I used to have a horse. I miss her a lot. She was deemed crazy, partially due to past abuse. Between that and a horrible skin condition that made her very uncomfortable I made the decision to have her humanely euthanized instead of selling her off to be a broodmare, or worse, dog food. At least she had a good life with me. Then my family also had a couple of very old Arabians that eventually coliced (due to age). Ah, every time I deal with horses it ends up a tragedy it seems. :/
On the other hand, I was very interested in natural horse keeping. No shoes, no forceful methods. So I like to think the horses that came and died with us had peaceful final days. Some day I will have a horse again, but that will be many years from now.
That equine expression...Sweetie has that look all the time lets see if i can find a picture of that face...
:D
O.o out horses look alot like....
Kyt, she was a beautiful mare and if she was abused, the best person she could be with was someone who believed in natural horsekeeping. I think you would be a great horse rehabilitator for abused horses.
Kykattin I commend you on your decision to euthanize your horse instead of selling her off to her fate. I see so many horses on craigslist that if loved would findthe same peaceful ending. Unfortunately, people aren't always responsible.
I am a bit leery about the natural horsemanship. Some horses do have great feet. My little mare has been barefoot her whole life. However, in my experience I have seen horses that need corrective shoeing in order to have a comfortable life. Sometimes horses just have weak hoof walls and in other cases corrective shoeing has improved horses with club feet or have suffered from a severe case of founder. Some horses just don't have good hardy feet and need shoes in order to stay comfortable. No matter how natural we try to make their life it cannot be compared to how they truly live in the wild.
In addition, I'm obviously against abusive methods of training, but in more than one case, horses need consequences. They are too large of animals for them to believe that they are in charge. Just like in the wild there is the alpha mare that keeps things running smoothly. In the owner/horse relationship the owner must be that alpha mare who is the leader.
Unfortunately, there are extremes of both ways of working with a horse. It's so unfortunate that your little mare suffered abuse. She was one lucky mare to find you.
Last edited by OrvillesSlave; 11-21-2011 at 10:13 AM.
I love Percherons. Charlie is amazing. Genuine April is a gorgeous color. I think my favorite color is bay.
Charlie is a Doll...but he can be such a jerk sometimes! he is 18hh and 2500lbs of horse...and he rarely uses that to his advantage.
here are some better pics, he is perrty isnt he?
Lol, just so you know what you can do with 1 ton of horse flesh...i drive him through all kinds of patterns, do gaming in cart and have started gaming him under saddle...omg when he decided to do the barrel pattern right....haha i got like 25second run once XD
And, a picture of the filly at a year old.
Kykattin I commend you on your decision to euthanize your horse instead of selling her off to her fate. I see so many horses on craigslist that if loved would findthe same peaceful ending. Unfortunately, people aren't always responsible.
I am a bit leery about the natural horsemanship. Some horses do have great feet. My little mare has been barefoot her whole life. However, in my experience I have seen horses that need corrective shoeing in order to have a comfortable life. Sometimes horses just have weak hoof walls and in other cases corrective shoeing has improved horses with club feet or have suffered from a severe case of founder. Some horses just don't have good hardy feet and need shoes in order to stay comfortable. No matter how natural we try to make their life it cannot be compared to how they truly live in the wild.
In addition, I'm obviously against abusive methods of training, but in more than one case, horses need consequences. They are too large of animals for them to believe that they are in charge. Just like in the wild there is the alpha mare that keeps things running smoothly. In the owner/horse relationship the owner must be that alpha mare who is the leader.
Unfortunately, there are extremes of both ways of working with a horse. It's so unfortunate that your little mare suffered abuse. She was one lucky mare to find you.
