Snatched From The Jaws Of The Dog!

The Hesteyri Horses team are fairly well known for ‘beating the meat man’ to horses and we take on all sorts of rescues and rejects.

 We have before been told that it’s ‘counter productive’ to keep these horses circulating around the country and that ‘a lot of horses that end up with the meat man have lameness issues and other problems.’

Pictured above is Rose who we won by outbidding the meat man back in 2014. Since then, she has won countless British Show Jumping shows; gained her double clears in British Novice, qualifying her for second rounds; represented her area in team jumping; evented with two top ten placings in three BE runs and taken a novice rider around courses of show jumps and cross country fences!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eb8Po_pfEU&t=14s

Now personally, we don’t agree with this at all. There are certainly too many horses in circulation but this is not the fault of the horses who end up going for meat, nor is it their responsibility to fix issues that are only there because of irresponsible breeders; horse abusers; people who simply can’t afford to feed their horses anymore or those who discard the horse because he or she can’t do the job that they were wanted for.

(Pictured above is Swift who was just four years old when she had her date with the knacker man because she was thought too slow to race. Now tries her hoof to anything including dressage, show jumping and cross country. We can put novices on her one day and go for a gallop on her the next and she tries her heart out to please. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrgB-cjbwAo )

Unfortunately, horses who end up with the meat man are often NOT horses with health issues or even old horses, in our experience: many of them are perfectly young, healthy horses who just need a touch of tender loving care and to learn to trust people!

Pictured above is Inca, she was rescued by a friend and sent to us to restart. Inca isn’t your typical cob, she’s very fast and would jump anything she was asked to! Inca is now in a wonderful family home where she is much loved and looked after by people she trusts. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZINkuCHtkg

Kill buyers certainly have their place in society and some of them are scrupulous individuals who care about animal welfare and many will even rehome the horses who have no issues. Older horses or horses with health conditions, depriving them of a happy life, can be put out of their suffering and continue to feed other animals, such is the circle of life. This we understand and respect.

We just personally don’t believe in throwing away the life of a young and healthy horse just because someone, somewhere bred too many or decided that this horse wasn’t worth anything or that they couldn’t afford to winter them. We’re pretty sure that the horses depicted in these photos who are just a few of the many we have snagged from the meat man over the years, are in agreement with us.

Pictured above is Dancer, who we gained when we outbid the knacker man at auction. Dancer was a genuine novice ride and we rehomed her to a wonderful family.

The most important thing to remember when rescuing a horse is that, no matter where they have come from or what has been in their past, they all have a future. Our aim at Little Hesteyri is to produce quality horses, no matter what they have come from. These are just a few of our rescues over the years and they all more than deserve the chance that we give them and all the love in the world.

What’s your opinion on the matter? We invite any and all opinions as the world would be a boring place if we all thought the same thing and, the people against rescuing horses from the meat man, were sadly right about the number of unwanted horses and ponies in the world!