Howdy Friends,
The other day when I posted a note on Facebook about my soon
to be released book, “It’s For The
Horses—Musings about their needs, spirit, gifts and care from a horse advocate,”
I was asked a question. “If you are a horse advocate, what is your position on
horse slaughter and why don’t you write about that?”
Why have I never written about horse slaughter? As a horse
advocate I have written about many negatives regarding horses. Pregnant mare
Urine farms, and horrible pee lines, TWH Soring, and the torture, Nurse Mare
Farms, and the heartbreak, the Bureau of Land Management and the wanton mistreatment
of our Wild Horses, to mention a few.
I could write many more stories of horrendous treatments of
the noblest animal God ever created, almost every breed of equine suffers at
the hand of man. I’ll not delineate the long list of horrors here, but we all
know them. Each of us can name breeds, showing and techniques, bits, and other
mechanical devices, management, care and use. These stories are painful and
difficult to write, and it is not really my style. I prefer to write positive.
I subscribe to the belief, the hope—that by sending out positive thoughts the
positive energy may help make a change.
A friend once told me, “When horses and money compete,
horses lose.” Sadly this is all too often proven true. And of course the horses
pay the price, with their pain, mental and physical, their freedom, their
contentment, and even their very lives. For that reason I try to write stories
in support of humane, fun and healthy for the horse, care and management—in the
hope that more folks may begin to consider a new dynamic. A paradigm shift to,
in everything they do, consider the horse’s point of view first. Ask
themselves, “Am I doing this for me? For the ribbon? The glory? The money? Or
am I doing it for the horse. What will the horse get out of this?
I believe if all horse caregivers considered the “horse
first” in every aspect, so much would change. It would have to.
How could a person who thinks, “horse first,” even consider
torturing a magnificent TWH with chemicals, chains, stacks and plantation
shoes? How could BLM management chase horses and foals to near death, (and
death) with helicopters and stack them in corrals to suffer unsheltered in
backing sun or frigid cold? How could trainers employ tail sets, rollkur, and a
plethora of other horrible training techniques and mechanical devices? How could
they breed nurse mare foals? How could they stand mares in pee lines for 8
months a year and deprive them of water to produce rich urine to create a drug
known to kill the very women they pretend to help? How could they start horses
at such a young age their bones, and minds, are damaged for life? How could
they bred so many horses in the hope of producing a money maker, and toss aside
the ones who don’t make the count? How could they ride a horse in a saddle that
doesn’t fit? How could they stand a horse in a stall for days on end? And yes,
how could they support horse slaughter? I’d wager if they thought “horse first”
there would be changes.
I suppose I could write story after story detailing the
negatives, abuse, neglect and horrors horses endure at the hand of man. And I
will from time to time...But I’d rather do my best to write happy—to write stories
suggesting better ways—ways in keeping with a “horse first” paradigm, and work
to help more folks realize the exact same goals can be achieved, and achieved
at even higher levels, if the horse comes first.
Where do I stand on horse slaughter? I reckon you can guess.
Gitty Up ~ Dutch Henry
