Comments on: In Search of Happy Endings

By: Kaitlynn

Kaitlynn — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:22:10 +0000

Love this blog post! Bottom line: If you cannot afford to humanely put your horse down, then do not buy one. Period. As for horse tripping, why can’t the Mexican charros design some plastic toy horse? Then they can rope their legs as a demonstration. Or is that not macho enough for them? They are in America. Not Mexico. Learn to adjust to how MOST of us treat our animals or go home.

By: ruth ann

ruth ann — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:01:41 +0000

I completely agree:) thanks for posting this.

By: Jillian

Jillian — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 21:24:48 +0000

Excellent blog, Cindy! Horses everywhere thank you and your family for being such responsible and loving horse owners. May you, Jazz, Tudor and all the other animals you and your family have loved find each other again.
Prepare for a vent!
Bruce, with all due respect, please show me the numbers. And I’m not talking about the rhetoric spewed by the AQHA, APHA or AHA — shame on all their houses and heads; perhaps they might want to try **educating** people about what makes a good and useful horse before they attempt to breed mare to stallion … but that would, natch, cut down on the $$$ for all those fees paid for the poor unfortunate horses that have to pay the ultimate price for their breeder’s stupidity.
Registries don’t want less money! That would be BAD!!
The reality, unfortunately, is that idjits and mentally unstable hoarders have ALWAYS abused, neglected or starved horses. That’s why the rescues and humane societies and animal controls have LONG been full to overflowing.
There is no unbiased, documented evidence that the closure of U.S. slaughterhouses has caused an increase in abused horses. Abandoned or starved? There is **anecdotal** evidence that the recession has caused that, but still no real, unbiased numbers.
Until the U.S. grows a pair and makes the **humane** transport, handling and killing of horses on the slaughter floor suitable for an animal that has, for its entire life, looked to us as a source of food, care, grooming, companionship, exercise and whatever emotions they may or may not feel, as well as given their all to us for sport, then, well, I cannot support the idea of reopening the slaughter plants to horses, and I would wholly support any legislation stopping shipment outside the U.S. for that purpose (despite what little teeth such regulation might provide).
As for the idea of horse tripping and that it should be acceptable on an ethnic or any other grounds … well, I echo another poster in wanting to deal the same kind of treatment to anyone who defends it. May your legs be jerked out from under you and often broken and then left to suffer or die in a Mexican slaughterhouse!

By: BRUCE

BRUCE — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:13:00 +0000

AGREE COMPLETELY AS TO HORSE TRIPPING. AS TO HORSE SLAUGHTERHOUSES YOU ADRESS THE ISSUE ONLY FROM THE POSITION OF A HORSE LOVER (WHICH I AM TOO.) BUT THERE ARE MANY HORSE OWNERS IN THIS WORLD WHO DON’T CARE ABOUT THEIR HORSES OR WHO ACTUALLY DISLIKE THEM. IN THE OLD DAYS THEY COULD SHIP THEIR HORSES FOR SAY $8 OR $9 HUNDRED DOLLARS, BUT NOW THIS OPTION IS CLOSED TO THEM, AND SO THERE IS THIS HUGE PROBLEM OF ABUSED, STARVING, AND ABANDONED HORSES. WHICH IS THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS: A FEW SECONDS OR MINUITS OF TERROR OR MONTHS OR YEARS OF NEGLECT?

By: Alecia

Alecia — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:26:24 +0000

Thank you for writing this. I completely agree and someone needed to say it.

By: Skylar

Skylar — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 11:00:25 +0000

Thanks so much for this column and for giving your beloved horses a peaceful end. How I wish every horse owner had the same sensibilities.
To anyone who thinks horse tripping is OK or that the horses like it … hey! I have an idea!! How about I rope your legs as you run full tilt, throw you down and drag you around?? And then either turn you loose in a park to wander around on your broken legs (which has been done here in Southern California) or toss you on a truck to a Mexican slaughterhouse? Works for me! And saves the horse the horror, too.

By: Karen

Karen — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:26:46 +0000

Wow! I tried to go back and re read all the comments on the tripping article. How exhausting! Who has time to listen to all that garbage? Once again Cindy you hit the nail on the head. You will never find 100% agreement on an issue like this but you speak for the vast majority of horse owners in America. This country is still a democracy and people like Randy need to decide to live with the laws of THIS land or go trip their horses in a place where it IS legal. I’m just sayin’….

By: Katie

Katie — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:58:16 +0000

I agree.

By: Louise

Louise — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 17:08:10 +0000

There are many shades of gray involved in the slaughter. It is a hard problem to solve.
However, horse tripping is black and white. It’s cruel, barbaric and has no place in ANY modern culture.

By: Coreene

Coreene — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 16:38:08 +0000

Civilized society, no matter the race or ethnicity, does not intentionally inflict cruelty upon horses for sport. This barbaric act should have been abolished long, long, long ago.