December 2005

Rescue Leagues and PMU Babies

I recently did a clinic where I met a lady who told me she worked for a rescue league. I don’t know what a rescue league means to most people but to me that means a place where abused animals, seized by the county or state, stay until suitable homes are found for them. As the conversation with this lady went on, I learned that there were over one hundred horses kept where she worked: unbroke to green-broke to well-schooled, young, old and everything in between.

At this clinic, I started three unbroke horses over the weekend. I told the owners of these three horses how important it is to tack these horses every day for the next 30 days. The weekend warriors get in trouble when they start a horse on their days off, go back to their job during the week and then expect to pick up where they left off come the following Saturday morning. Well, the horse is very likely going to protest about this and more often than not the nice horse you started the previous Saturday is going to be a resistant and unwilling partner. The lady from the rescue league mentioned that they had six 2 year olds that they were starting and there was no possible way that they could be there every day for the next month to tack those horses up. I told her they had no business breaking these horses to ride if they couldn’t commit to working with them consistently. This entire conversation started with someone asking about cold-backed, bucking horses. The biggest cause of cold-backed horses is the weekend warriors mentioned above. They start a horse over the weekend, let it sit all week and then tack it again the following Saturday. Every time you tack the horse on the weekends only, it’s like the first time again and ends up doing more harm to the horse than good.

I wanted to know a little more about this Rescue League with 100 horses. It turns out that this facility has Premarin (PMU) babies which made me ask whether these horses were bought to be re-sold or were they seized because of abuse or neglect? Her answer was that they were bought to be re-sold, at a profit. To me, this makes it not a Rescue League but rather a business to make money. I have personally been to facilities that have bought PMU babies to resell and have seen these horses standing knee-deep in mud fighting to get to a round bale. To me, theses horses need to be rescued from the Rescue League and the people running these facilities should go to jail for abuse, not be allowed to buy another load of horses. If you’re going to buy PMU babies to resell for a profit under the illusion that you’re rescuing them, at least be fair to the horses: don’t buy more than you can take care of or that the land you have can support. It’s for this reason that I’ve come to the conclusion that the PMU baby market is not a rescue mission but rather a means for people to make money. The words Rescue League have been taken out of focus and have evolved into a for-profit business. They advertise that the horses have been abused and need homes and in return they ask for a donation. After you make your donation they take the money, go to an auction and buy a horse that they feel looks bad. They buy the horse for $200 and adopt it out for $800: Rescue League or scam?

These places have volunteers with very little horse experience training Rescue League horses to make them "safe" for adoption. Theses PMU babies end up getting adopted out to first time horse owners who have no business owning un-broke, untrained horses. When this happens, the horses are more often abused than taken care of. Through a lack of knowledge on the new owners part, the horses become unruly and unmanageable over time and become a danger to their handlers.

Here’s my opinion of what a Rescue League should be:

Rescue League, with the county’s help, seizes abused animals

They do not buy horses at an auction for resale

They never take in more animals than their facility can support or that their staff can care for

I feel that if you establish a Rescue League, you should have a qualified trainer to assist and teach the volunteers to work with the horses to make them safe and adoptable in a reasonable amount of time. All money received in donations should go toward the care of the animals NOT towards buying animals at auction, NOT buying PMU babies and NOT buying mustangs. When donation money is used to buy animals, it’s no longer a Rescue League but is a business.

The moral of this story is, if you’re going to donate time or money to something called a Rescue League, first ask if they buy and sell horses. If the answer to that question is yes, it isn’t a Rescue League and I wouldn’t give money or time because the person running the organization is treating it as a business. Keep in mind that "adopt out for a fee" for a horse that they purchased means that the horse is being sold. However, if the horse was seized and was truly rescued from a bad situation, it is fair for them to ask for an adoption fee to cover the expenses involved in caring for that horse while it was at the rescue facility. There’s a fine line dividing non-profit and for-profit entities. A little bit of research on your part will point you towards the reputable facilities that are truly trying to help abused and neglected animals.

To contact Kenny, or to learn more about his schedule or training programs visit www.kennyharlow.com.

 

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