The February issue of H&R includes a special-report feature on the breeding recession currently underway in the horse world.

I do not now, nor have I ever bred horses, but I do think that breeding will certainly (and should) decline, especially in the current economic climate when quality, trained horses cannot even find homes easily. The only horses that should be bred, in my opinion, are those who are high class premium performance or breed horses, or else horses that truly further their breed. There are plenty of good, sound riding horses who need homes right now, and breeding backyard horses will only make the number of unwanted horses go up. That being said, I hope that people who continue to breed regardless of these facts are willing to make a lifetime commitment to the foals they produce.

I was  very disappointed in Juli's February segment. I'm actually very wary on the fact that Juli highlighted Fugly Horse of the Day and feel that Horse and Riders journalism credibility is shot. FHotD is a crudely written blog with constant use of profanity and it has now been highlighted in a magazine that younger viewers are going to be exposed to. While Cathy's blog FHotD might have started off in educating, it more turned into a bashing and personal vendetta. It is not something I would want my children or grand children reading. On top of that, credit was given where it wasn't due. Cathy, the FHotD blog writer, preaches on the plight of horse over population and people keeping less worthy stallions intact. But the truth is that she herself has a stallion that is anything but worthy of breeding. In fact, her stallion already has several colts on the ground and her stallion is an untrained, unshown horse. Many in the horse community have abandoned her blog due to the fact of her hypocricy. You would think that someone who preaches about horse over-population would castrate her own stallion, right?

I guess I should also mention that while Juli spoke about color trends- FHotD blogger, Cathy's stallion is buckskin and nicknamed VLC- seems he too is being kept intact more for his color and size, rather than his show credits.

As far as breeding, I don't know where the trends are heading. Horse's seem to be more of a status rather than lifestyle now, which is sad.

 

 

I figured I would add Cathy's other blog where she blogs about her stallion troubles.  

http://verylargecolt.blogspot.com/

FHOTD might have started out trying to do good, but after seeing her other blog: http://verylargecolt.blogspot.com

 

and seeing her personal stallion and then reading how he's unproven in the ring, green broke, has already been lame, already has two  babies on the ground, this is one of them:

http://verylargecolt.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2008-12-09T01%3A02%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

 

What makes her so different then the people she is constantly bashing?  FHOTD might have started out trying to do good, but to me, the author of it is just a hypocrite now.

 

Edited: I'm not sure why my links didn't work, but they can be copied and pasted into the address bar and they will take you to her other site.

 

 

 

 Well, before people get too carried away bashing Cathy for bashing (which I find quite amusing), please get your facts straight. 

The two foals that were sired by her Very Large Colt (VLC) were NOT bred by her.  They were sired BEFORE she owned him, so you can't really blame her for that.

As for her plans for him, he will NOT be bred unless he does prove himself in the showring, so you can't really say she is breeding an unproven stallion either.

Folks are welcome to their opinions about her writing style that is fine, but seriously, be accurate in your accusations at least.  I personally enjoy FHOTD, thought it may not be for everyone, and have seen firsthand the successful education that blog has accomplished.  So I thank H&R for highlighting it as an effective outreach tool.

The foals may well have been sired prior to the stud's purchase by Cathy, but he has been handled by amateurs all the way along.  Just because you stand an inferior stallion doesn't mean you've better knowlege than other individuals...it only means that you haven't done your homework.  You cannot justify breeding this inferior stallion to anything.   As far as "proving himself in the show pen"...he's in for a huge struggle as better conformed stallions with better  bloodlines are out there now and will be his main competition.   I don't see him being competitive to ANY of them.  He has already injured himself with a stifle injury to boot so keeping him sound may also be an issue.  By the way, we haven't "accused" anyone of anything....unless you feel his owner is ignorant and I'd have to agree on that one.  She's in for an ass whupping.  No teacher like experience....be my guest.   

Hi Juli

What does 100,000 horses look like? If you and I assembled this many broodmares in one location and hired someone in a plane to take an aerial photo of this group, what would this photo look like? I am overwhelmed just thinking about this. Try as I may, I just could not get past this very large number.

You present a wide range of viewpoints to consider, over the impact that a reduced number of breeding horses will have upon the entire horse community. For many years, longer than I can remember, the Quarter Horse community has been a successful model for other breed communities to emulate. I am sure that we will all continue to watch the AQHA, as they shepherd their community out of the recession. However, in the meantime, as Al Dunning expressed, I recognize the concern over the loss of genetic diversity in a breed or rather, the number of choices that a breeder will ultimately have, should they need to go outside their program, to correct flaws. How big will this problem ultimately become for a future breeder? I am an Arabian Horse enthusiast and within the smaller world of the bloodlines I enjoy, this dilemna keeps getting more serious for us. What is the politically-correct answer for an owner of mares with rare and endangered bloodlines? I recently purchased a Serr Maariner daughter and would like to breed her at least once, for a replacement.

