If The Horseshoe Fits

When you hear the term ‘backyard breeder,’ what comes to mind?  Does this term call up negative connotations, complete with images of unwanted horses that are unmarketable? Or is it a term that you associate with the small breeder – a person who is simply doing things on a smaller scale than the ‘big boys?’ I have read a lot of articles lately that name the backyard breeder as the scourge of the industry, and deride those whom they see as backyard breeders as ruining everything for the rest of us.  Personally, I dislike the term backyard breeder because it is a misnomer and its meaning has been twisted to mean a person who doesn’t know anything about breeding horses.   But aren’t there plenty of people who are proud to say they produce horses that are of good quality on an individual (rather than mass produced) basis?  Some prefer the term ‘homebred,’ but again, I don’t think that term helps anyone make a distinction within the industry. 

I, for one, produce horses at my house, literally in my backyard/pastures, one at a time, with love and care, and with a substantial, lifelong knowledge of conformation, bloodlines, proper feed and care.  My farm is beautiful and safe, but modest and small (just 20 acres). My mares are good-looking, well-put together and have great dispositions; even if they themselves don’t have a show record, I am very critical in my decision to breed them.  I only produce a baby or two every few years, so my total numbers are really low. All of my babies are handled DAILY (which cannot be said for many of the big name farms), and receive excellent training when they come of age.  I breed/raise them to keep them because if something goes wrong (which is a real possibility), I will not, WILL NOT throw an animal away, selling them at the local auction where they are likely to end up with either someone who won’t or can’t treat them well, or being shipped on a long, tortuous journey toward a bolt to the head.  If we do sell one, I do my best to place them well, and am tenacious in following their progress.  Any horse I produce is always welcome back here. 

YET – I am not independently wealthy, nor do I have family money to prop up my horse endeavors.  I do not have a lavish facility.  I don’t advertise in industry magazines.  I don’t show (though plenty of others are showing my horses). I don’t schmooze with the current trainer-du-jour and prefer to keep a low profile.  I don’t follow breeding trends.  Again, I only produce a few horses compared to others within the industry. In other words, I am not a Big Name Breeder.  It would be easy for those with more money than me to look down their nose and throw around the negative connotation of ‘backyard breeder’ in describing what my husband and I do, but wouldn’t our absence from the industry be a bad thing?  We have recently seen many of the BNBs fold under the enormous financial pressure of breeding hundreds of mares per year, promoting stallions and sending tons of young horses to the show pen.  The costs for maintaining their gorgeous facilities are astronomical and the pressure to keep their brand visible at shows and in publications is crushing. 

The era of the BNB is steadily coming to an end.  Things I won’t miss:  Production sales where the culls are sold cheap or sent to slaughter.  Stallions that are over bred because they are owned by so-and so.  The cult of personality that goes along with believing that a famous name equals a great horse, and all the sucking up that attends to that belief.  A shrinking gene pool because one farm can produce hundreds of animals whose pedigrees are incredibly similar.  The list goes on….

Those of us who are conscientious small breeders are the industry equivalent of the middle class, and we are the base, the bedrock, on which the rest of the industry is built.  Most of us will still be here when the BNB are overspent, exhaust their trust funds or grow frustrated by a change in breeding trends that renders their stallion unfashionable.   Breeding out of your ‘backyard’ often means that you try to keep costs in balance with potential gains, you are frugal, have staying power because you don’t have to put on airs, and you are breeding for an animal that YOU like (with well-thought out reasons for being proud of it), not what you think will sell big at the NRHA/NCHA or whatever sales.   I am not trying to demonize the wealthy; it is just that I have been around long enough to have seen big spenders come and go, and watched too many folks get caught up in the aftermath of a breeding program based only on superficial accoutrements. 

I do believe that there are plenty of people out there who should not be breeding horses.  There always has been!  How do we address that element of our industry?  How about using the terms ‘substandard breeder’, and conversely, an ‘industry standard breeder’ to separate the classes of breeders?   While wordier, these terms are certainly more accurate and descriptive of the distinctions we’d like to make. 

A substandard breeder would be a person who breeds without regard to the future of the foal produced.  They can’t afford to feed/care for the animals they already own, and lack the knowledge, capability and/or means to train their animals.  They see Craiglist or similar internet sites as legitimate outlets for their horses – dump them cheaply and without care as to where they end up.  They routinely sell horses for less than $1,000. Their horses’ pedigrees have no recognizable names for several generations back.  They breed solely for color or some other singular trait.  They don’t see the danger in breeding horses ‘so their kids can experience having a baby horse’ or because ‘my horses are my fur babies’ or even because ‘my mare is so sweet.’  They see no need to prove any of the horses they produce, even at local competitions.  They lack even the most basic understanding of conformation, and cannot evaluate their animals objectively.  They won’t accept that some of their stock just isn’t good enough to be bred.  They throw away their horses when they get too old to breed or get injured, and are unmarketable.  And perhaps the worst thing, they don’t see their personal contribution to the over-abundance of unwanted horses on the market by their decision to breed horses that aren’t in demand (and this could also be said for those who breed dogs as well).

