Articles

 

Horses Suffer, Owners Struggle With Soaring Feed Prices

Maryann Mott

For National Geographic

September 8, 2008

 

Every day Elle Williams turns away people wanting to give up their horses to her rescue facility outside of Baltimore, Maryland.

"It saddens me to have to do that," she said.

Williams, who founded HorseNet, an volunteer rescue group, is struggling to care for a hundred unwanted, elderly, and disabled horses. And the economy is largely to blame, she said.

Soaring hay prices, combined with plummeting donations and adoptions, are putting a strain on Williams and other horse sanctuaries around the country.

"It's a vicious cycle with the horses caught in the middle," she said.

Of the nine million horses in the United States, more than half are used for showing and recreational purposes.

Horses live 20 years or longer and are relatively cheap to purchase but pricey to own, costing U.S. $500 per month in some areas for boarding and food alone.

"There are a lot of people who find themselves in a situation where their horses are being somewhat neglected and they wish they had the means to do otherwise," said Julie Bertani, executive director of the Ohio Coalition for Animals.

"But," she added, "if it's a choice of putting food on the table, or food in the stable, you can guess which one they're going to choose."


Hay Market

Since last year, hay prices jumped U.S. $35 or more a ton in Western states including California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

Alfalfa hay, for example, costs U.S. $210 a ton in Phoenix, Arizona, enough to feed one horse for about three months.

"It's become a major expense, especially if you have multiple horses," said hay farmer Kevin Rogers.

Rising fuel and fertilizer prices, plus bad weather, are contributing to skyrocketing feed prices, he explained.

Rogers runs a 7,000-acre (92,830-hectare) alfalfa-hay operation in Scottsdale, Arizona, that sells to horse owners and stables. Because of rising costs, he said, some of his customers want to sell their horses or find them new homes.

The American Horse Council, an association representing the horse industry, plans to begin a study in the next few weeks to determine how the economy is impacting horse ownership around the country.

In the meantime, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has established an emergency hay fund for rescue groups.

And in Ohio—a state with more than 300,000 horses—proceeds from a new specialty license plate that became available last week will help financially strapped sanctuaries and horse owners pay for feed and other expenses.

Wild Horses Not Spared

Even the U.S. government's Wild Horse and Burro Program is feeling the pinch.

Some 30,000 animals removed from Western rangelands and kept in holding facilities are currently being cared for by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) program.

This year, holding costs will exceed $26 million—about three-fourths of the BLM's entire 2008 budget.

The federal agency said its costs are spiraling out of control and are preventing it from successfully running other parts of its wild-horse program.

Adding to the problem is a declining adoption rate due to higher fuel and feed prices, said BLM spokesperson Tom Gorey.

Fewer than 4,700 wild horses will be placed in new homes this year, he said.

Rescuing the Rescuers

Williams of HorseNet rescue is experiencing a double whammy. Not only is there a drop in new adoptions, but previously placed horses are being returned.

"I have a lot of people who are calling me," she said. "They just can't afford to keep their horses anymore, and they're sending them back."

In Northern California, however, the Heart of the Redwoods Horse Rescue program near Eureka is trying a new approach: Instead of taking in every unwanted horse, it's giving owners the resources and education they need to keep their animals or find them new homes.

Shifting the burden back on the owner is working well, said Heart of the Redwoods board member Sara Isaacson.

Even so, the group still receives phone calls from cash-strapped owners threatening to shoot their horses if the rescue won't take them. They also get calls from people in neighboring states who are looking hundreds of miles away for a sanctuary that isn't full.

"People are willing to ship their horses to us if we'll just take them," Isaacson said.

Maryann Mott is a pet writer based in Arizona.