The Starfish Story

The Starfish Story
Original Story by: Loren Eisley


One day a man was walking along the beach when he noticed
a boy picking something up and gently throwing it into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?”

The youth replied, “Throwing starfish back into the ocean.
The surf is up and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw them back, they’ll die.”

“Son,” the man said, “don’t you realize there are miles and miles of beach and hundreds of starfish?
You can’t make a difference!”

After listening politely, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish,
and threw it back into the surf. Then, smiling at the man, he said…”
I made a difference for that one.”

God's Minor Angels

This poem was posted on Shiloh Horse Rescue's blog (http://shilohhorserescue.blogspot.com/):

God’s Minor Angels

It is a long, long way to the feedlot
The path is clear and wide
Paved with pain and betrayal
The sign reads “Compassion denied”

They come from the backyards and barnyards
Grey-muzzled or “sadly outgrown”
Convicted of “green under saddle”
Or bringing too few ribbons home.

They gave of their love and their courage
They sacrificed comfort and pride
To let someone run and soar with the wind
And give little girls one more ride

This last road their courage and honor
Has purchased; the friends they had known
Have sold their dear flesh for a handful of coin
To be butchered alive, and alone

This road of despair has one detour
A respite, of sort, on their way
A muck-filled pen filled with strangers and fear
Foul water, a handful of hay

But here in the darkest of hours
Through heartbreak and tears of despair
A handful of God’s minor angels
Make miracles of wishes and thin air

With eyes full of tears and steely resolve
And knowing there’s no hope at all
They stand on a battlefield of unanswered prayers
Undaunted, and send out the call

To those who will listen to angels
As minor and unknown as these
No swords and no magic to hold back the dark
A small, simple whisper…just…please.

I think that God loves best these angels
Unsung, and unhallowed and plain
Who don’t mind the hay and the muck in their hair
But can’t bear another in pain

How else to explain their successes
While others throw stones and poke fun
As they wallow in filth and in misery
In a futile attempt to save one

And how must they seem to this single,
This voiceless and hopeless small spark
When angels of despair (with straw in their hair)
Led him out of the pain and the dark?

This one—one of hundreds of thousands
A plain unremarkable horse
Instead of a truck bound to Mexico
Is set on a different course

Instead of an ending in terror and blood
A story of kindness in store
He’ll be someone’s treasure, their pride and joy
For God’s minor angels have triumphed once more

by Deborah Wolf

Didn't Happen

There goes that idea. I tried. I should have stuck around I guess and pushed more buttons. Seems these poor thin horses aren't ever going to win.

I asked the auction what was going to happen to that old mare. Their reply was it was up to the owner. I was hoping that the poor mare had been abandoned and that it was now the property of the auction. Didn't happen.

So I asked if they could give me the name of the owner. They won't. I don't see why not. I probably should have asked while I was at the auction instead of trying to do it through email.

I never seem to get the answers that I want. Poor mare. May her suffering end quickly either by euthinasia or by a kind soul taking her into their hearts and homes.

I may have to stop blogging for a short while. I have a story about the farrier experience yesterday but I can't seem to get over this grumpy mood and I don't want to subject everyone to it.

So if it seems as though I've dropped out of space, it's because I'm trying to save you from my frustration and anger about things going on. Leave a comment and I'll respond but I may not blog for awhile. My heart just isn't in it.

Farrier Day Today!

Just a quick post to say tonight will be busy. I've been so naughty about calling the farrier so everyone is now due for a trim. Tommy is in desperate need of a trim (I'm such a bad horsey mom). I'm looking at getting four done tonight and we'll see what the farrier's schedule looks like later.

Storms are supposed to roll through this weekend so we'll see if there's a trail ride or not. I'm sort of looking forward to a trail ride but if its' going to be dreary and wet it might not be as much fun. Still not sure who I'll take if we do ride.

Maybe if I get my act together I can start taking some pics again. The sunsets have been amazing. I'm guessing it has something to do with the volcano erruption but it still makes for some really pretty pictures. I need to remember to start taking the camera with me during feeding times.

