Horse group helps children deal with having parents in the military

Kelly Bechtel guides a horse around obstacles July 5 at Horses4Heroes' Diamond K Ranch, 4837 N. Monte Cristo Way. Kelly, 7, has participated in Horses4Heroes activities since her father, Matt, was deployed to Iraq in 2010.

Posted  July 15, 2013 - 2:34pm  As posted on Las Vegas Review-Journal

By JAMES DEHAVEN

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Matt Bechtel’s deployment to Iraq was harder on his oldest daughter Kelly than it was on him.

What made it easier on both was, of all things, horses, and Horses4Heroes, the Centennial Hills-based nonprofit that helped connect 7-year-old Kelly with dozens of daughters whose dads had been sent overseas.

“She was having a lot of issues,” said Kelly’s mother, Allison Bechtel. “She was obsessed with horses, even before we found out about (Horses4Heroes), so we would go every week, and it just helped keep her mind off Daddy being gone.”

Kelly has since enlisted in free group rides, horse shows and the organization’s Christmas and summer camps.

By the time he got back in 2011, Matt Bechtel realized he had some catching up to do.

Never a fan of horses — “They kick too much” — the Colorado native now sports a closet full of Horses4Heroes T-shirts and can be found mucking stalls on weekends.

“Last year, we were trying to do camps, but we weren’t really in the best spot to pay for them,” the 24-year-old helicopter mechanic said. “The reason I started becoming really active is because they wanted Kelly there, anyway.

“They care more about the members than whether or not you can pay. Nowadays, I just do what I can — feeding horses, watering them, mucking stalls, whatever I can.”

Bechtel credits the hard work of Horses4Heroes founder Sydney Knott for his daughter’s rapid improvement during his deployment.

Knott, for her part, is having none of it. She sees the arrangement as mutually therapeutic.

“Horses react to the people; people react to the horses,” she said. “You take at-risk horses up for slaughter, and you take these veterans — some of whom don’t know what to do when they get back, some of whom have (post-traumatic stress disorder) — and they find comfort in each in each other, a kind of therapy. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it happens every day.”

The organization, founded by Knott and her three daughters in 2006, has grown to 250 locations across 44 U.S. states and Canada.

At a local level, it’s still more or less a one-woman operation, with Knott and her family tackling coordination of monthlong empowerment workshops for returning veterans and weekly horseback rides for stay-at-home military moms.

The effort is not lost on the Bechtels, who lauded the organization’s willingness to offer those programs for free and deeply discounted prices for veterans who can’t always afford the help.

For Knott, the couple’s participation has been thanks enough.

“We live in a community where 35,000 people work at Nellis Air Force Base alone,” she said. “We thought we’d just stop and say thank you.”

Horses4Heroes, 4837 N. Monte Cristo Way, coordinates or contributes to more than a dozen equestrian programs for active-duty military personnel, veterans, first responders, critical care and hospice nurses, special education teachers and their families.

For more information, call 702-645-8446 or visit horses4heroes.org.

Meet the Horses Who Play "Silver" in the Lone Ranger Movie

Meet the horses who play "Silver" in the Lone Ranger movie.  ~Declan

Hi Ho, Silver! 'Lone Ranger' star horse hails from Woodstock farm

Friday, July 05, 2013     As posted on WLS-TV Chicago

Phoebe is an all-white thoroughbred cast as "Silver." She was discovered two years ago at the Valley View Acres horse farm in Woodstock as plans for the film got underway. (WLS Photo)  

July 5, 2013 (WOODSTOCK, Ill.) (WLS) -- One of the stars of the new movie "The Lone Ranger" used to live just outside Chicago before she went Hollywood.

Phoebe is an all-white thoroughbred cast as "Silver." She was discovered two years ago at the Valley View Acres horse farm in Woodstock as plans for the film got underway.

Phoebe is one of five horses used in various scenes and her specialty is jumping. Phoebe can leap four and a half feet.

She's seven years old, and trained at Arlington Park and Hawthorne, but apparently, she spooked the other horses because of her color.

