OMG! I found out today what caused Scarlet's scars!

[StarRidgeAcres]

I am absolutely beside myself.

I don't know how else to put it. I'm angry and I feel terrible for Scarlet. Yet part of me feels totally responsible for not judging the people better. I'm just dumbfounded.

I finally left a more forceful message with the people who had owned Scarlet for the last two years. They called me back today. We chatted and then I brought up the subject of the scaring. At first he was saying he was totally perplexed as to how she could have any scars, but the more I explained where they were and I said it was like she was wearing a belly rope he said "I think I know what caused it."

Get this... Her winter blanket kept coming off and they would find her shivering in the morning, so the put a BUNGIE CORD around her (over the blanket) to keep it in place!

It didn't occur to them that the part where there was no blanket - her stomach - it would be rubbing her raw! I was almost speechless.

These people came out to my house several times, I went to their place to look around. Their two riding horses looked good, the place was clean, the hay looked reasonable. He even did some work around my house and barn that had been neglected since my divorce. He built a retaining wall and fixed stuff in the barn. I thought they seemed like thoughtful people who would make good horsey parents. I really thought I'd found a good home. And then to do something so, frankly...STUPID. It just boggles my mind.

I feel so bad for Scarlet. I can't imagine how much that had to hurt having that bungie cord around her, tightly obviously, for who knows how long. They said they never noticed any blood or soreness.

 

[REO]

Holy crap Parm!!!

That poor baby!

People can be so thoughtless and dumb.

Thank God she is with you!

I hope you TOLD him what happened to her and how stupid that was so he can learn from their mistake!

 

[Riverrose28]

OMG! I'm so sorry to hear this, it is such a shame that they were so negligent as not to notice that she was being rubbed raw. But! Happy to know she is now in your loving care and not neglected any longer. bless her heart, I know she feels so grateful to be at last in a loving and caring home.

 

[Wings]

Oh my!

:shocked

Poor little girl! I can't believe they didn't have the brain power to consider that maybe getting a new rug that actually fit her was a better idea then strapping it to her and giving her scars! Some people!

 

[Becky]

I'm always amazed that people put 'things' on horses that the horse will either outgrow or need to be re-adjusted over time.

I have a 17 yr old mare here that I've only had since January. At some point in her life, she obviously had a halter left on that she either out grew or it become too tight from the scars across her nose. People need to check their equipment!

Glad you have Scarlet back now and she will receive the care she so rightfully deserves. And those show ring credits too!

 

[Taylor Richelle]

Grrr!!!! I hate ignorant people!!!!!

 

[Lizzie]

Aww. How sad for your little girl. However, you did your best in thinking they were the perfect home and must not blame yourself. People do such silly things and we have no way of knowing, when sending off our horses. Just be glad she is back with you and a happy littler person again.

Lizzie

 

[Carolyn R]

The are some crazy horse people out there! I would be livid! Sadly for every good horse owner out there, there are 10 like this! These types of scenarios are an enormous determining factor on why I gave up on breeding. It just isn't worth putting all that love, care, effort, time taken from my family, just to risk someone treating them like this!

You placed her in what you thought was a good home, sometimes you can never tell how it will end up or if they will fall into someone elses hands (in an unfavorable situation).

 

[Marty]

I know plenty of very nice people who are so kind and generous and all good, but would never make a good animal parent. Some people simply do not have any common horse sense when it comes to animal care. I also know a lot of people that are wonderful but take horrendous care of their animals too. They either don't care or just don't know any better. In this day and age I feel there is no excuse for ignorance when it comes to pet care. If you have an eye to see, an ear to hear, there's no excuse period.

I'm so sorry about Scarlet.

 

[Charlotte]

All I can say is 'Good Grief'.

 

[MajorClementine]

This is where I take my hat off to you breeders who routinely sell minis. You guys are amazing people because it makes my stomach hurt just to think about having to find a worthy home for any of my animals. You all work so hard to find perfect homes that will take care of your foals and then something like this happens. Especially after you go out and visit their farm to make sure that things look on the up and up. A bungee cord??? Really?? Some people just aren't meant to have animals. So glad she is out of there and with you now.

 

[Tremor]

I'm sorry, but I'm going to go against the grain on this one; with the people who are saying that some people shouldn't own horses and etc.

