Would you buy the cheapest hay you could find? When the horse started losing weight and looking like crap, would you just throw a blanket on him to hide the neglect? Would leave an ill-fitting blanket on for weeks?
Would you provide the best feed money could buy? Would you make sure the blanket fit? Would you remove the blanket daily (or at least every other day) and brush the horse? Would you check to make sure the blanket wasn't rubbing sores into the withers?
Tell me, please... I need to know. How does this horse go from this:
To this in six months:
This is what Kaci looked like when I got him in May 2008. I thought he was in bad condition then.
Here are his withers now. Can you say "Saddle does not fit."??
Now true, Kaci is shedding and has been laying in the mud, but it's obvious that he's seen neglect for the past few months. Under his blanket, there were MATS of hair. Lord knows when he'd been brushed last!
This makes me angry! When I dropped Kaci off a year and half ago, he was worth more than $8,000! He's had extensive training. He was still sane and sound.
Now he actually LOOKS like a rescue! Rumor has it that he has a hock problem, though he isn't limping. But then again, he isn't walking much either! When I took the photos this morning, it was the first time he'd stopped eating since his arrival Friday night. (THAT is a whole other story that I won't share)
And get this... he's been at a training barn for the last month (on the trainer's dime) trying to get fattened up. Apparently, they have put a BUNCH of weight on him in the last 28 days! I look at Kaci and think "My God! Just how skinny WAS he?"
I don't get it. I just don't get it!
5 comments:
Hypothetically speaking...is it ignorance (the guy I got it from said it was hay, and he is eating), pride (I know its not the best hay, but its what I can afford), or laziness (fu@k it, hay is hay and this stuff is cheaper than the green stuff).
I hate blankets because you can put the problems under them...and keep them covered, for a while any way.
I don't know the storey of Kaci, but it would take a lot for me not have some words with the people who I gave/sold the gelding to.
I wouldn't call it laziness, but it IS "fu@k it, hay is hay and this stuff is cheaper than the green stuff." She was being cheap.
I hate blankets because they're a pain in the butt! Kaci is shedding like crazy, so he wears his at night. It's been near 60 degrees the past two days, so the blanket comes off during the day.
same but different...I found a dog on petfinder-a well bred working dog-that was being fostered by a breeder I knew in another town. Found out dog was sold to be a 'breed' dog, but he didn't live up to his champion pedigree and was basically stuck in a kennel. The breeder was out of state and rescue spent quite a bit of time trying to get the dog into rescue.
Dog came to me, the rescue had an extensive dental done at age 3, and he had the crappiest coat-he put off this weird funky odor-that we could only attribute to being fed scraps and lousy food. It took 6 months of feeding a premium holistic food for the shine to come back and smell to go away.
To this day, I spend more time reading labels for my dogs and my renal failure cat than I do on myself.
Tass
I, myself, just don't understand some people! Angers me!
He was thin enough when I saw him in February that we could easily have prosecuted the then-owner. Since he was already safe and being fed at that point, I didn't throw the fit I would have if that had not been the case.
I'm just glad he's home.
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