As you all realize, it’s been a fairly serious week in the slaughter wars. It’s also been a fairly hectic time for me since about Christmas and I have gotten away from some of our regular features that are mostly just for fun. I know that some of you miss Point and Laugh Friday and Sunday’s PSA because you’ve commented or sent emails. Do you know who else misses those features? The PSAs. While this blog is always quite busy with the views on any given day, those two days spike drastically on any given week. Believe it or not, those particular posts can be a bit more time-consuming than most, so I haven’t had a lot of time to do them justice at this time of year. However, I do think we need to laugh and honor our PSA buddies. They may not be brave enough to comment here much, but they do love their features, so today marks the beginning of a new semi-regular feature for this blog. In honor of reaching our one hundred thousandth unique viewer this past week, I bring to you, `Dear Aunt Anti’. This is where we will answer those burning questions we know our PSAs have and give them a chance to participate by proxy. Let’s see if you can guess the PSA behind the letters.
Dear Aunt Anti,
I am conflicted about horses. For years I have swindled my living by identifying myself as a trainer and expert. Because I live in an area that isn’t exactly the hotbed of the horse industry, I have been able to pass myself off as knowledgeable for quite some time even if it meant having to move my hoard on a regular basis to stay one step ahead of the people that I piss off and don’t approve of the condition I keep them in. Still, because I am bestest buddies with kill buyers and we trade horses back and forth, I have always managed to keep way too many of them on my feed bill, making me a one stop shop, for anybody that had a kid with a horse fantasy that didn’t know better than to go to a real professional. I managed to get them ribbons by organizing my own horse shows with rules and dress codes that don’t fly anywhere else in the free world. You could say I created my own private Idaho even.
However, starting a few years ago, people seemed to get wise to my ways and my business dried up. While I would like to have people believe it was due to the economy, I can admit to you in confidence that it is because I actually spend the majority of my life online looking for validation and reasons to be offended rather than actually learning my craft. How much can you really learn when you already know everything anyhow? I also have to admit that I don’t actually like horses very much other than the image I imagine they give me. Having horses makes me badass and cool in a way I never could be on my own. So in order to cash in on them, I decided to become what I could never be in the real world. An armchair horse expert. I have spent countless hours reading Wikipedia and The Black Stallion series. I have taken all I have learned and made those stories my own. I started my own blog to show how much I know about horses and the industry that so soundly rejected me. That’s where it all fell apart. Apparently, there are real horse people that sometimes come online and it was like they could see right through me. To combat this, I created alter egos to agree with myself and give me compliments. I even flirted a little with myself because I may as well be sexy online too. Still, these `horse people’ seemed wise to my ways. I’m convinced they are parked in that van across the street and they have bugs in my house. They don’t seem to like me very much, so I found acceptance among the pro slaughter crowd. They don’t seem to realize I’m a fraud. All three of them even read my blog and I’m going to cash in on that success by selling them lots of logo crap from Cafe Press. I’m told I could make up to $20 a month and that’s at least two super sized Big Mac meals!!!!! My real question is, how can I gain acceptance from real horse people and get them to understand that horses don’t have feelings and are durn good eating?
Enviously yours,
Paranoid in the Midwest
Dear Paranoid,
Bless your heart! You are a whole bunch of issues all wrapped up in a shroud of insecurities! The short answer to your question is that you will never be accepted by real horse people and neither will your buddies. The problem with trying to pass yourself off as an expert is that there will always be people that can see right through you just like the threadbare nylon granny panties you wear every day. Those are not healthy for your vagina btw. But I digress…My suggestion would be to pick something more obscure to pretend to know all about. The problem with attempting to be a horse expert is that at least 80% of the population really do like them and know more than you and they really take offense when people seek to torture and abuse these wonderful creatures. You see, they respect the animals as sentient beings and realize that they are no more meant to be on American dinner plates than puppies and kittens. Sure, we have some immigrant communities that see no problem in eating such things, but we also have immigrant communities that see no problem with arranged marriages and female circumcision. If you want to do that crap, take it on back to your own country because that doesn’t fly over here. I can promise you that the horse people do not have you under any kind of surveillance as they are all quite busy looking after their animals on any given day.
