Dallas ponies part IV

[Caol Ila]

It's me going on about Dallas ponies, again. But it's a fluid and increasingly sh1t situation.

Here's the recap: My little Highland came from the Dallas estate in Morayshire, once a reputable Highland breeder but the owner gave up on things like responsibility and giving [Inappropriate content removed] and turned everything loose on the 2000 acre estate to breed indiscriminately. Eventually, there were too many stallions, horrendous fights, death, injury. In 2011, World Horse Welfare stepped in and organized a round-up, where everything was microchipped, and all the males (including Fin, who was a weanling-age colt) were gelded. Some were sold, but about 60 went back to live out their lives on the estate, totally feral.

Fin was one of 18 horses rounded up and sold on in 2018. There were still 40-50 wild horses on the estate at that time.

In my efforts to learn more about the Dallas ponies, I became friends with two women who knew and loved the herd. They told me more than I ever could have wanted about my pony's background. They have been keeping track of the herd since 2011, and one has been making regular visits to Dallas to check on everyone. Her most recent visit was July of this year. Earlier this summer, the three of us learned that a dodgy dealer, based in Fife, bought 14 ponies from Dallas, and they disappeared amongst the dodgy dealer network, spread from Scotland to Shropshire. When we came across their adverts, they were advertised as domestic ponies who needed a bit of retraining, NOT bloody ferals. One ended up with a knowledgeable owner. The others were portrayed as green domestic ponies, often with their ages being played fast and loose - and they all have passports and microchips but people play fast and loose with those as well - and we don't know where they went. That is obviously a problem on many counts, but then there's MacDuff.

He appeared at the Clitheroe auction on August 5th, emaciated and ill. Someone probably starved him to make him more compliant. This horse was in great shape when he was on the estate (yes, we have photos). Looked like a Highland pony. He was bought by a woman at the auction, who contacted one of my friends, and we set-up some crowdfunding to buy him and transport him to a foster home in the Borders. He arrived safely and his foster mum is doing everything she can to get him healthy again. His vet bills will be large, so any ongoing support is helpful to his fosterer, a saint among humans who took in a sick, feral horse.



There are still 36 horses on the Dallas estate. Allegedly, they have all been sold to the dodgy dealer, and we have heard that he will be returning soon to collect more. They cannot legally be sold for meat. And this guy is not going to be honest about the background of these horses. Some will be lucky. Others could easily end up like MacDuff. World Horse Welfare gives zero shits (I emailed them, as did a handful of other Dallas pony owners) and said the owner can sell the horses to whomever he likes, which is true, but you have displaced, frightened feral horses, who have never known anything but their herd, the youngest of which are 10. Most are much older. How do you think that's going to go?

There is nothing we can do except watch sales sites and auctions, and if you see unregistered Highland ponies for sale with some disingenuous information about them needing "rebacking," you know who they are. And help MacDuff, if you can. Follow and share his page.

https://www.facebook.com/MacDuff-of-Auchness-103485082495387

 

[The Xmas Furry]

I've read some of this over Facebook recently, those poor ferals!

 

[stangs]

Poor things. I suspect it's not that WHW doesn't care, but rather that they know they don't have the authority to do anything.

If some of the horses have gone all the way down to Shropshire, might it be worth writing to EMW to see if they know of anything or are able to help at all? The sad thing is that these poorer quality lots end up 'disappearing' from the Internet - they're not on the catalogue as they show up as last minute entries, and then they never make it to the sales report. I wish I could say that writing to the auctioneers would help, but I suspect that would achieve just about nothing unless a big media storm was incited.

Do we know the dealer's name?

 

[palo1]

What a very sad story; the original WHW action looked really good - organised and well handled but I guess that leaving a number of ponies was a risk. That risk has now come to bear on these poor horses. I am glad there are people who have their back even though it will be very difficult to help them or even find them. So sad. I am glad that Fin and McDuff have been lucky and hopefully there will have been many other lucky ones. Gawd.