HI-YO SILVER! TWO WHITE THOROUGHBREDS STAR IN DISNEY’S ‘THE LONE RANGER’

by Press Release | 06.26.2013 | 9:53am

As posted on Paulick Report

Cloud Ten and White Pharaoh, stars of Disney's The Lone Ranger

Blazing Colours Farm, a Wellandport, Ontario-based equestrian center and breeding facility, announced today that two white thoroughbred horses bred at Blazing Colours Farm and sold to Walt Disney Productions in 2011 will be starring in Disney’s new movie, “The Lone Ranger”. The movie, starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, debuts in theaters on July 3, 2013.

April Wayenberg, founder and owner of Blazing Colours Farm, said that she was approached by one of the head “wranglers” for the movie in May of 2011. The wrangler, who was responsible for selecting and training the horses appearing in the film, did visit the Farm in person soon thereafter and made the decision to purchase the two white thoroughbreds born and raised at Blazing Colours Farm for use in “The Lone Ranger.”

The horses purchased were Cloud Ten (a 6 year old stallion) and White Pharaoh (a 4 year old gelding). “The two horses looked liked twins and most people could not tell them apart, so the wrangler thought they would make great body doubles for each other in the movie,” said April Wayenberg.

A total of 4 white horses were used during production of The Lone Ranger, including the two Canadian-bred horses from Ontario. Both horses were born and raised at Blazing Colours Farm and sired by the stallion Sato, who is also owned by Blazing Colours.   Sato is famous in his own right, as he was immortalized as a Breyer horse model in 2010 due to the fact that he is a rare Palomino Pinto Thoroughbred and the first one ever born in the world. Both Sato and Cloud Ten were also photographed and featured in “Horses in Living Color”, a book published in 2010 by renowned equine photographer Barbara Livingston.

Cloud Ten made headlines in several newspapers when he was born in 2005 because he was the FIRST white Thoroughbred to ever be foaled on Canadian soil. At that time there were only about 20 white Thoroughbreds every registered by The Jockey Club out of a total of nearly 2.5 million Thoroughbreds on record, which made Cloud Ten quite a rarity.

Cloud Ten and White Pharaoh were chosen for the movie for their colour, size, temperament, athleticism and trainability, according to the Disney wrangler, all traits that Blazing Colours Farm is known for producing in their horses.

It All Began With a Strange Phone Call

Farm founder April Wayenberg recalls her first phone conversation with Disney’s  head wrangler.

“He told me his name, said he was interested in a couple of my horses but didn’t tell me who he was or why he was calling,” says Wayenberg. “He asked me several questions about them which were normal and then he asked me whether their manes would grow long and if they had ever heard gunfire.  At that point, I thought, this is sort of odd and I wondered if he might be off his rocker and just wasting my time, because of course their hair would grow, and why would he care about that anyway? And gunfire — what was that all about?  But I was polite and answered all his questions, including the odd ones, because it’s really impossible to tell a serious buyer from a ‘tire kicker’ during one phone conversation.  I had no idea he was shopping for horses to star in a movie, let alone a Disney movie, until a few conversations later, which then explained some of the odd questions at the beginning.”

Wayenberg said that Disney discovered Blazing Colours Farm and its white horses because White Pharaoh was being advertised for sale and the wrangler had seen a YouTube video of him that Wayenberg had produced. Cloud Ten was actually not for sale at the time, but was discussed because he also fit the bill of what the producers were looking for. White Pharaoh was purchased first and later an agreement was made to purchase Cloud Ten as well.

It’s A Family Affair!

April Wayenberg noted that Cloud Ten had two sons, both of which are white, that were born and still reside at Blazing Colours Farm.  The future plans for these two white stallions include becoming driving horses to be hired by the public to do weddings and other special events.  They will be available for booking events starting in early 2014.  Blazing Colours Farm also retained frozen semen from Cloud Ten to be used and sold after The Lone Ranger is released.

“Because we have frozen semen from Cloud Ten available, it’s possible for anyone out there to have their very own offspring from “Silver” that starred in The Lone Ranger movie,” she says.

Was it difficult seeing here two horses leave the Farm?

“It was very tough,” says Wayenberg. “When you breed and raise a horse for a number of years they become part of the family. But at the same time it was tremendously exciting to know that they were going to be immortalized as part of movie history. I grew up watching The Lone Ranger and Mr. Ed, and I know the impact that movies and television can have on millions of people who watch them. So, for horses that I bred and raised and trained to be used in a remake of a movie on a scale like this is such an honor and something that I will cherish for the rest of my life.”