Because I care about you, I have taken the time to do a little research of my own. I have found that stamp collecting is probably a great pursuit for you. Stamps don’t have feelings and they don’t tend to get skinny and sick when you blow all your money tacky manicures and fast food rather than taking care of them. They don’t eat a thing! Also, the majority of the American population are not emotionally invested in stamps so they won’t mind when you get angry at your stamps and decide to run them through a paper shredder. Since stamps are not living things, they don’t have anatomy or even a lot of terminology attached to them so you should be able to pass yourself off as a lifelong expert in no time flat with very few challenges from the online stamp community. Another bonus is you can never have too many stamps and nobody will call you a hoarder. You will be known by the much more respectable term of `collector’ and that should help your self-esteem issues as well. You may even find somebody to flirt with you so you don’t have to do that with yourself. That kind of thing will make you go crazy and grow hair on your hands! Please pass this advice onto all your horse eating friends as I think they may be far less angry in the long run. Nobody likes to wake up and look at a failure in the mirror every day.
Fondly,
Aunt Anti
PS. Thank you for enclosing a picture of you in your former profession. I guess I won’t bother to tell you why a side pull over a halter and ill-fitting breast collar is a recipe for disaster since you’ve probably already suffered the consequences or at least the poor horse has…
Shedrow Confessions 
Ye Gods! that poor horse.
Here’s a novel concept. Get a donkey and one of those wagons. Marjorie Farabee was telling me about them. I also have weight issues and won’t ride because I just couldn’t do that to a horse.
Marjorie told me that donks can actually pull upwards of 400 lbs. Their amazing animals. If I had the money I think I’d go that direction because while I love horses I just can’t see myself getting on one with my weight issues.
I’d much rather have a horsie friend. One I could be best buds with. Grooming, petting, the horse nuzzling back. If you allow a horse to speak to you in horse you’d be floored at what you’ll hear them tell you.
You know, people of all sizes ride. I have no issue whatsoever with it as it can be great exercise. However, get a horse that suits your size. That is clearly a youngish horse in the picture and shouldn’t be packing somebody that likely weighs half of what he does or close. Get a big boned solid type horse and they won’t blink an eye as long as you’re not trying to race them or anything. My point at posting the picture wasn’t even so much about that as it was the bizarre tack configuration and the condition of the animal. Poor thing!
I also agree that horses make awesome companions. You don’t have to ride them to enjoy them.That’s something the PSAs can’t really fathom though. We don’t ride our mares and we have a retiree here. They are just as much fun to interact with and fuss over as our riding horses. They all have their own personality for sure.
I know! I know! Mendy, or NT or Naughty Tobiano
LoL!!!
Egads. I must go wash out my eyeballs. And pick up some brain bleach for the ‘Bad-For-Your-Vagina-Threadbare-Granny-Panties’ image burned into my mind. Thanks SRC.
No need to thank me. I do it all for the horses 😉
gagging.
OH MY GOD!!!!! I’m glad I haven’t eaten dinner yet.
OMG!! Why is there a thigh sticking out of her shoulder??
Seeing that beast on that poor animal makes it very clear that PSAs truly have no regard for horses. This may be the only instance where I might think a horse is better off going to slaughter. What a sad and sickening sight.
How does one clean vomit from a keyboard?? I swear to God SrC, if you post a pic of Big D on a horse I’ll have to seriously reconsider my following of this blog…
LOL, finding a pic of Big D on a horse is probably more difficult than finding a leprechaun sadly. I consider that my holy grail next to finding a recent pic of Suey on one.
The only reason Suey would be on a horse is – given that she hates horses – she would be deliberately torturing the poor animal.
Good point…
Ismile* I may have had a small epiphany regarding you Shedrow. It’s VERY difficult keeping up with ‘current events’, composing input and caring for 21 magnificent, magical equine souls every day. I was on the telephone with my dear friend John Holland this evening discussing our mutual interest, what else equines and their well being and welfare. I offered him some food for though regarding just who you might be. *grin* Back when you commented that you appreciated my input and comments, that was a significant compliment as I regard you with the utmost of appreciation for your equine advocacy. I guess I live a sheltered life, compiling the ‘murder’ numbers each month, eh? *VBG* Anyway bravo and BRAVO again for your outspoken advocacy for a species that is perhaps the most ‘perfect’ to walk planet earth!
~”If there are more beautiful, magical and mystical beings in this world than equines are, I have yet to discover them and am not convinced it’s even possible for such to exist.” – 01/06~
I wish I knew John Holland…I’m lucky to have met and know a few personal advocate heroes, but not him. Although even those I do know don’t know I write this 😉
Your quote is perfect and sums up how most of us feel, exactly.
and thank you for your work. Compiling those stats must be heart breaking, but we need them now more than ever.
