horses in ireland - are they being abandoned?

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aregona

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I'm just curious as a friend of mine has just been given a TB who is emaciated from someone who has bought a lorry load all in a similar condition here from Ireland. Is there a big problem over there?

From what I have been told there are lots and lots of horses being abandoned, is this true or Chinese whispers?
 
Sadly very true. 5 friends in the past 6 months have had horses dumped on them ranging from tb colts,8 year old irish draught gelding(ex hunter that was microchipped-owner didnt want it any more)3 cob mares-2 had foals a few weeks after been found. and many are dumped in fields,forestry and even abandoned in housing estates.

Only yesterday a friend "P" had 3 mini shetlands given to her for nothing. The man who bred them cant be bothered to have them over the winter as they take grazing space that would be preferable for his cattle.

At the moment there isnt an answer to solve the problem immediatly it would be a longterm plan needed.
A lot of the horses are quite literally rubbish-and dont take offence they really are. Badly bred with terrible conformation and all kinds of hereditary problems as they were also bred from rubbish!
There are many TBs just as in UK as the racing industry just continues to breed with no thought to the outome for these horses.
I look after a local dealers horses. Many are very nice quiet cob types that do find decent homes and many end up in UK. A large number end up on lorries to elswhere.
 
aregona said:
So are owners just dumping them once they have run out of money? And I'm guessing that there are many different breeds being dumped?
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They're not necessarily 'dumping' them (as in giving them away or letting them loose - although there's certainly more of that than has been usual in the past.) Some (not all!) Irish breeders have always been a bit casual about horses losing weight - "Ah - they'll put it back on in the Spring!" And - as the market has dropped - and they're overstocked - they're selling them cheap before they get any poorer!

But the big welfare problem is ex-racehorses - and low-end horses (poor quality cobs, trotters etc.) You won't find too many top class sport horses being 'given away'!
 
They get dumped for all kinds of reasons. Owner might not have grazing. Some have bought a Tb in summer sales and come winter realise it needs extra food.
All breeds getting dumped-Draught horses,cobs,TBs, connamaras,even rare Kerry bog ponies have been found by the welfare groups.Mares,geldings,colts young,old all kinds.
a big horse fair over here in October Ballinlasloe- which i visit every year.
Had 40 horses left on the green. They werent sold and the owners just left them. sadly many of them were removed by the pound and some were pts as there just isnt anywhere they could go.
the welfare homes over here are heaving with animals and not just old family ponies. Many are young and would be useful riding horses. the bay on the left of my sig-he was given to me as a foal when i looked after a neighbors horses.he needed a vet and they didnt want to pay for it so they gave him to me! they didnt realise id got the vet enroute to my house anyway! and Dave is now very healthy and a bit handsome(as most irish horses are!!)
But I have to decide if i take another connamara pony in as the guy owes me some money for looking after his horses-he cant pay me and offered me the pony!!
 
An Amnesty would be a good idea..both sides of the irish sea..whereby an organised cull was put into place..any unwanted/sick/injured animals were dispatched, taken away and rendered at a nominal fee to the "owner"..
it would solve the problem of them being "abandoned" or trawled round sales week after week.
 
nativeponies said:
An Amnesty would be a good idea..both sides of the irish sea..whereby an organised cull was put into place..any unwanted/sick/injured animals were dispatched, taken away and rendered at a nominal fee to the "owner"..
it would solve the problem of them being "abandoned" or trawled round sales week after week.
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I said the same thing to my farrier! who was a little shocked but I agree.
The problem also is a lot of animals geting dumped arent always sick or injured.
A local mart has a regular horse sale and 6 horses were left. One of which was a tb mare that foaled that night. These horses were taken to another sale to recoup money for the original marts loss in the ring from the fake buyers.
Tomorrow there is a foal sale. I know 3 local farmers taking foals to sell. All horrendously bred and yet they wont reach a price of about 50 euro- next week there is horse sale and yet again the batch of horses that no one wants.
The country is literally littered with hairy little black and white cobs and ponies that have been bred on the same scale as cattle,yet 70% will never be handled broken in or given a use. And these are the ones that are going to suffer.:mad:
 
Tharg said:
What a badly written article! I am not denying there is a problem but there are inaccuracies in that report.

Smithfield is not 'the' place to buy a horse.
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Maybe depends who you are? These guys probably won't be at Tattersalls or a decent auctioneers'. :o


I just caught a glimpse of that horrific image of a pile of burning cows from the Foot and Mouth epidemic (it was in the Guardian Weekend magazine). I'm wondering what effect the imagery of a horse and pony cull would have. Would that wake people here and in Ireland up to the realities of overbreeding and shoddy markets? :(
 
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