April says she is eagerly anticipating the movie’s July 3 debut. “I will be there, that’s for sure!” she says. “And I’m sure that everyone from Blazing Colours Farm will be going with me. We plan to make a big night of it.”

A local horse stars in the movie "The Lone Ranger"

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Reporter: Mychaela Bruner
Photographer: David Dycus

Story Created: Mon Jul 8, 2013 5:39 PM

Story Updated: Fri Jul 12, 2013 7:11 PM 

As Posted on WPSD Local 6

FAIRDEALING, Ky—A local celebrity made its debut in the Disney movie "The Lone Ranger" over the holiday weekend. But, this celebrity may not be the character you are thinking of. This special character has four legs and was quite the actor. Arctic Bright View is one of several horses that portrays the horse, Silver, in "The Lone Ranger."

Paul and Berva Megson own Arctic Bright View and said he is special in so many ways. They said the horse has changed their lives and they were so excited when he finally returned home from the movie. Paul Megson has been training horses for as long as he can remember. Megson said, "The horse business is something you have to love, if you love it, then it's not work."

Megson owns about 24 white horses and has a close relationship with all of them. Megson said, "This is probably the largest herd of white registered thoroughbreds in the world." He said millions of thoroughbreds are registered in the world, but less than 100 horses are registered white.

Megson never thought owning these rare horses could change his life. "When they came knocking and wanted to use Arctic Bright View, I mean obviously we were humbled by the fact that they wanted to use our horse...When the movie situation came along, we realized there was quite an opportunity to do something else besides raise horses," said Megson.

Disney offered to buy the horse for the movie "The Lone Ranger," but Megson agreed to only lease Bright Arctic View because he could not imagine selling the horse his daughter, Valerie, fell in love with.

Valerie Rowe said, "I had no idea what this horse would be now, and when he bought it I was in tears. I was crying. It was one of the best moments in my life."

Arctic Bright View's owners said it is not only the tricks and stunts that make him so special. Rowe said, "Me and the horse have a special relationship I feel like, every time I come up to it, he puts his nose up to me and I kiss it,"

This special horse is not only a celebrity, but also a girl's best friend. Rowe said, "It makes me feel like the luckiest girl in the world... I was itty-bitty at the time when I first saw the horse and it was pure white. It was the most beautiful horse I'd seen in my entire life and I asked my dad and was like this is the horse I want, this is mine."

Arctic Bright View is currently in Ohio at The Cedar Brook Farm standing stud. He will return to the farm in Fairdealing at the end of July. Megson said he does not expect Arctic Bright View to star in another movie, but he said you never know what the future may bring.

White horses are a genetic anomaly. Megson said Arctic Bright View has a dominant white gene and that is what gives him his solid, bright color. Megson said researchers at the University of California, Davis have been studying this dominant white gene for quite some time.

Nebraska rancher's horse takes starring turn in 'Lone Ranger'

Courtesy photo

Leroy, ridden by K.C. Peterson, was one of six horses to play Silver in the summer film "The Lone Ranger."

July 10, 2013 11:45 pm  •  By CORY MATTESON / Lincoln Journal Star

He was the only dark-eyed, completely white registered Quarter Horse that K.C. Peterson had ever seen, and the Nebraska rancher had to have him.

He bought him about nine years ago and broke him to ride. He didn’t spook easy, or much at all. Just about anyone can look good on Leroy.

“If you can’t ride Leroy, go ride one in front of Kmart,” Peterson said.

The horse's look, his size (about 16 hands) and his demeanor made Peterson all the more confident when he rode his prized animal over, leaned into his ear and frequently told it, “Someday, Leroy, I’m gonna get you in the movies.”

Peterson had a particular movie in mind -- “The Lone Ranger” -- and a particular role:  Silver. And he has about 35 years of experience providing livestock to Hollywood productions.

His horses rode in “Cowboys and Aliens.” He provided a pair of steers, Willie and Waylon, for “Far and Away,” “Maverick” and a few Marlboro ads.