Most people I have talked to have agreed with my decision. You can kind of see in the picture her bumpy skin. This was in spring, before she would lose all her hair and just rub against everything because she was so itchy. Nothing worked. The steroids would make her comfortable for about a month, but she couldn't have them very often or it would mess up her feet (among other things). Also, she really only was safe for me. She would try to kick and attack other people. Even then, she wasn't really "safe" for me. I just knew how to deal with her and put her back in her place so she would calm down for a little while. There were a few close calls for me too!
I too have seen some horses that absolutely need shoes. If she needed them, yes, I would have used them. I just was not interested in putting shoes on her when I didn't think she needed them. I would have bought those little boots if there was any hope of taking her anywhere.
Because of her, I am certainly not all love and hugs with horse training. Haha. I did have to keep her in her place. I just tried to do it in a way she would understand. And it worked! Sort of. I think I would have had a lot more success with a horse that didn't have all the problems she did. I did have some success. I taught her how to run, not pace. She let me touch her face and ears, pick up all her feet (and not bite me!).
Sakura8: Thanks! I do know she was the happiest with me.
GunsABlazin: Yes they do! Though I know in my picture it meant she was paying attention to something else...
Guns: Charlie is so elegant under harness! I love draft horses, they're just big beauties. The filly is adorable. Yearling is such a neat age, when they start looking like horses but still have that cute foal look. :)
Most people I have talked to have agreed with my decision. You can kind of see in the picture her bumpy skin. This was in spring, before she would lose all her hair and just rub against everything because she was so itchy. Nothing worked. The steroids would make her comfortable for about a month, but she couldn't have them very often or it would mess up her feet (among other things). Also, she really only was safe for me. She would try to kick and attack other people. Even then, she wasn't really "safe" for me. I just knew how to deal with her and put her back in her place so she would calm down for a little while. There were a few close calls for me too!
I too have seen some horses that absolutely need shoes. If she needed them, yes, I would have used them. I just was not interested in putting shoes on her when I didn't think she needed them. I would have bought those little boots if there was any hope of taking her anywhere.
Because of her, I am certainly not all love and hugs with horse training. Haha. I did have to keep her in her place. I just tried to do it in a way she would understand. And it worked! Sort of. I think I would have had a lot more success with a horse that didn't have all the problems she did. I did have some success. I taught her how to run, not pace. She let me touch her face and ears, pick up all her feet (and not bite me!).
I definitely wish there were more horse owners in the world like you who put their horse's well being first. It breaks my heart when I see a 35 year old, three legged lame horse in the auction ring...just pitiful.
I understand what you mean. That is quite a bit of success with an abused and dangerous horse. I just just added a thing of warning previously because unfortunately being around the horse industry in my region as well as the world of forums there are a lot of people that take natural horse ownership to a dangerous extreme.
Looks like you did a lovely good rehabilitating your mare (Standardbred?). Do you plan on getting anymore horses in the future?
I definitely wish there were more horse owners in the world like you who put their horse's well being first. It breaks my heart when I see a 35 year old, three legged lame horse in the auction ring...just pitiful.
I understand what you mean. That is quite a bit of success with an abused and dangerous horse. I just just added a thing of warning previously because unfortunately being around the horse industry in my region as well as the world of forums there are a lot of people that take natural horse ownership to a dangerous extreme.
Looks like you did a lovely good rehabilitating your mare (Standardbred?). Do you plan on getting anymore horses in the future?
My parents donate to a rescue that buys as many of those horses as they can so they can be humanely euthanized. They also have free clinics once a month for people to put their horses down. I am so glad that they exist, even if they are only able to help a small portion of those will used animals. I think they are called Horse+? Not sure though.
It seems as though everything is taken to some extreme. It just sucks because it makes me not want to say that I am interested in natural horsemanship. Gives us a bad name!
Yes, she was a Standardbred. She was trained to race before she was injured. I don't even want to know how that happened. Before I got her I know she kicked a farrier 10ft. Right now I am not at a place where I could own a horse, and I just don't know where life will take me. I hope to have another, but I want to be financially stable. Not a starving artist/college student.
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