USERL clearly states its position on the following equine topics and practices: horse slaughter, premarin, racing, showing and training, fencing and shelter, breeding, euthanasia, pony rides.

Horse Slaughter

USERL opposes horse slaughter. Current federal laws are inadequate to protect the horses during shipment to slaughter, and slaughter practices are, by USDA regulation, cruel and inhumane to horses.

Current federal laws allow horses to be shipped in trailers that do not meet equine industry standards for safety.

• The ceilings of double-deck trailers (designed for smaller livestock and allowed for use with horses until 2004) are too low to allow the horses to stand naturally. These low ceilings scrape the flesh from the withers of taller horses, and force even small horses to hold their heads at an uncomfortable angle. Trailers specifically designed for horses have six and a half to seven feet of clearance.
• The floors of the majority of trailers hauling to slaughter are metal which get very slippery with feces and urine, causing horses to fall and be trampled during shipment. Equine industry standards recommend the use of non-skid flooring in horse trailers.
• Revised federal laws allow horses to be shipped up to 28 hours without food, water or rest. Equine industry standards recommend that horses be rested and given feed and water a minimum of every four hours.
• Federal laws prohibit shipment of stallions with other horses, but do nothing to prevent cruel on-site castration of these stallions that legally allows them to immediately be shipped with geldings, mares and foals. This practice causes unnecessary suffering of the stallions and, since it takes months for male hormones to exit a castrated stallion's system, does nothing to protect the other horses.

USDA regulations require that animals slaughtered for human consumption be hung and bled while still alive. Slaughterhouses use a captive-bolt gun that is intended to stun the animal and render it unconscious.

• Horses have longer necks than cows, which allow them a larger range of motion. Therefore, it is more difficult to properly stun a horse about to be slaughtered.
• Cows are more docile than horses and do not generally panic in the stun shoot. The horse's nature causes it to panic, making a successful stun even more difficult.
• An untrained employee often wields the stun gun, and several attempts must be made before the horse is successfully stunned, causing severe trauma and injury in the process.
• At times, a successful stun is not made and the horse is dropped onto the kill floor, hung and bled while still conscious.
• Pregnant mares are not excluded from this process, and their foals are "born" on the kill floor when the mare is slit open.

Premarin

USERL opposes the inhumane treatment of mares in the collection of urine used for the production of Premarin, and the slaughter of their foals. USERL does not oppose the drug in theory, just its current methods of production.

Premarin is a drug that has been used for over 50 years to treat the symptoms of menopause. But most of the patients who benefit from the drug are unaware of the toll it takes in the death and suffering of thousands of horses each year (totaling over a million to date). Many prescribing doctors are also ignorant of this fact.

Premarin is made from PREgnant MARe urINe (PMU). Year after year 80,000 horses are impregnated on Premarin farms. Once on the production line, they are tied in standing stalls and connected to a collection bag 24 hours a day. Their water intake is severely restricted to concentrate their urine, and they are never allowed a chance to exercise or effectively lay down. Once their productivity wanes, around age 15, they are summarily slaughtered.

The resulting foals are considered a by-product of the industry and are slaughtered or pastured until they are old enough to sell at auction. Those that make it to auction are generally completely wild and usually end up at the slaughterhouse anyway before they reach their first year.

The worst part of this whole tragedy is the fact that there are readily available drugs, which are made from plant materials. These drugs are just as effective as Premarin and are safer for the women who take them. Premarin is made by Wyeth-Ayerst, a division of American Home Products, which realizes over a billion dollars in revenues each year from Premarin and other drugs made from PMU.

Racing

USERL is not opposed to horse racing. USERL does oppose many practices common to the racing industry, including:

• Racing immature horses (those under three years old)
• Using drugs to mask lameness and injury
• The disposal of unproductive racehorses through the slaughter pipeline

Horses do not fully mature until they are three years old. Growth plates in their withers and knees do not close until this time, which allows the joints to be more susceptible to stress-related injury. Racehorses that are fortunate enough to continue on to other careers after racing often have a tendency to suffer repeated joint injury and premature breakdown.

Racehorses are expensive to maintain. Most owners and trainers consider them moneymaking machines, and a horse that is not winning races is a liability. Track vets are pressured to make a lame horse able to race without regard to the horse's future soundness.

