Conference noted::equitation

    
    
      WOW! I start to reply once and then just couldn't get a hold of 
    my emotions.  I can't blive this.  My god put them up for sell or 	
    addopted them out. Something.  
    
    What can we do? Who should we call? Its got to start somewhere?
    
    I'd like to chase those "()*&(*&(*&" arround with a hellicopter 
    just once. They would never forget it.  
    
    Thats just terrible ! so cruel.... 
    
    What is the world coming to?  Are we really humans? we really call 
    our selves "humane" 
    
    gayle 
    

    It's the same thing over here in the U.S. when it comes to the
    mustangs.  Only we bungle it all up and try to fix the problem,
    only to have herds of wild mustangs living miserably for
    the rest of their lives in a corral feedlot style.  There is very
    little land left for our mustangs, so the BLM (Bureau of Land Mgmt)
    tried to fix this by rounding up the mustangs, and trying to find
    them homes.  But, nobody wants the aged mares, or the ones not
    "pretty", or not accepting captivity.  They have to dose the horses
    with tranq just to trim their feet, which are no longer kept short
    from running in the wild.  The youngsters and young horses are
    adoptable, with many prisons running a breaking camp to get them
    semi-tame and ridable, but the adoptees don't always know how to
    care for a horse, and the horse ends up suffering.  Not to mention
    the adoption scam that happened, (lack of personnel to follow-up
    on the adoptees) when the horses were adopted under phoney names,
    or bought from someone who was in it only for the $$$.  This scam
    sent a lot of our mustangs to the slaughterhouse for Europe
    consumption.
    
    The same thing is happening to the Kangaroos, too, BTW.....
    
    Lynne

    
    
    I too saw the brumby's on a similar, or the same show, we missed
    taping the beginning but we caught it a little into the documentary, 
    I can say I was equally distressed to see the later part of the show.
    I began taping because I thought it would be a positive documentary
    on these BEAUTIFUL horses....... You are correct they all look
    extrememly healthy compared to our wild horses.....  The land
    over in Austrailia must be very rich grazing land.   Not that
    anyone would WANT to see the end of the documentary but you are
    welcome to see my tape (if I can locate it...)
    
    I believe they said they said/ and they look, to be large
    horses,  part draft breeds..... some have the typical fethers on
    the fetlocks... like a clyde would have....  I too would love
    to have one of those surefooted animals.......  They tell how
    they are very agile and surefooted and that poses a big problem
    in hunting them down, that is why the helicopters are easier for
    the #(*)$) ----- they can't out run alot of them on their own
    horses......
    
    There must be someone we can write?  Do we (U.S.) have any
    influence in Austrialia????????
    
    Nancy
    

    The reason I entered this note was to show that the goverment or what
    ever laws they have there totaly accept this action.  The show seemed
    to promote the actions taken also.  Our shows here try to show why the
    Mustangs should be saved, in Australia, they seem to want to show why
    they should be aniliated.
    My mother reminded me that they are in another country and their way of
    life and survival is different(the humans).  That doesn't excuse what
    they are doing or the way they are doing it.  As far as the mustangs
    are concerned, I can't realy say anything. I feel so helpless in this
    situation.  It almost compares to the our government feeding the
    starving people in other countries while we have thousands of our oun
    who need help.
    Well, now I'm getting a headach trying to figure out where to start on
    this.  Is ther a noter in Australia who can shed some light on some of
    this???????
    Any ideas would help.  Maybe the founders of the Adopt-A-Horse can give
    some suggestions.  
    
    Help us all
    
    virginia
    

    I got bad news for you guys. People in the US round up wild horses and
    ship them to meat markets too. It's illegal now but it's still done.
    
    "Mustanging" used to be a business here in the US. It WAS legal here in 
    the US until very recently and I think they used jeeps, helicopters, etc.
    They were NOT rounding these horses up for use on ranches or in rodeos. 
    
    I know it's traumatic and (to us) disgusting but some people consider
    horses to be food. Why is slaughtering a herd of wild horses more
    repugnant than killing herds of deer or whatever for meat? Basically,
    it's because we are emotionally attached to horses.
    
    The stockmen in Australia probably see the horses in the same way that
    many ranchers in the US did/do. Competition for the limited grass/water
    that exists in the Australian "Outback." In that light, they would
    probably consider them vermin to be exterminated and, if they can make
    a profit by shipping the meat to Europe, so much the better.(Their
    opinion, not mine)
    
    Seeing as how Australia is a different country, there is little we can
    do about the laws there. Perhaps the best thing we can do is:
    1. Mourn for the brumbys
    2. Hope the greedy bastards burn in hell
    3. Boycott products from and travel in the European countries that eat
    horse meat.
    
    If you want to do something POSITIVE about the meat market EXPORTS from
    the US to Europe, write your Congressional represntative and/or Senator
    to make exporting horse meat illegal. That will stop a great deal of
    the horse theft in this country as well as poaching of wild horses.

    OK, I never said that the situation doesn't exsist in the US.  What has
    set me off is the way they blantantly showed them killing them.  All of
    the shows I have seen on the Mustangs portray people trying to save
    them.  You know, gives you a good feeling that someone is doing
    something good.  This show gave me the impression that it gave people a
    good feeling to know that someone out there is ridding them of these
    awful Brumbys.  Its hard to for me to explain it.  All I know is every
    time that picture of that *man* in the helicopter shooting those
    babbies comes into mind, I just want to slap someone.
    
    
    virginai

    And, FYI there is a good market right now for horse meat.
    Last I heard, it hit .84 per pound.  For a 1000 lb horse,
    that translates to $840.00.
    Makes any horse fair game....and the slaughterhouses accept
    "any" horse brought to them....even those with show ribbons
    braided into their manes....
    
