The what, now?
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The Horseās 3 Fās: Friends, Forage, Freedom Pt 1. Horsey social media is all about this right now.
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That must be why I donāt know anything about it. Lol.
Thanks.
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People are being picked up outside Courthouses, trying to attend legally required hearings. Theyāre also being tricked into going to immigration interviews and being picked up by ICE.
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Again, it just feels like such a low bar.
Also I canāt see a justification for āfreedomā outside of needing stall rest.
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Between my computerās age and my personal age, sometimes we have senior moments. Thanks for the help.
Aye, my catās natural instinct would be to cover several acres a day, but heās domesticated, acclimated, and deliriously happy with the 2000 square feet of couches and beds I offer him. And thatās entirely aside from the free food that magically appears in his bowl each day without him lifting a paw. He loves to capture lizards that mistakenly wander into the all-seasons room, then proudly dump them at my feet inside, where upon they immediately scurry under the nearest dresser. I take extraordinary measures to prevent him from satisfying this natural instinct that he loves and probably thrives on. I shake a string at him instead.
If you have first hand experience with horses living these lives, and have come to the conclusion that they are unhappy horses and the better alternative is actually for them to not exist at all, then by all means, hold that line. But that standard leaves thousands, if not 10s of thousands of horses without homes. There simply arenāt enough green pastures in the country to accommodate them. Demand in the market drops like 20%, and fewer and fewer equines are even produced because the requirements to āhumanelyā own one are too steep for the proletariat. And even greater swaths of the population never meet a horse. Never get to know a horse. Never get to love a horse. And so they donāt understand why their existence is important. Why they should be protected. Why they canāt just roam free in the abandoned mines of backwoods KY when theyāre abandoned (yes, a thing).
LAEC is, admittedly, not my favorite example of what SoCal horse ownership looks like, but the long and short of it is the same: There is no turnout in the vast majority of Southern California. If the land is flat thereās a house on it. If itās not a $1 million/acre itās on the side of a mountain. Such a stipulation would eliminate horse ownership for hundreds of square miles, affecting all horse owners between San Diego and Santa Barbara, at the very least.
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Weāre having heat and nasty biting bugs here where I am (not Southern Cal anymore.) The tbs ā even in full fly gear ā just desperately want to come back in under the fans. I can handgraze one, and as soon as the big flies come around, he drags me back to the barn. He would hate the 24/7 outside life. I know many that are similar.
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Itās worth noting that cats (and dogs) have been domesticated for far longer than horses have.
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Random data point: I had a horse who spend the first 18 or so years of her life in Southern California in various of these barns. When we moved to northern California, she got a pipe corral that opened up into a field with a friend. (Eventually 3 friends.) I think she was happy in both places. In some ways, I think she was happier and more confident in a place where there were so many other horses around, even if she couldnāt bite them. I do think she would have benefitted from more wandering around time.
I love that my horses can just be out now and thatās what I prefer for them, but I also like living out in the country instead of in the city.
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The industry of the Hunter/Jumpers and Dressage and Tennessee Walkers arenāt protecting the horses. Iām sure you are aware of the Social License to Operate movement. My statement wasnāt meant to pertain only to California. I think we are looking at āprotectionā through different lenses.
So what are the thousands of owners of horses in the SW supposed to do? Move or euth? What is your solution to the problem you describe??
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Iām really just surprised at how defensive people here are over this. All I said was that I think itās wrong. I think itās not unreasonable to want better for the wellbeing of our horses.
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My response was limited to the subject at hand which was housekeeping practices in Southern California and possibly other urban areas.
I am aware of the Social License to Operate which Iām guessing is similar to what youāre referring to.
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In one of my old dressage books, there was a feature about a German rider who kept her horse in a pen at her fatherās factory. Her riding arena was built under a freeway overpass. (It provided shelter.) I was shocked, but the horse was healthy and happy.
I have been to LAEC and walked along the river to check out neighborhoods. It was also a shock to see backyard stables or a few horses in a pen. Same in Phoenix/Scottsdale. Horses in residential neighborhoods with only a pen in the backyard. There were lots of trails, though. Coming from the Midwest, it was so different and foreign to me.
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Maybe because nobody likes told be told they did a bad thing and should never have owned a horse?
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Totally understand that you think itās wrong. And you apparently live in an area where you can keep your horse in a pasture with friends and Iām good with that. Hopefully you can figure out an equally good situation that makes you and the horse happy when the horse goes into training (mentioned upthread).
My horse lives in a āfieldā (albeit a grassless one since we live in a Mediterranean climate) with a friend because I am lucky enough to have the connections, the money, limited other obligations, and the commute time to provide that for a competition horse. I agree that itās better for many horses. But I also realize that itās something thatās not an option for all horse owners, in Southern California or elsewhere, and I donāt think itās my place to tell them that they canāt own a horse because they canāt drive 120 miles round trip (23-30ish miles of it on the 405 freeway). So I am not going to tell the person with the well-cared for horse that gets out daily but lives in an urban barn that they are wrong and do not care for the well-being of their horse. Because I think that a horse can be well cared for in that situation, just like a horse can be poorly cared for while living in a field. Plus I think there are bigger issues in the horse world than whether a horse lives in a field or a pipe stall or a pasture and perhaps we should work together to solve them. IMHO, Big Lick TWH, horses that show in 20+ over fences classes at a single show, etc. are way bigger problems than where those horses live.
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A few thousand years head start on 25+ million years of evolution is but a blip.
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As I remember a very wise person saying on a thread on something or other on this BB many, many years ago:
āI do the best I can for my horses with the resources I have available to me. I figure everyone else is doing the same thing.ā
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Iāve been stalking the Bowie kill pen thread and checking their website. Many of the throwaway houses run through there have been running in a field with little handling or training.
Also, itās a lot easier for people to live with not feeding their horses if theyāre out in a pasture, out of sight.
You better believe several people have their eye on a horse living in a stall.
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