Abandoned or Free Horses...The Real Post!

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Again, I wrote this last Friday and let it sit for the weekend. It is waaaayyyyy long but this is my take on it. The Clift Notes version just won’t work here. So, sit back, relax and know you’re going to have a good (hopefully) read!

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I was asked about my opinion on the abandonment(ed) and/or free horse issues. As you can probably tell, I have an opinion on just about ANYthing that has to do with horses...or life in general. Probably the only thing on which I don’t have an opinion is something like Linear Physics or Namibia‘s politics. I’m out of my league on these so will leave them to bigger brains than mine.

It seems to me that I’m seeing a lot more free horse ads on the net than in the past. I think most people, being kind hearted when it comes to any animal, like to think that they have the animals best interest at heart. Or they are really, really fooling themselves and don’t want to face the cold, hard facts. So when times get tough, they think that if they offer the horse for free on some board or advert, some OTHER kind hearted person will come along and take over the horse and all will be well.

Welp, let me tell you about these free horses…

1. You never know who the other person is that shows up in your driveway with a horse trailer. In the free horse cases, it can sure be a front for a kill buyer. They may even have a kid in tow or a pregnant wife in the front seat of the pickup (or might BE the pregnant wife!). They will give you a sob story about how their kids’ horse bit the big one and the kid is so upset but they don’t have much money to buy another (??) but they have pasture or something and can still feed/care for a horse. There are so many variations on this line that I could type all day and still not hit them all.

2. Even if the ‘new’ owners have only had the horse for an hour at their barn (waiting for the next livestock auction to come up), if you or I walked up and asked them how long they’d owned the horse, they’d probably tell you they’d had that horse since he was a colt, had his mama and daddy and boy, how they were sure good horses and…the hip boots wouldn’t save you at this point.

A story…I once saw a free weanling colt in the paper, his dam had dried up or died, can’t remember which. I called, was trying to beat anyone else to the colt. The lady said she’d just given him to a nice guy with kids (see above) who wanted to show the wonders of life. So, that night I went to the local horse sale and an orphaned weanling colt came through the ring. A bell went off in my head. The seller said they’d had the colt he was foaled, his dam had died and it was too much for them to deal with…the kids were upset…yada, yada, yada… The colt went for about $50, I think. I called the lady the next day and asked her to describe her giveaway colt. She described the colt I saw to a ‘T’. Needless to say, she was distraught to find out he went to the sale and the guy got money for him.

I see where people say that the horse must have an approved home…oh, puh-leeze!! Once the horse is off your property, how are you going to enforce that?? Once the horse is their property, it’s their horse and they are free to do with it as they want. One way that I know to keep people in line is to draw up a contract and state that if the horse has to go from the new home, the old owner (or whomever) has first dibs or first turn-down. Get the sucker notarized (that means showing ID and everything). However, if the new owners move to another state or part of the state, how are you going to enforce it from afar?? It sounds really good, even to my cynical ear, but you have to be realistic. Think way ahead on this. http://horsecontracts.com/

Even with free leases, it’s hard to keep up with the horse. I have friends who are still looking for their free lease horses that disappeared almost immediately after the lessor took over the horse. I mean years of looking! It’s kind of heart wrenching when you hear these stories. They think they are doing the best thing and still lose the horse. In the back of their mind, I’m almost sure they know what happened to their horse but just can’t quit looking and hoping.

As for abandoned horses…who in their right mind will just kick a horse out on the road to fend for themselves??? But yet, it happens. I have seen it on some Indian reservations and I’m guessing it’s a cultural thing there. During the off season, the horses are just turned loose on the highway and left to their own devices. A lot of horse/car wrecks happen this way. I don’t hear so much of turning out on the road from other venues but maybe I don’t hear the right stuff.

Abandoning a horse at a barn is just…well, can’t think of the right word. You know things are going to get bad financially or whatever, so don’t you think you would make plans to place the horse or do something with him?? A barn has to go to court (last I heard) and take over ownership, then feed him and take care of any medical/shoeing/etc. needs, then try to sell him for whatever they can get to cover his expenses. From what I’ve heard, some places will go after the owner but if he’s in a bad spot already, what good will that do??

Some of my friends and I have discussed what we would do with our horses ‘just in case’. Now this will probably upset some folks but this is said in a cold, hard light and nothing spared. Took a little to wrap my mind around because I want to be prepared.

If you just can’t take care of your horse, there are some vets that will put your horse down. The problem with that is that most vets won’t put a sound, healthy horse down, no matter your situation. If he’s old (how ‘old’ is ‘old??) or unsound (permanently or temp?) or terminally sick, then you might get the vet to do it. If he’s not?? Some of my friends have said they’ve learned how to shoot a horse so he drops immediately. I know how to do it also. The last resort that I’ve heard about is the big cat place somewhere south of town. Now that just totally wigged me out! At first I thought that they tossed the live horse in there with the cats and it was safari-time but then someone set me right and said they take the horse to a place where he can’t see or smell the cats, shoot him and then take the carcass to the cats.

I’m not sure how much it costs to euth a horse but you will also have a knackers fee. If you shoot him yourself, you pay for the bullet and the knackers fee. If you go the big cat place, it’s free as far as I know.

I know this is long as long can be but I really wanted to frame my thoughts correctly and relay what I’m thinking, rather than just gloss it over. This is something to really think about and most of all, BE PREPARED for the worst!