Unsolicited Advice

Okay, so something has been bothering me all day. Namely, the jumped up rudeness some people think is acceptable.

Let me give a little background, and those of you who hang in the same places I do will know about this.

Someone pretty innocently posted on a forum inquiring about a certain cross of horse. Two very different breeds. They wanted to know what such a horse would look like. Another posted, again fairly innocently, linked to a post about a little filly born of that cross.

Now, I've followed that little filly for a while. Very cute; the owner of the filly does not own the mare, but cared for the dam throughout the pregnancy and birth, until the foal was weaned and the owner could take full custody of her. Pretty interesting little story and I find the foal to be not a bad looking creature, even with such an unorthodox cross.

The problem lies when some jumped up self absorbed person walks in and begins spouting off about how the breeder of that foal should be taken out behind a woodshed and beaten for "inflicting this foal upon the equine world."

???????

Are you serious?

At this point I stepped in and gently reminded this poster and others that the owner of the foal in question did NOT have anything to do with the breeding of said foal, that as far as I was aware the breeding was not intentional. No need to get nasty over a foal that's already here and the owner certainly didn't have a part in creating, only loving.

From there it just got nastier, one poster saying that the foal was a conformational trainwreck, that the mare should have been aborted after the breeding. That the foal will possibly grow up to be the worst of backyard breeding.

Now look here, I don't necessarily disagree. "Accidental" breedings shouldn't happen. A lot of intentional breeding shouldn't happen either. Two very different breeds shouldn't be crossed on a whim. It's just irresponsible.

But I find it incredibly nasty and in poor taste to drag some unsuspecting owner's foal into a thread and borderline blast it. It'd be one thing if the owner requested a critique, completely another to say such things unbeknown to him or her. It's hurtful, true or not. No one wants to hear that their beloved horse is an ugly mistake.

There's a time and a place for your advice, and a time and a place to keep your mouth shut.

If someone is endangering a person or an animal, then advice and help should surely be put out. Tactfully is best, if you can, but anyone who knows me knows I can be just as nasty as anyone, if not worse, if need be. Sometimes that's what people need, a kick in the arse to show them what they're doing or not doing is dangerous.

I think people need to remember as well, just because someone else does something differently than you, say when it comes to feeding, or turn out, or training, doesn't make it wrong. Doesn't make you wrong either. There are a million and one ways of doing things, and people need to concentrate on what's best for them and their animals, and allow others to do the same.

Alright . . . rant over I think. Have a great night all!