Colic

I was late to do chores yesterday, enjoying sleeping in and a nice breakfast. I should know better. Every time I'm late to do chores, something goes wrong with the horses. Yesterday, it was Queen.

When I went out to feed them, she was laying down. Not unusual but not the norm since she has arthirits pretty bad. I threw the hay and she got up but didn't take a bite. Red Flag!

I decided I'd stick around and groom her down. Maybe she'd been rolling around to get rid of some of her winter hair. She put on such a good coat that its' taking awhile for her to shed out. While in the middle of grooming she went back down. Red Flag.

I pulled her out of the pen and started walking her around. Unfortunately since she'd been going down and getting back up, who knows how many times, her legs were stiff and soar. It took a lot of energy out of both of us to get her to walk. I finally got her to the barn and she took a few bits of grass. A good sign, but then she went down. Red Flag.

I went in and got some banamine and gave her a dose. Come to find out I've been underdosing for years. So what little I gave her didn't really do much. After giving her banamine, she just stood there. She definately didn't feel good.

I decided to get her into a smaller pen that had a bit more cushion (rather than the grass or hard pen). Just before walking into the pen she pooped. I'm always so happy to see poop when they colic. She went down right away. After getting up, she moved to a different part of the pen and cast herself, or at least I think she cast herself. but every ten minutes (if that, she'd drop and roll). There was no getting her to walk, let alone stand.

She kept going down but had gut sounds. I started to panic. If she's pooping and passing gas, but still rolling, what the heck is wrong. Every time she'd go down, she'd start breathing harder. But Queen would take a dozen fast breaths and then stop breathing (or at least it seemed that way). She'd do that every time she'd go down.

At one point, she tried to get up but her back legs gave out on her. That's when I thought she was a gonner. Maybe she's not colicing, maybe she's simply dying and this is the slow progression of her death. We really thought she was dying. She'd stretch out and just lay there, prostrate on the ground. There was no getting her up at that point.

During all the dropping, rolling, heavy breathing, and laying there, we decided to call the vet. Unfortunatley my vet was out of town. I'd done everything they told me to do and I couldn't get her up and walking. So I sucked it up and had mike call the other vet (the one where they killed Blondie). It's a story I'll have to tell another time.

I was a bit distraught at having to deal with this other vet, knowing that the outcome might not be that great.And knowing that Queen could be on the verge of dying I was a little hystarical.

About five minutes before the vet arrived, Queen hefted herself up and walked out of the pen (I'd left the gate open so I could come and go quickly). She continued to walk out into the lawn and began eating grass. She was slow but feeling much better.

Then the vet arrived. The vet was only a half hour out so it wasn't like we had to wait hours and hours. I think Queen knew the vet was coming and wanted to look her best. Luckily the vet that came wasn't the one who actually killed Blondie. I don't mind this vet. She took Queen's heart rate and temp. And then gave her a dose of banamine in the vein.

No tubing, no walking, no stress. Queen decided she felt better. We put her back in the small pen and kept a close eye on her the rest of the day. I threw some hay into her last night but she didn't really eat all that much by this morning. I am guessing that she gets most of her food/energy from the grain and alfalfa. I'm going to cut her down on alfalfa though at least for a little while.

The vet figured she might have gotten in to some mold. That round bale of alfalfa had some. I'm going to burn the damn thing and not use any more. Nothing else in Queen's diet had changed. And come to think of it, I think Queen had been colicy for a while before that. There's three patches of white hair on the ground where she'd been rolling. So I'm guessing the day before when I fed them their alfalfa from the bale, she got into some mold and I didn't notice she was colicying because I was late doing chores.

I decided to stay home for a little while this morning to keep an eye on her. I put her back in the pen with Babe and gave her an hour. I just got in from giving her a dose of Banamine. I checked to see if she'd pooped and saw four mushy piles of poo. I think the alfalfa is giving her problems, that or it was the little bit of grass she ate. Either way, she's pooping. Sad to be happy to see piles of poop.

