ATTN ALL HORSE LOVERS...Did you know?

[looney2n]

I'm not sure if this has ever been brought up before but I'll just take the chance and bring it up now. I used premarin for 17 years before I found this out. The Physicians Desk Reference actually states that this hormone replacement is PREGNANT MARES URINE. Please, if you would just visit www.premarin.org and read about this, just maybe more woman will take a stand to help get this drug off the market. The article explains how hundreds of mares are 'used' every year to extract the urine for use in this drug, and meanwhile, living under unbelievably abusive conditions. Every horse lover NEEDS to read this and spread the word so this inhumane treatment stops. Warning..the information is very difficult to read but it is fact! Thanks for listening and please read the web site and, if you will, please tell others about it. God Bless

Linda

 

[Charlene]

i was on it for a couple of years before i discovered this information. i took myself off and started "remifemin" which is an herbal supplement. it did everything the premarin did. stayed on it for 7 or 8 years, went off cold turkey when i reached 53 or 54 and haven't had a problem.

the PMU farms are sickenly sad.

 

[anoki]

Yes, this is not new news.

However, this is one happy, healthy and amazingly talented PMU foal.....

~kathryn

 

[tagalong]

The article explains how hundreds of mares are 'used' every year to extract the urine for use in this drug, and meanwhile, living under unbelievably abusive conditions

And that ^^^ is not fact.

I worked with a vet who dropped in unannounced at PMU barns over a broad area to inspect them and check the horses' health... where the so-called abusive conditons were anything but. The mares were content, dappled, glowing coats, did not have water withheld, had regular turnout, could socialize with each other etc.

The barns were bright, clean...free choice hay was available, mares were sleeping on their sides in their stalls and were able to get up and down easily, there was lots of deep bedding... there were no open sores or rubs from the collection harnesses - and as no urine hit the floor and poop was scooped frequently - the barns were amazingly clean.

In other words - none of what has always been reported as fact and true of every barn everywhere. But I have learned from such discussions in the past that only sensationalist stuff is accepted - and actual first hand factual accounts are pooh-poohed and sneered at.

Yes - the replacement hormones will be a good thing and the PMU farms will eventually be phased out - as is happening now - but I wish that FACTS would be a part of the discussion...

 

[HorseMom]

A lot of the PMU farms specialize in registered breeds. I know of a couple farms that only do QH and Paints. They've said that they can find homes for the foals much easier if they can be registered.

However many of the foals still go to slaughter because theres too many to place in homes every year.

 

[looney2n]

i was on it for a couple of years before i discovered this information. i took myself off and started "remifemin" which is an herbal supplement. it did everything the premarin did. stayed on it for 7 or 8 years, went off cold turkey when i reached 53 or 54 and haven't had a problem.

the PMU farms are sickenly sad.

CHARLENE:I admit I had been 'out of the loop' and not kept up on things but I went off of it cold turkey as soon as I found this out. I can't believe the pharmaceuticals are allowed to put ingedients like mare's urine in medications without making it clearer to the public. At the time I started it I did check the package insert and it was not made clear back then. Thank you for sharing your experience and what you replaced it with. I have been searching for something else, especially herbal.

ANOKI:

I commend you for rescuing such a beautiful and talented horse from possible harm. I realize this is not new news to many, but it is now a known fact to others and those are the ones we need to reach. It sickens me to think of how many awesome animals such as yours have gone through abuse or even killed by the PMU farms. What an outrage! You've done good girl. Pat yourself on the back!!!

HORSEMOM: What you've found out at least shows that they are trying to change things. I just pray it happens faster. I guess that is where patience comes in. With me anyway, it just can't happen fast enough.

TAGALONG:I'm afraid that visiting several farms in one region is not going to give a clear picture either of the 'facts'. In my opinion, although things may be changing (and I thank God for that!), if there is 1 farm out there treating horses in the manner spoke of on the website (and there are) it is 1 too many. I realize that this practice is not happening as much as it use to be. But it took people making their voices heard to get it this far. However, until this abuse is totally stopped, voices still need to be heard and those who don't know need to find out, hence, the reason for the topic.

 

[anoki]

ANOKI:

I commend you for rescuing such a beautiful and talented horse from possible harm. I realize this is not new news to many, but it is now a known fact to others and those are the ones we need to reach. It sickens me to think of how many awesome animals such as yours have gone through abuse or even killed by the PMU farms. What an outrage! You've done good girl. Pat yourself on the back!!!

