Horses
A chapter of my life ended today. Last week I told my mom to put an ad in the paper and we would sell the horses while I was home. We bought Jazz, our first horse, from an old friend of my dad, and he wants him back. So he's still here, and he'll have a good home when he leaves. In my opinion, they others were underpriced. Granted, the horse market has taken a hit b/c using horses in dog meat has been outlawed. Therefore, many horses that would have been "gotten rid of" in that fashion are now competitors in the decent horse market, and it's brought all of the prices down. But we got A LOT of calls (like, probably >20)...so that seemed to me to be a sign that they were underpriced. So today we had several people come out and look at them...a man that my mom knew came with his brother-in-law and bought Jubilee, 5 saddles, 2 saddle blankets, and the trailer. Mom's friend bought a saddle and a bridle. So far, so good. Then a young guy comes out with his uncle. Says he wants Joy and Kody to ride, and his uncle wants Z (26 years old) for his grandkids. Something didn't seem quite right about this guy...he wouldn't look at me when I asked him questions...but I decided he was just shy...until we're loading them onto the trailer...it was a huge trailer (definitely a horse trailer), and the guy supposedly only owned the one horse that he had bought last night (that was still on the trailer!)...when I asked about the trailer, he said he used it for cattle and goats too. Didn't seem quite right, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt anyway. It wasn't anything obvious, so didn't really think about it...it was just that little voice in the back of my head saying, "Jen, he seems off."...but I brushed it off, knowing we had to sell them. So then tonight a guy calls us, saying he's bought Z from that guy (for his grandkids) and wants to know if she could still have a foal (he would keep her either way). I tell him no, she was too old, but that the other mare definitely could. His response? Oh, he's taking those others to the killer. (meaning he would take them to a sale where they'd be sold for meat). I HAD ASKED THIS GUY IF HE WAS TAKING THEM TO A SALE. I ASKED HIM WHAT HE WAS GOING TO USE THEM FOR. "I used to ride and now some of my friends are getting back into it but I don't have a horse, so I just want some of my own." (to which I wondered, why three? but stupidly bought it) Daddy called the guy who bought Z back to get the whole story...he's taking Joy and Kody to a sell in MS where the market's better. And while horses can no longer be used for dog meat, this guy told us that there are two places, one in indiana and one somewhere out west, that still process horse meat for human consumption overseas. People buy them from these sales and ship them in bulk to these places. They like big beefy horses. Kody definitely fits that discription. Kody would be the one that I trained myself and had planned on keeping forever. I really love that horse. I had hoped to buy him from my parents someday and he would be old enough to be a great kids' horse by the time my kids would be interested in riding. and now he's going to some stupid sale over in MS where he might get sold for meat. I'm devastated. I knew they had to be sold, and I wasn't even sad about it when I thought they had decent homes. Mom's friend decided that he wanted Joy, so she gave him that guy's number and he's gonna try to get her...hopefully he will. And Kody is registered, and the guy did ask for the papers, so hopefully he'll be sold as a riding horse too. He's such a good horse. Seriously, you couldn't find one with a better temperment ever. and he might become meat. So now all we can do is pray for them...which I know sounds silly in the big scheme of things...but knowing that either one of them is likely to end up either w/ a bad owner or as meat breaks my heart. The sale is not a good place for horses...at all. Their futures are looking very very dim right now. So I'm really sad. And furious at that guy for lying, at myself for not listening to that little voice in my head telling me something wasn't right, and at my parents for pricing them low enough that somebody will actually make a profit from them at a sale. I don't know what else to say. My break's ruined. Guess I'll go ahead and start studying. Hope everyone else had a better weekend than I.