Advert of The Day

Wow, these two look soooo comfortable, don't they?!

This was the only photo accompanying the ad which is selling a small stallion who is being strongly promoted as a comfortable ride for long trails or riders with back problems. Here's the issue. Neither the horse or the rider look comfortable in this shot! The girls expression and her hands, and the horses face, tail and the way he is moving, suggests they are having a real difference of opinion, however momentary. BAD PHOTO TO USE!

That's not even touching on the fact it's blurry.

Finally just how comfortable can you be in what appear to be hot pants and wellies?!

Here's the rest of the ad:
MiniMe as we like to call him is a very sweet stallion he rides amazing very comfortable for someone who likes long trails or maybe has back problems. Looking to find him an amazing home to trail rideor maybe even show since he does have alot of brio and the look for it. He is a lil thin because we did rescue him from a hard situation but he is getting more beutiful by the day. come meet him he wont disappoint

call me or text

He needs to find his new home by this weekend please make an offer.

Mary

might trade for maybe a dressage mount 

Hmm, so sweet he has to be outta there in days... and of course they might trade for a dressage mount. I wouldn't hold your breath folks!

If only Child Labor Laws Applied to Horses..

You know, I think some people consider waiting until a foal is weaned leaving their education too long.

20 months and broken to drive:

Ironically also pictured with a little girl, both looking like the babies they are...

19 months old and 'she can run'

Broken in as a yearling. Yes a YEARLING:

Done everything at 3 years old: 

The last ad boasts about how this horse has:

pulled a living wagon from Durham to Kent, 21 days.

&

The first picture (below) is him pulling across Tower Bridge, did 340 miles in 21 days. 

Well I guess these people are selling these young horses, so they don't have to deal with future possible temper tantrums and/or crippling arthritis in legs and spine caused by doing too much too soon.

I just wish people could take a step back and give their horses time. It provides for a much longer, more productive working life span, and a much happier horse mentally. Sadly on dragon driving at least, it seems taking it slow will never be the popular approach.

A Problem

Your horse is a stud, 9 yrs old, 17 hands and weighs in the region of 1,300 Ibs. Given that the rate of economic growth in the US is around 2.4, the ratio of available horses to good, caring homes is around 300:1 and you have priced him 0.00 dollars, what is his % chance of going to slaughter?*

huge free stud horse with cut 

I can't take care of this stud horse by myself he is 17 hands has huge bones and feet he has destroyed my fences I can't do this anymore he went through a fence and cut open his chest and damaged his eye his dad is a national champion warmblood but if I don't find someone to take him I will have to have him destroyed I doctored his cut for couple of days and when I attempted to doctor it tonight he struck out with both front feet I don't know if it hurts him or what this horse weighs about 1300 pounds he is very tall around here when you say you have a huge horse they think you mean wide he is very tall and very big boned and built like a Lippizanner. this is not a children's horse he must be well handled before anybody other than an experienced person gets around him and if you think you're going to turn around and make a quick buck on him it is not possible he needs to be handled and his cut doctored before you could ever be able to sell him my phone number is fifty two. Twenty. Seventy. Owe to. do not call me at a ridiculous hour.

Why exactly is this horse a stud?! He's hardly overflowing with desirable features, physical or behavioural by the sound of it! I don't find huge bones and feet a selling point, particularly not when he's using them to trash his environment.  

The owner says she has been treating the wound he picked up on the fence and now he's resenting it- 

I don't know if it hurts him or what.. 

Yes it probably does- anyone ever fiddled with one of your injuries?! Here's a thought, maybe an infection has started to brew and his patience has been exhausted by increasing discomfort. 

This bit I don't get:

He is very tall around here when you say you have a huge horse they think you mean wide he is very tall and very big boned and built like a Lippizanner.

His size and build is not a remotely positive feature given that he's already learned to use it against people and things that get in his way! How about telling us if he's ever done anything, ever been saddled etc? I am guessing not! 

