# Is it just here, or is the whole world giving away horses  nowadays?



## greybeard (Jan 24, 2012)

Seems everywhere I go for the last month, there's a poster in a store window or an ad in the paper for "Free horses--can't afford to feed them anymore". Some even say they will deliver.  I've never seen it this bad.
Bad times I guess, (and no hay--or high priced hay) but if I were wanting an equine of any type, I could probably fill my place up.  Some folks are just turning donkeys loose in the National Forest to forage on their own.


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## jodief100 (Jan 24, 2012)

Same here.  I live in KY, big horse country and I see lots of free horses begin advertised.  

It is so sad.


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## brentr (Jan 24, 2012)

Same here in northern VA.  Lots of horses on Craigslist, free or VERY cheap.  I'm no horseman, but some of the pics suggest that there are some really good horses that have fallen on bad times (along with their owners).


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## pridegoethb4thefall (Jan 24, 2012)

Yep, going on here in Cali too...  Great horses with high pedigrees going for soooo cheap. Hay is excessively high priced right now, not to mention all the home loss (for owners = homeless horses). 

It so bad there was actually a group of people offering low cost euthenasia in a group setting just to help people who couldnt feed the horses they couldnt sell or re-home. I feel bad about that, but I guess if the choices are starve to death, or be comfortably put to sleep for MY horse, Id choose the meds....

Its a horrible situation. Over breeding and over-extending have led to this. Breaks my heart. I feel the pinch of hay prices in feeding my 3 mini's, one full size mare, and a goat- and I have over an acre of pasture. But the lack of rain this year has caused my pasture to about dry up and blow away. Usually by this time of year, the field is lush and Im trying to keep the fat OFF my horses from too much grass, now Im trying to keep them a healthy weight on 20 dollars a bale hay, two bales a week minimum adds up, plus the goats hay. 

I can sure understand how easy it can be to not be able to afford a horse- for anyone, not just the seller, but who can buy one now AND feed it?


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## Horsiezz (Jan 24, 2012)

Its going on in Ohio as well! They go for free or dirt cheap prices... I have gotten a lot of free horses and cheap ones from Craigslist in the past couple years and did some training and rehomed them to approved, local homes where I can check up on them. With having Sugarcreek auction close to us these horses were at great risk of being brought there or bought from a killbuyer(yep, they get em from craigslist too!). For those of you not familiar with good ol' Sugarcreek, lets just say you probably dont wanna know. Its one of the biggest slaughter auctions east of the Mississippi River. Me and some friends have gotten a lot of great horses from there for little to nothing and rehomed them. Even well broke, kid safe, registered horses... its crazy, but the economy is bad and people are out of jobs. Its probably only getting worse... especially with Winter. Nobody wants to feed hay burners in the Winter... :/ but at least they are giving them away instead of letting them starve in their fields, right? Atleast they have some sort of chance....


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## MrsDieselEngineer (Jan 25, 2012)

Personally I'd rather see a horse slaughtered than starve to death.  There are so many unwanted horses and the cases of starving horses are sky rocketing.  Here in NH there was a case just recently that had dead and dying horses all over the farm.  The owner couldn't afford to feed them and just abandoned them.  I would have rather seen them in good health go to be slaughtered than the slow death of starvation.


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## quiltnchik (Jan 25, 2012)

MrsDieselEngineer said:
			
		

> Personally I'd rather see a horse slaughtered than starve to death.  There are so many unwanted horses and the cases of starving horses are sky rocketing.  Here in NH there was a case just recently that had dead and dying horses all over the farm.  The owner couldn't afford to feed them and just abandoned them.  I would have rather seen them in good health go to be slaughtered than the slow death of starvation.


Hence the reason horse slaughter needs to be allowed back in the US.


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## carolinagirl (Jan 25, 2012)

It's so bad here in South Carolina that if you go to a livestock auction with a trailer on your truck, they tell you to lock it or you may find a horse or two abandoned inside your trailer.


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## 20kidsonhill (Jan 25, 2012)

I heard that they were going to start allowing horse slaughtering again.  Or maybe it had to do with trying to change the laws and it hasn't been changed yet.


