FFFS - Pretty Is As Pretty Does

How old would you say this horse is? 


My initial guess was 3 years old. A slightly hip high 3 year old. 


Would you believe me if I told you he was a yearling? Born Jan 27, 2009.


He's a halter horse - if you hadn't guessed that much already. He's for sale, too, of course. 




He's a beauty, isn't he? Without knowing parentage, going just off of his look alone, I'd say this one might possibly be 'stallion material'. This is also the way a stallion, or stallion prospect, should be presented.


He's beautifully groomed, new halter, angles are correct on the picture, gorgeous pasture background with very few distractions and the fence to gauge his height. (Nice little trick there. :D)


This horse, is also this weeks Friday Featured Fugly Stallion. 


I'll give you three guesses as to why. What could possibly put a stallion such as this up on MY blog as the Fugly Stud of the Week? 

AQHA Black Stallion-Halter/Breeding Prospect - $7500 (Leesburg, Texas)

This colt is by CK KID and out of a producing daughter of Sierra Te. He is 16 months old and already stands 15 hands and 1/2 inch. He will easily mature to 16 hands or even more. 
For more pictures visit website: www.dennishoodquarterhorses.com 
For more information email at drhood1220@aol.com


Hmmm, very little obvious help there. Ad is decently written, spelled correctly, relevant information related to the horse being sold. 


He's by CK Kid...the unanimous 2001 AQHA 2 year old World Champ Halter Stud & #4 on AQHA's Leading sire list as of 10/09... CK Kid is out of Touchdown Kid...who is out of Kid Clu ....... Seeing the picture here? 


Pretty black stallion up there is N/H, just like Daddy, just like Granddaddy, Just like his ENTIRE FREAKING SIRE LINE IS HYPP POSITIVE. I didn't even bother looking up the Mare Line, its totally not worth it cause it doesn't even matter if the mare is N/H or N/N. 


They completely omitted that fact on the Craigslist Ad. Oh, its on his sale webpage so they can't be accused of not disclosing the information. But he's being sold as a Breeding Prospect of Course - why WOULDN'T he be - and apparently, nobody gives a damn about HyPP. 


By the way, I never realized that CK Kid is owned by the NFL Legend Terry Bradshaw...I dislike football to begin with on its own principals, but I'll never EVER be able to watch another football game with Bradshaw as Commentator again the same way. 


I just looked through TB's website - half of them are listed with HyPP Status, half of them are not. He's got a partnership going with Ted Turner (the biggest name in stock halter trainers) and they are rockin' and rollin' their way to more WCh's. 


It doesn't get any bigger than this in the Stock Horse Halter World. Ted Turner is simply THE biggest trainer there is when it comes to AQHA Halter, APHA Halter, and ApHA Halter. If he still is breeding, showing, and training HyPP Pos Horses, then why should anyone else change too? 


Dennis Hood Quarter Horses, the barn that has CK Sierra up for sale, has their motto on their home page. 


"Breeding the Best to the Best then Hoping for the Best"


Well, you moron, if you weren't breeding HyPP Positive horses, you wouldn't HAVE TO HOPE FOR THE BEST now would you? 


BUT BUT BUT (Hush hush now), *whispers* Its OK to breed N/H, cause nothing ever happens to them, its just a little letter, won't hurt anything, besides, we can get $10,000 per 2 year old if I breed to _________ (insert N/H or H/H stallion of choice)!


If these horses were not commanding the world championships, and the multi thousand dollar price tags - if they were worth the $200 - $3000 that we see daily on Craigslist and other similar sites, whadda wanna bet that their worth would suddenly plummet, and *gasp* people might actually pass them over for a non diseased horse? 


Oh wouldn't that be the day? 


Yea. I'm harsh. I don't care what the horse looks like on the outside. If its H/H or N/H, geld it. Put it on Regumate for the rest of its life. Ride if you must at your own risk, but I firmly believe that you don't breed it, you get RID OF THE DISEASE. It could happen within our lifetime if this wonderful mindset were to happen. 


If the big stock registries would actually grow the balls they so love to advertise, they have the power to stop it. A simple ban on any horse tested N/H or H/H would do the trick. Of course you'd still have the ones that don't follow the rules and breed them anyways, but those foals would never be eligible for breed registration, thus dropping their value wayyy down. Fancy bloodlines that can't show breed don't get high stud, breeding, or selling fees, see? 


