Facing Horse Slaughter & Other Updates

I adopted Ink from Joe, who blogs everyday at http://www.tbfriends.com

Joe adopts Thoroughbreds off the track, mostly, but not limited to auctions and other random rescue cases.  He’s a god-send. 

Well he announced today that he will be posting pictures of killers, without names, on his site.  “Soon I will be showing who NOT to give or sell your horse to. I will take pictures at upcoming auctions. Horse killer Manny Phelps has said he will gladly pose. If you advertise your horse for free or cheap, and Manny Phelps comes to your house, you can tell him to get lost. (feel free to use other phrases) You can protect your horse,” As Joe said on his site today. 

I will post the rest of his entry below, because he does not have archieves or anything. 

FHOTD (http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/) also had some words to say about the matter; http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/02/love-it-joes-going-to-go-for-it.html

Yesterday FHOTD had this to say before Joe announced he would be posting pictures; “Joe seems to be afraid of legal action and/or of upsetting/offending the hordes of children who read his blog. (Who as far as I am concerned, had better learn about the realities of life NOW before they get old enough to contribute to the irresponsible breeding/ownership problem).“

The above quote came from this post ; http://fuglyhorseoftheday.blogspot.com/2008/02/dealers-who-ship-horses-to-kill-lets.html  If you know of any Killers in your area or abroad, go ahead and post them there. 

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Joe’s Post on http://www.tbfriends.com

Friday, February 29th… If mail and phone calls were the deciding factor, I would not post pictures of horse killers. Over 80% of readers (keep in mind, our readers are mostly young girls) tell me to leave it alone. Focus instead on the romance of thoroughbreds.

Advice has come from 3 different lawyers. If I show you horse killers I must not include their names. Cathy and I could be sued for damaging the reputation of a person. For slander. And for stopping the everybody in America has a right to earn a living process. I am told there are precedents. At first I thought Presidents, and said sure, how dumb do you think I am? But no, we are talking precedents. You are not allowed to interfere with someone trying to earn a living.

And I must tell you, money earned by horse killers would make Donald Trump jealous. A cattle trailer filled with horses sold to slaughter can bring over 15 thousand dollars. The driver does not need health certificates to leave our state. He does not need health certificates to enter Canada or Mexico. Drives me crazy.

I wrote a billion letters. Did the protest thing in front of feed lots. Hounded horse killers with my usual charm. Trying to stay legal, because I doubt prisons serve fresh strawberry cheesecake. Or praline ice cream. There are more horses from Northern California going to slaughter than ever before. Nothing I have tried has ever worked. All I have left is to show you the men and women who make money from killing horses.

I sincerely hope I do not lose you as a reader. Your mail and phone calls tell me there are people all over the world who tune in each day to my gunk. I love to share with you the magic of horses, especially thoroughbreds. To show you pictures of our horses finding new homes. A whopper of a feeling. Letters come from girls who 11 years ago adopted a horse from us, and still the horse is number one in their life. Their happiness beats anything I have ever experienced.

Soon I will be showing who NOT to give or sell your horse to. I will take pictures at upcoming auctions. Horse killer Manny Phelps has said he will gladly pose. If you advertise your horse for free or cheap, and Manny Phelps comes to your house, you can tell him to get lost. (feel free to use other phrases) You can protect your horse.

If you send your horse to a livestock auction, and you recognize from Tbfriends a horse killer bidding, you can outbid him. And then search other options for your horse.

America is slow dancing this slaughter business. Crossing both borders with large trailers carrying doomed horses is done 3 and 4 times a week from Northern California. Sometimes more. We need all horse lovers to recognize horse killers. And road block their journey. Take away their earning power. Take away their ability to exploit our horses.

An extra day in February, and we could be 72 degrees. Enjoy your beautiful Friday, and be sure to hug your horses. The coffee is Folgers Deluxe, and pastries come from Costco. There are many of you who deserve special hellos, and a giant Thank You. I am way behind on computer things, but this weekend I hope to catch up. I appreciate your patience…

Joe

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Entries will be accepted from now until 3/11!