Peterson doubled as Robert Redford on “The Horse Whisperer” and was featured in a 1973 Robert Duvall-directed documentary about his trick-riding family, “We’re Not the Jet Set.” His brother and sister both work in the film industry, and combined you can connect a Peterson to a western movie about as easily as you can link Susan Sarandon to Kevin Bacon.

When told that Matt Damon showed up in Lincoln Wednesday, Peterson thought back to a shoot in 1992, when he wrangled horses and provided livestock for “Geronimo: An American Legend,” one of Damon’s early roles.

“Arm wrestled him in a bar,” Peterson said on a crackly phone call from the Otter Creek Ranch, just north of Lake McConaughy. “Right-handed. He beat me, too. I said, ‘You wanna go left?’”

He recalled that Damon took horseback training seriously while filming in Utah.

“Learned how to ride real good," he said.

Peterson had a similar glowing review of Armie Hammer, who played the Lone Ranger, and rode Leroy for a good portion of the shoot.

For years, Peterson had a hunch that Hollywood would one day remake the radio and TV serials, so he sought out a horse that looked like Silver in the event that a “Lone Ranger” movie would ever come down the pipeline.

It did, and Peterson contacted Bobby Lovgren, the head horse trainer for “The Lone Ranger,” whom Peterson knew from previous shoots, and told him about Leroy.

“I sent him pictures,” Peterson said. “He said, ‘When can you have him here?’”

In early 2012, he brought Leroy, along with teams of mules, teams of horses and wagons from the western Nebraska ranch to the shoot. Much of the filming took place near Albuquerque, N.M., where the film crew laid down about seven miles of railroad track, brought two steam engines and built a Wild West environ.

There, Peterson said, Leroy served as the horse often used when actors were shot riding Silver. Leroy, Peterson said, is what they call the main cast horse on set.

Another white horse, whose actual name is Silver, has been getting plenty of pub for the stunts and mugging it did that are featured throughout the movie. And there was a stable full of Silvers on set. But Leroy was the only one that would run close to the trains, Peterson said. If you watch the movie, you'll notice the difference between him and the others. He's the biggest, jowliest one.

Early in the shoot, Peterson watched as Hammer and Johnny Depp, who plays Tonto, filmed a scene in which they dashed across a stretch of desert on horseback. Peterson said Depp “tilted over like a little kid,” and then fell off his horse, which could have torpedoed the movie, and seriously injured or killed Depp. He escaped with just bruises.

“They got very lucky,” Peterson said.

The reviews and receipts of “The Lone Ranger” have been less fortunate. Peterson hasn’t seen the movie yet, but doesn't take it personally when one that he worked on fails to set the box office on fire. He hoped there would be a sequel, but Peterson said he's got plenty of work to do on the 18,000 acres he manages until Hollywood calls again.

Elderly donkey Mimosa latches on to opening gates

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Jul 10, 2013 in Focus

Mimosa the donkey, at 34, is living proof that you’re never too old to learn new tricks.

Mimosa, who is in the care of the Donkey Sanctuary in Britain, recently discovered how to unlock latched gates.

Not surprisingly, her talents quickly extended to opening the door of the feed room.

Mimosa is caught in the act.

It is a talent she has been putting to good use around Paccombe Farm, where she lives with her donkey friends.

Even her failing eyesight is no hindrance in latching on to latch and working her magic.

“We don’t really know how she developed the talent of opening gates,” her groom, Kate, reports.

“It took us a while to realise who was doing it as we didn’t catch her in the act for a while!

“She is also very clever at opening stable doors and can even open the door to the feed room.

“We had to move the door handle up high so she couldn’t get in.

“Mimosa is such a character and we all love her dearly.”

Mimosa is one of the sanctuary’s older residents. She will enjoy a loving home with The Donkey Sanctuary for the rest of her life.

Horse Slaughter Approval "Ignores Environmental Worries"

Slaughter approval “ignores environmental worries”

By Horsetalk.co.nz on Jul 11, 2013 in Focus

Horses held in export pens before transported for slaughter. © Kathy Milani/The HSUS

The US Department of Agriculture is embarking on a nationwide program of horse slaughter without regard to environmental or human health concerns, horse advocates claim in a lawsuit.