An industry standard breeder is, of course, the opposite of all those things, but also, one who embraces a long-term vision for the horse they’d like to produce which is based on study and experience.  I might also say that it requires an incredible amount of character; to take legitimate criticisms of their stock, to be flexible when the market changes and operations must be downsized, to see way down the road and anticipate, realistically, where they are headed, seek the advice of others who are higher in the industry pecking order than themselves, and to stick with it even when things get difficult.  Being a conscientious breeder, of any size, is not a whim or a hobby, and it isn’t for the faint of heart.  It’s OK to be a small breeder, as long as you are doing it with integrity.

So which are you?  No one wants to admit they are substandard.  No one wants to cop to any of the traits of being a bad breeder.  But if you read through the paragraph above that describes a substandard breeder, and can see yourself in even one of those traits, maybe, just maybe, you should ask yourself if you might be one, and are impacting our industry in a negative way. It isn’t an easy thing to admit, but if the horseshoe fits…..The good news is that even if you suspect that you might be doing the wrong things, YOU CAN CHANGE.  You can stop breeding the horses that aren’t good enough.  You can get educated.  You can do right by the animals you have now, as well as the horses you want to have in the future. Be honest with yourself, and remember, if you aren’t prepared to do something right, you shouldn’t do it.  Don’t our horses deserve that?

Witness the Opening of Pandora's Box

The American Quarter Horse Association recently lost itscourt case over cloning, which means that eventually, cloned Quarter Horses may be able to obtain registration papers.  While AQHA makes it’s appeal, most of the membership share a common standpoint of disappointment and disgust on this turn of events.  Only a very small group of people want clones included in the registry, and despite years and years of consistent opposition, they have used vast amounts of money to force cloning upon us.  I can’t help but feel that in the trajectory of history, this decision could mean ruin for our breed.  

I have written previously about all the reasons I believe allowing clones in the registry is wrong; if you’d like to read that, clickhere.

If no one wants clones, then how did we get here?  Money!  It costs an incredible amount to get a cloned foal on the ground, and only in a case where a person stands to make a ton of money is an individual cloned.  Dr. Veneklasen, who has set up an equine reproductive clinic in Texas to do clones, is at the center of the lawsuit – I can bet that his biggest motivator is NOT that he is trying to further the breed, but is instead thinking about how much money he will make once registration legitimizes his practices.  It is, after all, a breach of anti-trust lawsuit.  But what impact will this have on the breed?  What will the 20, 30, 50 year affect be of breeding the same individual horse (or small group of horses), over and over and over?  How will we be able to track those clones when line breeding starts to occur? How will this affect genetic disorders, both the ones that we know of now, and those that have yet to emerge?  Once we go down this road, we will not be able to turn back.  What might seem like a small rule change will have lasting detrimental effects that we can't even begin to understand right now.

I am horrified at the thought of going to a competition, and witnessing clones competing against each other.  How about many multiples of clones competing against each other?  Now, wouldn’t that be fun? We already see the same bloodlines endlessly crossed on each other in the show pen – next, it will be literally the same horse over and over.  Raise your hand if you think this would be a HUGE turn off, for members and for people outside the business that we might want to draw in.  Cloning will remove the glorious ART of breeding, the ability of the studious breeder to blend bloodlines, assess strengths and conformation, taking chances on outcrosses that might produce the next Great One.  Cloning reduces it to creating widgets.  The next widget is just like the one before it.  "'Cause that widget made us lots of money!"

I have seen people write that cloning is like a bloodline that you don’t like; if you don’t like it, you don’t buy it or breed it.  So, if we just ignore it, it will go away?  Oh my, how I wish this were true!  While I do agree that we all should make a conscious decision NOT to feed the cloning beasts in any way, I must disagree that by simply not buying those horses, or breeding to them, that we are doing our best to safeguard the integrity of the breed.   It is the conscientious breeder's responsibility to protect the breed's integrity.  In the same way that it is a knowledgeable observer's duty to step up and do something when they see someone beating their horse behind a barn at a show, it is the astute breeder's duty to step up for the breed in the case of clones, and do what they can to block their being legitimized.  There will always be people who aspire to be a big shot, there will always be people who are only in horses to make a buck, there will always be people who want the newest, latest toy but don’t think twice about discarding it later.   We cannot allow those people to make decisions that will severely impact those of us that breed for a better horse tomorrow (instead of horses that are long dead) and want to be here for the long haul. We have too much to lose. Excellent horse breeding requires a long view, and the long view of clones is one of suspended animation and a shrinking gene pool.  

