Horses in This Month's "National Geographic"
My reader mail just keeps getting more interesting all the time.
Today, I heard from Ann Barrett of the National Geographic Society. She alerted me (and now I'm alerting you!) to an article on horses in February's "National Geographic."
The article highlights the plight of wild horse populations in the western U.S., and the effects of federal regulated herd management and shrinking protected ranges.
Thank you, Ann!
posted by Juli Thorson @ 1:01 PM
14 comments
14 Comments:
Hi Juli,
I don't know if you ever read the"thepioneerwoman"
blog but today she had pictures of the hundreds of mustangs they feed on their ranch. They even go
around and break the ice off the ponds so they can
drink.
Wow, Great article! I couldn't find the picture gallery, though. Will have another look!
Beautiful article, beautiful writing.
I was thinking of the horses I've known through the years. A couple were well seasoned trail horses.
Both could take me home anytime, anywhere. If we were in the hills they would take me back to camp.
Both were quarterhorses.
I'm willing to bet there are Arabs, Morgans and grade horses who can do the same.
I have no problem with mustangs.
I have a problem with raising them to levels of magical ability when in reality it's just plain old horse sense.
@Callie: here's the link to National Geographic's photo gallery of the wild mustangs:
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/02/wild-horses/farlow-photography
You can also download the first photo as computer wallpaper here: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/wallpaper/download
Mugwump hit on something that bothered me when I watched the series on PBS about Cloud. The series put a spin on the horses to give them human emotions. I was so uncomfortable that I found myself talking back to the television. I give a horse gift of some sort to my granddaughter on every occasion, but I do not buy the Cloud and family horses because I respect the horse for being a horse not for being a human inside a horse.
I read the article and it was very informative. I also agree with mugwump and anonymous that they are HORSES and not magical beings. The plight of horses wild and domesticated is real and I don't see it easing up much until people become more responsible about horse ownership...especially the breeders both large and BYB.
As distasteful as the idea is, HUMANE euthanasia or letting nature take its course in the case of mustangs, is probably the best (and I use the term loosly) solution at this point. I am not advocating they be sold for meat to kill buyers either. No horse should be sent to a slaughterhouse or shipped in a double decker trailer across our borders.
If euthanasia were used to limit the overpopulation of mustangs then perhaps their carcasses could be sold for pet food and the $$ generated by the sales be used to support abandoned animals and educate the public about the situation. Unfortunately I am sure that even that would be mishandled in some way and turned into a bureaucratic nightmare.
Appywoman--
You mention the possibility of using horse remains as pet food.
Many, including myself, would like to see some way found to utilize the remains of euthanized horses.
But, what method of putting a horse down did you have in mind? The meat from a chemically euthanized horse (one "put to sleep") can't be used for food, whether intended for pets or humans. It is toxic due to the large amount of barbituate administered in order to kill the horse.
So (and this is to all), I'm curious as to thoughts on what other means of euthanasia ("merciful death") that the general public would find to be acceptable enough to permit in our society.
Captive bolt?
Gunshot?
Knife blade?
These are pretty much the choices if remains are to be used for digestive consumption.
To me, it looks like the public has already rejected captive bolt (what was used in U.S. processing plants), and knife blade (which is sometimes used in Mexico).
That would leave gunshot, right? Think people will find that acceptable, in the numbers and at the volume we'd be taking about?
I for one would think a gunshot if delivered by a competent person is acceptable. Of course, the horse would have to be restrained...I am not advocating "taking pot shots" into a group of horses. I realize that this is a difficult thing to handle logistically at the very least but something has to be done and I believe that it has to be humane.
I am not sure what the difference is between a captive bolt and a gunshot. Aren't captive bolts what rendering companies use to euthanize downed horses and cattle or is it only the mechanized arm I have seem in the horrible videos anti-slaughter groups have posted?
Captive-bolt is a pneumatic-power device fired similar to how a gun is fired.
It uses a retracting metal pin (the bolt) instead of a bullet and gunpowder.
Thanks Juli...one more question then. Do you know which is more effective? I had assumed that the reason the captive bolts used in the slaughterhouses were not successful was because the horses were moving around too much to get the bolt accurately into the small area of the forehead that is most lethal...ie. instant death. This caused the horses to be injured multiple times before they were killed.
I think it has a great deal to do with who's doing the aiming, and the training they have in use of the CB method.
Thanks for posting the article, Julie. I enjoyed reading it.
Mugwump, I don't think the article portrayed the mustang to have "Magical abilities". I think it portrayed them as horses. It just so happens that these horses are unwanted and in danger of mass euthanasia, unlike many of their domestic cousins. I do understand that now is a dangerous time for any horse, but the value of a halter-broke, pedigreed, quarter horse is probably higher than that of a BLM mustang off the range, to most people anyway.
DId you read the caption on the last photo in the gallery?
"There are fences out there, so horses are not really free to roam. And they're creatures of habit. They stay in one area. They're not deer or elk or cougars," Cattoor says. "They're different. They're livestock."
Kind of proves the point that the only difference between our domestic horses and the mustangs is the fact that we take care of the domestics and the mustangs are on their own.
For those interested a captive bolt is used in a squeeze chute which restricts the animal from running and jumping. It is used in most slaughter operations including the local small meat market operations or what used to be called locker plants. I worked in a small town butcher shop(Hogs & Cattle)40 years ago.
Willij,
Thanks for explaining that better than I did.
Post a Comment
<< Home