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## greybeard (Jan 25, 2012)

It seems I read not too long ago, that US slaughter was now being allowed but for export only. I have mixed feelings on it, and like most others, look at horses, mules etc in a different light than other livestock, but that is most likely due to a lifetime of "conditioning" that we in the US/Canada have experienced while seeing such a strong connection between humans:equines as companions and even pets. 
Having spent lots of years in foreign nations I long ago came to realize what we feel here doesn't neccessarily reflect worldwide conditions and opinions--for better or worse. As sad as it is, I do have to agree, that I would prefer to see animals go to slaughter than live in agonizing conditions, IF they can't be rescued and placed in better conditions. 

Back in the early 80s, near Redbud Texas, in a particularly cold winter with back to back ice storms, a large herd of horses was discovered in deplorable condition on a remote ranch and the whole herd (several hundred) were confiscated/rescued. Many had to be put down. I don't remember the details now, but it made the evening news all accross the state, and I hope we aren't seeing any more of this about to take place.  

In this area, the placement agencies are pretty strict, reportedly requiring a 6' fence, a set # of acres/animal,  adequate shelter and an overall  property inspection and even a personal "background" check--plus a fee paid if you are allowed to accept an animal. The fee I'm told is about $100/animal (which is being protested by some) , but I assume that $$ is being used to feed and care for the animals still at the facility. Have seen in the paper that the nearest one over in Liberty county is desperately asking for donations of hay or $$ to buy hay. My fences wouldn't pass that requirement, since they aren't anywhere close to 6' tall.

Guess that is about all I have to say on this issue--hits kinda hard for me.


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## CYGChickies (Jan 25, 2012)

We went to a livestock auction and chickens and rabbits went for the usual $1-$5 each. Goats went for $2-$3 a pound(!) and horses and donkeys went from $6-$24 EACH! there were colts, pregnant mares and jennies, geldings and studs and they were just giving them away. If I had the fencing for her and a trailer to get her home I would have taken the pregnant Jenny. She was the cutesy little fluffy thing, and she looked like she needed a hug. They sold a white unaltered jack that was fuzzy too and he went for $6. I need to get a trailer! (Or maybe I don't!)

CYG


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## KinderKorner (Jan 30, 2012)

I'm having the same problem.

I have three horses which I paid quite a bit for years ago when the market was still high.

Now I'm getting married and can't afford to feed them all. So one or two has to go.

My QH mare is registered, and had over 60 days of EXPENSIVE professional training. She is beautiful, smart, and talented. But try as I have no one is interested, even though at the price I am offering her I am already taking a loss. :/ 

I'm still not sure what I am going to do with them. They are eating up my bank account, but I don't want to give her away either. She is just too nice of a horse. A few years ago I could have made a profit on her. She is a fantastic horse. I thought I wouldn't have too much trouble selling her because she isn't just some old broken down gelding. But no such luck.


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## TexasShepherdess (Feb 1, 2012)

the market is HORRIBLE due to numerous problems..in Texas, a big one being the record drought we are in..Hay is sky high, so is feed..and no one wants another "hayburner".

We have some really nice horses, wellbred, accomplished..we luckily dropped our numbers low afew years ago. I just sold our stallion..who had TWO YEARS of professional training for less then the training cost me when he was 3-4..he is now 9. So even upper end horses' prices are lower they they were.

I have one more to sell this year and we will be at 5..which is where I want to be.


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## 77Herford (Feb 1, 2012)

Yup, lots of nice horses for sale at extremely low prices in Iowa.  We surprisingly have alot of horse owners and a large number of them are struggling to sell their horses.  I have friends that haven't sold a horse in two years and are giving away their young horses for hay.


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## kelsey2017 (Feb 1, 2012)

quiltnchik said:
			
		

> MrsDieselEngineer said:
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I don't like the idea of horses going to slaughter but it is a necessity to avoid needless suffering.  I went to horse auctions only twice in my life and it was SUPER sad.  If I were made out if money I would have taken many of them home ONLY to be put down.  

