Horses being abandoned
 

Humans abandoning horses....personally, I think we will see the return of the value of the horse for its utilitarian practices....but until that day I suspect the Mexicans will continue to eat them.

http://www.time.com/time/nation/arti...0.html?cnn=yes

An Epidemic of Abandoned Horses

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

Horses are VERY mantinence intensive.


I mean look what people are doing to dogs and cats for heaven sake and those are quite easy to manage.


T

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

My neighbor got a real deal on a horse and saddle. $200 for both. Now he's really finding out the cost of ownership. 5 bales of hay a week plus whatever grain costs, he didn't say. I'm the one who benefits, he has no place to dump the poop and we told him he could dump it right over here for our gardens. He gardens too but you can only put just so much horse dodo on a garden the size of his. We have four gardens on our property and that's not including all the flower gardens, berry patches and fruit trees. He even said we could ride him anytime we wanted. My days of riding are few anymore, but He can stake it out over here anytime he wants to eat the grass....., anything to get out of mowing.:D

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

best lawn mower in the world outside of goats.


T

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Oh no!

Not MORE animal victims? Do humans have no respect or sense or responsibility, to the so called 'lesser' beings? Of whom they are SUPPOSED to be the 'wise stewards'?

No need to answer that, one. What I found out on Friday regarding Findhorn, a supposed place of great cooperation between the human and the angelic, in Scotland, which HAS really worked, on that level, for over 40 years, says it ALL.

A smiting is what SHOULD happen, for sure. Though I think it will not. I think the angels are fool enough to take the flack for all this planetary outrage. To be a willing sacrifice, themselves, at the end of the day.

Do not ask me for a personal opinion about this. It would be unprintable. But it is not mine to question the wisdom of God.

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

Just checked it out on snoops@ http://message.snopes.com/showthread.php?t=24068

May not be as much to it as meets the eye. How many of us who have ever eaten at McDonald's or Taco Bell's can say we haven't eaten horse flesh?

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

My neighbor that backs up to our property have 6 horses on 6 acres. That acreage is cut up by a large barn, corrals, fencing, driveways, etc.

There is not a spec of grass for those horses. Horse rearing using this method is just nuts, labor and money intensive.

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

I lived on a ranch for a while growing up. Horse are relatively maintenance free if you have enough land for them.

Just reading that article, I can tell you that land is overpopulated with horses. For cattle or horses you need 2-3 acres per animal in an area that gets good rainfaill. Out west where it is very dry you would need a lot more land per animal. I would probably peg it at 10 acres per animal. If you go below that you will need to supplement the animals with hay and alfalfa.

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In Northern AZ, where I ranched, you could run 10 cows per section. And when it was really dry, even that was too many. For those that don't know, a section is 640 acres.

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Goats preferably browse. Sheep graze and would do well moving lawns. I am not familiar with horses.

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Someone in my family was trying to sell a horse recently. They gave up and kept it because there were no buyers. (it is a very nice horse)

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The goats were doing just fine on my yard (they come from the farm accross the street) until they found the Rose of Sharon. :banghead:

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

LOL like white on rise. That one's a keeper

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The horse market is DEAD. I have four, two mares are up for sale (the stepkids) and they are good well-bred/disposition/training/breeding...no buyers, can't give them away. We want to get down to two, just for us.
They are like my kids though, hard to let them go. When it comes to the expenses, I rationalize as in I'm paying the farmer, the vet, and the farrier, and they all work HARD (rather than some soft CEO), and someone has to take care of them.

If you manage them correctly, you can afford a couple of a few acres. Smaller lots, rotate, don't let them overgraze one area. Hay was expensive this year.

Five bales of hay a week for ONE horse seems extreme. A pleasure horse doesn't need grain, just grass hay, maybe a little alfalfa (we do a 75% hay/25% alfalfa mix with salt/mineral blocks, that's all they get, they are not underweight). In fact, they could still stand to lose some :)

If you have 1000 lb. horse, you can feed them 10% of their body weight per day, i.e., 10 lbs. a day, which is about 3-4 slices of hay (less on alfalfa) and they are FINE with a salt/mineral block and they won't get overweight. If they have pasture, just your salt/mineral blocks.

You want to feel the ribs, but not see them. A typical bale is about 40-60 lbs. so ONE bale should feed an average 1000 lbs. riding horse 4-6 days...how she is going through FIVE bales of hay a week for ONE horse is beyond me, if she is, unless it's a draft horse, she's probably overfeeding. If you can store manage round bales, even cheaper.

One bale should last 3 days if there are 12 slices in it and they are about 3-4 lbs. per slice; you could stretch it 4 days if you really needed too. My one mare and gelding are easy keepers, 14'3 and 15 hands, 10 lbs. a day, but they run about 1000-1100 lbs. The other mare, huh, 16.2 and about 1400 lbs., she's about 15 lbs. a day, the other one, about 12 lbs. a day. Comes to about 45-50 lbs. a day, or about 1 bale and 1/4 per day, that's for FOUR horses.

We only feed MORE hay in extreme cold to keep their body heat up, they generate body heat by eating hay...so yeah, they do get more in the cold winter months, but not much more. Come Spring, they look good, ideal weight.

Further, shoes (big expense) are NOT necessary, give them a year to grow out a new hoof, they will be fine after maybe an absess or two as the new hoof (without shoes) is growing out. You can worm yourself; you can give booster shots yourself; only have the Vet do the WNV and rabies (by law). The rest YOU can do. Actually, if you file their hooves weekly, you don't even need to CALL a farrier out, they will stay worn down naturally with help from you.