I am against giving clones papers of any kind.  I know there are people with the theory that by giving clones papers, even in some sort of appendix, we will be able to somehow control the clone producers, and keep them honest.   If a person is of a mind to be dishonest, and, say, switch a clone’s semen for semen from an animal that is the ‘real thing,’ a piece of paper isn’t going to stop them.   Won’t the real thing always be more valuable, and therefore, more profitable than that from a clone, even a clone with papers?  I’d love to think that people would do the honorable thing, but the problem is, I have met too many people in the horse business that would sell their granny up the river if it made them some money! The point is, once cloning starts happening on a larger scale, and is given more legitimacy by allowing registration, we are going to see the cost of producing clones drop, we are going to see more people doing it, and we are going to see more people doing shady things around it.  From what I have heard, it has already started to happen!  This genie is already out of the lamp!

 This at a time when AQHA , NRHA and NCHA are already facing incredible challenges.  AQHA is under scrutiny in their push to keep slaughter as a national option for keeping horse prices higher, even though over 70% of slaughtered horses are Quarter Horses, and polls show that most Americans don’t want slaughter.  Over-breeding is a shameful but commonplace practice within our industry, but AQHA won’t address it because they make money off those registrations, even if the horse is slaughtered before it reaches its three year old year.  NRHA and NCHA have been embroiled in scandal after scandal, many turning into lawsuits and embarrassing spectacles that have shed light on the greed many ‘elite’ members of these associations possess.   Since most of the clones produced so far are performance horses, and not halter or pleasure horses, I can only conclude that this decision will affect reiners and cutters the most.  Which makes sense, since reining and cutting has been the only segment of the entire horse industry that has consistently grown, in both members and prize money available, in the past ten years.   Yes, NRHA and NCHA are performance associations, so they don’t have the responsibility of registration, but the breeding practices of their members are driving the greed behind cloning.  There is so much money at stake, and so much pressure to rise within the ranks, that it is inevitable that some will be willing to do anything to gain status.  

I am of the opinion that allowing the registration of clones will hurt our industry at a time when participation is already starting to wane. Many people are leaving reining and cutting because it seems that an elite few in high places pull the strings, and the cloning case only furthers that perception. We are sacrificing the long term goals and success of everyone involved for the short term gain of a few well-connected individuals. Allowing clones in any capacity is shooting ourselves in the foot.

But don’t think that cloning is just an AQHA problem.  If those who stand to gain from producing clones can force their way in to a member-driven association like AQHA, they surely can do it to other registries.  I am hoping that AQHA continues to fight and that the case is heard by a judge that is familiar with breeding animals.   This is a precedent that affects all horsemen.  May we all thank Judge Mary Lou Robinson for her ability, with the stroke of a pen, to put the horses of the world, and the traditions the make up horse breeding, at risk for a downfall.

 In a recent conversation with another breeder, a metaphor came to me…..that of the difference between mass-produced plastic spoons, and heirloom silver, hand-engraved, spoons.   Which would you rather eat off of?  Which would you rather keep for your kids to use?   Horses that we have bred up to this point, that are a unique combination of sire and dam, whose bloodlines have been carefully developed and crossed , that may be from the only time a mare and stallion were crossed because soon thereafter, one of them died – those horses are the heirloom silver spoons.  The unique, wonderful gift that we can offer future generations of horsemen which will always be useful, and whose value rests on integrity of lineage.  The clones are the plastic spoons; sure, you might be able to eat off one, but it looks like every other spoon, it isn’t as good as the original, and because there are so many just like it, it isn’t worth that much to the next generation.  The only person happy about the plastic spoon is the guy who owns the plastic spoon factory.  The rest of us are just witnesses to the end of an era.

Passing the Buck?

Have you ever had a job interview where the hiring agent asks you a question meant to get into your mind, and see what kind of person you are? Something like, "What do you consider to be your Achilles's heel?" or "What do you need to work on most about yourself?" or "What is the most frustrating thing about your current job?"  Well, I have a confession to make....there IS something that I don't like and find very frustrating about my current job.  I hate selling horses.  Loathe it.  Despise it.  And I am not good at it, though selling horses is considered to be a huge part of being a horse breeder, trainer and instructor, which I have done as a career for many years.  The truth is, I don't even want to get better at it, even though instinct tells me that I should and that it is necessary.  I grapple with this conflict frequently.