 

[Highmileagecob]

Would alerting The British Veterinary Association be of any help? A vet is likely to come across these horses sooner or later, and if they are all microchipped then at least a true history could be passed on - or at the very least, someone should be checking that microchip details match the passport. It is a very sad affair. Poor horses.

 

[Regandal]

Poor, poor pony. Is the dealer a Mr L based in Kirkcaldy?

 

[tda]

Does anyone know where that mare that was advertised recently ended up ?
It's a sad ongoing situation , I'm sure some of them have settled in normal homes

 

[wills_91]

I've followed this a little on Friday as well. It's very sad. Can you name and shame dealer and flood FB with who it is?

 

[jnb]

Where in Shropshire have they allegedly ended up? I am local and know a very forceful welfare oriented person who will get involved if required!

 

[Caol Ila]

I've read some of this over Facebook recently, those poor ferals!

Yes, my friends have been aggressively spamming Facebook with their story. I'm one of the engineers behind the scenes.

Poor things. I suspect it's not that WHW doesn't care, but rather that they know they don't have the authority to do anything.

If some of the horses have gone all the way down to Shropshire, might it be worth writing to EMW to see if they know of anything or are able to help at all? The sad thing is that these poorer quality lots end up 'disappearing' from the Internet - they're not on the catalogue as they show up as last minute entries, and then they never make it to the sales report. I wish I could say that writing to the auctioneers would help, but I suspect that would achieve just about nothing unless a big media storm was incited.

Do we know the dealer's name?

Yes, we do but we can't say that on HHO.

MacDuff was not in a catalogue. He was a last minute drop-off, and the chain of custody is opaque. Some kid left him and ran away. We found him as a result of our social media spam campaign. Someone in the Friendly Highland Pony FB group, who's daughter was at the auction, said that daughter was horrified to see two Highlands going through (the other was not from Dallas). One in appalling condition. The woman who bought MacDuff knew who my friend was through her prolific posts and contacted her to say she had him, and did we want him. That's what kicked off his rescue and move to the Borders.

Poor, poor pony. Is the dealer a Mr L based in Kirkcaldy?

Aye.

Does anyone know where that mare that was advertised recently ended up ?
It's a sad ongoing situation , I'm sure some of them have settled in normal homes

Yes, we do! She was bought by a lovely lady who seems to be doing a really nice job gentling her. Lucky mare.

I've followed this a little on Friday as well. It's very sad. Can you name and shame dealer and flood FB with who it is?

We kind of did that after MacDuff was discovered. It may have backfired. The dealer wised up to the naming and shaming, and that's when he posted on his FB page that he had talked the owner into selling him the remaining 36, as a "f*ck you" gesture.

Where in Shropshire have they allegedly ended up? I am local and know a very forceful welfare oriented person who will get involved if required!

I can PM you. I don't know how many are left at her place. She tried to auction them for £1200 reserve, and none sold. She's also been in contact with my friend, and showed her a picture of a dun pony being ridden by a large lad, with what looked like a rope bit. A couple have popped up at other dealers. They are really hard to find as these people advertise on their own FB sites, but some show up on things like "Quality Horses and Ponies." One of the reasons I'm posting here again. The more eyes the better.

Two of the missing 10 horses (we have accounted for 4 of those 14) are old ex-band stallions. One of them - the horse on the right - was Fin's sire. We are very worried about them, as they will probably not be amenable to gentling. They're tightly pair bonded, despite being stallions before the round up when the fighting was at its peak, and it's unlikely the poor guys are still together now.

 

[holeymoley]

It's an awful situation. A friend had shared the grey on fb. We have a young highland on the yard at the moment, he's a nice chap but knows his size as hasn't been taught manners. I certainly wouldn't like to be in the same position with feral unhandled ones.

