Here is my advice:Stop breeding!!!

[madelyn]

I think PETA just put a contract out on your life, dublino - that is the way it really always was for all breeds of horses, back in the day when horses were really and truly work animals. It is a luxury to be able to afford to keep your old horses forever, well fed and cared for, and then finally to euthanize them when they are old, decrepit, unable to walk, suffering from cancer, etc. etc. Any animal that requires two acres of land on which to survive cannot possibly be classified as a pet...

[Georgerz]

I agree wholeheartedly with Dublino. I can't undertand what is wrong with making a couple of hundred bucks, instead of going broke trying to feed the pasture ornament.

[Sylvie Hebert]

Circus is vaulting and kind of acrobatic shows.we have a few that circle the province.we go to tracks 10 or more times a year picking up 7 horses at a time(have a 7 horses rig) plus the ones sent directly by owners and trainers.It is a lot of work and financial constraints.
And i agree in lots of cases euthanasia and slaughter is better than living starved or abused.But slaughterhouses ways and transport related to it is inhumane and very badly regulated.

[karenkarenn]

We have an issue in our town. Not limited to thoroughbreds, they are the wild mustangs.
And sadly enough people around here feel that it is IMPORTANT to let their quarterhorse stallions and mare breed with these animals. People here don't quit, and then they have the audacity to complain about what their shear stupidity does. They want them dead shooting them, Mrs. Pickens isn't allowed to put them in her sanctuary, they use helicopter to round them up and some die while they are in pens.
We can't adopt because there are so many DA** stipulations and then they are released again where they roam and ranchers complain and no one give a DA**, unless they want to do a letter to the Editor.
It isn't just thoroughbreds that people just carelessly over breed. Sadly enough its people that own the " Common" stallion or the Common mare, no longer want them and toss them out in the wild on the border or Oregon and Nv. !
The BLM won't Castrate... Why not?? Why not fine and slap penalties on these people that let their pets go and breed? I know all about the issue of the WILD HORSES- the majority of the them have so many other breeds in them, it's stupid.

[Sysonby]

And sadly enough people around here feel that it is IMPORTANT to let their quarterhorse stallions and mare breed with these animals. People here don't quit, and then they have the audacity to complain about what their shear stupidity does. They want them dead shooting them, Mrs. Pickens isn't allowed to put them in her sanctuary, they use helicopter to round them up and some die while they are in pens.

What sanctuary? Does it exist? Are there any concrete plans to acquire the land, manage it, fund it or is it just something Mrs Pickens talks about? If it is just the latter, I can see BLM's point.

As for the rest, I agree. The problem of unwanted horses is not a TB centric problem by a long shot.

[karenkarenn]

Oh Yes there is a sanctuary. Its on I 93 its like 500 acres set aside for THEM. County wont let her do it. She just wants to them to roam and be free start the management from there. They come from all over just to be here, stupid county commisioners are so D*** stubborn.
She's new so they complain about the horses but won't let her have them
ARGH.

[Toccet02]

Ok I might get gelded for this one but here goes.

What is wrong with a horse being sent to the slaughter house for meat and dying an instant death and earning the owner a few $, horses are livestock after all just like cattle or sheep.

Is it not better for them to end their days this way than to die starving in a field?

Or for their owners to end up broke trying to feed and take care of these animals and the owners ending up on the street, homeless and starving?

Horse are bred to be racehorses and if they can't find an alternative career and there is a market for their carcases, is this wrong? (again think livestock not pet)

I would agree if they were always treated like livestock only--but the Cigars and Curlins and Zenyattas of the world have made racing horses everything from pet to national hero to blog writer . This makes the idea of discarding them when no longer useful distasteful to many, including myself.

[karenkarenn]

Yeah but Toccet you have to remember Zenyatta may hav touched many but not ranchers that watch football and NASCAR over watching horse racing once a year.
Curlin was never heard of here in this county..
The problem is for many people ( which is a large number of folks that still do alot of irresponsible breeding) they don't watch horse racing. They think that its to violent on animals.
If anyone here says " OLD FRIENDS" thoroughbred retirement center - they wouldn't know anything about it.

[Toccet02]

Yeah but Toccet you have to remember Zenyatta may hav touched many but not ranchers that watch football and NASCAR over watching horse racing once a year.
Curlin was never heard of here in this county..
The problem is for many people ( which is a large number of folks that still do alot of irresponsible breeding) they don't watch horse racing. They think that its to violent on animals.
If anyone here says " OLD FRIENDS" thoroughbred retirement center - they wouldn't know anything about it.

Yes I understand...for folks in your area, horses are livestock only . . . but those who DO know the "fan" side of the sport have a hard time with it.
It's VERY subjective.

