I'm going to start this post with a question to all those who have horses. What is it that you do with your horses? Do you ride or drive? Follow a sport? Just answer this question to yourself first. I ride mine. Trail ride when I get the chance. Not as often as I would like, but I enjoy this. I think my horses enjoy this as well. They receive good care and are well fed. They get their bi-annual vaccinations, wormed, farrier, exercise and just time to be horses in the pasture. I think for most of us it is the same.
Now, I'm about to open up the sore subject with most of us and we hold varying opinions about this matter, but, it's still out there and has not gone away. Recently I read a brilliant post by Juli Thorson. If any of you, like me, read Horse and Rider, you'll at least know her name. She also has a blog (link to the right) Some Things I See Coming . This post included a prediction of what is to come to the horse industry........The first link below is an article from the NY Times in reference to the horse slaughter issue. It's interesting reading. The bottom link is also in the NY Times as it is about a proposal to ban horse and carriage. Also very interesting reading.
I believe these are all note worthy articles although highly controversial articles, but it makes me wonder what will come next. Will it be considered cruel to ride my horses? You may have to subscribe to the NY Times for free to read these, but it is well worth the read.
NY Times-Horse Slaughter
Ban On Horse & Carriage
Now, I'm about to open up the sore subject with most of us and we hold varying opinions about this matter, but, it's still out there and has not gone away. Recently I read a brilliant post by Juli Thorson. If any of you, like me, read Horse and Rider, you'll at least know her name. She also has a blog (link to the right) Some Things I See Coming . This post included a prediction of what is to come to the horse industry........The first link below is an article from the NY Times in reference to the horse slaughter issue. It's interesting reading. The bottom link is also in the NY Times as it is about a proposal to ban horse and carriage. Also very interesting reading.
I believe these are all note worthy articles although highly controversial articles, but it makes me wonder what will come next. Will it be considered cruel to ride my horses? You may have to subscribe to the NY Times for free to read these, but it is well worth the read.
NY Times-Horse Slaughter
Ban On Horse & Carriage
7 comments:
I guess the first thing to come to mind after reading the article in the NY times,is DUH!! I'm sorry, I saw this coming and I as well as Callie did and we took the heat for it. I hate the slaughter houses, I don't use them, to each their own. My boyfriend bought Ronnie for $10, he was the only bidder. She has been the subject of a few past posts. Auction houses are demanding checks in advance of horses they feel they may get stuck with. It's one thing dumping off a bunch of kittens, quite another a trailer full of horses.
I always wonder if people will continue to grow hay? I worry that in 10-20 years, will farmers completely switch to growing soy beans or some other crop. I have read a lot about the National Animal Identification Act. It really is a big sham...the big pig and cow operations only have to secure one tracking number per farm, while mom and pop places will be required to pay a tax and license fee on every animal. They say the NAIA is put in place to better monitor our food supply, but no one will be eating horses here. Seems really shady, and everyone should be up in arms about this crazy idea. It opens up shipping meat overseas because they now meet requirements from other countries, but really the big operations really aren't changing a thing, and we are all going to be paying for it in the end, while big pig and cow corp reap the benefits.
Thanks for responding....I was beginning to think i pissed people off by bringing up the subject once again, but with all of it going on, seems nothing has been resolved and I thought these articles and Juli's post was certainly note worthy to those of us involved with horses.
Photogchic has made a really relevant comment: what will farmers be growing in the future? Will Peak Oil mean that land starts to be turned over for biodiesel crops? If so, maybe hay meadows will be under threat. (It is reported in Britain that beer prices are increasing because land is being turned over from barley to crops for biofuels.)
The issue in horse slaughter is whether it is done humanely. Horses will continue to grow old. Better to have slaughterhouses nearby, where they can be properly regulated. That is not to say that I agree how slaughterhouses have been run until now.
Horses can work safely in traffic, provided that proper precautions are taken. However I'd ask whether they need to be exposed to NYC conditions. What quality of life is offered by breathing polluted air and never getting turned out in a field. The one time that I saw cariage horses in NYC, I thought that they were badly shod. I know that one visit does not make me an expert, hence I'm not expressing an opinion, just asking questions.
I'm with Transylvanian horseman on the issue of slaughter, it needs to be done humanely. Closing up the slaughterhouses here only pushed those poor horses across the borders. Some of those horses in Mexico are being killed for sport in games more inhumane than the slaughterhouses we thought we were saving them from.
I have heard about a video on utube of an Arabain horse being run down a concrete chute, with men on both sides lunging at him with knives. On the sidelines there is betting going on about how long before the horse dies.
As for biofuels, we're already feeling the crunch in hay shortages because more farmers have planted corn.
As for riding our horses in the future, there are animal rights groups now who already believe that is an inhumane practice and that we should stop.
Hi,
I found your blog through Juli Thorson's. I agree that we need the slaughter houses and these poor horses are even worse off being shipped off to Mexico. I think the wrong solution was chosen....the solution should have been to make the slaughter of animals humane, not shut down the plants.
Dana
I agree, I think the decision was made too hastily. Not taking into consideration the consequenses.
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