I have three horses.  One I took home just to give a better life, when I bought him I never thought I would ride him.  Now I can't imagine life without him, we are ONE and _all_ I promised him was a place to live out his days without having to be bounced from owner to owner.  That was all he needed, just security, time to bond and time to figure out what his forte was.  We had fun leaning together and instead of me teaching him dressage, he taught me jumping.  He (OTTB) was nervous when asked to collect and work in an arena, but on the trail he was quite brave and jumped and went through anything.  He went on to take me to many eventing clinics and even a few shows where he did very well and, I truly believe, he enjoyed.  Because he loved it, I trusted that I could do it too.  He is very happy at age 21.  My second horse acquired was a 24 yo Appendix (also off the track) that the owner couldn't afford to keep.  Because of his age no one wanted him, even for $200.  I brought him home for a companion to my horse, not knowing that he was perhaps one of the nicer horses I had met.  He and I don't have much of a bond, so to speak,  but my 8 yo can walk right out to the pasture and halter him (i can barely pet him some days) and ride all over just bareback.  He is a great horse with many years left and so many things to offer, and no one wanted him.  It is weird how it works.  My third horse I actually paid what I think is a lot of money ($1000) for, but because she was well trained and taken care of and absolutely kid safe, I felt the price was excellent considering she is my disabled daughters therapy pony.  No surprises there, she is great but what about the rest of the horses out there?  There are diamonds in the rough all over.  Too bad people are breeding for fun, with not a lot of thought into the fact that these horses will need to have place in this world.  God, would I ever love to have a foal of my own some day, but I'll be happy with my 'cast offs' any day!  I can get over the tempting cute factor of a foal when the ugly truth is right there to remind me that horse is going to be on this planet for (hopefully) a good long time. You can thank the two trips to the auction for that.
  So SO sorry to all of you that have to pay so much for hay.  My hay guy has been sending all his unsold hay to Texas and making a killing, bales here are still around $3 for good alfalfa mix.  I'll count my blessings 10 times over, I would have a hell of a time with $20 a bale prices.  Even with hay cheaper here, horses get given away all the time, I know of a few that went to a local dog-sledder to be shot for dog food, good horses too.    YUCK


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## LauraM (Feb 2, 2012)

MrsDieselEngineer said:
			
		

> Personally I'd rather see a horse slaughtered than starve to death.  There are so many unwanted horses and the cases of starving horses are sky rocketing.  Here in NH there was a case just recently that had dead and dying horses all over the farm.  The owner couldn't afford to feed them and just abandoned them.  I would have rather seen them in good health go to be slaughtered than the slow death of starvation.





> Hence the reason horse slaughter needs to be allowed back in the US.


Agreed.


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## KDailey (Feb 3, 2012)

We went to a horse sale with a friend of ours who raises horses (tennessee walkers), just to see what kind of horses went through the sale. We've been looking for a horse for my boyfriend Ryan and since we have the knowledge and resources to train the horse ourselves without paying for a lot of training and the experiance to fix behavior problems we figured we'd try out the horse sale and just see what there was and what they were selling for. 

We wound up bringing home a red overo paint gelding, 3 years old and already broke to ride. He was only slightly skinny and already had a negative coggins (sale policy). We only paid $150 for him. He'll be mine though, not Ryan's. There were great looking horses (confomation and health wise) that were selling for dirt! I wish I had more room because I would have bought up a bunch of them and worked on their training and sold them later when the demand for horses wasn't so bad. We actually have over 100 acres but the friend of ours has all his horses on it so we can't put ours out there. 

We gave away a mare that we bought for $400 because we didn't know she had a leg issue and on top of that she was pregnant when we bought her and we didn't know it until we were out of town and Ryan's sister called us frantic because the mare had foaled. We kept the colt and gave the mare away. The new owners knew about her legs and everything and still took her. 

Now we need to sell one of my dad's horses that we've been taking care of and euthanize my old barrel horse becuase he has arthritis so bad he can barely walk (we've tried everything). That will bring the count down to 3 full grown horses, 1 yearling and 1 yearling jack donkey. Then if we ever find Ryan a horse we'll be set.


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