In response to your article, "The problem of unwanted horses," I have some thoughts:

Sure, it is a poor economy, but there are horse buyers out there, there just aren't the right horses.  Most of today's buyers are not show people.  Most of the buyers are middle aged to Baby Boomer aged women.  They are looking for safe, smooth, sound, pleasure, and trail horses.  Many show people and breeders are under the impression that their "culls" that can't make it in the show world will make a good trail horse.  Untrue.  Soundness, stamina, and a good mind are of utmost importance for trail riding.  Anyone who has come down a hill on an unsound horse will understand this.   Any unsound horse (unsoundness of any degree, including neurological) should be marketed as a pasture buddy only.  The unsound horse is of little value to anyone and the seller must take the financial hit instead of marketing the horse as trail worthy.  This group of unsound horses in the marketplace has damaged the horse industry as much or more than the slow economy.

In a recent viewing of a 1949 John Wayne Cavalry movie, I took a good look at the 100 or so horses in the film.  They all had good stifle to hock angles, not a post-legged horse in the group.  The majority had substantial bone and good sized feet to go with it.  They were thin, medium sized, and most of them were the typical bay coloring.  This is the kind of horse buyers want. Buyers want a horse that is built to last.

To clarify, here is a list of what we don't want:

1.  Easy keepers.   They are a nightmare to manage due to their susceptibility to founder and numerous metabolic problems.

2.  Poor confirmation.  The stress of riding combined with poor confirmation almost always leads to lameness.

3.  Bad feet.  All horse owners want substantial, strong feet with correct confirmation.

4. Wrong size.  Not too big, not too small.  15 to15-1 (+/-) hands is about right.

5.  Rough ride.   Remember, the buyers are Baby Boomers, the smoother the ride the better.

6.  Unruly temperament.  Only the most committed owner will tolerate a difficult horse and usually it is a trade off for athletic ability.

Please, breeders and backyard mare owners, do not breed your mare or stallion unless it has the right stuff. The problem of unwanted horses will become even worse if the unwanted-type of horse continues to be bred.

Respectfully submitted,
Barb

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More thoughts on unwanted horses:

I just picked up The NW Horse Source at one of our "local" feed stores, Basin Feed (when you live in eastern Washington, local is within 150 miles) today.  I read your "From My Saddle" page with interest and sat down after dinner to write to you. 


Dear Karen,
Re:  New Year, New Opportunities.

I was surprised to find a publisher willing to open the proverbial “can of worms” that you did in your article about unwanted horses.  I do challenge you about your statement that breeders and trainers don’t have the luxury of giving a horse a home until they die.  Sure they do!  They aren’t any different than any other human on the face of the earth!  In fact, they make their money OFF of horses and should budget accordingly to assure their horses live a full and complete life (a good quality of life).  I do agree that people need to stop breeding irresponsibly.  I also believe that form and function (such as conformation that can last a lifetime) should take priority over bloodlines and beauty.  Well, that’s an article in and of itself.

Yours is an interesting question as to the concern of unwanted horses.  “What is the solution?” you ask.  There isn’t just one solution for the answer.  It is far too complex of a problem.  You listed 5 excuses why someone would disown their horse(s), the same ones can be given to cats, dogs and in some cases children.  I understand that there are sometimes real hardships involved in the decision to giving up a horse—and I won’t refer to those cases.  However, for most of the others, I believe most of those individuals are just lacking in morals!

In my horse lifetime of some 35 years, I have had 1 mini, 1 pony, 11 light horses and 3 drafts.  Of this “herd” the number of cast-offs (unwanteds) were 8 light horses and 1 draft.  In fact, one of the cast-offs I found just last year.  She was dumped off to be coyote bait on some Fish and Wildlife land north of our town.  This mare was 250 pounds underweight, had an old, horrible, unhealed wound below her hock (I’m still trying to heal after 15 months) and hooves with about 2 years of growth on them.  And she had been freshly weaned from a foal!  Just let me tell you what my veterinarian bills are!  I think I’m on the “solution” side of the equation!

