Kentucky Horse Blog

Other motivating factors include since there was a ban put in place in America on the slaughter of horses as well as a surge in high prices have coupled together to bring down their novelty to being a burden of cost for their owners. The drought in Kentucky and other states has caused a steep increase in the cost of hay, with many places costing in the $200 per ton range (which is up approximately 40% from their $140 per ton price range a year ago). Kentucky is still for the most part in the $165 per ton range for hay right now.

With slaughter of horses being closed due to new laws being implemented in September, there is simply a glut of draft horses on the market right now.

Draft horses represent where we have come from - and were the backbone of American and Kentucky farms for getting labor done around the farm. Everything from plowing fields, clearing trees and logs, to pulling wagons - draft horses had the strength to pull heavy loads that other horses may not be able to handle. Its a shame to see that their owners and fans are unable to make it financially feasible to keep their values elevated. A concern now is the horses being purchased, then shipped to other places that do allow slaughter and a lot of good horses being put down because of the high costs to keep them, and low value that they have monetarily.