Rant: these assholes

[MissFleece]

These assholes dropped off some starved horses.

A little background: we(my mom and I) recently sold one of our personal riding horses to thin out the herd for winter, we cannot afford any more horses. 

So recently a family friend reached out to us. He says he wants to get two horses and he would like to take them to our farm for a "couple days" to see if they are worth buying. Since he is a family friend, we and two of his friends go right over to pick the horses up in good faith. He says he will bring supplies for them sunday.

A small amount of dread bloomed in my stomach when we pulled up near the property. We weren't allowed to drive in, friend 1 and 2 claimed they had a "mean dog" which we could see was skinny from the road. He was at least part rottie, tied up to a pile of rubble and an absolute skeleton. This set the mood for the entire exchange. They led the horses from over a hill, we could also hear mooing, indicating there was also a cow on property. One horse was notably worse off than the other, he had two injured legs and he was maybe a 3 on the body score scale (out of 10.) The other they said they had been riding, although they said the horse had been bucking. 

We load the horses and get out of dodge, mom and I exchanged looks and we ride in solemn silence. When we unload the horses, we inspect their injuries. 

Red: the skinniest of the two, has a clubbed foot, a rope burn, and a dog bite. He also has bad teeth and hooves. Both horses are very wormy but Red is showing signs of kidney and liver damage. He is not likely to recover from this abuse. His attitude is very gentlemanly, and I believe he would be very good with children. He likes me most because I am small, and he really likes hugs.

Harley: Almost a normal weight, but you can still see ribs and a bit of hip bone. He has scars from being pin fired but is sound otherwise. Not a gentleman on the ground and bullies Red, which is most likely why he is the fatter of the two. 

Asshole and his friends pull in behind us, and it comes out that Friend 1 had been living with the starved horses and knew about the abuse. The woman who owned them stopped feeding them because one of the horses kicked her. Friend 1 took over taking care of them, but was only feeding them supplements and beet pulp. These have no caloric value and is the equivalent of eating air, filling them up and taking energy to digest. Friend 1 wanted Asshole to buy the horses so she could continue to ride one. Mom gives her a lecture about animal abuse and all parties leave. 

The next day, no promised feed arrives. No electric cord, no hay, not even Asshole shows up. We never see Asshole again. We call his father, and he brings $10 worth of grain and says he will talk to his son and bring an electric cord wednesday. He also says his son said he was given the horses, and that he was planning to take them to the day after thanksgiving horse auction. This mean his son was planning to leave the horses at our farm to get healthy and fat at our expense, and take them the day of the auction to sell them after saying they would only stay for a couple days. 

Asshole texts to say he is on his way to bring hay, but never arrives. 

Wednesday, no electric cord was brought, no hay has been dropped off. We tell Asshole he has until Friday to move them or we will sell them, he doesn't know we are bluffing. No food arrives.

Thursday we call animal control and report everyone involved. Animal control took pictures and will be returning today.

Friday arrived, they have not been moved and no food has been delivered. 

We cannot legally give them veterinary care or pain medication, legally we can't even do their teeth or feet, until we gain ownership of them through legal means, meaning reporting the abuse and reporting them as abandoned. 

People fucking suck.

tl;dr: people are assholes

[Vallium]

Fuck those people. The least that can be said is at least the friend who knew about it mightve been right to have then given somewhere better?

 

But damn, thanks for reporting them they deserve whatever the law should give them. Sorry about the poor horses, I hope you can give them the best care asap

[MissFleece]

17 minutes ago, WolfNightV4X1 said:

Fuck those people. The least that can be said is at least the friend who knew about it mightve been right to have then given somewhere better?

 

But damn, thanks for reporting them they deserve whatever the law should give them. Sorry about the poor horses, I hope you can give them the best care asap

We cant take care of these guys for long, so we're trying to get animal control to take them. 

Also, we learned that asshole has abandoned other horses at people's houses, and one horse actually died of old age in the "two weeks" he was supposed to stay. 

[Mikazuki Marazhu]

How long have you known them? why is it now that you just knew about this? how did you call them family friend in the first place?

