Great points! I think that the TB folks do one hell of a job with aftercare, and providing a safety net for the horses.
However, there are still unsupported horses from tracks and farms finding there way into the slaughter pipeline. And, I still want the breeders to support what they raise. Easy? Nope. Responsible? You bet!
Are there aftercare agencies for racing QHs?
I don’t know. But I do know that the AQHA supports slaughter. And that they have historically registered more horses each year than any other registry.
That’s what I thought… 
Yes but horse ownership had also decreased and has decreased way more than the rate of tb foals/ year has decreased so those numbers are still concerning to me. Sorry CANTER and RRHP are great but that’s not going to make up for the situation tb breeders have put the rest of the horse industry in.
Have you examined the rate of other breeds rate of production vs slaughter?
TB breeders and the J.C. keep very fine statistics. The Quarter Horse industry, not so much.
Have you ever considered that you may may be worrying about TB racehorses and not Quarter Horses because QH statistics are not readily available? Perhaps because the AQHA is not as diligent and forthright with individual horse identification in their registry as is the J.C.?
Why is no one vehemently objecting to the AQHA’s ostrich stance for the past 3 decades about a deadly genetic defect that has been allowed continued in the breed even though there is an easy test to identify those animals that should not be bred? How many HYPP horses have been slaughtered? No studies? Not surprising.
The general public sees TB race horses on TV. Quarter Horses are not as publicized. I think this may be the reason that many people don’t realize that Quarter Horses are much more bound for slaughter than are TBs.
There it is… we knew it was coming but the finger pointing at quarter horses had started. Who could have seen this coming?
Where are you getting the idea that nobody criticizes AQHA? I feel like most horse people at least always blame quarter horses for the over population issue just because most horses that go to slaughter ARE quarter horses so at first glance that seems to be the biggest issue. I just don’t think it’s shocking because obviously the most common breed is also going to be the most common breed going to slaughter. TB’s however only make up 7 or 8% of the horse population but are over represented in the slaughter population so that’s where the TB breeding criticism on my end is coming from.
Quarter horses are not “much more bound for slaughter than TB’s”. Just because there are more QH’s slaughtered than TB’s it doesn’t mean anything when unless you’re comparing that number to the population of the breed. It’s the same reason most shark attacks happen to tourists rather than surfers but if you are a surfer you’re more likely to be be a victim of a shark attack than a tourist is.
But if you’re asking me, personally, why I’m not outraged about AQHA, I just don’t care for the breed if I’m being honest. I don’t ride western anymore, I probably wouldn’t buy one, whereas TBs I really love the breed.
And also this post has nothing to do with quarter horses so that’s probably why nobody’s talking about quarter horses issues unless they’re trying to distract you from TB issues.
At least you are honest that you don’t care so much that QHs are slaughtered because you care more for TBs.
I have much more experience with TBs as well, but I don’t understand the outrage about the slaughter of horses separated by breed.
I never said that I don’t care about Quarter horses going to slaughter. You’re being intentionally obtuse to shift the convo elsewhere. Go start a thread about AQHA breeding practices if it’s upsetting you that badly but this one is about thoroughbreds last I checked.
The information available is from a decade or more ago and there is no explanation as to how breeds were determined, or condition of the horses.
If you can identify a horse as a TB or Standardbred due to a tattoo, then it’s easy to know what breed is going to slaughter.
But if there is no permanent breed id brand or tattoo, it’s anyone’s best guess.
Meanwhile, QH have been exported to South Korea as well.
The number of TBs foaled per year has decreased by just under 50%. So you’re saying that horse ownership in the U.S. has decreased by more than 50% in the last 20 years? I find that very hard to believe.
I would like to see statistics if you have them.
In 2004 the US horse population was estimated to be 9.2 million in 2003. Source- https://www.humanesociety.org/sites/default/files/archive/assets/pdfs/hsp/soaiv_07_ch10.pdf
Today even if you believe one of the higher estimated is 3.8 million. Source- https://www.horsecouncil.org/press-releases/us-horse-population-statistics/
So yea quite a bit more than 50%
@Equkelly Have you considered partnering with researchers to fund and conduct a study to collect current data?
I think you would be better off directing your passion at collecting data to drive reform efforts instead of cherry picking data to support your narrative.
I mean nobody’s going to fund a study into something where nobody is even willing to admit it’s as big of a problem as it is. I’ve gone through the trouble of finding what data I can for this board and I still get relentless mocked and belittled for it.
