What are the best ways to reduce the horse population without slaughter?

Starlight 1: Horse section survey: What do you think are the best ways to reduce the horse population without slaughter?
This is just a little survey I’m doing in order to get an idea on what other people think about slaughter and the best ways to reduce the horse population so that slaughter becomes unnecessary. There are no right or wrong answers here-I’m just interested in ideas and in what people THINK. Please, no rudeness, and if you quote a source, make sure you give credit where it’s due.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Marina
Make them geuilding

Answer by —___— Gemma ★★
stop them from breeding (:

Answer by donald
I never thought that seriously about it. The last thing you want is the government to be involved. First of all the odds of a horseman being in charge of that department are slim and none. Even if a committee of horsemen was in charge of the decision, it is obvious from HS how easy it is for them to get along let alone agree on anything. The only thing I can think of is a tax or license requirement to breed a horse but that would not be fair and allow only wealthy idiots to backyard breed.

WOO HOO!!!!! Albert, I am proud to be a lesser among equals.

Answer by BarrelRacingLvr
If you don’t want to slaughter em…then STOP Breeding em!

Easy as that……but people are not going to stop breeding them anytime soon.

Answer by Rather-Be-Riding
Geld & Spay.

Also having to apply/fill out an application before you breed & have to be approved, otherwise you’re largely fined. But this will never happen, so I’m sticking with Geld & Spay.

It works for dogs & cats

Bob barker had the right idea.

Answer by Katie
Add a tax and licence for breeding. (Btw, I don’t care if you don’t have the cash to pay a tax. Breeding is not your God-given right.)

I’d also like to say “geld a lot of stallions,” but of course some people couldn’t afford that – so there’d have to be a sort of government program in place, which we can’t really afford. :/

Also – there should be some sort of publicity campaign against breeding horses. Nowadays you see pictures of sad shelter dogs with a slogan next to them like “Don’t Breed, Adopt” all the time – why not do the same with horses?

Answer by Tristan
If you watch nature and shave seen cloud challenge of the stallions the gov was experimenting with fertility drugs on some of the mares of the mountains the drugs worked they just didn’t give a good enough dose and it is the mares that we need to be worried about and not the stallions because a stallion can service a whole herd of mares not vic versa so we need to also watch for good horses that go to slaughter because some of the best ones don’t have a thing wrong with them but they are still in the kill pen.

Answer by Demi leigh
My opinion is not to stop breeding altogether as there are still good horses/bloodlines that are proven and should be encouraged but simply stop breeding grade horses that are worth next to nothing in today’s economy. There should be laws on breeding that say only horses that meet certain criteria eg. proven show records, good bloodlines etc are allowed to breed.

Answer by Ron Sr
Stop breeding as most of the bigger producers have done, now it is just the backyard breeder breeding for all these unwanted cross breeds.
If breeding restrictions are used, then the Government will control who can and can not breed, and how many mares can be bred each year, those making these decisions are people like Nancy Pelosi, soon horses would be extinct.

Answer by suzistar
They should have tougher breeding standards. For instance, a breeder MUST own their own barn before starting breeding. Or they must show they are enhancing the breed.

Too many backyard breeders are bad.

Answer by Albert Kahol
Education is the key. We need to teach all the horses to become gay, or as a minimum, gay-for-pay.

Answer by Hollywood Thrill
I honestly don’t think there’s anything we can do about it. We can tax breeders, we can put regulations in place, etc., but the people causing the problem are the one’s with the unpapered nags in their backyards that they breed that could care less about any taxes or regulations. My family breeds horses. As of this week we are now starting to breed our third stallion. He’s 5 this year and since we didn’t sell him, we’re keeping him and standing him ourselves while we continue to show him. All three of our stallions have outstanding pedigrees and conformation. One has won over $ 111,000, the one we’re just starting to breed has won $ 27,000+, and the other due to unfortunate circumstances hasn’t won any yet, but will go back to training in the next few months so that he can start showing again. He does have 3 babies on the ground that are now yearlings, all of which are phenomenal and are quite the athletes. Our best stallion’s first foal was born last week and the most prominent man in our industry saw him and said he’s one of the best foals he’s seen in years. We breed for a purpose. We’re not some backyard hicks just trying to sell something for a couple hundred dollars.

That being said, breeding is either a business or a bad idea. If you do it right, it’s a business. If you do it just to make a quick buck or because you want a purty wittle pony, it’s a bad idea. I have no problems with having some sort of registry that keeps track of all our breeding stallions and how many mares we breed them to every year, but that won’t solve any problems.

The only partial solution I see is prosecuting people who BYB or fining them or something, but how many others will slip through the cracks and keep doing it? I honestly don’t think there’s anything we can do about it. The rescues are full. Responsible breeders who are in it as a business in certain industries shouldn’t be compromised. The biggest problem is the irresponsible breeders or the idiots that just let their stallions run around wherever they want then oops they have 5 babies and didn’t mean to. Maybe if there’s some sort of regulation that unless you’re planning on standing a stallion, or going to sell him as a stallion you have to geld him, but again, a lot of those would fall through the cracks too. It’s pretty much a lose lose situation no matter what.

Answer by Lord Donald Farnsworth
More education. If you don’t talk to your horse about sex, they are going to learn if from the other horses in the fields and who knows what they will tell them. Teach horses about contraception. Luckily for myself, I share the same size condoms with Sir Reginal Dewhurst so we save on costs there. Not that money is ever a problem.

Answer by Fennec Fox
BREEDING RESTRICTIONS.

