Following on from my "save it at all costs" post......
Over the past few months, several "rescues" have promoted buying horses from sales and dogger yards. Lots of people fell in love with the fairytale idea of saving a life, and bought them, because they had a bit of land and lots of love to give. But then what? Many of these people have limited, or zero, horse knowledge in the first place, let alone have any idea about the specialised requirements of these types of horses. Given that it is extremely unlikely that any of the horse's history would be known, any problems will not be known until they manifest themselves.
So now what do we have? Classified websites and facebook pages flooded with advertisements along the lines of "I saved this horse but now I've run out of grass and it's losing weight. Please give it a forever home!" Well, derrrrr! You don't just stick it in a paddock to look pretty, you nincompoop. The horse will need feeding! They don't survive on love alone. Especially the ones who were compromised to begin with. The ones who really irritate me are the ones who've had the horse for a few weeks and decide it costs too much to feed. Well, what did you expect? It weighs half a ton, it eats A LOT!
It is so irresponsible to promote the purchase of these horses, without also providing support and education in regards to their ongoing care. It's also irresponsible for a welfare/rescue organisation to promote these horses to the first person who coughs up the money, regadless of their horse experience. An ethical, sensible organisation would screen prospective buyers, and decline those who live in fantasy world, or who just want the warm and fuzzies, without the knowledge to back it up. True rescue is hard, physically, mentally and emotionally. These horses have suffered enough, and this type of so-called "rescue" serves only to prolong that suffering. Just because the horse is not dead, does not mean it has been saved. It is, in my view, a form of cruelty also. Many of those horses are at the doggers for very good reasons - incurable illness or injury, extreme old age, dangerous behaviour etc. Not every horse owner can have their horse PTS at home, and doggers provide this service, unpalatable as it may be to some. And lets face it, there just aren't enough homes for the sound, trained, rideable horses as it is! Horses don't think like people, they don't fear death as we do. Rehab facilities are bursting at the seams already, so unless you stumble across somebody who actually has a clue about equine rehabilitation, the horse has little option but to return to the roundabout and try its luck again.
And then there's the idiots abusing doggers for doing their job. I have yet to meet one who actually enjoys killing things - they aren't Ivan Milat you know! It is a necessary part of the horse industry. Just look at the USA where horse slaughter was banned. Horses now have to endure horrifically long truck journeys to either Mexico or Canada......cruelty in itself! We don't want that here. Knackeries are already few and far between, thanks to misguided individuals protesting their very existence. Think of the knackery people as the garbage men of the industry - cleaning up after our throw away society. Most of us are diligent and do the right thing.....but some leave their recycling in with the trash, and sadly, it is treated accordingly.
Most of these ads then go on to say that the horse is a companion only for whatever reason - most often injury or arthritis from poor leg conformation. Well, hello! Very few people want this type of horse. Who wants to feed a horse bucketloads when it has no practical use? Many of the horses also have minimal handling and/or behavioural problems. I am absolutely shocked at the prices these horses are now fetching, due to the "save at all costs" mentality. They are more popular than the ridden horses! Do people not realise that they are condemning many healthy horses by consistently buying the wrecks? Horse traders are not silly. They want the horses who will give them meat money. The skinny ones are a poor investment, so selling them to the bleeding hearts mean they will make a profit. So who fills the quota then.....the fat ones. Derrrrrr.
The owner also wants a "forever home" - I find this expectation extremely hypocritical. If you really want a forever home, keep it yourself! You apparently saved the horse, but once you realise what you have taken on, you want someone else to take over? It's gotten too hard, so pass it on to the next person? So typical of society today, and once again, the animal suffers. Just like all the animals given as Christmas presents, who flood shelters a few months later because it was all too hard. Fairytale does not equal reality.
And what happens when the paddock is full of grass again? The person gets another horse, feels all warm and fuzzy because they "saved" it, and the cycle starts again. The only ones to suffer are the horses. You also see the odd ad stating that the horse must go, so the owner can "save" more. People with this mindset obviously have no understanding of equine mental health. Shuffling them from pillar to post does them no good, and will likely exacerbate any existing problems. It is not possible to properly assess, rehabilitate, and put some training into a horse, so that it's ready for rehoming, in less than 6 months. At least a year would be realistic.
This trend will ruin the horse industry for those who have spent their lives carefully selecting and promoting their sound, handled, well performed and correctly fed stock. The bottom has fallen out of the market for these small, family operations, while the dealers and agents are laughing all the way to the bank. People are buying all their problem horses to "save" them - halving their workload and doubling their profits. I think I'm in the wrong game!
True rescue and rehab does not involve buying a horse at the sales and passing it on to make yourself feel good. If you do this, you have saved NOTHING. You've given the horse a more uncertain future than it had before, possibly even condemned it to return to the very life you pretended to save it from. This fad is dangerous, to both the horses and their well intentioned but naive buyers.
When will common sense return to the horse industry?
