EQUINE EDUCATION

Learn what it takes to own a horse, and how to prepare.
                             
At Royal Equine Rescue & Sanctuary, Inc, we believe that by promoting equine welfare
through education, we can significantly reduce the amount of equines that are neglected, abused, and sent for slaughter, while promoting the equines intrinsic value as a pet,
companion, athlete, and therapy aide.

With this in mind we created our education page to suite community needs for equine
welfare education. This page is devoted to frequent questions and problems that arise
in horse ownership. As always the information found here is based only on our experience
and opinion (and in the case of linked information the experience/opinions of others). Please consult your veterinarian or trainer before changing anything based on what you've read here.

If there is anything that you would like to see addressed on this page please send us an
email and we would be happy to do our best to answer your questions.

RERSI will also strive to partner with other local organizations whenever possible to
hold clinics and seminars. We also offer private workshops for individuals and groups.
Fee's will vary depending on the event. Please contact us for more information about
setting up a private workshop.

ADVICE:
One of the biggest issues we deal with on a day to day basis in the extreme number
of horses in need of homes. We get several calls every day from people who are looking
to place their horse in a loving home. Sometimes we can help by taking the horse into
rescue, or with a courtesy placement, other times we may be able to refer a retirement
facility, but more often than not our advice is to have the horse humanely euthanized.
A great resource for owners looking to place their horses is Unwanted Horse Coalition.
They have lots of wonderful information from things to consider before you buy a horse,
to what options are if you can no longer care for your animal. This is truly a wonderful
resource, we recommend all horse people check out this site.

RESCUED FOALS BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Horses come into rescues for a variety of reasons. Financial situations change,
or children go off to college, thoroughbreds who aren't making it on the track are
dumped at auctions, while other horses may have been bought with the best of
intentions but were too much for the owners to handle. Still many more people don't
realize what a commitment horses can be, and "get rid of them," simply because
they no longer care.

 Foals as well as horses are often in need of rescue. They can become orphaned or in
need of rescue for any number of natural causes, and unfortunately, there are also
thousands of foals orphaned each year senselessly because of humans. RERSI is
committed to rescuing foals and horses regardless of their circumstances, however
our primary focus is to rescue Nurse Mare and PMU Foals.

WHAT ARE NURSE MARE FOALS?
Nurse Mare Farms have been around for years, but only recently has the disturbing
practice been made public knowledge. Nurse mare foals are conceived for the sole
purpose of bringing their dam's (mother horse) into milk. As soon as the nurse mare
foals are born, they are removed from their mother, and a more "valuable," foal is given
to the nurse mare. The "more valuable," mare is then rebred immediately, only to start
this whole process again the next year. This is most common in the thoroughbred industry because The Jockey Club does not allow the use artificial insemination and/or embryo
transfer. The nurse mare foals are left behind, and without anyone to feed or care for them,
they often die senselessly.

WHAT ARE PMU FOALS?
The PMU Industry manufactures medication to provide post-menopausal women with
hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to offset the symptoms of menopause. This
medication is derived from the urine of pregnant mares. There are some reputable PMU
farms but there are also many that are not. Mares are impregnated and left for six or more months of their gestation period in standing stalls (some stalls are only three and a half feet wide) tethered to a “urine collection device” with little to no exercise or positive human contact. The mares are taken off their UCD just prior to foaling and allowed to foal in outside paddocks. Once again, the innocent foal is considered a byproduct, often born only to be slaughtered. Because of the large number of PMU foals being born at each farm, they are normally completely wild and un handled. Surplus foals that are not sold are sent to auctions and
bought by kill buyers. When the mares and stallions are no longer useful they meet the
same fate.

 The fashion and textile industry may use these innocent foals hides as “pony skin”
or they may go to the meat auctions, or resale agents, and sold to foreign countries
that consider the meat a delicacy.