Re: [RC] Desperate Times for Horse Owners and for Horses - heidi larson
I peruse Craigslist and Dreamhorse just for fun (and apparently as a punishment to myself.) I am seeing more and more older, retired horses, (I have 2 that will stay here forever and I feel bad for horses that don't have that opportunity) underfed babies, bred grade mares, barely halterbroke horses, etc. There is still a market for a well trained, well bred horse with good conformation. Albeit the market is low, there still is one. In the Portland Craigslist this past month, there was a "breeder" (using term very lightly/see links below) that had QH's (not registerable) a few stud colts, (also unreg.) poorly built, underweight, etc. Had 2 bred mares with 7 month old foals at their sides. Package deal, $100 gets you a mom, a foal and a fetus. None broke, none registered. "Breeder" has 2+ stallions on the
property. When I first read the ad, I expected them to be rescues due to the circumstances, nope, they were bred purposely. (Purposely means to me, not separating or gelding your stallions that should be geldings and giving them the opportunity to breed.) What is the future for ANY of these horses? They are destined for a trip to Canada or Mexico as NO ONE wants them. Very sad and preventable. Do a search on Dreamhorse sometime and just put in the parameter of under $200 and see what you get. Very sad. I do not know what the answer is, but giving the above "breeder" an out by letting her sell for meat only keeps her breeding unwanted horses doesn't it? Maybe we need castration clinics like spay/neuter clinics. Maybe we need more awareness from our communities. I am seeing some TB places pulling licenses from trainers who ditch horses for meat, so there are some organizations that are
stepping up to the plate and trying to make a difference. I do check the FUGLY Horse blog daily and Cathy has set up a breeder directory of folks that will promise to take back or help find a home for any horses they've bred. I think that is an excellent start, at least the breeder is taking responsiblity for putting the foal on the ground. I'd personally like to see the AHA doing something, as well as the other organizations. I don't like the idea of the gov. getting involved so I think it's up to us, the horse community to come up with solutions. We had a horse put down a few summers ago and taken away, cost less than $200.