[MissFleece]

11 minutes ago, Mikazuki Marazhu said:

How long have you known them? why is it now that you just knew about this? how did you call them family friend in the first place?

Asshole is the grandson of my grandpa's old friend, we also knew his mom and did work on his horses. Asshole is like, maybe 20-25 and we knew of him because he would show at the county fair with me. Mom thought she would be doing a favor for Asshole's dad, ever since Grandpa died she's tried to talk to his friends more. 

After his dad didnt bring an electric cord, my mom called Asshole's uncle, another family friend. Mom asked if he wanted to take the horses for his nefew, uncle's horses are always in top shape. Uncle says he abandoned horses on him too, and that he had to bury a horse out of his own pocket. That costs at least $500. He didnt want the horses there.

But they sure as fuck arent family friends now.

[Vallium]

Why the fuck does he keep getting horses he doesnt care about? He needs to be charged for animal cruelty

[MissFleece]

8 hours ago, WolfNightV4X1 said:

Why the fuck does he keep getting horses he doesnt care about? He needs to be charged for animal cruelty

We live in a very "good old boy" area, meaning animals are exploited and abused often. He grew up using horses as tools, as things to buy or sell and invest in. Sadly he's very bad at playing the market and is an irresponsible jackass. His family is very embarrassed.

8 hours ago, Sylver said:

 

We told him something similar. We said we'd take them to the horse auction friday ourselves if he didnt come get them, trying to give him an incentive. Friday came and went, the horses are still here. Legally we cant haul them without their papers and the auction yard would surely turn us away at the state of the horses, so it was always a bluff. Now we're trying to get animal control on the situation but it's like pulling teeth.

 

6 hours ago, Rhíulchabán said:

That is disgusting... I never knew much about horses until I got to meet some through my girlfriend's family. They own some horses and they are such kind and loving creatures, I can't imagine folks abusing them like that!

It is made even worse by it being a "family friend" who is in the mix. I hope things work out for you guys and animal control can get stories corroborated between you and others to nail these people once and for all. Using friends to drop off horses and make money off them... uggh, I'm fuming!

I lived on an animal rescue in the barn for 3 years, so this isnt something I'm not used to, but I still get angry. 

Luckily, we actually work with animal control, we foster animals when we can, so everything should work out in our favor. 

[MissFleece]

5 minutes ago, Sylver said:

To be honest I was being half serious. It may be kinder to put one or both of them down, but I don't know if that's legal or not. Alternatively you could just release them and claim they got out or something, but you don't seem like the type of person to do that.

Actually, you mentioned that your uncle has a horse farm, so you could ask him if he can transport the horses (or knows someone who can) and deliver them back where they came from.

Nah.

1) one of the horses is p close to being healthy. All he needs is maybe one more good season of food and love. The other is a lost cause, I agree. But you still have to try, these horses deserve that at least.

2) resleasing them would be cruel for one, we live near a highway and have already had one horse escape 4 years ago and get hit by a car, hence the NEED for an electric cord to keep them in the fence. Plus we would still be liable for the horses if they got out and destroyed property.

3) not my uncle, Asshole's uncle. He has already refused. And I will NOT let the horses return to the property they originally came from just to starve to death.

I think you miss the point of rescuing animals, but I understand you're trying to help. 

The people brought the horses here because they knew we would take care of them no matter what. Sadly, they were right.

[MissFleece]

6 minutes ago, Sylver said:

You are free to value and cherish whatever you want. I can still respect your decision even if I miss the point.

I'm not sure what I would do in your situation. I suppose the best advice I can offer then would be to build a strong case. Take photos of their injuries, show how the horse is getting better under your care, list the things they have failed to provide, even take photos of the 2nd horse if it dies, keep a record of your texts, record any conversations using your phone (most have a voice recording app), I also think there's an app that lets you record phone calls (I'm not sure if that's legal?).

The objective is to build a strong case so that it's more likely that  something will be done. Is it possible to ban people from owning certain livestock? I remember vaguely hearing something about it. Not sure if animal control has that authority.

Are there other people you can contact besides animal control?

We're currently trying to stick charges on everyone involved. We've taken pictures, animal control has as well. Best case scenario, they all get prosecuted, the horses get rehomed. 