What’s most difficult compiling the ‘murder’ statistics each month is that I’ve seen the faces of the innocents that are victims of this horror. Back in the latter 70’s when I was getting involved in the ‘movement’ I toured Central Nebraska Packing when they were murdering live equines. This was probably the MOST emotionally devastating experience of my life to look into the eyes of the victims. What I saw in their eyes haunts me to this day and why I will persevere to see this holocaust ended until my dying breath.
I wish I could put into words what equines have and continue to do for me. They were my impetus to push hard for a speedy recovery from my heart attack and double bypass operation two years ago. I can’t even be away from them for part of a day that I don’t start suffering from ‘withdrawal’. In spite of being surrounded by them each day I still nearly drive off the road gawking at others whenever I travel somewhere.
~”What do they know – all these scholars, all these philosophers, all the leaders of the world? They have convinced themselves that man, the worst transgressor of all the species, is the crown of creation. All other creatures were created merely to provide him with food, pelts, to be tormented, exterminated. In relation to them, all people are Nazis; for the animals it is an eternal Treblinka.” – Isaac Bashevis Singer, 1978 Nobel Prize Winner~
I know just what you mean. I tend to plan my vacations to coincide with various equine events I want to attend and I have referred to my feed bill as my therapy bill more than once. The one thing that bothers me the most about anybody that can endorse horse slaughter or, even worse, work in a plant, is how a person can look at those terrified animals in the box and keep killing. We’ve all seen footage of some horses reaching out to the shooter for reassurance and getting a misplaced bullet instead. I’ve been on the kill floor for cattle and while it was far from pleasant, you don’t see that kind of terror or looking to humans for comfort and reassurance. Many of us won’t rest until this threat is removed for all horses.
Darrell,
Do you have a link to your stats anywhere I can put in the sidebar? I think now more than ever, it is important to remind people of the carnage that is continuing on a daily basis.
I will put your contact information on the e-mail I send out with this information monthly to the numerous advocates. Thee statistics are also posted on several Facebook equine anti-slaughter/welfare groups I am a member of.
~”I respect a horse. We relate; and so when I seek companionship, a really meaningful relationship, I look for a horse.” – from ”Split Infinity” by Piers Anthony~
Very much appreciated. Thank you.
Oh and thanks for using a quote that I have in my collection! Voltaire is awesome! *smile*
One hundred thousand unique views! Wonderful! I’m proud that you’re speaking for us and not the psas!
Yeah, I was surprised to see that as well, but one way or another, people are reading and since this horse meat scandal, more and more Europeans give us a look. I’m sure they find me vulgar 😉
They may see you as vulgar, but to us, you are a true hero.
Thank you, but I’m just like anybody else…..without a brain filter…
Love it..Praying hard for the SAFE Act and that all those paid for politicians do the right thing..scary times right now..thinking I will need a lo jack system for my boys and motion lights and alarms in my pasture..
Hey Shedrow i’m european (UK) and think is wonderful what you are doing.
There’s lots of us trying to get the word out. I’m sure Europe doesn’t wanted our toxic meat any more than most of us do. Leave it on the hoof here it looks better and as meant to be.
Couldn’t agree more Shedrow.
Hey PSAs…..you’re either for horses and all that it implies or you’re for making a buck. If you’re for financial gain over the well being of horses and truely humane solutions (it’s not rocket surgery-you know what HUMANE means), then watch out as we will not go away or shut up until every last equine is safe from your insane grubby grasp
Agreed, great blog !!
And to be clear, I’m not against making a living in the horse industry. Like you said, we have problems when you put the $$ ahead of the welfare of the animal. The irony is that when you put the animal’s welfare first, you tend to make a better living and they don’t seem to get that.
Exactly…..keep our horses SAFE. pass the bill
Wow. Where ever did you find a picture of a heifer riding a horse? Classic.
Stop insulting cattle….that is human evil at it’s best (the seven deadly sins). 😉
My gosh, my gosh an arm that size deserves Guinness record book recognition for slovenly appearance. And I think I have a weight problem?!?
And again, the killers never seem to miss groceries.
It isn’t about her weight for me. It’s more about showing that this is the `expert’ that claims to have been everywhere and done everything. Clearly, she has been gilding the lily on her accomplishments on more than one occasion. Anybody that had the first clue about tack and what it does would realize the sidepull/halter combo is stupid. It also renders your sidepull useless. Just like she reads up on google all her terminology and then never quite gets it right (she thinks you stand a stallion on a mare rather than to a mare for example), she gets this tack she hears people talking about and then has no clue hat its function is or how to use it. Who pays the price? The horse because when he objects, he gets branded as `bad’ and before you know it, he ends up on an overturned slaughter truck with her name on his coggins.
