Did anyone watch "Inside Edition" tonight?

[Varisha]

Quote:
Not all owners of horses have thousands and thousands of dollors. It's not just the racing industry. I know I don't have thousands and thousands of dollors.

(If I did I would have a bigger barn more horses and well.... no more thousands and thousands of dollars *grin*)

Besides cows, pigs, chickens, goats, sheep and so on have personality too and can be pets but it is considered ok to eat them and not other livestock?

If any animal is humanly raised and then slaughtered to feed somoene then I have no issue with it. If an animal is uble it find a home and will be slaughtered anyway then why waste that meat?

If you do get a horse please find someone that can teach you proper care and training of them before you get one. They can help you find a safe one that fit's your needs.

 

[patandchickens]

Hi palabeco - you know, all those hollywood movies are *not* at all an accurate depiction of racehorses, any more than my son's "the little engine that could" picture book is a documentary about trains

Quote:
The only other thing racehorse owners could do and still be able to afford to own racehorses - which is orders of magnitude more expensive than owning non racehorses, btw! - would be to shoot each horse between the ears after its last race unless they've got a buyer or other home lined up. A few people *will* essentially do this, btw. I am not convinced it's that much of a better arrangement. (edited to add: And as Varisha says, it seems wasteful not to use the carcass - to kill a whole 'nother animal, too, when meat is wanted.)

Quote:
Well, there is, of course. But it involves ending horse racing, or requiring race breeders to guarantee a retirement home for every horse they produce, which would pretty much amount to the same thing unless money starts growing on trees. Neither will happen, I suspect.

-and that'd still leave all these other various unwanted horses from other walks of life.

They're just very expensive and long-lived critters, when you come right down to it, and too much of a business commodity to too many people. Honestly, I think pet overpopulation (dogs and cats euthanized in shelters) would be the easier of the two issues to solve, by which I still don't mean 'easy'

All we can do is take in whatever horses we can, and spread the word.

ok, back to chickens I guess... i will sit down and shut up now

,


Pat

 

[palabeco]

All points well taken.

 

[patandchickens]

one last note -

got curious, sat down and did some back of envelope calculations. Consider a 'typical' racehorse - races as a 2 and 3 yr old, sustains crippling career ending joint or tendon injuries, retired at end of 3 yr old year. What might it cost to retire him for his expected lifespan of, like, 24 yrs?

Optimistically, let's ignore labor, land and building costs, as if you are doing this out of your own pocket as a horse lover. Let's also be optimistic and suppose the horse requires no long-term health stuff besides worming, basic vaccinations and a minor vet incident every few years. If you've had horses you know this really IS optimistic <g> And let's say you're keeping the horse at home, on pasture plus winter hay. Remember his expenses typically increase as he gets older - need more/better hoof and vet care, grain and more expensive feeds, etc.

Plausible MINIMUM costs:

$500/yr from age 4 til 10, $800/yr til age 16, $1000/yr til age 24.

That's around $16,000!

If he's one of many who live to age 30, that's likely to add an extra $15-20,000 to his lifetime upkeep bill... making upwards of $30,000.

The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation estimates that around 3,000 TBs each year in the US alone end their racing career without a home (read: bad things happen to them). Many because they're unrideably crippled, others just from bad luck and not enough homes. This number excludes horses who do find a good buyer or other home, whatever their physical state.

By my ballpark figures above, it'd take something on the order of $50 million dollars PER YEAR to charitably retire all these horses. And that's just TBs, not all kinds of horses.

.

Pat, not wishing to add up her horse expenditures thru the years, but knowing that 3 is definitely my current limit (and I am very d*mn lucky to be able to afford that)

 

[mom'sfolly]

If you really want to know about bad stuff and horses, type pregnant mare urine into your search engine. The main ingredient in Premarin, used as hormone replacement therapy, is from horse urine. The foals are usually shipped to slaughter houses, and the horses are pregnant most of their lives. We are not very good at caring for animals at many levels in this country...to many cats and dogs, inhumane meat and egg production and other things.

