How to Look Ignorant

Put your kid on a suckling foal. Yeah. Sure makes you look educated there.

Seriously though, these images are from a Horse Day Camp. It's nearly a game, looking at these pictures. "How many things can we find wrong?"

Not only do these kids have no SHOES or HELMETS, they are sitting on BABIES.

Does that even begin to sound healthy or safe for the foal? Their immature bones are not made to bear weight. Will it harm the foal? No way to know until later in life, when damage done to growing tissue and bone starts to show up.

Some might say, ah well, it's harmless fun, just sitting on the foal's back for a second. Surely it can't hurt.

You know what? Go take your toddler and put a high schooler's backpack on him. Still sound harmless? Didn't think so. Stop it. Stop putting your children on foals.

Every time I see an image like this one, I think, "Wow, that parent must really not like their child." Horses are dangerous. All it takes is a sudden movement, and a little unbalanced child to slip off and smash it's little head on the rocks. Then everyone is up in arms about "Ohhhh what a horrible accident!"

No it wasn't. Put some damned shoes and a helmet on your child. Put your child on a been there done that horse if you must. The last thing you should be doing is putting your child on a foal who doesn't understand what the heck is going on. Just like small children are wriggly, a young foal is going to wriggle and fuss, and all it takes is that one moment.


Stop it. It's not cool. It's not fun. It's dangerous and damaging. Posting a picture of your weanling for sale with a kid hanging onto its back does NOT make me want to buy your weanling. It makes me see "damaged goods" and move on.

Just please. Stop.

Ignorance in the Horse World

Here in the last week, I've encountered some ignorance.

Now, I encounter ignorance a lot. That's nothing new. And there's really nothing wrong with ignorance, unless you're unwilling to learn and become ignorant no longer.

However, this time, it was two separate but vaguely related issues. Let's start with the first one, that actually occurred last week.

I have some neighbors. Nice neighbors really, friendly. They were given (given as in FREE) three horses. A severely emaciated dun filly, a bay mare, and a dark bay stallion. I know these horses were free because they were offered to me first, by another neighbor down the road. The horses were starving to death, tied to trees. Nice, right? There was no way I could afford to take on any charity cases, so I of course, declined.

So, neighbors get these horses. Fine, whatever. They put up fencing and seem to be doing alright. I finally got the chance to speak with one of them, and asked what their plans were with the stallion.

"Oh, we're going to see if he breeds good."

????????????

Huh?

If he BREEDS GOOD? What the hell does that even mean? Anything with a penis and a pair of testicles can breed! Are they expecting him to throw his oh so lovely posty legs and his ewe neck and his giant horrid looking head? How about his shitty attitude?

Ugh. Keep in mind this stallion's already been pastured with both mares. And sure enough, I looked out my window yesterday morning and there's a little foal running alongside the older mare. A colt.

Sigh.


Now, onto the second issue. I was invited to join a rescue "group" on FB. I figured, hey, I've spent nearly my entire life rescuing everything from reptiles to wolves, why not. Within hours, I noticed a post about how the people were rabid anti-slaughter (horse) and were staying friends with certain well known pro-slaughter advocates to "keep an eye on the enemy."

Lolwut?

I came right out and said that I am pro-slaughter and got bashed right off, after which I left the group. Sorry, don't need that! Nevermind the YEARS of rescue I've done with an amazing amount of species, including horses, goats, reptiles, and exotic mammals. I wonder if they're all vegetarians? Because *in my opinion* anyone who eats meat but is anti horse slaughter is a hypocrite - slaughter is slaughter, no matter the species.

Believe it or not, you can be concerned and fight for the welfare of animals AND enjoy eating them. I love my goats but I will certainly raise up some goats to eat. Pigs too. I've eaten horse and I'd do it again. It's about the humane treatment of animals. That includes animals used for food.

I've eaten horse and I'd eat it again. I raise goats, love goats, keep goats as pets and milkers and companions, but I love to eat goat too. And I fully plan on raising some meat babies next year.

Sorry people. Horses don't shit rainbows and butterflies. They crap just like every other animal. Slaughter is slaughter.