I'm going to head back out and check on her now and then go to work. I'm guessing she's ok. She was happily eating her hay when i ruined it by giving her banamine. But I'd rather be safe than sorry.

The only part I'm sorry about is the actual vet bill. But I was almost out of banamine (and would have been out had I given the proper dosage). So I guess I'll be happy that Queen is feeling better. That's all that matters!

Ups and Downs

I've had a lot of ups and downs today. I'm afraid I'm emotionally drained again this evening so I'm sure to rant.

I scored big at the Lake County 4H Tack Sale. I sure wish I would have brought more cash. I am set for the wedding. I have enough bling to go around. I bought a very fancy bridle with matching breast collar that in the catalogs would have cost an arm and a leg. Just wish I would have thought to bring more cash. On well.

I'd hauled the horses to Madison so dad and I could ride. I wanted to see how Dad's vertigo would handle horseback riding. Least to say, no long trail rides happened today.

I ended up riding in the pen instead. But oh is Zeke a blast to ride. He's SO responsive. I put him into a lope and it was like riding on a cloud. I have never ridden a horse that's that smooth at a lope. Even Ace at an all out gallop wasn't ever that smooth. Riding Zeke was an absolute blast. Dad tried Zeke and I might lose Zeke to Dad if he can handle riding.

I switched over to Chaos once Dad got the cockleburs out of Chaos's mane and tail. Chaos looked like a unicorn when we showed up. I am pretty disappointed in Chaos. He's just not responsive. I need to really get after him and ride more. He's really gotten naughty. Rather disappointed.

In the afternoon we loaded up and headed home. We made it to Kramers about 5:30pm and they weren't yet to the horses. And of course, there's a thin horse that they wouldn't allow to run through the auction. I did talk with the vet about her. I also left my name and number. Hopefully the person who owns her will decide it's not worth the trip back to get her (since he's between Hills, MN and some other place I can't remember). My hope is that he'll abandon her and the auction will call. Poor thing was so thin. And she was only thin because the other mares pushed her around. She was blind in the left eye and older. Herds always pick out the old and dont' allow them to eat.

While standing there I hand fed her some hay. She slowly limped over and took the hay out of my hand. When we first saw her she looked either tired or that she'd shut down. After giving her a handful of hay, there was a different look in her eye. That first look she had was a look of starving. she'd shut down and resided herself to always being hungry. I wish I would have stood there and hand fed her the entire pile of hay. After I walked away the other mare pushed her away.

I want so badly for the owner to call but I know it won't happen. I think there were others that were willing to take her home, but *I* saw a different light in her eye. I saw something in her that I don't think others do. I'm just heart broke. I know I won't get a call.

I should have stayed for the actual auction but mike was along and I didn't want him to have to sit around for nothing so we went back home. i wish I would have stayed now. i wish I would have stayed and talked with the people after the auction to see what they were going to do with the mare. i wish I would have stayed to see if the owner would have shown up to take her home (to starve her to death in a pasture or pen full of horses that bully her). I wish I would have done something. i wish I would have done more. She's going to haunt me.

Depressing Sales Stats

I know better than to even look. All it ever does is upset me. But I haven't looked in a while so I figured I'd better be educated on prices of loose horses. I went out on the SD Horse Sale website and looked at thier stats. Makes me sick.

Here's what I pulled from their last report:

The finished product, the big in demand type performance
horses and geldings, along with breeding
stock bred in the purple, brought big time Buyer interest
and packed the place to the rafters inside and
out. Lots of new buyers registered in along with
our many long time regulars. Almost 100% of our
sale line was rode in the sale ring, and that is what
makes the difference on buyer attraction.

Buyers and horses came went from one end of the
United States to the other. We sent horses to the
states of Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois,
Michigan, Kansas, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Oklahoma,
North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa
as well as all across South Dakota. We believe we
have one of the best advertised and most honest reliable
sale in the country. Our website alone gets
5000 readers a month.

