My Heart Bleeds...

QueenOfCadence

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Just saw this on facebook, posted by one of our best Saddlebred studs.

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It wasn't the picture that shocked me, but the caption! it reads: O LA LA - HKGK! Nog nie vol 2 nie, en hy maak so? (loosely translated from Afrikaans - O LA LA - HKGK! Not even 2 yet and he's doing this?). They seem very proud to be lunging a yearling :(:(:(. Is this a South African phenomenon or is it common practice amongst saddler breeders everywhere:(?
 
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I don't like it, but it depends on how the shot was taken. Obviously you don't want to be doing lots with a youngster, but if its nearly two (although not sure if time of year for breeding is the same in SA?) then having a bridle on isn't all bad. Photo could have been taken as the horse pegged off and was being held in.

Again, I'm not condoning it obviously, but all depends on whether horse was being worked like this, or prior to this it was bumbling round then got spooked? :o
 
Ugh. I have a rising 2 year old at home and could not imagine doing that to him in a million years! Would dread to think of the damage I could do to him! :( Poor little mite.
 
Dear lord, they also take pride in this :mad:

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I have a feeling the colt above didn't just ****** of as it has chains bound around the top of it's hooves :(. I can't see why they'd use them if they were planning on just walking about?
 
Poor souls. Let babies be just that, they have their whole lives to work (& hopefully not in fashion shown).
 
This isn't isolated, this sort of thing happens all over the world; with any horse bred for a specific purpose there will always be greedy ignorant scum ready to resort to abuse to get the job done quicker so the horse can be earning ££$$ sooner.
 
Ugh saddlebreds can be some of the ugliest horses around (imo). My friend breeds them and that neck and leg carriage is really not my thing at all. Hers 'trot' about free in her fields looking like that. Horses for courses; not my course though, I think they look freakish tbh.
 
Terrible :( Poor, poor horses :(

Is there not an animal welfare body is SA that this issue can be raised with?

OP, I know you want to raise awareness of this issue, but I'd just be a little bit careful about what you post so it stays in line with the T&Cs.
 
We do have a lot of animal welfare organizations but I doubt they'd be able to make a prosecution because the horse is being worked at a younger age than conventionally acceptable... Usually it has to be physical abuse (bodily harm) before anything can really be done :(

Yes the photo is from a hackney stud in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, not a well known one though... Sort of back yard breeders. As far as I know the owners were prosecuted and received jail time? But I'm not 100% sure.
 
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