I'd like you to meet The Serenity Ten by ironcladotter

GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

I'd like you to meet The Serenity Ten

POSTED BY: IRONCLADOTTER
UPDATED: Thursday, December 2, 2004 14:31
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VIEWED: 6373
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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 7:33 AM

I'd like you to meet ten close friends of mine:

http://www.prettycunning.com/serenityten/

I volunteer at a wild horse rescue facility, where we also take in other horses in need, whether they're mustangs or not. These are some of our newest arrivals, who we named for the Firefly crew. The great thing about it is, not only do they have awesome names, it's also an opportunity to tell every visitor to the ranch about Firefly! I even had the trainer I work with take a look at an episode, so she could see where I was coming from with the naming scheme, and next thing you know she was borrowing my boxed set and calling me up every day to let me know which episodes she'd watched and how much she liked them.

Being a Firefly fan is such a blessing... not only do we get to preach to the unconverted, but Joss and Co have made it so EASY to bring new fans aboard... ;)

Wiley
PRETTY CUNNING - www.prettycunning.com
Download printable flyers and posters, web graphics, and other stuff to promote SERENITY.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 8:15 AM

BROWNCOAT1

May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one.

Beautiful horses Wiley w/ great names.

You guerilla marketing genius you.

__________________________________________

"May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one."

Richmond, VA & surrounding area Firefly Meet Up:
http://firefly.meetup.com/9/boards/

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 8:21 AM

HARDWARE

I've got dibs on Zoe! Now I gotta figure out where I'm gonna keep her in my townhouse and how I'm gonna get her from the wrong coast to here!

I guess I don't have dibs after all. Oh well, I'll make a donation.

The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 9:57 AM

MALICIOUS

Hardware, maybe you and I could share caretaking responsibilities! One week at your townhouse, then one week at mine. Acme is right next door to me, I could go get some Purina Horse Chow.

It's eerie how MUCH little Mal looks like me...

Mal-licious

Co-Holder of the Red Bell from Hell

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 11:05 AM

GOJIRO

Ironcladotter = Wiley?

Wiley = Ironcladotter?

Head spinning ...

gojiro = gojiro

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Are you a Southern Ohio Browncoat? If so, join our Yahoo group for news and events: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/firefly-ohio/

And if you're a Cincinnati Area Browncoat, join our meetup group at http://firefly.meetup.com/137/

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 11:32 AM

AURAPTOR

America loves a winner!

What an awesome post! I've not stopped laughing since I started reading, and about hit the floor when I saw the beautiful horses!! (tears in eyes) I just LOVE this how folk are coming up w/ideas in their every day lives to pay homage to our BDHs!

::::whew:::: I guess it's been a long day, but that was a treat to come home to and see on the board. Thanks!

P.S. I noticed next to River ya had listed 'Tam '.
What about Simon? Seems odd that you'd give River Tam 2 horses and not one for Simon. I'd think Simon would be a cool name for a horse, personally. Besides, it wouldn't be right if Kaylee didn't have Simon to flirt with.

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 11:59 AM

CEPHME

Shh Ransom (MoH young horse) might get jelous. :D

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 1:35 PM

ZELDA

That's just fantastic. And while I'm really upset about the Premarin thing (and won't THAT bit of news be thrust upon many an unsuspecting friend in the near future!), what you're doing is just beautiful. My grandmother raised horses for years and years... too bad my condo won't allow a large dog, much less a Percheron!

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 2:37 PM

IRONCLADOTTER

"P.S. I noticed next to River ya had listed 'Tam '.
What about Simon? Seems odd that you'd give River Tam 2 horses and not one for Simon. I'd think Simon would be a cool name for a horse, personally. Besides, it wouldn't be right if Kaylee didn't have Simon to flirt with."

The one named "Tam" is named for Simon... the trainer didn't like the name "Simon" so we called him Tam instead. (Like she wasn't nuts about "Book" so we called him "Shepherd", and "Jayne" would've led to a lot of explaining on why we'd named a colt with a girl's name, so we called him "Cobb" instead.)

I've been finding ways to sneak other Firefly horses in, as well... I'd been trying to think of a name for this big tough mustang mare we have in our big 20-acre pen, and finally decided that Nandi is the absolute perfect name. Now I'm just waiting for the right horses to call Badger, Jubal, Niska, Crow, Patience.... Our own Mrs. Reynolds provides a bonus FOUR naming opportunities, 'cause I can name mares Yolanda, Saffron, Bridgette and Mrs. Reynolds. :D

Wiley
PRETTY CUNNING - www.prettycunning.com
Download printable flyers and posters, web graphics, and other stuff to promote SERENITY.

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Tuesday, November 30, 2004 5:03 PM

EBONEZER

Aww, River looks like my horse.

I named someone's dog Kaylee once. They have no idea what firefly even is...

