Wild Horses

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Jogeephus

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Did anyone see the clip about the wild horses on the news. Seems there are 30,000 in captivity and we are spending $22 million to feed them each year. T Boone Pickens' wife says she is going to buy them all.
 
skyline":lx3exjuy said:
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2008/11/19/wife-of-billionaire-t-boone-pickens-plots-to-save-wild-horses-from-slaughter/

Sounds like a good plan to me. I'd much rather use Pickens' money to feed them than my tax dollars.

:nod: :nod: :nod: :nod: :nod:
 
That comes to $730 a head . I don't know anything about horses, but that seems kinda high ?

Larry
 
What you didn't hear is they want to buy up as much ranch land as they can in the west and turn them all loose. Then after getting a big horse preserve going turn around and "donate" it to the government.
OT (I think) was talking about it on ranchers.net
 
larryshoat":gma9iyji said:
That comes to $730 a head . I don't know anything about horses, but that seems kinda high ?

Larry

That's what I thought too but then I remembered who was doing the feeding then I understood.
 
I luv herfrds":1nnc41vi said:
What you didn't hear is they want to buy up as much ranch land as they can in the west and turn them all loose. Then after getting a big horse preserve going turn around and "donate" it to the government.
OT (I think) was talking about it on ranchers.net

That's about par for the course. Pickens didn't make all that money by being stupid.

I heard the other day that his big donations to OSU are tied to the price of oil and now that oil has dropped, they are having to scale way back on the planned projects at the school.
 
I saw some of that horse stuff on the news. News people let on like the BLM had fenced the horse into a smaller and smaller area so the pesky ranchers could run more cattle.
 
I don't know how this will benefit anyone, horses included.
Read the comments at the bottom of the Discover story linked by Skyline.
I lean toward the water grab theory.
 
I've had the opportunity to spend some time out in the BLM land of South Central WY. The horses are overpopulated ruining the environment. Very hard on native wildlife including prairie dogs and sage grouse. No mater where they put the horses they will continue multiplying then what?
We have a neighbor that has taken in horses wild and unwanted, has a couple hundred of them. Feeds hay year around. Gets the money for the hay from donations and organizations. I think he is making a very good profit bleeding the bleeding hearts. :cowboy:
It also make it hard to buy hay locally, he can afford to pay more for the hay then the cattle people.
 
Why do we euthanize stray cats and dogs but let horses-who are so much bigger and eat so much more run around loose? I really don't see why people think horses need to be "saved" from the slaughterhouse-they are livestock. I don't see them as any more special than cattle-and I think cattle make better companions if you get down to it.
 
LoveMoo11":1rw6hqfg said:
Why do we euthanize stray cats and dogs but let horses-who are so much bigger and eat so much more run around loose? I really don't see why people think horses need to be "saved" from the slaughterhouse-they are livestock. I don't see them as any more special than cattle-and I think cattle make better companions if you get down to it.

Because people have a soft spot in their heads for horses. Especially people who have never been around them. Zoos feed their meat eaters primarily on horse meat. I don't know where they are going to get it if this horse mania thing keeps up. Now, if zoos raised them to use as meat, that would make more sense. I don't see anyone complaining that the zoos raise rodents to feed their snakes...
 
The horse fad is absolutely ridiculous..i understand that there are people who like to ride/show and of course people who have working horses-working horses I don't have a problem with. But up here there are people who can barely feed their kids who are buying horses and trying to keep them-without adequate pasture, fencing, feed, and care...its not good for the horses or the people.
 
LoveMoo11":3hcgoovx said:
The horse fad is absolutely ridiculous..i understand that there are people who like to ride/show and of course people who have working horses-working horses I don't have a problem with. But up here there are people who can barely feed their kids who are buying horses and trying to keep them-without adequate pasture, fencing, feed, and care...its not good for the horses or the people.

Sadly it isn;t a fad. Been going on for at least 60 years that I know of
 
Lammie":2p1ig116 said:
LoveMoo11":2p1ig116 said:
Why do we euthanize stray cats and dogs but let horses-who are so much bigger and eat so much more run around loose? I really don't see why people think horses need to be "saved" from the slaughterhouse-they are livestock. I don't see them as any more special than cattle-and I think cattle make better companions if you get down to it.

Because people have a soft spot in their heads for horses. Especially people who have never been around them. Zoos feed their meat eaters primarily on horse meat. I don't know where they are going to get it if this horse mania thing keeps up. Now, if zoos raised them to use as meat, that would make more sense. I don't see anyone complaining that the zoos raise rodents to feed their snakes...

Three years ago I (or technically, my daughter) gave 2 horses to my red headed neighbor. They were both good useful horses, but she has nine or 10 horses so it isn't like she gets a whole lot out of the deal.
She wouldn't sell a horse to a killer. Just wouldn't. But she and her husband manage to make the whole deal work--or at least they can afford it.
Another neighbor/landlord has two horses sharing the pasture I rent. One is a BLM mustang. The other is an old retired trotting horse. No one else pays for that either. The wife volunteers at the local animal shelter and he builds pens for her. They buy feed.
I like/admire/respect people who want to care for old, useless horses. If they want to spend their money and not my money.
Individual compassion for animals is an emotion often displayed on these boards. An admirable emotion.

The trouble comes from the leadership and staff <$$$$> and lawyers at the humane industry. It IS an industry, generating very big money from donations. This talented crew have found a lucrative niche in combating "cruelty".
I was surfing the TV the other day. (It was raining, I was loafing) I saw 4 "cute puppy" ads in two hours or less on CMT. Send money. Save animals from a cruel fate. That is what was being sold, just like diapers and dish soap. The "anti cruelty" groups sell this stuff as cynically as the brewers sell beer.

Mrs. Pickens Plan seems a little vague to me. How about she gets donors to pay most cost of the acreage she wants. And gets the government to keep paying the feed bill. And sells an "experience" in the visitor cabins I see mentioned. And gets the water rights of a large tract. Yeah, she wants to save horses.
 
Lammie":1swgexsu said:
...Zoos feed their meat eaters primarily on horse meat. I don't know where they are going to get it if this horse mania thing keeps up. Now, if zoos raised them to use as meat, that would make more sense. I don't see anyone complaining that the zoos raise rodents to feed their snakes...
Since you can't kill a horse, I guess you put it in the cages live and let nature do the rest. :clap: ;-)
 
Dave":30pov2og said:
I've eaten horse. Although I wouldn't want a steady diet of it, it is not half bad.

I agree, but roof rabbit (cat) isn;t all that bad either
 

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