Honesty Isn't Always the Best Policy

Being Honest is touted as one of the greatest virtues someone can have. However, honesty paired with tact, is valued even more in some cultures. 


There are some situations where honesty just isn't always the best policy. Yesterday's post about the person shot in the ad writers yard is a great example of that. Today, we have another example of when honesty should probably be paired with tact...

KIDS HORSE FOR SALE!!!! - $900  3 year old liver chestnut mare. Whelch size. Has been rode by a 6 year old girl and a 9 year old boy but they have lost intrest and i am tired of feeding her. She is gentle and has never offered to rare or buck. Asking $900 OBO Will consider trade. Call Tiffany at 281---4109.

And the parade of idiots continues... 

So this one doesn't want to feed the horse anymore. Lovely. This mare is 3, ridden by two kids - those of you that read regularly have an idea of where THAT is going, but we'll get to that in a minute. 

What the heck is a 'welch size', btw? Anyone like to take a guess? I think "Welsh" is what she meant... but with 'rare' in there for 'rear'...ugh. 

So what we have here is just another parent that had a kid that showed some interest in horses, so she went full steam ahead and bought that young horse so the horse and the kids can grow up together. I just imagine that she threw in as little money as possible to this, skimping on training, and a few other things - like HELMETS, and riding lessons, and now we have a 3 year old horse thats been being ridden for goodness knows how long, and the worst thing of all is MOM IS TIRED OF FEEDING THE HORSE.

Thats teaching responsibility isn't it!

*insert massive eye roll here*

Ok, are you ready for the pictures? 



I don't think these two kids are the ones mentioned in the ad. They are too young. However, this picture should be enough to send every responsible horse mom into paroxysms of nerves. 


And take a look at that mare's hind legs... I am not sure if its the way she's standing, but OMG. 

This picture isn't much better but she is somewhat cow hocked, looks like. 


I'm sure with time and experience, this mare would probably end up a great kids horse. Just not at 3 years of age. 

Another obligatory kid shot. In this one, I'm not going to even comment on the girls position. I'm guessing she was showing off for the camera here. But again, no HELMET, her feet are 4 inches above the stirrups, and the noseband on the mare is about 2 inches to low on her nose. 


Maybe with properly fitting saddle, feet in the stirrups, a helmet and boots, and a correct headstall - maybe, just maybe she wouldn't have to grab the horn to balance at a walk! 

Sad part is this really is a cute mare who just got stuck with the wrong family.


Lets just hope that she won't end up starved and auction fodder because mom doesn't want to feed the horse. 

My Number #1 Pet Peeve.

I have been saving this post for some time, and collecting 'things' for it. I've discussed it before on this post and again on this post. See, I'm a parent too, and I also taught riding lessons to kids that had never once been on a horse before. So this topic is rather important to me. 


I'll start off with a bit of my personal life. 

This is my son, who was 8 at the time, riding our family mare for the first time. I would like to point out several things. 1) He's WEARING A HELMET. 2) He's WEARING A HELMET. 3) HE'S WEARING A HELMET. 

Yes, he's also riding in shorts, and a pair of tennis shoes. The saddle is too big for him, but we made do. This particular ride was not planned, and we were a bit unprepared. It was more of a photo shoot than an actual lesson, but he did master turning right and left that particular day in about 30 minutes. She never went faster than what I would call a bumbling walk, and every time he'd sway off to the side she'd move herself under him, and re-balance him. It was also around noon on a July Arizona Summer day, and it was already nearly 105 in the shade. 

Let me direct your attention back to the helmet, please. Why is this such a difficult thing for parents to do? 

Just one search on youtube will reveal a myriad of horse riding accidents... ranging from serious to stupid. We've all had them, heck I am sitting here remembering when I tried to get on the same 15.2 hand mare pictured above bareback from a mounting block, and WAY over did the jump up. I slid onto her back on my belly... and kept on going. I somehow landed on my hind end and was laughing before I hit the ground. My friend, already on her 14.1 hand pony (she was 5'9" - all she had to do was swing her leg on over to get on him bareback) laughed at me for weeks after that dumbness. 

All joking aside, why do parents think its acceptable to allow their children to sit on a horse like the three kids above? Would they allow those same kids to get on an ATV without helmet, elbow and knee pads? Or one of those kid sized dirt bikes? Ok, maybe a few would... but the majority wouldn't. So why is an ATV or bike, which DOESN'T have a mind of its own, more helmet worthy than a horse? 

Living out here in the Arizona desert in spring, when the weather is sunny, no clouds, and in the mid 80's brings all the outdoor lovers out. Driving through the desert you'll see families everywhere enjoying themselves with ATV's and the like. 

I saw one family yesterday that had a 4-5 year old sitting on his own pint sized 4 wheel ATV going 30 miles an hour, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts. 

I'm just dumbfuckfounded at the absolute IGNORANCE of these parents! Do they just not THINK about the dangers involved? Do they just not THINK at all??? 

Its not just young kids either. This very annoying picture of the two teen girls is on the ad for the bay horse in the back. I know most of you will say, they are teenagers, they don't need to ride with helmets, they 'know' better. To that I call BULLSHIT. 

The very ad that horse is being sold in is a perfect example as to why at the minimum, that young lady in the orange shirt NEEDS to be wearing a helmet. 

You really wanna know what it says? 

GREAT HORSE FOR SALE OR TRADE!! - $700
Only selling to a good home!
Also taking TRADES!!
Smokey is a bay QH/TB (appendix). 15'2 hands. Turning 3 in July.
Great Family horse, no bite, buck, or kick.
BOMBPROOF! BOMPROOF! BOMBPROOF!
Has been ridin across 6-Lane highways, through lakes, and up to Mcdonalds!
Still needs to finish training.
Sometimes rears when ridden, but nothing you cant get out of him in no time.
UTD on coggins, shots, hoofs, etc.

Serious offers only please.
CASH ONLY! 

Did you catch that? No Bite, buck, or kick....they scream three times he's BOMBPROOF! but SOMETIMES REARS WHEN RIDDEN. 

Those two girls are riding down a residential street with concrete and asphalt under them. 

I agree that ad is a clusterfuck of a blog post in of itself. 

What if that green broke 2 year old got freaked out by a neighbors dog suddenly charging at them? A very reasonable situation to play what if in... cause we all have that one neighbor that just never can manage to keep his/her dogs kept off the streets. 

She's an awful pretty girl, the one in the orange shirt. Wouldn't it be such a shame if she were to go splat on the concrete under her because her parents didn't make a rule that said she had to wear a helmet when riding? 

I cannot beat this subject into people enough. I am even considering writing an article to see if the state horse newspaper will publish it. 

PEOPLE DIE falling off horses without helmets on. Children become brain dead for the rest of their lives because of falls off of horses without helmets on. 

This is such a simple fix!!!!!!! Why can't we get it right!?

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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? 

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And as always, cause I forget, thank you to the readers that send me this stuff daily. You make my job so much easier, and I'm really bad about naming the people that send me stuff. Just know, if you send something into me, and I use it, but forget to mention you... It's totally MY BAD!  :D