Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Well darn, guess we will just have to pay money to dispose of our horses :-(  But, if we don't acquire more horses than we can afford, and we aren't dumping quantities of culls, then that should still be within our budget, no? If not, then rather than acquiring horses of our own, we could get a different kind of satisfaction by riding O.P.'s (other people's) attention/exercise-deprived horses. Or we could donate our time and love of horses to rescue operations that have a thought-out system already in place.

Anyway, I don't know that dumping/donating horses to zoos and wildlife waystations is always a good way to put a horse down. I botched it once, and will never forget the look on that horse's face.

 After two years of ponying and hot-walking at a flat track TB racetrack back East, I did not like what I was seeing (young, injured horses/non-winning horses sent to killers, plus some practices used on horses to keep them running) so I left. But I loved animals and thought I wanted a career in the animal "business," so I explored the Exotic Animal world and got a degree in Exotic Animal Management. After graduating, I worked at an animal-actors compound. Someone donated a skinny horse. I spent two weeks hiking up the hill to her solitary corral to feed and water her. One day, they said, "We are going to do the horse today." And they handed me a handgun. The animal "business" is tough, and I did not want to appear weak. So I put the gun between her eyes and pulled the trigger. Her eyes just got big with surprise, and she did not fall. So I had to pull the trigger again, and she dropped. I had to spend the rest of the day chopping her up and feeding the parts out to the lions and wolves. 
So, you don't know that the person who shoots the horse actually knows what they are doing. (So it would be a good thing to know how to yourself, even if you aren't the one doing it.)
A short time later, I was dumping elephant boli back into the bushes and came upon another employee chopping up a beautiful young tiger that had just come in on a truck the day before. When I asked "Why?!" I was told the owner hadn't paid a feed bill (guess they didn't get enough horses donated).   

I guess I am weak. The next day, I got out of the animal business ~ because I love animals.

Terry
"May the Horse be with you"


> From: dotwgns@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: ridecamp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: [RC]   Reality bites
> Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:11:45 -0600
> 
> Today's paper says  many Zoos will no longer be using horse meat to feed 
> thier animals.   They are disturbed because of the "anti horse slaughter" 
> push.   There goes another option.
> 
> 
> 
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