Front Range Equine Rescue, the Humane Society of the United States and others have filed an action against Secretary for Agriculture Tom Vilsack, Under Secretary for Food Elizabeth Hagen and the administrator for the Food Safety and Inspection Service Alfred Almanza.

The action, in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, centers on the decision by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow federal inspections of horse slaughter plants, which brings the reopening of such plants on US soil a step closer.

The USDA has granted approval for two plants so far, saying it is bound by law to do so if all conditions are met.

The action by the plaintiffs seeks an injunction against the USDA in granting the plant approvals.

The complaint states: “Defendants are embarking on a nationwide program of horse slaughter that presents clear threats to the environment without complying with Congressionally mandated requirements intended to protect the public and our natural resources.

“The slaughter of American horses for human consumption presents unique and extensive dangers that have never been adequately considered by [the] defendants, despite their obligations under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

“Plaintiffs are filing this action because defendants are proceeding with the inspection of horses under the Federal Meat Inspection Act without compliance with their federally mandated environmental review obligations.”

The complaint continues: “Americans do not intend their horses to end up as meat, as American captive and wild horses are not treated by their original owners as food animals.

“Because they are not raised in regulated industries conscious of public health and safety concerns, but rather in private homes, on racetracks, and as working animals, serious environmental issues arise if they are slaughtered for human food.

“Almost all American horses are given a wide variety of drugs and other substances that render their blood and tissue contaminated and dangerous to consume.

“The discard of the byproducts of horse slaughter thus poses a serious public health risk when such adulterated tissue and blood, and the wastewater from slaughter, seep into the ground and water supply.”

The plaintiffs noted that about 80 percent of Americans surveyed opposed horse slaughter for human consumption.

Horse slaughter, they argued, was particularly detrimental to the human environment.

“The last three American slaughterhouses … were shut down in 2007. Every one of these operations wreaked environmental havoc by dumping blood, entrails, urine, feces, heads and hooves into local water systems, overwhelming local wastewater infrastructure and causing numerous environmental violations.”

The plaintiffs warned that, since the USDA was approving a horse slaughter facility for the first time since the 2007 shutdown of the industry, the manner in which it granted any such approval would likely establish a precedent for how it handled further slaughter inspection applications.

“Horse slaughter’s impacts on local, national and even international human environments is highly controversial,” the plaintiffs said, noting, among other matters, the recent horse-meat contamination scandal that affected Europe.

“Approval of horse slaughter inspections threatens a violation of federal, state and local environemtnal laws, because past horse slaughter facilities repeatedly and brazenly violated local laws pertaining to waste management and air and water quality, costing host communities large sums of money to seek compliance and remedy environmental harms, and because of the special dangers inherent in horse meat.”

The plaintiffs argue that granting federal inspections without a NEPA review is wrong and asked the court to set the approvals aside.

The plaintiffs in the case are Front Range Equine Rescue, the Humane Society of the United States, Marin Humane Society, the Horses for Life Foundation, Return to Freedom, Ramona Cordova, Krystle Smith, Cassie Gross, Deborah Trahan, and Barbara Sink.

The attorney for the plaintiffs is Bruce Wagman.

Congratulations Lusco!  ~Declan

Andalusian Lusco named therapy horse of the year

By Contributor on Jul 09, 2013 in Focus  As posted on Horsetalk.co.nz

Lusco at work at Ride On. © Tess Olnick

A 19-year-old Andalusian gelding has been named the American Hippotherapy Association Horse of the Year for 2013.

Lusco, who is registered with the International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association (IALHA), works in Therapy Services at Ride On in Chatsworth, California.

Lusco

The award, sponsored by American Hippotherapy Association (AHA) and the American Quarter Horse Association, was earned by Lusco for being an excellent example of an equine professional working in hippotherapy. Lusco was one of 10 finalists nationwide for this prestigious award, which was presented at the recent AHA national conference in St Louis, Missouri.

Lusco has been the equine member of many therapy teams at Ride On, providing equine movement and sensory input for patients of all ages and disabilities for more than a decade. He was donated to Ride On by Riitta Saada as a 5 year old.

The Horse of the Year award was established by, and named for, Barbara Heine, a physical therapist, AHA faculty member and horse trainer, who provided and taught about hippotherapy in the US and Internationally. She was a champion of developing excellent performance in therapy horses.