Easy to sell that proven arena or show horse. We
never enough of those to meet the demand. Buyers
demand a good well broke, proven horses with
conformation and will pay the price. Geldings with
lots of hard ranch work or winnings listed on their
resume easiest to sell, although please note, this
month’s top two horses were MARES!

The top mare had NCHA winnings and was broke
for all ages to ride, and that is a big plus. The reserve
top mare, was very shapey, a red roan, was
well broke, with NCHA earnings, well bred and
bred to a top notch stallion. All the right ingredients
for a top broodmare. Broodmare buyers demand
they first be proven in the showring and then have
the conformation & pedigree to match.

Still not much interest in the average to better
broodmares and young non-broke horses. We sold
a lot of the average looking coming yearlings in
our loose horse sale for that $25 to $35 price. Feed
cost of raising these young horses and getting them
trained or even finding a trainer to train them, getting
harder and harder all the time. Takes a big
fancy, exceptional bred yearling or 2-yr old to get
buyer interest up, and than they will pay the big
price. The horse has to be a outstanding product
that is certain to turn out to be the winner in the
arena as was the Fischer Farms, Wagner, SD sale
horses.

LOOSE HORSES – Sold 309 head Our volume
loose horse sale brings in all the top buyers in the
country. Seats always full. 7% commission, with
$30 minimum. We are open on Sundays from 1
PM to 7 PM to deliver your loose horse to the
yards for the Monday sale. If registered, bring
papers to gate at time of check in.
700 lb and under sold $5 to $350, with most selling
$35 to $75.
800-900 lb sold 425 to $450 with most selling $75
- $100.
900-1000 lb sold $25 to $285 with most selling
$100 to $125.
1000-1100 lb sold $50 to $285 with most selling
$150-$200.
1100-1200 lb sold $85 to $725 with most selling
$200 to $260.
1200 lb & over sold $100 to $1000 with most selling
$235 to $325.

A Few of the Better Loose Horse Sales:
Reg. buckskin mare................1060#............... $775
8-yr bay gelding.....................1305#............... $775
Grey gelding...........................1230#............... $725
4-yr old buckskin geld...........1190#............... $725
Roan gelding..........................1145#............... $725
Bay roan geld.........................1130#............... $710
Reg blue roan mare...............1130#............... $600
Brown gelding........................1345#............... $650
6-yr old buckskin geld...........1140#............... $500
Buckskin gelding...................1110#............... $525
Black gelding.........................1325#............... $460
Paint gelding..........................1205#............... $450
Brown gelding........................1170#............... $425
Grey gelding...........................1135#............... $550

The Special Loose Horse consignments, Reg.
AQHA broodmares from Dakota Winds Quarter
Horses sold $285 to $700 and averaged $537.
The Special Loose Horse Consignment of 14
coming yearlings from Gary Spelbring sold $60
to $250, with the 9 stud colts averaging $178. A
lot more than the majority of yearlings in our loose
horse sale.


Anyone interested in going to the sale with me? I can't go alone (I know better). For some reason I can't attend that auction. I can go to the Sioux Falls Regional Horse Sale by myself but this one at Corsica is just too weird for me. I think it's all "The Good Ol' Boys club" and I'm not a member. I get creeped out. Maybe if I went with someone and we were much braver! I'd definately make time to go. So if anyone wants to attend, these sales are always the third Monday of the month. Just let me know.

First Trail Ride of the Season

Saturday the neighbor stopped and asked if I wanted to go riding. "Heck Yeah!!!" I was a little nervous since I hadn't been on Rain for a serious ride since last October. The trailer was still hooked up to the tractor and Mike is out in the Black Hills hunting. The neighbor didn't have a trailer either.

So we decided to do it the old fashion way and meet in the middle. Rain of course was a total ditz and flipped out for the first two miles that we rode until we met up with the neighbor. She'd already gone a number of miles. Her four year old did WAY better than Rain, who is twelve. Go figure!

By the time we met up with each other (and we'd only gone two miles and the neighbor had gone three) Rain was in a complete lather. I was slightly embarrassed to show up with a horse that was all lathered up and dripping wet but I guess it does Rain good.

