surprise foals

[Godsgrl]

This grabbed my attention on CNN. How can you have a stallion on your property for a year, and not know it until the foals start dropping? Don't you count heads when you feed, etc?

http://www.cnn.com/video/?hpt=hp_t5#/video/us/2013/04/26/dnt-mystery-stud-horse.wlex

 

[BrownSheep]

Yeah a little fishy. Now if the stud had jumped the fence and left I could see that.

 

[Bunnylady]

I can see it. Large property with 20 or so horses on it, fed at round bales, guy just doing what he was told with the animals - sure. Not all stallions are fire-breathing, human-stomping monsters; not all geldings are "dead from the waist down." Now, if each horse were being brought in to be stalled and fed individually, it would be pretty hard to miss, but in a pasture full of bays and chestnuts, one more or less might not draw the eye. I've known quite a few folks with a very casual feeding arrangement, and I've re-fed a couple of seriously skinny horses that weren't getting their share in just such operations. No comment on that kind of "care."

 

[chubbydog811]

I could see it happening too - she did say she is away a lot and the "farm hands" are the ones caring for them. If all you are doing is checking water/tossing hay/making sure there are no injuries (on a 50 acre lot), that would be a little hard to notice if you don't own them...
It isn't unheard of for someone to dump an unwanted horse in someone else's pasture if they can't keep it. I've heard of that happening a lot actually. Too bad for the lady's mare that had to be euthanized because of someone else's stupidity though.

 

[MDres]

She isn't running what I would call a "quality" operation. While her facilities seem pretty nice in the video, to not notice an extra horse in the pasture for 12 MONTHS means that those horses probably have not been wormed, had hooves trimmed, or any routine vet care in that entire time. Otherwise, you would HAVE to notice that you had an extra horse...

In the video, I did see some awfully scrawny horses - ribs, hips and backbones protruding. That could very well be why she had to euth a pregnant mare - it may well have been too skinny to survive. Manes were overgrown and dreadlocked. Feet were HORRIBLE. Lots and lots of halters on, which is utterly stupid in a 50 acre pasture. Stall doors open, horses milling in and out. Scenario for disaster. I can't believe she hasn't had more injuries....

 

[Genipher]

To be fair, it said she works off the farm and had a caretaker looking after the horses. Sounds like the caretaker wasn't doing his/her job.
And if she didn't know the mares were pregnant then it would make sense that she didn't up the feed, right?

hehe. Just realized this is ooooold news. Still, caught my eye and just had to comment.