Korea Breeding

[Gemini]

How can they condemn South Korea when the US is #6 in the world for horses sent to slaughter? The Stronach family supports Canadian racing yet Canada sits #7 on the list of horse's produced for slaughter and its eaten in the Quebec area. South Korea doesn't even break the top 10. If they think known horses aren't sent to slaughter in the US they are crazy. Horse meat is eaten in a ton of countries and even in the ones that it isn't, most still slaughter horses to sell the meat for consumption elsewhere.

I should add that I am not a fan of horse slaughter but I don't understand how they can condemn one country when its done EVERYWHERE. The US isn't innocent. Its like they want to say, "Oh we don't slaughter horses in the US!" but they send over 100k to Mexico and Canada every year to be slaughtered, its just as bad. UK doesn't eat horses but they slaughter or ship their horses elsewhere to be eaten. I was watching a video on Youtube recently that was recorded in the UK in late October/early November and they were talking about how a Welsh A pony breeder sent all of this years foals that hadn't sold to slaughter. In normal years all the foals sell but with covid this year, they had quite a few left (I never heard an exact number), and they couldn't justify keeping them.

Can you share where you found those stats? Thank you.

[Flanders]

How can they condemn South Korea when the US is #6 in the world for horses sent to slaughter? The Stronach family supports Canadian racing yet Canada sits #7 on the list of horse's produced for slaughter and its eaten in the Quebec area. South Korea doesn't even break the top 10. If they think known horses aren't sent to slaughter in the US they are crazy. Horse meat is eaten in a ton of countries and even in the ones that it isn't, most still slaughter horses to sell the meat for consumption elsewhere.

I should add that I am not a fan of horse slaughter but I don't understand how they can condemn one country when its done EVERYWHERE. The US isn't innocent. Its like they want to say, "Oh we don't slaughter horses in the US!" but they send over 100k to Mexico and Canada every year to be slaughtered, its just as bad. UK doesn't eat horses but they slaughter or ship their horses elsewhere to be eaten. I was watching a video on Youtube recently that was recorded in the UK in late October/early November and they were talking about how a Welsh A pony breeder sent all of this years foals that hadn't sold to slaughter. In normal years all the foals sell but with covid this year, they had quite a few left (I never heard an exact number), and they couldn't justify keeping them.

Can you share where you found those stats? Thank you.

Everything is here, its fairly in depth with a lot of countries talked about and the top 10 in terms of horses sent to slaughter listed(these stats were from 2018). I would also like to bring attention to all the countries that do not allow horse meat for human consumption in their countries but let their horses be slaughtered to be eaten elsewhere, its just so hypocritical of countries to say "NO WAY HERE!!!! But you can eat our horses if you want!!"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat

[Gemini]

How can they condemn South Korea when the US is #6 in the world for horses sent to slaughter? The Stronach family supports Canadian racing yet Canada sits #7 on the list of horse's produced for slaughter and its eaten in the Quebec area. South Korea doesn't even break the top 10. If they think known horses aren't sent to slaughter in the US they are crazy. Horse meat is eaten in a ton of countries and even in the ones that it isn't, most still slaughter horses to sell the meat for consumption elsewhere.

I should add that I am not a fan of horse slaughter but I don't understand how they can condemn one country when its done EVERYWHERE. The US isn't innocent. Its like they want to say, "Oh we don't slaughter horses in the US!" but they send over 100k to Mexico and Canada every year to be slaughtered, its just as bad. UK doesn't eat horses but they slaughter or ship their horses elsewhere to be eaten. I was watching a video on Youtube recently that was recorded in the UK in late October/early November and they were talking about how a Welsh A pony breeder sent all of this years foals that hadn't sold to slaughter. In normal years all the foals sell but with covid this year, they had quite a few left (I never heard an exact number), and they couldn't justify keeping them.

Can you share where you found those stats? Thank you.

Everything is here, its fairly in depth with a lot of countries talked about and the top 10 in terms of horses sent to slaughter listed(these stats were from 2018). I would also like to bring attention to all the countries that do not allow horse meat for human consumption in their countries but let their horses be slaughtered to be eaten elsewhere, its just so hypocritical of countries to say "NO WAY HERE!!!! But you can eat our horses if you want!!"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horse_meat

I appreciate you sharing this. TBH, I'll probably read it in a day or two because there's only so much depressing stuff I can read in a single day.
...sigh...

[Ziggypop]

How can they condemn South Korea when the US is #6 in the world for horses sent to slaughter? The Stronach family supports Canadian racing yet Canada sits #7 on the list of horse's produced for slaughter and its eaten in the Quebec area. South Korea doesn't even break the top 10. If they think known horses aren't sent to slaughter in the US they are crazy. Horse meat is eaten in a ton of countries and even in the ones that it isn't, most still slaughter horses to sell the meat for consumption elsewhere.

I should add that I am not a fan of horse slaughter but I don't understand how they can condemn one country when its done EVERYWHERE. The US isn't innocent. Its like they want to say, "Oh we don't slaughter horses in the US!" but they send over 100k to Mexico and Canada every year to be slaughtered, its just as bad. UK doesn't eat horses but they slaughter or ship their horses elsewhere to be eaten. I was watching a video on Youtube recently that was recorded in the UK in late October/early November and they were talking about how a Welsh A pony breeder sent all of this years foals that hadn't sold to slaughter. In normal years all the foals sell but with covid this year, they had quite a few left (I never heard an exact number), and they couldn't justify keeping them.
Imagine how many horses Coolmore dumps to slaughter.