I can't figure out how this person ended up with this horse in the first place. Maybe it was drugged when they tried it, maybe they bred it, threw it in a field somewhere and only thought, 'gee that colt of mine's got pretty fiesty' when they went to find it years later! But I am sure I am thinking exactly the same thing everyone else with any horse sense is thinking after reading this advert. 

if I don't find someone to take him I will have to have him destroyed

He is a STUD! A stallion!!! He wants to mate with things and if you're not directing that energy somewhere else, i.e. into serious competition work, he's going to go to any lengths to do that! Including through fences and over the top of YOU if you haven't instilled enough respect in him on the ground. 

So why, why WHHHYYY ON EARTH don't you just get him GELDED, remove the hormones and reassess the situation after a few weeks before puttinga bullet in his head, handing him over to a masquerading slaughter man or palming him off on some naive do-gooder who might end up getting pounded into the ground by their mercy 'purchase'?

Is it not that obvious to EVERYONE that this would be the next step to take?!

*- figures quoted are rough estimates and for blog writing purposes only.

Thanks again to horse forum contributors for this one.

Sadly Outgrown...

Not by a child! She's outgrown her rug!

Um, I know people make do at times, but is it not a better idea to take the rug off just for the picture so you don't look a bit... mad?!

By the way she is sooo cute. And selling with mum (below) for the sad price of £150... please buy her and spoil her with a blankie that covers her little butt!

Advert of the Day

Where to start, where to start...

*sniffles* But, but Black Beauty was a friendly horsey!!

Ok, so first of all and most negatively to the advert at first glance this horse looks seriously p***ed as all hell. See close up:

He may be hungry as he looks pretty ribby, or maybe he's just objecting to that godawful piece of thin metal in his mouth. Either way his expression says get the **** away from me. Not the most inviting shot for a sales pitch!

Secondly do you think those front hooves have been deliberately cut out of shot? Because from the knees down they are not good looking legs and I am wondering if the horse is actually sound.

Overall total picture fail. But we go on...

Thirdly 'Quarter Horse, hard to find'. ????. Do you mean he goes to hide in his field? Because I can think of barely any regions in the USA where the Quarter Horse is a rare breed. It's like the UK equivalent of black and white hairy cobs- dime a dozen and everywhere you look.

Finally; 'Horse Starts to Dance', you mean all the time? Your average rider would kind of like a horse that keeps still on occasion please!

Today's short but not sweet ad of the day is brought to you courtesy of the good folks over at Horseforums.com; thanks guys your thread on dumbest ads is a goldmine!

Epic Fail

If you took out all the accurate/responsible/intelligent stuff in this advert, you wouldn't have much of it left. 

Cheapest Saddlebred..... - $250

Hi, just got this horse not long ago (3months). Its a Saddlebred/Walker stud. He is too small for my boyfriend and im not into riding horses. From what I know he is a pretty good horse. No kick, bite or buck...just nred love and we having to much going on. Was purchased for $500 from a very good friend in Houston. The only problem the horse is too short. He is about 14.5 hh, we are willing to take $250 obo. Yes $250 obo for a stud thats not bad, and plus you will make your money back breeding. He has never bred before and no bad habits. Need gone by this weekend because we leaving to go out of town.Kids have ridden him,with no problem, he is more suitable for kids, women or small adults.

Has Pusher's walker in his bloodline. Not registered. Can email pics.or text 469~684~8992

1- If you're flogging a horse with the biggest positive being that it's cheap, the poor thing probably hasn't got a lot to offer. Annd that's not really accurate advertising either- read on to discover the horse is actually a saddlebred X Walker. 

2- I really hope that someone is holding that rope (so could drop it or do something about entanglement) and it's not tied to something (which the low rope makes me wonder) since he's now stepped over it and could end up giving himself a bit of a jerk/fright/serious injury. 

3- Hi, just got this horse not long ago (3months).

You've had him all of 3 months? Wouldn't it have been easier just to think harder about getting a horse at all/go evaluate the horse properly before you bought him?

4- Its a Saddlebred/Walker stud.

He's a stud. Of course he is. Cos that price, + nuts, is going to make finding a lovely new home even easier.

5- He is too small for my boyfriend and im not into riding horses. 

Yes. Yes he is. 