When she taught at Ride On, she recognized the unique qualities that Lusco demonstrated and chose him for teaching demonstrations. He has since taught many therapists new to using hippotherapy what they should look for in a hippotherapy horse.

Lusco performs many roles at Ride On.  His job as a hippotherapy horse is unsurpassed, and his willingness, his correctness, his timing and accuracy all represent what an excellent therapy horse should be.

Ride On will be celebrating Lusco’s award on Friday, August 16, at the San Fernando Valley ranch.

Reporting: Cynthia Spanhel / via USEF

More information: contact Joann Benjamin at joann@rideon.org or sara@rideon.org.

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New Therapy Saves Horses, Can It Help People Too?

This is so cool.  Laser tech is really interesting! ~Declan

New therapy saves horses, can it help people too?

Posted: May 20, 2013 9:20 PM EDT Updated: May 20, 2013 9:20 PM EDT

Video Report By Marcella Lee, Anchor/Repoter  As posted on KFMB Channel 8

CARLSBAD (CBS 8) - Veterinarians are calling it a miracle, a new form of laser therapy that is saving the lives of injured horses.

A company in Carlsbad is the first, to introduce the remarkable technology to the United States.
In this video report, News 8's Marcella Lee has more on the dramatic results of the very first horse to be treated.

San Diego, California News Station - KFMB Channel 8 - cbs8.com

Please support the HSUS, Front Range Equine Rescue and the others who are involved with this lawsuit.  They are definitely going to succeed!  Horse slaughter is wrong and anything wrong, with God's grace, will be defeated and we cannot give up the fight! ~Declan

July 2, 2013  As posted on HSUS

Lawsuit Filed to Block Horse Slaughter

*** JULY 3 UPDATE: Horse slaughter inspections in the U.S. are delayed for weeks due to The HSUS and Front Range Equine Rescue’s legal action.

In response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to allow horse slaughter facilities to resume operating on U.S. soil, animal protection organizations have filed suit against the agency and asked for an immediate injunction. The Humane Society of the United States, Front Range Equine Rescue, Marin Humane Society, Horses for Life Foundation, Return to Freedom and five private individuals are suing under the National Environmental Protection Act, due to the agency’s failure to conduct the necessary environmental review before authorizing horse slaughterhouses to operate.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted an inspection permit to a discredited horse slaughter plant operator in New Mexico, bringing the nation closer to its first horse slaughter operation since federal courts and state lawmakers shuttered the last three U.S.-based plants in 2007. The USDA has let it be known that it may also approve horse slaughter plants in Iowa and Missouri in the coming days. Meanwhile, U.S. House and Senate appropriations committees voted in June to halt all funding for horse slaughter in FY 2014, which means that the federal government could spend millions of taxpayer dollars to start up inspections at horse slaughter plants, only to have Congress terminate the process in the coming months.

Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president and chief counsel for animal protection litigation at The HSUS, said: “Horse slaughter plants pollute local water bodies with blood and offal, permeate the air with a foul stench, diminish property values and put horses through misery. USDA’s decision to visit these horrors on the citizens of New Mexico, Missouri, and Iowa – without even conducting an environmental review first – is irresponsible, and a clear violation of federal law.”

Hilary Wood, president of Front Range Equine Rescue, said: “The USDA has failed to consider the basic fact that horses are not raised as a food animal. Horse owners provide their horses with a number of substances dangerous to human health. To blatantly ignore this fact jeopardizes human health as well as the environment surrounding a horse slaughter plant. The negative consequences of horse slaughter will be felt immediately and over the long term if allowed to resume in the U.S. America’s horses are not food.”

Allondra Stevens, founder of Horses For Life Foundation, said: “The USDA’s decision to grant horse slaughter inspections is an outright insult and a betrayal to the overwhelming majority of Americans who are against horse slaughter, to the welfare of the animals themselves, and to consumer and environmental safety. With the environmental and food safety risks of horse slaughter operations, the FSIS is leading the USA down a reckless and dangerous path due to the toxic byproducts of horse slaughter. As a nation of horse lovers, our time and resources will be better spent thinking outside the slaughterbox, working to implement more programs and infrastructures that assist with horse rescue, retention and retirement solutions.”