We rode about eight miles total. The first two miles with just me and Rain were a little un-nerving since I wasn't sure what Rain would do. But he did ok. After we met up with the neighbor we rode three more miles back to her house. OMG is all I can say. Gorgeous house!

Rain behaved the entire time we were there too! I didn't think to bring a halter so I tied him to the rail with his tie-down and he didn't break his bridle or anything! I was rather pleased. By the time we got to the neighbor's house I was ready for a break. I think Rain and I are definatley out of shape.

After our break, the neighbor and I headed back around the long way to my place. She left me at Hwy 19 so we could both go back to our places. I was a little nervous. Rain of course started to flip out. I figured the only way to keep him calm was to keep his feet moving. Unfortunatley he let out a little buck at the trot/canter. I decided after that, no more. We'll walk and he'll just have to walk and whinny at the same time. He was a good boy and wasn't flighty for the most part. I think we were both tired by that time.

We finally got home about 3pm. We definately need to get more miles in. And now that I know the neighbor is only a few miles away, we'll be making more trips. Hopefully I can try some of the other horses out too. I had thought about taking Chaos but he was still full of cockleburs and I may have a bit of an ego and didn't want to show up with a horse with a cocklebur unicorn. :-) Maybe next time it will be Chaos's turn.

I am thinking of taking Zeke and Chaos up to Madison this weekend to get a few miles in. Once I know how both of them are doing, I'll switch to Maverick. I figure Zeke will be pretty good on trails (jiggy but good). I'm a little nervous about Chaos simply because he hasn't had enough miles on him yet. I really want to get the miles on Maverick too. I think he'll be a great horse once he has more miles and more experience. He gets bored so fast with arena work, so trail riding will do him some good.

If I have time, I'll blog about Brego and the trainer.

First Rain Storm of the Season

If the temps would have been cooler yesterday we might have been in for a doozy of a snowstorm. Luckily it was just rain. We got just under a half inch of rain. Too much for my thinking.

I didn't dilly dally around like I do some evenings after getting home from work. I knew the horses would be grumpy. I knew the mares would be miserable so I started Sam and Jim on their warm mash and pulled the mares into the hayshed. I was a little worried that the hayshed roof would rattle too much for Babe but she didn't seem to care. She snarfed down the warm mash and attacked her alfalfa. I think she was just happy to get out of the wind and rain. Queen wasn't as content but the ol' girl needed to get out of the rain. I prefer to pamper my oldsters.

After getting the mares settled for the evening meal I snuck around the corner to see if anyone else was shivering. If Zeke sees me he sometimes fakes me out and shivers to get sympathy. Or that's what I think (but I'm not really a hard arse!)

I snuck around so Zeke couldn't see me and he was shivering. That answered my question. In go my "delicate flowers". Rain and Zeke went into the barn. There's no sense in letting the barn sit empty when there are horses outside shivering.

Maverick and King were shivering too but once they attacked their hay, the shivering stopped. Luckily by 10pm the rain had stopped. I know King, Maverick, Dude, and Chaos can handle the weather a little bit better. They are all pretty "husky" boys and can handle the changing weather better than some of the others. I guess I don't pamper those four as much as the others.

I was surprised to wrap up my chores by 7pm last night. But by that time I was soaked. Silly me didn't put on my Tinglies. Instead I wore my steals so my feet were absolutely soaked. So much for having white socks! I was smart enough to put on a baseball cap to keep the rain out of my face. By the time I was almost done with chores, water was hanging off the brim and I think was about to start soaking my head. Almost everything dried out overnight. I hate putting on a wet coat. It always makes things feel that much colder.

This morning everyone was happy to get out of the barn. The mares weren't too fond of going back into the mud bog. They weren't even hungry so I couldn't distract them with food. Those ol' girls, they always change their minds. I do need to get in to the mud bog and replace a windblock that blew down. I was going to take care of it last night but was already fed up with the mud and wet feet. I didn't want my already heavy and wet steals to get sucked into the mud or make me carry another 10pounds so I opted to leave the windbreak where it blew down. Luckily Mike will be home tonight so I'll have him help me put the windblock back up and maybe haul water. :-) I missed my "Water Boy."