[karenkarenn]

Couldn't agree more toccet.
And I partly agree with the Original Poster-- can we please limit the breeding-- maybe by 25%?

[Joltman]

Ok I might get gelded for this one but here goes.

What is wrong with a horse being sent to the slaughter house for meat and dying an instant death and earning the owner a few $, horses are livestock after all just like cattle or sheep.

Is it not better for them to end their days this way than to die starving in a field?

Or for their owners to end up broke trying to feed and take care of these animals and the owners ending up on the street, homeless and starving?

Horse are bred to be racehorses and if they can't find an alternative career and there is a market for their carcases, is this wrong? (again think livestock not pet)

I would agree if they were always treated like livestock only--but the Cigars and Curlins and Zenyattas of the world have made racing horses everything from pet to national hero to blog writer . This makes the idea of discarding them when no longer useful distasteful to many, including myself.

My rational side says Dublino is right. I would have a real hard time sending one to the stockyard though. My bigger problem is that we treat other human beings even worse than we treat the abused and neglected horses being discussed here.

jm

[dkras]

I don't consider horses livestock. We don't raise them for consumption like we do other livestock. We don't eat horsemeat in America. We treat horses differently than livestock...more like pets or companions in many cases. I understand that to some people horses have no inherent value except monetary, similar to livestock. But I think most people in America are repulsed by the idea of sending our horses to slaughter as a way to dispose of them. Hence, the horse slaughter ban.

However, horses are still sent to slaughter, just elsewhere. They just have a longer, more horrible trip to make, in some cases. Personally, I think they should outlaw the transport of horses for slaughter as well. Slaughter is often inhumane. Horses may not be stunned properly and killed while conscious. They endure bad conditions during transport and on arrival and in the facility.

From the Humane Society's website: "our undercover footage of horse slaughter plants in the U.S. demonstrated that conscious horses were shackled and hoisted by the rear leg and have their throats slit. Even though all three plants in the U.S. have been prohibited from slaughtering horses, the horse slaughter industry continues to haul horses by the truckload in greater numbers than ever, where they are stabbed to death in Mexican slaughter plants".

I have no problem with humane euthanasia. Maybe there should be some money set aside in the horse industry to help pay for that. Maybe with gov. grants and fundraising, there can be help for people to get rid of their horses humanely, rather than have them starve to death, etc.

As far as making a few bucks by sending your horse to slaughter for the meat money, that's just repulsive. Why not raise cattle then? If you don't appreciate the beauty and grace of horses above and beyond the definition of livestock, why even get involved with them. That just seems disloyal and heartless.

Just my humble opinion....

[Sysonby]

Couldn't agree more toccet.
And I partly agree with the Original Poster-- can we please limit the breeding-- maybe by 25%?

.

So who decides who gets to breed horses and who has horses worthy enough to breed? Reduce breeding by 25 % and do you have stock worthy enough under the new regime? Do I? Did Sylvie before she decided to stop on her own?

Also I don't think reducing breeding by 25 % will increase "quality" by 25% necessarily. It's not a science and it's sure not that exact an art.

[erhrdt3]

This is a thread that needs to keep being read. Sylvie, in her original post, says it.

Dublino sorry but you make me ill. Sure, lets use that animal up, make money on them, then lets use its carcass for a few hundred bucks more. Sicko.

There needs to be a major limit on the amount of horses being bred. What is the JC doing about this issue? There are many good horses already here that need to have a job and a home. Just look up in the right corner of this very forum, there seems to be alot of mares again going for next to nothing. Did they get the hell bred out of them all their lives and now they are useless?

People that breed just to breed need to watch some of those videos of these magnificent animals being hacked to death or have their throats slit while alive. How would YOU like to have that done to YOU, Mr. Livestock?

Unless this industry cleans up its act, it is going to continue to suffer as it has.

Also agree with the overbreeding with the puppy mills and folks getting a pet and not spaying/neutering them just so they can breed breed breed.

Animals are living, breathing, feeling beings, not a piece of junk that can be tossed out in yesterday's trash. They are not like cars, which are made of metal and can be sent to the junkyard and crushed.

Right, Dublino, carcass man?

[Sysonby]

There needs to be a major limit on the amount of horses being bred. What is the JC doing about this issue? There are many good horses already here that need to have a job and a home. Just look up in the right corner of this very forum, there seems to be alot of mares again going for next to nothing. Did they get the hell bred out of them all their lives and now they are useless?

But I could have sworn I read one of your posts describing horses that you bred and Sylvie bred horses.

So I guess that it's OK for you and Sylvie but others not so much....