The Unwanted Horse Coalition (UHC) has initiated a program called Operation Gelding, whereby the coalition will provide funds and materials to assist organizations, associations, and event organizers that wish to sponsor clinics to which horse owners can bring their stallions to be castrated. A number of associations have sponsored such clinics and the UHC wants to help more organizations, associations, and event organizers get involved in this effort.
This initiative is made possible by a special gift from the American Association of Equine Practitioners Foundation (AAEP) and the UHC; both organizations have donated seed money to get the program started. Operation Gelding is patterned after several initiatives undertaken by horse associations, organizations, and event organizers around the country.
“The Coalition has focused on raising awareness about the unwanted issue for the first few years of its existence,” said David Foley, executive director of the AAEP. “We are now able to start offering some tangible programs that help address the problem. Hopefully this will be the first of many.” Read full article at TheHorse.com >>
Tuesday's Horse 
Yes, we all know this as it has been driven into our minds for years.
It is well known and a given as far as the AQHA, AAEP, UHC and all the other pro horse slaughter, over-breeding organizations go that they would not impose this on themselves. And yes, all of these organizations are the root of all evil along who exist to exploit the horses and they should take accountability for their actions….in a perfect world this would not exist
On the other hand, if the clinics are well run, with certified vets, and everything you also mention, it can’t harm.
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I am personally responsible for eight animals, including two horses. I do not like say I own them because that describes property, but legally that is the case. All are gelded, neutered and spayed, with the exception of one female rabbit who is beyond breeding age (her veterinarian has advised me) and one recently adopted young female who is soon to be scheduled.
I do not oppose the gelding of horses or neutering/spaying of companion animals. I oppose the efforts of organizations such as the “Unwanted Horse Coalition” and others to hide their commercial aims in the jargon of “helping” to “address a problem” when the real problem is treating animals as commodities.
It is not always better to “do something” than to “do nothing,” if the “something” comes at a too steep a price for the individual animal. Will the clinic participants be counseled, for example, on the risks of gelding older stallions? Will the veterinarians who offer their services at “no or low cost” be board certified, use the best practices and avoid paralytic drugs that do not prevent the horse from feeling pain?
You have to know this “initiative” is aimed at so-called “backyard breeders” and not at the members of the AQHA or the large commercial clients of the AAEP veterinarians. They would not dare bite the hand that feeds them.
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I AM SO SO SOOOOOOOO SICK OF THE WORD “UNWANTED!” Can’t people get it thru their fly-ball sized brains….THAT THERE ARE NO “UNWANTED” HORSES??? Homeless , but certainly NOT UNWANTED. And those aforementioned horseslaughter proponents all trying to fool the people with such pretty words and statemenmts, USE THE TERM ALL THE TIME!. They make me want to vomit!
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If referring to the Wild Mustang why would anyone condone castration the genes here are as old as America, I would not include these precious ones with pets………………We are talking about The Wild Mustangs not house pets in general it would be ok for horses that are not Wild Mustangs , they are Icons with the richest bloodlines in the world………..Completely untouched by Breeders of any kind……………………..Birth control is ok though if handled properly………………….But to castrate not even a consideration……..The BLM has already castrated too many Stallions Wild Mustangs…………….. The ramifications of this totally thoughtless act will haunt us for years to come……………………….
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Since when is the answer to everything having to do with horses a castration issue, it is not , and never was!!!! We are not out to help with the destruction of the horse !@!!! and their magnificent genes, we would like some control , and that involves only a form of birth control that is safe and accurate………………………… For some reason I get uneasy when i hear coalition?????????? Now if i think about it ???? We do not want to help the brainless fools , with their brainless efforts to destroy the Magnificent horse ! With completely out of mind ideas……………………………………………….. Come on now………………
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Castration is the same thing they do to “attempt’ to control the dog and cat population. I don’t think we are talking about the wild horses here but rather pets etc. This is perfectly acceptable for dogs and cats who we love just as dearly. Why not for horses that are part of our lives as well?
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Of course in a humane way….
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It is always refreshing to see the veterinary/ag industry sponsoring clinics, but what AAEP Executive Director David Foley calls “the unwanted issue” is actually “the unwanted myth” invented by the deceptively-named “Unwanted Horse Coalition,” and spread by the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association), the AQHA (American Quarter Horse Association) and (at the center) horse meat lobbyist Charles Stenholm’s “Horse Welfare Coalition.” None of these groups have horse “welfare” as a founding principle. They exist to serve a horse production industry that calls foals “crops,” stallions “studs” and mares “breeders,” that views horses as mere products to be used by humans as we see fit, and that has as its guiding principle the defeat of legislation banning horse slaughter.
Take advantage of “Operating Gelding” if you will, but recognize what is really behind it. It is as if British Petroleum were to start a “Gulf Health” organization and offer to counsel people on “what you can do to help solve the problem of unwanted oil.”
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We get it, loud and clear. Thanks.
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So true and they are pro-slaughter but at least they are doing something. Better than nothing in my mind.
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