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To clarify this a bit, the fact that Kat is right that gelding unwanted stallions does not help with population control does not mean that gelding them is not a good thing--it certainly is.  And while it doesn't guarantee to make them wanted horses, it does improve their chances from zero to something.  The problem with the premise is the very part that Kat is talking about--the fact that it is a good idea to geld unwanted stallions has nothing whatsoever to do with population control of horses.  Its desirability is entirely for other reasons.

 

So while it is a good thing to promote the gelding of unwanted stallions, one should be more clear about the reasons--it isn't about population control, and it is not a guarantee of making them useful or saleable.  It does somewhat improve their chances (if they have any useful qualities to begin with), although they are still competing for fewer homes in a depressed horse market, and it does make them easier to manage at home in the meantime (and probably happier, in most cases).

 

Heidi

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [RC] The Gelding Project - MN
From: k s swigart <katswig@xxxxxxx>
Date: Fri, May 01, 2009 10:29 pm
To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx


From: Sandy Adams sandydsa@xxxxxxx

> It may not be a KEY step but it is a positive step,

Actually, because it because of this mindset (thinking that spending resources to turn stallions into geldings by educating gelding owners--which is what stallion owners become after they have gelded their stallions--is a positive step), that, in fact, makes it, in some ways, a negative step.

It sends the erroneous message that all you have to do to reduce the production of unwanted horses is to educate prospective gelding owners.  Perpetuating this myth is not a positive step at all.

The message that needs to be sent is:

"Don't breed your MARE (empasis mine) no matter what the availability or the quality of the stallions out there unless you have a plan for the foal."

This is not something you need to tell a gelding owner.

Letting people think that they are doing something to improve the unwanted horse population by gelding their stallion, lets people think they are doing something without actually doing much of anything at all.

kat
Orange County, Calif.
:)


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