Why don't I like selling horses?  I guess I have seen too much in this industry, and have been let down too many times, often with heartbreak that I carry forever.  While there are many good, caring, and knowledgeable people out there buying horses, those homes are few and far between, and so, so many buyers are anything but.  I know, with the keenest sense of truth, that once you sell a horse, you never, ever have care and control over that animal again, unless by some miracle you are able to acquire them again later.  People lie, cheat, steal, and abuse.  Absolutely anything can and does happen once that horse leaves your barn.

Nowadays, some sellers will try to protect the horses they are selling with contracts stipulating rights of first refusal, or some type of binding no-sale clause, to prevent the horse from being sold beyond the buyer.  But these types of stipulations are limited in scope, and are often dependent on the original seller's ability to retrieve the horse from a bad situation.  Contracts don't matter once a horse is dead and gone. I have personally used these types of clauses, and have still had horses end up in jeopardy, or deceased. We are living in an economy where people can lose their personal wealth, which allows them to have a horse, very quickly, and unfortunately, we are living in a culture that doesn't place emphasis on keeping animals throughout their natural lives.

We'd all like to think that this only happens to young, untrained stock, or old, unusable animals, but even horses that have won accolades in the show ring, won races, and have spent years faithfully and quietly toting kids around can fall through the cracks.  All it takes is for a breadwinner to lose their job for the horse to be pulled out of training, the feed to come less frequently, and for their feet and health care to be ignored. Or maybe the owner has a life change that causes them to neglect the exercise/training needs of their horse, and the animal that had been a potentially successful working horse is deemed nearly useless, or worse, 'dangerous.'  It only takes a few months for a horse to be down-graded.  I have seen the same people that came to me, pledging to love the horse dearly, promising to keep them forever, blame the horse for the predicament, and just throw up their hands before consigning them to a local auction or horse dealer, effectively sealing their fate and placing them in the slaughter pipeline.

I, of course, acknowledge that in order for the horse industry to continue to exist, there has to be breeders and they have to sell horses.  The vast majority of horses that I have produced or have bought and resold have ended up in excellent homes (and I do doggedly pursue them as they move from place to place) and I am lucky in that regard.  But for the few times that one of my horses has met a sad fate, it has hurt me so deeply that it can wake me up in the middle of the night in tears.  I feel personally responsible for each animal I own, and I carry that responsibility even when they are no longer mine. I do whatever I can to keep tabs on them, and let new owners know they can always come back to us.

I recently saw a graphic that claimed that less than 1% of all horses live in a forever home.  How tragic!  For those of us that truly love horses, and make a living off of them, we should be ashamed of this state of affairs.  I can't even tell you how many times I have seen people get rid of an old horse that they rode for years, but began having health problems or lameness issues, and was no longer 'useful.'   They claimed they loved the horse, and 'found a home for it' but the truth is, once that horse is off your property, you have passed the buck.  The person that loved this horse the most, who knew it the best, appreciated the best parts of that horses life - YOU - has passed off the most important part of that horse's life to someone who doesn't have the deep connections with it.  The most important part being the end of life care, allowing a horse a dignified retirement, and being the the person who knows when it is time to put a horse down humanely.

Anyone who knows me knows that my horses live in a forever home.  I have several old and no-longer-productive horses that will live out their years here, with the people that love them most, my husband and I, ready to give them a quiet, dignified end if necessary.  The decision to do this for my old horses has made it so I am not able to breed a ton of horses every year, or buy new, younger horses to show.  I have limited space, and a limited budget, so we can only have so many.  This isn't always an easy decision; in fact, right now, we are trying to figure out what to do with a gelding whom we can't keep sound.  And it may be that putting him down humanely is the right thing to do, rather than sending him to live with someone who may not care about him as much as we do. I would rather live with the sadness of putting him down than live with the guilt of causing him more suffering because I didn't want to deal with it, or wanted to make money off of him..

I can by no means offer solutions that fit every person's situation.  I can only share what is in my heart, and how we choose to care for our horses.  I am not aiming to preach, only to implore that readers ask themselves that if they really love their animals as much as they say they do, why not love them through the tough times too?  It does take sacrifice, it does take commitment, it does require making difficult decisions, but what relationship doesn't?  Making a personal decision to be committed no matter what is the first move toward putting this 'throw away society' label behind us.

There are a couple of new ways to ensure your horses have a forever home.  One is the American Quarter Horse Association's "Full Circle" program, where owners can enroll their horse, and be available should the horse ever become unwanted.  Another is to add your name to the Humane Society's "Responsible Breeders List" which is basically a pledge that you will always take a horse back throughout its life, and that you are committed to producing horses in a responsible manner.  If anyone has any similar solutions or ideas, I encourage you to share them in the comments section.  Thanks!

