I want!

The question is not, "Can they reason?" nor, "Can they talk?" but rather, "Can they suffer?" ~Jeremy Bentham

RESCUE HIGHLIGHT:

S.A.D. (Saving A Draft) Horse Rescue in Alliston, Ontario!




Look at this adorable little Perch colt. How cute! AND he's a rescue. Approx 8mo old and 13hh.

Here's how he looked when they rescued him!

From the ad on horsetopia, "Alfalfa was sent to a meat auction and saved by us. He was unhandled, loaded with lice and internal parasites, feet badly over grown and frogs rotted and bleeding. [...] Alfalfa will be adopted out with a contract stating he will be gelded before spring 2009. "

Congrats to Saving A Draft (SAD) horse rescue in Alliston, Ontario, CA for doing a wonderful job rehabbing him!

Price: $ 650 (Price is Firm)

Free unbroken "Welch" pony on Craigslist---argh really!?

I'd rather have a goddam horse. A horse is at least human, for God's sake. ~J.D. Salinger, The Catcher in the Rye


ETA: Why can these people NEVER SPELL? Welch?! Really? And she rares too. *facepalm*



Image of ad, please click to make it bigger.

Direct link to the ad.








Here is a copy of the email I sent to the owners. What else should I / can I do? I BCC'ed the shelter a copy of this email and emailed them separately to let them know what I was doing.

----------------------------------email begins--------------------------------------------

Hi!

I have some information for you regarding Lollypop Farms. They are a shelter that takes horses and ponies. Below is their contact information. They charge a $25 fee for drop offs that I would be happy to pay for you if you cannot afford it.

I am begging you NOT to send your pony to someone off Craigslist. You may get lucky and find your pony a caring home but that is not likely. Please I have heard too many horror stories about horses and ponies adopted for free, particularly unbroken ones. Lollypop will work with your pony until she is safe and then adopt her out to an approved home to raise money for their shelter. Please please consider this. I think they will even arrange to come get your pony if you cannot transport her. If not I can probably find someone in the local horse community to come transport her for free. Please let me know what you decide.

Sincerely,
Emily, a concerned horse lover

Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester
99 Victor Road
Fairport, NY 14450
585-223-1330
585-425-4183 Fax
E-mail: info@Lollypop.org

---------------------------------------email ends--------------------------------------------

Responsible Horse Breeders oh my!

Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. ~W.C. Fields

The barn where I am going to ride (at least on Wednesday) is owned by (seeming) responsible owners! They breed and train racehorses. Then when their racing career is over they retrain them for other disciplines!

The owner tells me a story about how they had a horse they bred claimed as a 7yo and sound. (A horse they didn't race until he was 3 and gave monthly Adequan joint injections...) When he showed back up 3 owners later as a 9yo with giant ballooned ankle they claimed him back for 1/7 of the original price and retired him. Now he just a has a bump on the ankle and is completely sound.

None of the horses have been ridden in while. I'm curious as to what the owners want done with them but I think the first thing will be conditioning! Hopefully we'll get another burst of warm days here and everyone can get baths--the owner mentioned that she's been injured and unable to groom (and being TB they love mud!).

phew!

It's a lot like nuts and bolts - if the rider's nuts, the horse bolts! ~Nicholas Evans

Oh thank goodness. Just got the first pictures from the farm I might be riding at. Shiney, healthy horses and safe sturdy fences! After reading Fugly's blog I was getting nervous!

The only thing that raises a flag is that "None of them have been ridden in a couple of years due to lack of time. If you lunged any of them first they should be fine to get on and at least try out," but (call me crazy) I'm not too worried about that actually.

On a not-really-but-sort-of-related note, I 'rode' my bicycle today. At least that stays balanced and doesn't try to run off with me. XD

The First

Riding: The Art of keeping a horse between you and the ground. ~Unknown

I'm a long time horse lover and rider who took some time off because of illness and finances. Until recently I was doing a little bit of riding (1x a week for an hour) during the school year on my University team. Now that I've graduated it's no longer an option.

Now I'm (hopefully) getting back in the saddle exercising some OTTB for a local lady. I still have some remaining health problems (see Gimpy) but I think I can do it. No balance issues, mostly just out of shape. This should be an adventure.