 

[GloriaH]

As a horse owner and breeder I have to chime in. Here in Tennessee we are having a problem with people dropping off their old and sick horses in the parks and forests. Because there is no "killer" market these horses are starving to death. The killers are taking their horses to slaughter in Mexico where they are killed with less then humane methods. I love horses but am also practical. We need to take our sick injured and old horses and drop then off on Bo Derick, Oprah Winfree's and the Presedent of PETA's lawns (They were big supporters of banning the killer market.) and let them deal with them. As for PMU Horses that is the worst abuse of horses I have ever heard of. We have a special sale here of the colts so they won't be destroyed. Just sign me Menopausel and not taking anything for it!

 

[rufus]

Without the meat market for horses, people will be dumping them on public land. Feral horses are a dangerous nuisance. They drive other animals from the water holes and destroy the range. They are really dangerous when they wander onto the highways.

Horse meat is nutritious and tasty. Why not utilize this resource? This is another case of our governments' stupid response to the lunitic fringe. What is next? Banning meat altogether?

Get real!

As and old Navajo I used to know said "Somebodies been watching too much television."

Rufus

 

[Varisha]

mom'sfolly :

If you really want to know about bad stuff and horses, type pregnant mare urine into your search engine. The main ingredient in Premarin, used as hormone replacement therapy, is from horse urine. The foals are usually shipped to slaughter houses, and the horses are pregnant most of their lives. We are not very good at caring for animals at many levels in this country...to many cats and dogs, inhumane meat and egg production and other things.

Not true. The foals are not usualy sent to slaughter at all (no more or less than any other foal). A typical urine farm has well breed mares and studs and then sell the pure blooded foals to people who want registered horses. There are laws and inspections done to make sure the mares are well taken care of (more pampered than some privatly owned horses). Some women can't take the synthetic hormone replacements and Premarin is thier only shot at living healthy. At most breeding (non-urine collecting farms) keep thier mares breed every year with only a year hear and there off. Also, in the wild a mare is bregnant most of her life. But in human care their is a vet to help them along with good constant feed.​

 

[ratlummountain]

i did not see the report on TV, but this debate has been raging for a long time now.

*sigh*

i'm a huge advocate of animal rescue, and i get a bad taste in my mouth whenever i hear of someone paying $1,000 for a sweet little dog.

it's an industry, weather we like it or not.

did you know that every spring in the Thoroughbred racing industry, the new foals are referred to collectively as a "crop"? They're not viewed as a darling beautiful majestic horse, they're viewed as dollar signs. and if those dollar signs fade they're thrown away.

unfortunately those slaughter houses are a necessity. already there have been reports of horses being abandoned or turned loose in woods and parks.
personally i'd rather have a horse used for consumption then allowed to slowly starve to death.

it's the treatment of the horses on the way to the processing plants that i object too. double decker trailers were outlawed only recently.

i personally donate money to animal rescue's every year. there are oodles of rescues out there, i work with a few of them near me.

i do tack repair and i tell all my clients to give me their old tack or especially old halters that are broken and about to be thrown away. i fix them and give them to my local rescue groups.

with the exception of my chickens, all of my fur kids are rescues. however if someone does not have the know-how or money to maintain these animals, then i would urge them to please just donate money or time instead of taking a rescue.

for my horse alone, minimal expenses are about $350/month. and he's retired and is a lawn ornament. and who the heck is charging only $30 for a trim!?! i haven't paid that little for a trim since about 20 years ago!

 

[patandchickens]

Could the Premarin thing PLEASE be discussed on a separate thread IF AT ALL here (and 'not at all, here' would definitely get my vote) so that those of us who are sick and tired of delusional representations being made on the subject can avoid a lot of teeth-grinding? I mean, do what you want, but that would certainly be my preference and suggestion.

Ratlummountain, farrier prices are very regional. I've lived some places where you can't get even an incompetent trim for less than $70 and you don't even want to know what a competently-done set of shoes starts at; five years ago when I left western NY state I was paying $35 for a good trimming job (mind, that was at a boarding barn, he might've charged more for only 1 horse), and here north of Toronto, where horsey things are generally quite expensive, I am paying $30 (Canadian). Go figure!

Pat