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Merlot
Platinum Member
England
3260 Posts |
 Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 11:02:28 AM
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| First time I've ever heard of this but will be a regular visitor. |
 photo by Eric G Jones |
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Kash
Platinum Member
England
3777 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 3:41:32 PM
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Just had a look and have to say it got me rather annoyed |
      
Photographs by Emma Maxwell and Peter Grant |
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Kirsty5278
Platinum Member
England
2682 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 4:21:31 PM
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it's just not my thing...
I understand that many people are of the opinion that certain horses should not be bred from becuase they aren't a true reflection of the breed standard so they feel that horse will be a wasted breeding...
but I don't feel that way... don't get me wrong... i don't like it when people breed for the sake of it, resulting in unwanted horses but the bits of the website I did read were pointing out the flaws in a horses conformation, saying that only a "asshat" would buy it and its not up to standard... and what kind of "asshat" bred it...
A horse is a horse is a horse.... I don't care that its not the best bloodline in the world, or that its conformation is not spot on...
Neglect and cruelty is not reserved for the poorly bred, if that were the case then I could understand it, but its not....
Just my opinion and not having a go at anyone else, so no arguing people... just the tone of that website is not my cup of tea.....
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Pixie
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
6586 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 6:02:29 PM
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| I do look at the site Kirsty and I do laugh at it - but I know what you mean completely. I do feel sorry for the horses its not their fault. |
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Kirsty5278
Platinum Member
England
2682 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 6:10:55 PM
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i also didn't like the snobbery of it... the comments on rider ability/position/training etc.... those are the kind of comments which give the horse world a bitchy name - i didn't realise that horses were only for the highly schooled individual! meoooowwww
...sorry vera, you did ask |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 6:47:30 PM
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I find it funny and very sad at the same time. I get the sarcasm of it and the tongue in cheek remarks. Personally I think it is one of the best websites I have ever visited. Exposing indescriminate breeding with examples, neglect on an unprecedented scale and levels of ignorance I can't even comprehend.
It is blunt and to the point I don't find it snobby at all  quite the opposite.
I am one of those that doesn't look away, I watch the video's and look at the pictures and am regularly haunted by the sight and sound of it.
Edited to add this comment isn't reserved to this website - I meant this in general.
Each to their own if it isn't your cup of tea it is mine |
    
Hampshire |
Edited by - Vera on 29 Apr 2008 7:02:57 PM |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 6:51:51 PM
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Fugly Horse of the Day!
The FAQ (I have taken some out because there were so many but these are some of the many that I agree with - V)
Q. What is the point of this blog?
A. To amuse, to entertain, to educate. Overall, to discourage irresponsible horse breeding, but I do address other topics, typically by popular request. I am always surprised at how many people breed horses using less planning and forethought than they put into planning their kid’s birthday party. They will breed a horse because they like its color or they think it is a nice friendly horse and there’s nothing deeper than that going on. Then they are surprised when the foal doesn’t sell. The complaining starts about the expense of keeping all of the horses. The ads get more and more desperate. Next thing you know, here they come to the horse auction and there go three yearlings on Mr. Kill Buyer’s trailer. But you know, this is so hard for them. They didn’t want to sell the horses this way, they just had no choice. Bull****. Everything right down the line has been a choice - they’ve just made bad ones and it’s the horses who suffer.
Q. Are you opposed to horse breeding?
A. Not at all. I fully support the breeding of horses with good conformation, good dispositions and athletic ability by breeders who are knowledgeable horsepeople well-versed in bloodlines, genetic defects, and the proper care of mare and foal including nutrition. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people breeding horses who do not meet these simple standards.
Q. Is it wrong to breed a horse who was a rescue?
A. It depends on the horse. I believe it's completely irrelevant if the horse was a rescue. If you are the lucky winner who finds the stakes winning, gorgeous mare or a Superior western pleasure horse or a NCHA money winner in crappy condition at a low end auction because they fell through the cracks, it doesn't bother me a bit if you fatten them up, breed them again, and they proceed to have a cushy life at your nice breeding facility. Now, if the horse was a rescue because it is fugly and lame, then of course I am opposed to breeding it.
Q. Why are you so mean?
A. Being snarky is funny to many people and has made many comedians rich. If you think I’m mean, turn on a Sarah Silverman special sometime. (I love her, by the way) I’m not making money here, but the snark does keep people’s attention more than a boring daily lecture on conformation. If it upsets you to read, you might note that you are not in any way required to visit the blog. Look next to your head – no gun.
