Horse Population in Ireland

Nulty

I got the local paper through the door the other day and the headline was concerning the levels of starving horses in the country, in particular the South of Dublin. I haven't got the paper here cause someone obviously threw it out but its quite apalling and disturbing that this is seemingly allowed to go on.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been a thread on it in this forum although I haven't checked the other horse/animal related forums. We really ought to bring some attention to the issue and maybe encourage people to take notice and provide a donation to the relevant charities.

It ought to be posted here because the numbers of horses, afaik, are directly attributed to the breeding of thoughbreds.

Anyone with more information (perhaps a mod :rolleyes:) or opinion should maybe post it here so more people are aware of the 'crisis'. I say crisis because thats what it seems to be.

I know this isnt anything new, its been a problem for a few years now but obviously nothing seems to be done about it. Lack of funding of these charities mean they havent got the resources. As a fan of horse racing and having developed a respect for the animal I feel an obligation to do something. I will investigate further and do what I can to help the concerned parties. I hope you feel the same.

Examiner 5 April

smartaform

Nulty wrote: »

I got the local paper through the door the other day and the headline was concerning the levels of starving horses in the country, in particular the South of Dublin. I haven't got the paper here cause someone obviously threw it out but its quite apalling and disturbing that this is seemingly allowed to go on.

I'm surprised that there hasn't been a thread on it in this forum although I haven't checked the other horse/animal related forums. We really ought to bring some attention to the issue and maybe encourage people to take notice and provide a donation to the relevant charities.

It ought to be posted here because the numbers of horses, afaik, are directly attributed to the breeding of thoughbreds.

Anyone with more information (perhaps a mod :rolleyes:) or opinion should maybe post it here so more people are aware of the 'crisis'. I say crisis because thats what it seems to be.

I know this isnt anything new, its been a problem for a few years now but obviously nothing seems to be done about it. Lack of funding of these charities mean they havent got the resources. As a fan of horse racing and having developed a respect for the animal I feel an obligation to do something. I will investigate further and do what I can to help the concerned parties. I hope you feel the same.

Examiner 5 April

It is getting quite bad in South Dublin and is very disturbing - i've had horses all my life and i still don't understand why people do these things.
However, the following point i'm a bit lost -
It ought to be posted here because the numbers of horses, afaik, are directly attributed to the breeding of thoughbreds.
There are plenty of breeds of horse and i don't see how the problem can be attributed to just the Racehorse/Thoroughbred alone - maybe i have misread it?

convert

I don't think it's fair to suggest that the high number of horses being abandoned is

directly attributed to the breeding of thoughbreds

.

While the breeding of high numbers of TBs hasn't helped, I think it's a little naive to believe it's the only causal factor. Welfare groups, such as the IHWT, specialise in just caring for horses and do a fantastic job in both re-schooling and rehoming TBs, as well as rehabilitating and caring for non-TBs, and have taken in a huge number of horses recently, one example being the 40 horses found in Kilkenny, the majority, if not all, of which, were not TBs.

I also think there are some individuals out there who have an agenda behind trying to blame the racing industry for the glut of horses in the country simply because they deem racing to be a 'cruel' sport and want it banned. If they can convince the wider population that racing is to blame for the over-population of horses in the country, then they may also be able to convince them that racing should be banned.

Now that's not to say that there aren't TBs who've been kept in less than ideal conditions, but the vast majority of horses which I've seen in poor condition are actually 'pleasure' (or non-TB) horses. The number of underweight ponies/horses I've seen brought to some competitions which is staggering. And the worst thing is that they're been ridden and then turned out into a bare paddock with little or no forage or hard feed... I've also seen what can only be described as herds of horses (non-TBs) turned out on bare paddocks with poor quality hay as their only source of food.

I've no objection to horses being wintered out or kept out 24/7, but if that's the case the owners need to take better responsibility for them and ensure they have adequate feed for them when growth is minimal.


The topic of 'horse welfare' has been discussed on-and-off on the Equestrian forum, one example of which can be found here.

Nulty

convert wrote: »

I don't think it's fair to suggest that the high number of horses being abandoned is .