Actually I didn't 'rescue' him. I bought him as what I thought was a rising 5 year old, that seemed VERY sane, safe and quiet to get me back riding. He was sold from a riding school here in Ontario, and I was told he was part Hannoverian (not that it really mattered to me, because he was such a nice, quiet, and pretty boy), and had been eventing for the past year

When I got him home, he was in desperate need of some vetting...was a couple hundred pounds underweight and full of worms (and no, this was not coming from a PMU farm).

Anyways, almost a year later, a friend of mine asked me how I found him for sale...she said she saw him still advertised on the internet....

So I checked it out when I got home....and found out it was him as a baby...and NO he wasn't rising 5, he was rising 4, which made a HECK of a lot more sense. After doing some asking around, I came in contact with the woman who sold him to the woman I bought him from, and she told me she had hand picked him from a PMU farm where the farmer was trying to breed quality animals. She told me his father is a Percheron cross, mother is a TB cross....and that's all I know about him.

My coaches and I thought he'd be a nice lower level horse for me to get going on, and then progress further with a different horse when the time came....but Anoki has surprised EVERYONE!!!

So as far as I can tell, Anoki was treated FAR worse at this 'riding school' than he ever was before he got there.....

~kathryn

 

[Sonya]

I am not at all advocating PMU use, but from what I've heard most are fed/watered/clean facilities...(of course not all I'm sure)...they have to be because they are regulated..but most of the horses spend their whole lives in a very small stall and do not go outside at all. And the majority of the babies go to slaughter.

 

[Shelley]

Yup...that's why I've been "toughing it out".

Shelley

 

[Charlene]

Yup...that's why I've been "toughing it out".

Shelley

no reason you should have to. RUN, don't walk, to walmart and pick up either some Remifemin or the equate (walmart) brand. i started with the name brand and switched to the walmart brand because it's half the price. it will take up to 3-4 weeks for it to get into your system so you won't have immediate relief. i will say this, it only took me 2 weeks to notice a HUGE difference. no more hot flashes, no more night sweats and my mood improved 1,000%!!!

 

[AppyLover2]

OMG Charlene....if you were closer I'd give you the BIGGEST hug ever!!! I've been putting up with night sweats and hot flashes for years because I didn't want to take Premarin. I'll definitely be making a trip to Wally World soon to try out your recommendations. I assume they're an "over the counter" purchase???

 

[Charlene]

OMG Charlene....if you were closer I'd give you the BIGGEST hug ever!!! I've been putting up with night sweats and hot flashes for years because I didn't want to take Premarin. I'll definitely be making a trip to Wally World soon to try out your recommendations. I assume they're an "over the counter" purchase???

LOL, a cyber hug will work! and yes, it's over-the-counter. you will find it in the supplement section. remifemin contains, among other things, black cohosh, which is thought to reduce the frequency of hot flashes and night sweats. if you google "remifemin", you will find all kinds of info.

as i recall, i took it for about 3 years, faithfully. i was a new woman!!

hot flashes were horrible for me and night sweats were even worse. i'd wake up thinking i musta peed the bed!

 

[Leeana]

I agree, one farm treating their horses in that manner is one to many. Then agian, there are to many farms out there doing much worse things (that are not related to slaughter or PMU).There are some farms that do treat these mares corrently, but there are also farms that treat these mares incorrectly. There can be two sides to the facts

. Now, no i have not seen a actual PMU farm myself but they are out there, you cannot tell me they are not.

I'm curious what has to go wrong in your life for these people to choose this line of business? How can you go to sleep at night knowing you have sent horses off to slaughter or what you have put a mare through all day long? Off all job occupations you can choose.

Leeana

 

[tshack]

yeah that's been going around for a while. I won't take anything with premarin in it. BUT i do have to say I have one adorable PMU colt because of it, that will live out his days here as a happy BIG guy. He's supposed to be a QH ut is showing more Quarter blood every day, I'm gonna need a bucket to just get on him, MAN he's tall!!

 

[h2t99]

We currently have 2 QH's that came from PMU farms in Canada and I will say they are the nicest, most level headed 2 yr olds we have ever had!! I also bought another several years ago that I rehomed with a friend and he is the sweetest horse!! The 2 we have are going to be my and my daughters riding horses in the future and I am so excited to start them!! I will be starting the colt this summer and the filly probably in the fall.

I will say that PMU farms have changed alot, since they started regulating them and all the publicity came out about them several years ago. That said I do not plan on putting horse urine in my mouth

!!