I'm still thinking about last Saturday's horse auction. I never did get a response from my inquiry about that old paint with the kind eye. My stomach continues to turn thinking about the upcoming sale April 17th. But no matter what, I'll be there.

An Ache in My Heart

Was going through some pictures from last year around this time. Came across pictures of Bob. Didn't realize how much I miss him. If only every horse could be loved and missed so much.

Dearest Bob, may you have the greenest of pastures and the best of friends in heaven. We miss you.

Moving Mares

On Sunday I moved the mares from their winter pasture to the small drylot pen. I don't want the horses tearing up the pasture when they haven't even gotten to enjoy it for very long. Since Queen was wandering everywhere in the pasture, I decided the sooner the better.

I finished off the second round bale of alfalfa and moved the mares on Sunday to the drylot. I think Babe prefers the drylot since there are no obstacles and she can't get lost. I do think she likes the summer pasture since it's smaller and has a distinct hill for her to help her find where she's going.

But since I've moved the mares to the drylot I may have to change up my evening routine tonight. The winter pasture has lots of places for the mares to get out of the wind. Unfortunately this little drylot isn't as nice. Now that it's raining and super windy, I'm thinking I'll pull the mares into the hayshed stalls and let them enjoy a windfree and dry stall for the evening. It might be a bit loud in the stalls, which is my only concern for Babe. She has to have everything super quiet so she can use her ears to see.

I guess I'll have to play it by ear to see how windy it is and where to put the mares. I'm hoping to get out right away to get started on chores. Mike is at training tonight so I have just a few extra chores to take care of.

Hopefully there wont' be any surprises like there was this morning. We occasionally have a wandering TomCat come on our place. He's such a doll but won't stick around. I call him Stubby because his tail is about half as long as it should be.

This morning when I went into the haybarn to turn on the light, I saw something sitting up on the strawbales. I was afraid it would be a racoon but figured I might as well turn the light on to see exactly what it was. No racoon, no skunk, no possum. Just good ol' Stubby. We cuddled for just a couple minutes and then it was on to chores. Hopefully Stubby keeps the mice down in the haybarn.

Nothing else exciting going on so far. The weather has turned chilly again so not a lot of time to do much outside. I do have to say, doing chores in the evening without coveralls is so nice. I'm starting to get spoiled again.

Investigating

I think I might have tracked down the skeezy horse trader that bought the paint with a kind eye during the horse auction last Saturday. I sent an email, we'll see what type of response I get. I'm sure if he did buy the horse and is willing to sell, he'll jack the price up. That or the horse has already shipped. But at least now I'll have at least tried. It's better than nothing. But not good enough.

Depression or Self-Pity?

I'm in a bit of a depression but I'm guessing that it's actually self-pity. Saturday was the first horse auction of the season. I dread horse auctions. Auction days are dreadful and exhausting. By Saturday evening I was absolutely exhausted. At this point, with everything going on, I am mentally and emotionally exhausted. I know there's something I should/could do but I'm at a loss. I'm so close to tears right now I don't know what to do and simply want to scream.

Saturday afternoon Mike and I went to Kramers. I walked through the aisles and saw approximatley 20 horses. I fell in love with two and could have brought a couple more home. It was 3:30pm and they were just starting tack. I decided I didn't want to stick around since we had other errands to run. So Mike and I ran errands and headed home.

There was an old paint that I couldn't get out of my mind. When we got home at 5pm, I decided that I'd go back to the auction and see where they were at. I figured they'd already be into horses and I would have missed my chance at buying that old, lame paint with the kind eye. I started to panic that I was missing all the horses so I sped. I dont' normally speed, that's how riled I got.

When I arrived, I rushed in only to find that they were still doing tack. I could have gotten a number and gone through the horses one more time but I wanted to secure a half way decent spot. I guess there was no need to worry about that. Once they brought the horses in the crowd thinned quickly.

