Horse owners can do little as crisis grows

[ponto]

The Kentucky Horse Council is hurriedly gathering information from the state veterinarian and various horse interests across the state to assess what it says is a growing crisis in horse care in a state famous for its horses.

"I don't have hesitation about using the word crisis," said Ginny Grulke, executive director of the council. "It's a multicaused situation … where you get to a tipping point and all of a sudden all the causes come together in a perfect storm."

Among the factors are last summer's devastating drought, which seriously depleted the hay crop, and the recent ban on the domestic slaughter of horses, which has dramatically affected horse prices and may have increased horse numbers on many Kentucky farms.

Read More (http://www.kyehc.org/news.html)

[KYtransplant]

Horse owners can do plenty...
uneccessary breeding programs, better preventative care, and better training programs can all increase the value and standard of horses.
The AQHA Kentucky Incentive Fund has done a number with this...offering $$ bonuses for horses bred here in Kentucky...those that don't meet criteria....don't make the cut literally....what was meant to be a help has only added to the problem.

[Chuck]

Sounds like the same problem we have with the Dog and Cat population.

The Slaughter House ban you talk about has already be defunct. http://www.slashfood.com/2006/04/05/horse-meat-ban-effectively-reversed/

[snowtiger]

OH and get this....I contacted the representatives and while I'm glad they rose to the occasion and tried to help. This is what they said about people who needed hay......You can get a LOAN to get hay. NOW, how many people can afford to pay a loan for hay on top of everything else???? WHen most people are losing their homes!!! WHAT a problem solver (sarcasm, by the way)

[ponto]

Sounds like the same problem we have with the Dog and Cat population.

The Slaughter House ban you talk about has already be defunct.


A dying dog is 40 pounds of family sadness.

A dying horse is a physics problem, and 1,000 pounds of emotional debate over what we should do with the iconic Western companion at the end of its useful life.

The U.S. slaughter market used to provide what ranchers call a "floor" value for horses — unwanted or surplus horses were worth up to $750. Many Americans with a casual relationship to horses find that abhorrent, but buyers in other nations enjoy horse meat as leaner and sweeter than beef.

Source (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_8284227)


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[Unregistered]

OH and get this....I contacted the representatives and while I'm glad they rose to the occasion and tried to help. This is what they said about people who needed hay......You can get a LOAN to get hay. NOW, how many people can afford to pay a loan for hay on top of everything else???? WHen most people are losing their homes!!! WHAT a problem solver (sarcasm, by the way)

I'm not trying to be nasty, but if you can't afford to buy hay you probably don't need to own horses. The amount of neglected horses in this area and across the state is indeed becoming a crisis. There are far too many "casual" owners who are doing too much breeding. There is also a lack of knowledge about proper care and nutrition. The market has bottomed out for common horses. You literally can't give one away. This is a real problem, and sadly the horses who are suffering, starving and dying don't have a choice in the matter. Horses, more so than most animals, are an expensive, time-consuming hobby. Anyone considering getting one should really do their homework and decide if they are physically, logistically and financially able to take care of it.

[tkcomer]

As a person who used to raise cattle, what do you do when they get old? A lot less beef and dairy would be produced if you couldn't get rid of them by heading to the slaughterhouse. A horse isn't the kinda pet you bury in the back yard. This was "feel good" regulation by people outside the horse business. The horse owners themselves didn't want this. Now it's hard to sell a horse because what will you do with it once it gets old? As far as feed goes, cattlemen have the same problem. Except they have a solution. Send them to the market instead of letting them starve. Horse owners no longer have that option.