I talked to a kill buyer the other day. He said Congress voted on and passed the transportation bill that would stop horses from being shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. It was to be sent to Bush's office for signage. There was wording in the bill to make it effective immediately upon signing. From what I was told, the bill was sent on 9-25. I am trying to find out if it was signed or if there is more pressing issues such as the bail out fiasco and minor things such as the economy.

With this taking place, I would like to ask that all of you do-gooders that wanted this passed, please send me your physical address so the next time I have an unusuable horse I can arrange shipment of that horse to your place. Obviously you all are infatuated with unusuable and unrideable horses so I feel it only fitting that you folks start feeding them since you all feel that is better than sending them to slaughter.

I just want to thank those fine people who made sure that my grade riding horse, in whom I've sank hundreds of dollars in time and training, is now worth nearly nothing. Did ya know that last summer people in South Texas were turning out horses they couldn't sell? I won't stoop that low but when ya can't feed'm and it cost more to drive'm to the auction than they're worth what else can ya do?

Maybe you should keep your horse and the folks in South Texas should consider their horses as a lifetime committment. Would they turn their children out if they couldn't feed them? Doubtful.

You must put very little value on your children. My horses are my pets and sometimes even work tools. In no way do they mean as much to this 'Daddy' as my kids. I'm so sorry that you have been brought up to equate the value of a pet with that of a child.

I also would like to thank the do gooders that make my registered Paints worthless too. A sale in Paris, KY; earlier this month saw weanlings of all breeds bringing between $40-$50. I'll eat them myself first, because at those prices they are going to kill buyers. I am glad I didn't even bother to haul the first horse. We are still hanging on with all twelve and #13 is due in January--Oh yes, a week before we gelded Diablo, Angel spent a half hour loose with him and you know the rest!

I have been forced into mandantory overtime, due to the nursing shortage; so Mr Graywolf is stuck with the bunch. I priced our yearlings at $200.00 each and haven't had the first call and really don't expect too. The yearling filly is exceptional, she loves the saddle; she is 15months and I stepped up on her and sat and she was just waiting to go on; she is so much more than a $200.00 yearling. I have on gelding 4 years old and a man called me 3 months ago and wanted to know if he was broke to rope; I was asking 300.00, I told him you don't want much do you and hung up. The world has gone crazy!

Still fighting the good fight in KY: Graywolf









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This in a way could be a good thing in the long run. Now the problem will only get worse and in a short time could reach crisis levels. The only option will be to open plants here in the U.S. where at least they were regulated and more humane than across the borders.
It will also put the brakes on breeders who started this whole problem in the first place. The top end breeders will not see much of a change as their stock will be in demand as always, but the middle and low end breeders will be hit hard. Honestly I have no problem with that. They have been foaling like some kind of factory hoping to get a horse that will make them famous and rich. They breed for the sake of breeding and not for the good of the breed.
Lastly it should knock some of the starch out of the breed registries who are promoting breeding just so they can register more horses and make more money. There are way more horses around now than people that want them and the prices have tanked. It will only get worse until some kind of control is put on breeding and if the breeders don't do it themselves, the government will do it for them in time. I doubt anyone wants that to happen.
In my area horse prices are still very good. They are a bit lower than last year, but the breed farms around here saw it coming and cut back on the number of foals they produced this year and only produce what they feel will be the best stock. They are still making a living but the farms that kept foaling like mad are going away one by one and I see a few more farms for sale every month. Again I feel no sorrow for them as they did this to themselves by breeding too many horses and breeding for numbers rather than quality.
The rescues are starting to fill up around here though and that will become a problem. They are the classic do gooder types and have barns filled with broken down horses that really can't be saved or ever adopted out. If they put those down and focused on all the good horses that are in need, they may adopt some out and actually do some good for the horses.
For the Wife and me the prices mean nothing. We have our 2 Mustangs and they should last us the rest of our lives so what they are worth to others is no big deal. They are not for sale and never will be, they will never be bred, and if by chance something happens to them we will adopt Mustangs again and make sure we set up a plan so that if we pass on they will be taken care of.

I am troubled with the naiave tone of your post Hans. A couple things trouble me. First off, am I too believe that the top end breeders produce a top of the line world beater each time they breed a mare? Are they manufacturing hardware or beings with a genetic code that can get a crossed wire on occasion? I could never assume that the top level breeders never end up with unusuable horses.

I am also troubled with the assumption that your horses will stay sound and healthy and serve your needs for the next 10, 20, ?? years? Is there no allowance for the unknown?

By the way, what is the meaning of middle or low end breeders? Can the automobile market exist with only selling Rolls Royces and Mercedes? If that is the case, there would only be two types of horses; horses bred but the multi-millionaire breeders and BLM mustangs for those of us who won't spend $100,000 for a horse. The govt will never mandate what breeders breed. Maybe the country you live in might put restrictions and take over the breeding operations, but the country I live in operates under the free market principles that have made the US the greatest country in the world.

NW,
Of course the high end breeders miss once in awhile, but even the misses they have are good quality stock and though may not go for the top money, will sell just because people are so hung up on pedigree. If the pedigree has cat or lena in the name, it will sell just so the buyer can say they have a foal from whoever. The top breeders have a reputation for responsible breeding. They don't just breed anything to anything. If they turned out so so horses, they would not be at the top of the heap.
The middle and low end breeders I speak of are the one tossing out foal after foal with little or no thought as to what they will turn out like. If a mare looks like she will throw color, they will breed anything to it that comes along if the person wants to pay for the breeding. All they see is the money.

