Arab Slaughter Horses

[guest@endurance.net]

K S SWIGART   katswig@earthlink.net
Antionette said about the person who said:

>> I would rather such horses went straight to the slaughter house
>> with a short trip to euthanasia than for them to languish in
>> the fields of the well-meaning but incapable,

> Obviously, this person doesn't hate horses, she just doesn't know that
the
> "short trip to euthanasia" is literally getting the pee scared out of
you, smelling
> the blood, smelling the death, being crowded in with a bunch of strange,
terrified
> horses, and then herded roughly into a kill chute to have your head
bashed in and
> if you're very lucky, that's your last memory.

That was me who said that, and all I can say is, no, you are wrong.  I am
fully aware
that in California the trip to the slaughter house for horses is
excruciatingly
uncomfortable and is handled in an unpleasant and uncaring manner, and I
would
never subject  horse of mine to that trip, nor would I suggest it as a
remedy to
anybody who consulted me.

I share a fence line with one of Southern California's two "killer buyers"
and every
day when I get off the freeway to go to my barn, I have to pass his place,
and I
don't try to pretend to myself that those horses don't exist.  And I have,
on many
occasions, gone with friends and/or clients to help them pick out a good
horse
from the "killer pens."  Steph Teeter's horse Great Santini, that did 450
miles in
four weeks at the 2001 XP was in the number one pen (yet another quality
endurance
arab that was rescued from the killer pens), and the truck that would have
shipped
him to Texas pulled in as I was riding Santini out the main gate and down
the road
(including along side the freeway) to my place.

I know exactly what the fate of California slaughter horses is, and I
wouldn't wish
it on any horse.

However, at least it IS a BRIEF (relatively speaking) trip.  From the time
that they
get on the truck to the time that they are dead is a matter of days.
Longer than I
would be willing to subject any horse to.

But far better than the future that I see for the two "premarin baby"
"rescues" that
I heard about just this morning. A "rescue" organization is going to ship
two weanlings
from Canada (next to the slaughter house) all the way to Southern
California to have
them "saved" so that they can live in a 24' x 24' pen and be owned and
handled by a
woman foolish enough to think that all it is going to take to "rescue"
these horses is
money (she is asking for donations).  She already has two horses that only
get out of
their stalls for about 3-4 hours a week (so yes, that means they stand in
their stalls
for the other 164 hours of the week) that she shies away from any time
that they do
anything unpredictable in hand, and these horses are nice, quiet, broke to
ride,
Quarter Horse trail horses. These weanlings are not being "saved" they are
being set up
for a lifetime (not a few days, or in this case a few hours) of neglect
and/or abuse.

And that hellish trip to the slaughter house is a far better future (short
though it
may be) for a crazy Arab (which is why many "quality" sound Arabian horses
end up
in the killer pens), than the years of mishandling and neglect that so
many of those
that don't end up there.  I have a training reputation among many people
in the area
(and therefore get many referrals) of being able to rehabilitate crazy
horses
(especially Arabs, but also Thoroughbreds), and you should see people
blanche when
I tell them how much time the rehabilitation is probably going to take,
how much
money it is going to cost, and just how unsuccessful the "rehabilitation"
might be. And
that in addition to having to fork over more money than they thought they
were
going to have to (they thought all they were going to have to do was feed
it), that
to properly care for a horse they are going to have to reshape their lives
and expend
huge amounts of time and the resources to become dedicated horsemen.  I
have seen
such horses injure people (including children), cause untold emotional
trauma for their
owners, and break up marriages....and the horse is miserable too.

Apparently Antoinette's definition of horse hell is a three day trailer
ride and a
few hours of terror.  My definition of horse hell is to be passed from
well-meaning
owner to owner with each one being slightly more ignorant that then
previous
because the horse gets more and more unmanageable (or lamer)  as it gets
passed
around for months or years at a time being ignorantly abused or neglected
along the
way while it destroys the lives of the people who are eagerly wanting to
"help" it.