I’ve also explained my decision process when I purchased my horse and why I didn’t buy a TB. Y’all still called me a horrible person for that too.
Also it’s not really cherry picking when the 2004 study we’re talking about is the only data available… what other cherries am I ignoring? I’m one of the only ones in this discussion or the last one that is bringing up any data at all. Now you want me to go take on a research project in my spare time with my spare money (lol… that doesn’t exist) to prove something to a BB that doesn’t want to hear it? Yea… no.
Little red X is on the upper right hand corner of your screen.
If you’re on a mac, the other side.
Life is full of choices…
@Equkelly No one vested in the situation is saying there is no problem or that the problem isn’t grave. If you want anyone to take you seriously, you need to stop with that assertion. It’s insulting and just wrong. You alienated your potential allies immediately with such baseless claims. That’s why you are being “mocked and belittled” by your interpretation.
The other reason you are being “mocked and belittled” is because you have the perspective of a 12 year old. Instead of pointing fingers, put your boots on the ground and actually get involved. I have told you this on other threads. Right now, your entire argument built on high school research and the internet. Get out there and see what it actually looks like in the real world and maybe people would start treating you like an adult and taking you seriously.
Any chance of a reply to LaurieB’s very reasonable question?
Oops - sorry - didn’t mean to ‘ping’ you.
So then why are you mocking anyone who says it is? Can you even point to specifically what I’ve said here that you find so problematic?
I haven’t made any baseless claims. You can’t call hard truths “baseless claims” just because they’re inconvenient. What are you, a politician?
You don’t know anything about me in real life. I choose not to share a lot on here due to the toxicity here and I’ve had issues with cyber stalking/ doxxing on here before so I’m not comfortable sharing anything about me and my life… not that it should have anything to do with anything anyway.
It is not finger pointing to denote that the Grayson-JC does some seriously spectacular record keeping and statistical analysis of the TB breed that is conspicuously absent from its peer registry (AQHA) – from foals born every year, to foals with OCDs, to breakdowns, to race surfaces – nearly everything we understand morphologically about the horse from repairing a sesamoid fracture to treating laminitis, comes from this agency and the enormous amount of money behind TB racing, researching, and veterinary studies.
Another breed sadly more likely to end up in slaughter than TBs is the Standardbred, as an aside. Their production pool is much smaller but they have a higher rate of abbatoir-endings. You won’t see a kill pen without a standardbred or six in it.
IMHO you ought to be just as “outraged” (your words) by other horses being slaughtered inhumanely, or you’re not true horse person. The breed doesn’t matter, the ending they’re given does. And this comes from someone who believes that slaughter is a viable and effective means of controlling population and ensuring better distribution of homes and resources, so long as it is done humanely; the hangup here is that there are very few humane slaughterhouses.
It seems a bit off colour to come to a thread where there is clear racial bias about a specific country, and then demonstrating that in the form of breed bias and saying if it is a QH it doesn’t matter/you don’t care.
I’m with Laurie and Texarkana that drawing from data 20 years ago is not much of a comparison to today’s climate where there is significant cultural changes. 20 years ago, the US had slaughter plants stateside and there was very little in terms of aftercare organizations at play. 20 years ago, I do not recall the same heavy-handed repercussions to trainers at tracks if your horses were found in a kill pen – but maybe Texarkana or Laurie (who are much more experienced) can weigh in there.
A better statistical comparison would be finding out what % of 2010, 2015, 2020 bred TBs go to slaughter… You cannot compare data from 20 years ago with the current industry. It has been turned almost entirely on its head in the last ten.
EDIT: Equkelly, if you are that passionate about aftercare and slaughter prevention of TBs, I really hope to see you backside someday. There are tons of amazing aftercare organizations for TBs out there and many racing connections are aware that slaughter is a potential issue, which is why they place their horses in the care of organizations such as CANTER, New Vocations, etc… If you are serious, send me a DM and I can get you connected with people in your area that work to list, rescue, and retrain TBs for new careers after the track. They are always looking for volunteers and rehab/rescue does not come cheap or easily.
Oh I am but I just don’t see evidence of a systemic problem in quarter horses where a highly disproportionate number is going to slaughter.
I think it’s off color to compare racism to breed bias. Those are not at all the same.
I agree, I really wish we had that data but we don’t AFAIK.
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