Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Ray, I have no doubt there are some great horses down here. I have
two, that I picked up, as you said, "dirt cheap"....and could probably
find more. My point only is to err on the side of caution...especially
for those folks who are newer to horses or aren't really sure how to
look for evidence of possible problems. Buying a horse is always a
crapshoot, even when going the whole nine yards with a vet check,
x-rays, etc....and I'd say that it's even a longer shot here than
elsewhere.  Plus, these Southerners have a sales pitch second to none.
Just the other day I got an interesting dissertation about the "pads"
on show horses being "training devices" that were the same as a bit,
whip, or spur. If I didn't know better, I'd probably have bought into
it.

It's not just the Big Lick'ers but most of folks down here start the
walkers as yearlings and have them "dead broke" as two year olds, even
the "trail/pleasure horses" Sure, these horses are tough, but I'd
usually prefer to not play the odds on that.  There's no shortage of
TWH's here - someone interested can take their time and do their best
to pick out the ones with the most going for them. It's good to know
what to look out for, though.

I guess my philosophy in being a bit harsh on this matter is the same
as that old trainer that told their students to clean all their tack
after every use. That way, he admitted later, he was pretty sure
they'd at least do it weekly.

A lot of warning may add a little caution to the over-eager horse
buyer, who may ask a few more questions and look a little harder. That
can't be a bad thing, at the end of the day.

~S

On 8/11/05, Ridecamp Guest <guest-owner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Please Reply to: Ray O'Donohue rno2m@xxxxxxxxxxxx or ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> ==========================================
>
>   Soli: There's a special place in hell for the Big Lick folks,where THEY 
> will be sored and shod into doing The Big Lick,while the horses munch alfalfa 
> and cheer from the sidelines...there is no shortage of stupidity in 
> Tennessee,Mississippi,southern Illinois or anywhere else,unfortunately.That 
> said,I think you may be painting somewhat too bleak a picture. Many of the 
> great,aged,field trial TWH's we see have been purchased dirt cheap in the 
> deep South.God only knows their history.One would have to assume that some of 
> them have been subjected to some of the abuses in their earlier years,but 
> they gfo on to do so well in field trials,which are no trail ride,to say the 
> least. Field trialers themselves are not folks who like to think,if they can 
> avoid it,and sad to say,they have no understanding that the Big Lick is not a 
> good thing,counter to their interests.
>
>
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