anyone give her a new home and a diet plan?

I am super glad that you took the time to fingerpaint your old mare for her sales picture instead of taking a real conformation picture. The pink blobs add immensely to her value and her dignity. I especially like the scrawled "bye" on her back, indicating you are deeply emotionally affected by her impending sale. The one tiny child leading the horse, upon which is mounted an even tinier child with no helmet, is also adorable. I am positive people will be lining up to buy this horse without even knowing her age, breed, height, training level, vaccination record, ground manners, etc, none of which you bothered to include here. Nope, the word "great" and a price tag of $900 says it all.

Is that stallion in an attic? Why? Is he hiding out up there? Is he the Anne Frank of pintos? I guess keeping his identity secret would be one reason you wouldn't describe his height, temperament, etc. Then again, you do list his name ("HOPPER") and the fact that he's registered, so maybe he's not hiding. If that is the case, please take him out of the attic and provide a conformation shot. Some people may care to know more about him than the fact that he "throws nice colored foals." (When you hear that phrase, do you too picture a stallion throwing a screaming, rainbow-colored foal like a football?)


Bad Picture Hall of Fame

I tell myself that these Craigslist photos of horses must have happened on accident. See, the owners actually wanted to take a picture of their gravel pile, lawn, stairs, girlfriend or old tire, and the horse happened to be there. Later these owners dragged out the photos to use on their sales ads. That's the only way these make any sense.

Fuglyblog Eulogy & Legacy: A Message to All Horse Bloggers

I think it's time to post this.
Fuglyblog is dead: let us mourn.

Fugly Horse of the Day, or Fuglyblog, was a horse blog written by a woman with balls of steel. Cathy Atkinson Trope wrote about issues in the horse world that no one else did, and she humiliated more than one horse-abusing asshole. A lawyer  legally knowledgeable, educated and well-spoken woman, an animal-lover, a knowledgeable horse-owner and a vitriolic writer, she endured death threats, lawsuits, cyber attacks and more in order to out the badguys. She taught the horse world a great deal about what was wrong in the equine industry, and what to do about it. It was through Cathy that many people learned for the first time about the importance of conformation, HYPP testing, proper training and the need end to over-breeding, as well as a myriad of other issues.

Fuglyblog was sold when Cathy no longer had the time or heart to continue writing full time. It bounced through a series of writers, some decent, some awful, none of them great. Gradually, the quality declined, and now the website won't even load. Fuglyblog's Facebook page and Twitter updates have also ground to a halt (the last tiny post was in early May). The writer last responsible for the blog went by the name "Ontario," and her unexplained disappearance has been rumored to be the result of everything from a barn fire to foul play to "personal issues." Alas, Fuglyblog seems dead for good.

However, the spirit of Fuglyblog is not dead. Its fiery passion lives on in the writings of others. Bloggers with ideals have taken up the fight for humane horse treatment, and for every one that falls by the wayside, another rises up to take her place.

Some may question the need for more Fugly-style blogs, when Cathy herself said it all, fought all the fights, and explained all the issues, at least twice over. Why should blogs like this continue? Well here's why: people need them.

People are changeable and constantly moving. They need reassurance, reinforcement, a constant stream of information, from different writers in different styles. Blogs aren't meant to be written and tucked away on a shelf forever. They must be alive and active, responsive to readers old and new. Their lessons must be taught again and again, in different ways. As long as there are horse abusers, there must be people to shame them. As long as there is ignorance about horse breeding, there must be people who know better.As long as there are people who care about horses, there must be other people who push them to do something about horse neglect.

As silly as it may seem, Snarky Rider, Cathy's blog and now my own blog have pushed me to act at times I might otherwise not have. I think, "If Cathy caught me allowing my horse to get away with this, what would she say?" I think, "Wouldn't Snarky Rider have something to say about this?" I think, "If my readers knew I didn't knock on the door of the man with the too-thin horse, what would they say?" I hope and believe that this is true for others as well.

