From The Auction Block

February 2008

by Bill Addis

My last "From The Auction Block" newsletter regarding the closing down of the slaughter houses definitely stirred up some controversy.   It reminded me of the old Eagles song "Take it Easy."  There were some that wanted to "own me," some that wanted to "stone me" and some who were "friends of mine."  My intentions were to inform people of what I see from a business standpoint and, more directly, the market place at auction.  Normally we will have quite a few responses, but we were overwhelmed with the hundreds of responses on this touchy subject.

Actually, I had three people that wanted to hang me.  They felt that I was a hard-nosed, uncaring person with no feeling for the horse.  What they probably didn't know was that I was reading their email with our three Boston Terriers on my lap and our 11-year-old Boxer at my side.  One person quoted the Bible, stating that humans are not supposed to eat any animals without a split or cloven hoof.  Another sent me a letter from a group of Veterinarians that opposed the slaughter house because it was not a humane way to euthanize a horse.  One just let me know what a cold hearted son of ***** I am.

Then there were some stating that we need to get the slaughter houses reopened soon.  Almost all had true concerns of horses being sent to Mexico.  If anyone has seen the videos of the slaughter houses there, you would agree that it is gruesome.

There were emails stating that the breeders should be more responsible.  I totally agree with that theory.  The problem is, breeding can be controlled only if we have inspectors travel around and decide what horses are worthy or come up to a certain standard such as in the kuerings of Warmbloods in Europe.  Sometimes, here in the U.S., there are judges in a three judge system that can't all decide the winner in a two horse class so I'm not sure an inspection system would work.  Therefore, "responsible breeding" means you should be more selective.  I think a lot of breeders will take that "you" as meaning everyone else, certainly not them.

I read every single email.  I started to reply but, as slow as I type, it would have taken me days to answer all of them.  Here is what I gathered from all the correspondence...

Believe it or not, slaughter buyers today have so many horses to choose from, it is not very likely that they want to spend much time and money on an Arabian horse that does not weigh much more than 800 to 900 pounds when there are thousands of Thoroughbred and Quarter horses weighing 1100 to 1300 pounds.  Packers buy horses by the head and sell by the pound.  Also, most packing houses do not take grey colored horses because of the chance of cancer cells on the meat.  So, packer buyers never did have much use for an Arabian.

Overall, the general consensus was that something needs to be done about the bottom part of the horse industry.  If something is not done, we will see more and more cases of neglect, and the rescue farms are already full.  We will also see more cases of horses just dumped out like stray dogs.

I am just like most people.  I sit here and proclaim what you need to do and not what I need to do.  So, I went online and looked for Arabian horse rescue.  I found one that, after several years, closed their doors.  Maybe someone can put us on to one somewhere, but again, I could not find one that specialized in Arabians.  After my search, I had an idea of what I can do to maybe help somehow.

As most of you know, the Arabian horse population is dwindling.  Both AHA membership and also registrations have continued to dwindle since 1987.  AHA states that almost half of all Arabian horses that are still in the registry are over 20 years-old.  With that in mind, the Arabian horse population is going to see a continued downturn as with WWII veterans.  Many will die over the next few years.  The general consensus tells me that it costs from $200.00 to $500.00 to euthanize a horse and dispose of the body.  My wife Terry and I looked into forming a foundation to address this problem.  It is harder than you think to set up and maintain a non-profit trust.  So, Addis Equine Auctions, Inc. will set aside $500.00 from our March auction and $1000.00 from our August and November auctions in a special account.  Then if there is someone in the Arabian horse community that simply has their back to the wall and can't afford to humanely euthanize an Arabian horse and can provide us with an invoice from a licensed veterinarian, we will pay that bill directly to that veterinarian for euthanization and disposal.  We will require the original registration papers to send back to AHA to claim the horse deceased.  We will do this on a first come, first served basis.  While our plan won't solve the overall issue at hand right away, it will make a difference to those horses whose dignity we're able to save, and maybe other farms or companies in the horse industry will follow our lead, doing what they can to help even just one horse.

Best regards,

Bill Addis

Don't forget that cataloged consignments for the Tulsa auction should be mailed by February 8, 2008.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD CONSIGNMENT FORMS

Please Note:  Date of auction changed to

March 14th & 15th, 2008

at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds (the new home of the U.S. Arabian Nationals)

Late Consignments Welcomed