With less number of horses, how will this affect the many businesses that service and support the community? If the volume of horses continues to decline, will the loss in volume result in higher prices for us, for any goods or services that we will still need to purchase?

While I recognize the possibly good benefits that a decline in the breeding culture may have, in terms of reducing the number of unproven stallions, standing at ridiculously high stud fees or the indiscriminate breeding of cross-bred horses, I do fear the impact on these 100,000 broodmares, who will find themselves without a home, adding to the already large problem of unwanted horses.

Sorry to be a bit negative...it's a bit scary to consider all that may happen to our horses, over the next 5 - 10 years.

Best wishes and great job! I hope others will read your report thoroughly and move to solution-oriented activity!

Ralph

 

Wow, sounds like there are some seriously bitter H&R readers.  While I don't personally agree with Cathy's decision to keep a stud, I DO see the value of much of the education she does.  I DO agree 100% with outing folks who starve, torture, neglect, and otherwise do wrong by horses.  In fact, her challenge in her most recent post is for folks who have the means to go out and rescue an animal (dog, horse, cat, rabbit, whatever) from a reputable rescue -- I can't fault encouragement for causes like that.  Guess what?  There are a lot of us who read her blog that don't slavishly agree with every word, thought, or action she has -- but then again, that's not what the blog is for.

There are many other professionals out there in the horse world that are better informed and are better teachers than the editor of the FHOTD blog.  I'd rather take instruction from one of them than to put up with a novice whose knowledge is limited.  We also have the Humane Society of the United States which which instructs people on the care of animals and things to watch out for...negligence, and the abuse of animals by other parties.  Too much weight is given to the editor of this blog....as though there is true legitimacy to her comments. She has created a group of "minions" who are unable to think on their own and leave it to her for direction.  Scary stuff.

 

 

 

    

Ummmm, I'm not a minion.  And the more folks speaking out for animal welfare, the better!   

 

I'm all for speaking out on animal welfare. I am however against my children seeing someone as hypocritical as Cathy being highlighted and rewarded for her crudeness and 'do as I say, not as I do' attitude. I have 2 daughters and a son that have subscriptions to H&R and my oldest grand daughter is also an avid reader. I just hate that Cathy had to be used as an example for animal wellness and speaking out against abusers and over breeders- especially when there are so many better examples out there, and most of them don't have inferior stallions.

 If Cathy cleaned up her language and would practice as she preaches I would not have an issue with this. I feel that a much better example could have been made rather than highlighting Cathy and her blog.

I occasionally read the FHOTD blog, and I’m having difficulty understanding why a “horse lover” would bash the blog. Yes she uses a strong language, but I understand that she (and many others that care for horses) is very frustrated with the way things are-I know I am. Personally I’m glad that she is not afraid to expose corrupt “rescues”, unethical and abusive “trainers” & owners, uncontrolled and ignorant “breeders” that contribute to problem of unwanted horses. In her own way, she is rather successfully drawing attention to important issues that the horse industry faces today and giving voice to those that have none.

There are many "horse lovers" of very long standing bashing her blog as they take issue with her novice advice and the profance language used  by her "sheep".  Give credit to the the professional organizations out there who work 24/7 educating people and rescuing horses and other animals from dire abuse and negligence.  These folks are the ones deserving of acknowlegement and support.  "FUGLY" isn't stating anything that hasn't been said before.   

 And I for one am happy to support anyone who is making a real effort and DO give credit where credit is due.  I'm a huge supporter of other folks working long and hard to make a difference to animals, like USERL's NC chapters that I have visited and some fabulous folks in our area doing informal dog and cat rescue.  And those are just ones I have personal experience with.  If it's a repeat message, that's fine because it certainly doesn't seem to be sinking in for the world at large -- maybe if enough people pitch a fit, eventually we will reach critical mass.  But we each fight it in our own way and no one way will suit everyone.  And I appreciate everyone who stands up in the fight, even if I don't agree with all of their personal choices or horse training methods (good lord, who EVER agrees on those).    

Thats the thing, FHOTD doesn't expose them. She finds all her information with a simple google. You think she was the one to break the news of cleve wells? No, that news has been out there for years. She gets her information from the internet and has been known to even give misinformation.

So please don't sit there and try and play the you're not a horse lover if you bash her blog. I am a horse lover, I'm also an educator, and a student of life. She doesn't provide any more information nor does she shed light on anything new. People give her to much credit- all she's doing is taking information she gathers from a google or yahoo search and slap a few profanities and calls herself a blog.

 Sheesh, people act like she's curing the world of the animal neglect and abuse. Sadly, in todays world- that will never happen. Cruelty and the overpopulation are not going to be solved because of a blog.