Even when we bloggers are just commenting on bad Craigslist ads, even when we are posting "filler" material, even when when we can hardly bear to post yet one more horrific story of neglect, we are sending a powerful message:

I CARE.
YOU SHOULD TOO.
DO SOMETHING!

Obviously the better our blogs are, the better we can broadcast the message. However, we are only human. That "filler," the late posts, and even the week-long gap between posts is normal and natural and not something to be too ashamed about. If you're truly sick at heart of writing, then yeah, stop. But if you're just worried that you are not "good enough," or not fast enough, keep writing! The world needs whatever positive messages it can get.

Speaking of positive messages, Cathy still tweets about horse issues once in a while, and I recommend you follow her Twitter feed. Cathy has said she will work on posting her old Fuglyblog archives for the world to see, and I'm very excited about that. I'll be posting a link to the website here as soon as it's up.

Snarkyrider seems to be down at heart, and her posts have dried up. In her only recent update, she wrote,

"The ideals of the blog are still very important to me but it has been really hard to make myself come up with interesting posts about yet another poorly bred, mistreated, badly ridden, and/or blatantly abused horse. The state of our beloved industry is incredibly sad and more than a little bit revolting. So I’ve been hunkering down..."

Head over to her most recent post and tell her to keep writing! Keep the positive messages flowing.

Speaking of great bloggers, I've updated my list of "Other Great Horse Blogs" over there on the right-- click those links and tell me what blogs should be added to the list!

Finally, I couldn't get the previous North Horse Facebook page back up, so I've started a new one. Yeah, I know, it's a pain in the ass, but please go "like" the new North Horse page. The button on the top of the blog should be fixed now. Sorry 'bout all the trouble, folks.

When Husbands Try to Help, & Hall of Shame Award

I love my husband...
...but he really shouldn't be left alone with my horses.

Watching him attempt to tie a quick-release knot this morning, I experienced a moment of panic. I had to go in to work, and the farrier was on her way. Things were not going as well as I'd hoped. My dear husband was trying though... "So, uh, you make a fishy, it goes around the log..."

Six feet away on the end of the rope, Annie looked on. Her expression clearly said that she would walking away from this mess as soon as possible. I gently took the rope away from my husband, pulled Annie closer, tied the knot (the fishy goes over the log and bites his tail) and snugged it tight. "Ok, I have to go. Just flyspray the boys, and pick their hooves if you can."

"Right. Where's the hoofpick?"

*sigh*

How is it that our significant others can spend years and years living with us, yet be so clueless about our horse stuff? It must be partially our own faults. Maybe we don't include them in enough horse activities. Maybe we hog the horses to ourselves, because they are our, therapy, our glory, our friends.

"Here's the hoofpick," I said, "and I left the check for the farrier in the car. The cash on top is her tip."

"She gets a tip too?"

"She definitely does today," I replied.

Actually, everything turned out fine. My husband even said, with just a touch of pride, that the farrier had told him he'd done a good job, considering. Aww, what a trooper. Maybe we shouldn't be so hard on our husbands. After all, they do put up with us...

Maybe  we should tell our husbands about "Horse Husbands Unite," a Facebook support group.

Then again, maybe not.

Okay, to round off your Monday, let's have a Hall of Shame Award. This one goes out to SweetHart Farms of Pinon Hills, California. Not only does this place have an obsession over sickly-sweet, horrible names, it breeds fugly HYPP horses and then shows them with lip chains. Let me give you an example:

This is Maid Me Te Coolest, an Appaloosa mare out of Maid Me a Barbie.  "Fergie" is her barn name, and this cow, I mean, uh, mare features an incredibly downhill build, tiny feet and a weird-ass shoulder. Have I mentioned the lip chain yet? What the ever-loving fuck? This is NOT a stallion (not that that would be much of an excuse anyway). Here's an idea: train the goddam horse how to goddam lead instead of wrapping metal around its gums! I DO NOT understand why shows allow this bullshit, but apparently it's very common. Fergie here doesn't have an HYPP status listed and neither does her mommy, despite the fact that they, as well as several of their barn-mates, have Impressive blood.

Congratulations, SweetHart Farms.

