There's A Special Place In Hell....

Please note:  This was NOT written by Day Dreams Farm, and they are not responsible for it's content in any way, shape or form.  It is merely my observations, opinions, and thoughts. If swear words offend you, please do NOT read this blog and get off of my page.

As my readers know, I've bitched and I've bitched and I've bitched some more about the ignorance of backyard breeders and the irresponsibility of incapable horsemen & women.  This one truly personifies all of my bitching and wraps it all up into a cute little black Quarter Horse package.  It's a goddamn shame that he had to die.  It's a bigger shame that he's been suffering for weeks because of this jackass....

On Tuesday, as I was perusing Facebook instead of focusing on my Research Design class, I noticed that Day Dreams Farm (a close friend of mine) posted a Craigslist ad link.  Now I know damn well that Lisa doesn't put things on the DDF wall unless they're well-worth reading...so I clicked, and read this:

"Hello,
I have a black well bred colt who was born 43 days late and still is having prob he has a bad canna bone in the laft front leg was have a vet bill that needs to be paid and We don't want to put him down or take to the auction I would just give him away for a pasture mate but we need help with paying off this vet bill, He can he paperd but I'm not going to give them to how ever get him, He is sweet I had to bottel feed him for the frist 3 days of his life, he now is 2 months old and still need alot of help as his dam dosen't let him nurse very much. I would like to get want we owe the vet $475.00 out of him if some one paid that I just might give a app for reg to them. the vet said he could be fix with a 50/50 % chance of him walking on it right he can run with out a prob but walking he is very slow and lays around alot. He is the great grandson of Peppy San Badger on Top side and Three Bars on botton and is a 20% linebred THREE BARS QH.."

I don't have the remainder of the original listing because by the time I got enough anger built up to fire off a blog, the posting had been deleted.  I also don't have the original picture from the ad itself...in that picture, you see a relatively-newborn black colt with a very grotesquely-misshapen cannon bone (CANNON, not "canna") on the front right and a strange, but not clearly discernible angle on the left front fetlock.  Nowhere in the ad do they take CLEAR, easily-viewable photos of this colt's condition.

Now I have several major issues with this ignorant excuse for a human being right off the bat.  First, grammar.  Some of you know that I consider the ability to use proper grammar when writing an ad NUMERO UNO when considering a human being's rights to survive and reproduce in this world.  This chick is so abhorrently awful, she herself should probably be euthanized.  Had someone actually DONE this, this colt may have never been brought into the world, and the world as a whole would be a better place.  

Secondly, OH LOOK, he has Three Bars!  Big fucking deal.  85% of quarter horses these days have Three Bars if you trace them back far enough.  AND she wants to negotiate and him-haw around about whether or not she's going to give the new owner a registration application?  Really, bitch?  Is that what makes him worth $475?  Or is it just because she's too goddamn cheap and stupid to consider the ramifications of her decision to breed shit to shit just to make shit that MIGHT be able to run around a barrel, except that now she has a crippled baby and a vet bill she apparently 'can't afford', so she wants someone else to buy her mistake to bail her out of the mess she made?  By the way, yes, I know she barrel races.  Fortunately for me, I have a few contacts on that side of the state and it didn't take me long to learn that she brings skinny, wormy, neglected horses to speed shows and barrel races all in the name of....well, I don't know if she does it for fun, but she apparently doesn't give a flying fuck about the welfare of her horses.  Now I find out she has a stallion of her own?  Well that's great fucking news!  Heads up, you pathetic excuse for a human being, you already have a TERRIBLE reputation over there, and now, thanks to your Craigslist mistake, it's spread over here!  I'd suggest selling everything and looking into permanent birth control methods, for the good of mankind.  

But, alas, back to the foal itself (who had NO name, by the way, Lisa's nine year old son named him Jackson as they buried his body yesterday).  Lisa and one of her closest supporters, Mary, drove ALL the way to Kalamazoo yesterday to pick up this little guy, and brought him back to her vet's office in the back of her Suburban.  Would the owner sign him over free & clear to the rescue?  No.  The $475 was DONATED by a Day Dreams supporter to bail this guy out of the shithole life he'd had thus far.  Talk about greedy.  I will say this, Lisa is absolutely brilliant in that she paid the VET directly instead of giving money to these sorry excuses for breeders.  Anyway, so they take this little man right to the vet for treatment and xrays.  The "canna" bone on the right front is looking considerably better, actually, but the fetlock is broken in not one, but TWO different places...essentially shattered.  
This picture was taken upon Lisa & Mary's arrival to the farm.  THIS is that fetlock....