All of my horses, except one, have lived with me until death parted our company.  The one horse went to live with a friend of mine.  Of those who died: 3 died from old age (or age related causes), the oldest at 37 years; one died because of neglect from the prior “owner”; one died from colic; one died due to a genetic disorder and one was a dangerous horse.  Currently I have 4 light horses and 3 drafts out in my pastures.

I bought and paid entirely for my first horse when I was 12 years old.  I trained her myself (thanks to 4-H!) and bred her as a 5 year old.  I trained her colt (paying every dime to care for him too).  I got married, had 2 children, divorced 8 years later, and kept my 2 horses (even as a single mom).  My herd grew; a pony for my children (I paid for) and, much later, 2 more horses (unwanted) for us.  I worked in a feed store during this time for 10 years and made less than $9/hour.  Child-support was $400/month and rent alone was $700 - $850/month (always with pasture for the horses).  

My responsibilities were to my horses and children (in that order because I had the horses first) and in spite of my mother’s pleas to sell them, I did everything possible to make sure everyone’s needs were met.  My horses didn’t have a luxury barn to stand in 24 hours a day; they had pasture with nice, green grass to graze.  They didn’t have a beautiful slant-load trailer to go for rides in; they had a stock trailer.  And we never had a new pickup or a vacation to Disneyland or Disneyworld (our vacations were spent at Little League activities and 4-H at the county fair).  Let me tell you, I also never smoked, drank or “did” drugs!

After my children moved out to start their own lives, I found a much better paying job, got married to a long-time friend and we moved to eastern Washington to a 78 acre farm (where we grow hay). Times are tough; the price of fuel will rise again this year (including all the by-products such as oil, fertilizer and chemicals) and any hay we feed is hay we don’t sell!  So, it costs me the same to feed my horses as it does my customers!  But, I wouldn't have it any other way!  What I am saying is if horses mean that much to you make them a priority!

We are stuck living in a disposable society, in an age of instant gratification and we are no longer held accountable for our actions or behavior!  It is far more common for people to discard their horse(s) long before age, age-related maladies, or health claim their life or usefulness. But that doesn’t mean you have to abide by that lifestyle, I’ve learned I am the exception to the “rule”.  And I’m proud to say that my daughter, following in my footsteps, took in an unwanted horse too (but unfortunately lost him because of an infection in an old wound that surfaced almost 2 years later).  

Two solutions come to mind.  The first one is improving education.  Every cut made initially hurts our students, inevitably hurts us as a society.  No Child Left Behind is a great idea, but without the funding necessary to back the program there’s no value in a “fancy” title.  As for education, 4-H and FFA have proven to be very successful programs that are available to our youth and through budget cuts we stand to lose more FFA programs in the future.  

The second solution would be stopping these fanatical, animal-rights groups from pushing their agendas onto political parties, who in-turn, make laws that affect the rights of livestock owners.  I, personally, don’t like slaughter houses.  But, I also hate having horses suffer needlessly because we don’t have a place to send them.  The stories I’ve heard from my customers are horrific.  The stories I hear from my neighbors are sad!  And my rescue mare from last year is a perfect example!  We need to recognize and accept different cultures and nations enjoy meat from a horse as much as we do from cattle or chickens. We need to have slaughter houses and they need to operate under the same guidelines (or better) as those that process other livestock.  We need to insure these places are safe (for employees, as well as horses) and humane.  As we all know, shipping horses packed into trailers to Mexico or Canada isn’t perfect!  Fortunately there is a contingency of Native Americans working together to build processing plants on their lands which will help with some of the 170,000 unwanted horses.

We are an intelligent race; it is time to act as one.  We need to think about the cause and effect of every decision or action we make (including every law) and be held accountable for it.  It’s time to start implementing a better way of life!  I hope you find some great ideas from your readers and that someone thinks outside of the box for a win-win solution!

Your Friend in the Horseworld,
Kathy Lomax
Othello, WA