On my soapbox

So called Horse Rescuers

I am rather a fan of Fugly Horse of the Day blog - I like the way this woman tells it like it is. Often I have trouble believing the targets of her blog are that stupid, but it appears that they really are. Scary indeed.

Back in little old NZ we aren't that crash hot on horse care either. Though some people would like to claim they are.

For instance not too far from here (well an hour and a half driving) there is a woman who calls herself a horse rescuer. How she does that is she goes round the racehorse trainers and offers to rehome the sacked racehorses. So she sticks them in her paddock. She might throw a saddle on them and ride them once or twice. She won't in general call a farrier or a vet or a horse dentist as that would cost money. She isn't noted for overfeeding them either. And she advertises them to sell - often as suitable for beginners - at a nice profit. If they don't sell in a week or three she sells them for dog tucker. Nice.

There's another so called horse rescuer in Auckland who picks and choses her free horses - she hasn't had any that are more than slightly ribby (she calls these in very poor condition). She sells for a profit too. In her defence I will say I don't believe she dog tuckers anything and I do believe she puts some work into them. But she can't afford them and is reliant on donations or the horses starve.

And another one south of here who in conjunction with 'rescuing' does a bit of horse dealing often giving a sob story about looking for something to keep forever to get the price dropped when buying a horse so she can onsell it. This has happened at least three or four times so is a little more than failing to click with the horse. She has been known to claim to have rescued these horses too - they were in perfectly good condition when she got them.

Sadly these and other people have managed to sucker a fair bit of money out of the more trusting of the population.

I also get a fair bit irritated at the sob stories. "I can't afford hay, grazing, a saddle, transport, please help". Seriously if you can't afford the basics what the hell are you doing with a horse! In fact the world may be a better place if you didn't.

Then there is the girl with the mini stallion who is feral, to date he has bitten dozens of people and dented several cars with some well aimed kicks. She's rather pleased that he's so wild (standing on the other side of the fence obviously)it gives her something to boast about. Lady, with a temperament like that gelding him would be the best option! First he IS big enough to hurt someone and secondly who would seriously want a foal with parentage like that?

Really you have to wonder!

Of course if you express any opinion along those lines you are accused of being vindictive, or maybe menopausal. Maybe I am just concerned for the horses...

Right rant over *steps off soapbox and kicks it aside*