Are you pro-slaughter? POLL

Hmm....As a person who lived among the Native Americans at the time of early contact, This artist painted what he SAW. Not too friendly or warm and fuzzy...

Front legs tied together and fought down with a painful rope around his jaw.



Smacking the poo out of them with quirts



So, believe what you will. Today's Indian trainers like "Ponyboy" are just affectations who have little to do with any native American heritage.

Not to mention that europeans were dependent on horses for about a thousand years before the first indian even thought about sitting astride a horse. My own family probably has a longer history with horses than ANY indian.

For the record I am not GuWaNi Pony Boys biggest fan. The NA's have about as much to do with horse slaughter as the Pope in my opinion. We are way off track and there are two things you shouldn't discuss with strangers...religion & politics. So as far as what I have been taught and believe to be true I must honor...same as you.

You know me way too well Drum! LOL

Druydess is that a "Dead Cow" on you horse's head.

Did you find concrete proof that Cordovan leather is exclusively from foals? Also I do believe eating some animal proteins is part of the human make-up as we need vitamin B-12, for our health but cannot get enough naturally without artificial supplementation. Obtaining protien/b-12 from eggs or fish is the way some vegetarians go, as that would be a natural "Human" diet. I believe we are omnivorous beings. I had a Chinese doctor who once said; Humans should not eat any animal protien, from an animal that is larger than themselves. He had good reason for this, and for me it has worked. So eggs, small mammals, birds, seafood.

You could post a video of any slaughterhouse and it would be disturbing to watch, as part of my post secondary agriculture training, we visited some packing houses, it's enough to make you stop eating meat.

As for the First Nations persons being Natural Horsemen, they ate and wore animals so I guess their horses like my horses didn't care, as long as they had a treat in their loin cloths! The statement Natural Horsemanship is an Oxymoron like Herdbound said, "Does not exist"

The execution of a mass-murderer that deserves to be eliminated... is difficult for most to watch. When in innocent person is beheaded with a dull blade and takes 20 whacks, it is beyond disturbing.

It is a question of "humane slaughter" - if it is going to be practiced. I am for its return to the US for the purpose of regulation enforcement...not b/c I am for any and all slaughter, but b/c it is a matter of what "can be done" at the moment, and time is of the essence.

People have their own philosophies on just about everything. Lets celebrate their freedom to do so. The matter at hand is horse slaughter.

Cordovan Leather is made from equine skins...you can google it and find that information on your own. Foals skins are used because they are very supple and they are easy to come by from these nurse mares...thats a whole other can of worms. I lump the promarin mares in with them though as I find this one of those "iffy" breeding/cruelty/abuse/neglect scenarios I find ethically wrong...BUT anyways as I said that's a whole other can of worms...

I have a very balanced diet. I do eat alot of eggs. I am very aware of the B-12 issue and my eggs do not come from the grocery store :) They come from a hen house out back....thank you for your concerns though...I am very healthy.

As for NA's again ...I will say this...I am offended by horse slaughter - find it utterly disgusting...BUT I am also offended by the way the NA nations are treated and the way they have been forced to live in absolute poverty themselves. The injustice done to them, the housing and employment situations, the outrageously high suicide rates on the reservations bother me just about as much as the injustice done to the horses. Pine Ridge in South Dakota is a great example of this...again want more info google it....

For me at least when I approach this I just approach it from a standpoint that human beings basicly suck. They have a history of finding things weaker, helpless and defenseless and make them completely dependant on them and instead of choosing to be compassionate & humane, they prove they are worthy of trust from the weaker entity, then they often betray them in the most hideous and gruesome way they can.. I don't want to be a person like that...be it a foal, a person of a different ethnicity, or a horse that has just had a series of misfortunate events and has lost it's place in this world. I want to treat people, animals, and everything in between with compassion. I find it very strange that when you do this you are attacked. Is it considered weakness? Is it true that as human beings we must bully, take over and exploit our way to the top? If that's what it means to be at the top then screw it for me...I don't want it. My philosophy in life, with my kids, with the horses, just with everything in general can be summed up in a little quote..."When in doubt choose to be kind. Being kind is never the wrong thing to do."

Thank you Herdbound-- this exactly illustrates the difference in the many tribes I alluded to earlier..

Again- ONE tribe in thousands.. not all were warm and fuzzy- obviously..

I just want to point out to that these are artistic renditions and quite honestly they were probably painted during a period in history where Native Americans were being portrayed as "heathen savages"...and they may be a figment of the artists imagination from tales of these horrid primitive people being told from the lips of people who were responsible for the destruction, round up, and transplantation of these mighty nations of people. I think that is why I was offended by the posts referring to NA's earlier...I don't like when they are portrayed like that if you have any idea of the fundamentals of their spirituality and their respect for Great Spirit or Wankan Tanka and all the creation they feel are a gift...you wouldn't say those things...