While the breeding of high numbers of TBs hasn't helped, I think it's a little naive to believe it's the only causal factor. Welfare groups, such as the IHWT, specialise in just caring for horses and do a fantastic job in both re-schooling and rehoming TBs, as well as rehabilitating and caring for non-TBs, and have taken in a huge number of horses recently, one example being the 40 horses found in Kilkenny, the majority, if not all, of which, were not TBs.

I also think there are some individuals out there who have an agenda behind trying to blame the racing industry for the glut of horses in the country simply because they deem racing to be a 'cruel' sport and want it banned. If they can convince the wider population that racing is to blame for the over-population of horses in the country, then they may also be able to convince them that racing should be banned.

Now that's not to say that there aren't TBs who've been kept in less than ideal conditions, but the vast majority of horses which I've seen in poor condition are actually 'pleasure' (or non-TB) horses. The number of underweight ponies/horses I've seen brought to some competitions which is staggering. And the worst thing is that they're been ridden and then turned out into a bare paddock with little or no forage or hard feed... I've also seen what can only be described as herds of horses (non-TBs) turned out on bare paddocks with poor quality hay as their only source of food.

I've no objection to horses being wintered out or kept out 24/7, but if that's the case the owners need to take better responsibility for them and ensure they have adequate feed for them when growth is minimal.


The topic of 'horse welfare' has been discussed on-and-off on the Equestrian forum, one example of which can be found here.

Ok, you guys would know more about it than I would. I am still concerned about the situation. If thats the case then perhaps this forum wasn't the best place to post my concerns. The problem is still hitting headlines after what seems to be 3 years of an bad problem (epidemic ?)

Like I said, I feel like I ought to try make people more aware of the issue because its not like a horse can catch mice to feed them selves. They rely on people more than dogs etc. dont they?

Anyway, thanks for the responses and I hope you guys are doing what ever you can to help the situation, considering your close relationship with horses.

Thanks for listening

smartaform

No worries Nulty...

It is an epidemic i agree, but officials need to stress the levels of ALL horses involved in the abandonement issue... NOT just racehorses so the activists can have a field day

Nulty

Well, before I started following horse racing I wouldn't have known a thing about horses. Considering I get so much enjoyment from them now I feel like I should care about the current tradgic circumstances the horses, regardless of pedigree, are in at the moment.

I sent that e-mail to the DSPCA but still haven't got a reply...they're news section was last updated in Jan '09 on their site :mad:

Can you guys recommend any way people like myself can do anything to help the situation, apart from throw money at it? I'm going to call the DSPCA tomorrow...hopefully someone will pick up the phone!

TBF, all your posts have refered to is defending the racing industry - not actually suggesting how the situation actually developed in the first place or even your ideas on how it can be resolved. That would be a much more useful line of discussion.

Huntthe

How it developed is easy enough. When people had money every dog and divil in he country wanted a horse of some description. Now people are broke, the horses are being neglected.

These horses need to be culled but horse meat is not commercially viable enough for the abatoirs to increase their operations to cope with the no.s.

convert

What about volunteering for the Irish Horse Welfare Trust who specialise in the welfare of horses? Or at the very least contact them and see if they could advise you on something you could do to help or raise the profile of the necessity of horse welfare which wouldn't require 'throwing money at it'.

As for the direction of the thread, you posted and people responded. You're in the horse racing forum, so obviously people will respond with a focus on the industry. If you posted in the equestrain forum you'd probably have a focus on the 'pleasure horse' industry, while posting in the Animal and Pet Issues forum will throw up everything and anything.

You can't dictate to posters what focus the thread should take just because people aren't posting the way you want them too.

smartaform

convert wrote: »

What about volunteering for the Irish Horse Welfare Trust who specialise in the welfare of horses? Or at the very least contact them and see if they could advise you on something you could do to help or raise the profile of the necessity of horse welfare which wouldn't require 'throwing money at it'.

As for the direction of the thread, you posted and people responded. You're in the horse racing forum, so obviously people will respond with a focus on the industry. If you posted in the equestrain forum you'd probably have a focus on the 'pleasure horse' industry, while posting in the Animal and Pet Issues forum will throw up everything and anything.

You can't dictate to posters what focus the thread should take just because people aren't posting the way you want them too.

Easy tiger :D:D
I blame the media for writing the TB's were the main problems.