Arguments Against Wearing a Helmet

June 22nd is International Helmet Awareness Day.

Here are some arguments against wearing a helmet while riding:

"I once heard that one rider got more hurt because they wore a helmet when thrown."
"The focus on helmets takes away from a focus on safe riding skills."
"When I drive my car I don't have to wear a helmet!"
"It paints horseback riding as a dangerous activity."
"It looks dumb, especially when I ride western."
"My horse is too well-trained to act up."
"I'm too good of a rider to need one."
"It discourages people from riding."
"It gives me a headache."
"It messes up my hair."
"It's MY choice."

Every one of these arguments is BULLSHIT. Let me tell you why:

"I once heard that one rider got more hurt because they wore a helmet when thrown."

Yeah, and this guy died when his parachute cords wrapped around his neck. I guess he shouldn't have jumped out of the plane with a parachute, huh?  Freak occurrences aren't valid arguments.

"The focus on helmets takes away from a focus on safe riding skills."

This is an argument for more teaching of safe riding skills, not a good argument against helmets.

"When I drive my car I don't have to wear a helmet!"

If you're stupid enough to make this argument, maybe you should. I foresee accidents in your future.

"It paints horseback riding as a dangerous activity."

It is a dangerous activity.

"It looks dumb, especially when I ride western."

If vanity is your top priority, please continue not to wear a helmet. Doing so may remove you from the gene pool faster.

"My horse is too well-trained to act up."

Are you really prepared to tell me that your horse never has and never will do something unexpected? Please give me the number of your trainer/breeder. I'm eager to purchase one of these super-horses. Also, if you can see the future, what are next week's winning lottery numbers please?

"I'm too good of a rider to need one."

No, you're too arrogant of a rider to want one. Unless, of course, you are perfect, in which case I apologize. I just hope that no other horse or rider or pedestrian ever, ever makes a mistake in your presence that might cause you, through no fault of your own, to get into an accident.

"It discourages some people from riding."

Good. We need fewer irresponsible people on horses.

"It gives me a headache."

 As a migraine sufferer, I sympathize. Now get your helmet's fit checked, pop some pills and quit being a whiner. Plus, think of how much worse your head could hurt without a helmet.


"It messes up my hair."

Who are you, Barbie? See my previous comment about vanity and survival. Also, real horse people are just happy to have relatively manure-free clothing.

"It's MY choice."

This is the argument I hate the worst.  It's an argument of entitlement, and I'm hearing it from more and more Americans who think that "freedom" means "no consequences." These are the types of people that produce six kids with three different daddies, who then turn around and demand that the taxpayers of this country support them.

Listen up, selfish assholes: what you do affects more people than just yourself. If you get hurt or killed, you are not the only one that suffers. What about your parents/spouse/kids/friends/co-workers? Who is going to pay your medical bills? What will happen to your horse? Did any lucky people get to witness your bloody head get strapped into a Medflight harness, and will they have nightmares later? And are you, selfish asshole, going to turn around and sue someone because of this accident?

If you have sat down and spoken with your significant others, and very rationally thought all of this through, then decided not to wear a helmet, that's fine. One of the things that makes America great is that you do have the freedom to decide something, then accept the consequences of your actions. As horse people, we do it all the time: we sacrifice time and money and a certain amount of safety in order to enjoy our horses.

However, if you have simply said "it's MY choice" without thought, with that particular brand of  self-centered arrogance that marks the truly irresponsible, then fuck you. You haven't made a choice, you've simply reacted like a spoiled child who yells, "I don't wanna, and you can't make me!"

Is There Any Time When NOT Wearing a Helmet is OK?

Sure, I guess so.

One issue I haven't touched on yet is shows. At some shows judges deduct points if you wear a helmet. It's idiotic, but true. In an ideal world, we would all boycott these archaic shows, or wear our helmets at them anyway. Realistically, however, those aren't always options. Because of lack of time/money/number of local shows, or because we really like a certain organization, or because we just really want those extra points in our quest for glory, we do without our helmets. It's not great. I don't like it. I wish things were different. But I understand. If you've weighed the pros and cons, done all the training necessary to make yourself as safe as possible, and really want to attend a helmet-less show, go for it. I just encourage you to do one thing: write a letter.