Once a racehorse is physically unable to race, or repeatedly loses races, the horse is disposed of as quickly as possible. This often means auction (a fairly certain step to the slaughterhouse) or direct sale to a killer buyer. Some owners would prefer that their horses find a good home, but most are concerned more with cutting their losses and saving the $100 per day it costs to maintain the horse.

Showing and Training

USERL is not opposed horse shows or horseback riding. USERL does oppose the many cruel and inhumane practices used in training and rewarded by many show judges. These practices include, but are not limited to: soring, pressure shoeing, bleeding, alcohol blocking, tying a horse's head around or up, cannon whipping, beating, cruel bitting, and working a horse to the point of exhaustion

Fencing and Shelter

Fencing:
USERL supports the use of safe, sturdy fencing which is adequate for the animal being contained. Stallions and other aggressive or mischievous equine will require a stronger fence than other horses.

USERL is opposed to the use of barbed wire fencing for horses. Barbed wire is extremely dangerous for horses. Unlike cows, horses panic easily. A panicked horse can overlook wire strands, and severe injury can result when he runs into or through barbed wire. Wire has a memory of being coiled, and once released from the fence posts it can quickly wrap around a horse's legs, body and neck. The USERL takes great pride in the protection it affords its rescued horses. It will not allow them to be exposed to fencing which has time and again proven itself to cause injury, disability and death.

Shelter:
USERL requires a minimum of a three sided, roofed shelter for equines. Wild horses are free to find natural shelter and also run in large groups that can huddle together for warmth and protection from the elements. Domestic horses, on the other hand, are typically confined to relatively small areas that lack adequate natural shelter, and are pastured in small herds that cannot provide enough protection from the elements.

Breeding

USERL does not oppose responsible, well-researched breeding programs that aim to improve the breed and species. USERL does oppose indiscriminate breeding practices.

USERL embraces the belief that there is an overpopulation of horses in the United States. If there were no overpopulation problem, there would not be thousands of sound, healthy horses going to slaughter every year. Over-breeding to stock the racing industry and irresponsible breeding are the root causes for this problem.

As a matter of principle, USERL does not allow its rescued horses to be bred. USERL feels that denying breeding of any one horse will not negatively impact the quality of the species as a whole. However, stopping a single horse from breeding will significantly impact the horse population over time.

Also, since USERL retains ownership of adopted horses, the organization would also feel compelled to retain ownership of the resultant foal. This would work for volunteers (doing barn checks, placing returned horses, keeping up with vaccinations, etc.), putting an unnecessary strain on USERL's resources.

Euthanasia

USERL supports euthanasia when an animal's quality of life is poor, or its future bleak. This could be caused by age, illness, or injury and is usually accompanied by its owner's financial considerations.

USERL believes that when a horse owner acquires a horse, (s)he assumes responsibility for the horse's health and welfare. This responsibility sometimes includes making difficult life and death decisions. It also includes a realistic assessment of the horse's ability to thrive should the owner decide to sell or otherwise relinquish ownership. Old, sick, injured or poorly trained horses are all at a very high risk for slaughter. USERL encourages owners to ask themselves this question before making the decision between euthanasia and sale: "If I am not willing to assume the financial and emotional responsibility for this horse, can I reasonably expect someone else to do it? Can I reasonably expect them to outbid (or resist) a killer buyer for this horse?"

USERL believes that euthanasia is always preferable to slaughter (see USERL's policy statement regarding slaughter for an explanation of this position). USERL has a fact sheet available for those considering euthanasia for their horse. Please ask a Chapter Coordinator for the fact sheet, "Equine Euthanasia."

Pony Rides

USERL opposes the use of pony ride carousels, which force the ponies into small repetitive circles, always in the same direction, and cause strain on joints and ligaments.

USERL opposes working ponies all day without rest or access to shade, food and water.

"Pony rides" which treat the ponies well (i.e. provide access to shade, food and water, allow periodic rest, and operate in a large enough circle to accommodate the pony's size) do not raise humane concerns. The preferred method is to have a handler walk the pony in a large oval in alternating directions. This allows the pony to straighten out periodically and to bend equally on both sides, reducing repetitive motion strains.