CHAPTER XXIV 



THE DISPOSAL OF OLD HORSES 



^T^HERE is a growing feeling in the community that 

 -*■ old or disabled horses should not be sold, but 

 should be killed or otherwise disposed of in a humane 

 manner. To sell a worn-out horse, and thus consign 

 him to a slow and painful death, will be looked upon 

 years hence as an almost incredible cruelty. Only 

 horsemen know how much horses can and do suffer 

 from painful diseases of the feet and legs, from starva- 

 tion, from cold, from want of grooming and bedding, 

 from whipping and jerking, from the constant state 

 of fear, produced in them by rough and brutal men. 



The following is an extract from a circular issued 

 by a western humane society: 



It seems almost incredible that after a horse has served his 

 owner for many years he should, in his old age, be sold to the 

 first customer that comes along ; and yet that is sometimes done. 

 To sell an old or unfit horse is, in the majority of cases, to 

 consign him to a lingering and painful death. 



After long experience, we strongly and respectfully advise 

 you not to give away a horse, except in some unusual case. It is 

 more humane to kill him. Only about one man in a hundred 

 will take good care of a horse for which he has paid nothing. 

 Beware, especially of selling or giving a horse '' to go on a 

 farm." Farmers, in general — of course there are many excep- 

 tions — feed their horses less grain, and take less care of them, 

 than any other horse-owners in the world. 



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