What's going on with the price of horses?

In April, I GAVE AWAY a 11 month old, 100% foundation reg. QH colt. He had been handled since birth. Lead broke, lifted all four feet, really good for the farrier, would back and circle when asked. Stood quitely when tied. Loved people, answered to his name. Let you do ANYTHING to him. Actually enjoyed having his ears trimmed. I paid 900 for him. (and that was a deal compared to the prices for the same breeding, just a couple years ago) I was just happy that I found a good home for him. (we bought him for the husband, but job issues and lack of time prevented him from being here to work with him. All his handling fell on my shoulders and I just didn't have time) We have a 14 year old QH mare. She will NEVER be bred again (I can't imagine ever adding more horses to the current situation!) I'm just glad I was able to find a home for our boy.
susie, mo ozarks

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Loss of a slaughter market has taken the market "floor". Well intentioned folks pushed to stop the slaughter plants without understanding that a slaughter market is healthy for the horse industry

Nice ponies are going for under $100 sometimes around here. We have a dozen little horses. Ours stay fat as butterballs on grass and a wee bit of All Stock and wheat bread. Wish I could take all the little ones! Our little stud is 28". We only had one filly baby this year and she stayed here. I would take a few little mares if someone couldn't keep them, as long as they had good feet. Fattening them up is easy. Little studs are just about free around here. We sold/traded 3 little studs in the last year. Can't have more than 2.

All the horses are going to Mexico, so they get the $$. Also new word is folks are turning them loose at Burnham Forest and Land Between the Lakes in KY. Next spring maybe we'll go catch us a few little ponies......

can you explain the slaughter market to me. I didn't think we ate horse in this country. Or am I missing something obvious?

Thanks.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

Hay in central Indiana is getting very hard to come by.

Junk hay is commanding 3.50-5.00 a bale, so I am told.

Clove

Most were slaughtered for export or dog food, and also the hides were used for leather.
The PETA types decide its "too cruel" to do that so now they will end up starving to death or being shot and buried on the farns

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Too many people breeding horses with little or no sustainability. That means bad conformation, bad attitudes, bad vices, or all of the above. LOTS of irresponsible traders out there these days and EVERYBODY thinks they're a "breeder" if they have a horse with balls or a mare with a working uterus.

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Many middle class families in the southeast are finding it difficult to keep their high maintenance pets now due to the hay shortages and economy combination.

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Here's a good write up about horse consumption in Backwoods Home Magazine.
Hungry enough to eat a horse??

Way it looks, it can be a healthier substitution for beef.
Also saw on another website, US and Canada exported over 20,000 tons of horse meat to Japan. Where it's known as Bassahi.

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知らぬが仏 (Shiranu ga hotoke) Ignorance is bliss.

People are being foreclosed on in their McMansions, so everything has to go.

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i researched this a few months ago, the closing of US horse slaughterhouses. And it is not PETA that is the driving force behind closing them, it is the US HUMANE SOCIETY, of all people. How ridiculous it that??

And this horse slaughterhouse has not updated their website, is it still in business??
http://www.nebraskabrand.com/news.htm

Just another example of PETA and" other know it all's" helping out the economy. Glenn

Thanks Bearfoot, I wasn't aware of that.

Seems to me it'd be more humane to eat them than let them starve.. Strange society we live in, thats for sure.

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"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

This has nothing to do with the problem with horses today, just because they do not mert your standards.

Sooner of later people who think just like you will face the same problem and have to kill your horses, or let them die of old age, and you will either bury them, or pay someone else to bury them.

Ever tried eating horse meat ? That could be a consideration ! ! !

bumpus
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The US HUMANE SOCIETY, and PETA have much of the same mind set and are both a big problem in raising livestock and pets, and yes other people who think just like them.

bumpus
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Cows get eaten, so do sheep and pigs..why not eat horse?

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I don't understand why the US can not make a can of dog food either. It's so senseless. Ship all the old, mean horses out, and buy dog food fillers from overseas!

The PMU babies put massive amounts of horses into slaughter. Pregnant Mare Urine. Lots of draft crosses. I don't think it was such a big issue until that all started. At least we didn't hear or read about it.

At our auction, we always had to bid above $1 a pound if we wanted the horse or pony.

IMO it is just another example of the government getting involved in things they have no business getting involved in. Less and less small farms, more and more megafarms receiving huge subsidies, laws and more laws dictating what a homesteader can do. I keep waiting for them to outlaw home slaughter and canning. Outlawing horse slaughter............how STUPID can you get????

My MIL raises registered paints and quarter horses. Her breeding and training programs are top of the line. She is getting out of the business because the price has dropped and she can no longer afford to keep going.

Where she is, in West Texas, the sale barns will no longer accept horses because when no one buys them, the owners are refusing to pick them up. And some guy dropped 17 horses off at the Humane Society and left while they were closed.

Here in Wyoming, there is more hay than last year, but still not a great year. Horses are going cheap - some nice looking but nothing special ones sold for $12 a few weeks ago.

Horses are a luxury animal/item. They once were our transportation not food. Modern horses are produced by whim and ignorance - with the end goal being a profit. Horse prices are regulated by the economy. I don't think the slaughter issue has a lot to do with it except people may become more responsible. The racing industry also will adjust.