i officially hate The Bates family.

[donks]

they need to feed their damn horses, for real. one of their spines was sticking up an inch. it INFURIATES me, as the owner of 2 horses to see this shit. why have horses if you aren't going to care for them properly? to keep horses in the way they should be kept takes time and MONEY. LOTS of MONEY.

i know. i just shelled out over 100 at the feedstore yesterday (and that will last my 2 easykeepers all of 1 week) oh not to mention the 2 1500 pound rolls of hay i brought in. they cost ANOTHER hundred dollars, but BONUS! those will last 2 weeks.

 

and the tack they were using? cheap, ill-fitted. tack IS NOT 1 size fits all. each horse is a little different, their backs and withers are NOT all the same. decent tack costs money.

 

i hope animal control comes and saves those poor horses from those trashy people and slaps animal neglect charges on them!

[3 is enough]

ITA. I don't pretend to know much about horses, but I can spot an ill-fed animal.

My guess is that in the warm months they allow the horses to graze on their land, and that's all the food they get. They have to buy feed in the winter, of course, but if they can't even afford to feed the kids without asking Lawson to kick in, how can they properly care for the horses?

Of course, there's always money for expensive progesterone shots and seemingly constant trips. Nice set of priorities there, Gil.

[Austin]

they need to feed their damn horses, for real. one of their spines was sticking up an inch. it INFURIATES me, as the owner of 2 horses to see this shit. why have horses if you aren't going to care for them properly? to keep horses in the way they should be kept takes time and MONEY. LOTS of MONEY.

i know. i just shelled out over 100 at the feedstore yesterday (and that will last my 2 easykeepers all of 1 week) oh not to mention the 2 1500 pound rolls of hay i brought in. they cost ANOTHER hundred dollars, but BONUS! those will last 2 weeks.

and the tack they were using? cheap, ill-fitted. tack IS NOT 1 size fits all. each horse is a little different, their backs and withers are NOT all the same. decent tack costs money.

i hope animal control comes and saves those poor horses from those trashy people and slaps animal neglect charges on them! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:

I absolutely abhor people who get horses with no understanding of what's involved in the total care of a horse. They're not pets like hamsters and fish. Horse ownership is a tremendous ongoing financial and time commitment. I owned three growing up and it was the equivalent of a part-time job. It ate up almost all of my time outside of school and a lot of papa's checkbook.

[donks]

someone on the other board said The Bates were getting an earful about their animal care... anyone have a link? i'd LOVE to have my say where they could read it.

(can they read?) 8-)

anyone not so experienced with horses can check this out:

http://www.omafra.gov.on.ca/english/liv ... 98-101.htm

this scale is universally used when grading the condition of horses.

the brown horse that one of the Duggar girls (Jill, i think?) was attempting to saddle? it's a 1 on the scale. very, VERY skinny.

[emmiedahl]

I hate it when people buy pets and then decide it is too much trouble to care properly for them. You owe them a decent life, even if it is a sacrifice.

I have known people with horses that just could not put on weight, but the poor fitting equipment and all makes me think this is just neglect.

[donks]

yeah, some are hard keepers, but IMO riding a horse in such a debilitated state? abuse.

[Koala]

Where are these pictures?

[luckylibrarian]

Would their local animal control or humane society do anything? Those animals do not deserve to suffer.

[longskirtlotsakids]

Forward any and all evidence to resqtb@yahoo.com She runs a blog dedicated to snarking on irresponsible horsepeople. A horse with it's spine sticking up is a shame and should no be ridden.

[doggie]

why does not god provide for the horses? hell he does not feed the family very well so whats the big deal? sad but true and they want more children.

[donks]

it was on the show last night.... i'm not sure about in Tennessee, but around here (Georgia) if you have feed of any kind and water on the premises, they won't do a damn thing. it doesn't mean you have to actually, you know, feed them. it just has to be on the premises. :shock:

sickening.

i 'investigated' some horse abuse neglect a couple of years ago, got good pics of the neglect. the only thing that ever came of it was a visit from the Sheriffs office and a couple of follow ups from animal control.

disgusting.

[donks]

Forward any and all evidence to resqtb@yahoo.com She runs a blog dedicated to snarking on irresponsible horsepeople. A horse with it's spine sticking up is a shame and should no be ridden.

is that to FHOTD blog? ;)

[skankbiscuit]

I have never, ever liked the Bateses. Near grown men dressing up like Woody from Toy Story? Come on. The fact that they kept breeding even though they were all crammed in to that little shithole they called a house? Disgusting.

[haveapicniclife]

Where are these pictures?

[donks]

Where are these pictures?

it was in the episode last night.

