So as we all sit and watch the horror unfolding in front of us about the slaughtered show jumper, and the sadness in Virginia, I wonder how we can ever get out of this mess. Sure, more legislation, but most people doing these things aren’t really scared of misdemeanors and jail time. Then you have to force authorities to chose between rapists and animal abusers for precious and overcrowded lock down space.

As we watch the consequences of closing the three legal slaughter houses in the US, (which the HSUS takes a large amount of responsibility for when they send their lobbyists to the fancy hotels on Capitol Hill and spend weeks and millions of dollars campaigning), we are witnessing criminals not really being choosy about how to fill their orders for horse meat in the illegal underground slaughter industry – they look for the big, fat ones. There are orders for it coming in from all over the world. Most European countries have it on the menu and sell it at the local butcher shop. There are chefs that came to America from France, demanding it in their kitchens and appalled we wouldn’t provide it. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/09/eating-wild-horsemeat-america Not only that, our neighbors to the south are big proponents of animal sacrifice, so what then, Americans have a right to tell other cultures what they can do on their own soil? oh yeah, I guess we are entitled enough to do so, huh. I can’t wait to see the countrymen of India, where cows are not permitted to be slaughtered for any reason, are sacred (and are permitted to tie up traffic if they feel like wandering into a street at rush hour), call out an entire worldwide industry which kills cows for bridles, boots, and saddles……no hypocrisy there at all.

hihi, just steeeeerrr around us, ok? ok.

Eating horse meat is nothing new, we have been doing it as far back as 4500 BC if you believe the cave paintings in France. Soldiers commonly had to eat horse meat in order to survive during revolutions and wars, but since this country hasn’t ever had to face starvation on that kind of level, we cannot relate as easily. Only a few stories pop up from the Civil War era where it was the human or the horse. In Siberia, the Sakha people believe that eating the flesh of the Yakut horse gives them more spiritual connection with horses, similar to the belief of Christians drinking the blood of Christ. Certainly the biggest fear is capitalizing on horse meat and raising herds of horses instead of cattle specifically for their meat. No one wants to see that happen, nor should they. There are plenty of unwanted horses floating around – raising them for slaughter would not even be necessary. For more on the history, this guy did a helluva job.. http://priceonomics.com/when-americans-ate-horse-meat/

Selling horse meat is big business, and now even bigger, since closing the plants spiked the price of horse meat to triple the value from a few years earlier. In Florida alone, hundreds and hundreds of horses have been stolen and butchered for their meat since 2007. This example was only in July of this year,  but it didn’t hit our Facebook pages…  http://www.wsvn.com/story/29617604/horse-found-slaughtered-in-hialeah-field I don’t think we can really call for an entire world to go Vegan, that just isn’t going to happen. Meat is meat, whether it comes from a cow, deer, frog, pig or horse, and most people see it that way. There are websites promoting horse meat as being healthier because of the low fat content – http://www.eathorse.com/     yikes.   If everyone stopped eating animals, the animals would outnumber us and before you know it, wildlife would be getting cozy on the couch next to us and binge watching Netflix. Don’t believe me? Google ‘bear cubs come in house’, see what pops up.

hi, got popcorn?

Oh wait, the gov’t thought it best to cull the overpopulation of bears in Florida this weekend, imagine the outcry on that one….

After being satisfied that bears can live peaceably with humans and no one is going to eat meat, we then would start to ask all the Lions to stop eating the Antelope. Excuse me Mr. Lion, do you mind making a better lifestyle choice for me, and stick to salads? thanks. He won’t mind, I am sure of it.