When horses are running around towns because they have been turned out and abandoned and become a nusiance, you can bet your last dollar that the government will step in and regulate things. The same people that pestered them for the plant closings and to stop the border crossings of horses, will also be the ones pestering the government to get control of all these horses running around loose. The rescues are filling up and are turning away horses, the economy is in bad shape and everything cost more than it did last year. People will not be able to feed all these horses and if they can't give them away or get them into a rescue, they will just trailer them someplace and dump them off. It is already happening all over the country. People come home and find extra horses in their pastures and pens. Horses are also turning up in state parks and national parks.
There are just way more horses already than people who want them and most are not unusable. Most are pretty nice horses that can't be cared for, or take second place to school. Many are kids horses and they are leaving home for higher education so they want to get rid of the horse.
The whinners will start a campaign saying if there are more horses than people who want them, stop the breeding so there won't be even more unwanted horses. they will keep whinning until they get what they want. They will tap the hollyweird types the PETA types and they will have the rescues on their side as well.
If you think the government wont step in and regulate things, then maybe it is you that is a bit naive. Ever heard of NAIS? That is just the start of a much bigger program.

Ok Hans, let's put this in terms that you can understand. There is an example of a goverment regulated breeding program. Its called BLM mustangs. How is that operation working out? The govt will never regulate the horse industry. It is beyond the parameters of the govt. The horse industry will regulate its self and like water, it will seek its on level. Sure there is a glut of horses on the market due to overproduction. There is also a glut of new cars and pickups on the market from overproduction. Go through any business, there are excess surpluses in almost all areas.

This has been brewing for 10 years. We had a president and a do-nothing legislature that sat on their hands and only helped the upper end of the businesses and population. They extracted all they could for a chosen few and dried up the well. A lot of the economic problems we have currently could have been avoided if we would have had real leadership in Washington.

Sorry its been a bit. Been busy as heck.
The BLM WH&BP is not a breeding program. It is a conservation and managment program and concidering the crap they have to deal with from all sides I do think it works pretty well. I work with them as a volunteer pretty often and every staff member I have ever dealt with has been great.
Regulating an industry is not out of the relm of the government. They do it all the time. They have their hooks into about every private industry there is.
You mentioned the auto industry as an example. The government regulates many aspects of that industry. They regulate safety, fuel economy standards, what percntage of vehicles must be hybrid or alternative fuel. That is just one example.
The horse industry can and will have to regulate itself or they are all going to suffer and many will end up closing down.
As for the economy, we are way more to blame than the government is. Most of the people of this country buried themselves in debt with credit cards, high end cars, homes that were more then they could afford,etc. The banks kept right on loaning and got themselves into trouble when people could not afford the payments anymore. Plus the top end execs were treating themselves real good, wasting money and running the companies into the ground.
It is just much easier to blame the government than ourselves.

This has gone off topic so to get back on topic, this new law is going to make the horse problem worse. There is no outlet at all now other than putting down unwanted horses. I will not say unusable as very few are, they are unwanted or the owners can't afford to care for them anymore. As the problem gets worse I think that the plants will end up being reopened, but with more regulation, or if NAIS passes, we will have to register every animal in the country with them and they will place regulations on the industry as a whole.

Hey guys,
It's been awhile since I was on here not much has changed. You guys are hitting close to home. We went trail riding this past summer with some friends when we made it back to the trailer to load up someone had loaded their horses in my friends trailer with a note saying" hope you can do something with them I can't afford them". Here in Missouri it's bad you go to a sale and you might get a 50.00 bid unless it's kid broke and the most beautiful thing you layed eyes on. I had 2 colts a 3yr old and his full brother a 2yr. old grandsons to Dreamfinder. Not bad lookingt horses. Couldn't get a 100.00 bid on either one of them. Both broke and gentle. Unless you have the time and capabilities to put horses on the internet, you can't get anything for them.

Ouch! Sorry to hear that.

I'm in the process of selling one of my titled BLM mustangs, had 3 people all vying for him, I decided on the person he liked most and they seamed to "click" together best.....she is paying $1500.00 and happy to pay it.

There was an article in the Lexington Hearld a couple days back about the condition of the horse market in KY.  The TB market ( high end horses) is down 25% over the sales last year with a full third of the horses not being sold because they don't meet their reserve price.On the other end of the spectrum, horses are being turned out on reclaimed mining land in record numbers, the equine rescues are over run and two horses were found turned out along Interstate 64, they were in such bad shape that they were put down.The drought, the economy, the prices of hay and feed have all contributed to this disaster, as well as the closing of the slaughter houses.  I'd rather send one to slaughter than turn it out on the highway!We have suspended breeding our mares indefinately, too much supply--no demand.

I heard a similar story where a guy goes to the sale barn, gets rid of a couple horses and finds a couple of new horses in his trailer out in the parking lot. Sounds like a urban legend starting up.

I have also heard that there are now abandoned horses running around in the local state forest. I don't think that is true either, the guys that hunt in that area aren't seeing horses without riders.