Mom is trying to talk the papers off the dumbest friend, who I personally believe is very, very ignorant about animal care and not malicious. 

After animal control is the humane society, about 30min out. They arent in our county, so they normally never come out here. But they made life hell for some people at the fair for not having the right papers for their horses. Thanks Humane Society. 

The second horse is most likely going to die within a couple years. I've seen worse off horses survive awful winters by the skin of their teeth, but they survived. We had an old horse named Joe who did exactly that, only to die later in the spring due to kidney damage from starvation. But, he had a nice happy ending to his abusive past. Sometimes that's the only thing you can give them.

Luckily, we've done this before. It's a long, drawn out process that will make people forever enemies, but it has to be done. 

Mostly I just like to complain

[Vallium]

People who abuse animals for profit need to be dealt with in the most humane inhumane manner thats possible for that act

[MissFleece]

3 minutes ago, WolfNightV4X1 said:

People who abuse animals for profit need to be dealt with in the most humane inhumane manner thats possible for that act

It's sad that a lot of people dont think animals have feelings. Or if they do think animals have feelings, are just cruel, awful people.

[Gamedog]

Drop them back off at his house. 

[Feelwell]

Pin Fired?

 

But damn, sounds like dude was just trying to make a buck off the poor horses. Rather scummy. 

[MissFleece]

45 minutes ago, Feelwell the Rabbit said:

Pin Fired?

Pin firing is kind of controversial in the horse world. I still wouldnt trust how sound (likelihood they'll have a leg related accident) a pin fired horse is afterward. 

So the theory is it draws blood to the area and speeds up healing, it is the most common method to treat bowed tendons. However, science has proven it really, really doesnt work.

[Gamedog]

I don't understand why horse people are always doing shit that would be considered barbaric if done to dogs or whatever

[MissFleece]

4 minutes ago, Gamedog said:

I don't understand why horse people are always doing shit that would be considered barbaric if done to dogs or whatever

Because all the rich people have horses, and the horses are money machines. They breed 20 foals a year to get that ONE champion, the rest can go to slaughter. If you dont win, you're useless. And they will do anything to get a horse to win, including tortuous training methods and awful shows of cruelty like the Big Lick.

In order to get your big fancy high stepping horse, you DESTROY their legs.

This is only the beginning of the lifts. Once a horse has had this done, they cant just take the lifts off. They have to slowly go down in size, and they will always be scarred.

A horse that has scars will not be allowed to show at any sanctioned show, but make very nice trail horses, so there is possibility for rehabilitation.

[Gamedog]

3 hours ago, MissFleece said:

Because all the rich people have horses, and the horses are money machines. They breed 20 foals a year to get that ONE champion, the rest can go to slaughter. If you dont win, you're useless. And they will do anything to get a horse to win, including tortuous training methods and awful shows of cruelty like the Big Lick.

In order to get your big fancy high stepping horse, you DESTROY their legs.

This is only the beginning of the lifts. Once a horse has had this done, they cant just take the lifts off. They have to slowly go down in size, and they will always be scarred.

A horse that has scars will not be allowed to show at any sanctioned show, but make very nice trail horses, so there is possibility for rehabilitation.

Yeah but it RIDES NICE, duhhhgg

doenst matter how stupidly cartoonish the gait looks

[DrGravitas]

If you can't (or I guess in this case, won't) feed 'em, don't breed 'em!

[Red Lion]

This shit pisses me off. The lady I worked for had a few rescued horses at the ranch every now and then. A lot of the horses that passed through had been bought by wealthy asswipe northerners who came down to buy the cheap land we have around here and decided they'd use their increased fortunes to buy their college daughters or bitchy wives a horse without knowing shit about all the work you have to put in to the animals. People are fascinated by the idea of having their very own majestic steed and then when the reality of having to deal with an animal that needs to be fed, cleaned and cared for when it gets sick sets in the glamour wears off and suddenly having a horse isn't something they want to deal with. So they end up getting abandoned or sold and the woman I worked for would keep them until she could give them to a friend of hers who ran a place for rescued farm animals. 