-----------------------------------

Four out of five dentists reccomend calling Ebo a girl.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 6:04 AM

GRIMMA

Mal looks great. There's no stall available in the farm where Colza is, but I'm sure I'd find a place for him... I could even afford him.

But...

Nothing else - you know, straw, food, "shoes" [don't know the English word], vet...

And he'd have to fly to France.

I thought this Premarin production was over... I read articles about this with horrible pictures years ago and they said there ere lobbying groups working well agains that...

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 6:08 AM

GUILDSSISTER

OH boy, if I had land I'd buy both Mal and Kaylee in a heartbeat!!! They're going to be beautiful and absolutely have to stay together!!!!

gotta make a donation instead though...and bookmark this website for my NEXT home...with LOTS of land!

Thank you so much for sharing this with us!

Guild Sister

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8:42 AM

IRONCLADOTTER

Grimma, Premarin production is winding down -- simply because of decreased demand for the drug, what with the whole "it might cause cancer" thing -- but they are still in business; there are a couple in North Dakota, as I recall, but the majority operate in Canada.

You can find a lot more information about Premarin from a horse advocate's position at http://www.premarin.org

Wiley
PRETTY CUNNING - www.prettycunning.com
Download printable flyers and posters, web graphics, and other stuff to promote SERENITY.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8:46 AM

IRONCLADOTTER

Guildssister, aren't they the cutest things? :D The two that really make me laugh are Cobb and Shepherd, because they really remind me of the characters we named them for... Shepherd is sort of calm and always looks a little bemused with Cobb, but he pals around with him anyway, and Cobb runs around aggravating not just everybody in his own pen, but the ponies in the pen next to his as well. :D I think if I could keep one I'd probably take Serenity, though... she's just so soft and snuggleable! And she's less scared than most of the others; if you offer to let her smell you, she'll come up and see what you're all about, where some of the others will run away.

Wiley
PRETTY CUNNING - www.prettycunning.com
Download printable flyers and posters, web graphics, and other stuff to promote SERENITY.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 3:55 PM

EBONEZER

Hmm, I was just looking at the site again and I'm a little annoined at the PMU babies being refered to as 'waste products.' This is a misconception. Most farms have breeding programs so as to get the most resale value from the babies.

At the farm where I work (remember I was gone all summer with no internet? That where I was), we take in PMU babies all the time . We got a shipment of 8 two year olds at the begning of the summer, and a second shipment of 5 two year olds towards the end of the summer. (Thats just THIS SUMMER, the barn has been doing this for years) These horses are coming along incredibly nicely. Their specific breeding (1/4 draft, 3/4 thoughbred), makes them awsome foxhunters, especily for childen and/or inexpereinced riders. Its an incredible money maker for the owner of the barn as well. She buys them relitivly inexpensivly, trains them, and can often sell them at 3 or 4 times what she paid for them.

True, there are PMU barns that sell to rendering plants, but I'm OK with that. (I'm not an animal killer or hater or anything, trust me. When my first horse died, he went to rendering, and I LOVED that horse dearly.) Where do you think your dog food comes from? It doesn't grow on trees, let me tell you. Circle of life and all that.

Sorry if I sound preachey or anything. I think its awsome what you're doing for these horses. Its just that peeple can see this and automaticly think "Oh! Thats terrible!" without really seeing whats going on, and I'd feel bad about myself if I didn't clear up these misconceptions.

-----------------------------------

Four out of five gynecologists reccomend calling Ebo a girl.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 4:34 PM

PERIDIDDLE

0.0

I want Inara. And Tam. Oh, Wash too. Oh the CUTENESS that is those three! (not to say that they aren't all incredibly cute, but I just like the way those three are built. The long legs, love 'em ^_^ Sheperd and Cobb are quite the nicely conformed lookers, as well. Too bad the cuteness that is Cobb was ADOPTED)

I wish I had room and time to adopt one, really. I'm a big horse person, and I could sure find a way to play around with those two. Even if I didn't have a cart, riding draft horses has some kind of odd wonderfulness to it. :) It's great that you do this, and talk bout having fun with Firefly!

"Bwaa...it's kind of a warrior...strikes fear into the hearts of..."

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 4:54 PM

HARDWARE

I think that Reaver would make a good name for a wild stallion,(Hey, Wyld Stallions! {air guitars frantically for a moment} sorry, Bill and Ted moment) or a gelding with fond memories.

The more I get to know people the more I like my dogs.

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Wednesday, December 1, 2004 8:22 PM

NEEDLESEYE

ooh! Mal is my favorite, I'm a fan of Paints. I guess since he's half Belgian he might be a big one.
Neat!

They are all so beautiful, it's hard knowing they're the by product of something so horrible.

I hope they all find fabulous families to take care of them.
Thanks for sharing their story!
I'm forwarding it to some people I know.

Keeper of Jayne's goggles. 8)

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Thursday, December 2, 2004 4:27 AM

GORRAMREAVERS

I dont know anything about horses but I love this! Thanks for posting.