Now, you tell me, what RESPONSIBLE breeder leaves an ankle looking like THAT unwrapped and untreated?  How do I know its untreated?  Because, my dear Lisa, in her infinite wisdom, called the treating vet today for a little more insight into this woman's mindset.  These are Lisa's words:

"It's taken me a while to get my head together to sit down and write my feelings surrounding the last 24 hours. For as horrible as that pic the owner posted looked, he actually had a good prognosis. I talked to the vet today. She said he had contracted tendons. She saw him 2 times within the first four days of his life. She braced him and told her to remove the braces in a few days to check for sores. She was instructed to call the vet if the braces needed to be put on longer, but she never made that call. His ankle was NOT damaged in any way and she called the owner SEVERAL times to follow up with him, but her calls weren't returned. But, the fact is, she wanted to sell him as a barrel horse and if he couldn't do that, he was worth nothing to her. She kept claiming that the vet saw him and said he would just heal on his own, but we now know that is a lie. "

This new information baffles me.  What possesses someone to allow an innocent young creature like this colt to suffer for WEEKS?  Did she just not see him every time she walked into the barn?  This injury could have been repaired and potentially healed to make this colt into a perfectly fine "THREE BARS-BRED!" trail-sound mount one day, but by the time Lisa and Mary could get to him, he was too far gone to save.  The injury had been left for too long, was actually scraped and calloused from him walking on the joint itself and dragging his hoof behind him.  The damned baby was suffering.  No pain meds, no wrapping, no support of any kind for him from his owner.  Lisa and Mary loaded him up in the Suburban (because, let's be honest, what other way IS there to transport such a tiny patient across the state?), and hauled him home.

There was no saving the little man.  Dr. M (who is a WONDERFUL woman and one of the finest veterinarians I know) gave this guy his first experience with pain relief and let him snooze while xraying, and the decision was made to let him go peacefully.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving a little life if it can be done, but I know when the suffering dominates the quality of a life, its time to make that decision.  Do I support the decision?  100% absolutely.  Do I think charges should be brought against the owners for neglect and cruelty?  Absolutely.  Do I think Jammie Weeks should go to jail?  100% whole-heartedly.  Perhaps someone should shatter HER ankle and let her walk around on it for a few weeks without so much as a goddamn Motrin.  

Mary, who is the most soft-spoken, kind-hearted, probably-didn't-even-cuss-during-childbirth sweetheart of a woman even wrote this bitch an email after the fact.  It was mean, I was VERY impressed.  She really let this broad have it, and unfortunately received an email full of "God bless"es and "I wish you the best" bullshit that comes with replies from the lowest of the low who refuse to acknowledge that they did anything wrong, and have the audacity to "forgive" those that point out to them how fucked up their priorities and decisions are.  These are the animal abusers that hide behind a Bible and try and use God and religion as a shield.  

Now I went to fucking private school....seven damned years of it, as a matter of fact.  I have my beliefs, I also cuss like a sailor.  I DO NOT, however, ABUSE BABIES AND WATCH THEM SUFFER!!!  You want to be biblical?  Two can play this game:  

"A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel." Proverbs 12:10

So, Jammie Weeks, where were you on THAT one?  Take one good last look at this baby that you put through weeks of pure living HELL.  I hope you sleep well at night.  There's a special place in hell for people like you.  

p.s.:  Should anyone like to contribute toward the efforts of Day Dreams Farm so they can continue going out and helping horses like Jackson, PLEASE see their website at: http://www.daydreamsfarm.com/  or visit their Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/daydreamsfarm

Thank you for your support!

Responsibility & Horse Prices

Well, I finally did it.  I think I finally managed to cut the cord and do something I should have done a year ago.  Pending a test-ride tomorrow, I think my oh-so-fabulous buckskin mare will be heading north to Ludington and to a new luxury-filled life as a show horse again.  She deserves it, its what she had before she came to Michigan, and she needs go to back to that life.  That mare is FAR better than I deserve and I'll finally be able to go to the barn without that pang of guilt and the itty bitty voice in my head saying "Why do even you have this mare?  You don't do anything with her.  She's been to the worlds, you take her to a fun show and are thrilled with a trail class win. WTF." (yes, the voice in my head uses text-abbreviation-slang).

I'll be down to two geldings, my hellion of a 3 year old, and Pat's "vintage" ranch horse, and as every good horse owner knows, two is never enough.  Since I'm anticipating a neat little wad of cash in my hand on Sunday, and nothing soothes a mourning soul like buying something new, I've been horse shopping.  A little premature, yes, I know, but I'm going to be a mess when that trailer leaves on Sunday and shopping makes for an excellent distraction.  I want a shiny new toy with hooves.