The Meaning of Commitment

This morning, as usual, I went out to the barn at sunrise to turn out my Quarter Horse mare Bam Bam and her BFF Ruckus.  My husband feeds and turns out early in the morning, but Bam Bam stays in her stall, under lights, until the sun is up.  This is part of preparing her for the coming breeding season.  As I got their halters on, and led them out, one in each hand, I began to think about Ruckus, and her place in life.

Ruckus is a seventeen yr old bay mare, 3/4 Arabian, 1/4 Saddlebred - a double registered Half Arab and National Show Horse.  Her bloodlines are outstanding; her dam, The Socialite, was a Half Arab *Bask granddaughter whom my sister showed to National Champion in Amateur Park. Her sire was the gorgeous *Bask son, MS Baquero, who earned National titles in Driving and English Pleasure.  Ruckus was bred to be a show horse, but unfortunately, that was not to be.  You see, Ruckus' dam, a first-time mom and a very naturally intense mare, rejected Ruckus only hours after her birth.  The mare had foaled outside over night at our trainer's facility, and when she was discovered in the morning, she was moved into a stall.  This proved too much for Socialite; she picked up her beautiful newborn filly by the neck, shook her violently and threw her about the stall.  Barn help were able to separate them, and later, reunite them, but this incident left Ruckus with nerve damage in her neck.

I took over Ruckus's care when she was a two year old, and broke her to ride, but she could not stand pressure on her poll.  Even with just a halter on, she would cock her head, sometimes shaking her head back and forth. In a bridle it was worse, and even though she was pretty easy to ride in all other regards, the irritation she felt in that area was a distraction for her.  Conventional veterinary medicine at the time had very little to offer her in terms of rehabilitation, and there wouldn't be any guarantee of long-lasting results. She would never be able to live up to what had been planned for her.

Despite the frustration of our thwarted plans, we, my husband and I, had grown to love Ruckus.  She was sassy, sweet, and just pretty to look at.  So we kept her.  What other choice did we have?  Ruckus was brought into this life by a human's choice to breed her.  She has never done anything wrong (Ok, there was that one time when she ran a gate before I could close it, but who could blame her?).  What kind of life would she have if she was sold?  I know in my heart that the problems in her neck could not be resolved, so selling her as a riding horse was out of the question.  And there is very little market for horses that aren't rideable.  The truth is, when you sell a horse, they are out of your control.  I just could not bear the thought of someone else discarding her, mistreating her, sending her off to the slaughter house.  I knew Ruckus deserves better than that, and since you can't 'un-know' something, how could I live with myself if I were the one to put her at risk?

What has this decision cost me?  Well, Ruckus will be 18 this year, so I have been paying for her care for 16 years now.  Feeding her, vetting her, giving her the exact same standard of care that I do for all of my horses.  I figure that I have at least $25,000 in that mare, and it wasn't even my choice to breed her!  I know, I know....that is a LOT of money, and it is money I could definitely have spent on other things, like broodmares, stud fees, or heck, even a vacation!  But again, how much is my peace of mind worth?  Sure, my horse budget has been limited because a certain amount has to go toward upkeep of non-working animals, but in my mind, that is how it should be.  You don't discard the animals who are injured, or are too old to work.  As long as they are healthy, and aren't a danger to anyone, they deserve life too.  And I have always felt that I am doing the right thing; rather than putting the responsibility off on someone else, rather than looking to escape my responsibility by selling her to slaughter or just putting her down directly, we have chosen to let her live out her life as a pasture ornament.

As it is, Ruckus does have a job.  She is a lady-in-waiting for my mare Miss Bam Bam Command, a post she has held for most of her 16 years with us.  Ruckus is the only horse that Bam Bam wants next to her when she is stalled.  Put her in alone, or with another horse next to her, and she will have a meltdown.  Ruckus also 'protects' her out in the field; she will put herself between Bam Bam and other mares, and will stand over Bammie when she lays down for a nap.  I know that Bam Bam doesn't care that Ruckus never won a ribbon.  The love and trust displayed between them is as real as any friendship I have.  $25,000 well spent....

Do you have horses that you are committed to for life?

YUM! Horsemeat!!

One of the most divisive issues within the horse industry these days is slaughter.  The debate over whether the US should allow horses to be processed, who is responsible for the care of the horses prior to being processed, how the slaughter ban has affected the unwanted horses situation are all topics that have been burning up Facebook, Twitter, chat rooms and magazine editorials.  The anti-slaughter people are militant in their quest to save horses from being killed and eaten, the pro-slaughter people are equally as zealous in their advocacy that slaughter will restore the horse industry and is "more humane than starvation."

