Got kicked twice last night, trying to load my horse.

I read the post... got fired up when she said her mother sent her lifelong 22yr old horse to the auction, and got $700 to buy a new horse. And than said not to call her mother heartless.

Here is the thing, I don't have a problem with slaughter and think there is a need for it and that every state should have a plant. BUT I do think we owe something to the horses we have given a home to for 13 1/2 years and a lifelong 22 yr old.

I have buried two on our farm. I have sold horses that didn't work out for me. I have never sent a horse I lamed up or that became lame after years of work for me to an auction. I had them euthanized and buried. If I knew how to shoot them I would have done so. My son has shot two of his that were injured and put them out of their misery quickly. One broke his neck coming off the trailer and the other slipped and broke his hip.

The point is she said not to call her mother heartless. What do you call someone who takes a 22 year old horse to an auction when it is no longer of service to you?

Is there a place and a need for slaughter? Absolutely... my horses will not go there. If I can't afford to take care of them after we can't use them anymore, I will put them down. I wouldn't even put our last old boy on the trailer to take him to the vet...he would have been very upset with the surroundings. Vet came out... we walked him over to the hole that was dug, I petted him, shed a tear and loved him ... to the very end.

This was not a debate with me so much over slaughter and am I pro or anti. It was saying that after being a lifelong companion and being shipped off for slaughter shouldn't be determined as heartless.

There ya go. My last post as no one is going to budge on this anyway. I see the op as someone who uses a horse up and than gets the last penny out of his hide. She sees me as a wickednag. It is all good and we will both move on and do what we do with our horses anyway.

I am far, far from rich. We run a 15 horse rescue completely off public donations. We do not have any excess of money.
But we have a 32 year old blind, appaloosa with reoccurring abscesses. He lives his quiet happy life in our barn, enjoying 5 buckets of soaked hay cubes a day, as his broken teeth can't manage real hay. When the weather is perfect and he can totter himself outside he goes out and lays in the sun. That is his second favorite thing. His first favorite thing is to have the little girls who volunteer with us crawling all over him, itching his itchy spots. Over the winter we were unable to find a farrier that had the patience to do his feet, you need to do them a little at a time, moving on to the next hoof when his opposite leg gets too tired, just circling him until they're all done. He began to lay down a lot which was beginning to cause pressure sores. I found a old memory foam mattress and cut sheets of it and sewed it into his blanket. He never got a pressure sore. After a few months we gave up finding a farrier to do it, instead we found a farrier who would tell us how to do it. While he was laying down we fixed up his feet ourselves. From then on he was up and the life of the party again. He greets all our visitors and teaches all our new volunteers how to groom, he lives every day in happiness, but not always total comfort.

We do not euthanize horses who have become 'inconvenient' or used up. We will/do euthanize our horses when they decide they have completed their mission with us and are ready to move on.

I don't expect other people to be as devoted as us. We are quite extreme, we have 14 other used up horses who will live out their life with us. But do NOT tell me you had to get rid of your horse due to money. I am raising 2 horses myself, both rescues, on the income of a riding instructor. I make ends meet by being careful with my money. They don't have the nicest tack, but what they have fits and works.

And Honestly people, no horse gets completely crippled due to arthritis overnight! That is a slow progressive illness that takes over their joints slowly. When you notice this beginning to occur with your horse there are a large number of things you can do to slow the progression. Or if you find your horse developing it and know the horse is only going to get worse and you know you need them for heavy work like barrel racing do the horse a favor and rehome it before it's completely broken. If she had sold that horse before he was completely lame he could have been a school horse, a pony ride pony, a little kids first horse, who knows? He could have moved on to doing something like low level dressage, something that utilizes his joints in a different way so he would last longer. Rather than having a 14 year old horse (he could have had another good 10-15 years) be thrown out to god-knows-where, she should have recognized that she wouldn't want to care for or wouldn't be able to afford the care for a horse she can not use. She should have done right by him before he was completely used up.

I completely understand if a horse is unable to do the job you depend on them to do that they need a new home. But if a horse is beyond repair there is no place for them to go. If a horse has devoted a chunk of his life to bettering your life, you owe it to them to give them a peaceful end of theirs.

This thread run it course, and at this point is nothing but going in circles. With that being said I'm closing it...