Right away they started bringing in the horses I was interested in. The first horse in was a big white gelding with the most gorgeous mane that went past his neck. He would have been considered beautiful under saddle if someone would have taken the time to ride him in. But of course they dumped him and left. He was so upset by being away from his friend that he didnt' do well in the ring and went for $60.

Next came the paint I was in love with. I was going to buy him if he didn't go over $100. But he did. The worst part, he went to the evil horse trader who I think was trying to fill a load. After I finally settled my heart back into it's right location and slowed it to the right speed, I continued to watch horse after horse go for way cheaper than they should have even for spring.

They brought in a beautiful buckskin that I liked too and would have bid on her if she only went to $100. Again she went for more but luckily to a private buyer. In walked an old gentleman with arthritis. I'm not sure why I didn't bid on the old guy. Again he went for about $50.

They also ran in a 3yr old white stallion. Why, WHY, WHY!?!? Why do people not geld their stallions?!?!? WHY!! He went the cheapest at $12.50. He was massive (obviously). But he would have been a good match for Chaos in body size. Why did I not bring him home?!? Because I have mares and dont' want a vet bill?! No excuse. The next horse in was a 3yr old appaloosa stud. The same owner as the other stud. What does he do. No Sales the appy because he couldn't get $100. WHAT THE HELL. Excuse my language but COME ON! Geld and you'd get more! WHY!!?!?!? You're willing to let one go at $12.50 but you won't let the other one go because he has spots?!?

Everything except the ones I was interested in went for under $100. Even the three Tennesee Walker yearlings went for less than $50. But seeing them made me feel better about Jim's funky feet. I think it's a Walker thing.

But people didn't even bother to brush their horses. Led them in but didnt' give them the time of day to even brush them. It doesn't take much elbow grease to really shine up a horse.


I left the auction exhuasted. The sad part is, I may have been exhausted but I was able to go home. HOME. Those horses wont' get to go home. Some of them will be shipped around until they head to slaughter. Some of them won't know a kind voice, a kind pat on the neck, a bucket full of grain, they won't know love. They will only know fear and cruelty.

Before I left, one of the scary vets made an announcement. Due to PETA, no auction will be allowed to take thin horses or horses with long feet who have foundered. No auction that I know of currently could take thin horses, blind horses, or horses who couldn't travel on all four feet. But I guess they are going to crack down even more. The scary vet went on to say that if you bring one of those types of horses, the owner will be turned away and turned in. The owners will then be investigated. So now these horses have no chance of someone rescuing them at an auction.

These horses are going to die out in a pasture with no food, no water, and no vet care. How are we ever going to save these horses?! We cant' report neglect cases because no one pays any attention to those types of reports. So what's going to happen?!?! I know what will happen. It will be an excuse to open slaughter plants in the US again and to not prosecute people.

Even the stupid auctioneer said he was turned in and told to feed the horses. It cost him $500 because he had two thin horses. It should have been a wakeup call but it wasn't. I think he may be the one with the horses that got loose and hit on the road and the ones that DoubleHP were involved with.

Yesterday's auction left a bad feeling within me. I have been disturbed ever since and cant' seem to shake this bad feeling. There has to be something more that I can do. I know there are some things that I can do. But I need time to get papers signed and the ball rolling. But I'm so exhausted. I'm beat down and can't seem to find the strenght to stand up. I know that I need to find the strenght. If it's not for me, who will help the horses?!?! Who will go to the auctions to see the horses. Someone needs to remember them. Even if it's only for a feeting moment or a fleeting glance (like that paint horse gave me). Someone must remember these horses. Someone must stand up for them.

I'm not sure that anyone actualy reads this blog. But if there is, please, please, please help me. Please give me advise, please give me strenght, please help me to help the horses. I know my plea is vague but I'm at such a loss right now I don't know what to do. I need help. I need your help. I need to be the strong one. I can only be strong with moral support.

The look the paint horse gave me as I walked away will haunt me. Please help me fix that. Please help me so that I don't have to walk away from a pleading look like that ever again. Your advise, your suggestions, your thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Prayers on the wind for that old paint horse with a kind eye.