So $7500 for a horse that could, theoretically, have the biggest horse sized seizure at any time, have a heart attack, have his throat swell up and suffocate, or simply freak himself out in the middle of an attack and smash his head against a stall wall. $7500 for a disease that NOBODY that has the power to do anything about, is doing anything about. 


I love my stock horses, I really do. Hypp is becoming not just the Quarter Horse Disease. Outcrossings to arabians, morgans, thoroughbreds, and numerous other breeds are now at risk as well for spreading it within their own lines. All it would take is one qh outcross and there you go. HyPP is now in YOUR breed and you might not even know it. 


It has to change at the top. At this level. Or it never will.

HYPP-othetically Dangerous or Not? Day 2

Yesterday I went over the basics of HYPP, and showcased one ad of a gelding that was H/H who's owners/sellers were trying to sell him as a youth horse.

I can rant and rave and scream until I'm blue in the face about HYPP and what it can do, but for most people the reality comes when its shown to them. The reality of HYPP is something that most horse owners one time or another will come across, no matter what discipline you are in.

So I went and searched on youtube to see what I could find. 


This video was one of only a few on you tube showing what a HYPP attack really looks like. This mare is experiencing a mild attack, as its not forcing her to be laying fully paralyzed on the ground, just making her muscles twitch like I discussed yesterday.





As you can see, the spasms are not completely incapacitating this mare - she can move around somewhat freely. You can also see the heavily muscled hip/hindquarters so typical of these Impressive bred horses. The comments on the video show how much misinformation and just NO information there is out there about this disease. 


The comment: "actually my horse is out, well a grandaughter of Impersive. she is a halter horse and she is N/N but u can not show horses in the AQHA shows if they are HYPP P/P!!! and for bethdhoffman there is no cure for HYPP your best luck is to put them down.....sadly..." by quarterhorse42057 also proves how much some people believe the myths surrounding the disease.


AQHA DOES allow HYPP POSITIVE  horses to show, and not just allows them to show but those horses are WINNING. (just see the prior post!)  She also gets the status wrong (P/P) vs the correct H/H, or N/H - well actually two of the posters get it wrong. 


Here is a video that shows a much more severe attack. This video is from the website http://www.bringinglighttohypp.org/HVideo.html. The mare in the video was literally down on the ground partially or fully paralyzed for an hour. The clip is approximately a minute. Notes on the video. The notes state that they could not remove the foal from the mare as she would then become even more stressed and upset. Leaving the foal with the mare at least kept her somewhat calm. The attack happened while she was in a monitored veterinary equine center, and the techs that were attending the mare were in contact with the vet at  all times during the attack. At the end of the video you can see the bandage around her neck from the IV they had to give her. Unfortunately this mare went on to have several more severe attacks, and finally died from them. During this video she suffered several lacerations, bruises, a large swelling on her chest, and several other mild to moderate injuries from her struggles to get up. 

This is the harsh reality of HYPP. This is what it does. More info from the awesome HYPP website regarding common myths.

Unfortunately, only some horses that have this incurable disease are given the care they need and that home that understands that they do need to be on a special diet, and very strict management. 

So when this ad came to my attention so soon after the one from yesterday, It made my eyes literally pop out of my head. 

The ad screams: 

1994 AQHA halter mare - TAKING OFFERS NOW!!! - $1 (clarksville pa)

MISS ASHLEY BE 1994 chestnut mare. Ashley stands 15.0 hands and is HYPP N/H. Ashley is broke to ride and jump but hasnt been schooled in several months. She is very eager to please and would only be able to be used for light occasional riding due to her age. if ridden often she would most likely need joint supplements. Ashley also has been shown at congress and took 12th as a weanling in halter. She also was shown in WV and earned 1/2 point in open halter. This mare could have gone far but due to the previous owners issues was not shown continueously. Ashley has awesome conformation and is flashy with 3 white socks. Ashley is also a great mother to her foals and foals easy. Ashley has no vices and loads, bathes, clips, and ties well. Ashley is UTD in all shots and wormings. Ashley is great in the field with other horses and tends to get along with everyone. Ashley also does great with 24/7 turn out with a blanket. The weather months tend to dry out her skin so i add corn oil to her feed to enhace her coat and skin. She is an easy keeper and isnt picky about her feed. I am only selling because I will not be breeding for several years due to college and this mare shouldnt go to waste. TAKING ALL OFFERS!! TRADES WELCOME! PLEASE NO HORSES! WILL CONCIDER COWS AND PIGS....ETC..

