Rant!!!! If you're gonna give your horse away.......

[texasgal]

Quote:
Um ... yes they do ...

I've gotten several that way .. and have given a couple away ...

Just like good chicken people, there are good horse people ..

I'd rather GIVE my horse to someone I KNOW will take care of her/him .. than sell him/her to the highest bidder because I'm down on my luck.

It blesses me .. it bless them.

Oh, and on my BYC page is my latest freebie. She was loved, owned, and cared for by an internet friend in OHIO .. given to me (along with her filly) and shipped to Texas.

Purebred Arabian .. Huckleberry Bey, Khemosabi, Al Marrah ...

 

[ducks4you]

WOW! With THIS economy and with the EXCESS number of good horses for sale, you now have a headache to feed, care for, and retrain. At almost 52 years of age, I cannot think of a problem that I would like LESS than this in my backyard.

Lots of good advice before me. I can only add that a farrier that I knew was working to reshape the hooves of a TB racehorse who feet had been hollowed out (cupped) for racing. Every time this gelding's feet felt better, he'd run and play and go lame. After 8 months of trying to repair his hooves and making no progress, the owners finally put the horse down. He was 10 years old. The (racing) owners had used him and sold him away.

Please be careful with this mare. People more expert than you get hurt dealing with problem animals like this one. I wish you success, but I'm staying away from horses like this.

 

[Akane]

I have given away very nice horses but they were all at retirement age. I informed the new owners of what the horses had done during their lives, their quirks, and what they were physically capable of at their current age. It is possible to get what you want in free horse but most people just want to find a way to get rid of the horse so they try to make it sound as good as possible.

People are getting rid of horses and sending them to slaughter daily because they cannot afford to feed them or take proper care of them.

Right there is the problem. You can't send horses to slaughter anymore. The slaughter plants in the US were closed down. Horse slaughter is currently not allowed in the US. People can't send them to slaughter. They have to feed them or find a home for them. That's led to thousands upon thousands of extra horses in the US. With everything else going on prices have dropped, homes have dropped, and rescues are full. Good horses are being given away free because they can't be sold because everyone is stuck with horses that have problems, lameness, or are just old and would have gone to slaughter. Not to mention there are many old farmers and similar around here that just ran a herd of horses for the heck of it letting them breed at will. Then ran them on a trailer and took them to auction where majority went to slaughter. When slaughter was banned all those horses that had never been handled were left in their pastures and the people who were only raising them because they could easily get rid of them for a bit of cash are now trying to get rid of them. Some are just being shot. Others turned loose. I know of one case where a person who couldn't take care of their horses put out a sign "free horses". The next day they went out to their pasture to find instead of 3 horses they had 5. The horse industry is bad right now in some areas of the country.​

 

[ducks4you]

I wanted to respond to posts--
paintedsavvy, I had a paint that looked so much like yours. His name was "Toma Coma", and he lived until he was 35 yrs old. He was a joy.

Eggs4Sale, we have been CW reenactors for 24 years now and have lent out only our seasoned animals to others. Usually people who rent are officers in their unit and are at a National Event. Even our commander rented a horse a few times named "Froggy Prince" who was bought at a killer sale at age 23 and lived until he was 42! In fact the mare that is in my avatar on BackYardHerds was sold to us last summer at the 145th Gettysburg. The previous owner lives in AL and managed to breed her 4 times and TOTALLY bombproof train her. She (was 10) is now 11 years old. I want to buy another one from him!

I've had my FILL of badly trained horses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chicks_N_Horses]

Akane ~ You are right, slaughter plants were shut down here in the US but horses are still sent to slaughter. THey are sent over the border to Canada and Mexico where they are then slaughtered.

Just as many horses are on their way to slaughter today as we type as there was before the US plants shut down.

ducks4you ~ What trainer here in AL did you use?

 

[Skyesrocket]

Yes, they are going to Canada. Every week a buyer comes into our local auction (Ohio) and hauls them off.

