I love horses, but not to the tune of $700 Million (Opinion)

Fayette County News ^ | August 2, 2009 | Tom Kerlin

[1rudeboy]

Oh, and the system is so screwed up, with the government closing all the horse slaughterhouses, forbidding wild horses to just simply be killed, warehousing them at your expense--that some bloody Democrat can come along and ask for $700 million to continue the process. And conservatives are simply supposed to shrug their shoulders, blame the environazis and animal-lovers, and repeat the unmitigated BS that the horses are the cause of the problem? Or resort to hair-splitting semantics about the horses not really being "wild?"

They run around. Out in the open. If people want to push them aside in order to make room for some politically-connected rancher to gather up a government freebie, they should at least be honest about it.

[DejaJude]

Geld the stallions and you control the breeding. I also own horses and if memory serves correctly, it’s pretty tough to increase the size of your herd without a stallion. I may be wrong but I don’t think so.

Do you watch Monk? I love horses (I have owned a few). I also love cats (many have owned me). I see no problem with a catch, nurture, release program with horses, anymore with the same program for cats.

[dusttoyou]

Have you even seen the land you are crying about? I ain’t some lush Kentucky horse farm. My guess is 30 acres per cow. What are the ranches “stealing” the lease for an acre? What would you contend the annual value per acre is?

The difference between horse grazing and cattle grazing, as someone previously pointed out, is that horses tend to pull up the grass plant and killing it whereas cattle bite the grass off like your lawnmower and leaving the plant intact.

I suspect that facts are not anything you are concerned with and just being argumentative.

[1rudeboy]

What would you contend the annual value per acre is?

Well, let's see: the rancher pays one dollar a month (or is it two, now?) to place one cow and one calf on your land. He sells the cow and calf for x dollars. Does he earn much more than $12.00 or $24.00 (assuming the lease runs one year)?

Which do you think is a closer approximation of the value of the land, the $12.00 or $24.00, or something approaching x?

Don't forget, x is just the number for one cow/calf unit. In order to get an idea of the revenue generated by your land you need to multiply x by the number of cow/calf units he keeps on your land.

[1rudeboy]

The difference between horse grazing and cattle grazing, as someone previously pointed out, is that horses tend to pull up the grass plant and killing it whereas cattle bite the grass off like your lawnmower and leaving the plant intact.

And I responded that the horse is not being replaced by the cow at a 1:1 ratio, since the subject was damage being caused.

[dusttoyou]

rudedude you need to check in with your Dr., your meds are needing recalibration.

[1rudeboy]

If that's how you feel about it. Ping me when you get back on subject, if ever.