Monday Madness Triple Play

Happy Monday. Hope everyone had a good weekend... did you all watch the Kentucky Derby? I will freely admit that I am NOT a horse racing fan...yet the Derby gets me every year. I will watch the Derby, Preakness, and Belmont for the Triple Crown... the excitement of horse racing is embedded too deep in my bones to ignore it all year long. I understand there are a lot of you that just hate horse racing, and I as well despise certain aspects of it, but quite frankly, for three races a year, I don't think watching is such a bad thing. 


In watching Super Saver win the Derby, and several replays of the race online both yesterday and this morning, I really think that it was a fluke that Super Saver won. The two best horses (or the ones that everyone thought were the best) got shut out early, and never had a chance. Sydney's Candy and Lookin At Lucky were bumped, shut off, and otherwise bullied into poor finishes. It surprises me that the side slam that Lookin At Lucky got before the first quarter pole is legal - but I guess it is. 


At any rate, I don't think Super Saver has what it takes to win the Triple Crown - he may surprise us - but I seriously doubt he can. We'll see in 2 weeks though!

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So I had a bit of trouble deciding between three ads, so I figured, why not just throw them all out there. 

The first one... this is just classic. To make it worse... Its local to me. 

                                                                                                                                  

Ad Text: tennessee walking hores - $1000 (phoenix) my horse is 15 year old his name is winterfire son of prides generator,pride of midnight h.f. ,midnightsun,pride of stanley he is very great temperment great showings has placed west world champion his colors are sorrel blaze,flax mane and tail please give me a call he is a must see he has five gates studing him out my phone number is 602 --- 3670 

He has five 'gates', eh? That must be a total bitch to ride through, having to stop and open and close all of them... Oh and yes, the owner is 'studing him out' - of course they are! Why else would they call him a 'hore'!!!

Also.... if this guy has 'great showings' and is a 'west world champion'... whadda ya wanna bet he's been sent to a trainer that sored him?

The second, also local, I'm posting because, well... have a read. 

Ad Text: Horses For Sale

I have some horses i need to sale or lease 

It's not that i can't take care of them i need the money for court costs for a child custody case 

they are good horses 2 are grade 1 papers are pending 1 reg. 

the prices range from 8oo to 4500 

for lease the price can be nego. 

As i said i have to sell them do to not being able to take care of them 

so this is not a short sale and please no low ballers 

as for pics. my oics are to large for cl. so if you want pics send me your email and i will send them to you 

you can also call me at 520---5271 

thank you and have a great day 

Note To Seller: We don't need to know WHY you are selling your horses, as long as its not related to the health of the horse. Advertising that you have a custody case and have to sell your horses to pay the bills for it is not a good thing to put on your sale ad. Also... does it make any sense for anyone else reading this that if she has the money to take care of 4 horses.... wouldn't she have the money also to pay for her court costs? I've BEEN through a custody fight for my kids. It didn't really cost me all that much - but I didn't have a lawyer either. 

Maybe I should start a running list of things you shouldn't do or say on your sale ad. Rule Number 16.75 - Don't list personal legal issues on your sale ad. Makes sense to me! 

And the third of our triple play today: (I apologize for the caps. I just copy and paste.)

Ad Text: BLACK AND WHITE SHIRE - $800

I HAVE A 8 YEAR OLD 18 HANDS SHIRE SHE HAS BEEN FOR SALE. JUST FOUND OUT FROM SOMEONE WHO CAME TO LOOK AT HER THAT SHE IS LAME IN HER BACK FEET. I NEVER KNEW THIS HAVE BEEN RIDING HER AND DID NOT NOTICE IT. ONLY SAW IT WHEN TROTTING HER ON GROUNDWORK DOES ONE SIDE SKIP. IT TURNS OUT THAT ONE BACK HOOF IS BIGGER THAN THE OTHER AND CAN BE CORRECTED WITH SHOES IM TOLD. SHE IS TOO BIG FOR ME TO RIDE ANYMORE NEED SOMETHING SMALLER. LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHOM MIGHT BE INTERESTED IN GIVING HER A GOOD HOME EITHER CORRECTIN G HER FOOT PROBLEM OR JUST TO LOOK AT AND RIDE SOME. SHE IS A SWEET HORSE, NO BAD HABITS, GETS ALONG WITH OTHER HORSES, DOGS,CATS,PIGS WHAT EVER YOU GOT SHE IS FLEXIBLE. I FOUND A HORSE THAT I CAN RIDE THAT IS SHORT SO TRYING TO GET 800 FOR HER SO I CAN GET ANOTHER. I PAID 2500 FOR LILLY AND I HAVE HAD HER 4 YEARS. 

Now, before I get into this... here she is...

Now, I will be one of the first people to admit that when it comes to a horse's conformation and how it relates to movement - I'm not the best at figuring that out. The whole form to function thing - I get shoulder and fetlock angles and all that. I've taken horse anatomy classes 3 times and passed each time with A's. So... while I'm not totally ignorant on this subject, one can always learn more! I actually, just this past weekend, picked up a great book at Half-Price Books called Conformation for the Purpose, written by Susan McBane, to learn more about this very topic. (I LOVE that store! lol)

This ad was sent to me this morning via a bit of an interesting path. Another blog author and CutNJump both sent this ad to me... or rather I think CnJ sent it to me after it was sent to her by the other lady. Either way - It got to me :) There was a comment on the email by CnJ that referred to this mare's issues being caused by her hocks, NOT her hooves. 

So, being a bit confused as to why, I asked for a bit more information. 

I will quote CnJ here, as she can explain it so much better than I can: 

It's a hock issue, being that the horse or pony cannot bend the hock enough to get the hoof off the ground as it comes forward. The horse would likely not vet 'clean' in a PPE.  Also there is not enough room to bend in the other joints like the pastern, hip & stifle to compensate for the stiff hock.  Also, working the horse to strengthen the muscles and build them up, doesn't improve the hock issue where it can help considerably in the case of their stifles. 

Hoof size is completely irrelevant at this point, but may be an indicator of which hoof is bearing more weight. As the horse compensates standing more on one leg than the other- the hoof may spread out more leading them to think the one hoof is larger than the other. A good farrier can correct this part of the problem and shoe to the hoof, but they won't be able to correct the hock issue, unless the pain stems from an unbalanced trim. Even still- once the damage has been done, you are pretty much screwed.

A farrier can square the toes on the hind hooves which will make the breakover point come sooner in the back and may reduce the amount of strike in the stride by allowing a little more clearance in the swing of the step, but the hock is still not going to bend. Squaring the toes may mask it a bit, but it will still be there and still be an issue.

I say good luck to her in selling this one. And again- How can anyone NOT feel it when riding the horse? Are they that insensitive? Do they ride like a sack of potato's? (Or crap...) Have they never watched her in turnout? Because they do it then too- not just on the lunge line or during ground work... Although the smaller circles when lunging will put more pressure on the inside leg than the outside leg.  Common sense is not so common anymore.

I will absolutely second the sentiments in that last paragraph. Even if you don't see it on the ground...(and we've all had those "are they or aren't they" moments when you know the horse is off, but you can't quite figure it out ... after riding for a time over semi-rough ground, if the horse is in pain, they will often let you know - ESPECIALLY under saddle.