July 2022 Issue

Page 10 July 2022 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Email: eschfence@gmail.com - Fax: -- WHOLESALE & RETAIL Phone -- Wolfe Auctions Teams with Rescues to Put the Welfare of the Horses First horse auction a better environ- ment for horses. Ruby says that sometimes a human’s kindest act is to give a horse a peaceful death. “Any horse that arrives to the sale in such a condition that our on-site veterinarian recommends eutha- nasia, and the owner of the horse agrees with this recommendation, Gentle Giants will cover the cost of euthanasia and body disposal.” He says Gentle Giants has also agreed to cover the cost of gelding any stallion brought to the auction, if the seller agrees to the procedure. With the plans for a more horse-respectful auction finalized, Ruby and his wife Emily pub- lished their intentions in a press release which laid out require- ments for horses they would accept at the auction: • Before entering the barn, each horse will be checked for fever and evaluated—untacked— no riders, no blankets. The eval- uation will take place on Friday, for the Saturday auction. • Any horse with a body score of less than three cannot enter the auction. The owners of these horses will have the option of surrendering the horse to Bur- rier’s rescue. • No medications, including bute, banamine or other sound- ness/behavior altering medications can be administered to any sale horse prior to check-in or sale. • No new horses can be en- tered in the auction on Saturday (sale day). He wants all horses for sale in the barn by Friday to protect the health of the horses. Ruby says that any seller caught drugging a horse or doing something to mask lameness or injury will face penalties. If caught, both seller and horse will be dismissed from the sale with- out refund of any consignment, care, or stalling fees. Further, the seller will be banned from any future consignments with Wolfe Agricultural Auctions. “If a horse sold to us as sound and sane is found to have been drugged, we will void payment and further action will be taken.” “It’s a throw-away society,” Burrier says. “You’re not going to catch every horse that’s medicat- ed or every lameness. People are still going to be people. It comes down to greed. Honesty has left the station.” That touch of cyni- cism aside, Burrier has faith that Ruby’s plan will ultimately pay off for horses. She and other res- cue organizations can negotiate directly with sellers whose horses are barred from the auction, bypassing a bidding process that would drive prices higher. “There are two types of horse people in the world,” she says. “There are horse people and there are horse lovers.” Ruby says he and his crew are in the latter camp. Selling the Truth and Telling the Truth “I’ve gotten tremendous support from the horse world,” Ruby says. “As far as the sellers, they didn’t necessarily want the changes. But it is what it is.” He says that besides being the right thing to do, his new auction pro- tocols are also proving profitable. “I’ve made more money by just selling the truth and telling the truth,” he says. He gives his wife a lot of credit for the decision to focus on the welfare of the horses that come through the auction. “My wife changed me personal- ly,” he says, “I got married back in February. I guess she warmed up my old cold heart.” (Continued from page 1) Please submit your events to steph@eastcoastequestrian.net. Please provide event name, location, city, state and contact information for inclusion at no cost in East Coast Equestrian's calendar. Attention Event Organizers!