Tuesday, April 6, 2010

This One Made Me Speechless

I will admit I have been holding on to this one for a while. It was originally sent to me and I have since lost the name of the person that sent it, so whomever you were, thank you again. 


I think its about time to bring this one out, as a good friend of mine sent me a link to a 'marestare' foaling camera feed from True Colors Farms. So guess what I've been doing all night long tonight instead of looking for the next juicy ad for you all :P. 


At any rate, I'm don't want to discuss the unusual colors of the Thoroughbreds they are breeding. Love it or hate it, lets save that for another day. I just found the feed absolutely fascinating - and watching this mare on the feed who is very close to delivering (if not tonight then most likely in the next few days) made me think of this ad, and figured why not. 


So, on with the show (as I flip back and forth between this page and the camera feed :D). 


Foaling Stupidity!


I think I'm going to add my commentary as you read the ad. This one just begs for it. 


Ad Text: Experience Foaling in 3-4 months (Weeping Water)I have some really nice broodmares that I am going to let go (sale). IT'S SELL! NOT SALE~ GRRR THIS DRIVES ME INSANE WHEN I SEE IT!


I have all colors and super pedigrees. These mares produce some awsome babies. They are in foal to a gray stallion we own. I have several of their foals that you can see, pretty much a 90% chance will all foal gray colts. Hmm, what a surprise, wanna bet its a back yard breeder with a no-name stallion who's done... *gasp* nothing!? Breeds of the mares and stud aren't even listed! Are they registered? Apparently its not important! Also, it seems this person has a magkical glass krystal ball that she can divine the future in...she knows what color the foals will be and what gender they'll be! (Oh, I KNOW gray horses tend to produce graying out foals. Its those darn genes. I'm still not cutting them any slack here.)


Some mares are broke to ride, so you don't have to re-breed them, (OH WOW NEW CONCEPT! RIDING your broodmares that you don't breed back for a few years!) you can ride a mare with a colt by her side down the road or trail and they do great! UM NO, what will happen when baby decides to run hell bent for leather into the wilds of whatever area you are in, and mom decides she's following.... at top speed? Sounds like a great ride to me! Seriously, NOBODY should ever EVER allow a foal to run loose at mom's side while out riding trails. This is one of the stupidest lines I've ever seen used to "SALE" a horse. The possibilities are endless for that baby to get hurt, tied up somewhere, fall off a cliff, get attacked by other animals/dogs/horses/cows/coyotes/PEOPLE. 


You would just love having the experience of having a mare to foal a newborn in about 3-4 months. Yes, these people actually wrote this. Eye-Bleeding, Mind-Numbing, Makes you want to PUKE and smack them upside the head, I know!


They usually come right up to you to nuzzle the very first day they are born, (has anyone ever had this happen?) and would rather follow you, than their mother. Theres a book called "Horses for Dummies". I would gladly mail them a copy if they would stop advertising this shit. 


Kids love these colts, it is a great experience for the whole family. They will never forget this experience , compared to all of the other sports activities. Sports activities at least don't involve LIVE ANIMALS that turn into 1000 pound eating machines that rear, strike, kick, bite, and otherwise figure out how to intimidate those they perceive as lower on the totem pole as them!


The experience of watching an living being being born is unforgettable. Watching a foal being delivered is nothing short of miraculous. That is something all horse lovers, and animal lovers really, will agree on. Birth, while messy, violent, bloody, exhausting, heart wrenching, and just AMAZING, is a part of life, and should be introduced into to a child as part of the 'life experience'. I know my first foaling will never be forgotten - an Arabian mare that delivered just fine, but the colt didn't break the sac on his own. I was there just to quietly watch and learn, and as a responsible 16 year old I understood that I was to stay out of the way, keep Quiet, and just watch. 


But advertising your foals that aren't even here yet as some side show circus that your family can enjoy while eating popcorn and sitting in lawn chairs is way more than most of us reasonable people can handle. 


I'm sure that most of you reading this blog have been around horses, and are familiar enough with the whole horse birthing process to know that there are way too many things that can go wrong so fast. This ad is targeting families that have little to no knowledge of what can happen, what should/shouldn't happen, and what they need to do once the foal is born... these families will be suckered into a situation that will quickly get out of control when they suddenly realize that they have 2! horses and while cute, foals are a real pain in the butt to handle! What happens if the foal is breech? What happens if its still born? What happens if its born with a birth defect? It happens to the best of breeders. Its not controllable, and if these people that placed the ad think they are selling some sort of romantic fantasy with the pregnant mare... well to borrow a well known phrase "the bitch slap bus is a-comin' to town!"


This is how we end up with 2 year old stallions still in the pasture with their dams, with owners that don't have a clue about what to do with them. They don't believe that the son will actually breed his mom! Then... WOOPS! We have 3 horses! Do they think that the new foal is as inbred as they get? NOPE. Suddenly we can't afford to feed 3 horses, and around the merry-go-round we go. List them on craigslist, and if that doesn't work we try the local auction and we all know how that can end up. Or, if the horses are 'lucky', they don't get sent to the auction, but rather just starve a slow death in the pasture full of dead grass and weeds cause the owners don't even know they don't know that its not enough. 


As for the pictures with the ad, they did post 4, however the screenshot I had saved only had the top two in it. 


Photobucket


Yea, nothing spectacular there. But, none of you are surprised about that, I'm sure. Hmm, think the dam of that 'white' foal was tested for the Lethal White gene? I'd lay pretty damn good odds that she wasn't!


I see the mare on the cam has moved around quite a lot while I was writing this, but she's currently sleeping :). While its 1am for me, its 4 am for them. I'm half tempted to stay up a bit longer and see if she does anything as dawn approaches - but then again its been a long day and I'm quite tired myself. 


You know, these camera feeds should be advertised more often online for the same families that would be interested in buying one of the mares above just to watch the delivery. Its free, there's no financial responsibility involved, the kids can make popcorn too, and if you have a big enough tv, heck, even the neighbors can come over and watch! What a perfect solution :D. Oh, she's up and bumping around in the stall. Doesn't look like the mare is going to do much of anything except wait for breakfast, oh well. 


She'll be fun to follow this week.... I think I'll do a daily update on her :).



2 comments:

  1. Love those live web cams. I've been watching off and on all day. Thanks!

    About the advertiser of the foals. I can think of several people I know that would think it would be a great idea to expose their kids to the joy of watching life unfold with a special pregnant mare of their own. Jeez! This is just asking for trouble from stupid people. Someone needs to drive the bitch slap bus over. Shit like this makes my head hurt.

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