Now, I'll admit, I've spent a combined total of approximately 35 hours in the last 2 days screwing around on horse classified sites and Facebook pages dedicated to horses and ponies for sale.  When I shop, I shop hard.  Food, sleep, showers, everything takes a backseat to the all-important task of finding something to blow my money on.  The boyfriend has taken this opportunity to truck-shop and take advantage of the fact that the only real response he can get out of me when asking for anything is a "Mhmm, yep.  Whatever you want, babe, as long as it'll pull the horse trailer." I was informed this morning that I apparently gave the permissive "okay" last night to drive to southern Illinois and buy a $12k F-350.  It's green.  I sincerely dislike green pickups.  I really should start paying attention when he talks to me....

Anyway, in my searching, I've realized that I've apparently missed the point when the horse world collectively lost their damned minds.  Please, could someone tell me how horse owners can realistically expect to collect $2000 for an unregistered, "husband-safe-prospect" two year old?  I know your ad says "Or best offer, MUST SELL!!!!" but you and I both know your horse isn't worth $350, so don't tell me you'd "really like to get $1500" and then get offended when I laugh.  Well, dumbass, I'd really like to be 5'10" and model for Victoria's Secret as a side job, but that's not going to happen either!

Hay is skyrocketing, and fuel is right behind it.  In case no one selling their horse owns a calendar, IT'S SEPTEMBER 1st!  And here in Michigan, it SNOWS in the winter!  Your gem of an equine isn't worth a third of what it was worth six months ago, I don't care how many ads you put up.

To those people claiming to be "running out of hay" in hopes that guilt will entice someone to pay 10x what your horse is really worth: Really?  You had all year to know hay prices were going to be insane.  They were high in June and they're even higher now.  Sorry to say, but the hay fairies forgot to drop a few loads on Michigan this year, so deal with it.  All your ad tells me is that you're hoping there's someone out there with disposable income that could possibly be dumber than you are.  In the spring, yes, you'll find people like this (especially if the horse is a flashy pinto).  Going into winter?  Forget it.  Even stupid people know they have to get bundled up in the cold to go feed a horse when it snows.  Granted, not everyone actually DOES it, but they all know they should.  Man up, take some responsibility and either drop the price to next to nothing so someone with the money to feed it might buy it, or put the horse down yourself if you're not going to put out the cash for winter hay.

As for the group of you that wants to send out the "poor me" emails to the area rescues and beg them to take in your unwanted horse, please consider something for me for a minute.  Rescues don't get their hay for free, they pay for it just like you should be doing.  Why in God's name should a rescue take in your 25+ year old horse because you "can't afford it anymore"?  You had to have that horse, it's YOUR problem now.  If you don't want the responsibility, don't take the damned horse to an auction.  Be a responsible owner and euthanize.  Yes, I said it.  PUT. YOUR. HORSE. DOWN.  Get as pissed off as you want at me, and tell me how heartless and insensitive I am, but there is absolutely NO MARKET WHATSOEVER for a 20+ year old horse at an auction, and as much as you want to feel good when you pull out of the parking lot and think that some little girl bought your old horse, they didn't.  One person WILL be buying it, and it's going to get on a trailer for a one-way trip to Canada.  Now look out your window at those great big eyes of your "best friend" and tell me you'll feel better at night sending that horse to its death via auction rather than an IV injection at home and a peaceful ending.

"But the vet bill is so expensive!  I can't afford it."  Fine, find a gun.  There are plenty of helpful forums online to tell you how to do it quickly and painlessly for the horse.  If you can't work up the guts to do it yourself (and I don't blame you there, it's tough), find a hunter-friend that will.  You owe it to your four-legged friend to give them peace & dignity in the end, not send them through an auction ring to be packed into a truck.

Moral of the story: The horse market sucks.  Badly.  It's not going to get any better any time soon.  Take some responsibility for your horses and make plans NOW (and I don't mean go plastering websites with ads, no one is going to buy your junk right now!), not in January when your horse is skin and bones.  There's nothing worse than having to watch and bet whether the horse down the road will starve or freeze to death first.  If you go the euthanasia route, MSU will cremate for $140 (at last check).  Also, remember: you can't dig a hole with a backhoe when the ground is frozen.

Common sense statements, I know.  But sometimes these things have to be pointed out.

See everyone when I get back from Illinois.  God, I hate green trucks....