"I am not a fan of slaughter, but there has to be a place for unuseable (for whatever reason) animals to go. What's the best thing for them? Even in responsible breeding situations you have some horses who can not/will not ever be useable."
Ummm..... I seem to be missing something here...... If you have unuseable, lame, old, or otherwise unwanted horses, why does shipping them to slaughter have to be the answer? In my almost 30 years of horse ownership, I have had two horses who -- through old age or injury -- could no longer stay with me. But I chose the humane option of having my vet come to my farm and euthanize them -- then calling the rendering company to pick up the body. I didn't have the option of burying them on my place, or I would have done that.
But even if you choose to put a bullet in their heads instead of calling the vet, that is still more humane than selling them down the road to the killer buyers!! I mean, come on people! If you can't afford the $150-$200 it costs to humanely euthanize and dispose of your horse's body, maybe you should rethink the whole horse ownership concept!
Years ago, a "friend" had her old Appaloosa shipped off to the killers because he had cancer in his leg and was lame and no longer rideable. This was a horse her kids had learned to ride on and she had owned him for 15 years. I questioned her about the choice she had made and her reply was, "If I didn't get the $300 from the killers, I couldn't afford to buy another horse!" Needless to say, we are no longer friends..... IMO, that is just NOT a morally correct decision.....