Coming Along

 

 

The progress Ink has made in this last month has been exciting and pleasing.  He pick’s up on things quickly and always tries to get it right.  I can only remember really riding him in the beginning and thinking, “oh this is going to be a long haul.”  Ink is such a tank and getting him on the bit eventually, was just way far out there.  I’m in love with how he feels now when he goes along soft in my hands and on the bit. 

Yeah, yesterday we did some more jumping again.  It was good practice for mom in the picture taking department.  Although she only got one of us actually going over the jump, I still give her props for the ones that did come out!  She’s getting ready to enter the contest =).

After the jumping, I just worked around the whole arena getting him to bend into the corners.  It was fun.

My mom rode Errika bareback and they did their own thing in between my mom taking shots.  Just the kind of day Errika likes.

Handsome Horse

Alas!  Some pictures to share with you guys!  Isn’t he looking great?

Errika had the day off.  She enjoyed a nice long grooming/pampering session from mom.  After I tacked Ink up, mom and Errika joined us out in the arena.  Errika nearly fell over because she was trying to nap.  I didn’t see it but my mom did.  The warm air, generous sun and grooming made Errika relax into high heaven and apparently she left her mind drift so far she forgot that she had four legs to keep on the ground.  My little sweet pea =D. 

Ink too, wanted to relax.  But he had to do some work.  In the beginning we walked and then trotted over a ground pole, did some circles and set up a small cross-rail to work over.  I must say he is getting jumping down pretty well.  He comes in deep sometimes, but he feels good other than that.  Mom said he looked nice over the jumps. 

For now we’re just working at the trot.  I figure that since we keep jumping light, it’s not an everyday thing, sometimes he gets weeks off for flat work and the jumps are small, we can work on a lot of jumping things in detail.  Like his confidence and mine.  (He’s come in deep sometimes and tripped over the jumps and it makes me a little jittery.)  He also can get a little rushy towards the jump, so I take my time and bring him back down if he gets a little too antsy.  Wee jumps are good just to help get things down, solid.  I know he doesn’t have a problem working over higher things, but it’s better we work our way up as well as properly developing muscles and strength. 

For the most part, at this point, I’m OK at jumping.  I’ve gotten rusty without having regular lessons.  I really miss jumping like I used to during weekly lessons.  I’d say Ink is better at jumping than I am.  Having days like this, I truly remember how much I loved jumping and dreamed of going big in stadium. 

I forgot to add this ealier but Ink is getting lighter and lighter in my hand all the time.  After jumping, he was so light.  Barely any movement from my hand made him bend on the bit.

VOTE for The Equus Ink in Blog Village

Blanket Question

Yay, it was clear outside today!  Oh California, how interesting the weather is.  I just got home from visiting with the horses and both were doing well. 

 When I was walking to the back, I noticed Errika’s new pink sheet, but I wasn’t supposed to be seeing that.  I was supposed to see her water-proof turn-out.  Where did it go?  When Matt and I got to the field, we found it lying by the gate directly across the field.  Lying a little off of the fence line.  It was strange because it looked like it had perfectly come over her head and set down.  There was nothing wrong with the fence or gate, nothing appeared like the blanket got caught or stuck on anything.  Plus to add to it the blanket was in perfect condition.  No rips, tears, nothing.  Her belly straps I cross, and they have a clip on the ends of them.  They aren’t those kind that you twist and place inside the opening.  And the were still attached?  How the heck did she manage to get the blanket over her head, and her legs through the belly straps?  Nothing was wrong with Errika, no marks, no place where something might of rubbed, no cuts.  She stood across the way watching me as I looked in confusion at the heap of blanket on the ground.  Errika gets pretty nervous about being in odd situations, so I can’t understand how the blanket managed to get away un-harmed.  I’m sure when she got to the point where her legs had to get through the crossed belly straps, she would have freaked out.  Most likely the blanket would have been lying out like it went through world war one, instead of just like someone came out and gently took it over her head.  Plus how the heck does a horse managed to get it that far over it’s body with the crossed belly straps???  Any ideas???  Has anyone had something like this happen before?