It costs us $300/month for good care for four horses, that's everything, hay/alfalfa/blocks/vet/farrier. We could drop that down to about $175 on two, not bad, it's how you feed and take care of them, naturally is the best.

NO straw in stalls, dirt floor, limed when necessary is ALL they need and is better for their hooves. We have never had a sick horse; a few stitches here and there, but that's it.

We'll keep taking care of them, until maybe someone is interested in two of them; I won't take them to auction, I'd shoot them myself first before I'd subject them to an abusive home or slaughter. I know that sounds harsh, but they are family.

We are lucky we have pasture, if we had to board, OMG, the expensive would be prohibitive, that's why people are giving them away and turning them lose to fend for themselves, it's sad, really sad.

We are good to go for another year, just got our hay in today as I am writing this. If we are able to find homes for the two, our hay could actually last us 18 months, on the other two remaining; a little long for hay, but it would have to suffice. For now we are hanging in there.

I won't send them to slaughter or auction, and I'm not about to give them away to someone that could do so in the future, or would do so. I'll sacrifice in other areas first before I will do that to a living creature that has been loyal to me and that I took the responsibility for.

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My home state of IL, closed the last commercial horse slaughterhouse that was located around DeKalb. None of the horsemeat produced was for sale in the US, it all was exported. The days of the "killer" horse sales are over, the price of hay and feed are out of sight, horse prices are at rock bottom and people are just turning their horses loose to starve. It's a terrible situation.

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What is going to happen is there will be few bands of wild horse running loose.( some will adapt to harsh conditions ) just like the unprecendeted number of dogs and cats and other exotics being cut loose.


All because people dont understand what responsiblity means.


Idiots.......I hope they get what's coming.


T

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

was at the horse auction monday, nice yearlings bringing 25 bucks, you can't feed a mare all year for that, than have her foal and than sell that rascal off and make any money at all.
But! I tell you what one day some time before you know it people around here will be saying they sure wish they had a horse, and they will be trading for them again.
would not take 5 grand for my horse and saddle
besides you never sell your saddle, sis your dad not teach you anything
?

Re: Horses being abandoned
 

thanks for posting that info Silverstone...So I didn't have to.

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h5...18sierra02.jpg

Up until last month we had Two horses and a goat living on about 3 acres..
for about 2 years...
http://www.frogsongstudio.com/horses/day363amigos01.jpg

http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h5.../3amigos01.jpg

We are in central Ca. and it gets dry here in the summer so we fed them alfalfa One bale a week per horse..

A little grain once an awhile...

Carrots and apples once or twice a week

A guy comes and trims their hoofs twice a year for 30 bucks
Not Hard to take care of at all

This guy was starving when we rescued him

http://www.frogsongstudio.com/horses/day21colt008.jpg

His story and More pics of him Before and after here.

http://www.frogsongstudio.com/horses/rusty.html

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Re: Horses being abandoned
 

I'm sad to say you're probably right. You don't even have to pay $25, they are being given away for free.

I can't help but suspect there are people out there picking these horses up for JUST the reason you mentioned.

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TK, is it true that keeping a goat with the horses keeps them calmer and happier? When I went with my Dad stallion shopping, many years ago, most of the larger horse farms had goats out in the pasture with the horses.

My Dad has been in the horse biz since 1977, I've never shared his love for them. To each, their own, I guess.

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ha ha :congrats:

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I've read the horses are social animals so I guess they like being around other animals/other horses.

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Well those people are called "Killers" they stand inside the auction ring and look each horse over as it comes in, if the price is right and they are not completely blind or have any open infected wounds they bid on them and load them in a truck, and a trip to the dog food plant.
I have rescued several, and wish like hell that I had been paying better attention the other night and bought this sweet little mare

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Im Not sure if it keeps them Calmer or Happier.
But they Do become Freinds :D

We Recently Sold our 15Year old male to my sister in law. And that Poor goat Cried when they were taking her away...and he cried after they were gone, and he cried the next day too.
Luckily he still had the Colt to keep him company.

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I loved riding my horse......
..........................un till I got my motorcycle
.................................................. ..........:embarasse

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Horse meat is leaner than beef. It does not eat bad stuff. Most owners feed it hay and alfalfa and I can not really blame Mexicans for eating them. Cows have just as many nerve endings and feel just as much. I have never had any, but can not say that I would not.

I probably should not write about food now.

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That is so sad that people are abandoning horses. But if you don't have enough land for them, they are expensive to keep, as posted above.

They were a luxury item for most of history, with oxen and donkeys being the work animals of ordinary people.

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Goats are wonderful companions for the lone horse, eat the same stuff, they get along great, they keep them calm because horses are socialable animals, and some get very depressed/anxious being stalled, so here comes the "goat" friend.
When I took my little gelding to a professional trainer, he was so scared, he had never been off the farmette, away from his girls, first night at trainers he jumped her fence to get with the other horses; she promptly put a goat in with him in his enclosure (which was pretty big, I refused to have him left for long periods in a stall) and he was a happy camper! Just wanted company and a confidence builder. After a few days with his goat friend all was well.

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WTSHTF, who will win? Horses or goats? Goats eat anything, and live for a while, but the hooves and horns get in the way of old iron sights.
Horses only eat what they want, but their hooves are far too thick to pull a trigger on an AR-15.
I would like to see a battle between heavily armed horses and heavily armed goats.