Horse Articles

Articles of horse abuse, neglect and starvation.

Kentucky's unwanted-horses crisis spiraling

Rise in number of neglected horses

Hungry, Hungry Horses

Slaughterhouse legislation may worsen horse market

Middle Tennessee's horses going hungry or selling cheap

Lack of foresight

The premise that without horse slaughter there will be no incentive to continue breeding horses doesn't make sense. I don't know of anyone who breeds horses for slaughter anymore than people breed dogs to be euthanized at the local animal shelter. Thousands of dogs die everyday without the incentive of slaughter. Horse ranches who run large bands of broodmares that number in the hundreds with stallions, who never touch their young stock until round-up time when they are taken to auction, will continue to do what they have always done, it's their way of life, even if they are getting $50 per head.

Also to say that closing the packing plants is not contributing to these problems is more fantasy thinking. Not every state had a drought last summer and to say that the slaughter market is still very much alive in this country is a clueless remark as well. Killer buyers are just not buying the same number of horses that they were. They are making more money per head when horses are cheap or free and with the cost of gas and the longer transports out of the country, they are only going to take the cream of the crop, certainly not thin or crippled horses who might not make the trip. Isn't this just common sense?

I predict that the Humane Society will come up with a solution soon. They will take over the horse slaughter industry to make sure that it is done humanely, and then we can pay them to dispose of our horses, further devaluing the horse.

What the anti-slaughter people are trying to do is noble but not possible. They want to change society. They want people to have feelings, be compassionate and loyal, in a society where animal and human life is not as important as their own comfort and finances. When an animal has no value, then it has no value and will be treated as such. I heard Rush Limbaugh once say that if you want to save an animal from extinction then you need to start eating it. This is unfortunately true.

Many people have already stopped registering their horses, because they aren't going to put anymore money into an animal that is already worth nothing and while I can understand that, it is still heartbreaking. At times in the past we have had people buy horses from us and tell us that they don't care about papers because you can't ride papers. We always tell them that the papers aren't for them, they are for the horse, they give the horse more value. Even if they think that they will keep the horse forever, you can't see the future and something could happen to force them to sell, that horse will have a better chance at a good life if he has paperwork that goes with him than if he doesn't.

This is all about the devaluation of the horse. If you want to help horses then you have to give them value, not only in your eyes but in the eyes of everyone. Believe it or not, there are lots of people out there that don't even like animals of any kind. They could care less about horses or they especially don't like horses because they fell off of one once. Sometimes we can only see with our own eyes and think everyone thinks and feels just like we do, they don't, they don't care if animals are mistreated and even mistreat animals themselves.

I have a friend who is a big softy now but tells horrible stories about the things that he used to do to animals. He didn't have any feelings of compassion at all for them until he started getting older and got a house dog, now he has four dogs in his house along with three birds, he worries over them to no end. I know other people like this, I also know some people who just live in their own little world and think that animals are dirty and nasty creatures. But most people do care about money, I don't know anyone who thinks of money as dirty and nasty, though most of it is. Give a horse some dollar value and it will be treated with more respect.

I have a question? Why would anyone have a Mustang stallion? I just recently saw where someone is expecting a foal by their Mustang stallion. Can you adopt Mustang Stallions? Why wouldn't all Mustang stallions and colts be gelded? From what I read she adopted this stallion at 9 months old directly from the BLM. Why is our government closing horse packing plants and then promoting the breeding of unregistered horses?

The Real World

Brownfield Network: Third equine shelter about to be licensed under Illinois mandate

Can this be true? A woman who has dedicated her whole life to rescuing and helping horses and educating people about horses, is saying that every state needs a slaughterhouse. This woman must live in the real world and not in fantasy land, I believe she called it an "idealistic dream".

Horse Slaughter

Horses surrendered by ranch owners

After reading the article above and talking to a friend on a message board, I got to thinking about this situation that we find ourselves in. My friend told me that it is getting hard to sell big dog breeds because of the cost of dog food, it is getting ridiculously high. Yet, the value of horses in this country continues to drop, due to the closing of slaughter houses, drought and rising grain and hay prices. Anyone can afford a horse now but few can afford to feed and care for that horse.

We have been offered some of the free horses out there, the ones that no one wants, these usually include the old, the impaired, or the young untrained horse. We have to face the facts that there are some horses that are unwanted, just like there are unwanted dogs or cats. However, you never see an unwanted cow or pig, I wonder why?