I don’t know many folks that work horses properly and win/reputation that look like that and have a following.
Now, weight right and skinny folks fuck horses just as much….and cattle, swine and poultry and…..humans…..
When I was showing hunters my coach was a bit rotund, but she also wasn’t climbing on ponies. She also didn’t look like a busted can of biscuits.
I know. That was mean. My apologies to heifers everywhere.
BWAHhhhahhha!!!!!!! “….busted can of biscuits.”.
I’m still laughing! Oh shit, that was funny. And yes, I have experienced the forgotten tube of biscuits in the back of the fridge.
Oh good gravy…I need a kleenex and some biscuits with that gravy.
I seem to have a lot of people volunteering to send me stuff about this one in particular…
I’m not against big people riding, as long as they don’t outweigh the horse. Really large people need really large horses. If these hefty PSA’s would stop eating Belgians and begin riding them, they would be much healthier.
Good point and I agree. I just find it odd that so many of them scream about feeding the hungry and not too many of them look all that hungry. They seem to be finding their nutrition just fine without eating horses.
Classic SRC!!! Love it! Maybe if you keep this they will read it and see what drama queens and wannabe they really are
Good show…..http://www.pammckissick.com/horse-slaughter/ ….seems you can click the link at anytime to listen
Thank you for the link. Some good points, but she is off the mark when she says the TB industry supports slaughter and we only use 3500 to race every year. The TB industry actually is anti-slaughter as a whole and more than 3500 per track are used to make races go. I appreciate her attempts, but she does no favors when she doesn’t do proper research in these instances.
Yes, the TB industry is the only one that has come out against horse slaughter and actually has policies in place to prevent TBs from going to slaughter, retraining programs, retirement homes, etc. AQHA is fully in support of slaughter and has a Full Circle program, however your horse is only protected as long as you are a member in good standing. they really don’t care about the horses at all.
The AQHA does more to kill their on breed than anybody. I’m constantly amazed at the pig-headedness of their executive when it comes to things like this. As long as they continue to register and reward animals with HYPP and HERDA, they prove that the only thing they care about is money. It’s really a shame too because I’ve always considered them to be the most versatile horses and I loved my QHs back in the day. I just refuse to support a breed that has so little integrity.
Wish there had been more guests to fill in the research gaps as I’m sure she would have been open to “corrections”. Hopefully there will be more of these types of shows
I agree. Overall, she presented things very well. I just can’t stress enough how important it is for people to make those calls of support for the SAFE Act though. That will end things once and for all.
She did raise a good point with Suey, D-bag and Puppmill all getting shut down in their home states for slaughter so no they are targeting OK. And also the little bit of the OK bill that states all horses presented for slaughter must be run through an auction house first and Skye McNeil’s family happening to own one of the biggest auction yards for that kind of thing. That’s the problem with these slaughterphiles…it doesn’t take a lot of digging to find $$$ as their motivation and the loudest mouthpieces tend to have the most to gain, yet when you look at anti-slaughter people, their agenda seems to be rooted in animal welfare and humane treatment of horses with virtually no financial gain to any of them. Despite some inaccuracies, she really did raise a lot of good points.
Technically, she (Ms Pam) is correct….TB related orgs do support HCHS through the AHC (American Horse Council) Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC).
UHC/AHC are proslaughter, but look at their list of member orgs:
http://www.unwantedhorsecoalition.org/?id=4&s=3
Now, to be fair TJC (Jockey Club of America) has said they are anti slaughter, but the are affiliating themselves with a proslaughter group. NTRA HAS ALWAYS BEEN SILENTLY PROSLAUGHTER….thought TOBA was too, but don’t see them listed.
Again, in fairness, maybe they don’t know they are listed BUT they have to actively subscribe to membership; so God only knows.
The industry, as a whole is NOT antislaughter. There are tracks, owners, breeders that are but it is more of a passive position (no enforcement) of HCHS. And yes, before you jump on me…..many in the industry do try.
Honestly, I don’t like crappin’ in your bowl of corn flakes.