*sigh* NOT ONCE besides the initial N/H mention does she say if this mare has had any signs of the disease. Whats worse is she's been bred. Several times to boot. The person selling her needs to be sat down and shown picture after picture, made to read story after story, watch video after video of HYPP horses that have shown no signs of the disease, then suddenly after or during the VERY FIRST ATTACK die because either they get so stressed out or their neck muscles stiffen so much they suffocate!

Whats worse, is the seller is down to accepting PIGS(?) in payment for this horse that they had listed on this site for $3000! The only good thing I can say about this ad is that at least the mare is being sold unbred. 

I'm so sad for these two horses because if the breeder had simply chosen to not breed their H/H or N/H horse this wouldn't be an issue. 

But as promised, I'm not done yet. 

Fingers get pointed at owners for purchasing these horses as show animals, creating the market for them. Fingers get pointed at the AQHA for continuing to allow the breeding of these horses. Fingers get pointed at breeders for creating the foals in the first place. 

The owners of Invest N Vital Signs is now offering with any full price breeding to their stallion (at their cost) the additive of an extender to his semen. 

This 'magic' formula has been patented as X-Extender, and the idea behind it is this: "A substance and process for preventing reproductive cells containing a genetic defect from being passed onto offspring by creating conditions, such as by adding a particular substance to extra-cellular fluid, that triggers or activates the particular disease associated with the genetic defect in defective reproductive cells, rendering those cells incapable of fertilization, implantation or embryonic development, but without significantly impairing healthy reproductive cells from producing offspring. The invention is particularly suited for channelopathies, and more particularly, for application with sperm from a Quarter Horse that is heterozygous for hyperkalemic periodic paralysis (HYPP). A solution of potassium chloride is added to a sperm extender to produce a potassium concentration of about 0.71 mg/ml. Sperm is introduced to the resulting modified sperm extender for at least five minutes, then is artificially inseminated into a mare. The high potassium concentration activates the disease solely within the sperm containing the defective gene, resulting in leakage of sodium-ion channels that under the increased potassium concentration floods the cytoplasm with positive ions, preventing repolarization of the cell membrane, immobilizing the defective sperm. The potassium concentration does not prevent repolarization in healthy sperm, which retain motility and are capable of fertilizing the egg." Link. 

Basically, they think they can stop the sperm with the defective gene in it from fertilizing the mare. Apparently they have been testing this idea, and has 'shown amazing results'. Whatever that means. If they can actually get this stallion to throw 100% N/N babies, I will be the first person to support this product for all stallions. As a result, they offer a HYPP Guarantee that says if you want to breed to their stallion, you have to have a mare that has been tested N/N. Basically if the foal turns out N/H, the X-Extender didn't work! But guess what, you get a free RE-BREED. That means "lets make MORE N/H babies!!". Cause its not like we don't have enough of them out there as it is! 

Invest N Vital Signs's owners, are also offering a $200,000 World Show Bonus Program. If the 2013 2 Year Old Western Pleasure AQHA World Champion is sired by their diseased stallion, the owner gets half, the exhibitor gets half. How many foals will be born N/H just because their breeders will have visions of getting some of that money?

Now do you believe that the HYPP industry is all about the money?

One generation of not breeding any N/H or H/H horse would nearly stop this entire disease in its tracks. Thats all it would take. 

HYPP-othetically Dangerous or Not?

I have been debating whether or not to tackle the subject of the sale of HYPP positive horses on this blog. I have come to the conclusion that one can never fight this battle too much. While my intent here is not to write a paper on HYPP, some background information is necessary,  since there are STILL people out there that believe the myths and untruths, or just flat out don't know anything about it at all. I have three examples that will blow your minds as much as it did mine. 