 

[Caol Ila]

It's an awful situation. A friend had shared the grey on fb. We have a young highland on the yard at the moment, he's a nice chap but knows his size as hasn't been taught manners. I certainly wouldn't like to be in the same position with feral unhandled ones.

When they throw their weight around, you notice. Luckily my horse has a ton of "try," as Mark Rashid would say, and he only says no when he's quite scared. He rides like something that is light and forward. Might be the Welsh side of him, lol.

 

[twiggy2]

Why can they not be sold for meat?
Is it just due to passport status?

 

[Caol Ila]

Why can they not be sold for meat?
Is it just due to passport status?

Yes. The passports, as duplicates, sign them out of the meat chain.

 

[Wishfilly]

I also saw about the Shropshire situation on one of the dodgy dealer groups. Although it *may* have backfired in some ways, at least the word being shared on here and on facebook means more people are alert to the situation and may question things if they see an older, unbacked Highland for sale. I wonder if a general information post shared on facebook would be a good idea.

It's one reason I'd always get a 2 stage vetting done, as well- unfortunately a significant minority of people play fast and loose with passport and microchipping rules.

 

[Glitter's fun]

It may have backfired. The dealer wised up to the naming and shaming, and that's when he posted on his FB page that he had talked the owner into selling him the remaining 36, as a "f*ck you" gesture

That may just be bravado. He will have substantial costs (not to mention bruises and disgruntled employees!) from catching and transporting them. He seems to be passing them on to other dealers. They seem to be struggling to get to a low reserve price at auction so the "wholesale" price will hopefully be too low for him to try again .

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

Yup he’s a bin end dealer. He can buy them and pass them on but the chances are this will back fire for him as the dealers won’t be able to sell them or if they do it won’t be profitable. He’s not got a bloody brain in his head if th thought he could take these ponies and make a profit registered or not. It was a well publicised case.

The old owner needs a boot up the @r$e as well for doing this, especially to that tw@t for the meat money he’d have paid him for them a head.

 

[Caol Ila]

That may just be bravado. He will have substantial costs (not to mention bruises and disgruntled employees!) from catching and transporting them. He seems to be passing them on to other dealers. They seem to be struggling to get to a low reserve price at auction so the "wholesale" price will hopefully be too low for him to try again .

Yup he’s a bin end dealer. He can buy them and pass them on but the chances are this will back fire for him as the dealers won’t be able to sell them or if they do it won’t be profitable. He’s not got a bloody brain in his head if th thought he could take these ponies and make a profit registered or not. It was a well publicised case.

The old owner needs a boot up the @r$e as well for doing this, especially to that tw@t for the meat money he’d have paid him for them a head.

That's exactly what I said when the dealer wrote that he'd spoken to James and bought the rest of the ponies. It was his response to my friends going on social media and linking MacDuff to him. He did not dump the pony at the auction, but he was part of the chain that led to him being there. It seemed stupid and crazy - and slightly dangerous - to buy more, when they clearly aren't very saleable. I hoped it was all talk. However, I have secondhand info that he might be returning to the estate to collect more ponies.

The only entertaining part of that mishegoss was the fact when my friends contacted him in May, after hearing he'd captured some Dallas ponies and seeing his FB posts, he completely denied that his Highlands were the unbroke ferals from aforesaid estate. You really want to cross-examine this guy. Or have Daily Show style graphics showing his contradictory statements.

The owner won't win horse owner of the year for letting this happen in the first place. Responsible breeders/owners obviously don't turn their stock loose and them run feral and breed with whatever until it becomes a welfare situation! But letting them live out their lives on the estate or moving them on in a responsible manner would have been a start. Selling them to bin-end dealers with the moral compass of Donald Trump is probably the worst outcome for these horses.

 

[Regandal]

Are they pure Highlands?

 

[Caol Ila]

Are they pure Highlands?

Nope! The breeder (using that loosely) winged Welsh sec D, TB, ID, and Arab into the herd. I think Foinavon has some Welsh going on. His front end and his personality aren’t all Highland.