 

[CountryMom]

Quote:
Can I make two suggestions here. First, if you consider thoroughbreds typically "high strung and neurotic" it is perhaps best not to own one, at least not with one with whom you do not get along well with from the start. That mindset, and TB minds, tend to go poorly together and produce depressing or problematic long-term results.

Second, I am still not seeing how the things you mention are not simply TRAINING ISSUES. (Beyond the 'personality not meshing with yours' part, that is). Horses at the track do not get schooled in most of the sorts of things a "regular" riding horse needs to know, and I'm not just talking about riding stuff like 'inside leg' or 'half-halt', I'm talking also about lots of everyday stuff like being loaded in a trailer "the non racehorse way" (which often involves two strong men linking arms behind the horse's butt and *putting* the horse in, bodily; plus which a lot of racehorses have no experience of 2-horse type trailers). And even if she had professional training after coming off the track, it's never a permanent thing.

You have to TRAIN a horse to load -- and in most cases, I would bet anything it's true in this case, you have to back up further and install/reinstall the basic skills needed to even *start* teaching the horse to load properly. Likewise you have to TRAIN many horses to be comfortable riding away from a group of other horses. And probably pretty much anything else you are having problems with.

Finally, an observation about this nervous high-strung temperament you feel she has -- if you are putting 10 lbs of grain products into her each day, NO KIDDING a Thoroughbred's brain is falling out

If it were my horse, or if you were my student, I would say:

1) 'nuff already with all the hard feed! She is BY NO MEANS thin or starving -- she is not halter-horse fat, but that's not healthy anyhow, and there is plenty of leeway for "risking" the possibility of her losing a few pounds in transitioning to a different diet. Give her lots of free-choice *good* hay, preferably an alfalfa mix; possibly additional beet pulp if she will eat enough to be worthwhile; see what management changes you can do to happy her up; and if she still seems to need more calories, try a small amount of NON sweet feed (pellets, or oats or corn or a mix) as a base to pour oil on as much as she will allow or add rice bran to. And then accept her as she is and work with that, rather than trying to sculpt her body into your ideal of a horse shape by means of diet. If you can get her happy, relaxed, understanding, and in good productive work, a lot of the body shape issues you're seeing will, I promise, *gradually* fade away.

2) 'nuff already with the 'she is not quiet' thing. They're training issues. Go back to square one like she didn't know anything -- and I can pretty much guarantee that she doesn't know anything like as much as you're assuming she should, and possibly your body language is not having the desired effect either and needs tuning. These problems are *fixable* (if you want), not an immutable result of a defective brain.

and 3) if you don't like the horse it is probably better to send her on her way. There is always someone else out there looking for a free horse, and some of them might actually LIKE and get along with her. Or, if you cut out most or all the grain and treat the problems as a training project ONLY, you may actually find out that you like her and she isn't so bad after all

Good luck, best wishes to you both,

Pat

Have to totally agree here with Pat. Lots of warning signs should go up everytime someone gets a free horse. And basically nothing is totally free in life. You take on a responsibility to care for an animal in whatever condition it is when you own that animal.

First thing I would have done is the Panacur Power Pak followed by a week of Probiotics to straighten out the gut. Teeth and handler issues can cause rearing - very typical problem actually. Just had my daughter fix a horse and it's rider from the rearing issues. It was a lack of the horse's training and the lack of the riders ability to know what the heck he was doing. Sad it had been going on so long and the horse was labeled a bad horse. Now he is much happier and so is the rider - who understands his mistakes.

A nervous horse can also be a sign of a nervous or overly dominate handler. Not saying you are, but maybe try approaching the horse in a calm and reassuring manner with a lot of praise for even the littlest thing. Sounds like this horse needs to learn how to get the right answer and go from the ground up all over again.

 

[Sillystunt]

Quote:
Well thank god you got her! What knuckle heads~

 

[Cara]

I haven't heard of anyone successfully sueing someone for selling a horse with undisclosed behavioral issues. Since horses are animals they're considered unpredictable by nature. How they react in one environment is not necessarily a good predictor of how they will react in a different situation. If all horse sellers were considered responsible for their horses' future actions, nobody would sell them, particularly as they have no control over how the next owner handles the horse.

