Hiker in New Mexico finds a starving Horse! (1 Viewer)

[Toejam]

This was shocking! A Hiker in the New Mexico wilderness about 40 miles south of Albuq. found a starving Horse just wandering the countryside! The Horse has since been rescued and taken to a stable!

KOB.com - Hiker discovers starving horse

 

[G'ginna]

Sadly, you are going to see more of this. With the rising costs of living, alot of people cannot afford to keep their horses anymore, most of the rescue shelters are full and not taking anymore. Good luck finding one that isn't.

In addition, on a sadder note, many of the buyers that used to buy horses for slaughter & export are not doing so because of a new law PETA got passed banning that. It was not an alternative I was in favor of, but it is painless in comparison to starving to death.

Many people, believe that they can turn their horses out to become wild & free just like the mustangs. The problem with this is that most mustangs are descendant from horses that grew up on open ranges. Horses back in the "real" cowboy days and horses that have grown up on open ranches are used to foraging for themselves and know to paw through snow or move on for better food. Horses that have grown up in stables and fed hay or grain by humans all their lives don't, so they will starve. Not only that, you cannot change a horses diet overnight and expect them to do well. A horse, like a human or any other animal, has to have the correct bacteria in their system to digest the food they eat. Otherwise, they starve, even as they eat.

These are animals that will work themselves to death for their owners and they are going to be left to die.

I love horses and always have and hate to see them hurting. It makes me incredibly sad to know what's coming for these wonderful animals. I am lucky, I can keep my horses at home, many people pay board upward of $250/month per horse and that was a going rate 8 years ago. Hay has doubled in price here in the past year, so I am sure board has gone up as well.

 

[Larry]

Sadly, you are going to see more of this. With the rising costs of living, alot of people cannot afford to keep their horses anymore, most of the rescue shelters are full and not taking anymore. Good luck finding one that isn't.

In addition, on a sadder note, many of the buyers that used to buy horses for slaughter & export are not doing so because of a new law PETA got passed banning that. It was not an alternative I was in favor of, but it is painless in comparison to starving to death.

Many people, believe that they can turn their horses out to become wild & free just like the mustangs. The problem with this is that most mustangs are descendant from horses that grew up on open ranges. Horses back in the "real" cowboy days and horses that have grown up on open ranches are used to foraging for themselves and know to paw through snow or move on for better food. Horses that have grown up in stables and fed hay or grain by humans all their lives don't, so they will starve. Not only that, you cannot change a horses diet overnight and expect them to do well. A horse, like a human or any other animal, has to have the correct bacteria in their system to digest the food they eat. Otherwise, they starve, even as they eat.

These are animals that will work themselves to death for their owners and they are going to be left to die.

I love horses and always have and hate to see them hurting. It makes me incredibly sad to know what's coming for these wonderful animals. I am lucky, I can keep my horses at home, many people pay board upward of $250/month per horse and that was a going rate 8 years ago. Hay has doubled in price here in the past year, so I am sure board has gone up as well.

A starving horse ? Watch Animal Planet when they have those rescue shows for different cities.
One show had almost three hundred cats someone had. The person was living in the garage and the cats were in the house starving and sick.
One show from Houston had 5 horses that were penned and starving and had mange among other things.

 

[G'ginna]

A starving horse ? Watch Animal Planet when they have those rescue shows for different cities.
One show had almost three hundred cats someone had. The person was living in the garage and the cats were in the house starving and sick.
One show from Houston had 5 horses that were penned and starving and had mange among other things.

Larry, unfortunately I have seen way too much of this. Between working for vets in various places, a pet supply store and actively participating in events that include animals, I have seen some really sad things. I have rescued animals in the past and expect I probably will in the future.

A friend of mine in Nevada that actively traps and spays or neuters feral cats at her own expense helps out with other rescues. In one instance, they had gone to a trailer home that had a couple rooms closed off. In the main part of the place were the "tamer" cats & the closed off parts were mostly feral cats. she said there were 73 cats in one bedroom of this single-wide. I got to see a few of the healthier ones and they were pretty skinny.

My first horse was a rescue, had been abandoned by his owners who had moved half a state away. He was the best horse a girl could have growing up. We did everything together, running trails, jumping ditches, games, picking apples, pears & swimming in the pond... just to name a few.

One of the cats that I feed outside now is one that was dumped by his owners.

It doesn't matter if it is one or hundreds, it's too many.

 

[Larry]

Unwanted and lost pets are a big problem along with crazy owners who can't even care for themselves.
Just another of the mirad of problems our society has that is under the radar so to speak.
Enjoying this August Cool Spell GT ?
Seems our sunspot cycle that started about on time or 14 months late according to others has got off to a tepid sputtering start.
I think the latter since global Temps fell .07 last year wiping out a hundred year rise of .07.
We will have eighties here all week , good for my utilities bill.
I won't hyjack the thread anymore but helping critters is a good thing and they have a lot of advocates everywhere.

 

[Jenn]

In addition, on a sadder note, many of the buyers that used to buy horses for slaughter & export are not doing so because of a new law PETA got passed banning that. It was not an alternative I was in favor of, but it is painless in comparison to starving to death.

One of the horses that a friend of mine had rescued was severely underfed so that the farrier didn't even want to shoe her until she'd put on some weight and infections had cleared up. The horse wound up being put down fairly quickly because of it, but not after she invested a lot of money trying to save it.

 

[G'ginna]

Hi Larry,

August only just got cool this week. We have finally gotten a little rain. It was pretty bad getting up in the dark at 6:30 in the morning to humid temps that were about the same as body temp. The coolness day before yesterday was a very nice and welcome change. More odd, I have Robins in the yard. Usually I see more dove than anything and it was a surprise to see a Robin the other day. I have been working like crazy trying to get everything done.


Jenn,

That frequently happens with horses that have gotten so bad. Their systems are so weakened from malnutrition and infections that no matter how good the care becomes, they cannot recover. It's heartbreaking to have to deal with.