On a seperate note regarding the associations/trusts/groups, i've found they never answer the phone or reply to emails. I've tried to 'adopt' a horse or 2 to have as company for my TB AND of course to improve the neglected horses lifestyle AND GOT NOWHERE.

Nulty do you have land???

convert

smartaform wrote: »

On a seperate note regarding the associations/trusts/groups, i've found they never answer the phone or reply to emails. I've tried to 'adopt' a horse or 2 to have as company for my TB AND of course to improve the neglected horses lifestyle AND GOT NOWHERE.

I've heard rumours about rescues not answering phones/replying to emails, but until you I'd not come across anyone who had personal experience of it. It might be due to the shortage of staff? Though apart from calling into them I'm not sure how one would be guaranteed of actually talking to them personally.

Nulty

I know what your trying to say Convert but I had already conceeded that the blame doesnt lie with the racing industry. In fairness, the topic of the thread was the horse population in ireland. I posted here with no experience other than reading the stories in the news.

Having corrected myself, I tried to keep the thread on topic. I would start the thread in the equestrian forum but I cant turn back time and I'm not allowed cross-post.

I didnt come on here with steadfast opinions. I post in this forum all the time and expected to find someone who knew more about the issue than I. As I have been corrected, the topic of the thread is about the welfare of horses in Ireland. Its relevance to this forum, as it has subsequently developed, is that the racing industry is widely blamed for this but maybe more should be done to correct this misconception on a wider scale?

This is the kind of thread that develops its own topic. I've gone on about this too long so forget it.

I dont own land. I live in South Dublin but no land. I realise that really does limit my ability to contribute....

convert

Nulty wrote: »

I know what your trying to say Convert but I had already conceeded that the blame doesnt lie with the racing industry. In fairness, the topic of the thread was the horse population in ireland. I posted here with no experience other than reading the stories in the news.

Having corrected myself, I tried to keep the thread on topic. I would start the thread in the equestrian forum but I cant turn back time and I'm not allowed cross-post.

This is the kind of thread that develops its own topic. I've gone on about this too long so forget it.

Ok, I think maybe I mis-interpreted your previous posts... Sorry...

I dont own land. I live in South Dublin but no land. I realise that really does limit my ability to contribute....

While it obviously means that you can't 'rescue' a horse and keep it on your property, it doesn't overly limit your ability to contribute positively to horse welfare. Volunteering at a rescue is worth a lot, even though it may seem a really small thing.

I didnt come on here with steadfast opinions. I post in this forum all the time and expected to find someone who knew more about the issue than I. As I have been corrected, the topic of the thread is about the welfare of horses in Ireland. Its relevance to this forum, as it has subsequently developed, is that the racing industry is widely blamed for this but maybe more should be done to correct this misconception on a wider scale?

The problem is that some welfare groups who promote animal welfare do not support horse racing and so put forward a negative image of the horse racing industry and how those involved don't care for the horses well. A number of trainers have been reported by such groups for (allegedly) mistreating horses in their yards, with accusations varying from not rugging up horses when they're out in a paddock/field to not having sufficient stabling for all horses to more serious accusations. I heard of one trainer who was fined by the inspector for not having rugs on their horses who were turned out during the day.

With people in 'power' targeting trainers like that simply because they don't agree with racing, it's very difficult to try and start countering the misconception without being accused of trying to defend a 'cruel' sport... A lot of people would be happy for the industry to take the blame rather than highlight the poor issues in which non TB horses are kept in the country simply because 'pleasure' horses are, apparently, not put at the same risk/in the same danger as race horses.

convert

Hi Nulty,

Did you hear back from either the DSPCA or the IHWT yet? How did you get on?

Nulty

convert wrote: »

Hi Nulty,

Did you hear back from either the DSPCA or the IHWT yet? How did you get on?

No Convert....I dont know what the hell they're at. Maybe they're so run off their feet they dont have anyone to answer the phone/reply to emails. The same situation in the Social Welfare office in Dun Laoghaire as it happens..

I have an idea though - for fundraising.

Im a beginner web designer and I need to build a portfolio. I'm thinking of building some websites in return for a €100 donation to the IHWT. Web sites are generally way more expensve than €100 but i figure, I'll get experience/portfolio, the client gets a website and I help the horses at the same time.

That all came from wearing my thinking hat - now I have to find my doing hat!