 

[Caol Ila]

The wife of the dealer in question has posted a photo of a beautiful bay Highland-type pony, with the heading, "My favourite."

The pony is called Mr. Handsome, and he's over 20 years old. Before the 2011 round-up, he was one of the lead band stallions. He's quite stiff behind. He was one of the 18 ponies who was captured in 2018, and he ended up at my friend's place. He was miserable and not tolerating domestic life, and he wanted nothing to do with humans. At one point, he even escaped but upon realizing that he had no idea where he was, plodded back to my friend's farm. She has a lot of experience with ferals, including other ponies from Auchness, and she tried every gentling method she knew, but eventually, she approached the estate owner and got him to agree to let her bring the pony back to Dallas. Reuniting him with his herd brought tears to the eyes of all involved. Mr. Handsome was utterly overjoyed when he met his wife again and had his freedom back.

My friend will comment on the FB page, but that can (and probably will be) deleted.

On another note, does anyone know of any horse magazines/publications who would be interested in the whole story of Mr. Handsome? His human friends want the story out there, and it's like something straight out of horse books I read as a kid. Most of the publications I have worked for are very competition-focused, based in the US, or this one, which won't accept it because they won't publish anything negative about dealers (or the horse industry in general).

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

All people are seeing on his page are those dun highlands and they aren’t saying a peep about them other than they aren’t all keepers. You can see from some of them just by looking that they are old.

These poor ponies and the folk that will be duped onc they have handed over their money. I bet he has them all repassported ? that’s how he will get round it as nobody will get the chips checked unless they vet the pony, and he will do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen more than likely

 

[Fieldlife]

The wife of the dealer in question has posted a photo of a beautiful bay Highland-type pony, with the heading, "My favourite."

The pony is called Mr. Handsome, and he's over 20 years old. Before the 2011 round-up, he was one of the lead band stallions. He's quite stiff behind. He was one of the 18 ponies who was captured in 2018, and he ended up at my friend's place. He was miserable and not tolerating domestic life, and he wanted nothing to do with humans. At one point, he even escaped but upon realizing that he had no idea where he was, plodded back to my friend's farm. She has a lot of experience with ferals, including other ponies from Auchness, and she tried every gentling method she knew, but eventually, she approached the estate owner and got him to agree to let her bring the pony back to Dallas. Reuniting him with his herd brought tears to the eyes of all involved. Mr. Handsome was utterly overjoyed when he met his wife again and had his freedom back.

My friend will comment on the FB page, but that can (and probably will be) deleted.

On another note, does anyone know of any horse magazines/publications who would be interested in the whole story of Mr. Handsome? His human friends want the story out there, and it's like something straight out of horse books I read as a kid. Most of the publications I have worked for are very competition-focused, based in the US, or this one, which won't accept it because they won't publish anything negative about dealers (or the horse industry in general).

The barefoot horse magazine (or similar name) seems quite wacky. They might be interested? He is ~"barefoot" ;-)

 

[Steerpike]

Depending on how far the dealers are willing to take them there is Brecon sales and Llanybydder sales which may be worth keeping an eye out on, Brecon is getting some large numbers going through the ring at the last few sales.

 

[FestiveG]

What would be the most desired outcome for the herd?

 

[Caol Ila]

What would be the most desired outcome for the herd?

The perfect outcome would be for them to stay put and live out their lives on the estate. A good outcome would be for them to be moved, as a herd, to do conservation grazing or live wild on another estate. A sh1t outcome would be for them all to be put to sleep. But being shipped (illegally) to France for slaughter or separated and distributed around bin-end dealers are by far the worst outcomes.

One has been found in Shropshire, originally bought to be a broodmare, but now she's back on the market. Nice dun mare. Probably as wild as a wild thing. Who knows why the broodmare thing didn't work out.