Of all the five years I’ve had this blanket, it’s been an amazing blanket and the fact that Errika is really gentle to them, I’ve NEVER had this happen.  All of the sudden, this winter has been horrible for blankets….

Rain, Storm.

It’s dark outside.  The skies scream “watch out, here I come!”  Usually if the weather is like this, T*** is shoeing horses in the barn.  But before he started working there, I used to bring the horses up out of the rain.  I’d slip on my rubber boots, grab a poncho and walk myself through the mud and muck to the horses and bring them up while we all fought the rain.  Those are the kinds of days where I really feel like a horse owner.

I might go over there to get them out of the rain for a few hours, but right now it’s coming down lightly. 

Our Friday

I know Ink has a good heart, he just is a jokester about a lot of things and sometimes he doesn’t know any better.  I was reading a blog about a rescued horse and in a way it reminded me of Ink.  The things I have and wanted to do with him on the ground, the expectations I had for him (once he developed manners), are all things that I had to work hard for.   I think it would be easier to do that if I actually had a horse that wanted to be openly taken under my “wing.”  But Ink acts like a tough dude and can be stubborn.  So I think I did the right thing by being gentle and patient in the beginning?  Now, however he knows what is right from wrong.  Through understanding, between his stubborn hissy-fits, he now knows that nipping or threatening to kick is a big no no.

Tonight Ink got his shoes done.  T*** trimmed them and reset the shoes.  Ink was good and was pretty patient and willing, he made me laugh just because he kept resting his head on T***’s shoulder and smelling his back, hair and behind lol.  But he lifted a hoof a few times when he got a little tissy.  When I first got Ink he kicked at everything, if you’ve read this blog you’ve probably heard me say this before, but he kicked at water, at anything that even attempted to upset him.  Now he’s much better, more understanding with people and other things.  I think it’s just been his reaction from life on the track.  Things such as kicking problems aren’t worked through or even prevented in that enviorment.  Often times it’s encouraged, as one man has told me.  I think most of us horse people have seen the move Seabiscuit?  He was such a lazy little horse and then he was a sour thing with a bad attitude about everything.  Ink was probably very much that when he was at the track.  He’s crossing over to his real self these days, a laid back hunk, with a cool persona.  Lazy - falls asleep when he’s shod, having his hooves picked, stretches his back leg right out to have his belly scratched, stands patiently and quietly for almost anything.

I see the horse within him and it’s been a dream to see it emerge.   

Blanket Whoa’s

Did you enter the TEI Contest Yet?!  http://inkeq.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/tei-contest-image-time-lapse/

 

My mom is becoming quite the photographer!

Rainy days inspire a lot of posting on the blog…

I updated a few things and changed the look.  That’s me and Ink up there on the header image :D.

Yesterday my mom and I went to the new horse store.  The people are so nice and if I’d give anyone money it would be them. 

I had to exchange a blanket my brother got me for Ink for Christmas, it was too small.  But I went out the other day to give grain and Ink has bits of cotton from his blanket in the field….  It was/is still usable, somewhat.  But it needs to be stitched up.  It, however, made it one more day.  We exchanged the new, small one, for a re-placement for the now destroyed blanket.  It’s a Weatherbeeta “Landa.”  It looks so good on him lol.  Well until the mud gets to it..

I also had a gift certificate to the same store from my brother as well and decided to buy Errika a new cotton sheet.  The one she was wearing under her waterproof turnout, wasn’t working well and kept sliding back.  It didn’t have belly straps, but for less than $20 it was OK.  I bought it new at the Horse Expo for that price.  But it was time for an upgrade.  Now she has a nice, pink, sheet.  It looks very classy lol. 

On top of that we decided to put Ink on a different grain.  The new grain is “Strategy” by Purina.  I had just enough left of the old grain to be able to switch him over slowly. 

