-----Original Message----- From: karen coombes [mailto:karen@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] Sent:Monday,
September 11, 20064:36 PM To: 'ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx' Subject: RE: [RC] ok, TAX bad word
I have known several breeders over the years. Over-breeding of
horses is definitely an issue. The irresponsible parties in my mind are
those who breed because - 1. they think little baby horses are just so
cute!!, 2. they haven’t done their homework and think they are going to
get rich doing it, 3. they want a baby out of ‘this’ horse or
‘that’ horse, and 4. they just don’t manage their herds and
before they know it 13 or 14 horses is 27 or 28 horses. Of all the breeders
I have known none have made money – one is getting close to break-even
which is cause for elation (that is,,, providing all this year’s
breedings took, all foals are born alive and healthy and none of the mares have
any problems). One situation I saw is where the breeder became, in my
opinion, over zealous. She now has more babies than she has the time to
train, and doesn’t have the money to pay for a trainer. Soon
she’ll have a field full of 4,5 and 6 year olds with little handling, no
training, and probably a slim chance of being sold. It is too easy to get
so dangerously close to the edge. One bad year for hay (like here in TX
where the draught has drove hay prices sky high) could be disastrous.
Either take out a 2nd mortgage to buy hay, sell the horses for
next-to-nothing, or just wait til the rescue people come because your horses
are so emaciated. There is no way to legislate responsibility, or common
sense, unfortunately. Taxes and fees won’t fix it.