[BoomerLynn]

As a former horse owner I agree with everything said so far. You should not be able to see a horse's spine sticking up an inch if it is fed well. And under no circumstances should an underweight horse be ridden. How are they even able to afford these horses? They have already borrowed money from their son. And donks don't forget on top of feed and tack there is also vet care and the farrier. It's been 10 years since I had my horse but 2 shots were $30 to $40 and I believe that was twice a year. And the farrier visit was a little over $30 every 6 weeks (and that was with a discount given to boarders who used the stable's farrier...he would come do all of the horses in one day). I can't remember what it costed to get her teeth floated (sharp points filed down for those unfamiliar with the term) or how often that was done. This is just for basic care...joint supplements and such are also expensive (and necessary if the horse is older and still being ridden). And if they get sick then the really start draining the bank account. It costed me several hundred dollars to treat a respiratory infection that my horse had caught. If they are having to borrow money from their son for food there is no reason they should have horses. When mine became too expensive for me to care for my horse I GAVE her away to someone who could afford to give her the time and care I could not. (I was in school full time and working full time as well). She went to a great home with great people who took excellent care of her, which is all that mattered to me. These people should consider doing the same.

[LilMissMetaphor]

I think people are referring to video on 19K+C, when Jim&Brood went to visit Gil&Brood.

Horse (mis)treatment is one of the reasons I don't like Pioneer Woman.

[Bookworm]

Ugh, I never watch the Duggar show but one time someone posted a link the Bates kids riding a mini, I think, and I was disgusted by the lack of any safety precautions, but not feeding them is horrible. I hope someone does get them on FHOTD, that would get them a LOT of attention and hopefully get the horses new homes. And photos/video tend to not show how skinny a horse really is, so you know it's got to be worse IRL. Poor thing!

[lilwriter85]

I missed last night's episode. When the Primetime special aired, I noticed they had horses and I did wonder then if they were properly caring and feeding the horses. A spine sticking out shows that they aren't properly caring or feeding the horses. I bet Lawson is the one to pay for the feed in the winter.

[haveapicniclife]

it was in the episode last night.

Ah, thank you. I dvr the show but rarely actually watch it. Maybe I'll take a look at that one (although I hate to, poor horses!).

[skankbiscuit]

I think people are referring to video on 19K+C, when Jim&Brood went to visit Gil&Brood.

Horse (mis)treatment is one of the reasons I don't like Pioneer Woman.

Who is this Pioneer Woman?

[donks]

As a former horse owner I agree with everything said so far. You should not be able to see a horse's spine sticking up an inch if it is fed well. And under no circumstances should an underweight horse be ridden. How are they even able to afford these horses? They have already borrowed money from their son. And donks don't forget on top of feed and tack there is also vet care and the farrier. It's been 10 years since I had my horse but 2 shots were $30 to $40 and I believe that was twice a year. And the farrier visit was a little over $30 every 6 weeks (and that was with a discount given to boarders who used the stable's farrier...he would come do all of the horses in one day). I can't remember what it costed to get her teeth floated (sharp points filed down for those unfamiliar with the term) or how often that was done. This is just for basic care...joint supplements and such are also expensive (and necessary if the horse is older and still being ridden). And if they get sick then the really start draining the bank account. It costed me several hundred dollars to treat a respiratory infection that my horse had caught. If they are having to borrow money from their son for food there is no reason they should have horses. When mine became too expensive for me to care for my horse I GAVE her away to someone who could afford to give her the time and care I could not. (I was in school full time and working full time as well). She went to a great home with great people who took excellent care of her, which is all that mattered to me. These people should consider doing the same.

^ absolutely! i didn't want to bombard possibly non-horsey people with too much info all at once.

[emmiedahl]

My grandmother used to keep show horses and some of them ate like nothing I have ever seen and STILL were pretty thin. But I agree, you don't ride a horse that is having problems. My grandmother had the thinner horses monitored by a vet to make sure there were no health problems.

I love horses. I did dressage riding for a while using my grandmother's Arabians. Those horses were spoiled to death and they deserved it--they were trained to perform a very specific job and they did it well. I am always a little baffled when people who have financial difficulties buy a horse. They are not cheap animals and they don't deserve to go without just because the Bates family did not do their homework before buying.

[Guest Anonymous]

My grandmother used to keep show horses and some of them ate like nothing I have ever seen and STILL were pretty thin. But I agree, you don't ride a horse that is having problems. My grandmother had the thinner horses monitored by a vet to make sure there were no health problems.

I love horses. I did dressage riding for a while using my grandmother's Arabians. Those horses were spoiled to death and they deserved it--they were trained to perform a very specific job and they did it well. I am always a little baffled when people who have financial difficulties buy a horse. They are not cheap animals and they don't deserve to go without just because the Bates family did not do their homework before buying.

Or prized birthin' over their horses' welfare.

[Spider Burps]

Not trying to defend them because I was absolutely shocked at the hips jutting out, too, but maybe their horse is just old? If I recall, the younger horse looked like it was in good shape, but I wasn't watching super closely so please correct me if I'm wrong!

The only reason I mention this is because I knew someone who had a couple of horses that were elderly and looked equally emaciated. A neighbor called animal control due to how "obviously neglected" the horses were, but when animal control came out to investigate she showed them vet records, feed receipts, the stables, etc. and they said everything was dandy. Still didn't stop the neighbor from complaining repeatedly, but the story has always made me think twice about judging a horse only by how it looks without knowing anything about it.

I agree with everyone who said they shouldn't be riding a horse so ill/old that its bones are jutting out, but being bony doesn't necessarily mean that its otherwise being mistreated.