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Thursday, December 2, 2004 5:47 AM

CYBERSNARK

Quote:
Originally posted by Hardware:
Hey, Wyld Stallions! {air guitars frantically for a moment} sorry, Bill and Ted moment

Wasn't it "Wild Stalyns?"

Yeah, I'm an 80s child. . .

-----
We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.

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Thursday, December 2, 2004 12:41 PM

IRONCLADOTTER

I'm not sure it's fair to say that "most" of these farms have programs that avoid the slaughterhouse. NAERC ( http://www.naeric.org) says there are 35,000 broodmares in PMU farms at the moment (there are a lot of higher numbers out there, but I think they're mostly old data from when there were more farms running)... that's 35,000 foals a year now, but previously it was more. NAERIC says this is how they're sold:

privately, 50%
at public auctions, 30%
at breeder production sales, 20%

I can't imagine that a full 50% of that number are bought by barns and private owners, but I can believe that a good chunk of that 50% are bought by the private owners of feedlots. Then if you take 30% of foals and send them to public auction, that's what... 10,500 foals at auction? (I suck at math, that number could be wrong...) Considering that the vast majority of horses at public auction are bought cheaply by the so-called "killer-buyers," that's a pretty huge chunk right there of horses on their way to the slaughterhouse. And that's not even mentioning the nature of confinement for the mare; while I don't doubt that some farms treat their mares quite well, I do doubt that the nature of the business allows them to lead a very horse-y life. The standards that PMU farmers consider acceptable for the care of these horses and the standards that others would consider acceptable aren't exactly the same thing, and the only real control on how the animals are treated are the "guidelines" that they aren't required to follow.

Also, dog food is made with the "sub-standard" meat... horses with signs of cancer or other sickness, and all donkeys and mules at slaughter end up in dog food. It is not, however, where the majority of horsemeat goes; 90% ot horsemeat out of slaughter ends up on dinner tables overseas. We're not talking dearly departed pets here... we're talking live animals, most of them healthy and sound saddlehorses, sold at 30 cents a pound to become somebody's dinner.

It's difficult to find the truth in any polarizing issue like this, because I think a lot of animal advocates overstate the problem (a lot of sites use numbers from years back when there were twice as many horses at slaughter than there are now, for instance), and I think that organizations like NAERIC which are run by people whose livelihood depends on PMU like to gloss over the unpleasant aspects of their business. But it's not as if there is no problem. It IS terrible. It IS what's really going on.

I mean, I do respect your position and right to your opinion, but I couldn't disagree with it more. I think PMU farming is an industry that fosters an environment of abuse. I think PMU foals are a by-product of this industry, and I doubt that even the breeding farms which aim to produce good working horses (or just the ones that keep their fillies to replace the mares when they wear out) would produce such a quantity of them if they weren't breeding for PMU. I don't think there's a misconception to clear up.

Wiley
PRETTY CUNNING - www.prettycunning.com
Download printable flyers and posters, web graphics, and other stuff to promote SERENITY.

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Thursday, December 2, 2004 2:31 PM

EBONEZER

Quote:
Originally posted by ironcladotter:

privately, 50%
at public auctions, 30%
at breeder production sales, 20%

And that's not even mentioning the nature of confinement for the mare; while I don't doubt that some farms treat their mares quite well, I do doubt that the nature of the business allows them to lead a very horse-y life. The standards that PMU farmers consider acceptable for the care of these horses and the standards that others would consider acceptable aren't exactly the same thing, and the only real control on how the animals are treated are the "guidelines" that they aren't required to follow.

I'll give you the data thing, I don't REALLY know about that, and it was wrong of me to make assumptions.

Regarding horses getting sent out of country for food, thats fine with me. I LOVE my horse, but he and his relatives are still livestock animals. I don't see the difference between slaugtering a horse for food and slaughtering a cow, chicken or pig for food.

I've actually heard that horse meat tastes pretty good.

I DO dissagre with your statement that they don't lead horsey lives. These horses are living the life. All of breeding season mares are turned out to pasture with their stalions, and they basicly spend a few months eating, drinking, and getting laid. (I assume the horses go back out to pasture after they foal). Once their done getting sexed, they come and live in tie stalls, but they are turned out every 3 days to run around and get excersise. Now, then your thinking "Every three days? Thats can't possible be enough time for them to be horsey!" But keep in mind, this is Canada, and its winter. Its COLD outside. Those mares are beating downthe doors to come back in the warm barn.

Sounds like an OK life to me. No dumb riders sticking sprus into their sides or making them do strange things like run around in a field and jump over piles of sticks.

PMU is a big buisness in Canada, and endorced by the government. If a PMU foal gets sold in the US or Canada, and that horse goes on to become a race horse or a show jumper, and that horse wins money, the canadian government matches the winnings dollar for dollar. Thats a strong incentive for people in the horse buisness to make an investment in these horses.

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Four out of five gynecologists recommend calling Ebo a girl.

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