Horse Rescue: All of us benefit

Disclosure: This blog has been put together for a school project.

This photo is not of a rescue horse; it is of a horse that is in her element. This is what horses should look like, and what environment they have the right to exist in. They are beautiful and noble creatures, and deserve to live as such.

Unfortunately, many horses don't get this experience.

Horse rescue has an impact that reaches far and wide to many areas in society, even areas that affect people outside of the horse world. I believe that I, as a horse person, have a responsibility to inform those who don't know about horse rescue so an awareness is built. This awareness will lead to changes that everyone can make in their everyday lives to contribute to the fight against horse slaughter, PMU farming and neglect and abuse of these graceful creatures.

As you may or may not already know, PMU farming (as described at www.premarin.org) includes a process of harvesting hormones from mare's urine for use in human medicines (especially for medicines that reduce effects of menopause in women). The mares that are these PMU farms are often confined for months on end (during the collection phase), and their foals are often sent for slaughter.

Mares being forced to stand during the "collection phase."

Fighting horse slaughter is also important because much of the time, horsemeat contains drugs that are harmful to humans if consumed. Because most horses are not raised for the intent of slaughtering, these drugs become present through veterinary treatments on the animal (a common one is an anti-inflammatory called butazone). Any horse that has been treated with butazone at any point in their lifetime is not supposed to be slaughtered for the purpose of human consumption, but apparently much of the time this is overlooked by the slaughterhouses.

The processes behind horse slaughter is also an extremely terrifying experience for a horse. It is not a way that many of us would like to go out, so why is it done to them?

So, you say, what can you do to help? Well, there are a couple of different ways.

There just so happens to be a small farm in Maple Ridge, BC, called J & M Acres Rescue (http://www.jmacresrescue.com/). This is one of many rescue operations that brings in horses from auctionmarts, racetracks, and other places. Of course, these operations always need funding; you can send donations to many of them (to J & M you can send it by PayPal or by cheque). You can view a list of qualified rescue operations at http://www.defendhorsescanada.org/rescue-centres.html.

If you have the facilities and the drive to deliver the TLC these horses need, you can also adopt. The adoption fees are usually relatively low to the right owner/home. J & M offers a two-week trial period, in which time they can decide whether the fit is right for both the new owner and the horse. New owners must remember that some of these horses have had an incredibly tough go at it previously, so many of them need extra special attention and care (like this little pony http://www.peta.org/b/thepetafiles/archive/2011/09/29/the-pony-rescue-express.aspx). There have been many successful adoptions, however, where the horses have turned right around and become trusting and loving companions.

To wrap up, I'd like to ask - why do you think horse rescue is important / not important? Do you think horse slaughter, and in turn horse rescue, would be minimized if breeding operations downsized their breeding? What about PMU farms? How can people help to minimize the need for horse rescue at all?

Really, the whole point of this post is to provide some background information on what horse rescue is all about. Next posts will be different, I promise.