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[RC] Re:over populated 'crappy' horses-example - Mel CopelandThis thread is very interesting. I would like to share what I feel is a stunning example of irresponsible breeding -I have a friend who shows horses. The barn that her horse is at breeds show horses. When an undesirable foal is produced it is culled. Most barns I know of like this put their culls down. This particular farm lets them live and gives them to good homes without their papers. This year there was a colt that was culled. He was culled based on cosmetic flaws (ear placment and eye alignment). I was contacted to help find this colt a home. I work with a few horse people so I told them about it. A lady that I work with decided to take him because her husband has trail ridden one of these kinds of horses and loved it. I knew that they were nice people and had another horse they had rescued and were taking great care of. Both of them are learning Parelli methods and applying it to their horses. This seemed like the perfect home. So, they go get the colt and are tickled pink with him. The husband adores him and they have really bonded. I was talking to the lady the other day and told her how much better it would be if they went ahead and gelded the colt. I gave them reasons why earlier is better. Her reply was that they had decided to keep him intact so they could breed him to their mare - the rescue horse who is an unpapered Arabian. What the heck are they thinking? They said some of their friends wanted to breed their horses to him too. I was floored. Now I feel partially responsible because I helped them get the colt. I am still not sure how to handle this. When I try to talk about responsible breeding they say I am being snobby. Another lady I work with has a TWH that she bought from a show barn. Now this lady is a bit dense and these people must have seen her coming. She bought a 2 year old filly that was *fully trained* and severely club-footed on all four feet. After getting the horse home and riding her the lady discovered that she was dead lame. She calls her vet and the horse is sent to the local University hospital to have *I believe* some ligaments cut so the mare would be sound. Later on the mare colicked. Turns out the mare was heavily worm infested. It seems that at the place she boards no-one worms their horses except for a few people and they only do it once a year. They had told her it was not necessary. Anyway-now the lady has come to me asking if I know anyone with a black and white stud. She told me she sure would like to breed that mare and get a black and white baby. I explained about club foot being hereditary. She would not listen. She said her daddy told her that wasn't a big deal. ARGH! I refused to help her find a stud and as far as I know she found some local guy with a paint stud and is going to breed her mare. I don't know how marketable clubfooted Paint/TWHs are but I see a sad future for that foal. I could go on and on. There are so many people that I know who own horses and do some of the most ridiculous things. Starting a 18 month old QH in reining training, Padding a 17 month old Saddlbred and start working on making it 5 gaited, horses that never leave their stalls their entire life, it is really sad. In my mind, these types are the ones we need to be worried about, and educate. But of course these people are not seeking out info or trying to learn better horsemanship. Most of them already know it all or have a friend or family member who does. Mel _________________________________________________________________ Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today - it's FREE! hthttp://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/ =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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