STOP, STOP, STOP BREEDING
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By Ellen Waukon
Do not breed your mares this year.
There is a crisis of unwanted and abandoned horses. Sometimes these horses were purchased or bred with the best of intensions but circumstances became dire and their owners weren’t able to care for them or find homes for them. These horses were then either neglected in their pastures and/or abandoned to run wild.
Rightly or wrongly the passage of the bill restricting the killing of unwanted horses has left no place for up to 80,000 horses for 2008 to go. Even if this figure is incorrect and there are only 16,000 (20%) the current system can’t handle these horses.
Government intervention has been mentioned. As we know, this could take years and will usually not be enough to solve the problem because the problem will get larger every breeding season unless the number of foals are reduced. The figure for government intervention is in the millions of dollars. To the general public, this is an unacceptable amount of money to divert to saving these horses with no real end game of reducing the number of unwanted horses. With recession and/or inflation knocking at the door resulting in job losses, foreclosure rates at record numbers, heating and healthcare costs exploding it will be hard to convince our law makers to appropriate this amount of money when the horse community is unwilling to reduce the number of unwanted horses.
In addition the strain on the horse rescue community has reached critical mass. Refuge sites are unable to raise enough money to support the horses they have and must turn away many more horses. Remember if you were a supporter of the bill to stop the slaughter of horses – please send your donations to the refuge of your choice. They will appreciate it. Estimated contribution for one year should be at least $3000. If each person who said that they wanted this bill contributed at least $3000, more horses could be saved. For the details talk to your favorite refuge farm. Dependable volunteers are needed, especially those that have rehabilitation skills. At this point and just after passage of this law, it has appeared that a majority of those who were wringing their hands to have disappeared?
Another dimension of this crisis is that many of these horses are not suitable for anyone other than a person with advanced skills that can deal with the rehabilitation that needs to be done.
With this information I’ll restate – Do Not Breed your mares this spring.
If you are not a professional breeder – do not breed unless you have a committed buyer for the foal or you can support your foal in this economic downturn and the increasing cost of feed, etc. If you absolutely want a foal, work with a reputable breeder and get one of their foals.
If you are a professional breeder – realistically assess the market for your foals and determine if you really will get a return on your mare investment. If your businesses economic circumstances are tenuous consider focusing on selling or downsizing – not more breeding for 2008.
But I want to have a horse - If you want horse, there are a variety of options other than breeding – depending on your skill, goals and circumstances.
Some of the options are:
Adopting
Leasing
Purchasing
All of these options have pro’s and con’s and need to be considered carefully.
If you have the economic circumstances and the skill to rehabilitate an abandoned or neglected horse adopting, should be considered.
If you don’t have the economic circumstances for adopting or purchasing, leasing is an option. Most people that lease horses will work with you and support your horse experience.
If you have the skills to rehabilitate an abandoned or neglected horse and you can afford it, purchasing is an option. There are a lot of great horses from reputable breeders. These horses have potential and hopefully have come from trainers that understand that horses need leaders and boundary’s to be sane and safe. Most can be purchased on the market at very decent price. Work with a breeder and/or trainer that will support your horse experience and have FUN!
It is my suggestion that inexperienced or unskilled people shouldn’t adopt a neglected or abused horses unless they have a skilled and committed mentor to help them over the long haul. These horses need to be rehabilitated by someone who has the skills to make sure that the horse is emotionally and physically sound and can meet the goals that you are trying to reach.
Note: In 2007 & 2008 SRBA farm has taken in 8 neglected horses. These horses have been either rescued or were given up by people who rescued them and didn’t have the time, money or skills necessary to rehabilitate them. Currently several have gone to good homes and all the rest are in rehabilitation/training and doing well. We want everyone to do their part also.
Ellen Waukon
Safety, Sanity, Success©
If you would like more information about rehabilitating a horse you have rescued please contact Chris@srbafarm.com or 715-928-0816.