Q. Why do you make fun of fugly geldings if the point is to criticize breeding?
A. I make fun of fugly geldings because someone bred them. I give kudos to the person who recognized they should be gelded and carried that out.
Q. What should people do with fugly horses? Do you want them sent to slaughter or something?
A. Of course not. I am 100% anti-slaughter and I’ve worked with many victims of abuse and neglect, both small and large animals. Fugly horses deserve a good life and proper care every bit as much as quality horses. They simply should not, under any circumstances, reproduce.
Q. If you're opposed to slaughter, what should someone do if they can't sell or even give away their horse and can't afford to feed it?
A. Euthanize. It always amazes me how uncomfortable people are with this option (calm, humane death at home, assisted by a veterinarian) and would rather choose slaughter (horrible, terrifying, painful death in a scary place, after days of traveling with no food or water and getting the **** kicked out of them by other horses, by a low paid employee who isn't skilled enough to do anything else but knock horses in the head for a living).
Q. If we only bred really good horses, people who don’t have a lot of money would never be able to afford horses.
A. Biggest load of bull crap I’ve ever heard. Even the best breeders have enough culls to keep every Pony Club and 4-H and trail rider in horses forever. Look at Secretariat. Great racehorse, gorgeous, indisputably breeding quality, but he sired a whole lot of mediocre horses. Nice minds, at least the ones I’ve met, but they didn’t cut the mustard on the track. You can breed wonderful horses to wonderful horses and still produce a fair share of mediocre horses that will have to be sold for substantially less money. Not to mention all of the fabulous horses that suffer an injury and need to retire to a lighter use home. There will never be an actual shortage of affordable horses.
Q. You’re wrong about just the fugly horses going to slaughter. We rescued Blah Blah Racehorse who won 8 zillion dollars on the track from New Holland!
A. There is an exception to every rule. Yes, some excellent horses take a wrong turn in life. But every time I go to an auction that has killer buyers at it, I see that the vast majority of horses going to his trailer are really horrid looking young stock (3 and under, typically barely halter broke, often without papers) or horses 15+ years old who are totally broken down and crippled, often as a result of having conformation that predisposed them to conditions like navicular disease. People like to talk about the rare “celebrity” rescue horses because it results in more attention from the public and more donations for the rescue. I’m not begrudging the rescues this – it’s a good fundraising tactic. Still, it doesn’t mean that your typical horse heading off to become a steak is a stakes winner. Most of them are sad little horses who have had sad little lives full of poor care, irresponsible ownership, and in some cases, serious physical deformities.
Q. Who the hell are you that you think you can judge everybody?
A. I’m just another citizen of the Land of the Free, where we are all free to judge anybody we like. You can start your own blog and criticize me, if you’d like. It's been done! Blogger is free to use and simple to set up! And yeah, I know I suck about formatting posts...I just haven't had time to figure out why the HTML on this thing is so wacky.
Q. You’re just some amateur with a bad attitude!
A. In this context, I’m just another horseperson with an opinion. If you disagree, feel free to comment. Again, I am not blocking anybody from commenting, nor do I delete comments. No one has ever been banned. I have only ever deleted someone who posted the same thing like 100 times in a row (c'mon now, grow up) and I did delete someone once for just being over-the-top racist. But for the most part, your comments will stand.
Q. Sometimes you're wrong.
A. I'm sure I am, like everybody else. That's why you can use the comments to tell me so. No, I am not going to go back and edit posts every time someone corrects me on some minor detail. And no, I honestly don't think there's such a thing as a naturally gaited (as in, something other than w-t-c) Arabian. That is something I am going to have to see in real life to believe it, and I haven't seen it yet. Send me a video of your yearling Arabian slow-gaiting across a field, then we'll talk.
Q. It’s not fair to criticize so-and-so for sending their horse to auction. Not everybody is rich like I am sure YOU are, they had no choice!
A. I’m not rich but I do have enough money management skills/motivation to work to ensure that I don’t have to send horses to auction, because, shazam, fall came and what do you know, hay costs money! Sure, hay has gone up. Gasoline has gone up too, do you use that as an excuse not to go to work? I have two jobs right now and, no, I'm probably not going to buy your excuses why you can't get a job/a second job.
Q. How dare you make fun of children and how they ride!
A. I'm not making fun of them. I'm making fun (actually it's not really fun, I'm usually ****ed as hell) of their idiot parents and trainers who let them do things they are not ready for, like jump and barrel race when it's blatantly obvious they are not ready to do so. You should not be jumping until you can trot and canter without your stirrups with proper equitation. I will argue this with ANYONE. You, as the parent, or the instructor, are charged with the responsibility of keeping the child as safe as possible. That means saying NO until the kid truly can ride well enough to progress to the next level. I'm not going to back down on this.
