A five-day trailer ride from Manitoba, Canada, through the
bustling Bay Area and then to the open country at the base of the
hills east of Gilroy took its toll on Scout, making him a sick
horse far away from the only home it ever knew. But little did he
know, there was no better alternative.
A five-day trailer ride from Manitoba, Canada, through the bustling Bay Area and then to the open country at the base of the hills east of Gilroy took its toll on Scout, making him a sick horse far away from the only home it ever knew. But little did he know, there was no better alternative.
For Scout, a 4-month-old, half-thoroughbred foal, this was the best chance of survival. There are more than 40,000 newborn foals each year, and at least 40 percent of them end up being sold to feedlots for slaughter through direct contracts and many more through auction.
“He’s a byproduct of the pharmaceutical process,” said Cheryl Pritchett, as Scout cautiously approached her and began to feed from her hand in his new home in a barn outside Pritchett’s house near the eastern foothills.
It may seem strange, but that’s exactly what Scout is. The Manitoba farm where Scout was born is the home of one of hundreds of PMU ranches in Canada and the U.S. PMU stands for pregnant mare urine, which is used to create the chemical Premarine, used in drugs for post-menopausal women. Ranches breed horses and and collect pregnant mares’ urine for several months before being turned out to pasture to deliver their foals.
“Usually the foals are sent to slaughter,” Pritchett said. “It’s a lot more work for the farmers. It’s easier for them to send them to the feedlots. They have to go through a whole lot of extra work to deal with us.”
And now Scout, one of about 300 lucky horses given a chance to survive through a PMU foal adoption agency, is slowly warming up to his new home in Gilroy. Pritchett spends most of her free time sitting with a newspaper and a cup of Starbucks coffee in a newly built stall at her and her husband’s home, which they moved into just six months ago. Her husband, Bill, works with the VTA, and she works with the county water board.
“He’s getting to trust me more,” she said. “I sit in the stall with him every day. I’m trying to get him used to me. All my neighbors have been in on the act, spending time with the horse while I’m at work.”
Due to his cold, which Scout’s veterinarian thought might be pneumonia, and getting used to a new environment, it was recommended he be quarantined for 30 days.
“I think it’s common for them to get colds along the ride,” Pritchett said. “There’s horses from six different farms on the truck, so it can come from anywhere. He’s doing really well. He’s responding well to the antibiotics.”
However, even from his stall in the Pritchett’s back yard, Scout is already making friends at his new home. One neighbors’ two geldings have been excited about another horse in the area.
“They love him,” Pritchett said. “They were racing around the night we got him.”
Another neighbors three llamas have shown interest in their new neighbor along with Pritchett’s dogs.
“They’re watching, too,” she said of the llamas. “And our three dogs have stayed in the stall with him. He hasn’t been too lonely.”
Ten horses just like Scout were dropped off at a San Jose ranch to be picked up by people who were adopting through the PMU adoption agency.
“All the babies were all huddled on one end (of the enclosure), and he went out and wandered around, so we called him Scout,” Pritchett said.
Pritchett first heard about the PMU adoption agency through her neighbor, Mary, whose friend from work adopt a couple of horses through the program.
“You can actually pick out the horse and see what its parents looked like through the online Web site,” Pritchett said.
When Pritchett and her husband, who were married in October, decided to move from south San Jose to Gilroy, getting a horse became a goal for Pritchett, who grew up with horses in upstate New York.
“I grew up with horses,” she said. “We’ve been looking for a house out here for two years. We think we’re ranchers now with our one acre. We weren’t planning on getting a horse until next year. It all came quicker than expected.”
While the PMU adoption program worked out well for Pritchett, she said she hopes the organization doesn’t hang around for long.
“Not the company, but hopefully the need for the chemical will go away,” she said.
Premarine is used to treat symptoms of post menopausal women, however the chemical has come under fire in the last several months, and many women have stopped taking it as other option have become available and the danger of taking premarine become more apparent through studies.
Yet as long as the horses are bred simply for the mares urine, Pritchett said she hopes good homes are found for the horses.
She said while the farmers could just send the horses off to slaughter, many are making a decision to work with the adoption agencies, despite the costs of weaning, separating horses for veterinarian check-ups, photographing horses for adoption and dealing with the shipping schedules. The adoption organizations give the ranchers the same amount of money as a feedlot would, and adopters like Pritchett pay for shipping costs.
“It’s much easier to have one truck pick them up and go to the feedlot,” she said. “Some of the farmers are (caring about the foals). It must be better for them thinking they’ll go to a good home.”
For more information on adopting PMU foals, visit www.pmufoaladoption.org.
