making .. too many horses ... at too low a price... with too little land... and too little care ... and... too many people .... too few of whom care... with too many distractions... and too little time.. the ingredients for a sad world... where Black Beauty may be the norm... not the Exception. Pepe is a guy that loves life and views himself as lead stud! It wasn't always that way. When I first saw him, he was hiding behind his friend Rose. He had a belly full of worms and was a bag of bones. Pepe was about to face being auctioned and separated from his friends. Pepe's story is sad, He was one of six horses removed from his home by the humane society. These horses were specimens of extreme neglect. All these undernourished horses were to be dispersed at auction. They were not going to bring top dollar at the auction. Although some time was allowed to bring the horses back to health they were far from being at peak. And I could not determine that anyone was verifying the intent of the buyers. In the end their fate may not be any better than before the rescue. A group of friends raised money to purchase these horses. We were going to take some control over their fate. Pam and I decided to provide moral support and attend the auction. The first three of six horses would be at the auction. So we went away to Yelm to watch the events. With the purchase of the first two horses, the funds collected were exhausted. Pam started bidding on this little guy. Pam was not thinking straight. Pam was not thinking of our financial situation. A few hundred bucks lighter we arranged for our little Arab guy to ride with his buddies until we came back with a trailer. It was becoming clear that the supply and demand for horses was not in the horses favor. As man continues to increase in numbers, the desire for horses diminishes. It has changed much in my lifetime. My generation was weaned on Roy Rogers and Trigger, the Lone Ranger and Silver, and countless others. Along with every hero cowboy came his faithful companion and pal, his horse. That just isn't happening today. We live in a more densely populated world where the horse is a luxury few are interested in or can afford. To combat the problem of lower demand for horses, breeders lower prices and flood yet even more foals on the market. You can even find Andalusian Stallions that will breed for $500. The math is pretty simple. If a breeder sells a foal of any breed for less than $4000 they are loosing money on that breeding. This is assuming they have minimized costs and own the stallion that bred the mare. I am not saying that people with money will necessarily love a horse or be good horseman. I know too many BAD Andalusian owners to think that. But it does take significant resources to sustain a horse over a lifetime. A horse is a companion animal that lives 25 to 30 years in domestication and costs approximately $1000/year to maintain . So in a lifetime a horse will cost you about $30,000 to feed if you live in the USA. You either pay that in hay or in mortgage payments on land and tractor. This does not include barns, fences, trailers, or saddles. It does not include the farrier or vet care. It doesn't include the time of labor involved. As land and hay become increasingly expensive, breeding horses in numbers that exceed the demand means they end up either neglected or on a dinner table after much suffering. Having cheap horses for people hardly is justification for the tragic result. Just get involved with rescuing horses for a month and you will see what I mean! Those of us that see the horse as an animal of great beauty and nobility attempt to keep the value high. Having a large number of cheap horses is a loosing situation for the horse and for the ethical breeder. Not every mare should be bred. A foal of some value has a better chance of getting adequate care and going to a good home if sold. Black Beauty is not a thing of the past. More and more horses live lives of neglect and suffering. The best way to end this horror is to reduce the birth of new horses. The current condition of the equine species is not one anyone can brag about. There are many horses out there at bargain prices because of indiscriminate breeding and other reasons. It costs as much to feed and care for these horses as it does to take care of horses where efforts have been taken to produce quality animals. It seems Everybody wants a cheap horse. I recently received a letter from a person defending the rights of the poverty stricken. I regularly offend the rich Andalusian owner so it was good to know I provide equal treatment to all classes. She indicated my attitude was not fair to the poor and I was a snob. But the truth is there are plenty of cheap horses out there. You can go get one at any auction. That fact alone should satisfy the constitutional right of the poor to have an animal they cannot afford to maintain. Those animals live in run down boarding facilities, behind unsafe fences, they often have insufficient parasite control, inadequate nutrition and care. Animals are just another commodity. They are the top of the list to sacrifice when hard times fall. Pepe had lived with a filly named Rose. She seemed to protect him. Perhaps with a little food and training we could find this fellow a good home. It felt good to do the right thing, but he no longer would be with his Rose. In about a week this young colt was halter broken. In a few weeks he was following me around without a halter or lead rope. He was showing very level headed behavior. Considering his NEW high energy intake I expected him to be flighty and high strung. In a month his coat was glossy and his energy level quite good. Today he is looking magnificent and thinks of himself as a small MAJO. This handsome devil called Pepe runs and plays with Baretta and Sugar Pie Honey. They have become inseparable. Baretta looks much like Pepe's old friend Rose. When Baretta arrived she needed a friend, Pepe was in need of a companion closer to his size. So Pepe befriended our new addition. That was 1997. Pepe has proven many times since he knows how to make friends. Rose taught him well.   |