After you attend any event where helmets are discouraged, you should write a letter to the organizers stating your polite disapproval. Eventually, maybe these idiots will stop penalizing folks who just want to protect their brains.

Finally, I'd like to state that I'm not a "helmet Nazi." If you are a responsible adult who has thought about the consequences, and you and your well-trained horse want to go for a leisurely ride on a lazy summer day sans-helmet, go for it. I don't love wearing a helmet. I totally understand wanting to feel unencumbered, free, relaxed. Just do the world a favor: don't justify yourself using the stupid arguments above. There is no need to make excuses, or to put down those who do wear helmets constantly. If anyone asks about your choice, simply say:

"Yes, wearing a helmet would be safer. I don't disagree with wearing one. It's just that today, I'm choosing to accept the possible consequences."

Pics, Statistics and Links

Troxel has an excellent helmet-fitting guide here.

The dressage world is finally getting it. From now on, all USUF events will require helmets.

Are you fashion-conscious? Try a hide-a-helmet. These "hats" don't compromise the safety of helmets, and they come in a variety of styles. You can get one custom made to fit YOUR helmet, in any color of your choice. So far judges seem to like 'em.

 You know, there are alot more options of helmet styles out there than you think. Have you looked around recently? Currently, I even own one that has a built-in gap in the back for my pony tail to stick out of!

 One of the problems with telling people to wear a helmet is that we can't prove how many lives it has saved. You can't prove a negative, you can't count something that doesn't exit. You can't say, "_______ thousand riders would have died without a helmet." However, we can say the following:

These statistics are from Riders4Helmets.com, an excellent website. Riders4Helmets offers helmet-fitting tips, frequent helmet give-aways and lots of personal testimonies from riders who probably would have died without their helmets. One of the most moving testimonies is from Courtney King-Dye.

Courtney King-Dye was an American Olympic-level rider of the highest caliber. While schooling a well-trained, well-behaved horse, the horse tripped and fell. She stayed in the saddle, but because the horse fell, her head hit the ground. She was not wearing a helmet, and suffered a brain injury. She was in a coma for a month. Although she's alive and partially recovered, she says, "I'm still a definite fall risk, can't walk without my cane, can't brush my hair or teeth or eat with Righty (her right hand) and now I talk like a 5 year old." Because Courtney didn't have insurance, she's been forced to pay all her medical bills out of her own pocket. Her really inspiring, brave video is here.

 Again, I'd like to emphasize the horse was not doing anything wrong. "It didn't do anything naughty," Courtney said. "I was just cantering down the long side and he tripped over his own feet and fell."

If an Olympic-level rider on a good horse on can get hurt, you can too. Courtney King-Dye has thrown her support behind the Riders4Helmets campaign, and you should too.

 

 

 

Minor Drama Everywhere

How does a horse get stuck in a tractor tire?! No one seems to know, but they got it out. I'm guessing it has something to do with the fact that the incident took place in West Virginia.

 Amish man Samuel Borntreger of Edgar, Wisconsin, has created a Midwest Harness Racing board game. There should definitely be more horse games out there, so yay for that... harness racing isn't my favorite equine past-time though, because horses tend to get chewed up and spit out by the industry.

Speaking of chewed up and spit out, actor Johnny Depp got a bit trampled while filming "The Lone Ranger." Video here. He's bruised but okay. I'm impressed that he's doing his own stunts, including riding horses at high speeds... but I'm still not excited by the movie. It looks corny. Aside from the bird on Depp's head, the Ranger's horse Silver has been shown standing on tree branches, jumping off cliffs and running along the tops of train cars, as well as through the train itself. Uhhhh, what?! I guess he's a magical horse? By the way, Depp's "saddle" was specially made to make it look like he's riding bareback. At least, to those folks who have never seen actual bareback riding.

