Author: Western Horse Watchers

These Women Are Not WH Advocates

Video posted June 2017 by liberal/modernist/progressive NBC Left Field.  At least they admit their bias.  Shows PZP darting of mares.

You want to build a house?  Buy some land.

New factory or chemical plant?  Get some land.

You want to graze livestock?  Run to government.

Farming and ranching are two of the most respectable professions out there.

But get your own land.  Like everybody else.  And leave the horses alone.

Neglect Case in Maryland

More than two dozen horses found dead on a two acre ranch in Wicomico County, according to a report published 03/17/18 in Delmarva Now.

A woman interviewed for the story said “…it is not unusual for a horse owner, especially so many of them, to have horses die….”  Maybe that’s consistent with her show-horse experience.

But it’s not inevitable.

Which of these things might be a factor in the case?

  • No blankets
  • Not kept in stalls
  • Inadequate supplements
  • Nobody braided their tails
  • No shoes
  • Wrong type of fly spray
  • Not enough time in the round pen
  • Didn’t have a job
  • Poor management of manure
  • Not enough food
  • Not enough clean water

Looks like the horses only had access to part of the property, so if you chose the last three you’re probably not too far off the mark.

Imprinting and Weaning

Refer to this article in Equus magazine by Dr. Jennifer Williams, president of Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society.

Key points:

  • Be an astute observer
  • Mares tend to foal late at night or early in the morning
  • They may delay foaling until they feel safe and comfortable
  • You may need to leave your mare alone
  • New mothers tend to be protective of their foals
  • A foal bonds with his dam in the first few hours of life

Item 5, Nursing, probably should include a remark about colostrum, the first milk a mom makes for her foal.  Essential for the baby, as it contains antibodies needed to fight infection.  If the foal does not get up and nurse within the first hour or two, you may have to get involved.

Conventional wisdom says wean the baby at four months.  A better time frame is seven to eight months, as the foal’s digestive system is not sufficiently developed to sustain him on solid food alone until then.

Here’s a list of things to do after the foal is born.

  1. Clean up the afterbirth
  2. Take a few photos
  3. Stay out of it

Avoid the temptation.  Let the mom care for the baby and teach it how to be a horse.

An exception would be the rescue of foals born in feedlots while their moms await shipment to slaughter.

Are Wild Horses a Problem?

Not according to an editorial published 01/13/18 in The Salt Lake Tribune.  Their habitat has been cut in half and they’re competing with livestock for food so what do you expect?

Sounds like sabotage.

Keep in mind the WHB Act, in its current form, still gives priority to horses and burros in areas where they lived in 1971.

Principally

No, we need to get rid of the ones in captivity and restrict the growth of those still on the range.

They’ll be born into a world of starvation and thirst, you know.

If the administration wants to reduce spending (generally a good idea), eliminate funding for Planned Parenthood and leave the horses alone.  A child born into poverty without a father certainly faces challenges ahead but that doesn’t mean he should be denied his right to life.

[That statement pretty much guarantees these remarks will never appear in Google search results.]

Related: See the video in this post.  If anyone has film of ranchers sobbing as their cattle are loaded for slaughter please link it here.