>>> wow...i think the person stated "in the vet world". the vet that you >>> may be referring to is not stupid, IMHO..she is a very bright woman.
Raven, assuming for a minute that you and Janice ARE talking about the same "vet" - the one that I have in mind, and the same one that Mic named... how can you call someone who advises breeders not to check in on their pregnant mares "brilliant?" Even the soundest, best mares can having issues with individual pregnancies that won't result in breeding problems being passed onto their offspring - like an incorrectly presented foal that can possibly be turned before delivering. Maiden mares can have minor problems with their first deliveries. Human intervention can save many of those mares and foals. She once wrote to me that natural selection should take care of these issues - it's in one of the list archives. If a mare has a problem that is truly genetic that means she shouldn't be bred again, it's quite possible to save her life and never breed her again - should she really have to die a painful death just in the name of "tradition"? I think that's pretty barbaric and sadistic in this day and age -anything but "brilliant". The more obvious answer is simply never breed the mare again if there's a real problem. Mares can be perfect riding horses and there's no reason that a mare that's not suitable for breeding can't be a lovely and useful horse. I could never live with myself if one of my mares died a painful death that I might have easily prevented, or if a foal died due to my unwillingness to get out of my warm bed to go out and check on them. I've never heard of another person who claims to be a vet making such cold remarks. A "brilliant" vet - no, even normal, caring horse-owner with decent intelligence - should know that owning a less-than-breeding quality GELDING shouldn't affect a breeder's reputation for breeding. Yet, this person told me that having Tivar on my property - an ideal Icelandic in every way except for his gait limitations - was adversely affecting my reputation as a breeder, and that I should be ashamed to admit that I had him. That's also in list archives, and I'm sure many people remember these and other exchanges. She went on to say that Tivar should be eaten since tolt is not in his repertoire. I have a TOTALLY opposite motto - my motto is the same as some good dog breeders adopt - "if you don't rescue, don't breed." In my case, I literally try to "rehab" as much as rescue, but I'm very honored to have briefly owned Tivar. He's an Icelandic for all of us to be proud of, even if his gaits aren't perfect. There's more that makes this breed special than mere gaits - but even so, I do try only to breed horses with ideal gaits. By the way, I never noticed any of my horses "catching" Tivar's three-gaitedness. Janice, has owning him "ruined" your other nicely gaited horses? Karen Thomas, NC