You are more than entitled to your opinions. However, it is `my’ industry and I do personally know many of the players involved. I have to disagree that the industry as a whole is pro slaughter. That isn’t the case at all. More and more tracks have put in anti-slaughter rules for trainers and owners, and pretty much ever track support TB rescue/aftercare organizations. Your leading breeders are all anti-slaughter and most will take care of their own should they end up rescue. Do we have some bottom feeders? For sure we do. Any breed and industry does. Just like the majority of our PSAs, the TB bottom feeders that are either secretly or not so secretly pro slaughter tend to be the ones that aren’t very successful in the racing or breeding end of things. The question you need to ask yourself is which came first? Lack of success or pro-slaughter stance? I suggest to you that the pro slaughter stance may be the very basis for their lack of success. If you have so little respect for the very animal you are trying to piggyback your living off of and feel you need slaughter to keep your business afloat, chances are your horse husbandry practices reflect that. You don’t have to be a Phipps or any other billionaire to make a living. You do know what you are doing, respect the animals you are working with and treat them appropriately. If you are only breeding a few mares a year, doesn’t it make more sense to breed the very best stock you possibly can rather than poke any egg and sperm host together? The very sad fact is that the more somebody pays for a horse, the better chance is that they will treat it well, or at least that’s the case in my business. So, we breed high end. We have never and will never contribute to the slaughter pipeline. We keep close track of any horse that leaves our farm. We pension mares here rather than sell them on when they can’t produce anymore or it doesn’t make sense to go on with them. We won’t breed any horse that hasn’t earned its stripes and by that I mean being competitive in allowance or better company. You have to set the bar high for breeding stock. I’ve been actively involved with finding second careers for horses I haven’t seen since they are yearlings. We aren’t all that unique in these efforts. We appreciate what horses have done for us and even if you aren’t religious, the laws of good karma pretty much dictate you get out exactly what you put in. We didn’t start out with as nice of horses as we have now and obviously you improve your stock as you go along, but the horses we started with didn’t end up in parts unknown and we can account for every last one of them. I’m also not saying we are better than anybody else. In fact we aren’t a bunch different than most people we associate with. When breeding bonuses are a huge part of your income, it behooves you to take some care in getting those horses in the best homes possible and breeding for soundness and longevity. If you sell a horse for $400 as a yearling, you can’t be all that surprised when somebody doesn’t want to put a big investment in it and take the time to develop it properly and ends up thrashing on it, running it cheap and hurting it. When you sell them for upwards of $25,0000 a pop (and that’s still on the low end for many) then chances are people are going to try and get a return on that investment and then everybody wins.
So, because we know Mendy Tobiano reads every word we say here and loves to take potshots at TBs because she thinks I’ll be personally offended,I will say that I have NEVER been anti-breeding. I have always been anti backyard breeding. I’ve had horses that were left as stallions to race that were promptly gelded once their careers ended because the world doesn’t need another cheap or unsound stallion. She also may as well take a run at the other breeds we have kicking around here that are our saddle horses that we never breed because that makes her look ignorant too. She can park her two zip code ass on any breed she wants and I’m still going to feel sorry for it and bet the leaders of that breed don’t want her speaking on their behalf. Like I said, we all have our bottom feeders, but we don’t hold it against the breed as a whole. None of them are perfect, but some put more value on their stock than others. The fact that the AQHA and APHA are so vocal about the need for slaughter hurts their own breed. They have under-valued their own stock by allowing mutants to become the breed standard and cross breeding in so much TB blood that some of their rail horses are unrecognizable as members of their breed. In that, they are not unlike dog show people. As soon as you move away from the original intent and performance qualities of a breed, you have a huge problem. TBs at least are still mostly a performance based breed. I loathe the few people that want to breed crazy colored TBs above soundness and performance. Yes, I am an elitist snob. Always have been and always will be if really caring about the integrity of your chosen breed makes you one.
SrC:
Everything you say is true, but you didn’t explain why there are notable TB organizations that are part, along with APHA and AQHA of the “Unwanted Horse Coalition” which is a sub org of the American Horse Council which is very proslaughter.
If I really cared about HCHS in the US or transport to export for US Equines I wouldn’t me a member of the UHC.
Just sayin’ actions speak louder than words.
You would have to ask them why they are. Change from within? Who knows? Official stance and statement from on high for us is no to slaughter.
I haven’t read all the above post yet!!! So I’m just going to say it… The horse should (ALWAYS) weigh more than the rider… Ugh!!! Step on a crack-horse and breaks it back.. Can you imagine THAT bouncing on YOUR back.. deat lord, that IS a limit to what these animals can carry! 😛
My personal rule of thumb is not to ride anything that has a smaller ass than I do.
LOL good rule. 🙂