(Obviously I am assuming this is the BF in the picture!). 

Here's the thing. I know some very large riders who are very skilled. They ride light. This is because they know how to balance themselves to cause least convenience to the horse. If this guy was at least riding in good balance I wouldn't be cringing as much as I am. But look at the weight hanging over to the left here! The horse will find this difficult to manage. 

There are ways to assess how much weight a horse can safely carry. One of these is bone- basically the circumference of the foreleg, just below the knee. A horse with good solid thick legs at this point is generally believed to be able to carry more weight than one with a narrow leg here- check pictures of welsh cobs as opposed to thoroughbreds to see this. I wouldn't class this horse as a weight carrier from the shot above! 

Weight carrying capacity at any one time is also influenced by other things, including what you are doing with the horse- so yes, at least here they are just walking, in this shot anyway- and it's age. You wouldn't want to charge in piling excess weight on a youngster who is still getting used to just carrying a rider for example. 

On that note I am a bit concerned that this horse could be a youngster- he's either a growing colt or a very badly put together adult! His age isn't mentioned anywhere. This heavyweight riding could be doing some damage to an immature skeleton if he is the kind of age I think he may be. 

Here's the kicker. I know horses grow when they are young but only slowly! Didn't these people even go look at this horse before he came home? Why did it take 3 months to decide he was too small, did they just have him thrown in the field and only notice his size when they got close enough to catch him? 

6- From what I know he is a pretty good horse. No kick, bite or buck...

This no bite, kick, or buck seems to be the craigslist mantra for 'good horse'. I know a lot of very good horses which do occasionally buck (often when out and excited!), sometimes kick and sometimes bite (though mainly other horses!) and similarly I know some god awful horses that never do any of the above (you'd need to light a rocket behind a lot of them to get any impulsion at all, but that's another story). It'd be good to hear more about what the horse can do rather than what he doesn't do, like ride out on trails, jump a little fence, stuff like that, but nothing like that here. Or in a lot of ads where 'No kick bite buck rear etc' appears as the big selling point to be honest.  

7- just nred love and we having to much going on. 

They had too much on to even check the poor beggar was the right size in the first place so that doesn't surprise me. 

8- The only problem the horse is too short. 

Annnd again, he could have been measured before you brought him home surely? 

He is about 14.5 hh.

No he's not!! 

9- we are willing to take $250 obo. Yes $250 obo for a stud thats not bad, and plus you will make your money back breeding. 

UUUURRGH!! Brain bleach please. Does anyone see anything about this fluffy, leggy, flat backed little guy that begs to be reproduced? Seller- you are trying to offload this horse for $250- UK peeps that's about £165 at today's currency conversion rates - it probably cost more to keep the mare adequately fed and vet checked in the pregnancy that produced him than that! If you don't want a horse like this, why will enough other people anywhere to make breeding him such a good idea?! Seriously, what on earth makes you think Shorty's sperm is in demand anywhere in the entire FREAKING country? 

He has never bred before... 

Thank whatever deity oversees us that this is the case. Please someone go get him just to remove his lovespuds before he meets miss right (or miss you'll do) and gets her in the family way. 

10- Need gone by this weekend because we leaving to go out of town. 

You know what- this is one thing that irritates the heck out of me and I keep seeing on CL especially. Sellers- cos this isn't the only one by any means- at the time you place an advert you are responsible for that horse's whole future. If you don't take adequate time and care over finding someone who wants him for the right reasons, has the facilities to keep him and knows how to look after him, you're going to end up handing the leadrope to that nice guy Gus who showed up with a trailer, paid cash and has a farm out west somewhere. Gus being the smiley kill buyer who'll be only too happy to take the horse off your hands for an even more knock down price and ship him right off to become mince. In this case the horse's main fault appears to be that the current owner bought something too small. He doesn't deserve to be put at risk for that. Man up, put your damn weekend trip back if it's that disruptive and spend some time protecting the life of the animal you brought into yours. He deserves that much. Rant over.  

11- Has Pusher's walker in his bloodline. 

Somewhere. 

Not registered. 

Of course. 

Good luck Shorty! I think you may need it.