A short rant...well ok, a really long rant

This morning was busy for me. I had a double header going on. Vet to float and draw coggins, and mowing guy. I engaged Doug's Brushhog service to come mow my pasture. We did not set a definite date, due to the threat of (nonexistent) rain. I had scheduled the vet last week, and the brushhog dood called last night and wanted to come today. Killing two birds with one stone. I scheduled him for 8 am. The vet was coming at 9, so that would give me time to catch the horses and feed them, and then get the hot tape down and gates opened for the mower dood.

Everything went just peachy. The horses did not understand why I came out in the pasture without any food. OH GOD!!! She hasn't got any FOOD! WHERE IS THE FOOD?? They followed me around like dogs while I picked up their feeders and took them in the little feed area. I swear, I feed them twice a day...every day. If they could talk, they would lie and say I starved them. (The vet said something about hog fat when he was drawing Baxter's coggins. I told him he should have seen him two months ago...smart ass) They got their slop and some hay, and I opened up the pasture for the mower dood. He showed up just as i was finishing. I told him to look for a few feeders that I could not find, and asked him to leave the grass about 8" tall. He said he would (and he did). I had searched for all Prisoner Y's toys, but I didn't find them all. Doug found them... with the mower... oops! :)

So, I left him mowing and drove my truck up to the barn. I needed to check and make sure that there was a place available for the vet to hoist Susie's head up for the floating. I had to run a couple of horses out of the barn and lock the gate, but otherwise, it was all good.

The vetting was short and sweet. Drew coggins on them both. Susie acted like we were trying to kill her. I think because she could not see Baxter who was back in the round pen. Doc checked her teeth and pronounced that she was good for at least another 6 months, and probably a year! That is good. She takes forever to come out of the sedative, and I worry about her. Plus, it was way cheaper than I'd expected. YAY! I was very proud of Baxter. He has lived such a sheltered life. He hasn't had much experience outside his little world. I was a bit worried about walking them both the the barn. There are horses on both sides of the road and they always run up to the fence when horses are walked by. He was such a big boy. He followed along and never even looked around. I was very pleased with him. I think his mind is catching up with his body. Last year the walk to the vet visit was accomplished by airs above the ground! This year, he acted like we do this every day. Good BOY!

And now, back to the subject of my rant. After I'd run the horses out of the big barn, I was sitting in my truck and out of the shadow of another small barn ambled a big black horse. I wanted to cry. This horse is **maybe** a two on the fitness scale. Could be a 1.5. It is obviously a thoroughbred. You can see every single rib. His spine and hipbones are showing. He is so malnourished that he is losing all his hair. His coat is dull and so is his eye. He looks tired. He is plodding along looking for stray blades of grass. He actually stumbled while I was watching him. Needless to say, I was absolutely sick. I looked around, and there were 4 bales of hay in the barn by his paddock. WTF?? Anyone with one good working brain cell can tell that this horse is fucking starving! When it saw me, it nickered at me. That was IT. I threw it some hay, and it came immediately and started eating. I stood there and watched it a bit. It was definitely very hungry. It didn't move until all the hay was gone...every single piece. That was when I noticed that this poor starving horse had shoes on all four feet, and it's mane had been pulled! Some ignorant moron is actually riding it! I got in my truck and sat there watching this poor sad soul, wishing the most vile possible punishment on the (nominally a) person who owns it.

While I was waiting for the vet, the barn manager drove up. After chatting a bit, I asked him what was up with the big horse. He said that the girl who owns it was 18, broke, jobless, and homeless (she apparently lives at the barn I guess?). She has 3 horses there, a mare/baby, and the big horse. He also said that she has not paid him any board in a year, so effectively, all her horses were his. Then he said that he had been feeding the horse for a month and now it was costing *him* money. He said he was feeding it "two scoops" of "grain" and weight builder, and half a bale of hay a day. Well, that is obviously not enough. He said the horse was an "old race horse", and so it was a hard keeper. Exqueeze me??? Just because a horse is a TB does not automatically make it a hard keeper, and thus it's OK for it to be a bag of bones! Baxter is mostly TB, and according to my vet is "hog fat" on less than this poor horse eats every day. This horse shows none of the usual signs of being "old" either. It has no white hairs anywhere on it's body. It's face doesn't have that look. You know the look...the old horse look. He then said the dumbest damn thing I have ever heard in my whole entire (not small) experience with horses... He had him in "quarantine" because the horse was losing his hair, and he didn't know if it was something "catching". Oh My Dear Lord. I said, uh, the horse is starving. THAT is why he is losing his hair. I mean shit. Somebody hold me back before I commit some heinous crime.

