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ArchArchArch

Meanwhile, the trucks leave the U.S. full of horses bound for slaughter in Canada and Mexico.

Does anyone know how we are monitoring the slaughter of TBs in the E.U.?

Correct.

I am appalled by some of the accusations about what happened to this horse overseas. I am not super familiar with the flora and fauna in Japan but i do know at least in Europe, EPM is non existent. I don’t know for sure but I wouldn’t be surprised if that isn’t the case in Japan as well. So, if he did in fact die of EPM as a parasitic infection there’s a fair chance it originated here - not there.

I feel like some folks, on here and elsewhere (coughfacebookcough), think these horses are standing in some sort of shanty, awaiting their inevitable doom. What a fun view into how people view other countries.

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I think people should be required to travel before they comment.

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I never said or implied that ArchArchArch was neglected or that he died in the hands of neglect. But little is known about the farm he lived at or the type of veterinary care he received. Therefore; assuming he lived a life of luxury is just as much of an assumption as those who think he may not have lived a great life. That was my point. Anyone could say a horse struggled with some sort of unnamed disease, make up a story, and never got caught. Especially if said horse was living off the grid in a foreign land. He wasn’t living at a place like Shadai

I have travelled immensely in my lifetime and I have been to South Korea and China and Dubai. For safety reasons; I have not spent a visit in Turkey. But the farms I have visited in my short visits tend to be in the “hub” of the racing in their respective countries. They also tend to have been of more wealth and larger scale. Not the smaller breeder on the outskirts or rural areas of the country.

Private Vow was slaughtered in recent weeks in South Korea. And not at some back alley slaughterhouse; he was found; with other American TB’s in the largest slaughterhouse in South Korea.

He began stud duty over there in 2015 after being sold and was then sold again to another breeder in South Korea. This is covered in a bloodhorse article today involving Stronachs.

I think that believing that all horses exported to Asia or even the middle east are living the high life is a horribly wrong assumption. Many yearlings, mares and even stallions will change additional hands from those they were sold to and eventually disappear. The same could be said for places like Russia, Turkey, China, Japan. Aftercare isn’t what it is here and the culture there is a different side of the coin in comparison to the US. Ignoring these facts is turning a blind eye. What does one honestly think happens to racehorses in places like China, Dubai, Peurto Rico, Turkey, Korea who don’t perform. Or broodmares who don’t produce. Or stallions who fall out of demand.

Yes, the same thing occurs here although there are a lot more eyes watching at the local sale yards in the US to get by with shipping off a known stallion across the border to Canada or Mexico. But still; plenty of TB’s going to slaughter on domestic soil. But we have a lot more aftercare opportunities here which I am thankful for.But that is not the point of my post. My point is that there are posters here believing that the entirety of the racing/breeding scene overseas is 100% storybook and arguing that point when it is far from the truth. Open your eyes.

I understand and acknowledge that a lot of this climate about these issues is driven by organizations like PETA. An organization I refuse to stand behind. I also understand that selling these horses overseas is a business decision that often must be done in order to keep a farm afloat. But does the American racing/breeding population acknowledge and accept the likely fate of the majority of these exports they sell overseas to these countries? By continuing to sell; are they acknowledging that they accept and are OK with the fate of the horses they brokered and doing so in the name of “its a business”

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I think most of the horses are probably well cared for in SK as long as they are useful at least at the large government farms. However at private breeders who knows, probably there is the same mix of good and bad as you get anywhere. Unfortunately they have no use for a used up horse and most are sent to slaughter. A few stallions (they say) are pensioned but they just don’t have the room or the interest in aftercare so off they go. I read an article that mentioned Archaracharch (while he was alive) but I cannot find it now. If I do will post it here. Here is another one about the general state of horse slaughter and Thoroughbreds in SK. https://deadspin.com/why-are-good-young-racehorses-ending-up-as-meat-7-000-m-1834225917

https://theseoultimes.com/ST/?url=/ST/db/read.php%3Fidx=14048

I’m not PETA fan but even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

I can see Asians saying the exact same thing about us after seeing coverage of rescuers finding farms with abandoned animals or hoarders with cages stacked on top of each other. Heck, a nice barn tour in Amish country with all the puppy mills would be quite the eye opener as well.