Brego and More Training

To be warned I'm going to rant just a little bit these next two posts.

I got a call Saturday from my trainer. He was calling about Brego. When we talked at the horse fair he admitted that Brego was the first horse in a long time to actually spook him out. Great! Just what I want, a horse that actually scares the trainer. I figured Brego may need another couple weeks put on him to make sure he's safe.

Lo and behold, that's what the trainer was calling to talk to me about. I could go ahead and take Brego "as is" but apparently he's not following his nose very well. He's also not going at all at a lope. He's barely going at a trot and doing some naughty stuff, like dropping his shoulder and not following his nose.


When we dropped Brego off I warned the trainer that he wasn't very smart. The trainer laughed and said most people talk up their horses even when they arent' as smart as they really are. I'll be totally up front and honest with anyone getting on my horses. If I'm not willing to get on, I'm going to make sure that whoever DOES get on knows everything I know.

The trainer called it "mental blocks" instead of being dumb. I guess that's the politically correct way to call it. I was a bit disappointed but I know that I need to follow through and put an additional 15 days on Brego to make sure that he gets it. I'd thought about sending Maverick back to the trainers just to put a refersher but he's going pretty well. That and I don't really have the money to put another horse through training. I hadn't figured on putting Brego in 45 days of training but I guess if that's what it takes, that will be what it is.

As a two year old Brego was sent to a terrible trainer. He was there for at least 30 days but I don't believe he was treated well or was really trained. When he came home, he bucked the owner off. I'm afraid the "trainer" blew Brego's mind and that's why my trainer is having a hard time breaking through to him.

I'm just a bit disappointed. Here I am putting $550 + $275 in to a junk horse. I know... how dare I call Brego a junk horse. But really, he has poor confirmation, no pedigree (even if he is registered which I doubt), no brains (sorry, telling the truth), and fairly fine boned so he'll never be a true brute horse.

For the amount of money I'm going to sink in to him, I could have bought a really good horse at yesterday's auction. That's my next blog that I need to vent about. Everything seems to revolve around dollars and cents and I just can't seem to figure out how to make it work for me.

I'm headed over the to the trainers on Tuesday to try Brego out and then make my decision. I've already decided that even though he's not going at a lope (and I won't lope him any time soon), that I'll go ahead and put the extra time on him to make sure that he actually understands what he's supposed to.

I was willing to put him in to training and willing to give him a second chance in life. He would have ended up at Kramers Auction as a three year old, barely handled gelding that was skin and bones. He would have been No Valued and who knows what would have happened then. So I guess if it takes him an additional 15 days to break through that "mental block" then so be it.

Sometimes you in with rescues and sometimes you don't. I think I lost on Brego.

So be it.

No Horse In Hand

No horse in hand. I behaved and didn't bring a horse home from today's auction. There must have been about 20 horses. Each of the ones I was interested in went for $150 or more. Those that I wasn't interested in went for less than $100. There was a 3yr old stud that had the same massive body size as Chaos and he went for $12.50.

I wish I was like Nor Cal Equine Rescue where they go to auctions and bid against the kill buyer. I could have brought a bunch home tonight.

And they announced that no auction in the state of South Dakota will accept thin horses or horses with super long feet who have foundered. They'll turn them away and then report them. So what's going to happen to those horses now?

The next Kramers sale is April 17th. I'll go again to watch and put a prayer on the wind for each of them.

I think I'm going to finish off my chocolate easter bunny and then hug each of the horses.

Guess I'll Be There

Kramer's Livestock Auction (Sioux Falls)
Date: 2010-04-01, 9:05PM CDTReply to: sale-vxvvf-1672564130@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
Kramer's will be having their first sale of the year April 3rd.
Location: Sioux Falls
it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
PostingID: 1672564130

Guess I'll go and see what people are dumping. I need to start taking notes to be prepared for the bigger sale May 8th at the Sioux Falls Regional Livestock Horse Sale.


It's been a crazy week. Hopefully I'll have time to blog about it.