Karen Harper
Florida
--- In haflingerfriends@yahoogroups.com, K Garriott <kagarriott@...> wrote:
>
>   Dawn, I indeed used to buy those "unwanted" horses, feed them, train them, shoe them, vet them, and do my level best to pair them with new owners that I felt would be a good match. There used to be a good demand for such horses that were sound and use-able and modestly priced. I was by far not the only one doing it either. There were scores of "traders" out there yanking anything and everything out of the low end sales that they thought they could turn a few dollars on. Some did it short term hauling the horse to the next sale where they hoped the horse would catch the eye of another auction goer that was willing to gamble on an auction bought horse, and others like us that were in it for the long haul and really trying to help the horses get a new start as solid citizens.
> Â
>   Because I was so intimately involved (for a period of about 15 years) buying at one point a 24 foot stock trailer load of horses sometimes as often as 3 times a week, Ive owned numbers of horses that most people cant even imagine, and I cant honestly give you an accurate number on. Just the personal "keepers" that Ive owned number ar least a couple of hundred over the years. We still own one now 14, and another 21 years later. So I think its safe to say Ive done my part for the unwanted horse.
> Â
>    I can also tell you first hand why there are "so many free, unwanted, not good for society horses out there in the world", the reasons are many, and here are just a few of the big ones.
> Â
> 1) Breeders... " Now offering my 3,4,5 yr olds for sale at a big discount to make room for this years babies" How many times have you read that? Did you ever wonder why they never seem to figure out that if they cant sell the ones they already produced in several years time that maybe just maybe there ought not be a new foal crop? Almost without exception these older horses would not be trained any further than to lead and quite often not even that. I ought to know, I bought a lot of them.
> Â
> 2) The "I can do it myself because________ JL,PP, CC, CA, ( fill in the blank with a TV cowboy) says I can now that I own his video library. The ones that buy an untrained "bargain" horse and at best get in over their head, at worst get hurt and get out of the horse business completely, In the last 10 years there was lots of those at sales and yes as someone else here pointed out most of the time they have to be "undone"
> Â
> 3) The "I want a horse all it eats is grass right?" type owners. These types have also contributed to a lot of sale barn bound horses. When these horses need something like dental work and as a result of the owners unwillingness to sink any money into the horse and it starts dangerously tossing its head they ship it pronto after the first bloody nose. I cant even tell you how many of those I bought, had their wolf teeth pulled and floated and they went to riding! I used to look for that tell tale head toss at the auction. Unlike the "I can do it myself" horses they were easy to fix.
> Â
> 4) Then there are the people that cause their horses to become a problem child out of sheer ignorance. Ill fitting, or.. saddles with broken tress and now the horse bucks them off, or...$2 stamped out grazing bits rubbing lips raw and now the horse rears. yada,yada, that list is way too long to tell all the many things Ive dealt with. Everything from sad tack to "precious the family pet" spoiled and obnoxious to the point of dangerous.
> Â
> 5) The blatant neglectors. They let feet over grow and split, either starve, or let founder and then don't treat, let their animals suffer from medical conditions to save the cost of a vet, and again I could go on and on but I don't think its necessary.Â
> Â
>  Now none of us can afford to gamble on them anymore because of the lack of a bottom dollar market, Now more horses than ever are falling through the cracks that would not have in the past. The ill advised "do gooders" have really made a mess of things for horses.
> Â
> Â Karen G www.princesscarriage.com
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