Neda DeMayo, president of Return To Freedom, said: “We join 80 percent of Americans in their opposition to horse slaughter. America is the original home of the horse and has never been a horse eating culture. Horses have been our companions, fought battles with us, worked from sun up to sun down by our side. They have never abandoned us and we will not abandon them now. We will not have their blood on our hands.”

Any facility slaughtering thousands of horses will necessarily be processing the blood, organs and remains of animals whose tissues and blood may contain significant amounts of dangerous substances, which are either known to be dangerous, or which have never been tested on humans and therefore present completely unknown dangers. At least six applications for horse slaughter inspections have been filed with the USDA.

The plaintiffs are represented in the case by Schiff Hardin, LLP and attorneys within The HSUS’ Animal Protection Litigation section.

Background:

• Last month, the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations committees voted to block funding for inspections of horse slaughter plants. President Obama’s proposed FY 2014 budget also included a request for Congress to prevent tax dollars from supporting horse slaughter.
• The federal government could potentially spend millions of taxpayer dollars to start up inspections at horse slaughter plants, only to have Congress terminate the process in the coming months.
• The HSUS and FRER also filed petitions with USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to declare horsemeat unfit for human consumption. USDA denied that petition.
• According to a national poll conducted last year, 80 percent of Americans disapprove of horse slaughter.
• “Kill buyers” gather up horses from random sources and profit by selling healthy horses for slaughter that bring the best price per pound for their meat. USDA reports show that approximately 92 percent of American horses going to slaughter are healthy and would otherwise be able to go on to lead productive lives.
• The methods used to kill horses rarely result in quick, painless deaths, as horses often endure repeated blows to render them unconscious and sometimes remain conscious during the slaughtering process. When horse slaughter plants previously operated in the U.S., the USDA documented severe injuries to horses in the slaughter pipeline, including broken bones and eyeballs hanging from a thread of skin.
• The Safeguard American Food Exports Act, H.R. 1094 / S. 541, introduced this year by U.S. Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Reps. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., and Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., is a bipartisan measure that would outlaw horse slaughter operations in the U.S., end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad, and protect the public from consuming toxic horsemeat. 

Media Contacts:
HSUS – Stephanie Twining, 240-751-3943, stwining@humanesociety.org
FRER – Hilary Wood, 719-481-1490, info@frontrangeequinerescue.org
Marin Humane Society – Cindy Machado, 415-506-6209 cmachado@marinhumanesociety.org
Horses for Life Foundation – Allondra Stevens, horsesforlifefoundation@gmail.com
Return to Freedom – Neda DeMayo, 805-737-9246, neda@returntofreedom.org

Suit Aims to Block Horse Meat Inspections, Now at 2 Plants

By STEPHANIE STROM

Published: July 2, 2013  As posted on The New York Times

Several animal rights groups filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against the Agriculture Department, seeking to prevent it from inspecting horse meat that some companies want to produce for human consumption.

Separately, the department announced its approval for horse slaughtering at a plant in Iowa, the second facility approved for processing equine meat in less than a week. On Friday, it said it would provide inspection services to the Valley Meat Company in Roswell, N.M., for the same purpose.

Responsible Transportation of Sigourney, Iowa, and Valley Meat would be the first two plants to process horses since 2007, when Congress effectively banned equine slaughter. The prohibition ended in 2011, and various companies, many backed by European investors, have sought inspection services for horse meat ever since.

The animal rights groups involved in the lawsuit — the Humane Society of the United States, Front Range Equine Rescue, Marin Humane Society, the Horses for Life Foundation and Return to Freedom, along with five individual plaintiffs — contend that the Agriculture Department did not perform reviews required by the National Environmental Protection Act before authorizing Valley Meat to operate.

“The U.S.D.A. has failed to consider the basic fact that horses are not raised as a food animal,” Hilary Wood, president of Front Range Equine Rescue, said in a statement. “Horse owners provide their horses with a number of substances dangerous to human health. To blatantly ignore this fact jeopardizes human health as well as the environment surrounding a horse slaughter plant.”

Valley Meat has said that it will test meat it produces to ensure it does not contain any residues of certain harmful substances.

