Re: [RC] Desperate Times for Horse Owners and for Horses - Carrie Kitley
This is definitely the proverbial "rock and hardplace" scenario for sure. I can easily see both sides, but my heart gets in the way.
~Carrie ~~___(\
.../< >\ <\_~ // \\
"The wind of heaven is that which blows between a horse's ears."
~ Old Arabian Proverb
--- On Mon, 12/15/08, Barbara McCrary <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
From: Barbara McCrary <bigcreekranch@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: [RC] Desperate Times for Horse Owners and for Horses To: "Merri Melde" <merritraveler@xxxxxxxxx>, ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Monday, December 15, 2008, 4:59 PM
I was talking to our vet this morning, as he was treating one of our bulls. I told him I had a lovely 9 year old mare (that we bred and raised) for sale; then we got to talking about horse overpopulation, etc. He is one of the many members of AAEP that tried so hard to prevent the shut-down of horse slaughter plants. Now it may sound like cruelty to kill horses for dog food or people food, but consider the alternatives: people turning unwanted shod horses loose in the Nevada desert, people taking unwanted horses to trailheads and tying them to someone's trailer while the owners are out riding, people considering euthanizing unwanted horses or just plain shooting them to get rid of them. Tell me these alternatives are better than sending them to slaughter where the meat will actually be put to good use, and the horses can realize a small sum of money for the owner. And the cost of
feeding and incarcerating 30,000 BLM horses is on whose backs? Ours, the taxpayers! And the "wild" horses just keep on breeding.....
We had planned on using our mare for our own endurance riding, but while she was growing up, we were getting old and arthritic and found ourselves not riding endurance any more. So what do we do with an unwanted horse? The people who were in sympathy against humane slaughter didn't do the horse world much of a favor. Maybe THEY should pay the entire bill for keeping 30,000 plus unwanted horses..... There simply aren't enough people to adopt all the unwanted horses in the western U.S.
If anyone wants a very nice mare, she's for sale at a reasonable price.
Subject: [RC] Desperate Times for Horse Owners and for Horses
And here's a problem to add to that same equation: the 33,000+ 'wild' BLM horses that have been rounded up and are held in holding pens across the west. (Not counting the 30,000 in the wild). I wrote a little about it in