When was the last time you saw a huge, tall macho cowboy cry? One Colorado man did in this video, after being told he would be reunited with his horse, Banjo. Banjo got lost in the shuffle during the fires and evacuations out west, but now he's safe again. Awwww. *sniffle*

In Facebook drama news, Shanyn Seaver from the U.P. of Michigan posted her two yearling ponies on the Unwanted Farm Animals page. She was immediately called out for not feeding them. Others defended her, saying the ponies weren't thin. She says they just look thin because of their shaggy hair placement. I think they look half-starved, especially the one on the right. What do YOU think? If you want two free yearling ponies and are anywhere near the U.P, contact her.

Next up, back in April someone at the Midwest Horse Fair snapped these picture of a horse scheduled to go on border patrol during the fair. She just published the photos. Some are saying the horse was much too thin to be ridden. Others are saying he's lean, but ok. I think this horse does look VERY under-muscled to be carrying a rider. Lean is fine. Having no muscle in the top-line, hip or legs is bad.

 OK, I've got to wrap this up. Finally, here is a picture of a horse clipped into a giraffe pattern. Have a great Wednesday!

UGHHhh! (and Ticks)

Sorry for the lack of blog lately. I've been metaphorically shit on by life this week:

• Mr. Strut (that's my old grumpy Walker) had a hoof abscess (it just blew out today). 

• The storm that went through my area destroyed the roof of my tack room/storage shed and drenched everything in torrential rains, necessitating the start of a massive cleanup. My tack is mostly fine; my stored stuff (including high school year books) is not.

• The new (used) car I bought (i.e. went into debt for) just got a huge crack in the windshield, seemingly out of nowhere, and of course the windshield has to be replaced, it can't be fixed. 

• Finally, the flies, ticks and mosquitoes are so bad in my area I am seriously considering dousing everything in napalm. The poor horses can barely leave the barn. Again and again they try to go get a mouthful of grass, only to be chased back inside by bloodsuckers. I've resorted to giving them hay inside. And yes, I am spraying them daily, and they have flymasks. It's just so bad. Annie is especially bloody because of her fair/thin skin. Between her need for sunscreen and layers of  fly spray, I spend half my life covering her in some sort of goo. Poor girl. She's had two ticks on her this week alone, one of which she apparently bit or scratched... because I found it popped, a huge bloody splatter all over her tail. The tick corpse was still attached. Was that fun to pick off? No it was not.

 
   Speaking of ticks, here is a good website to help you ID which species a particular tick belongs to. It's important, because they carry different diseases. Those that most often spread Lyme disease are the Black-legged tick (Deer tick) and the western black-legged tick.Wood/Dog ticks carry Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (seen throughout the US) which can affect people AND animals. The Lone Star tick can carry Monocytic Ehrilchiosis.

The good news is, a tick only begins to transmit disease 36-48 hours after attaching. The bad news is, Wisconsin is a hot zone for infected ticks- there's a good chance any that you find carry something serious. So check you and your animals as often as you can! You can check this website to look more closely at how badly your area is affected by diseased ticks.

Pro tip: If you've been outside, throw your clothes in the dryer for 10 minutes on high. The heat will kill any ticks on your clothes before they escape into your house (washing won't).


Okay, a few more things before I have to go and deal with more problems:

• The Columbus Carriage Festival is once again happening this weekend in Columbus, WI. Remember my blog post on the Civil War reenactors last year? They're back again this year, with just as many amazing horses and riders! I have to work, but you should go. Admission is free; stuff like breakfast with President Lincoln and Grant, the Civil War era dance, etc are extra. Event schedule here.

• In Ohio, a human officer shot and killed a litter of kittens in front of children. I did not make this shit up: the article is here. The officer, Barry Accorti of North Ridgeville, OH, won't be facing any charges. The ASPCA is mighty pissed off, and if you are too, you should contact the following:

THE CITY OF NORTH RIDGEVILLE
7307 Avon Belden Rd.
North Ridgeville, OH 44039

Phone - 440.353.0819

North Ridgeville Area Police Department
7307 Avon Belden Road
North Ridgeville, OH 44039

Phone - 440.327.2191