 

[justjinx]

My daughter has a wonderful 5 year old registered percheron that she got from a PMU farm and he could not be sweeter. the number of farms has decreased alot and most horses are sold through auction now. There is much less need for the Premarin since more synthetic drugs are available for the same purpose. jennifer

 

[tshack]

Yeah I've been told that PMU farmer are gearing their breeding towards better bloodlines and stuff in an effort to be able to sell more colts to people. Whiel I kNOW that mine isn't Full QH, I did find out that he does have Hollywood Gold in his pedigree, so that's not bad honestly coming form a QH standpoint as far as bloodlines. He's alos one of the sweetest guys we've got here.

 

[looney2n]

I'm thinking that these horses that come from the PMU farms are so appreciative that they just LOVE their new families so much. Yeah, I know that may sound a little 'looney'

but, hey, look at the replies from those who have them. Just like most other animals that I've seen rescued, somehow they just know and they are always so sweet and smart.

 

[Minimor]

You must remember that the info given on that website is old, & I believe much of it is "faked"--well, I shouldn't say that particular site, I'm not sure it's the same one, but there was one that used photos that had been "posed" by PETA.

We had many PMU farms in this area up until the contract cuts several years ago, and I have visited many of the barns. Years ago--and I'm talking 30 years?--there were not strict inspections and yes, some of the mares did have a rather sorry lot in life. In recent years, though, rules became much more stringent, and conditions in all barns were closely monitored.

If an inspector walked into a barn & saw a mare with sores, she was off the line immediately--and if he returned & found that mare was back on the line...the producer lost his contract on the spot. That's the way it is with all their rules, and no one gets away with keeping their mares in substandard conditions any more--and haven't for years now.

Quite honestly? In the past 20 years I've seen more abusive situations in "private" barns than I have in PMU barns. PMU barns have standards they must adhere to. Private barns have none--anything goes.

One fellow built a new PMU barn and had it all approved--the ceiling was the right height...then he poured the cement floor, and the inspector found that the concrete floor made the ceiling 4 inches lower than the height specified in the standard. He was told that he had to lift the ceiling at least 4 inches or lose his contract. Mind you, the ceiling as it was was still plenty high that it wasn't causing any hardship for the horses--but he still had to lift that ceiling.

tagalong is perfectly right. What she described is the standard, not the exception.

 

[looney2n]

MINIMORE: Thanks for your post as well as others that have seen the PMU farms. I read that site a long time ago and then again just recently. I had read about them at other sites as well. I was under the impression that they were getting to be fewer but it at least settles me some to know they do have strick regulations. I know what your saying about 'private barns'. I have one down the road from my house like that. They only have 2 horses but they literally leave for the weekend, 3 days sometimes and don't have anyone set up to feed them. I have seen these horses eating poop and tree bark. I kind of stepped over the line once and went over there, walked in their barn and threw out hay for them. I know, that was probably illegal or at least invading their privacy. But when I see animals, and I don't care what kind, not getting what they need, I get a bit gutsy. My hubby and I are considering reporting them.

Well, thanks for the update on the PMU barns...all of you. Linda

You must remember that the info given on that website is old, & I believe much of it is "faked"--well, I shouldn't say that particular site, I'm not sure it's the same one, but there was one that used photos that had been "posed" by PETA.

We had many PMU farms in this area up until the contract cuts several years ago, and I have visited many of the barns. Years ago--and I'm talking 30 years?--there were not strict inspections and yes, some of the mares did have a rather sorry lot in life. In recent years, though, rules became much more stringent, and conditions in all barns were closely monitored.

If an inspector walked into a barn & saw a mare with sores, she was off the line immediately--and if he returned & found that mare was back on the line...the producer lost his contract on the spot. That's the way it is with all their rules, and no one gets away with keeping their mares in substandard conditions any more--and haven't for years now.

Quite honestly? In the past 20 years I've seen more abusive situations in "private" barns than I have in PMU barns. PMU barns have standards they must adhere to. Private barns have none--anything goes.

One fellow built a new PMU barn and had it all approved--the ceiling was the right height...then he poured the cement floor, and the inspector found that the concrete floor made the ceiling 4 inches lower than the height specified in the standard. He was told that he had to lift the ceiling at least 4 inches or lose his contract. Mind you, the ceiling as it was was still plenty high that it wasn't causing any hardship for the horses--but he still had to lift that ceiling.

tagalong is perfectly right. What she described is the standard, not the exception.