My Horse is "Beautiful"... Yea Right!

We all have our own image or idea of what makes a horse 'pretty'. For some, it's a shiny coat, well brushed mane/tail, and hoof polish. For most of us though, 'pretty' means straight correct legs, a nicely shaped head, slick healthy coat, good weight, nice balance between the fore and hind, and (Ok, this MY ideal) a long thick tail. 

Copyright Robert Vavra, "Horses of the Sun" Collection

Sometimes its just a matter of taking the right picture at the right time to get a 'pretty' horse. 

Copyright Robert Vavra, "Horses of the Sun" Collection

With that description in mind, I don't think many of us will disagree that is a workable definition of 'pretty' in a horse. 


Then there is a whole OTHER side of the coin. I've been wanting to show these ads for a while, and what with everything else going on, just hasn't fit in yet. Oh, and I am gonna stay shallow and superficial today. None of this 'beauty is more than skin deep' stuff. These are horses, not international runway models. *grin*. I'm tryin' to make a point today about how sellers WAY overuse words like "beautiful" "nice", and even, "excellent conformation".


Every one of the ads today the writers at some point use 'beautiful', 'beauty', 'nice', etc, to describe their animal. 


I'll let you decide for yourself if those descriptions are appropriate to the individual animal, and lets have a bit of fun today. ;) Its Monday, and I'm sure we all need it.

This is the beautiful mare...    Anyone other than me just not seein' it? She looks more like a mule... (No offence to the mules of the world, of course. Mules are very pretty. Sometimes. But when your horse looks like this?.... well..... its NOT pretty!)

I have more....

   

Ad Text: Roan Gelding - $2000 (Mesa)This boy has muscle and strength. He is an all around beauty. He knows how to go slow so is great with beginners who young children. Also, he is good for advanced riders looking for a calm horse. 

Loves attention and company, but can also be an only horse. He is good with mares and other geldings also. 

E-mail me for more information or pictures. I am not firm on $2000 but I want to see what I can get from him. 

he is a 6-7 year old Quarter Horse about 15-15 1/2 hands 

So on this one we have an 'all around beauty'. Hmmmm.... 

Maybe after he's shedded out and gained about 100 pounds... but as his in these pics? I sure wouldn't call him 'an all around beauty'. Diamond in the rough, maybe. I dunno though.. that neck... that long pencil neck on these tall thin quarter horses just ain't my cup 'o tea. And that one top pic where his hind leg is all stretched out, it makes his hind end look twice as big as his front end, and thus way off balance. Long back combined with a very upright shoulder... That top line is nearly as long as his bottom line, and there is supposed to be a 2:1 ratio with the top line being half as long as the bottom. He doesn't have that. He's closer to a 1:1 ratio. He's just not well put together I don't think. 

I'm sure there are a few out there that will disagree with me on him, and thats just fine with me. :) 

But I'm still not done... 

Hard to read, I know. Here ya go: 2 year old gelding - $125 nice gelding ground work is done ready to be started under the saddle. easy to catch has no bad habits. is around 14 hands tall. asking $125 OBO call 712---7350. 

Now, this ad was sent to my inbox just yesterday along with another one that I'll put up next. I will admit that they at least didn't use the word BEAUTIFUL in this ad, but 'NICE' is still pushing it I think. Apparently these same folks are selling everything from horses to pigs, and basic health requirements like WORMING are unknown to them. I've NEVER seen a 2 year old in that condition that wasn't just chock full of worms - and these guys just don't have a flippin clue -

This is the other one... its not much better. 

BEAUTIFUL JENNY $125  (ut oh - there it is!) coming 2 year old jenny. has been running with a spotted jack. hasn't been handled. asking $125 OBO call the same number as the wormy sick gelding that they are asking the same freaking amount of money for. 

Ok, fine, it doesn't say all that, but really it should. 

Isn't she just so..... screaming out for help? Beautiful is NOT a word I'd choose here... that poor thing. And she's been with a jack... so y'all just KNOW she's preggers. There's no way she isn't even with a belly full of worms. I bet thats the jack in the background. Such a lovely farm, isn't it. 

And I really gotta ask... the guy that the jack is looking at.. what the hell is he doing? I can't figure that out....

Hang in there... I still have more to make my point. 

Sometimes a horse just LOOKS beautiful upon first glance, all seems well but then that ugly   side that you just don't see at first pops out in the strangest places. Check this out... 

