One of my training clients is looking for a thoroughly broke horse for his beginning rider wife. This horse on Craig's List locally looked like a possible prospect:

 "Excellent beginner or child safe AQHA 18yo 15.2hh mare. This is a wonderful mare for trail riding. She has been camping and in the woods many times, she does not spook or act silly. She has a barrel pattern on her but has not been competed on. She has plenty of flex and bend. If you are looking for a safe kids horse this is it. Foundation blood lines on paper The Old Man and GoDickGo. Asking $750 obo."

I made an appointment to go check her out for him and this is what I found; wouldn't willingly lift feet, feet had not been trimmed in at least 6 months, horse had no clue about how to move away from pressure or back up, indentations above the eyes were deep enough to cradle bowling balls, chronic euvitis in her left eye and... ALL THE TOP FRONT TEETH HAD BEEN REMOVED!!!!  ...supposedly, according to the owner, to stop her cribbing! Yeah. OK. We all know perpetual episodic colic is MUCH more preferable than cribbing. The owner's other 4 horses appeared to be healthy and cared for. But by her own admission, this one had been "on the back burner" because nobody was riding her. And, once again, we all know you don't have to keep up care on a horse that isn't ridden. Right?

My guess is the teeth had been removed (not recently) to make aging the horse difficult so registration from a dead horse could be passed off on a lookalike. Between the upper eye indentations on this horse and from what I could see of the lower incisors made me place this horse closer to her very late twenties than 18. And if this horse "had a barrel pattern on her" it must've been drawn on with chalk and washed off in the rain.

I was as courteous as I could be to the owner and did not pick the horse apart. I simply told her it was not what I was looking for and left. I'm sure she was disappointed she didn't sell the horse. But I think the horse was more disappointed about not leaving there than she was. ~FH

That makes me wanna cry,I sure hope she finds a good home. What is wrong with people. It seems like people used to actually be pretty honest when selling their horses, I guess those days are long gone.

 That poor mare. Prospects don't look too good for her. Makes me cry too.

You're not the only one who wants to cry. This girl has been not only neglected, but flat-out abused.

That poor girl. What's wrong with people??

What a story, FH.  How DO YOU find them?

That's horrible, these people deserve to be reported - what's going to happen when their other horses get old and put on "the back burner?" My friend's 28 year old mare isn't ridden anymore, but she certainly isn't put on the back burner and gets the best care.

As Ghandi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." The horse isn't being ridden, so you let them waste away? No.

hunt rider laura:

As Ghandi said, "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated."

Exactly, hrl. This quote certainly applies to individuals, as well. That Ghandi sure was lightyears ahead of his time.

I don't understand what is wrong with some people.   How would the owner feel if she were "put on the back burner" in her later years?   My 25+ yr old gelding is the best horse (especially for my 4yr old dd & non-horsey dh) we own, and we treat him as such.  It's nice to ride him and not have to worry about "training".   That poor mare.  I hope she finds somewhere wonderful to call home with kind knowledgeable horse person.

WTH?? Had the horses teeth removed?!?! omg..   I just pray the poor girl passes peacefully in her sleep, before she develops serious health issues.