Pearl Snaps

Stories of a cowgirl living life by her own lights

Tag Archives: horse rescues


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Can we really find a home for every horse?

by Jesse Bussard

Equine.com seems to think so with the announcement of their latest campaign “A Home For Every Horse.”  Equine.com, a part of The Equine Network, has joined forces with the American Horse Council’s Unwanted Horse Coalition to help find homes for the nearly 170,000 horses in need of a home. Organizations such as Purina Mills and Tractor Supply Company have also signed on to help promote the effort.

The idea behind the campaign is to encourage horse rescues with current 501(c)(3) status to advertise their organizations and horses on the Equine.com website. They are doing this by allowing unlimited ads for rescue horses and also advertisements for rescue organizations through service ads. Through this effort The Equine Network hopes to increase adoptions of rescue horses across the country through their connection to over 1.5 million horse owners each month through print and online avenues.

Another effort from a broad-based group of Thoroughbred industry stakeholders is also showing promise here in my state of Kentucky.  The Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance (TAA) has been formed to serve as both the accrediting body for aftercare facilities that care for Thoroughbreds retiring from racing careers and also as a vehicle to raise funds to support these facilities.

The initiative got its start from seed money donated by the Breeders’ Cup, The Jockey Club, and Keeneland Association.  Along with these prominent organizations, the TAA includes supporters from across the horse racing industry.  TAA board president and Thoroughbred owner Jack Wolf stated, “It is our responsibility as owners, tracks, breeders, trainers, jockeys, bloodstock agents, and anyone who has a stake in the game to take responsibility for the aftercare of these great animals who are the keystone of our sport.”  TAA’s ultimate goal is to be an industry-wide, annually funded program committed to the placement or second-career retraining of retired Thoroughbreds on a national scale.

Will these efforts work?  It’s hard to say. But they certainly can’t hurt. It’s refreshing to see industry groups pulling their resources together to help end the plight of unwanted horses.  Wolf’s statement that it is our responsibility as stakeholders to take responsibility for the aftercare of these animals is so true.  With the issue of unwanted horses, it will take proactive measures such as these to make a difference.

Many in the horse industry believe bringing back horse slaughter would be a quick fix for this issue.  The reality is though, at the moment it’s not an option and most likely won’t be again anytime soon, if ever.  We can lobby, protest, and state the million and one reasons we think it would help the unwanted horse issue but in the end that does nothing to solve the problem.

Like my mother always said, “Wish in one hand, spit in the other, and see which one fills up faster.”  So let’s stop sitting around, hoping, wishing, and reacting to the issue and do something proactive about it.  Only by taking responsibility for the problem that we have created in the horse industry will we ever be able to solve it.

This article was originally featured as my April View from the Range column for Tack ‘n Togs. You can access a pdf version here.


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Unwanted horses, now what?

You may remember in my previous article ‘Unwanted, underfunded, and overwhelmed’ from the February issue of Tack ‘n Togs where I spoke about the growing issue of unwanted horses in our country.  As you may well be aware, nearly 100,000 horses become unwanted or abandoned each year.  This has led to increase in the number of horses being taken in by equine rescue groups, many of which are struggling to make ends meet.

Some of the horses found at the Central Kentucky Equine Rescue

I came across an article yesterday in the The Advocate-Messenger Online, titled “Man charged with felony animal cruelty in Mercer.”  The animals in question were 30 horses in possession of Central Kentucky Equine Rescue, in Mercer County, KY.  The gentleman running the facility was charged with 30 counts of animal cruelty based on evidence of malnourishment, neglect, and dangerous conditions at the premises.  I do not know the whole story behind these circumstances but reports have said that several of the animals had not been fed for an extended period of time.  I speculate that this rescue facility may have been in a situation similar to many others across the nation, having inadequate funding to care for an overwhelming number of horses.  Individuals who run rescue facilities most times have the animals best interest in mind but when push comes to shove, they can sometimes be put in the same situation as the owner they previously rescued the horse from was in.  Overcapacity leads to increased stress on employees and volunteers of rescues and ultimately the horses in their care are the ones who suffer.

So what can be done?  There’s no simple answer.  Is increased funding to rescue facilities the answer?  If so, I’m not sure how this will be done.  With spending and budget cuts I don’t see any help coming from the government anytime soon.  Also with the current economic status, increasing charity donations to equine rescues seems just as far-fetched an idea.  Even building new rescue facilities or expanding the capacity of existing facilities seems impossible, because as with everything else, this ultimately takes money, which is hard to come by these days.  That leaves one option on the table, slaughter.  This is a dirty word in the horse industry, that many people don’t want to talk about.  I don’t know the exact percentages but it seems there are many groups for and many groups against slaughter.  I myself don’t like to think of the idea of slaughtering horses, but being the realist I am, I realize that unwanted horses are a MAJOR issue in the equine industry and that it is a practical option to help solve this problem.  For those of you out there that oppose horse slaughter, I’d like to know your thoughts.  I have an open mind and am willing to listen.  If sensible options to solve this issue could be created that would completely make horse slaughter unnecessary I would be all for it.  So, I want to know…  What do you think can be done to solve the unwanted horse issue in the United States?  What are alternatives to horse slaughter that would be both economical and practical for our country and in the end would have the best interest of the horse in mind?


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Unwanted, underfunded, and overwhelmed

Check out my latest “View from the Range” article in Tack ‘n Togs, click here.

More about the publication:

Tack ‘n Togs Merchandising is the leading international publication for equine retailers. Our mission is to connect the equine merchandising industry by providing cutting-edge information on new product launches, proven merchandising techniques, store management tips and industry trends.

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