The Causes and Effects of America’s Horse Population Crisis
By Christina Keim
Any horse with a change of circumstances can become unwanted.
The unwanted are racetrack rejects, excess ranch stock, foals that did not live up to their breeder’s expectations. They are aged Amish cart horses, horses with chronic lameness issues, the pony a child outgrew. They are show horses, pleasure horses, pretty horses and plain.
The US equine industry produces more horses each year than the number of appropriate homes, leaving thousands of animals with nowhere to go. Recently, as many as 150,000 of these horses have shipped annually to equine slaughterhouses in Canada, Mexico, and abroad. Others are sold at auction, given away, starved, abused, and abandoned. Rescues across the country report they are consistently close to or at capacity. Most are stretched to the breaking point when it comes to finances, material resources, and human power.
Horsewoman and journalist Christina Keim believes the unwanted horse crisis urgently needs our collective voice and attention. Solving it, she suggests, requires a sea change in the face of fundamental values and beliefs, hard economic realities, and deeply held cultural attitudes. In her meticulously researched study of this devastatingly real and present problem, she travels the country, bringing readers to livestock auctions, rescues, and therapy centers, describing work and life behind the scenes, and the animals who find themselves there.
Keim interviews industry experts, including veterinarians, lawmakers, welfare advocates, and shelter workers, and reviews published data to help separate unwanted horse facts from fantasy. She works to dispel common myths and misconceptions surrounding the “slaughter pipeline,” without taking away from the harsh reality horses face once there. And perhaps most importantly, she showcases the work of dedicated individuals and groups who are collectively helping to carve out a new niche for horses that honors their heritage and helps preserve their future.
Unwanted asks us to examine our deeply held beliefs about horses. For there to be hope for a restorative and harmonious solution to the unwanted horse crisis, Keim professes, we must be ready to come to the table well informed, open-minded, and prepared to work for the horse’s best interests.
Available from Trafalgar Square Books and other booksellers.
See this article in the August 2025 Online Digital Edition:
August 2025
News from the horse industry. Sharing today’s information as it happens. The Colorado Horse Source is not responsible for the content of 3rd party submissions.