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msar-riders - [MSAR] Emaciated Horses in Illinois...

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Subject: Mounted search and rescue

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: Karen Nesbitt <spanishequines@yahoo.com>
  • To: "Mounted search and rescue in Illinois USA." <msar-il@lists.ibiblio.org>, MSAR <msar-riders@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [MSAR] Emaciated Horses in Illinois...
  • Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 20:47:38 -0700 (PDT)

From Net Posse:
 
Emaciated Horse found...
 
Equine breed: Unknown
Equine Color: Sorrel / Chestnut
Equine Gender: Mare
Equine Height Measure: 14.3 - 15 hands
Equine Weight Measure: 500 pounds (very underweight)
Equine Age Measures: aged (possibly 30)
Agency Name:
Hamilton County Sheriff's Office
Agency
Main Phone: 317-776-4110
 
YOU CAN HELP: Contact the Sheriff's office if you have any information regarding this mare or if you witnessed her being turned loose.
 
FOR MORE DETAILS AND PHOTO...
 
 
A Paso Fino gelding was also spooked and lost with a saddle and should be on that same thread.
 
Been witnessing some owners with way too many and way too thin horses in Illinois, Indiana  and elsewhere  lately too.  Its discusting.
 
People have too many, are hardly around or when they are, they still have too much to handle,  or are just plain too lacking in knowledge to handle their problems or some dont even know what a TOO THIN horse looks like.  They breed horses like rabbits unmindful of the downed markets, have more stallions, no less more mares than they need or can care for or their alleged  market bears, they forget how long and how much time it takes to care for and to get a foal grown to be a horse under saddle and have barn fulls of horses that are not worked and idle and that they cannot sell or feed properly. They are unmindful how long a well cared for animal will live and when they find themselves unable to manage them, the rest of the herd gets thin, abused and neglected and owners literally are trying to starve  them or feed them so they colic and die. And some of these places have been malkept for many years and the humane societies have been there numerous times getting no where.   Horses can live well into their late 30's and older if well taken care of.  Ponies live much longer.
 
Old horses do not have to be thin.  Horses get thin from not being wormed, neglect, cribbing, improper diets, bad teeth and a mirrade of other issues, but mostly, owners that do not know how to feed properly. There are injured animals, animals so full of burrs in manes and tails, they never get brushed and so forth.  People put too many horses on a property it cannot support, they dont know how to take care of the land to support the animals its fit for and are too lazy to take care of them when they get overboard and HORD.  Places are falling down, fencing is poor from animal traffic, pasture is pathetic, manure never gets cleaned up, places are vermine ridden, bug infested and the list goes on.  Places are unfit for a dog.  Lately its been hot and owners are too lazy to get out and do their jobs with their animals.  Or they will skim on total care.
 
As a society, we have problems, and one of them is fast becoming that the humane societies are full... they cannot take them all and that is why some remain with owners that do not or will not take care of them and the animals suffer more... its a real shame and gets pretty sad when the Humane Society cannot even follow up reports.  Some peolple just do not get it.  And the abuse still goes on.  Some animals are caught up in domestic violence situations too.  And another sad part, is some of these people get their jollies on abusing the animals and abusing people too.
 
The people that turned that poor mare loose in Indiana should be put in jail in my opinion.
 
Another humane issue, it gets pretty pathetic when a bunch of folks go to a sale barn hoping to sell and nothing is moving. So many barns these days are literally pony mills.  People need to wise up, pull the reins in on breeding and take better care of stock they have.  Perhaps too , some need to give up a show or two and stay home to take care of what they got.  I see barns with one or two horses that they show and are halfway cared for  and then the rest that they own they have10-20 others that are pathetically neglected.
While they go to shows, their barns fall apart and the animals at home remain totally  neglected.
 
Race horse breeds like the thoroubred and AQHA, Paint, Arab and others
  chronically perpetuate flooding the gambling sport  markets with horses that end up being rescues off the track or arena, or pen  because racing and other events allows for running stock too young and unfit for the sport, horses are abused in the cutting arena, show arena and the list goes on.    For just about every one good racehorse, or show horse, there are probably 50 to 100 or more others that are worthless on the turf, arena or ranch and not enough owners to acquire them.When a guy comes up  and says he has a $50,000 horse and the rest of the herd and the place looks like crap, its a helluva a bad sales pitch to dig for dollars and beleive that line of bull in a bear market.  Prices like that tell me the guy does not want to sell anything when the stable looks like dung and he cant take care of a horse that valuable to start with yet alone with a barn full of others.
The saddest part of this is that when some person does have a horse that has been a companion for a really long time and the owner wants and really deserves to keep the horse and has no means.  They have owned the animal for a long time and are up in years themselves and their kids cant take them either. Those people dont deserve their animals taken away, they need help and there is no links card for these horsemen for their horses on welfare.
 
What is sadder yet is that some of the rescue barns are on hard times and cant feed them either.
 
Anyone buying horses these days better do some good homework before they end up in the same mess some of these other owners are.  Boarding  is not cheap, insurance is not cheap and feeding them is not cheap and it is a lot easier to buy than sell.  Thats a fact of life in the horse industry and has been for as long as there has been prices on horses.  And have your priorities straight.  Owning a horse gives you a lot less riding time than renting.  If you work, you best ask yourself  just how much time can you devote to one horse, yet alone a barn full of 10-20 or 30?  Your barn is your home for your horse and it requires a lot of care too.   And if you board, if the stable closes, where will that leave you?
 
The bottomline is if you cannot afford to keep their home in upkeep, then, dont breed or buy them.  Falling on hard times is one thing, but being downright stupid is another. 
 
 
        Karen Nesbitt - VMSAR - Iroqouis County - Illinois




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