I have made my slaughter views public here on this blog;  I am firmly against it because it is wasteful, unregulated, and removes any consequences or responsibility people ought to face for their breeding and training practices.  I am well aware, though, that those who stand in favor of re-instating slaughter in the US are numerous, especially among those who are members of the American Quarter Horse Association. 

On September 6th, I received an email from the AQHA Public Policy office regarding the Agriculture Appropriations Act.  It urged members of the AQHA to put pressure on their Senators to vote it down, saying its, "...unintended consequences include a sizeable negative economic impact on the horse industry and incidents of inhumane treatment of horses has risen.  The facts are in, the restriction is hurting industry and hurting animal welfare."  When I received the email I was dismayed; since when does a horse association, tasked with registration, show approvals, and breed promotion, get involved in politics?  It makes me uncomfortable.  The fact that AQHA promotes slaughter as a reasonable alternative to more responsible breeding practices (registering fewer horses per year) makes me uncomfortable too.  Their willingness to throw their weight around in the slaughter debate make me wonder who benefits from slaughter being passed, both politically and economically.

AQHA declared, "the facts are in."  Well, guess what....new facts are in!  An article came across my desk this morning that may make the AQHA, and every other pro-slaughter proponent, step back and reconsider.  This article discusses the real and potential risks of human consumption of horse meat.  An Irish research study of horse meat has found that Bute (phenylbutazone) is extremely toxic to humans, especially in children where it can cause aplastic anemia, a condition where bone marrow does not produce sufficient new cells to replenish blood cells.  Researchers have found that even a trace amount can cause these health problems, and that the compounds of Bute can remain in the animal's tissues indefinitely.   The European Union has made it a requirement that by 2013, all foreign entities shipping meat to Europe must comply with their traceability standards, in an effort to keep these dangerous drugs out of the food chain.

Americans tend to aspire to be mavericks, embracing a don't-tread-on-me attitude of independence.  We don't want to be regulated, nor do we want "Big Brother" to watch what we do, or have a hand in how we run our businesses and make a profit.  This has made it so that every time the governmental powers-that-be have tried to institute a national animal tracking program, the constituents of the horse industry have shot it down.  Every program was deemed to invasive or too expensive or impractical.  So we have no way of knowing where any of our unwanted horses came from, what they have been treated with and how safe they are to be consumed by humans. 

The Europeans have deemed that any horse over six months old must have a passport that details a completely clean drug history in order to be processed for slaughter.  Here in the US, nearly every horse over the age of six months has been wormed, most receive vaccinations, and, given that Bute is the most popular drug prescribed by veterinarians, a vast majority get Bute at least once in their lives.  How can we be sure what ANY of these compounds do to humans over time?  What about all the other drugs our horses get that we haven't studied yet?  We do not farm horses exclusively for slaughter here,  we breed them to perform, for pleasure and companionship, so almost all the horses that we send to slaughter are probably in violation of the standards that the EU is proposing.

Do we care - above and beyond our bottom line?  I know that there is a segment of our population that will continue to ship our horses to Mexico and Canada for processing, with the attitude that they matter less than us or that out of sight is out of mind.  But what if those neighbors of ours start to refuse the meat as well, taking a stand for their own public health?  I can only imagine what kind of liability nightmare this would bring to our country; given that we have refused to regulate and refused to track the industry.  What is ironic is that I bet the same crowd that refused to go along with governmental tracking of all horses in the US a few years ago are the same people that are proponents of slaughter. 

So let this be a wake up call to the horse industry.  We are being faced with a new reality.  Slaughter is not the way that we are going to save the horse industry.  We have to take responsibility for all the animals we produce; we need to breed fewer horses, we need to breed better horses. We need to educate people better so that they understand the implications of horse ownership, the consequences of breeding more horses, and how to give their horses basic skills that would allow the horse to be usable, and thus, saleable.  We need to consider our neighbors and our allies in other countries, and treat them as we would want our families treated. 

The horse industry has faced many eras of growth AND contraction, and it will survive, but we need to tailor our expectations of growth.  Growth at any cost has no place in an industry where lives, both of the horse and of those who consume them, are at stake.  Slaughter used to be an artificial corrector to the downward skew of quality vs quantity in the horse industry.  In other words, what we lacked in quality, we made up for in quantity, knowing a certain percentage of our horses bred would be high quality competition horses where money was to be made, a large percentage would be pleasure horses with a sliding scale from show horses  down to the undesirable horses that for whatever reason are deemed unusable.  Slaughter took those bottom horses out of the equation, erasing our mistakes and artificially painting a rosy picture.  Until we see our situation for what it truly is, and find proactive ways of solving it, we will continue to fight each other, and continue to risk poisoning ourselves.