Doesn't he look pretty? Nice action shot, he's well groomed and shiny, ears are up, he's got a good weight; it's a very nice picture. This cute gelding is a paso fino, and yes, I do have a history of working very closely with the breed... nearly 6 years worth. This ad was sent to me also in conjunction with another one, and I will send major kudos - her eyes are good to have caught this particular craigslist screw up; I don't think I would have caught this.

Look closely at him. He SEEMS to be rather correct, right? At least at first glance he does. 

The ad text isn't so important here, except to note that the seller says he's got an 'excellent disposition and conformation."

Ok. Maybe ..... NOT. 

See the chestnut pinto on the left side with the REALLY REALLY BAD HIND LEGS? Eyup. Same gelding. Rather scary, isn't it?

Now, having worked with rather well bred pasos, I can pretty much say that his conformation is NOT EXCELLENT! Lol.

Ok, forget breed here. Lmao. IN NO Breed would that be excellent conformation!

[Oh, and I HAVE to mention this too... The bay centered in that pic is also for sale, same people, and they ONLY want him to go to either a natural horsemanship home or trainer cause he can't handle rough treatment. (" My ignored daughters horse. Extensive ground work and ridden several times as a 3 year old. Since then my daughter has done nothing with him. Ground work currently re-established. Ready to be started under saddle again. This is a very kind horse with no vices, but he is unable to handle rought treatment. Buyer should have natural horsemanship experience or be willing to send this horse to a natural horsemanship trainer.") 

So sorry Laverne, but just cause he's had 'rough treatment' doesn't automatically mean he can ONLY be trained by a NH trainer. Shall we go back over the video of a certain leading NH lady smacking a blind in one eye horse in the head to make him back up?  Or how about 

Julie Goodnight, another very well known NH trainer, actually approving the use of a shock collar on a horse for behavior modification purposes? Do I really have to say that there are plenty of non-violent ways of training a horse without using the NH crap? ]

And one more just to compare/finish up with... and because I think this guy is just completely adorable...

This is the way to sell a horse!

Just LOOK at him! I LOVE the way he's marked. :D. He makes me think a kid with a giant square eraser just stood next to him and erased all the black helter skelter, doesn't it? He's built nice, straight legs, cute head, well balanced, doesn't look choppy like some minis do, has a nice elegant look to him.... just a very, very nice stud. He's been trained and has several national championship titles to his name. NICE! (And isn't his two color tail just awesome!?)

Oh and yep, he's a stud, but if he's got a few foals... WONDERFUL! Thats one horse that will BETTER his breed, not make it WORSE! Oh, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE that they say that papers are at the sellers description - limiting essentially the buyer pool to those very serious in keeping him on his winning path; AND MAJOR kudos for the 'not for kids' comment. 

The moral of the story here folks would be using words like 'beautiful', 'nice' and other descriptive words ('excellent conformation', anyone?) is perfectly fine - when they actually describe the horse!

Tomorrow, I'll have a doozy of an ad that every time we (me and the other lady that was following it with me) turned around, it changed! 

Happy Monday!

P.S. - For those of you still interested in following the story of Einstein, his owners were interviewed by Good Morning America last week - friday-ish. If you head over to hulu.com, and search for their GMA clips, scroll down some through the massive number of segments archived you'll find it. I warn you though - I suggest you watch with your sound off. The conversation/interview was one of the most annoying, ignorant, disgusting, stupid conversations I've EVER heard a reporter give. Consider that the reporters are the main anchors for GMA - that makes it doubly bad. At one point the owners were asked about Einsteins' future as a stallion, and the male owner answered yes, their eventual goal was to get him a 'wife and have him raise a family'. I kid you not. It just got worse from there... at one point they were making very horrible jokes about him being a 'ladies man', and then the female reporter tried to joke that the foal was winking at his owner, and that he might need to take a moment off by himself. Not only did the joke fall totally flat, the insinuation was highly inappropriate, and just totally disgusting. 

The only reason I'd even watch it without the sound would be to watch and study Einstein himself walk around the stall, his legs have straightened up and he's walking just like any other normal foal. There certainly seems to be absolutely no signs of dwarfism in his legs... while he certainly is very tiny (just 15 inches & 20 lbs, I think?) his legs are straight, and he's a perfect miniature version of a normal sized foal. 

Watch for yourself, and let me know what you think!

Didn't We Just, Um, See Him?

Ya'll remember him? The little paint stud from Friday that we couldn't decide if he looked more like a gelding than a mare? (I think 'mare' won with more people commenting he looked rather feminine rather than masculine.)


Weeeeeeeeeeeeelllllllll......


Cut-N-Jump found this yesterday.