Another, a grey mare, was advertised as an unregistered Spanish horse. Her ad has been taken down, but really?

 

[fetlock]

The wife of the dealer in question has posted a photo of a beautiful bay Highland-type pony, with the heading, "My favourite."

The pony is called Mr. Handsome, and he's over 20 years old. Before the 2011 round-up, he was one of the lead band stallions. He's quite stiff behind. He was one of the 18 ponies who was captured in 2018, and he ended up at my friend's place. He was miserable and not tolerating domestic life, and he wanted nothing to do with humans. At one point, he even escaped but upon realizing that he had no idea where he was, plodded back to my friend's farm. She has a lot of experience with ferals, including other ponies from Auchness, and she tried every gentling method she knew, but eventually, she approached the estate owner and got him to agree to let her bring the pony back to Dallas. Reuniting him with his herd brought tears to the eyes of all involved. Mr. Handsome was utterly overjoyed when he met his wife again and had his freedom back.

My friend will comment on the FB page, but that can (and probably will be) deleted.

On another note, does anyone know of any horse magazines/publications who would be interested in the whole story of Mr. Handsome? His human friends want the story out there, and it's like something straight out of horse books I read as a kid. Most of the publications I have worked for are very competition-focused, based in the US, or this one, which won't accept it because they won't publish anything negative about dealers (or the horse industry in general).

Why not try for the national media instead?

Deborah Meaden also springs to mind - high profile, and also horsey.

 

[Roasted Chestnuts]

The perfect outcome would be for them to stay put and live out their lives on the estate. A good outcome would be for them to be moved, as a herd, to do conservation grazing or live wild on another estate. A sh1t outcome would be for them all to be put to sleep. But being shipped (illegally) to France for slaughter or separated and distributed around bin-end dealers are by far the worst outcomes.

One has been found in Shropshire, originally bought to be a broodmare, but now she's back on the market. Nice dun mare. Probably as wild as a wild thing. Who knows why the broodmare thing didn't work out.

Another, a grey mare, was advertised as an unregistered Spanish horse. Her ad has been taken down, but really?

Honestly the best thing ideally for these ponies would be conservation grazing however the reality is the best thing for them would be PTS as they are going to get passed around as we can already see and he and the wife have already put on the pictures that they are for sale.

 

[Caol Ila]

Honestly the best thing ideally for these ponies would be conservation grazing however the reality is the best thing for them would be PTS as they are going to get passed around as we can already see and he and the wife have already put on the pictures that they are for sale.

But it isn't. My friend is a retired vet who has done some work for knackeries and abbatoirs. She has pointed out that PTS is neither straightforward nor simple. The cliffnotes are that doing so in a legal and humane (ish) way is quite expensive and for a bunch of wild horses, complicated. How are you going to PTS 36 wild horses? They are not going to stand in the field for some guy with a bolt gun or lethal injection. You'll either have to hire a marksman, a brave vet, or capture them and transport them to a legal horse slaugherhouse, and I'm told they only exist in the south of England. That's a lot of people you have to pay to make that happen. Then you have the disposal costs, which are considerable for animals that cannot legally go into the food chain. The owner is trying to make money off these animals. There is zero chance of him paying a dime of that. And despite his capacious irresponsibility, they are still his horses. You can't say, "Well, James, do you mind paying a good few grand to euthanize all your horses?"

The other option is to sell them to the types of dealers who will falsify documentation so they can cross the Channel or go to the abbatoirs in the south, and that's kind of where we are anyway. If dealers are sketchy enough to do that, they are sketchy enough to try to pass off the better-looking ones as riding horses and get more than meat money for them.

It's a mess.

 

[Fieldlife]

. And despite his capacious irresponsibility, they are still his horses. You can't say, "Well, James, do you mind paying a good few grand to euthanize all your horses?"

I think though James has already sold all the remaining horses to BL, so the question is what BL does with them, no longer anything to do with James.