From what the OP posted, this is ONE thing that has wrong wrong in some guy's horse ownership trials. YOU don't know why he used a bungee cord. Money issues maybe? The economy is crap so its likely. From the OP it sounds like these horses are fed, kept warm, separated to prevent injuries, happy, and healthy.

I'm sure ALL of you have had minor incidences where what you have done for something horse related was not up to par. I will admit that I have many of those moments. I could name them to you and there'd be quiet a list. I'm sure ALL of you have had moments likes this that you've LEARNED from. Mistakes happen and you learn from it.

I'm finding that the responses on this thread are hypocritical and rude.

Look in the mirror before you judge somebody else.

I'm sorry, but I've been a member of forums since 2006 and have learned that people are MUCH too quick to judge; especially when it comes to horse forums. This is one of those instances.

 

[Eagle]

I am not in anyway getting into a discussion here but i just want to say Tremor that it isn't normal to have accidents. I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I don't. My horse live in a safe environment, all their rugs fit, they never wear halters alone and they are checked 2 daily. Also It isn't acceptable to hurt an animal because you have money problems, I am sure the OP would have helped the owner in some way if she was told that Scarlet was cold and shaking. I am not criticising this person but I am doubting their behaviour.

I understand just how bad it feels to sell a horse and see it all go badly wrong but please don't dwell on what happened as she is luckily back home in your care.

 

[Tremor]

I am not in anyway getting into a discussion here but i just want to say Tremor that it isn't normal to have accidents. I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I don't. My horse live in a safe environment, all their rugs fit, they never wear halters alone and they are checked 2 daily. Also It isn't acceptable to hurt an animal because you have money problems, I am sure the OP would have helped the owner in some way if she was told that Scarlet was cold and shaking. I am not criticising this person but I am doubting their behaviour.

I understand just how bad it feels to sell a horse and see it all go badly wrong but please don't dwell on what happened as she is luckily back home in your care.

So nobody on this forum has ever made a mistake and learned from it?

Sorry, but your reply is making me take this so seriously since you say that it ISN'T normal to have accidents (or mistakes). I grew up learning that to make mistakes was human and you better learn from them if you want to get anywhere in life. If you don't then you're gonna sit surrounded by the same mistake and nothing is going to get done.

I have a very safe environment, they don't wear halters alone, and they're fed twice a day. I use whatever money I have to pay for feed and supplies. I don't have to (my mom would pay for it), but I still do it. I still made mistakes.

Sorry for going off on you but it annoys me that the general public doesn't think that making mistakes is normal. And accidents ARE normal too btw.

The concept you are speaking of is Utopian. Only in a Utopian society would accidents NOT be normal. If you live in a Utopian mindset or even society then please do count me out of it. I make mistakes and I am proud of them because I learn from them.

Had I of been that man I would NOT have bought a new blanket because I wouldn't have been able to. I cannot afford to buy horse blankets for all seven of my horses. I would have done anything in my power to make that blanket work. I am slightly inclined to use a needle and thread, as would my mother who had worked a sewing machine for 25 years. That blanket would have been made new. Not thrown away because I cannot afford the luxury of winter blankets.

The bungee cord, yes I can see the man's sense in that just because I have lived with my father and know his thinking. He's the same way. Had I have been left with the bungee cord option only I would have probably wrapped the mare's belly with something so that she wouldn't chafe.

That is all.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Tremor, these are two grown adults with jobs, a home, vehicles, etc. Yes, there IS a certain expectation as to their level of common sense. And these two adults should have known better than to put an obviously tight cord around a horses belly. We are not talking about a cinch or some other padded piece of equipment meant for such use. We are talking about a devise meant to tie down equipment you're hauling on the roof of your car, etc. Would you ever think it acceptable to use a bungie conf to hold up a child's pants? No, because it might restrict their breathing, make digestion difficult and/or rub sores where it may end up touching the skin.

This was MAJOR stupidity on the part of these two. Was it done with malice? No. But still a huge lapse in judgement for two adults.

This was not a money issue! This was stupidity and a huge lapse in judgement.

 

[ruffian]

I am not in anyway getting into a discussion here but i just want to say Tremor that it isn't normal to have accidents. I can honestly say with my hand on my heart that I don't. My horse live in a safe environment, all their rugs fit, they never wear halters alone and they are checked 2 daily. Also It isn't acceptable to hurt an animal because you have money problems, I am sure the OP would have helped the owner in some way if she was told that Scarlet was cold and shaking. I am not criticising this person but I am doubting their behaviour.