The ad is so long that it took 2 screen shots just to grab the text. I won't post both, but here is the full ad text:

4yr old APHA Colt - $850 (NW Tucson)
Frosted Dakota aka "Handsome" (pedigree can be seen at http://www.allbreedpedigree.com/frosted+dakota) is being offered for sale to a good home. He is a 4yr old APHA sorrel overo stud colt. He has an excellent disposition, is eager to please, very honest and learns quickly. He leads and stands for grooming. He is OK with his feet, but definitely could be better. He loads like a pro without any problems (in a stock trailer-- never tried a 2-horse). We are working on lunging. He had his first session with fly spray today. It took him about ten minutes tops to get used to it.


Handsome is by Frost My Feature (Frosty Feature X Painted Robin bred mare) and out of a Peppy San X Docs Prescription bred mare. He stands about 14.2hh and weighs about 1000 pounds. He has HUGE, hard, black feet and is solid muscle. He has been bred to one mare this spring. She is an old broody and did a fabulous job of teaching him the ropes and how to be respectful of the ladies.

I can't say enough good things about this horse. He is GORGEOUS with his sorrel sabino/overo markings and his two blue eyes complete with eye liner. He's super smart, too! Once he learns something, he knows it and it sticks with him. He will make an outstanding gelding, and is a decent stud prospect. I adore this horse, but I honestly do not have the room nor the time for a stud horse. He is currently living in my round pen.

The people I got Handsome from (his original breeders) put about 3 or 4 rides on him. They said he never offered to buck and was a real quick study. They have owned and started numerous colts by the same sire, and all have had that easy going disposition. Handsome grew up in a large pasture and has never been messed up. There is nothing to "fix" with this horse. He is a clean slate and is ready to be trained the way you want him. He has the pedigree to be an exceptional gymkhana horse, cow horse, or family trail horse (if he's gelded).

Handsome got hung up in a fence as a yearling, so he does have an ugly scar and thickening on his right hind cannon area. But, it does not affect him at all. I have never seen him take a lame step. Its just ugly to look at.

I am open to offers on this horse, and he will only go to a good home. Would consider trade for corral panels or.... what do you have? Make me an offer. =)
 
 
...............Ehhh...... he's in Tuscon now???
 
{Edit: Ok, after going back and looking at the copy of the ad from Friday, they didn't actually LIST a location for him... but they were advertizing him in the Phoenix CL. I originally thought when I first saw this latest ad, they had moved him from Phoenix to Tuscon in the time frame from last week to now, but I think he has been in Tuscon the entire time. Doesn't mean much anymore, just tryin to get facts straight :) }
 
OK..... Soooooooo....... I guess he wasn't such a fabulous addition to their breeding program after all if he's up for sale! Whod'a ever thunk THAT!!! I really wonder what happened here. The original ad showed him in with another stallion (the mustang) but the style and pattern of writing is different on this one. I seriously doubt that this is the same person that put up the ad for the breeding one.
 
Ya'll see the note about the leg injury? Got caught up in a fence? And he's not lame? Wow.
 
This ad just feels like this person pulled this guy out of some sort of situation, and is either trying to make a quick buck off of him in a turnaround sale, or is trying to dump him for the other ad poster. Several things jump out at me to substantiate this:
 
1) The fact that he's living in a round pen. This is not a permanent solution, and In my experience, a horse only goes in a round pen as a stall for two reasons; there are no empty/available stalls or they want to keep this horse away from the other horses.
 
2) The ad reads like the person is working with the horse for the first time in some areas, yet in others the writer has a history of sorts. Trailer training, for instance. Working on loading in a stock trailer, but they know he's never been in a 2 horse. The lunging. Fly spray.
 
3) If this person doesn't have the room for a stud horse, then I'd almost bet 100% its not the same person that was studding him out. That person had the two - and had NO Plans to geld either - they wanted babies.
 
I wonder what happened to this guy in the last week. He's obviously had an eventful week - new place, new owner, been shod, trailer training, fly spray, and even lunging!
 
What irks me though - they refer to gelding him several times, but you think THEY WOULD DO IT? This just sounds like they grabbed him for whatever reason, and are just trying to turn him around and not put any more money into him than they need to.
 

And no, he doesn't look any more masculine 5(?) days later. Nor did they take any better pictures than the FIRST AD!
 

Rabid Bobcat Vs. Draft Horse??? And, I Have To Address Something...

Ok, well today's post isn't a for sale ad. I have plenty waiting to be shown, but this one... well this one got my attention. (Yes, I am aware that I am posting this late wed night for Thursday's post. I have be at work early Thursday am, and won't have time to get this done then. So, I'm doing it before I go to bed :) )


So, I'm reading through the ads for the Phoenix area where I usually start and then if there isn't anything good, I'll pick a random state, and go from there. 


