Unwanted Horses

[CountryLady]

Yes most of you are right, breeders need to take part, some do and unfortunately some don’t. But horse owners need to take part as well. Because, frankly, the horses we ride and care for come from a breeder. As horse people we ALL need to address the problem before it gets out of hand. Yes there have always been unwanted horses. But the industry fears that the numbers will increase drastically due to the economic downturn.
The QH and TB communities have decreased the number of breedings in the past year partly due to supply and demand, but also partly due to the economic down turn. BUT is it enough?

I know a few small time breeders and one in particular sells their foals with a buy back clause. I don’t know of any large breed that does this. A lot of individuals will sell their horses with a buy back clause also. But I have heard that on this forum people get looked down on for inquiring about the welfare or transfer of ownership of a previously owned animal. The very first pony I owned, my mother sold it to get a more suitable larger pony so that my older sister could continue to ride. We had both share the pony until then. I made the new owners promise to sell my pony back to me when they were ready to sell him. They did some three years later and that pony lived a useful long life until he finally died of old age. I didn’t have the full grasp, at that tender age, of the UNWANTED HORSE, but I knew my responsibility to my faithful friend.

The rescues are becoming over run. Most only take the neglected & abused cases. It seems that everyone wants to turn over their near 30 yr old horse to the rescues. Imagine that. Also the severely injured or lame horses, those are unable to be ridden , or are unable to preform some other useful duty, show up often at the rescues.

Some people treat horses like a commodity, some people treat the horse like companions and some people look at the whole horse and see both, but where do we draw the line?

Do we want the government to deem our horse farms agricultural or not? There are always going to be people out there that DO NOT understand what it means to be agricultural. This is one of the areas where EDUCATION goes a long way. I think my old (now deceased) neighbor said it best when he said, “ city people want to move out to the country and live like the country folks do, but when they get here (in the country) city folks have a problem (don’t understand) living like the country folks do.


A few more links:

Horse Slaughter Awareness Campaign - PA Rendering Companies and Cremation Facilities

Untitled Document

Dead Animal Removal

Humane Horse Remains Disposal Options | The Humane Society of the United States

Humane Horse Remains Disposal Options | The Humane Society of the United States

Beef industry faces some of the same issues:
Wrangling Over Rendering

MORE SOLUTIONS, ANYBODY?

[Robin]

Originally Posted by CountryLady

Yes most of you are right, breeders need to take part, some do and unfortunately some don’t. But horse owners need to take part as well. Because, frankly, the horses we ride and care for come from a breeder. As horse people we ALL need to address the problem before it gets out of hand. Yes there have always been unwanted horses. But the industry fears that the numbers will increase drastically due to the economic downturn.
The QH and TB communities have decreased the number of breedings in the past year partly due to supply and demand, but also partly due to the economic down turn. BUT is it enough?

I know a few small time breeders and one in particular sells their foals with a buy back clause. I don’t know of any large breed that does this. A lot of individuals will sell their horses with a buy back clause also. But I have heard that on this forum people get looked down on for inquiring about the welfare or transfer of ownership of a previously owned animal. The very first pony I owned, my mother sold it to get a more suitable larger pony so that my older sister could continue to ride. We had both share the pony until then. I made the new owners promise to sell my pony back to me when they were ready to sell him. They did some three years later and that pony lived a useful long life until he finally died of old age. I didn’t have the full grasp, at that tender age, of the UNWANTED HORSE, but I knew my responsibility to my faithful friend.

The rescues are becoming over run. Most only take the neglected & abused cases. It seems that everyone wants to turn over their near 30 yr old horse to the rescues. Imagine that. Also the severely injured or lame horses, those are unable to be ridden , or are unable to preform some other useful duty, show up often at the rescues.

Some people treat horses like a commodity, some people treat the horse like companions and some people look at the whole horse and see both, but where do we draw the line?

Do we want the government to deem our horse farms agricultural or not? There are always going to be people out there that DO NOT understand what it means to be agricultural. This is one of the areas where EDUCATION goes a long way. I think my old (now deceased) neighbor said it best when he said, “ city people want to move out to the country and live like the country folks do, but when they get here (in the country) city folks have a problem (don’t understand) living like the country folks do.


A few more links:

Horse Slaughter Awareness Campaign - PA Rendering Companies and Cremation Facilities

Untitled Document

Dead Animal Removal

Humane Horse Remains Disposal Options | The Humane Society of the United States

Humane Horse Remains Disposal Options | The Humane Society of the United States

Beef industry faces some of the same issues:
Wrangling Over Rendering

MORE SOLUTIONS, ANYBODY?

I have been googled enough thank you.

[CountryLady]

Originally Posted by Robin

I have been googled enough thank you.

You're excused, Have a Nice Day

[CountryLady]

Legislative Update: Slaughter

Horses and the Law

[DQ87]

I sooooooooooo strongly agree with you

Originally Posted by Phyxius

Here's an idea. People need to stop breeding sub-par quality horses. Just because an animal has reproductive capability does not mean that animal should be bred.

Color should not be a determining factor. Oh, but he/she is my baby and I want another one just like him/her is also not a good reason. There are more than enough average horses out there. Go rescue/buy one.

[covekat]

Originally Posted by Robin

Selling a horse at a low value......

Opens the door for folks that really can not afford to really, provide proper care for the horse. Its not cheap. Lowering a price just so you can sell a horse opens that avenue and adds to the problem of in adequate care of an equine.

I guess thats where that saying comes from.

The cheapest Item in all of this was actually purchasing the horse.

Amen to this, and something I see frequently with the OTTB's.

[CountryLady]

EXCERPT:

One horse is being retrained to become a hunter-jumper in Virginia. A half-dozen or so of his former neighbors rollick in the pasture and munch carrots in Pennsylvania. Seven more are being nursed to health by inmates at a New York prison. Then there is the aptly named Escapedfromnewyork, who is convalescing with champions and legends at a retirement home amid the plush bluegrass in Kentucky.

They were all among the 177 horses found malnourished and neglected in April at the upstate New York farm of the prominent thoroughbred breeder and owner Ernie Paragallo. Over the last six months, the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, with the help of rescue groups and horse lovers from across the nation, has found homes for 96 of those horses.


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/sports/18horses.html

Interesting reading!

[covekat]

Some friends of mine sold 3 TB's to this man... they did get 2 back after the AC stepped in. It is still unkown what happened to the third horse.

The horses that are going to Paula are lucky, she is a super horse woman and a very nice human being.

Just goes to show you never know about people... the former owner had one of the nicest stallions in the country at one point (Unbridled)... the whole thing is pretty shocking.

[CountryLady]

Originally Posted by covekat

Some friends of mine sold 3 TB's to this man... they did get 2 back after the AC stepped in. It is still unkown what happened to the third horse.

The horses that are going to Paula are lucky, she is a super horse woman and a very nice human being.

Just goes to show you never know about people... the former owner had one of the nicest stallions in the country at one point (Unbridled)... the whole thing is pretty shocking.

Yes, it is!
It's Really Unbelievable!!!

[CountryLady]

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A concerned viewer contacted WAVE 3 after she thought horses were being neglected at a Louisville stable. But when we investigated, we found a much different story.

.............“They drive by and they probably do see them out here and they wonder why are they so skinny?” said Currie. “A lot of people don't understand it only takes a couple months for them to get that skinny. But when you want to put that weight back on them, it can take almost a year.”


Horses becoming victims of down economy - WAVE 3 TV Louisville, KY |