What is your impression of this website?

Question

I thought it was a very meaningful well though out with excellent descriptions and pictures.

Before you think of breeding your mare or stud, you may want to scroll through the responses and pictures.

http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/05/why-this-blog-exists.html

http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2007/07/with-apologies-to-dr-seuss-and-my.html

Answer 1

Wow, whoever writes that is right on target. I like the point of how you can be emotional and love your horse for what it is, yet be practical enough to use reason and be realistic over your horse's flaws. Horses should NEVER be bred for purely emotional reasons, it is a form of cruelty in its own right.

I think that this site does a good job stating logical, rational points about breeding and horse ownership in genral, education is the only thing that will stop people from breeding carelessly. But, unfortunatly the people that breed from emotions are usually not the types to listen to facts and reason like the author of the site is putting forth, the people that need to be educated are the ones dismissing the points made as being 'mean' or just 'picking on' horses.

Answer 2

I had to laugh, I drive around the Bluegrass every day and see tons of horses in local fields that should have never entered the gene pool. Like the blog said, the owner thinks the mare is soooo pretty that someone is bound to want her offspring and they have no clue. They breed mediocre to mediocre and expect to produce Saddlers Wells. My friend stands 4 of the top AQHA stallions ever and says that business is bad because the market is just flooded with "look a like" sons that have a ROM and are now breeding - it's crazy. For all the slamming that racing gets, especially here on this board, chilled and frozen semen is banned, AI is banned, embryo transfer is banned and all these measures limit the reproductive numbers of TB's. It should also be noted that people invest a lot of time and money into researching pedigrees in order to find the right match for their mares based on many factors, not just pretty color or that she's cute. I'd be really interested to take a look at some of the mares and foals that people on this board own. There are many that have posted questions that ask about mare expecting to foal soon and I wonder if they are atypical of owners referred to on the blog.
As a mother of a small child, I don't want something with boxy feet which are prone to navicular or something that brushes etc because it's so narrow chested. Of course it needs to be safe but it also needs to be correct so that not only can he show and compete, but also so that he can appreciate what a horse should really look like. Who knows - maybe he'll make a judging team someday : )
Yet another thoughtful question, here - have a star!

Answer 3

Oh, I love the Dr. Seuss spin-off.

People should remember that a good stallion prospect makes a great gelding...only the best of the best should be left intact. Why? Because a marginal mare can only produce so many marginal foals in her lifetime. Irresponsible stallion owners can plug their marginal stud into hundreds of mares. Exponentially, marginal stallions are a hazard to the gene pool of any breed!

I can't help but remember what Native Dancer's handler said once...that had he gelded every stallion he handled, in hindsight he would have made only one mistake.

On one interesting point, "The Pusher" would win no beauty contest, but he could slink around that ring like a cat...and he put a good, natural gait on his get. So I know looks aren't everything...sometimes another trait like natural gait figures in.

All we're learning about color genetics is great, but now too many people are keeping a lot of horrible conformation as breeding because it's a double dilute, homozygous for spots, etc.

Answer 4

I read this site everyday. I appreciate the humor and levity of the explanations that accompany the pictures. Hopefully readers will understand this is not a bashing site, but an attempt to get anyone who breeds horses to understand that mare + stallion does not have to equal foal automatically, and that intense thought and scrutiny needs to occur before breeding. Breed the best to the best and hope for the best. I also liked the site linked in today's post, there was quite a bit of good information on auction horses there.

Answer 5

Great site! It was quite funny, and unfortunately quite accurate. I managed a large boarding stable on the beach in California about 2 years ago. This lady came in one day and said she wanted to board her stallion. I agreed, as I had the room and created him a stallion pen. His owner spoke to me in great detail about how beautiful he was, what a wonderful temperment that he had, how she was looking forward to breeding at least a mare a month over the next year.

