chatterbox24
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Joined: 1/22/2012
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quote:
ORIGINAL: jlf1961
I have put this in P and R simply because of the laws involved dealing with animal cruelty. A lot of the stuff that some animal rights organizations put out are way out of date, dealing with practices that have not been used in at least 20 years, if not more.
I have been around animals all my life, dogs, my sister's cats, cattle, horses, and goats.
I broke horses the "smart" way, which involves three steps.
1) Let horse get used to having a saddle on its back.
2) Put burlap feed bag with 100 pounds of sand on saddle, tie it good, and let horse buck against the weight of the sand.
Now, for those that dont know, most predators that prey on horses attack by jumping on their hind quarters or straight onto the back, bucking is instinctive.
3) Once the horse is used to the weight, I got in the saddle and using a fixed loop hackamore with no bit, trained the horse to answer to the reins and pressure on its sides.
When it came to my horses, I was one of those male riders who did not want his nuts cut off, so my stallions never got gelded. Yes that made for a couple of evil tempered studs, but for the most part, they were no trouble, and very gentle with people, all but one of my horses you could put a child on and never worry.
My horses were also working animals, used for roping, herding and cutting.
Growing up, my family owned just over 200 acres. Half of the acreage was in pasture or hay fields, and we usually had any where from fifty to 100 head of cattle at any one time, the rest of the acreage was covered in wild pecan, post oak and mesquite, so we had a lot of deer, wild turkey and other game animals.
Now when it came to cattle, we had 3 stud bulls, and the calves that were born, if male were soon cut to be raised as beef animals.
With the exception of my blue and red heelers, all dogs and cats on the property were spayed an neutered. The heelers were herd dogs and I breed them to sell the pups. I had three males and seven females, each female would be bred once every year, if that often and no more than three females a year. I was informed by a professional breeder that was no way to breed dogs, since it severely limited income potential. Since all my dogs worked, except when carrying a litter, I could not afford to have seven dogs laid up.
I worked at a neighbor's ranch through high school and belonged to the high school rodeo team. I started riding when I was 13, first in ranch rodeos, and then in the "sport" rodeos. Admittedly, my motivation for getting involved in rodeo was the same as the motivation for getting involved in football, purely hormonal. Rodeo riders seemed to get the most attention from the girls, as did football players, being a normal American teenage male, well you figure it out.
Now the man that taught me how to work horses was a full blood Comanche. He taught me that I was working toward having a partner, not a dumb animal. He was also the man that taught me how to train herd dogs, same philosophy. Hence I never used violence on my animals.
As an adult, I was letting a friend live with me and my sister, and when he kicked one of my dogs, he was out on the street that night.
As for rodeo stock, before the SPCA and PETA, rough stock were treated in a way that would turn any persons stomach. It was not uncommon for at least one calf used in a roping event to end up with a broken neck a day for a three or four day event. Spurs used on broncs and bulls had sharp points and always drew blood. The same animals were used every night of a rodeo.
It began to change in the late seventies with the first state and federal Animal Cruelty laws. The laws have gotten stricter and now can include jail or prison time. The PRCA has rules concerning the treatment of rough stock and roping stock in their events. Riders who break those rules are fined and in many cases disqualified.
In another thread I was condemned and attacked for being involved in rodeo. Fine. Most of those people who condemn rodeo, bull riding and bull fighting often enjoy other "civilized" equestrian events.
Ever seen a Tennessee Walking horse, or any horse that uses a high step gait? Ever wonder how they train the horse to do that?
Simple, they take an object about the size of half a golf ball and place it under the frog of a horse's foot. When the horse steps down, the pain forces them to bring the hoof up as high as possible. Doesn't take long for a young horse to develop the habit of walking that way.
In many ways, the techniques used on horses for equestrian events involve pain and negative reinforcement.
As for the cattle industry, PETA still prints articles with fire branding as the primary technique for marking animals. Hate to disappoint you folks that want to believe that. Ear tags are the primary marking technique. They are even introducing RFID chips to mark cattle, and more so since the mad cow disease scare. Using RFID chips, a beef animal can have every step of its movement from the pasture to the meat packer documented, including any and all shots the animal has received.
So forget the branding irons. They are only used on people anymore, considering that some people actually go to a tattoo shop to get branded.
Feed lots are a different story. If you ever get a chance I suggest you make a point to visit one. They are often crowded to the point if one sick animal comes into the system, the entire operation can be contaminated in short order. Animals suffer from hoof rot since they are constantly walking in muck created by their own waste. These are your bulk beef factories, where most of your grocery store steaks, hamburger and other beef products come from.
The biggest beef producer in the US is in Greeley Colorado, which in turn owns Navaho and Digby trucking companies to transport the beef those lots produce.
There are videos of cattle coming out of those lots and into the slaughter house that cannot walk and are being shoved into the kill room with a bulldozer.
For those of you who have never seen a feedlot go here. This gives you an idea of what the operation entails.
My point is that those people who scream about rodeos or circuses being cruel to animals should research the operations which put the meat on their table that they eat, at home and in the restaurants.
Cruelty to Animal laws are there to protect rodeo and circus animals, they do not apply to stock being raised as food.
FYI, feedlots are the primary reason I do not buy beef at a grocery store, I raise two or three steers a year for meat, I buy my chicken from a local producer who does the "free range" thing, and the pork comes from wild hogs that I hunt. Considering some of the stuff I have seen while a truck driver hauling produce and meat, I prefer to raise my own, or buy from farmers I know. I know that is not an option for most of the people on these boards, however, if you can, go to farmer's markets for as much of the food as you can. Beef is produced in every state in the US, including Alaska (I would think it is prefrozen on the hoof.) Look into the possibility that those beef producers actually have their own packing operations, odds are that the beef will be better and less chance of additives being fed to the animals. (ref. Monsanto)
Very interesting post. We used to raise horses on a small scale, Tennessee walkers. We showed them for a brief time plantation, not big lick, because of the cruelty I felt involved in it. WIth plantation, I had a very good farrier, who used weighed shoes for training purposes, and no pain was involved in the training of the stallion, gelding, or mare. I admire the way you trained your animals. I prefer the animal keep its spirit if needed, not be a broken unhappy untrusting animal. THey are big, they can kill you if they want, easily. Its not a carnival ride..
I raised Yorkshire terriers for 8 yrs. They were like family, although still, they were kennel dogs and was checked by AKC regularly to ensure standards of living. (these dogs had curtains in their kennel, toys, and treats) THey were very loved and appreciated but they were used for income. Based on their size, past breeding history, past recovery after a litter were the things that I determined how often they were bred. It took me a year and half to find good homes for the adults when I moved. I have two sweet females left, I kept as pets.
I could never manage to raise cows, because I would have put a bell on them and got to attached, so for this reason, I bought meat, rather then raised it. Our neighbors raised all their own meat from chickens to cattle, they were true farmers. They were humane to their animals, but their mind set was for the simplest of things. They knew where their meat came from, what it was fed, how it was treated before consumption. TO them it was just a matter of one of Maslow's pyramid of basic needs. FOOD.
_____________________________
I am like a box of chocolates, you never know what variety you are going to get on any given day.
My crazy smells like jasmine, cloves and cat nip.
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Thoughts on the treatment of animals. - 
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