He also told me that the girl who owns him takes him to the local small shows hoping to impress the boys. She is apparently quite the um.... little party girl. She likes to impress the boys. I wonder why the judges at the horse show did not call someone about this poor horses' condition. I told the barn mgr that it was a good thing he was feeding the horse, because I had been ready to take pictures and call the animal people. He said I didn't need to do that because he had some people who wanted the horse and had a 40 acre farm where they were going to turn it out with a couple of mules. At least it would have grass to eat. Shit. I did tell him that if I saw anyone riding that horse that I *would* be taking pictures, and going to the authorities. I think that scared him a bit. I really don't fucking care. I am sick and tired of hearing excuses about stuff like this.

I normally mind my own business, but this time, I had to say something. It may get me kicked out, but at this point, I don't care. I think that the manager believes he is doing well by the horse. Unfortunately, he is not, and the horse is paying the price. I told him that the horse needs hay in front of him all the time, and not that shit prairie hay he is feeding him now. Plus, the manager needs to understand that half of a 30 pound bale of hay a day is simply not enough for a 16 hand horse that should way 1100 pounds. There is not enough nutrition in that hay to even maintain weight, let alone put weight on. It probably takes more calories to digest it than it has in it.

Part of owning or managing a barn is being responsible for every horse there. This means that you actually look at the horses. You also check the water tanks. If a horse is hurt or sick, you pick up the phone and call the owner. If you can't find the owner, then you call the vet. If someone does not pay their board and you take possession of their horses, then that means YOU are responsible for FEEDING them. Period. You don't get to sit around and watch a horse starve with no repercussions. If you don't have the means to care for the horse, or you just don't want to, then get rid of it, or have it put down by the vet. Watching a horse starve 20 feet from your back door is inexcusable.

This kind of thing is why "self care" operations rarely, if ever, work. Most people are well intentioned, but clueless about what horses need. They don't have any idea how to tell if a horse needs something it is not getting. They can't tell if a horse is sick and needs a vet. They either don't know, or they don't care. When they don't have the money to make their house payment, you can bet they don't have the money to feed/shoe/vet their horse(s). You can make all the rules you like about how things will be, but enforcing them in a self care situation is nearly impossible. Hell, you can't even get people to fill their water tanks, and the water is free!. I know because I have filled tanks at the barn. That is one thing I will do is make sure there is water. Otherwise, I don't mess with other people's horses. I have seen a lot of things at this place that just give me the heebie jeebies. Horses hobbling around on 3 legs, skinny horses, and even one brood mare with a fricking fist sized hole in her belly. A real hole! I always call the manager and tell him. To date, he has never even once come down and looked at a horse I have called him about. He always says something soothing like "I think they called the vet about that", figuratively pats me on the head, and says goodbye. At that point, I have to just not look any more.

I didn't have my camera today, but I have to go pay my board bill later this week, so I will take it and if the poor guy is still there I will get pictures. I was chatting with the vet while he made out my bill. He asked who owned the skinny horse and I told him. He said he remembered the girl and frowned. He said he didn't think she took very good care of any of her horses. I said that I saw a starving horse, not a sick one...he nodded and said that is what he saw too. After seeing and hearing all I heard I can almost...*almost* understand the rabid animal rights people. This kind of self indulgent bullshit carried on while a starving animal is standing 5 feet away from food is just that... bullshit. Part of the reason I am so upset about this is that 8 months or so ago, I saw this same horse when it was owned by another girl. She had bought him from the killer auction. He was thin, as you'd expect a passed around auction horse to be, but he was shiny and full of life. He was maybe 50 pounds shy of where he needed to be. All in all, he appeared to be a healthy, happy horse. I told the manager to take him down and put him in my paddock. I really can't afford it, but I'll be damned if I will stand around and let that happen. He said he was going to call the people that wanted him. If he is still there in a week, I may be the owner of a horse that needs a good home. Damn. I am so angry. My ulcer is unhappy. Why do people have to suck so bad? This is wrong on so many levels.

There...I feel better, somewhat.