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Hampshire |
Edited by - Vera on 29 Apr 2008 7:00:40 PM |
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Kirsty5278
Platinum Member
England
2682 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 7:53:47 PM
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i also read that on the site.... before i formed my opinion....
i just don't like the tone of the site.... i haven't got any issue with other using it and enjoying... its just not to my taste thats all.....
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Pashon2001
Platinum Member
3575 Posts |
Posted - 29 Apr 2008 : 8:41:38 PM
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| Well I totally agree with her, that too many poorly conformed horses are being bred in a market that can barely sustain the good ones! It is more likely a good horse will find a home than a postlegged, roachbacked, cowhocked, clubfooted and ewe knecked disaster will! (but you have to feel sorry for them lol) |
     
www.jarvastud.com http://hocon.webs.com/ |
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Gerri
Platinum Member
England
4211 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2008 : 12:26:17 PM
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I won't bore you with the whole story, but I produced a horse many years ago that had terrible conformation, she went on to be a top event mare. 20 years later because she was unable to produce she was left in a field to starve until I rescued her. but none of us have perfect conformation and manage very well........ so I did not like the tone of that forum at all and handsome is as handsome does, as an old gypsy woman once told me, and she was right |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2008 : 12:44:50 PM
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But that is the point Fugly makes.
The mare you produced could have come from good blood. Good blood doesn't guarantee the resulting foals will be good, but if they're not then don't breed from them again (or change the combination) and certainly don't breed from the foals just because they've got good blood. Its a good thing the mare you speak of couldn't produce - she should not have been bred from if she had terrible conformation as this would predispose the foals to terrible conformation. Of course it does not excuse her being left in a field to starve.
You are quite right none of us do have perfect conformation - horses included but we should be responsible enough not to breed poorly conformed mares to poorly conformed stallions to produce poorly conformed foals and that is the point that Fugly makes very clear - to me anyway. |
Hampshire |
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Gerri
Platinum Member
England
4211 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2008 : 1:07:20 PM
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I totally agree with you I just get all heated because some of the ugliest horses I have seen have been such darlings, ridden by disabled people and novices and brought such joy, but if had been judged for there looks..... or lack of them then they would have ended up god knows where but No......... I would aleays try to breed from the best to produce the best, but sadly it doesn't always work |
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Baikala
Gold Member
571 Posts |
Posted - 30 Apr 2008 : 4:49:32 PM
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On and off, it seems to be the same old same old now. Only so many times you can slag off backyard breeders.
It has its' good points though, and it is interesting to see the photos. If the author has convinced one person to castrate, or not to breed, or helped rehome a horse then the site is doing the job.
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
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Pixie
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
6586 Posts |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
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honey
Platinum Member
N. Ireland
2634 Posts |
Posted - 31 May 2008 : 10:55:58 PM
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| this is the first time i have ever been on the site. i must say i do agree with the horse owners bredding for the sake, someone asked my opinion on a mare the other week if i thought it was worth breeding(this is due to the fact they said cause whose gonna buy a horse like that) she had very bad conformation, i told them straight "no its not worth breeding the mare, cause you could end up with two horses you couldn't sell" the mare was that straight in the hocks i have no idea how she could walk. I also don't believe in breeding pedigree!! Too many breeders breed to a horse cause its got good pedigree not because it suits the mare. I am very hard on conformation even on my own they all have faults(no such thing as faultless conformation) My brood mare i bred with an arab cause i thought the arab would strengthen her weakness and they did. I don't believe in breeding from horses with serious confomation defects, cause theres always the risk the foals will end up the same, and end up feedimg the meat market. |
    
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Pixie
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
6586 Posts |
Posted - 01 Jun 2008 : 1:20:36 PM
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My "Oh Vera" comment was made in response to
"WTF is that guy doing with a bloody great whip making that foal jump a massive log"
and it was not an O Vera comment but an Oh dear dear dear what next Vera comment. People are vile aren't they. Why do they do these things. We shall never know.
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Merlot
Platinum Member
England
3260 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2008 : 11:27:17 AM
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| That's just so awful. Some people should have been turned over at birth. Failing that, I'd happily push those morons straight off Beachy Head. |
photo by Eric G Jones |
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SEZ
Gold Member
England
1101 Posts |
Posted - 02 Jun 2008 : 1:12:57 PM
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| I think I may have a Fugly horse (the tank). |
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