Horse Kinetics » animal welfare http://horsekinetics.com an e-Vet Clinic site about horse health Tue, 01 Jun 2010 01:13:15 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Horse Neglect still on the rise http://horsekinetics.com/horse-neglect-still-on-the-rise http://horsekinetics.com/horse-neglect-still-on-the-rise#comments Sun, 01 Jun 2008 21:34:53 +0000 Daniel Beatty DVM http://www.horsekinetics.com/horse-neglect-still-on-the-rise Horse neglect has been on the rise for the last few years. The majority of neglect cases are actually ignorance rather than true neglect. Many experts in the Horse Welfare community are of the opinion that it is not the closing of the slaughter plants that have increased the number of neglect cases. Rather the financial status of horse owners and the economy’s effect on their status are causing the problems with the ability to feed, shelter and care for the horses in their care.

So now what do you do if you believe a horse or group of horses are being neglected? Experts say do NOT do 2 things – 1 do not confront the owner and 2 do not feed the horses. I know this may seem contradictory to what is actually best for the horses, but when you read the reasons you will see that you will need to curtail your natural tendencies for the health of the horse.

Check out the reasons here at The Horse – Horse Neglect: What to Do?

]]> http://horsekinetics.com/horse-neglect-still-on-the-rise/feed 0 Barbaro – Horse of the Year http://horsekinetics.com/barbaro-horse-of-the-year http://horsekinetics.com/barbaro-horse-of-the-year#comments Thu, 26 Apr 2007 07:34:31 +0000 Daniel Beatty DVM http://www.horsekinetics.com/barbaro-horse-of-the-year The Kentucky Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders announced Barbaro as Horse of the Year.
News article about the announcement can be found here – news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=38598

Although I can not take away from this horse’s resilience or determination, or even his electric persona in the media which brought a lot of attention to the racing world. However what I am taking away from this announcement that although he may deserve to be Horse of the Year because of all the things said about him, one fact remains, he died because of racing. The racing industry is promoting a horse that died because it could not hold up to the rigors of the sport.

Racing is a double edged sword, it is fantastic to see these magnificent animals in all their glory doing their favorite thing – galloping! The double edge comes from at what price? Many of these magnificient animals can not stand up to the pressures of racing at such a young age, their joints and bones (as in the case of Barbaro) can not handle the pressures of such training and tough competition. It begs the age old question, are we racing these animals at too young of an age and pushing the limits too hard? The answer to both is yes.

Will this ever change? Maybe, it depends on how strong the animal activist groups are, in comparison, to the money and political pull of the racing industry. This may be the one item that I actually do side with the likes of animal rights groups because I personally consider this an animal welfare concern.

Barbaro will be known for his determination and he has provided much needed information about the treatment of broken legs and laminitis in horses, it helps when there is an open checkbook with almost limitless cash flowing out of it to do research like this because it is expensive! We have learned a lot from him and I hope I am not the only one to point out that Barbaro as Horse of the Year for the racing industry is an excellent example of why the racing industry should not be racing horses that young.

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