“The greatest deterrent
to freedom are men and women of zeal, well-meaning, but
without knowledge or understanding.”
~Justice Louis Brandeis~

"People are so quick to defend their own agendas, but they so often fail to realize we must protect the rights of all if we are to continue to have any rights of our own."
~Jenqu~


Ranch meaning, in general, any real world dwelling probably not involving full care board. Kind of a rural voice of real horse owners, trainers, traders, auction owners, rodeo contractors, etc.. all of us who have taken a verbal beating and called greedy ass hats. Back at the Ranch contributors, moderators, subjects, and so on, are pro-horse, pro-owner, and pro-slaughter.
Back at the Ranch was formed by a group of like minded horse / livestock owners. It is a place for us to try to educate, a place to vent our frustrations with the current equine industry, a place to share humor and snark, and in general try to open the eyes of the public who seem to be anti-agriculture.We do have a section for comments of course, and if you would like to email us you can do so directly or through the contact us form. We like to hear from our readers. I hope you enjoy reading our blog as much as I enjoy managing it.
Sincerely,
Ranch Manager
manager_back_at_the_ranch@yahoo.com

Saturday, April 24, 2010

It's Foaling Time, and It's All Our Fault

"http://forums.prospero.com/alexbrown/messages?msg=47223.1"

Who doesn't love a baby? I do, and so do most people. My favorite moderator on ABR, Mary L, began a thread to allow those with new babies arriving to post pictures of them. Now, to be fair, all of the babies, I am assuming are out of mares already pregnant when the Rescues took them in. I am hoping none of these Rescues are breeding-it kind of defeats the purpose. I was reading along, enjoying the pictures, and as always, it didn't take long for some astute reader to figure out a way to blame those of us who are Pro Horse for this. I know, there's the obvious "just stop breeding" ideal. It's preached all of the time. (By the way, Mary L., if you are really committed to this, isn't a thread dedicated to totally adorable new babies kind of at cross purposes?-but carry on). One of the posters feels that those of us who are Pro Horse really need to look at these babies and that will somehow make us understand how awful we are. Hmmmm. And in case you weren't aware-and I certainly wasn't, in post #72, it is revealed that pregnant mares are actually SOUGHT OUT for Slaughter. I have never read any reports supporting this "fact", but if you read it on ABR, it must be true. Do pregnant mares end up at Slaughter Plants? I would imagine so. Anyone who has actually dealt with mares in foal know that often times it is difficult to know if they are in fact pregnant until confirmed by a vet. And in some of the situations these horses are coming from, where they have been running with studs (Phoenix Rising "Rescue" always comes to mind), we are often dealing with multiple mares, and owners who cannot afford, or who do not care to have a vet come out and check. Add to that the time frame in which a pregnancy can be confirmed, and at times, the mare has already been sold. But, back to the thread. It is our fault that these mares have these babies. And now that they are in good hands, they will be constant reminders to those of us who are awful enough to send them to Slaughter what we have done. I love how these connections are made, don't you? One of the mares of course, comes with a story of how she got to the sale, and I have no reason to dispute it. I'm sure the person telling it was there to hear the words spoken, and in that case, is not re-telling a tale heard and embellished several times. Because when that happens, we know the tale often gets spun a bit. They have managed with love and patience to re-hab the mare, and I am glad for that. I am in full agreement that there are far too many people out there who have no business owning a horse because they don't know the first thing about the importance of good training. But that's another story for another day.
I'll tell you what I AM looking forward to. I'm looking forward to seeing how the ABR babies of 2010 turn out. Given proper care, they should have at least 25, maybe 30 years of life ahead of them. Hopefully, they have already been handled, and haltered. I am anxious to see what kind of citizens they will become in the Equine Community. I've found that it is very easy to point accusing fingers at "our side" for darned near everything that happens. Let's see how they deal with these babies, and what mark they make with them. Yes, there's already talk of a Calendar- Faces of the Saved or something like that. (by the way, there was mention of little Wilbur Gregory, the poor little Donkey cross who passed away under the "care" of one of those "Rescues" we love so much. I'd pass on putting him in the Calendar-he wasn't really saved when he didn't even make it to his 6 month birthday). It would be a money maker for the Anti Side. Great Idea. But I'm hoping the future for these babies holds plans for more than that. Those of you with ABR babies have a lot of work ahead of you. The work should have already begun. Good luck, and I hope you provide the future these babies deserve. Nothing is better for a horse than a solid foundation of training and respect-no matter what side of the issue you're on.

BY RH2

4 comments:

  1. Just a quick update: The calendar idea seems to have grabbed quite a bit of attention-everyone is talking about it! Hopefully we'll see a 2010 foals training thread:) I'm waiting.....On a sadder note-at least for me, one of my all time "favorite" "Rescues" has posted to let everyone know she's got a baby! Let's see how long this one lives:(

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  2. I wouldn't be so quick to assume the mares were pregnant before they were rescued. Remember my winter science project blog?

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  3. Yes, but I'm HOPING no one is ignorant enough to be breeding these horses. They are pretty strong on the "just don't breed" stance, so I would guess the mares came to them in foal. I am just waiting to see what is actually done with the foals. The calendar is a cute idea, sure. Who doesn't love a baby? But to me, it's kind of silly to say "stop breeding" then put out a calendar full of cute foals. Why not put out one with the mares, or other Rescue horses? I think it works at cross purposes with the message they're promotng. But, that's just me. I'd be much more interested in hearing about what is actually being done with the foals as far as training. Babies are cute, but they do grow up.

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  4. I'm feeling a little better seeing a few shots of babies with halters and leads. There's a beautiful palomino foal on there who could benefit from more human contact. If I'm reading the poster's comments correctly, they are waiting on the horses to "trust" them enough to handle them more. I always get a little knot in my stomach when I read this kind of stuff. The horses depend on us to teach them to trust. And a later comment referred to the same foal needing to learn "horsey" things. I can't wait to see how well behaved this one will be without any training. I am impressed by those who know it's never too early to get these babies used to the equipment that will be used on them on a daily basis, and the humans who will interact with them . Let's hope those who aren't training and are spending their free time posting pictures and comparing the babies to movie stars are in the minority!

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