There are claims to save 150,000 horses a year all over the internet if you write your congressman and plead with him to further ban horse slaughter. The people opposing slaughter plants go to great lengths to terrify you on what happens inside those plants, yet those 150,000 horses end up at places like Peacable Farms, end up spending six months to ten years starving to death, and trying to eat their way out of their own stalls. How is that a solution? Which is more graphic? If you had to sit me down and ask me to choose between a bolt to a horse’s head for instant death and recycling of the body, or watching six months to ten years of starvation, with nothing but a rack of useless bones leftover, what do you think I am going to choose?? And it is not like Peacable Farms is the only farm starving animals to death. It is everywhere, in every state. Furthermore, these 150,000 unwanted horses are not ending up in show stables, but maybe they should? Maybe we should be expecting everyone with a USEF membership to house at least five babysitter horses for every ten active show horses. Is that fair? Dr. Betsee Parker wouldn’t mind, would she? Oh wait, maybe first better ask Inclusive how the care is….http://read.uberflip.com/i/588675-october-26-2015/15

Americans are the only ones that don’t see horses as livestock, but as pets, but then refuse to jump up and put a whole bunch of unwanted horses in their backyards as lawn ornaments and continue to feed them for two decades. It is not like you can take them to the store with you and shop with them, hey Pet Smart, do you mind if I bring my pet horse in to get fitted for a halter?? Horses need jobs, yet the HSUS doesn’t agree. They prefer ALL animals to NOT have jobs, but rather live in some sort of peaceful harmony with the rest of the world. The HSUS is after every sport that involves animals and will not stop with just one. They don’t even believe in K-9 units that actually save people. It is ludicrous, but they feed off of your compassion, take your money, and make everything a little more complicated for our society.

I like animals more than people, too, but I have concerns about who is responsible for the unwanted ones. I even like the idea of wild horses out West, but then hear disturbing accounts about how they multiply too quickly, and eat their resources faster than the resources can grow back. Well that doesn’t sound good, where will they get food if there isn’t any? It is like me asking where am I going to get money that isn’t there??  When I even try to do the math on the horse industry in America, I am wondering if the majority of the population in America is really affected by us and our horses. There are 300 million people here! Luckily, someone else actually did the numbers…. http://www.horsecouncil.org/national-economic-impact-us-horse-industry  and according to these guys 2 million people own horses but there are over 9 million horses in the US? Does that seem right? double yikes. Side note – the largest percentage of horse owners (46%) are in that 25k-75k income bracket. Think about that for a second.

So we hit wild animals with our cars, make domesticated animals someone else’s problem with tainted non-profit organizations, then get burdened with saving them when the shit hits the fan. I could have used that money for fence repair, by the way, but I gave it to a rescue, because I was hoping other people would give, too.  Never mind the fact that the owner of the farm makes more money in one year than most of us will see in our lifetime. It’s gross, but we have done it to ourselves, so now let’s find a solution everyone can live with. Our fattest, largest show horses are genuinely at risk, cameras in place in stables are probably not going to deter thieves, and these black market butchers don’t really see the potential dangers of drugs or dewormer in the horse’s system, they are not likely educated enough for potential threats of Banamine, nor is anyone we know friends with them on Facebook, so it is going to have to be addressed in some other fashion.  A few people thought the loss of Debbie’s horse might have been personal, because the shock of it raised questions like maybe a former employee held a grudge. Other people wanted to know if the horse was insured. Get a grip people, this was not insurance fraud, not a disgruntled barn manager, but I do think the average person with questions like that is just reacting to the disgustingness of the crime. It was indeed gruesome. All of the stories about personal horses being stolen and cut up are. The butchers are taking the horses we love, not the ones we don’t want. We are probably going to see more of it in the future.  http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/27/sports/prized-horse-is-led-out-of-stall-and-butchered-in-florida.html?_r=0

Discussions on horse slaughter come up from all parts of history, this article, though long, is incredibly relevant even if written several years ago.  http://horsetalk.co.nz/2013/02/23/vatican-vikings-american-horse-eating-taboo/#axzz3po0u1ccp

Maybe we should just all be like this amazing couple. It is a big country, we can all find land for a farm, right?  Tracey wrote a book, I guess everyone needs to buy it. It is educational for the future gens searching for that elusive utopia. I don’t know how to get 300 million people to read it, but gotta start somewhere… Holidays are coming… http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/11/fashion/tracey-stewart-farm-sanctuary.html

p.s. the links are there for education, educate yourself. xoxo