Breeders are obviously aware of this problem. They should set up a system whereby money is set aside at the time of sale for the eventual euthanasia and cremation of each horse they sell. But of course they won't, because that would eat into their profits.
Despite what most people believe, TB's are better cared for during and after their racing career has ended because it requires a lot of $ to race even a $ 3500 claimer. The backyard breeds suffer far more than TB's or Standardbreds do and usually have a much greater chance of coming to a sad end.
Most horses that the idiots that are the problem owners have are bred by other idiots. Usually they put mares and studs together and are surprised to get colts. Or some breed horses just because baby colts are so cute.
Responsible breeders are breeding a much higher quality horse and the idiots won’t spend that kind of money.
To help you relate better to what we are saying- think about the difference between the way dogs are treated in the ghetto and the Kennel Club set- then I think you will get the picture and understand the problems better.
The thing is the city sends the dog catcher around the ghetto to gather strays and kill them for those idiots. No one wants to take on the horse problem- horses are just so much more trouble to handle that most agencies aren’t and don’t want to be set up to deal with them and the few that will are overwhelmed by the numbers since slaughter was shut down.
I didn’t like horse slaughter either- but I begged and pleaded with those determined to stop it to please make sure there was a way to care for all the unwanted horses before they closed the slaughter houses becuase I knew this would happen. Thier response to me was that it would not be a problem because horse rescue organizations would take care of all of them. Problem is horse rescue organizations were overwhelmed before slaughter was ended and many of them have shut down because some were set up only for PR while the battle was being faught in Congress. Now that they won the battle against the slaughter houses the dudly-do-gooders are gone to the next cause and horses are suffering.
The price of putting a horse down varies; it goes up (often WAY up) as the horses are located in more urban areas.
eg, it would cost you nothing to put a horse down if you were on a ranch in the rural west. Walk the horse out to BLM land, put it down with a shot in the skull and it becomes buzzard and coyote bait.
Cost: $0.50 or less.
Urban areas: you’ll need to haul the horse away somewhere, because many urban areas will have prohibitions on burying the carcass, so you either have to haul it away live to kill & bury it somewhere else, or haul it away dead. Now things get really expensive.