Answer by ℓღνє му нღяѕє
Breeding restrictions, geld and spay the horses, everyone else pretty much summed it up.
Or you could always just give the horses to me.

Answer by Octobercasper.
Get a tight control over back yard breeding, and what horses are being bred.

Answer by briandwales
care about them

Answer by gallop
Indiscriminate breeding practices will continue until the major overbreeders (largely AQHA and Jockey Club) foot the bill for the impact on society, instead of profiting from them.

Anything that can be done should be done that will remove the incentive to continue the outrageously irresponsible practices that allow these breeders to profit. The AQHA breeder who told a reporter that “you have to breed a hundred to get two good ones” as she sold 25 healthy young quarter horses directly to slaughter needs to be stopped.

Surcharges on stalls at the tracks and breeding and registry fees as proposed by Temple Grandin could go to cover costs to provide programs offering veterinary gelding and humane euthanasia of the ‘throw away” horses produced by these breeders. If these breeders had to pay fees that cut into their profits from overbreeding their stock instead of supporting slaughter to subsidize them, they might be forced to find a better way to make a living.

American quarter horses are estimated to supply over 50% of the US horses sent to slaughter. The thoroughbred horseracing industry shares in the guilt for profiting from overbreeding and still profiting when the cast-offs are sold for meat. Those who profit should be the ones paying to clean up the messes they make.

Large carcass composting facilities have proven to safely decompose even heavily drug-laden carcasses, which are recycled and used to replenish the land. More of these facilities should be developed throughout the country.

Answer by Abbyequine
More breeding restrictions and education. Slaughter is never the answer.

Answer by sheedalaadie
Mandate breeding restrictions for AQHA, TBs, STBs, Arabs and every other breed that produces in such masses. Limit the number of horses allowed to be registered each year, and breeders must apply for a mare specific permit to breed.

Anyone who wants to breed registered get needs to pass a test to obtain a license, and participate in courses every 2 years to further their education (they make my husband who is a contractor do these things in order to keep his license and occupation. Why should breeding horses be any different?).

Some people say that this would hurt responsible breeders, but I hardly think so, as ethical professional breeders arent breeding 100 mares ever year in hopes to turn out 30 good foals. Ethical professional breeders are dealing with high end horses, so the hassle of paper work wouldnt bother them as they already have all of that information on hand. The only way to weed out the people who breed junk registered horses (and there are just as many if not more of them than BYB horses) is to regulate breeding to the fullest.

All the money that permits and licensing generate should fund rescues for the breed associations. Any horse that registry accepts into their registry can be sent to one of their rescues should the horse become domestically challenged. Make the associations responsible for the horses they allow us to bring into the world. Microchip all registered horses, that way when theyre found in hoarder/neglect/abuse/starvation cases, they can be returned to the breed association and they must be responsible for rehabilitating, re-homing or destroying the horse.

And finally we ALL need to be advocates and educate all around us about ethical breeding practices. Education is the most important place to begin. when was the last time you heard of a breeding seminar coming to town? They NEED to be done!

When it comes to old, sick, and injured horses, they need to be put down humanely. I dont want to eat a sick cow, pig, or chicken. I would imagine those that consume horse meat would feel the same. So there is no excuse for slaughtering those horses in the first place. Gallop has mentioned low cost euthanasia and disposal paid for by the breed associations (i think, something along those lines) which I think is a great idea. There is also a need for low cost gelding programs. and even free gelding clinic for those whom cant afford it but still somehow have the right to own horses.

But we have to start somewhere and that is with regulation and education.

Answer by The Black Horse
More people need to opt to humanly euthanize their unwanted horses. Sometimes you have a horse that you can’t place for one reason or another, and really your choices are, Man up and pay for the horse’s care, humanely euthanize, or reserve them a place on a truck to mexico or canada.

There are already a lot of free, and reduced cost gelding clinics. Perhaps there can be more places where people financially able can donate money to pay for more of them.
Some people throw spay in there, it’s not realistic. Spaying a horse is a major surgery. There are a lot of risks involved. Spaying horses large scale is not, and never will be realistic.

Regulating breeding will also never fly in the US, if it is something government related. It just won’t. be realistic people.

However, more breeders can take responsibility. https://www.threechimney.com/protecting/ https://www.paulickreport.com/features/three-chimneys-presents-good-news-friday/three-chimneys-presents-good-news-friday-marylou-whitney-backs-up-her-words/

There are some breeders stepping up and taking responsibility for the horses they have bred. More need to.

Breed associations should start having incentive funds for people that take more responsibility for the horses they have bred. Perhaps awards. Something that is going to reward people for being responsible.

One thing will never change. The ignorant will always breed. Only just the other day while browsing a tack store, I heard a lady declare that she was going to breed her pony because “I rescued her after all” and it was not a surprise to me that this lady also owned her own arabian stallion. But with education, there can be less ignorant breeders. Alas, the store owner was trying but this lady seemed too far gone to educate.

Answer by ilovehorsesoxox
stop breeding them, i am totally against slaughter, horses can do so much more it’s disgusting

Answer by Jordan
I agree with Katie. But one problem; As nice as it would be to adopt horses, it’s not the same as adopting a dog. Dog training is cheaper than horse training. If you want to do it yourself, a dog is smaller, and easier to dominate. Adopting is great for the obedient horses, but most of the ones are up for adoption because they have problems. Many people think its easier to get a foal and start from scratch. Not that I approve, but that’s just how it is.

Answer by Herbie 410
Make BYB illegal. Geld and spay more horses.

Answer by Faustina
In my opinion the best way to do that is to adopt or buy a horse rather than breed.