What Will Happen to Your Horses?

A reader suggested this topic to me the other day, and last night, I got another reminder....

A customer of mine, who happens to be a good friend, came to pick up her horse last night, and dropped off another one for me to start working with.  After a great ride and some grooming, my family gathered around this wonderful horse, Atley, to say good bye.  We have worked with him a lot in the past two years, and we all just love him.  He is a sweet, loving horse who wants to work, learns new things easily, and is just plain fun to ride.  While I am enthusiastic about working with my friend's other horses, Atley is, and will always be, special to me.  Every horse is special, but some are REALLY special, and that is what he is.  As we hugged on him and gave him a treat, my two little boys saying, "We love you, Atley!  We are going to miss you!", my friend mentioned that she is going to change her will to include us, so that if anything happened to her, Atley would come to live with us.  This is so touching to me, not only because I know how much she loves her horses and takes their care very seriously, but also because I know that she recognizes how much we love him, and that she trusts us so much with him.

After they had left, the thought occurred to me that I needed to review my own will, and make sure that it is current as to what will happen to my own horses should the unfortunate happen, and my relatives are left to try and figure out what to do with our herd of ten.  This is so important for each of us to do, whether we have a barn full or just one.  If your horses' fates are left to a probate judge to decide, they may end up being sold at auction, which always carries the risk of them going to slaughter, or their care may be bounced between relatives who don't know what to do with them, can't afford to do it right, or are willing to sell them to anyone, just to get rid of the burden of their care. 

A will doesn't have to be a large, daunting document full of legalese; you can write it up yourself with simple instructions.  There are plenty of tutorials online that can help you, such as this one.  In regards to your horses, you will enter them under the section called 'Bequests.'  It is important be somewhat objective in choosing who will care for them after you are gone - Can they afford it?  Do they have room?  Are they knowledgeable enough to handle the horse in question?  This is not something that should be a surprise during the reading of your will; take the time to talk to them about your decision, and ask them how they feel about it.

Another option is to assign a separate executor to handle the sale of the horses for your estate. Choosing a person who is knowledgeable about your horses' bloodlines, abilities and worth ensures that they will be sold well for your estate, and if you choose someone who reflects your own values, you can be confident that your horses aren't slaughtered or end up in abusive homes.  Discuss in detail what your wishes are, and gauge your potential executor's reaction before your write up the document. 

As you are getting your will together, make sure that your registration papers for your animals are in order, including current pictures, and always keep your vet records up to date, and easy to follow, for each horse.  Your vet records will help point your executors and caregivers in the right direction for specific needs, since you won't be there to direct them yourself.  This is extremely important for horses with critical medical issues, such as a history of founder, colic, or foaling complications.  It also doesn't hurt to have lists of accomplishments that a horse has earned, foals produced, or personality quirks so that whomever is entrusted with their care and/or sale knows the entire history of each animal.  Create a portfolio for each of your horses, and make sure that your executor knows where your files are located.  Don't forget to keep the phone numbers for your farrier and veterinarian amongst those papers.

It is never pleasant to contemplate our demise, or what will happen to all we love after we are gone.  It is our duty, though, to ensure that our animals are cared for beyond our own lives, and that we don't burden our loved ones with the responsibility of decisions that they may not be capable of making.  Make your choices now before someone has to make them for you.  Remember, we know not the day or the hour, so prepare as if it could happen tomorrow.

I wish you all long, healthy lives full of joy!  Have a great Friday!

Taking the Easy Way Out

I recently read an article about how slaughter should be allowed again in order to 'save' the horse industry, and it occurred to me that many people out there would fail to see why this is a very bad thing, so I have decided to turn myself over to this topic. In part, I would like to clarify my position, but also, I'd like to wake up those people who have become numb to the slaughter debate, and possibly, their own feelings in regards to the noblest of creatures, the horse. I am writing this from the viewpoint that while commercial slaughter is illegal here in the U.S., horses are still being slaughtered, only now they must endure a long trip via the killer buyer's trailer to Mexico or Canada.

First, slaughter gives breeders an easy way out. Many people breed horses without the intention of keeping them or investing in their training. Just as many breed them without the benefit of knowledge of bloodlines, conformation or expertise within a competitive arena. So often, they breed mares because they just want to experience it, for themselves or their children – the actual fate of the horse is secondary to the experience. This is akin to the family who continually lets their dog or cat have litters so that their kids can have playmates. Great maybe for the kids short term, absolutely terrible for the local population of house pets.