Current Circumstance Pt 1

Did you enter the (TEI) Contest?  http://inkeq.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/tei-contest-image-time-lapse/

My mom and I have been reflecting today, on Ink and Errika, horses in general and some other horse-related subjects.  We often do this, just because we both have so much to talk about, horsey.  :)  My mom and I are good that way, we can’t well, shut up about horses.  Matt sometimes finds us talking for hours about them.  Needless to say she has as much love and compassion for them as I do, if not more.  She has a very big heart with room to spare. 

I’ve been keeping Errika at the same place for about five years now.  I was and am very thankful for having the opportunity to be invited to keep her there.  However in recent posts I have expressed some frustration with the situation at it’s current.  It’s not so much the owner of the property, the family friend, but the now third party who decided to march on in. 

I do love meeting new horse people, I’m open minded that way, but I’m not too fond of this particular one.  I’ve tried to be the bigger person, I mind my own, respect the enviornment and it’s residents (human and horse) and tend to get focused when I visit the horses.

For five years it was me and the owner.  Through her personal up’s and down’s, both my parents have been supportive of her situation and always done what they could.  That’s what friends do right?  

About 6-7 months ago a new person was invited to come and use the facilities.  At first I was excited because it ment that I could converse with another horse person.  Especially that this person was trainer, I knew I could get ask for some tips on working with Ink.  By no means was I anything less than inviting.  First off I don’t own the place, I just keep my horses there.  I respect the owner and I thought it was a good thing that she brought a trainer in. 

About 4 months ago things got sour.  I was fine with the person, I enjoyed hearing his/her opinions on things.  But the owner of the place wasn’t.  She complained about the trainer.  How he/she thought they were “God’s gift” and ignorant.  My mom listened to this.  We remained neutral because we didn’t want to involve ourselves with it. 

The owner stopped coming out to the barn, to avoid the trainer she hired on.  The trainer began helping me with Ink.  I thought it very generous but at the time I was still looking for a more formal english trainer, and this person did western activities.  I finally found a trainer to give me lessons on Ink and otherwise.  I’ve posted about her on here.  The day she, Meghan, came to the barn to give me a lesson on Ink, I saw a more rude side of the person.

To be continued…

TEI Contest! - Image Time Lapse

EDITED! Please re-read contest details.

Begins : 2/19/08         Voting Polls Open : 3/12/08       Ends : 3/15/08

I’m hosting a contest for all of you!

 All that is required is a digital camera and your photo skills. 

Go out and spend a day with your horse or with any horse you can capture on camera.  Take 5 clips (no more, no less, please.) ; of which are taken closely apart, of the horse(s) in action or doing whatever you wish to capture and enter it into the contest.   The contest will be voted by all of the general public who wishes to join in, from 3/12- 3/15.  The winner will be announced 3/16/08! 

Please send entries to inkeq@yahoo.com (not through comments on this blog) & don’t forget to include your name and blog address.

You may comment below with any questions etc.

Good luck to all entrants!  And most importantly, have fun!!   

Productive Ride

The dark skies are depressing.  I really miss the sun :(. 

My mom and I rode yesterday.  She rode Errika and I had a great ride on Ink! 

It was very productive, I worked on getting his neck and body to bend on circles, since he is a little stiff going right and tends to fall on his shoulder.  His jaw is really breaking loose and he goes on the bit much more easily now. I don’t ask much of him in terms of going on the bit at this point because he needs a lot of time to develop those muscles to hold it, but he’s getting the response down very well.  This was mostly done at the walk and I will continue to do that during the beginning and end of the rides. 

This is really funny..  Ink has been doing this a lot lately after we get done riding.  He will lift his back leg like a dog and stick his neck out and waits for me to scratch his belly.  He loooves his belly scratched, it’s just now he’s holding his leg up for me before I even do it! 

After I rode and un-tacked and scratched his belly, Matt let him out in the arena to roll.  It always feels good to him I’m sure, without his blankets on.  Apparently he had a lot of energy left and ran back and fourth after rolling bucking hugely as usual.  Then showing off his flashy trotting skills, haha. 

It rained today and is supposed to throughout the week, but it’s nothing bad as of now, so I think I’m going to head over there now to ride the big guy.