Equine Education
Velvet Heart Haven’s mission is to support at-risk, vulnerable, and underserved populations in finding mental and emotional wellness through the assistance of equines.
Brief History of Horses
Ancient horses roamed the North American continent for millions of years. And many, many years later, horses played an integral role in building the foundation of the United States. However, there was a period in time when horses vanished from the continent, and the reason remains unknown.
The oldest oldest-known species of the genus Equus is Equus simplicidens, also known as Hagerman horse, Hagerman zebra and American zebra, which appeared about 4 million years ago. It could be found from present-day Florida to Idaho. Its appearance was relatively similar to the modern horse, being around the same size with similar teeth, a long face and neck, and fully fused leg bones. These early species of Equus didn’t stay confined to North America, they were so successful that they expanded their range outside the continent. They first migrated into South America and later spread into Asia, Europe, and Africa.
However, about 10,000 years ago at the end of the Pleistocene, most of North America’s large mammals, including Equus species, went extinct.
While horses in North America vanished, those that had migrated out of the continent survived and thrived. About 4,000 years after North American horses disappeared, humans in other parts of the globe began to realize the usefulness of horses. Horses began to shape human history, used for everything from hunting and agriculture to war and transportation. And in turn, humans shaped horses by selectively breeding them to grow larger and faster.
In the late 1400s, Spanish conquistadors brought European horses to North America, back to where they evolved long ago. At this time, North America was widely covered with open grasslands, serving as a great habitat for these horses. These horses quickly adapted to their former range and spread across the nation. Around 1550, the first known feral horses escaped Mexico City, and more followed over time. Native Americans began to capture and ride the horses, spreading them further across the continent.
Over the five centuries since their return to North America, horses have become one of the most numerous and widespread mammals of all time. The Spanish horses were the first to sweep across the nation and became known as Mustangs. As the Mustangs ran wild out West, the Morgan horse rose in prominence on the other side of the continent. Other breeds like the Appaloosa and the American Quarter Horse also became popular among other communities. The United States is now home to over a hundred registered breeds, the greatest variety of Equidae in the world.
Equine Rescue
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Slaughter Houses
Slaughtering horses in the United States for human consumption started in the early 1970’s. Americans do not eat horse meat – we consider horses to be favored animals, just like dogs and cats. The idea of eating horse meat goes against our very culture. It was foreign interests that first built equine slaughterhouses in the United States and by the 1990’s, there were at least sixteen of them operating all across the country. At that time, most Americans were not aware that this industry even existed. It was a secretive business that operated through “killer buyers” (middlemen for the slaughterhouses) and other “insiders,” including horse dealers and a group of “meat men” who paid cash for Thoroughbreds who became injured or were just not fast enough to compete any more. Over the years, the industry grew largely as a result of indiscriminate and over-breeding by some people who began to use slaughter as a convenient way to get rid of their unwanted horses quickly, rather than take responsibility for them by either taking the time to place them or by paying a licensed veterinarian to put them down humanely. Over 140,000 Quarter Horses are born every year, often “puppy mill style” with the ones that are “not just right” in terms of color and/or conformation being scrapped conveniently for slaughter.
Horse slaughter is the way by which irresponsible people get rid of their unwanted horses quickly and for a profit. Every year, tens of thousands of equines from the United States are slaughtered for human consumption to satisfy the taste for horse meat in Europe and Japan where it is considered a delicacy. Due to an ongoing movement by small, but powerful special interest groups that have successfully blocked passage of Federal legislation banning horse slaughter for nearly a decade, our equines continue to be transported across the Canadian and Mexican borders where they are brutally slaughtered and their meat is then exported overseas, selling for between $15 and $25 per pound.
Thousands of American horses are sent to slaughter every year and the vast majority would be rehomed; not every horse going to slaughter needs to go to rescue. The USDA documented that 92.3 % of horses sent to slaughter are in good condition and are able to live out a productive life. These horses would be sold, donated or otherwise rehomed; however, kill buyers outbid legitimate horse owners and rescues at auctions, robbing horses of ever having a second chance at life.
What Can You Do?
It is overwhelming and frustrating. How does one person make a difference? What can I do that is going to matter?
Anything and everything. Anything you do matters. Everything you do matters. You can donate, you can write a letter, you can help educate those around you about what is going on. While most people have heard of slaughter houses, they don't quite understand that it is STILL happening. Every single month, thousands of horses, donkeys, and burros are being shipped across state lines for the sole purpose of slaughter for money.
That's what all of this comes down to. Money. Horses are sold because their owner can't take care of them anymore, horses are bought buy kill pens to be sold for meat, for money, horses are bred strictly for meat, for more money.
You make a difference by volunteering at a rescue, you can help by writing a letter to your local state representative, you can help your fellow neighbor if you see them struggling with their equines. Bringing a spot light on this atrocious killing, educating yourself and others - that is how you stop this. Anything and everything you do matters, it matters to me, it matters to our community, our clients, and most of all, it matters to our equines.
Please check out these links below on FAQs about horse slaughter industries, the SAFE (Safeguard America's Forgotten Equines) Act, and how to contact your representatives in support of humane equine existence.