Today though, wow. I found enough ads for a weeks worth of blogging entertainment. 


I found one in particular though, that really took the cake. 

If you can't read that, it says: "You know there have been rabid bobcats around, right? I'd get someone out to evaluate those injuries or you could loose him to rabies."


HUH!? Rabid bobcats????


Ok, in Arizona we have issues with rabies in skunks, bats, and the occasional coatimundi (another small indigenous wild cat), but bobcats? 


I guess so! Turns out that earlier this year, there was one other bobcat that tested positive for rabies after attacking a man in his front yard and a small dog in the same day. 


Then - I swear this happened - last year a different rabid bobcat walked into a bar and attacked people in it. There's a surveillance video too of the cat inside the bar.


OK - so it is possible for a rabid bobcat to attack things larger than them. But would one attack a horse? Seems pretty improbable to me.


I had to find the ad this person responded to. I dug a bit more, and after nearly 500 posts  just from today, found it. 

I just wanted everyone to be on the watch here in Clearwater Farms. My horse was attacked last night, or most likely early this morning by something. She has a scrape on her side, some small poke wounds on her front and back legs, and a few other small scrapes. None of them are serious, just enough to draw blood. I walked the pasture and couldn't find anything she could have gotten into, and she isn't a horse that gets into much of anything. My other horse had no marks, but had a big chunk of his feather hair ripped off his front foot. The chunk of hair was just lying there like it was ripped out and thrown on the ground. It's weird, and the wounds on my first horse don't appear to be bites, but I don't know what else to think about it. I am lucky it wasn't worse. 

Now, someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't that mare look an awful lot like some sort of draft? Thick head, white feathers covering her hooves, lots of hair... she's the right color for a Belgian too. So, the horse isn't just a horse, it looks like a draft horse or some sort of draft horse cross. NOT your average skittish thoroughbred here!

Whether or not a rabid bobcat attacked this horse is unclear - quite frankly both of the attacks I linked to above were at least a hundred miles away in BOTH directions from where this mare is kept. Personally, I think its more likely a coyote got into her pen and started messing with her. 

I know a lot of you don't live here in Arizona of course, but I'm curious to know what animals you do have to be aware of that will attack your horses. 

********************************************************************

I know its been a while since I blogged about the story of Einstein, the tiny miniature horse that was born Friday, April 23th. 

On my post, dated April 27th, this is what I said. 

I nearly forgot. The blurb on the little Miniature pinto stallion that was born last friday as the unofficial worlds smallest foal, has a video. I can't decide whether he's so ugly he's cute, or if he's just ugly. Can't figure out if he has the dwarfism gene either.   

So the video doesn't play every time you hit this page, here is the link to the video.

Thoughts on this? 

My comment regarding the 'dwarfism' gene was based off of the very first photos published of Einstein, where he was shown as very downhill, with the typical dropped pasterns of new foals. 

I never ONCE said that the foal was a dwarf. I was confused as to whether or not he was simply going off of these first pictures. The information coming out at the time was unclear, and I was not able to get a concrete answer. 

So, to the anonymous person that posted this: 

The original link YOU posted about Einstein clearly stated that "unlike Thumbelina, Einstein shows NO signs of dwarfism - he is just a tiny horse". Did you post that link without even reading it yourself? And for goodness sake, he's only a day old in many of the pictures and the video so of course his form is going to being funky. But then again you probably couldn't help but bash him since he isn't a solid colored horse and it's irrational to breed horses for color...

Here is my answer. 

The link that I posted went to this page - http://www.barnmice.com/group/horsejournals/forum/topics/einstein-worlds-smallest

Please explain to me where it says in print on that PAGE, that the horse shows no signs of dwarfism? I DID listen to the video, and the owner, a Dr. herself (I would guess vet here, but I'm not entirely sure there either), says it during the video. 

This is where my natural cynicysm kicked in, and I thought, hmm, wonder if she's telling the truth here? Why should she admit that the foal could possibly be a dwarf? Even if a mini mare has never foaled a dwarf, and same thing for a mini stallion, it takes just one freak combination of that dwarf gene to come out. Its a 25% chance, but it DOES happen. Its also entirely possible she was simply going off of the foal's conformation - just by looking at it. Either way, even though she did say that very clearly, I did not 100% believe her until further pictures/video was published proving her words.

