***HEAD DESK!!!*****

[Alexart]

What is wrong with people!! I think there should be an exam to pass before getting any animal let alone a horse!!
Had an email from someone looking to put a mare in foal to my friesian stallion. We asked for the usual conformational shot - am VERY picky what my stallion covers! Anyway got shot of mare - awful conformation, turns out the person 'rescued her' as she is well in her 20's has had a very hard life and is in foal this year and she just wants one more out of it! I emailed back saying we wouldn't sell her tadpoles as we didn't think the mare had very good conformation or complimented our stallion and maybe it was fairer to retire the old girl - was polite enough not to say ANY stallion!, but looked on their website and suggested one of their other mares would be far more suitable - but anyway got this response:

"Hi thanks for your message its ok if you feel she is not suitable it is very hard for people to judge a very elderly brood mare, I purchased her for a lot of money because i felt sorry
for her she is mid 20's and has the worse case of Leg lymphedema (due to lack of care/very hairy legs) which she should have been euthanized for, I bought her with the idea of
treating her like a film star for the remaining time she has but due to the cost I have to have a foal from her to make it near viable, I have to treat her legs each day and have been
able to keep her pain free, she was due to be euthanized when the foal was weened but has done so well I thought she could have another year if the foaling went ok, as you may
be able to imagine the time and cost of keeping her is so great and as she was only purchased from the person at Appleby because I felt sorry for her I cannot keep her to retire her.
As for ....... yes everyone loves her I have had many offers to buy her she has been my main riding horse but she is now in foal to my skewbald colt who is more the type I want to
breed to sell on, the black mare x wessel would have been a keeper for me as a general hack fun horse as she has an 11 inch bone and coupled with his height would have made for
a good solid cob."

I mean come on the poor mare is a money making machine it would seem - sigh!!! We do get a good few odd ones every year - but this has to top the lot!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't even know what to reply to it to be honest!!!! Am just so glad I said no and would now not sell tadpoles to any of her horses on principal alone!!!!!!!!! I'm sure she will be off to find another friesian - most likely other stallion owners will not be so picky and just want the money - sigh!!!

 

[kerilli]

oh dear, poor mare.

 

[Rosehip]

Thats awful!!!!!!
Makes you wonder about some people doesnt it!!! x

 

[Alec Swan]

All credit is due to you, that you turned them down. Oh so many wouldn't have been that principled. Well done.

Alec.

 

[Meowy Catkin]

That's actually one of the saddest emails that I've ever read.

she is mid 20's and has the worse case of Leg lymphedema (due to lack of care/very hairy legs) which she should have been euthanized for, I bought her with the idea of treating her like a film star for the remaining time she has but due to the cost I have to have a foal from her to make it near viable

Poor, poor mare.

 

[koeffee]

Shame on the person, poor mare.
on the other end of the scale, i had a call from a chap who liked one of my boys, who went on to tell me his mare had been covered by a 16.4 stallion and he was looking for one for next year, he asked what my boys were like covering, did i have to hold there willies to guide them in?, were they big boys when covering? and could he come and watch!!!! i told him i dont have insurance for public to be on the property whilst covering!!!! and to find somewhere nearer to him!!

 

[LynneB]

that's just awful - if she bought her as she felt sorry for her, that soon went out the window when cost came into it didn't it...the poor mare, I wouldn't wish that "retirement" home on anyone! Well done for turning them down and not being a part of her current life.

 

[Holly831]

....and that is why if ever I am in a position where I can't keep my mares in to retirement they will be shot.....

Very very sad and clueless owner! Much more expensive to breed a foal and keep an infoal mare (if done correctly) than keeping a barren old mare!

Forgot to add - well done on being a great stallion owner and sticking with your principles

 

[magic104]

Shakes head in disbelief, perhaps she ought to see how much these low ends animals are fetching at the sales. Well keep the meatman busy.

 

[tristar]

you should have told her the truth, she will now go around looking for another stallion, i would have said i don't agree with what she is doing, the mare should be retired, and would she please seriously think about the consequences in the present climate of trying to find a good home for the foal, also something rings untrue here because i sure it is not a cheap option breeding with all the ongoing costs?

and most importantly i would have said i would only allow people to use my stallion who are passionate about their breeding project on a personal level, too many horse are bred for money, i believe the best are bred out of a desire to actually own the product not to sell it for money.

 

[Amaranta]

I will join you in banging my head on my desk

Bloody woman need shooting!

 

[madlady]

That is so sad.

We get some odd requests at the stud but I don't think we've ever seen anything like that.

 

[Mugsgame]

That is so so sad

I have an elderly lady who has had plenty of foals... she looked really well at the end of her pregnancy this year and foaled without too much fuss (little bit hectic but not really age related!) popped out a lovely big strong filly etc etc... Didnt have any fertility issues last year so could well have been fine to cover in that sense this year BUT, I just didnt want to at the time, it didnt feel right - she doesnt owe the world a living and has made plenty of dreams come true for various people along the way. So why shouldnt she deserve a decent retirement?

I understand not everyone is in a position to pay for retired stock to hang round indefinitely, but responsible and caring owners have options in front of them and can choose the best for the situation in hand, can't they?

I for one am elated I let my girl quit while she has her health, now all I have to do is steer her through her last lactation and try and get her fully bulked up again before Autumn! Seeing how she is throwing everything she has at her foal this year I cant imagine what she would look like 12 months down the line if she had managed to do it all again.

Your woman needs a life lesson, feel sorry you had to be presented with it!

 

[Alexart]

I haven't replied back to her again after this email as there is no point - have come across enough idiots like this to know no matter what you tell them they know best!!! - of course it is cheaper to have a mare sat in a field eating grass than trying to get it in foal but some people only see the stud fee and nothing else - they think they can get a 4 grand foal out of a £100 nag by putting it to a fancy stallion and nothing will convince them otherwise!!! - sigh!!!
Unfortunately friesians often attract a good few loonies - because they are in films and they look so fancy alot of people want them but can't afford them so they try and breed one or something that resembles one!! We turn down between 10 and 15 a year, sometimes more, that want to use our stallion often for the wrong reasons or simply because the mare is not a good match, I often get an ear full from owners after refusing their mare or pointing them to a more suitable stallion!! So some years we may only cover 1 or 2 outside mares, most people breed to keep though which is nice.

Tristar - we do have on our website that it is cheaper to buy than breed and do tell people the costs they are looking at when they enquire - it does put alot of people off so you can tell they really hadn't thought it through!! I did tell this lady that I thought her poor mare had earned her retirement and I wouldn't sell tadpoles to that mare, not to mention she had poor conformation and would not match a friesian at all - I should have said ANY stallion but I thought I would try and be a bit polite! - that's when I got this reply!!!!

It cost me a bomb to get tadpoles from my boy, plus storage, so I don't want to go chucking them at any old mare, plus I want to keep the value of his babies high by only breeding to the best mares and not flood the market - I wish more stallion owners would do the same as I'm sure it would help a bit with the huuuge horse population we have in the UK, but so many don't they just want the cash. I'd rather cover no mares than a bunch of unsuitable ones - besides it always comes back on the stallion for a crap foal - no matter how much the mare resembles the back end of a bus!!! I just feel sorry for the poor mare which will be the one paying the price at the end of the day!!

 

[tristar]

good for you only breeding a few of the best, my sentiments entirely, quality not quantity.