[FlyToTheStars]

I just am hoping the American boys like Shacks, Rock Hard Ten, Chapel Royal etc will not meet the bolt gun and knife. That is NOT the way to go.

It is sad of how they deal with the well known horses including their own. Knicks Go could even meet the fate down thw road if he doesnt do well in the stud barn.

Anyone know the direct link that actually mention cause of death in their Stud Book?

[Flanders]

I just am hoping the American boys like Shacks, Rock Hard Ten, Chapel Royal etc will not meet the bolt gun and knife. That is NOT the way to go.

It is sad of how they deal with the well known horses including their own. Knicks Go could even meet the fate down thw road if he doesnt do well in the stud barn.

Anyone know the direct link that actually mention cause of death in their Stud Book?

Maybe there is more information on the Korean version that is not on the English version? Because I have never seen a cause of death listed anywhere. But if you go on the Korean version there are a lot more choices under each header and also a login option. However that version isn't made to translate because they have an English version already, so all I can say is good luck.

[Northport]

I know Korea doesn't even scratch the surface of being a world leader in slaughtered horses, that isn't really the point. 50 of 1600 horses retired evade slaughter each year... that's 97% of their Thoroughbreds that retire each year being killed.

More land mass = more space to raise horses = more horses = more horses getting slaughtered, we get that. But are there any stats on how many retired Thoroughbreds in England, Ireland, USA, Canada, etc. are getting slaughtered? Because I just cannot see it being anywhere close to 97% of them.

[CleverCharm]

Anyone have any idea what it costs to fly a stallion back from Korea or Japan?

[Flanders]

Anyone have any idea what it costs to fly a stallion back from Korea or Japan?

I'd guess somewhere in the range of 20 to 30k, and honestly that feels low. Stallions have to clear quarantine in the country of origin and are subject to long quarantine and testing times once they arrive in the US, they spend a month in quarantine in good years, who knows if covid would cause that time to be extended. Breeding stallions have to live cover mares at the quarantine facility and then the mares are tested 3-4 weeks later to see if they have any diseases. CEM is present in both Japan and South Korea, if a stallion came back positive, he would be denied entry. It may be even more expensive because I can't imagine there are regular horse transport flights from South Korea to the US, so it may require shipping the horse to another country first, which would involve clearing their quarantine and also spending 60 days in the country as required by US import laws. Flights may be even more expensive because of covid.

[Northport]

In my experience importing horses from somewhat busy hubs of Holland to NY then trailering across the border to Canada or Holland to Miami then they trailer to Wellington, FL it's around $10,000 USD. But we geld all stallions before they fly over to avoid the headache of them having to cover test mares... and also because we don't want any stallions.

Given how horses usually only seem to be going to Korea and Japan, never from, plus the longer and more expensive stay in quarantine... yeah I'd say 20-30k sounds about right.

[Northport]

Well, the KRA has released a statement. They won't be importing any racehorses for the 2021 race season, though they cite Covid concerns more than public pressure

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/bloo ... p7dfZfWd8c

It looks like they are going to take steps to keep better track of retired horses through a new registry, encourage retraining of Thoroughbreds through competition incentives, funding to help retrain horses, declaring that "Retired KRA stallions have their welfare assured for the rest of their natural lives and are commemorated after death for their contributions."... but mentioning that whatever private owners do with their own horses is out of their hands, which is true.

What I find very concerning is:

Owners have suffered a reduction of purchasing power due to the reduced number of races and prize money that resulted from the COVID-19 outbreak and strict social distancing rules.
* The total number of races in Korea have been reduced by 56 percent
* Total prize money for owners has been reduced by 27 percent

....

The Korean breeding industry is in a state of near-collapse, as the non-racing period continued longer than expected, and was in desperate need of protective measures.

While we can only assume that tens of thousands of horses across all disciplines have been unloaded by their owners across the globe in 2020 due to Covid related financial constraints... this public declaration by the Korean industry makes me feel like for many more Korean Thoroughbreds than usual, help came too late in 2020. We won't ever see stats, but given how dire they make their situation sound, it feels like their slaughterhouses would have been busier than ever this year.

All speculation on my part, but their outlook (though realistic?) is bleak.

[Ziggypop]

Well, the KRA has released a statement. They won't be importing any racehorses for the 2021 race season, though they cite Covid concerns more than public pressure

https://www.paulickreport.com/news/bloo ... p7dfZfWd8c

It looks like they are going to take steps to keep better track of retired horses through a new registry, encourage retraining of Thoroughbreds through competition incentives, funding to help retrain horses, declaring that "Retired KRA stallions have their welfare assured for the rest of their natural lives and are commemorated after death for their contributions."... but mentioning that whatever private owners do with their own horses is out of their hands, which is true.

What I find very concerning is:

Owners have suffered a reduction of purchasing power due to the reduced number of races and prize money that resulted from the COVID-19 outbreak and strict social distancing rules.
* The total number of races in Korea have been reduced by 56 percent
* Total prize money for owners has been reduced by 27 percent

....

The Korean breeding industry is in a state of near-collapse, as the non-racing period continued longer than expected, and was in desperate need of protective measures.

While we can only assume that tens of thousands of horses across all disciplines have been unloaded by their owners across the globe in 2020 due to Covid related financial constraints... this public declaration by the Korean industry makes me feel like for many more Korean Thoroughbreds than usual, help came too late in 2020. We won't ever see stats, but given how dire they make their situation sound, it feels like their slaughterhouses would have been busier than ever this year.

All speculation on my part, but their outlook (though realistic?) is bleak.

and yet they were buying horses at the fall/ winter sales. And think about the mares they are slaughtering.