I understand just how bad it feels to sell a horse and see it all go badly wrong but please don't dwell on what happened as she is luckily back home in your care.

Accidents CAN and DO happen! I had a mare fall down a ditch bank that she had lived with for 10 years and drown in 10" of water.

I sold a horse and along the way the transporter decided to blanket him. He had about 5" of winter hair and fat, and wasn't cold, but the driver decided he would be more comfortable. When he arrived at his destination, the blanket had made a mark around the neckline that took weeks to disappear. The new owner called to chastise me, until I told her he hadn't left HERE with a blanket on!

I had a mare put her eye out on a branch. Little King's Buck Echo, World Grand Champion stallion came out of the pasture missing an eye. I'm pretty sure they pay attention to safety issues at their farm.

A friend used rubber bungees to secure his gates. The hooks were always on the outside. Came out one day to find a mare with the cord stuck up her nose. How the heck that happened he never did find out.

Some horses refuse to keep their blankets on. Was this a lapse in judgement? Perhaps. Was it intentional? probably not. IMO it sounds like he was trying to make the horse more comfortable with the blanket that she kept getting off.

 

[Minimor]

Accidents most certain can and do occur, even to those with the best of intentions.

Gosh, when I read the title to this thread I was picturing something really bad, like "they staked the horse out but didn't have any rope so they used WIRE in place of the stake rope" or something on a par with that. Believe me, securing a blanket with a bungee cord is pretty minor compared to some of the stupid things people have done to their horses!

Maybe the cord wasn't tight when they put it on, but when the horse got the blanket shifted around it tightened the cord...not something I'd have done/used, but I can see where some would have thought it was a good idea.

I once bought a riding horse that came to me with scars under his belly--cinch shaped scared caused by scalding/rubbing from the cinch, and I have no doubt that this particular horse was made to keep working, cinch sores & all. Know a local trainer who was doing the same thing, soring his training horses & then continuing to work them without even bothering to try and pad the cinch to prevent it from making things worse--no worries about making the horse comfortable...that's a thousand times worse in my opinion and THAT is something that doesn't count as an accident--that is sheer, blind stupidity/cruelty and shows someone that has no concern about an animal's comfort. At least in this case, with the soring caused by the bungee cord, the owner was attempting to make the horse comfortable by blanketing her to keep her warmer.

 

[StarRidgeAcres]

Accidents most certain can and do occur, even to those with the best of intentions.

Gosh, when I read the title to this thread I was picturing something really bad, like "they staked the horse out but didn't have any rope so they used WIRE in place of the stake rope" or something on a par with that. Believe me, securing a blanket with a bungee cord is pretty minor compared to some of the stupid things people have done to their horses!

Minor??? Did you read my original post that talked abour the scars? Her underbelly looks like a Ruffles potato chip. She has scar tissue from one side of her belly to the other, about 2-3" wide. She was kept in a TIGHT cord for at least weeks, maybe longer. She had to have bled, her hair had to have been matted with the blood and torn flesh. Minor? I guess I've learned something new today.

 

[Ashley]

They may not have even noticed or smelt anything. I have a gelding here that ever since being gelded can not drop to pee. I did not notice this the first winter after the fact. Because of this he would pee on his belly causing hair loss and raw skin. I did not realize this until spring when I went to clip him. So it is easy to "miss" things. This gelding is also accident prone, he has fallen out of the trailer down the freeway, he has tore open his upper leg to the bone and we never did find where or how in his pasture. Things do happen, not everything can be prevented.

 

[Carolyn R]

I am sorry, I have to agree with Parmela on this. When I have a blanket on a horse, I am checking around the neck for mane rubbing, checking under the blanket to see if they feel too hot, checking and if need be adjusting the straps and so on AT EACH FEEDING if not more often. This isn't something that happened one day into the next, or by keeping a blanket on for a day or two. Sorry to say it, but with many, once the newness wares off, the bare essentials like hay over the fence and water are all that is provided while the owners busy schedule consumes the rest of their day and they hurry off.

Tremor, if it were your horse, would you be checking for ware, checking to make sure they weren't too hot, checking to see if the blanket was too tight or too loose, Of course you would, and I am sure that you would notice any cuts, gulling, or chaffing and try to remedy it immediately. I don't think you would have a blanket, or the same blanket on for days or possibly a few weeks on end without checking it.

Accidents do happen, but it is about observation and being vigilant, knowing your animals and spending time with them on a daily basis.