HYPP, or Hyperkalemic Periodic Paralysis, is a genetic, inherited equine disease, originating with the AQHA stallion Impressive that affects the horse's nervous system by screwing with the sodium channels and flooding the system with extreme amounts of Potassium. This creates symptoms such as "mild muscle twitching that is undetectable to the human eye; noticeable muscle twitching; "crawling" skin, ranging from slight to very noticeable and usually from the back flank area forward; hind quarter paralysis; excessive yawning; and paralysis of the muscles surrounding the heart and/or lungs, causing death due to heart attack or suffocation" (quoted from here). 


IN laymans terms, these horses literally, can freeze up in a paralytic state at any time, under any circumstances. In their stalls, in the pasture, under saddle. It is especially dangerous for a rider mounted on a HYPP horse, because they could have an attack at any time. IF they have an attack while under saddle, they will loose complete control over their limbs, and they WILL go down to the ground, hard. The rider, unless experienced enough to understand how to safely get off, will be thrown off in some manner. Often times the manner of the rider being thrown from the horses causes in injury or in rare cases, permanent paralysis or death from broken necks and spines. This article about HYPP states in the 10th paragraph down, the debate whether or not to ride these horses, and states that in all of the respondents that argued that while they had positve mounts, not a single one had an attack during a ride. Yet, here (third example down) is a story about a teenage girl that had her HYPP Positive horse go down during a ride. 


Physically, these horses often look like, and are often referred to as the 'bodybuilders' of the Halter world. They are highly sought after as AQHA halter horses because of the extreme Muscling, size, and sheer bulk they naturally have. They get this way due to their muscles in nearly constant motion, twitching from obvious spasms, to the tiniest quivers. The constant contract and relaxing of the muscles is exactly the same biological mechanisms that happen when a human bodybuilder lifts weights. It tears the muscle fibers apart, so when the body rebuilds them, they are stronger, larger, and thicker. 

HYPP Positive horses often are a-symptomatic through birth until anywhere between training and death. Yes, this is a wide time frame, but an attack can come on at any time. 


An attack happens without warning, without preamble, and at any time. It is widely believed attacks are triggered by stress, extreme changes in schedule, training, feed, surroundings, etc. 


Now, these horses inherit this disease through no fault of their own, as the disease is being KNOWINGLY perpetuated by owners of mares and stallions that are N/H. 


What does N/H mean? Its the genetic status of a horse that has the defective gene. Horses that come from known bloodlines that are positive yet did not inherit the gene are N/N. Horses with one positive genetic marker are N/H, and horses that have two genetic markers are H/H. 


Very simply, by breeding a N/H horse to a N/N horse, the resulting foal has a 1 in 2 chance of carrying the positive gene. You have a H/H horse, every single offspring of that horse will have the positive marker, and will have the disease. Not carry it, have it. Exhibit symptoms. Have to specially managed their entire lives. Cost more in Vet fees and feed fees than the average horse. Why? Why is the almighty dollar so powerful that otherwise caring people suddenly become heartless about creating more defective horses?


The controversey surrounding HYPP is one that will not end until the largest breed of horse, the breed that started it all, the mighty AQHA, finally puts it foot down and says NO MORE to breeding its thousands of HYPP H/H and HYPP N/H horses. This list is just a sample of horses that have been found out to be N/H. Here's Page Two. 


Just a bit more information before I showcase todays ads; AQHA's Official Stance on HYPP; UC Davis's Equine Research Lab on HYPP.


So, after all that, why would people actually breed sick horses? Because they win, right? Because their bloodlines are so stellar and irreplaceable that a mare owner can't go anywhere else to find the same, or similar bloodlines? Conscientious people are breeding decedents of Impressive that have his infamous bull dog look, but don't share his dirty gene.


Ad Number 1 today, posted 3/3/10 from the Columbus, OH area. 





Ad Text: 


2002 AQHA 16 HH (So, this horse is a double positive, which means its not IF but WHEN he has an attack, which odds are will eventually prove fatal.) 


Sorrel halter gelding, (at least this one is a gelding!) own son of Wincredible. (Who IS a known HYPP Positive stallion, see below...)  