    L-

    
    I guess I'll have to disagree with everyone.  In the US, a kind of
    Disneyesque view of animals is all too prevalent.  It takes its most
    extreme (and counterproductive) form in various types of
    preservationism that view the world as some sort of large, static
    living museum where everything is really friendly, the lamb lies down
    with the lion, and the sun always shines and anything that upsets this
    is *Evil* (capital 'E'), bad, and insensitive.  Individuals in this
    group will, like small children, mistake their personal prejudices and
    predispositions for fundamental truths and will earnestly go off on
    their little crusades to convert the unwashed.  "Death to the
    unbelievers" and "mandatory prison sentences" are their battle cries.
    
    They make life unpleasant for many without actually improving the
    physical world which they fail or never bother to understand.  In the
    wild of the physical world, *nothing* dies of old age.  In the physical
    world, an introduced species such as horses in the Americas and
    Australia may not have a predator other than man to control their
    populations.  In the physical world, a species that is a hobby animal
    with sentimental value to one individual may be a game animal to
    another.
    
    There is a fundamental difference between action to prevent an
    otherwise viable species from becoming extinct and action to prevent
    some act which simply offends some particular individual's sense of
    aesthetics.  The latter is no more reasonable than passing legislation
    to set the value of Pi to be three or demanding that the moon change
    its color.  In the real world, the mountain *doesn't* go to Mohammed.
    
    					Monty
    

    re.8
    
    It sounds like the same one.  I know that they don't like to interfere
    with nature but the foal was shown close up, its little muzzle was all
    puckered up trying to suck water from the air.  I don't think I could 
    just keep filming and not pick up that little guy and save him.
    
    vr
    virginia

re.9
    
I am agreed that death is a part of life, that predation and starvation
have legitimate roles in this scenario, and that kneejerk conservationism
has no place in longterm ecological strategy. 

However, I also believe that less pain and terror is better than more, 
and I don't believe that the methods described for the elimination of 
"excess" brumbys sounded particularly humane. Shooting from an aircraft
is unlikely to be particularly accurate even for the best shot. Feedlot
transportation and holding conditions are not pleasant in the US and I
doubt they are better in Australia. Finally, I don't get a sense that 
the population control strategy has been well thought out.

The report may have been emotional, but I believe it contained some valid
complaints.

my 2� only,
-cj

            RE:9
    
       I was trying to think of an appropriate response but you
    beat me to it Monty.  I agree with you 100%.  But then again,
    I am a hunter and a fisherman which to a lot of people is 
    wrong too.
        By the way, I am also a horse owner........
    
    
                  Bob

    re.11
    
    There is one point I need to express.  This was not done for
    "population control".  This was done to down right "get rid" of the
    Brumbys all together.  If it were for population control I could
    understand why but not the method used.
    	Also, I know death exsists(sp?), and I realize we here in the US
    try to mask it as "Dysneylandic" as possible.  Maybe that is why it
    made me so mad.  At least they have the guts to tell the truth as it.
    	So, does that mean there is nothing we can do?  I can still see
    that beautiful stallion herding his mares and fighting off the young
    bachlors.  These animals are(were) magnificent.  I would almost compare
    their regal presence to the Arabian stallions I have seen.  It is sad
    the think these animals are concidered to be pests upon the land.
    
    virginia

    I also saw this special a few years ago.  I remember it had a lot to do
    with the drought.  I also remember a special on about the wild mustangs
    here in the U.S. and how it had been outlawed to round them up by
    helicopter, motor vehicles only by horseback.  This show really
    cracked me up.  A bunch of ranchers got together and rounded up these
    mustangs and the B.L.M. came to the ranch and was supposed to help
    these ranchers come up with a solution but actually CHARGED ONE OF THE
    RANCHERS BOARD ON A HORSE THAT WAS BRANDED AND HAD BEEN RUNNING WITH
    THE HERD!!!!  He charged board!  (It also took them a real long time to
    herd these horses on horseback).  
    
    I thought that the show on Australian horses was pretty brutal.  I
    can't remember everything about it though.  I think it is sad that they
    have to be destroyed and if they are trying to wipe out the whole
    population then I guess I really don't understand it.  However, I think
    that if people are starving, I don't see anything horrible about them
    eating horsemeat.  I don't think I would eat it, but I'm not starving.
    
    Has anyone ever tried to adopt a pet from the MSPCA and couldn't
    because they had a full time job??  Or how about a teacher who wants to
    adopt a guinea pig for a class pet and they (MSPCA) "doesn't think that
    is such a good idea"?  Pretty ridiculous isn't it.  On any given day
    you can go to the MSPCA and there are dozens and dozens of unwanted
    animals in there and these idiots give people a hard time. 
    Try to adopt a dog from the city of Lawrence for a minimum of $50.00. 
    The average person can't be bothered to go through the crap that this
    entails.  They will go get a FREE CUTE puppy somewhere instead of a dog
    who is 95% on his way to being euthanized.  
    
    Anyways, I guess everyone has different ideas on population control,
    etc.
    
    KJ 

    
    On the particulars of Australia:  it's a big country with relatively
    few people (something like 17 million) most of which live in the
    cities.  The economy has been slow for years and it's just plain
    abyssmal at the moment.  They don't have the manpower, money, or demand
    for anything like the badly run BLM program and they already have a
    good stock of sport horses with more suitable conformations.
    
    As for their culling technique, it really is appropriate for the bush. 
    Stalking horses (well, zebra, anyway) is touchy business.  They are
    very spooky in the wild and a person on foot will only get one or two
    shots.  To cull a herd, you must hunt either from a car or from the air
    and by air is superior both for stability and for the travel distances
    involved in the bush and the ability to spot a herd.
    
    				Monty (hunter and rider)