Over the past few months, several "rescues" have promoted buying horses from sales and dogger yards. Lots of people fell in love with the fairytale idea of saving a life, and bought them, because they had a bit of land and lots of love to give. But then what? Many of these people have limited, or zero, horse knowledge in the first place, let alone have any idea about the specialised requirements of these types of horses. Given that it is extremely unlikely that any of the horse's history would be known, any problems will not be known until they manifest themselves.
So now what do we have? Classified websites and facebook pages flooded with advertisements along the lines of "I saved this horse but now I've run out of grass and it's losing weight. Please give it a forever home!" Well, derrrrr! You don't just stick it in a paddock to look pretty, you nincompoop. The horse will need feeding! They don't survive on love alone. Especially the ones who were compromised to begin with. The ones who really irritate me are the ones who've had the horse for a few weeks and decide it costs too much to feed. Well, what did you expect? It weighs half a ton, it eats A LOT!
It is so irresponsible to promote the purchase of these horses, without also providing support and education in regards to their ongoing care. It's also irresponsible for a welfare/rescue organisation to promote these horses to the first person who coughs up the money, regadless of their horse experience. An ethical, sensible organisation would screen prospective buyers, and decline those who live in fantasy world, or who just want the warm and fuzzies, without the knowledge to back it up. True rescue is hard, physically, mentally and emotionally. These horses have suffered enough, and this type of so-called "rescue" serves only to prolong that suffering. Just because the horse is not dead, does not mean it has been saved. It is, in my view, a form of cruelty also. Many of those horses are at the doggers for very good reasons - incurable illness or injury, extreme old age, dangerous behaviour etc. Not every horse owner can have their horse PTS at home, and doggers provide this service, unpalatable as it may be to some. And lets face it, there just aren't enough homes for the sound, trained, rideable horses as it is! Horses don't think like people, they don't fear death as we do. Rehab facilities are bursting at the seams already, so unless you stumble across somebody who actually has a clue about equine rehabilitation, the horse has little option but to return to the roundabout and try its luck again.
And then there's the idiots abusing doggers for doing their job. I have yet to meet one who actually enjoys killing things - they aren't Ivan Milat you know! It is a necessary part of the horse industry. Just look at the USA where horse slaughter was banned. Horses now have to endure horrifically long truck journeys to either Mexico or Canada......cruelty in itself! We don't want that here. Knackeries are already few and far between, thanks to misguided individuals protesting their very existence. Think of the knackery people as the garbage men of the industry - cleaning up after our throw away society. Most of us are diligent and do the right thing.....but some leave their recycling in with the trash, and sadly, it is treated accordingly.
Most of these ads then go on to say that the horse is a companion only for whatever reason - most often injury or arthritis from poor leg conformation. Well, hello! Very few people want this type of horse. Who wants to feed a horse bucketloads when it has no practical use? Many of the horses also have minimal handling and/or behavioural problems. I am absolutely shocked at the prices these horses are now fetching, due to the "save at all costs" mentality. They are more popular than the ridden horses! Do people not realise that they are condemning many healthy horses by consistently buying the wrecks? Horse traders are not silly. They want the horses who will give them meat money. The skinny ones are a poor investment, so selling them to the bleeding hearts mean they will make a profit. So who fills the quota then.....the fat ones. Derrrrrr.
The owner also wants a "forever home" - I find this expectation extremely hypocritical. If you really want a forever home, keep it yourself! You apparently saved the horse, but once you realise what you have taken on, you want someone else to take over? It's gotten too hard, so pass it on to the next person? So typical of society today, and once again, the animal suffers. Just like all the animals given as Christmas presents, who flood shelters a few months later because it was all too hard. Fairytale does not equal reality.
And what happens when the paddock is full of grass again? The person gets another horse, feels all warm and fuzzy because they "saved" it, and the cycle starts again. The only ones to suffer are the horses. You also see the odd ad stating that the horse must go, so the owner can "save" more. People with this mindset obviously have no understanding of equine mental health. Shuffling them from pillar to post does them no good, and will likely exacerbate any existing problems. It is not possible to properly assess, rehabilitate, and put some training into a horse, so that it's ready for rehoming, in less than 6 months. At least a year would be realistic.
This trend will ruin the horse industry for those who have spent their lives carefully selecting and promoting their sound, handled, well performed and correctly fed stock. The bottom has fallen out of the market for these small, family operations, while the dealers and agents are laughing all the way to the bank. People are buying all their problem horses to "save" them - halving their workload and doubling their profits. I think I'm in the wrong game!
True rescue and rehab does not involve buying a horse at the sales and passing it on to make yourself feel good. If you do this, you have saved NOTHING. You've given the horse a more uncertain future than it had before, possibly even condemned it to return to the very life you pretended to save it from. This fad is dangerous, to both the horses and their well intentioned but naive buyers.
When will common sense return to the horse industry?
OMG, you read my mind! All the idiots who want a cheap horse to save! And often for children......no bloody idea. Thanks for being so honest! Love it!
ReplyDeleteYes the activists have teamed up with the rescuers.... to be the "Voice for those who cannot speak"..... god help the horses they are interpreting for...:(
ReplyDelete