Has to date 347 AQHA points including youth, amateur and open points. Has earned 77 grands and 94 reserves in the American Quarte Horse Association and won over $10,000 in incentive fund earnings. (And this is why the halter industry keeps breeding these sick, doomed horses, because AQHA, at the top showing levels, will NOT stop pinning these horses top ten!!! Dont believe me? Check out this link! She goes into the finances behind breeding HYPP Positive horses, and goes on to list on the site Well Known Currently Breeding Stallions that have owners NOT disclosing their Postitive HYPP Status. Oh, and Wincredible is one of them. His owner will gladly accept a $2,500 stud fee though!)


This gelding is HYPP H/H, but do not let this scare you as this is not a problem and he can be put on a daily medication to prevent an attack as a precaution. (What magikal medicine is this? There are several drugs that can help prevent attack, but its like taking Vitamin-C to prevent ever getting a cold or the flu. You can take massive quantities of VC and eventually you will get sick. A HYPP H/H horse is eventually going to have an attack. There is nothing any vet can do to prevent that. Its just managing the horse as best as we can to put it off as long as possible.)


This gelding can be easily maintained by a youth or amateur; (This is the sad part where some unknowing parent is going to seriously look at this poor gelding and consider purchasing it for their up and coming 4-H'er,  not having a clue what HYPP is, and what it does to the horse...not even mentioning what it does to the poor child who has to watch his/her beloved horse suffer through an attack! There are several experiences recounted on bringinglighttohypp.org that tell of parents unknowingly buying HYPP horses for their children, and the horror their children have to witness when the horse goes down. Some children never recover emotionally from the devastation and sheer helplessness they feel toward the horse/attack, and never ever go back to horses again. Thats then one more child that doesn't grow up to defend horses against abuse or breeders of HYPP. One more child that will not save a horse from nearly being slaughtered. One more child that will spend their hard earned dollars outside of the horse industry.)


He is an extremely easy keeper. (Nearly all HYPP horses are easy keepers because they sit there in their stalls and their muscles twitch and grow and it looks like they put on weight from air!)


 He has qualified for the aqha open world, youth world and amatuer world and was only shown a total of three times at the world and was top ten all three times. This gelding also has a congress top tens as well. In 2009 he was reserve champion aged gelding at the region 4 regional experience in the open division. More picutres available on his online video on youtube.com just type in "Sir Wincredible" and the linke will come up. (What can I say here except what I already have said? This bloodline has a genetic defect that will kill this gelding. End of story.)


 Asking $2500 OBO. Only selling him as we are looking for a young pleasure prospect. (Possibly because you have witnessed this horse experiencing an attack and maybe someone said something to you about having/breeding a H/H horse? Or maybe you are just looking to dump him because the owners don't want to deal with the disease?)


Not open to trades or partial trades. Would make a great youth or amateur gelding (um, NO he wouldn't!) and will take you all the way. This gelding has had weight pulled off this winter to let him rest but is currently being fit back up to begin showing in May.





So why is it that not once on his entire ad, did the seller mention his show name? If he was that accomplished, that well shown, and I had to sell this horse (sans the HYPP), I'd be blasting his name everywhere to attract those other competitors that saw him compete, hoping one of them would remember him and remember how much they would have liked to have own him themselves. Wanna bet that the owners don't want to be attached publicly to the sale of this horse?


(Quick Self Edit). I am guessing this horse's name is "Sir Wincredible". As I have been writing this, I've been following links all over the place, and checked out the you tube video mentioned in the ad. 


This is the video.  It appears they have had him up for sale for some time, and have dropped the price down quite a bit... the video lists it as $8500 OBO, the CL ad is $2500 OBO. Owners must be getting desperate to dump this poor gelding, wonder how long it will take for this guy to find himself at the local auction, paperless and amazingly enough, HYPP-status suddenly unknown?


Apparently, Wincredible's website, wincredible.com, has also been pulled, no where could I find any website for him. Now I did find the currently listed owners on the quarter horse directory, but as you can see, Wincredible is no longer listed on their website.


I will continue this post tomorrow, as I have spent much longer than I anticipated researching this topic, and work is starting to loom near for the day. Tomorrow I'll have the other ad, and another breeding stallion that is HYPP N/H, yet the breeding contract is .... something else.