Mermaid Shimmer by uotapo
http://ift.tt/2nbXhWV
Submitted March 21, 2017 at 10:22PM by Bluegodzill
via reddit http://ift.tt/2mT8byq
Yesterday at 6:00 PM my horse had to be put to sleep to end his suffering. I should be sad, but all I can feel is intense and all-consuming rage.
I only had him for a month, he was only 12 years old. My mother got him for free from a woman (a disgusting cunt who deserves to suffer the way my horse suffered), she told us he had been a show horse. His nose had been previously broken and he was practically a skeleton, not to mention his behavior.
It was obvious to me that the bitch had abused him, but my mother bought the woman's story that he was like that because he spent all his time in a stall (which is abuse, according to me and anyone who loves their horse).
Anyway, my mom took him in and boarded him at the same stable we board our foal. We thought he was getting better, he gained weight and seemed to enjoy the freedom of being outdoors for probably the first time in his life. Then all of a sudden three days ago he went into collick, but the collick wasn't just a collick. The vet discovered he had an ulcer, his intestines were twisted around, and he was suffering from a variety of things. He suffered for three days only to die horribly.
He was freezing cold, his muscles were spasming uncontrollably, and he was covered in his own piss and shit because he didn't have the strength to stand up. So we put him down. He didn't live a good life and he didn't have a good death. He won't have his vengeance either, because my mother refuses to tell me who this woman is. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't hurt another human being physically unless I absolutely had to, but she deserves every word I would have said to her, that's the least I could have done for him and it's the least she deserves. My mother called her to let her know he had died, how sweet of her.
To the woman who murdered my horse: May the rest of your days be spent in the unrelenting misery you inflicted upon my horse.
Argh, so I'm in a tough position.
The owner of the horse I'm leasing wants to sell him to me, and I want to both look after the lease horse AND get a horse with more education that is a bit younger.
The owner wants to sell because of financial difficulties. She can't afford to keep him anymore, so I think I'd feel guilty if I didn't take him. I don't think he'd end up dog food, but I have no idea what his future plans would be.
I don't know what to choose. Either way I feel that there's win/lose elements.
I didn't want to buy the lease horse because he's older (will be 20 this year), has conformation issues, and is not trained to do anything. That being said, he's been a great lease, taught me a lot, and been a "friend".
And for my riding ambitions I think I'd prefer a smaller breed and a horse around 8 years old that has had some training. I think this could really be something that might lead to lots of fun over a longer time.
What do you think reddit? Be good guy leaser and buy this horse or be the person that chases the dream? Either way, whatever horse I end up with gets to stay with me for life.
Here is the stuff no one tells you about this job, my job.
A little background..I am a top "natural horsemanship" trainer, number 1 in my country. I have done it for over 25 years, and am highly regarded in my industry. I always remain professional in every dealing I have with clients, and there are few problems I haven't been confronted with and fixed for people.
I constantly here the phrase, "what you do must be so rewarding", and for a long time it was. But I have to say, it has become something I hate.
Being a horse whisperer sucks. I am so sick of carrying the burden of fixing peoples problem horses. Again and again I am called out to someone who made a poor horse buying decision and want me to fix it quickly and cheaply.
They absolve themselves of any responsiblity for A. Buying a horse they can't handle, usually for way too much money. B. Rescuing a problem horse while having 0 horse experience. C. Ruining a young horse through poor handling. D. Paying someone else to ruin a young horse for them.
Then I get a call and all off a sudden the burden of fixing these bad horse decisions land on me. Most people don't even address an issue until the horse has hurt themselves or someone else. Then all of a sudden it is deemed a "problem".
Im so tired of people calling me up and asking me how to fix something dangerous and complicated because they don't want to pay to have me come fix it. When they do have me come, they complain about the price, they complain about having to learn a new way of doing things, they have excuse after excuse as to why I need to just fix it, because they don't have the time or energy to learn how to do it for themselves. Then 2 weeks later they are calling because the problem is returning because they were to lazy to do any of the things I told them to do.
I feel like I am running in circles. Horses are easy, people are stubborn, lazy, and egotistical. A horse is a mirror, and I can only do so much.
A horse whisperer is not a magician, as magical as it all seems. We can accomplish great things with horses fairly quickly, and people can and do ruin those things just as quickly. Our job is dangerous and stressful, as we take all the risk and burden of peoples poor horse decisions. People don't call until the problems are out if control, and it is one of the most frustrating situations ever.
I've grown to hate the thing I love, because of the people.
I hold a great amount of awe for some of the old time horsemen such as Ray Hunt and Tom Dorrance, as they put up with this sort of bs for years.
I can't put this anywhere, not on facebook, not on my website, not anywhere, so it will go here, and hopefully by venting I can carry on, at least a bit longer.
Thank you for listening.