[MissFleece]

4 hours ago, Gamedog said:

Yeah but it RIDES NICE, duhhhgg

doenst matter how stupidly cartoonish the gait looks

Man the shitty thing is we saw baby percherons (draft horses) at our local fair with lifts on. There was a good 3in wedge between their feet and shoes. And they were allowed to show. 

People are still doing tail docking too

[Gamedog]

9 minutes ago, MissFleece said:

Man the shitty thing is we saw baby percherons (draft horses) at our local fair with lifts on. There was a good 3in wedge between their feet and shoes. And they were allowed to show. 

People are still doing tail docking too

People dock horse tails??

[MissFleece]

16 minutes ago, Gamedog said:

People dock horse tails??

Yup, they dock draft horse's tails because it's "breed appropriate", the logic being their tail wouldnt get in the way of the harness and other gear.

People break gaited horse's tail for style, so they hold them higher and to the side. 

A horses tail is shaped like this when the hair is out of the way

[Gamedog]

I've heard of people sticking ginger up a horses ass to make it hold its tail up

 

is this still common?

[MissFleece]

Just now, Gamedog said:

I've heard of people sticking ginger up a horses ass to make it hold its tail up

 

is this still common?

I've heard of people rubbing it on their tail head but never up their ass. I only heard vague stories of "my friend of a friend's aunt's evil twin" doing it though, so I dont believe the practice is still common.

Had bitches go around rubbing horse raddish and ginger on girths to make the horses buck when they sweat/worked up heat. Luckily I never leave my horse unattended during competitions. 

[Gamedog]

31 minutes ago, MissFleece said:

I've heard of people rubbing it on their tail head but never up their ass. I only heard vague stories of "my friend of a friend's aunt's evil twin" doing it though, so I dont believe the practice is still common.

Had bitches go around rubbing horse raddish and ginger on girths to make the horses buck when they sweat/worked up heat. Luckily I never leave my horse unattended during competitions. 

What is a tail head?

 

im sorry but horse people do a lot of weird things. I just don't understand why it's so prevalent

[MissFleece]

19 minutes ago, Gamedog said:

What is a tail head?

It's where their back and tail meet. 

As for why it's so prevalent, it's a hobby very old people still dominate, with their outdated training and care methods.

[MissFleece]

So, the last update to this is very sad.

We contacted animal control, they say it is a civil matter and the horses are now out responsibility. No charges can be pressed. We called the humane society, they have no room for the horses and will not press charges.

Red's injured foot will never get better, and putting more weight on him would only pain him more, so we are putting him down as soon as possible.

We called around, and found a home with a rescue organization for Harley. 

We have enough evidence to countersue if the assholes try to go after us for stealing horses. 

[MissFleece]

23 minutes ago, Rhíulchabán said:

*sigh*

Well, at least Red's suffering will stop if nothing else. Sorry it had to end that way. I can't believe no one is able to sue them or press charges! How exactly did it end up being labeled a civil matter? Isn't animal abuse counted as a federal offense now?

Personally I think the guys at animal control are lazy af. They wouldn't even come look at the horses or hear the entire story until my mom badgered them a couple times. 

There is a severe injustice being done here. Red lived for years on this old injury that no vet in his right mind would heal...

Edit: 

Here is his foot, for the curious. Tw, animal abuse. And yes, it goes all the way through his hoof.

 

[Sourdough]

Sorry it ended up this way, shepe :c

Hope Harley can have a good n healthy life from now on.

[Feelwell]

I hope at least Harley has a good life.

[MissFleece]

Happy news just now!

So a friend just called us. Turns out Red was a very famous barrel horse, so the vet who healed the injury has an explaination. I'm guessing he was fixed up for a kid to learn on. 

Therefore it's possible that his hoof is just a clubbed foot on top of his old scar and not an injured clubbed foot as previously thought. So if we can get the clubbed foot part fixed, he has a chance at being sound. 

We've got a friend calling in a favor to a VERY good ferrier, we hope to have her out to see him before Friday.  If she thinks he can be helped, we'll do our best to make him right again, and maybe get him a home with a kid he can teach to barrel race for the rest of his life. 

I hate when horses who have won lots of money for their owners and up abused and used, but hopefully we can make this one right.