There are also many commercial breeders who breed as many as they can – they are usually located in areas where they have access to hundreds of acres of sustainable pasture, and therefore, can produce high numbers of horses with minimal investment. These breeders tend to have annual 'production' sales, in which hundreds of yearlings are sold, usually for fairly low prices, and the breeder is still able to profit because they have very little into them and the high numbers pay off.

Slaughtering the results from these ill-fated breeding practices enables these types of breeders to go back and do it some more. It artificially props up the horse breeding industry so that there is no consequence from breeding bad horses – or breeding too many good horses. If you produce widgets, and they are inferior, no one will buy your widget and you will have to either improve your design, or get out of business. Produce more widgets than what the market demands, and you lose money, and have to get out, or adjust. If you are a restaurant owner, and produce bad food, nobody comes to your restaurant, and it closes. But if you are a horse breeder, and produce a horse with crooked legs, with a fractious disposition or inheritable genetic diseases, you can get rid of the evidence, collect the meat price of your animal, and try again next year.

Slaughter also gives trainers a way out of horses that aren't going to be successful. I have seen this from the top to the bottom tiers of trainers; a local trainer who is not talented or patient enough to get through to a horse, so they use punitive means to coerce the animal, often producing career-ending injuries in the process. I have seen high-end, big name trainers who, with all the pressure on them to win for their high paying clients, push a horse beyond its abilities, ruining it physically and mentally. It would be nice to think that these horses get rehabilitated, or get to go home and be pasture pets. But invariably, the trainer blames the horse, and they are 'sold down,' to be placed in uncertain homes, or just sent directly to slaughter.

Slaughter gives owners an easy way out too. Lots of people don't have the time, patience and knowledge necessary to work with their horses, and make them good citizens. They may begin with good intentions; horses have a romantic appeal that is undeniable, but for a myriad of reasons, the horse doesn't get what it needs. Seeking the correct path sometimes seems impossible: working the horse yourself, finding someone else who wants it, getting professional help, getting proper vet care, finding a rescue that can take the animal, all require time, money and perseverance. Other owners feel that the horse owes them something, and so would rather take money for the horse to be killed, than spend $100 to have the horse put down peacefully at home. I credit the owner's personal selfishness for many of the bad situations that horses end up in: I have known people who never, ever miss an appointment to have their nails done or drive new vehicles, but swear they don't have the money for feed or vet care.

Slaughter gives all of us an easy way out. It enables us to get rid of those pesky mustangs who dare to forage on land that could be better used for cattle grazing, mining or drilling for natural gas. It keeps sale prices for all horses at a certain level because even in the worst case scenario, you can sell your unwanted horse for meat prices, without having to spend the time finding a good home for it. Slaughter 'takes care' of the old horses that cost so much to take care of, and whom aren't useful anymore as working stock.

And what evidence is there that people who neglect their horses, when given some kind of 'out' from those horses such as being surrendered to rescue, finding some type of euthanasia, or selling them to slaughter, NEVER neglect a horse again? I would venture to say that there are plenty of repeat offenders, from those who are hoarders (a psychological affliction) to those who are simply cruel and believe they can make a buck off of animals that they have no intention of caring for.

If only we could be sure that ONLY horses that are infirm, physically deformed, mentally/emotionally imbalanced or otherwise truly unusable would be slaughtered. If only those who were required to ship and handle these horses did so with a sense of dignity and compassion. If only we could be sure that in every step along the way, the horses were soothed and calmed, with the direct result that each horse did indeed die a good death. If only Americans actually ate horse meat, so there would be some justification for producing so many direct-to-slaughter animals. (While I think the prospect of eating horse meat is disgusting, I acknowledge that many in the world do not. What I do believe in is the Native American way of using animals – eat locally, take only what you really need, and use everything in the animal.) If only we could know for sure that the people who dump their unwanted horses wouldn't turn around and buy/produce more unwanted horses.

If only...if only...if only....Seems to me that the horse industry has had this reckoning coming for a long time. It is a market correction like any other; the public no longer wants to support the horse slaughter industry, and therefore, those who produce horses must adjust, those who work with horses must adjust, and those who decide to get into horses must adjust. We must take our medicine and take responsibility for the animals in our care – giving them humane lives, investing in their quality of life, and exercising prudence when producing more animals – rather than relying on slaughter to erase our mistakes.

As for myself, I have some fantastic mares that haven't been bred in years, not because they aren't worthy, but because I am at my limit in being able to care for the horses I already have. I own several elderly horses that aren't saleable – and deserve to be retired to enjoy their golden years. I own some horses that have had injuries (not related to overwork) and would be at risk of being sent to slaughter should they be sold. Rather than producing more animals, I have to be committed to spending my time and money to keep those that I have healthy. That is my way of responding to compounded problem of having a poor economy and a slaughter ban in place – RESTRAINT.