West Nile Virus Information | Fred Pearce Memorial Speakers

Dr. Nat Messer "The Plight Of The Unwanted Horse"

Nat Messer is an Associate Professor of Equine Medicine and Surgery at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His presentation at the Horse Breeders and Owners Conference in January 2007 drew on his vast experience in equine welfare.

“Unwanted horses” refer to those horses no longer needed or useful, or whose owners are no longer interested in – or capable of – providing care for them. Most unwanted horses will likely be sent to slaughter with fewer numbers being euthanatized and disposed of through rendering, and some simply abandoned and left to die of natural causes. Unwanted horses range from being essentially normal, healthy horses of varying ages and breeds to horses with some type of disability or infirmity; horses that are unattractive; horses that fail to meet their owner’s expectations for their intended use (e.g., athletic ability); horses with non-life-threatening diseases; horses that have behavioural problems; or horses that are truly mean or dangerous. In many cases, these horses have had multiple owners, have been shipped from one sale barn, stable, or farm to another, and have ultimately been rejected as eligible for any sort of responsible, long-term care.

To their credit, various equine welfare organizations and other groups have made a conscientious and concerted effort to provide care for unwanted horses or find suitable accommodations for them. These efforts presumably account for some of the decrease in the number of horses being sent to slaughter over the past five to 10 years. Other factors responsible for this decrease include widespread efforts to inform the public about the plight of the unwanted horse, slaughter plant closures, changes to the tax code, and a relatively high demand for horses by prospective buyers. The carrying capacity for retirement and rescue farms is unknown at this point but despite their efforts, the number of unwanted horses far exceeds the resources currently available to accommodate them all. Even well meaning volunteers can become overburdened with unwanted horses, at times to the detriment of the horses under their care. There simply are not enough volunteers, funds, or placement opportunities for all of the unwanted horses.

Why are there so many apparently unwanted horses? Is there, as some would suggest, a glut of horses? Was there a larger glut of horses when 200,000 to 300,000 horses were being sent to slaughter in the early 1990s? For the past five to 10 years, the demand for horses has been very good. Over the years, however, this demand has certainly run in cycles that frequently follow other economic trends. In general when the demand for horses is low, the number of unwanted horses increases – regardless of what their bloodlines may be. Recent changes in various breed organizations’ rules, such as permitting the use of embryo transfer and frozen semen, have favored the production of horses. This allows breeders to produce more than one offspring per year from mares, and to more efficiently select for horses with desirable bloodlines or performance records. New technology will further facilitate this practice in the future. Unfortunately, even with the help of technological advances, not every mating will produce a horse that meets the expectations of a buyer. For those in the business of breeding and raising horses, an unsold horse becomes a liability rather than an asset.

According to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics, the horses going to slaughter basically follow the demographics of the horse population in general, i.e., nearly equal numbers of mares and geldings, primarily Quarter Horses followed by the other breeds ranked in order of their relative numbers in the general horse population. There are undocumented estimates suggesting that less than 10% of the horses that go to slaughter are Thoroughbreds, but just how many of the more than 100,000 horses that went to slaughter last year in the US and Canada were former racehorses? What is the average age and sex of those unwanted horses? What are the types of things that cause them to be unwanted? Are they purebred or grade
horses? Answers to these questions and more need to be addressed in order to understand the problem and consequently reduce the number of unwanted horses.

Whenever there are large numbers of unwanted horses as there are today, there is always concern for the welfare of these horses. According to Rebecca M. Gimenez, PhD, a member of the advisory board of the South Carolina Awareness and Rescue for Equines organization, in a letter to the editor in the April 2004 issue of The Horse Magazine: “We have seen a huge upsurge in abuse and neglect cases over the last three years in our state alone.” She goes on to say “looking on the web and talking to veterinarians, farriers, and horse industry professionals all tells me that this isn’t only a South Carolina problem.” Neglect of horses takes many forms and is due to a variety of factors. Could this upsurge in neglect be entirely due to an increasing
number of uninformed horse owners unfamiliar with the proper care of horses, or is it due to economic constraints created by the downturn in the economy since 9/11? Or perhaps it could be due to the unavailability of affordable ways to responsibly dispose of unwanted horses brought about by regulations prohibiting burial of animal carcasses in some locales. Maybe it’s because of costs associated with veterinary euthanasia and disposal by cremation, “digestion” or rendering, or because there are fewer slaughter plants processing horses for human consumption. All of these factors must be considered when faced with such a large number of unwanted horses and what should be done with them, always ensuring they are treated humanely and with dignity until the end of their lives. It is important for all of us to remember that, in all likelihood, it only matters to us, and not the horse, what happens to them after they are gone.

Fortunately, the American Association of Equine Practitioners (AAEP) initiated discussions on the plight of the unwanted horse in 2004 by sponsoring an Unwanted Horse Summit in Washington, DC. In attendance were representatives from AAEP, the horse industry, breed organizations, animal welfare advocacy groups and the USDA and Congress. From that Summit was formed the Unwanted Horse Coalition, which was recently “adopted” by the American Horse Council who will oversee initiatives to identify solution to the problem. It will be through these sorts of discussions that a solution will be found to address the needs of the unwanted horse – not by passing some ill-conceived legislation before there is a way to care for so many unwanted horses.