Oh, I forgot. Doesn’t Canada still slaughter horses? But you’d sell a horse to a Canadian, wouldn’t you? So, is it about slaughter? Or, race?

Glass houses and throwing stones


BTW, Happy Lunar New Year! Year of the Ox just started.

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Yes the Americas are certainly not innocent in anything, look at the Kill Pen sites and the shipping of auction horses to auctions here there and everywhere before they eventually cross the borders to be treated just as badly as in SK.


(the investigators don’t seem to know that twitches and padded boots for mares are standard for breeding horses)

Selling overseas is risky and some countries don’t have the same horse culture as we do. I suppose it’s all relative, though. I wonder if owners in the UK and Republic of Ireland don’t fear for any horses they sell to the US? They seem to be much more sentimental than we are.

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There is a lot they do not know
 like handling stallions during breeding (yes, sometimes you have to try again right away if the first cover does not work for whatever reason)
 and that half sisters or brothers would be out of the same mare, not the same stallion.

The fact that they obviously think the breeding shed (and it looks like a very nice one) is comparable to a slaughterhouse is
 interesting.

In the meantime, Quarter Horses far outnumber Thoroughbreds (or any other breed) at the slaughterhouses and auctions and far more QH foals are registered every year
 but only the TB racing industry is worthy of investigation and outrage?? How very
 tunnel visioned of them. I know this is an Australian PETA group - but PETA in the US wallows in that particular tunnel vision.

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So right. Sadly the AQHA actually supports horse slaughter. They think it is it is a fine thing or at least necessary and since QHs (and solid Apps/Paints I’m sure) far outnumber any other breed (or mix) sent to slaughter I can see why.

The racetrack fantasy is that those shiny athletes are set for life since they run their hearts out and (sometimes) earn money. We’d love if that were always true and are encouraged by the stories of the ones living in luxury.

No such fantasy exists for backyard horses. Some of them end up in the lap of luxury, but it certainly isn’t an expectation.

One would like to think show horses end up safe, but they’re sometimes just one illness or injury away from slaughter.

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Yes I remember a case just a couple of years ago. Some recent Weanling Futurity winner showed up in one of those kill pens on FB. Seems she was good enough to win (think maybe she was Reserve) and they took the prizes home and dumped the weanling at the kill pen! I can’t imagine they got much for her there and could have easily sold her for more but I guess they didn’t want to take the time.

Wow! Makes you wonder if she was a carrier of a genetic issue and they dumped her because of it.

I don’t think so (because those are good in QH land) but I don’t know really. I think they just wanted to win that Futurity and they had no further use for her. They may have sent her to an auction where the KB bought her but I’m not sure. I may be confusing that with the KB that went to the Anheuser busch auction and bought a bunch of Clydes. I forget sometimes that most KBs are Horse Dealers first and foremost.

Selling overseas is risky


Selling in the U.S. is risky!

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The most surprising stories I ever heard were from a gentleman who put down horses and removed them (bolt gun). He is gone now, but worked in a very expensive horsey area. He put them down humanely, hauled them away, and processed them into food for hunting dogs or big cats. Sometimes, he asked the owner if he could simply take the horse. He actually ended up with a few very nice animals. Some of the reasons for asking him to put a horses to sleep ranged from divorce. Sometimes it was because the horse had a fly allergy (beautiful younger, well-trained Paint that just needed a bit of fly spray).

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I think some animal parks may still do that also. If done properly (aka NOT like the Tiger King) it is humane. I don’t know if anybody still feeds it to their dogs though. I had heard that most zoos did not want horse meat because of the various (normal) drugs that might be in their systems but then I hear about zoo animal slaughter houses still in the US so I don’t know.