In the article that I posted above, the comment was made that they were taking these horses out of one rescue with no resources and putting them back into another rescue with no resources. Horse rescues are overwhelmed with a glut of horses and have no money to feed these animals. They are becoming like the animal shelters, who routinely euthanize or send their animals away to be euthanized. Our local shelter became a kill-free shelter for awhile, they quickly became overrun and full of disease.

I know this is an emotional issue but the cycle of life is just the cycle of life. Why do humans think that they are so smart that they can change the normal pattern of nature. All animals have a survival instinct, I believe God put it there so that they wouldn't quickly become extinct. But how do we know that animals really fear death? They may be like me and fear injury but death should just be another part of life. All animals go to heaven anyway, right? How do we know that they don't welcome death when it comes?

I don't think that anyone should have a voice in this debate that doesn't own horses, period. People tend to live in a dreamworld where all horses are majestic, beautiful animals that are the picture of health, running through open pastures and that just isn't reality.

We do run our horses on open pasture and they are fed very well, even our unwanted and useless horses are given the same treatment as our valued horses. But many people have horses that are stuck in small stalls most of the time and don't know how to properly feed them. All horses aren't healthy, many have arthritis or other crippling diseases. Some are just old and very skinny, we have had good horses here that once they reach a certain age and their teeth get bad, we just cannot keep weight on them even though they are eating twice or three times the amount that the other horses are eating. They are the ones that stay close to the road where people passing by can see them.

Another thing that is funny to me and I am as guilty of this as anyone else, but we think that a horse is not healthy unless it is rolling fat, but to be a healthy person we must be bone thin.

I just read another article about a man shooting his two horses and burning their carcasses, it made national news. They were trying to decide if he could be charged with anything. This was in Illinois where the last U.S horse packing company was closed down. What was he suppose to do? I don't know his situation but there are some people who don't have very many options.

You can't take your unwanted horses to a sale barn because they won't get a bid and you will have to pay a fee and take them back home (some are just leaving them at the auction barns). You can't afford to keep them anymore for the rest of there days, because you still have to feed your family. Rescues are turning them away or you just don't trust the rescues to take proper care of them. You are expected to euthanize your old or impaired horses but then what do you do with them? Rendering companies will no longer pick them up without a large fee, so unless you have a backhoe or are good with a shovel, I think burning is a reasonable alternative.

Feeding wildlife is another idea, it is the circle of life. We lost a wonderful old mare a couple of years ago, she just dropped dead going up a steep, rocky, wooded hillside. There was no way for us to get to her with a tractor and there was no way to dig a hole. So we had no options other than leaving her where she fell. It was amazing how fast she disappeared, even her bones and hooves were utilized. However, if she had been euthanized by injection this would not have been an option, they have to be burnt or buried very deeply. Many people live in states where they are not allowed to bury, burn or leave them lay.

Our Vet recently faced this dilemma, the rendering company that had always picked up the animals that he had euthanized at his office, would no longer pick them up. We haven't seen him for awhile, so I don't know what he has done about this.

I do love horses, I also love other animals, but I eat beef, pork, chicken and fish. The last time I checked these were animals with a survival instinct also. Whether you believe it or not the meat that you eat didn't just come from a grocery store, it was once a living creature.

Dogs, cats, tigers, lions, bears, humans, and other members of the animal kingdom have to eat, so why is this resource being wasted and this burden being placed on horse owners and rescues?

I am totally against horses being transported into Mexico or Canada to be processed. I think that processing plants should be regulated in this country but not just the horse processors, the standard should be the same for all animals.

Sometimes it is all in the terms we use, we don't mind eating beef that has been processed at a packing plant but we would never eat horse meat from a slaughter house. It is alright to euthanize an old horse with a needle but we mustn't kill them with a gun. I have heard and I don't know if it is true, that some Veterinarian's in other countries carry guns to euthanize with because they feel that the injection is cruel.

One more thing that I firmly believe, the Humane Society as a whole, I am not talking about our local shelter, is a money making organization that takes advantage of and uses big hearted people.

More articles:
Death Across the Border Awaits Horses Spared It in the U.S. - New York Times
Drought is a hard time for horses - Los Angeles Times