Never ONCE did I ever say he WAS dwarf. I was simply confused, and I DID ask for clarification. That clarification was granted in the comments right above where you posted, if you would read them as well. Some very well informed readers were able to clear up that issue for me, and I appreciate that. 

http://www.wmur.com/news/23291713/detail.html

Now, the above link goes to a New Hampshire News Site that has a more current video of the little guy happily playing in a very lovely pasture with lots of grass. He's obviously having the absolute time of his life, with straight legs in front and behind. His head is still a bit over-sized, but he's just darn cute enough that it works with him. 

I will now freely admit that he's one of the most adorable things I've EVER seen. And that face he makes when they start scratching him on his little teeny withers!? OMG. Way. Too. Cute. To. Be. Allowed. Legal.

Dwarfism is a serious issue within the Miniature Horse Breeders Community. Some want it made illegal to knowingly breed a horse with the Dwarf gene, while a small group of breeders are specifically breeding for it. Just like any other genetic equine defect, I personally feel that this practice does more damage than good, and that humans do it not for the sake of the animals, but for the almighty dollar. 

If its smaller, wider, taller, shorter, brighter, cuter, blacker, whatever-er; people will buy it, and will pay good money for it too. 

If you go back and read the entire post, you will see at the top of that same page, there is a miniature stallion that is in an almost IDENTICAL pose to little Einstein on his first day. Severely downhill in his hips and hindquarters... though whether it was just the angle of the picture or just him, it was very hard to tell. I believe I stated that I hoped it was just the picture, and went on to suggest ways to get a better picture. Yes, that stallion is a cremello, but he was put on the blog because of the picture his owners took of him in that horrible position to advertise him for breeding. It was NOT because of the color of his coat.

My goal here, as I have stated before, is to educate and to inform. I am NOT here to bash any one particular color, breed, ideal, etc. Stupidity and ignorance is everywhere, in every breed, in every style of riding, and there isn't a single person out there that can argue that point with me and win. 

I am so sick and tired of people allowing this stuff to go by unchallenged. People see others breeding irresponsibly and just brush it off like nothing is going on! 

Cruelty exists everywhere.... the donkey that had the horrible feet is owned by a dealer, who has even MORE animals on his property - he possibly might be investigated for cruelty because of that ad. HOW many people saw that donkey in the time before that picture was taken and DIDN'T SAY A FU**ING WORD???

There is absolutely NO excuse for that. If it was the seller's kid that was being abused, you BET your last dollar that someone, somewhere would have said something to the authorities. The school, bus driver, hell, maybe the next door neighbor. Just because its a donkey, its ok?!?

This is what I decided to fight against.

I do not bash color for color's sake. I bash ANY COLOR OF STALLION if the stallion is being advertised for breeding purposes without having any sort of reason he should be siring foals. I am firmly of the belief that a stallion should qualify for breeding rights by superior conformation and showing athletic ability that is proven by either having a job that he is good at and/or winning in the show ring. I also know that winning isn't everything, so temperament, bloodlines, and quite frankly, overall 'look' of the stallion plays a big part. Is the horse even HALTER BROKE? So MANY of the stallions I feature here, AREN'T EVEN HALTER BROKE! 

Please tell me how you can have a stallion that's not even leadable, and still fell he needs to be bred? Stuff like that matters when it comes to choosing what stallion to breed your mare to. 

Quite frankly, if the stallion looks like it should be a gelding, than by all means, lets make it a gelding. BUT if the stallion is well bred, is put together well, is in training, and has people in his life that are determined to give him a job OTHER than make babies, then HOORAY FOR THEM! You'll NEVER see that stallion here.

I have a HUGE issue with people breeding stallions based solely on color, and nothing else. They show a blatant disregard for conformation, genetic defects (HYPP or OWLS, anyone?), training, etc., and IF you were to look through the archives and find the posts that are labeled FFS or Friday Fugly Stallion, you will find stallions of ALL colors, and ALL BREEDS. I've had quarter horses, saddlebreds, minis, and a Tennessee Walker all on here.

There are way too many horses for the amount of homes out there. Quality, reputable stallion owners have stopped or severely reduced breeding because of this fact. Yet, the low end, crap fugly stallions are still out there producing low end, crap fugly babies that will never stay sound enough for heavy work - and where do you think they will end up? 

Before I inadvertently turn this into a pro/con slaughter debate, let me get back to my original point. 

You accuse me of saying things I have not said, and *IF* I have, please find my words, and quote me in a comment to this post. I will publicly apologize to you for it, and go back and edit what I said on the post itself. Until then, I stand by every word I have typed, and will continue down this path of outing ignorance, cruelty, stupidity, and fugly stallions.