Horse Talk

[surprisebaby03]

Since we are talking rescue I rescued my top event horse! She was 2 dollars everyone is buying a 8,000 dollar horse and none are as good as my rescue mare!

 

[abigalerose]

@Violetsfeathers hmm well I guess I DIDNT explain it right. They're not sending the mustangs to slaughter, they saved them from slaughter, train them, and then adopt them out. OR there are horses (totally different horses in a totally different town) that are on their way to slaughter, and I could rescue one right off the kill buyers trailer.
And to everyone else, I love hearing that your rescues worked out! I don't mind either way if I rescue one who's already rehabilitated, or one who still needs to be, but maybe for my first time it would be best to go with one of the mustangs. I guess we'll just see if any of them "choose me" when I go look Wednesday.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

First off, branded BLM mustangs cannot legally be sent to slaughter, and they absolutely do inspect brands at the border crossings.

Secondly, I would go for a broke gelding with good color. Black, dun, roan, palomino - all good choices. Mustang, not a mustang, doesn't really matter unless that's what you have your heart set on. Why? Because if the unthinkable happens and you are forced to give up your horses, you will have a far more marketable animal who will have a better shot at actually getting a home. There are plenty of unbroke "project" horses up for grabs on the internet, and the market there is pretty much saturated. It would really sting to have to haul all your rescues into the sale where the fate of very green, soured, and unbroke horses is quite grim.

 

[abigalerose]

Believe me, I know it's not legal for them to be sent to slaughter, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. People have investigated it and seen them shipped to Mexico countless times. And the ones these people have up for adoption are all pulled from kill pens in Louisianna and Texas. Maybe some check the brands at the border but I bet there are plenty who let it slide. And it doesn't much matter what horse I get on the side of it being marketable, becuase after some bad selling experience, I won't be selling a horse ever again. And if for some reason there was absolutely no way no how I could keep it, I have a family member or a friend who I would gladly give it to and trust to do right by it. I will probably go with a mustang, and it will be broke because this particular rescue won't send any of them home until they're finished training them, which is nice.
I guess I'm unclear on part of your post, you think it's best to go with a broke mustang gelding with nice color, or a broke whatever breed non mustang gelding with color?

 

[cassie]

What do you mean it is illegal to send horses to slaughter? For some years slaughter of horses in this country was illegal, but that is no longer true. The problem is that there is so much opposition to a horse slaughter plant that it is well nigh impossible to get the permits to build one. There was a proposal for a horse slaughter plant to be built in a town not far from me but there was such an outcry that the project was abandoned. Another problem is getting USDA inspectors for the plant. The outlawing of horse slaughter has not made things better for horses. If fact it has made things worse.

 

[abigalerose]

Wait so it's legal to slaughter any horse in the U.S.?

 

[cassie]

Wait so it's legal to slaughter any horse in the U.S.?

Since it is legal to build a slaughter house I would think so. I do not like the idea of slaughtering horses, but I am reluctantly in favor of humane slaughter. It is a lot better than the alternatives. Like sending them to Mexico where conditions are deplorable, or turning them out to starve. The latter happens all too often. As for horse rescue, the horse rescue places are overwhelmed and the conditions in many of them are not very good. When I was moving from California to Missouri I needed to find a place for my ancient mare because there was no way she would survive the trip half way across the country. I called several horse rescue places and left messages. None of them even called me back even though I made it very clear that I would pay for her feed.

 

[abigalerose]

Hmm. So are there many slaughter houses here already? It seems that every rescue effort I've looked into are taking horses off of feed lots that are getting ready to be shipped to Mexico.
Anyways, regardless of if its legal and where it happens and how it happens. I was just trying to figure if I'll be doing the same amount of good either way that I rescue. I guess I will be, since if I get one of the mustangs it'll free up a spot at the rescue for another feed lot horse. I wish it weren't so hard to decide what to do, I just see so many helpless horses and I can't help to feel bad for all of them. Even if they have behavioral or health issues that's no reason to send them to Mexico. If something were to go wrong with June I wouldn't just send her to the auction. Even if I could never ride her I'd keep her till the day she died. I guess it's just hard to wrap my head around how so many horses end up in such a bad situation.

 

[WallabyOfChaos]

Since it is legal to build a slaughter house I would think so. I do not like the idea of slaughtering horses, but I am reluctantly in favor of humane slaughter. It is a lot better than the alternatives. Like sending them to Mexico where conditions are deplorable, or turning them out to starve. The latter happens all too often. As for horse rescue, the horse rescue places are overwhelmed and the conditions in many of them are not very good. When I was moving from California to Missouri I needed to find a place for my ancient mare because there was no way she would survive the trip half way across the country. I called several horse rescue places and left messages. None of them even called me back even though I made it very clear that I would pay for her feed.

Slaughter was never actually "banned." What happened was the funding for inspections of horse packing facilities was stripped from the USDA budget. No money for inspections means no inspectors, and no inspectors means the meat cannot be shipped internationally or moved across state lines for sale for human consumption. That pretty much nixed any profitability for the packers, so they shut down. Economics. The no-funding bill was stripped out of the USDA Farm Bill a couple years ago (2012 maybe?), and there was a facility ready to be up and running pending inspection in New Mexico, but the inspectors never showed up and months and months later the plant ultimately decided not to pursue their permit. (Oddly enough, they had decided to process cattle again when their cooling system for the freezers "mysteriously" caught fire, and the plant was closed entirely.) Then, the no-funding bill was put back in place in the last Farm Bill, so we're right back where we started when it all went down in 2007. So no wording that actually puts a ban on horse processing, but no reason to open a plant either. Now and in the last few years there have been bills floating in and out of congress to ban the sale and transport of horses for slaughter. None have been passed yet.

Believe me, I know it's not legal for them to be sent to slaughter, but that doesn't mean it doesn't happen. People have investigated it and seen them shipped to Mexico countless times. And the ones these people have up for adoption are all pulled from kill pens in Louisianna and Texas. Maybe some check the brands at the border but I bet there are plenty who let it slide.

I know it makes a pretty sob story for the "rescue" folks to spin, but don't believe everything you hear there either. Contrary to what you may have been told, these folks are not doing this for free. We do a fair amount of horse trading in our area and we rub shoulders with some of the bigger horse brokers around. My information is "straight from the horse's mouth" so to speak. It is against federal law for BLM horses to be slaughtered. No one I know buys branded mustangs for slaughter.

I guess I'm unclear on part of your post, you think it's best to go with a broke mustang gelding with nice color, or a broke whatever breed non mustang gelding with color?

Breed is unimportant. Broke very important. Gelding is a good choice because there is a better market for good geldings than good mares. Good color is moderately important. You want to be prepared for the absolute worst. You may not be able to find someone you know to take the horse for free, and you may not be comfortable giving it away to a stranger. It's always best to put yourself in a position where you will have a desireable animal should you be forced to get rid of it. There are so many horrific abuse and neglect stories where well-meaning, good horse owners fall on hard times and can't take care of their horses and can't find them homes either. It happens every day.

 

[abigalerose]

Well I only plan on rescuing a horse that is broke, hopefully a nice color, I mean, I'm not super picky but I don't want an ugly horse either. Basically I just don't want a sorrel lol. But I do prefer mares.
And I understand about it being illigel for mustangs to be slaughtered, but what about pictures and videos of them being pulled from feedlots? I've seen pictures of the tags from the feedlot on the horses too. I know you can't believe everything you see, but surely if there's so many pictures and videos of them, some of it must be real. Illegal doesn't always mean it doesn't happen.
And I didn't know slaughter wasn't illegal, so that's interesting to learn.