I waited anxiously the day that she was to arrive, as I was excited to see this beautiful Paint stallion. A little two horse straight load came up the driveway and stopped in front of the stall. This horse got out...I say "horse" loosely, as he was all of 13.2 hands tall at the age of 7...and he was a beautiful color, but had a horrible back, crooked legs, flaky white feet that were even TOO SMALL for his little body. I was astonished. On top of it all, this little horse was the MEANEST thing on four legs. He would throw himself at the fence anytime that anyone got within 10 feet of the corral, but most people simply laughed because he was so small.

To make matters worse, several months later, a lady came to the stable with the world's ugliest Appaloosa mare. This mare had pink eyes, no mane or tail, a horribly long back and moon-blindness. Needless to say, the Appy's owner fell in love with the Paint stallion and one fateful night they got together when no one was around and bred the two...the offspring was not only ghastly in color and confirmation, but at age 2 it was barely 12 hands tall! LOL

So, people do stupid things and then horses are created that eventually get thrown away. Defects are prepetuated and the world is filled with badly bred animals. People...if you don't know what you are doing, leave the breeding to the professionals!

Answer 6

I think that this site has very valid points that many people need to open their eyes to. Thank you for posting it.
So many horse owners are ignorant and think because they can they should. When you put these ill-conformed up against horses with good RESPONSIBLE breeding at auctions or sales which horses will be sold first? People who breed for "fun" are breeding for slaughter.

As silly as it sounds I feel bad for the horses they are critiquing. I can see both of my horses in those photos being torn apart and I don't even want to know what he would say about them! But I am not ignorant enough to think either should breed, they are both gelds but if they weren't I would get it done anyway. I have to say I am glad someone bred so that I may have my "boys" but I am glad the bad breeding stopped at them.

Answer 7

Right on with the message. Indiscriminate breeding and irresponsible horse ownership will continue to fuel the slaughterhouse. People are unwilling to accept responsibility for the life they have had a hand in creating whether it be horse, cat, dog or in some instances their own children. Some of the photos show exactly what the results are of this indiscriminate breeding. Some just look like they are bad photos. But right on with the message and thanks for posting the blog spot here so it can reach an even wider audience.

Answer 8

Thank you M.R. I just filled 3 hours of my morning reading through all of her posts. Very entertaining.

In general, I agree with most of what she had to say, and in a way that kept us reading. I do think photography angle played part in some of the conformational flaws, and I think the author needs to realize that different breeds look for different conformation.

The halter horse picture proved my point. She had the reaction most of us have when seeing a halter horse. Horrid! Massive body on legs too small and feet that are going to end up with navicular. But she didn't know that that is what is winning in the halter horse world. In fact has been for the last 10 years. She admits she didn't know it.

I think she has a good eye for a good conformed using horse, qh, paints, apps and tbs, but not the other breeds. She is expecting them to look like the qhs.

Not bashing her, just saying that like everything else in the horse world, take it all with a grain of salt.

Thanks for killing time for me though. :)

Answer 9

Honestly? Though I agree with many of the points put out by the author, my brain feels like it needs to be pulled out and run through the wash. The bile flowing from this person's fingertips could be manufactured into an effective weight loss pill. This website feels deliberately inflammatory. I have enough conflict in life without having to go search for things that affect my attitude negatively.

Maybe if this person took some of those ulcer meds that helped your mule, this information could come out in a more insightful, educating manner. Just my take...

Sorry to all of you who thought it was funny...

Answer 10

i agree wiht the owner of the site that some horses shouldn't be bred, but to me the TEMPERMENT and MOVEMENT of the horse are more important than the looks or breedyness. Would a mother of a 6-year-old care about which color or bloodline the pony her child rode was, or if the back was too long for some silly person on the internet? of course not! she would care about the horse being SAFE! and for all of you to know, even some of the best horses are sold to slaughter! a few years ago, the TB horse of the year was slaughtered! this pattern exists everywhere. so anyways, a picture can't really sum up if your horse should be bred or not, unless he is disfigured. some of the best-behaved horses are 'ugly' and some of the ones with great bloodlines would kill somebody's child!