The company, however, ran afoul of New Mexico environmental regulations when it operated as a cattle slaughterhouse after regulators took photos of piles of rotting carcasses on its property. After tangling with the regulators, Valley Meat closed, citing financial difficulties, in 2012.

The New Mexico attorney general recently raised concerns about the potential environmental impact of horse slaughtering and said the office’s environmental crimes unit would monitor Valley Meat to ensure its compliance with state environmental laws.

The Obama administration has asked Congress to once again ban horse slaughter, but the Agriculture Department has said repeatedly that until that happens, it must provide inspection services.

The department referred calls about the lawsuit to the Justice Department, which declined to comment.

Iowa Horse Slaughter Facility Gets USDA Green Light

We have GOT to get the SAFE Act (H.R.1094/S.541) passed!!  PLEASE contact your legislators and ask them to cosponsor and support SAFE today!!


Use these links to find your legislators to give them a call or send them an email and be sure to thank them if they are already a cosponsor!  ~Declan

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Mark Carlson/SourceMedia Group News Updated: 2 July 2013 | 5:20 pm   As posted on The Gazette

Sigourney horse slaughter facility gets USDA green light

A business in Sigourney could be one of the first to begin slaughtering horses after congress banned the practice seven years ago. Tuesday the USDA gave a green light to Responsible Transportation LLC., a business which vows to humanely euthanize horses.


Responsible Transportation LLC in Sigourney. (Mark Carlson/The Gazette)


“I know that what we are doing will be more humane than shipping horses to Mexico,” said Keaton Walker, founder of the business.

Walker said tens-of-thousand of horses have been shipped to slaughterhouses in Mexico annually since Congress banned horse slaughter in 2006. A recent law change has now made the practice legal, and Walker will soon own one of the few horse slaughterhouses in the nation.

The business is still pondering what to do with the meat, but one option is to sell it as zoo feed, Walker, 27, said.

Walker and his two business partners are all graduates of the University of Iowa.

“These are local guys,” said Sigourney Mayor Pat Miletich. “I think they have a lot of support.”

Walker said the business will likely employ 25 people. Inspectors still need to walk the site before operations can begin. The USDA is required by law to grant inspections to plants, which meet all required guidelines, effectively giving the green light to begin operations.

Both House and Senate agriculture committees have endorsed proposals to cut funding for horse slaughterhouse inspections. Such action would essentially reinstate the ban, but it’s not clear if any action will be taken in the immediate future.

Members of the Humane Society have spoken out against the business and several others across the nation. This week animal rights groups also banded together to file a lawsuit against the USDA in an attempt to block horse slaughtering permits.

“These horses depend on us, I don’t think it’s too much to give them a humane end to life,” said Bernie Lettington, who serves on the board of directors for the Iowa Federation of Humane Societies.

Walker said he hopes to be in business in the next several weeks.

This is very interesting and important information to have. ~Declan

Sycamore trees could be deadly to horses

UPDATED:  28 Jun 2013  As posted on Horse & Hound

AMY MATHIESON

H&H deputy news editor

The mysterious fatal condition atypical myopathy has been linked to the sycamore tree.

A new study published in the Equine Veterinary Journal has revealed that toxins from the seeds of the sycamore is the likely cause of the condition in horses in Europe.

Earlier this year, research in America linked seasonal pasture myopathy (the US equivalent) to toxins from the box elder tree. Both trees produce seeds containing the agent hypoglycin A.

The new research was done by the University of Liège and involved 17 horses from Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

High concentrations of hypoglycin A were found in all the horses. The pastures of 12 of the horses were visited by botanists and the sycamore was found to be present in every case.

Outbreaks of the disease tend to be seasonal, with most cases occurring in the autumn. Signs include muscular weakness and stiffness, dark urine, fatigue, colic-like signs and trembling.

Victims are usually kept on sparse pasture, where dead leaves are on the ground.

Professor Celia Marr, editor of the Equine Veterinary Journal, said this was “an important advancement” in understanding and preventing the condition.

“Where grazing is near sycamores, it is imperative horses have sufficient feed, as this will minimise the risk that horses might be tempted to ingest seeds,” she said.

H&H vet adviser Karen Coumbe recommeds concerned owners talk to their vets. She also warns against “rushing to cut down trees” without consulting experts, as trees can be a vital source of shelter.