“The greatest deterrent
to freedom are men and women of zeal, well-meaning, but
without knowledge or understanding.”
~Justice Louis Brandeis~

"People are so quick to defend their own agendas, but they so often fail to realize we must protect the rights of all if we are to continue to have any rights of our own."
~Jenqu~


Ranch meaning, in general, any real world dwelling probably not involving full care board. Kind of a rural voice of real horse owners, trainers, traders, auction owners, rodeo contractors, etc.. all of us who have taken a verbal beating and called greedy ass hats. Back at the Ranch contributors, moderators, subjects, and so on, are pro-horse, pro-owner, and pro-slaughter.
Back at the Ranch was formed by a group of like minded horse / livestock owners. It is a place for us to try to educate, a place to vent our frustrations with the current equine industry, a place to share humor and snark, and in general try to open the eyes of the public who seem to be anti-agriculture.We do have a section for comments of course, and if you would like to email us you can do so directly or through the contact us form. We like to hear from our readers. I hope you enjoy reading our blog as much as I enjoy managing it.
Sincerely,
Ranch Manager
manager_back_at_the_ranch@yahoo.com

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

You Bet Your A$$

It’s All About the Money…..
The last two blogs combined a couple of subjects near and dear to me. Form to function conformation and the economic health of the horse industry. Even the World Conformation Horse Association is trying to figure out how to stop the flow of red ink going on in the horse industry. I’m not sure implementing a claiming system similar to racing for halter shows is the best answer. Raising horses that could hold up to any kind of serious riding would be my first suggestion, but it’s not my call. Now there’s an interesting sentence. It’s not my call. I don’t have the first interest in owning a halter horse so how they market them is “not my call”.
http://www.nptelegraph.com/articles/2011/01/16/news/40001280.txt One of our readers posted this link to an article in the North Platte, Nebraska newspaper. Tyson Larson, fresh from the Summit of the Horse meeting in Las Vegas, is proposing Nebraska pass a law making it a misdemeanor offense for a rescue to turn away horses. The HSUS and NAHSC think it’s mean spirited and narrow minded. We in the horse training, selling, and producing business look at it as, “Be careful what you wish for” crossed with “you saddled the bronc now ride it”. Both sides involved knew the proposed safety network to be provided by the rescues was underfunded and under qualified from the onset. Both knew the salvage price would drop out of the horse market. You bet your a$$ it’s all about the money. Both sides agreed on that. What they couldn’t agree on was the eventual cause and effect. We still can’t.
Nebraska had a slaughter house for many years. My limited research didn’t give me an exact date when Central Nebraska Pack stopped processing on site. Remember two blogs ago I mentioned the time thingey? The plant is still in business marketing USDA inspected horse meat under the trade name Nebraska Brand. Here’s the link http://www.nebraskabrand.com/ . I personally remember calling the plant for quotes in the late 90s. What was that about Nebraska not being familiar with the industry?
The people who remember the original export argument must be scratching their heads about how the HSUS warned everyone export for slaughter would be a problem BEFORE the plants were shuttered here. You bet your a$$ it’s about the money. The horse meat trade is still alive and well with absolutely no transparency in price to the horses and horsemen bearing the brunt of the cost. You bet your a$$ it’s all about the money.
“Cattle are not flight animals because they were raised for food”. Do you people make this up as you go along or what? It makes a nice fuzzy loop hole to run through so the HSUS funding population can continue to enjoy a guilt free meal and rant against horse slaughter. Care to consult Temple Grandin on that one? Oh no, that would require admitting she could be right about something and there goes the insult and conquer neighborhood. Don’t want to lose any supporters/donors by working with facts. You bet your a$$ it’s all about the money.
The true spirit of Glen Beck, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and the I’m smarter than all the people involved in this because I can bitch eloquently crowd is continued and celebrated at .http://madcowcafe.blogspot.com/ .It’s a cute little upstart blog filled with well written insults and not a practical or workable solution or suggestion in sight. I don’t know about Mad Cow, but for the others, bitching pays pretty darn well. You bet your a$$ it’s all about the money.
The last but not least “you bet your a$$ it’s all about the money” honorable mention for the day goes to….. http://www.horsetradertricks.com/ . I don’t even know where to begin on this one…..It’s a banquet. $ 200 horses available for the buying, the political incorrectness of buying a horse at the evil auction, the idea that horses repay kindness with kindness, and they are just waiting to love and serve all collide in one website. Reading this website I couldn’t really get a grip on who was more ignorant buyer or seller.
Personal favorites???? two child safe stallions advertised on two different rescue sights ….Child safe studs, SERIOUSLY??? Although neither of them are in any of this website’s horse trader stories they might give some insight as to how the things at http://www.horsetradertricks.com/ could work to start with.
Bottom line:
If you have a horse you like and could never think of sending to slaughter a responsible breeder that more than likely invested a good deal of thought and money in his parents.
If you didn’t own his dam at the time of foaling he was sold to you by someone hoping to get paid for owning him before you.
If you can ride, show, or do anything with him that he didn’t learn at your place someone somewhere trained him hoping to get paid either for the training or more for the trained horse than the untrained one.
You bet your a$$ it’s all about the money.

By RH 1

6 comments:

  1. http://abcnews.go.com/video/video?id=7266970

    You have to watch past the commercial, but Nebraska is the Happiest state.....HMMM not a surprise we "live within our means" unlike some "rescues" we know and "love". Thought more would like to see this, as the reason we are considered the Happiest is the low unemployment, which can be made even lower with the opening of more industries (like slaughter houses...*hint hint*).

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  2. I know I said previously I wouldn't commment but....I want to point out my own error. My proofreading skills leave to be desired when it's something I have written. Anyway best excuse I can come up with.

    YOU'RE should be YOUR. It is the pronoun not the contraction. So although people in the Heartland may be slightly illerate we are honest, hard working, and happy:).

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  3. I'm so sorry!! It may not have been your error. I was lazy and used a document editor, I think maybe the $$ in ass threw it for a loop lol. I have found that I do still have to use my own eyes and brain as it likes to change things on me that shouldn't be changed. Even if it was you error I should have caught it, I should have read it more closely after using spell check etc.. ...Again my apologies.

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  4. I couldn't get past the mad cow person comparing a summit on horse slaughter to the war. I wonder if that "person" knows how insulting that is to those who have family in the military. That just threw me for a loop. Every time I think people just can't get any more ignorant, well damned if they just don't go out and prove me wrong.

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  5. My son is career army. A friend of mine's sister and two nephews were murdered by an abusive live in boyfriend. It happened about 15 years ago. They were stabbed to death and the deaths went undiscovered to the point a closed funeral was the only option. She had repeatedly called the battered women's shelters in her city (Omaha) but they were full and turned her away. Both the madcow blog and Pacelle's comment comparing rescues to homeless shelters are insulting on a personal level. Thank you for seeing the point.

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  6. That's the problem with these people. They make these comparisons and don't even consider what they are actually saying in many cases. I agree slaughter is an issue we need to discuss, but to compare it with war????? I was floored.

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