 

[scbatz33]

First of all, I would like to thank all of you for your advice.

I realize that folks tend not to read all the posts before they comment, so I will not take offense to those posts that I'm sure were not meant to be so condescending.

I have worked with horses - thoroughbred horses - since I was 18. That would be roughly half my life. I attended college studying agriculture economics with a focus on farm management. I have worked at the farm, the track, the sales pavilion and the equine hospital in the heart of thoroughbred country. I have a bit of a clue about horses and horse care.

Yes, she was free. Yes, I should have had a vet come to check her out thoroughly before I took her off the property. That being said, When you are told "we had her teeth done in January" and you then SEE the teeth were not only NOT done in january, they haven't been done in a long while - like years, it's frustrating. That horse was put in needless pain because of it's previous owner. That angers me.

Further, I realize when taking on a new animal there is an adjustment period. I'm not naive to the concept that different personalities mesh differently. However, when I say she is high strung and neurotic, I mean it. This is not a misconception. She paces her stall at high speed. She spins and runs the fence when she can not see the other horses. She works herself into a complete lather from stress when she is alone. We have to keep up one of the other horses when she's in or she goes crazy being by herself. This is a fact.

Lastly, I have no problem putting out the money to care for her or any of our other horses. This is not about finances. I was merely venting after spending THREE Hours holding my mare up while the vet floated her teeth. The drugs that had to be put into her just to keep her still for that length of time was disturbing. I do not like to put my animals under that kind of trama. I was and still am angry and frustrated at the lack of care given to this animal by the previous owner. It was not necessary if they had done the work the way they should have. But then to be lied about it really steams me.

Yes, she was in that weight when I got her. No, she isn't severely underweight. However, what the photo doesn't show is how high her top line is and how ribby she can be. She is currently a VERY hard keeper. I do believe the teeth contributed greatly to that. I SAW the teeth, they were horrible! We have been working dillegently with good quality feed stuffs to put weight on her for over 4 months now. She does get a good quality hay - all she wants to eat. She is on grass - all day long. She gets that much grain because the hay and grass ARE NOT enough to keep her weight where it is now. Further, she is aprox 1200 lbs. She's a big horse. She is being fed per the recomendation of the mill. Six lbs of complete feed is NOT unresaonable for a horse her size. The beet pulp is nothing more than a roughage substitute for hay. Therefore to feed it is akin to feeding her a flake of hay. The supplements are on par with what the vet and farrier believe will help to support her overall health.

As for her feet. When I went to look at her - both times - they were not that bad. No, I'm not a farrier, but I can tell a decent foot from a bad one. My farrier believes her feet had been done shortly before I saw her. Her feet look good for the first week or two after shoeing. It's week three and four that they grow wrong and she throws shoes. Since we have been working dillegently for more than four months to improve her feet, it's frustrating that we take two steps forward and three steps back. That is why we are going barefoot, we are out of options and she has too little foot to do anything else.

Again, my issue isn't that the horse has problems. i can deal with problems. Compared to the two Morgans we take care of, she is a dream. My original post was about the lack of care the horse was given and the fact that EVERY THING we were told about this horse was incorrect. We have assumed the "spring shots" were not given and that she was not wormed consistantly and have taken steps to fix that. We now know her teeth were not floated in January and have taken care of that. We now know her feet are in need of just growing and as my farrier has said, "we'll just let her be a horse." and hope she stays sound.

I do not regret taking on this horse. I am angered at the pain and discomfort she has suffered by the lack of care given to her needs. Horses need vaccinations and dental care - plain and simple.

Lastly, this horse wasn't given away because they couldn't afford her care. They gave her away to buy a pony for their toddler. She was a throw away horse. They got bored with her and they wanted a new toy. That ticks me off!

They gave her substandard care, caused her needless pain and then dumped her. Am I naive for taking them at their word - yes I guess I am but they are wrong, wrong, wrong for misleading me and for not doing right by this horse.