I do what I can to help people find horses that are appropriate for what
they want
to do with the horse are are suitable for the level of expertise that they
have (or
want to develop) to take care of it.  And I will help them find such a
horse in the
killer pens too.  But I won't take them there unless they tell me that
they understand
and are willing to accept that if they don't buy a particular horse
(because they don't
have either the time or the emotional resources to invest), that that
horse may very
well end up dead.

I have lots of land at my place (880 acres, but only about 100 of it is
fenced) and
though I don't have lots of money, even if I did, I wouldn't try to "save"
any more
horses than I already have.  _I_ (all modesty aside) AM an expert
horsewoman.  I
DO have the ability to handle and deal with fractious and/or "difficult"
horses, and
not a week goes by that somebody doesn't try to give me a horse.  But, no
matter
how much land and money I may have, I have my hands full (timewise) with
the ones
I already do have.  I have the one that ran me into a tree at the Grand
Canyon whose
owner abandoned her when HE ran out of money.  I have the one who went
through
at least three other owners first because each of them got bucked off one
too many
times. I have an off the track TB who has an "on" switch, but no "off"
switch.  I
have the little "fruit loop" whose owner couldn't give away even after I
had trained
and conditioned her to be a top-ten endurance horse. And I have a race
bred TB filly
who is the most dangerous thing I have EVER worked with (yes, worse than
the one
that ran me into the tree.)

..Oh yeah...and I have my dream horse...the one that I bred myself, who
is perfect in
all ways :).

Don't get me wrong.  I love all these horses, and I think I provide them
with good
homes (at least keeping them happy is what motivates everything I do with
them).
But I am honest enough to realize that all the money and land in the world
cannot
buy me the time that I would need if I were to deal with any more.

The land makes it so that they get self-exercise so I don't have to spend
time doing
that (which is why I can have six). But these are domesticated horses who
require
a great deal of care and handling and crave human attention.  I cannot
just fling them
out to pasture and let them be wild horses (if, for no other reason, than
that they don't
all get along and would injure each other).

If _I_ were on a crusade to improve the lot of slaughter bound horses in
California,
what I would do is revoke the assinine law that says it is illegal to
slaughter horses
for money (zoos are allowed to do it) in California.  That way, they could
move the
slaughter house to the horse instead of having to move the horse to the
slaughter
house.

What I would like, is for horse owners to be able to do what they do in
France (and
they used to do in England when I lived there, but they may not now, don't
know), and
what cow owners can do.  Which is to call the knackers, who will bring his
van out
to the horse's home and quickly euthanize the horse, take it away and
render it into
meat and baseballs.  I fail to see how this is any different than calling
out the vet
to euthanize the horse, and then calling out the horse haulers to put a
winch around
the dead horse's neck or leg and drag it up into a pick-up truck.

..except, of course, in the first instance, the horse is put to good use,
and in the
second, it is, in essence, thrown away.

In California, it is well-meaning horse lovers who have done the most to
increase the
misery of horses for whom there are not sufficient capable owners.  The
first was to
lengthen the trip to the slaughter house, and the second, now is to
"rescue" them into
the hands of incapable owners.

And were _I_ to attempt to "rescue" horses by taking on more than I have
the TIME
to properly care for, not only would I not be rescuing these horses at
all, but I would
also risk subjecting the horses that I now have to the same neglect.

Which is why I say it takes more than land and money.  It also takes time
and
expertise.  Of all those things, it is the money that is the most
plentiful; land
is available (although not as plentiful as money); time and expertise are
hard to
come by.  And the fact is, there simply is not enough expertise in the
world to
properly take care of all the horses in the world, let alone the "crazy"
ones.

Having inexpert people try to handle difficult horses is a recipe for
disaster, for
both the handlers and the horses.  And yes, I consider it far more humane
to just
kill them now (or even three days from now, but if I had my way...it would
be now).

kat
Orange County, Calif.