What's a Premarin Foal, and who is Koko?

"Kokopelli"-Our Premarin Rescue Foal

Imagine for a moment that you're a horse. In your natural state you live in a herd, a group of multi-age horses. The majority of your day is spent grazing, playing, grooming yourself and others, and moving from one place to another. Though horses often sleep standing up, you get your deepest sleep when you lie down. You drink large quantities of water.

If you're a mare on a Premarin farm, it's likely that none of this is true for you. (Premarin is a hormone replacement drug given to menopausal women. It's made from pregnant mare urine. To read more about it, click here). For the majority of your 11-month pregnancy you are tied up by the neck in a tiny box stall, unable to turn around, comfortably lie down, or groom yourself. If a fly is biting your hindquarters, you can't itch yourself. You have virtually no company and no exercise. The humans that "care" for you purposely dehydrate you so that the estrogen in your urine is more concentrated. You are constantly anticipating and wishing for water. When it finally comes, it's never enough to satisfy your needs, and you continue to lick the water bowl yearning for more. Liver and kidney disease and swollen legs are common. (I can't even write some of the other horrible ways in which these innocent animals are treated because it brings me close to nausea. If you want to read about it, click here.

It's a horrible life for a horse. No companions to play with and groom, virtually no exercise, limited water, tied up 24/7 until your foal is born, questionable health care, it's disgusting! When your foal is born you both are put out on the prairie-like fields of Manitoba Canada. It's pretty cold there. For example, it's 10/7/05 and here in Huntington, VT, it's 73 degrees Fahrenheit. In Manitoba it's 32 degrees Fahrenheit. I've read that a large number of foals don't make it. The majority of the living foals become meat for people in other countries. In other words, they're slaughtered. Thousands of them. They're abruptly taken away from their mothers (they'd been nursing up to that point), herded into tractor-trailer trucks with cattle prods and sticks, and taken to auctions. There are all shapes and sizes of foals, stocky draft horse types, thoroughbred types, and quarter horse types. Generally they are between the ages of 3-5 months old. Even on the best farm, the weaning process is stressful for both the mare and foal. At the Premarin farms, it's downright disgraceful. Ideally it should be a gradual weaning process, not all at once.

Our little foal, "Kokopelli" (nicknamed "Koko") is a Premarin foal. We picked him up from the Spring Hill Rescue Organization in Brandon, VT on 9/26/05. He's a beautiful little bay quarter horse, and was about 4 ½ months old (see the picture above). He loaded onto and off the trailer with ease. As soon as he arrived at our house, he stepped easily into his new stall. He acted like he was finally home. He was greeted with fresh clean water and second cut (more protein and nutrition) organic hay. I'm feeding him organic oats and a good quality vitamin and mineral supplement, and a flax meal supplement. Just like with my cat, dog, and human family, Koko will be living a "green living" lifestyle, tailored to a horse's needs. I've made him a homemade bug repellent using organic tea tree oil and water in a spray bottle. He's not afraid of the spray bottle, and it is definitely deterring those pesky critters. I'm researching a couple of herbal deworming pastes as opposed to the chemically laden ones, and homeopathic and nutritional alternatives to vaccines. I want to build Koko's immune system so that he can fight off whatever illnesses he may become exposed to, just like the rest of us.

We're using natural horsemanship style training, much like Monty Roberts, the "Horse Whisperer". I'm also learning from Pat Parelli's videos and a workshop I took. I go to equine events and take workshops, and learn from other local trainers that I trust. I believe wholeheartedly in creating a partnership with Koko based on respect and love. It's our responsibility as horse owners to learn the language that horses speak-predominantly through body language rather than forcing them to learn ours. I'm also a subscriber to the Holistic Horse Magazine, and I read articles and listen to audios from Natural Horse Talk.

WHAT YOU CAN DO
*Adopt a Premarin foal or donate to one of the organizations that rescues them. If you're in Vermont, check out www.springhillrescue.com. Outside of VT, http://www.pmufoaladoption.org/
* Call Wyeth-Ayerst in the United States (800) 666-7248 to protest how Premarin is produced. (For Canada, call 215 971-5823). Write to Robert Essner, President of Wyeth-Ayerst, at P.O. Box 8299, Philadelphia, PA 19101 and let him know how you feel.
* Spread the word about Premarin and the cruel way it's produced! Ask your doctor to offer and prescribe alternative hormone replacement therapy medications.
* Write to Dr. Janet Woodcock at the FDA and express your demand for that agency's prompt approval of one or more synthetic/generic forms of Premarin to make them available to those who wish to use them. Write to her at: FDA, 5600 Fisher's Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857.

A Mare’s Prayer

With every birth I pray to God that this will be one,
To go to that special place where he’ll be doted on with love.
As another life is born to me I nuzzle him with care,
Let me introduce myself, I am a PMU mare.

Each moment is so precious; I try not to get attached,
But his innocence is refreshing, his beauty is unmatched.
He frolics with the others; they don’t know what lies ahead,
All the mares are uneasy for back to the barns we are led.

The foals cry out in panic they don’t know what’s in store,
Some will go to feedlots and others to the East shore.
I breathe a sigh of relief, as he’s loaded on the truck,
For he will go to Vermont – being chosen is mere luck.

With him goes a piece of myself hiding in his heart,
Finally the freedom from this life I will too depart.
He will never be alone, never be abused,
His flesh will never make a profit for those that misuse.

Hidden in the green mountains, there’s a special place they say,
Where foals are always welcome to live and romp and play.
I pray he finds that place, so he does not go to kill,
They find the foals good homes - this place is called Spring Hill.

Gina L. Brown – Spring Hill Horse Rescue, Brandon, Vt www.springhillrescue.com
-Dedicated the hundreds of thousands of PMU foals that aren’t as fortunate.

Sources:

http://www.menopauseonline.com/what.html

http://www.premarin.org/

http://www.islandnet.com/~luree/foals.html

http://www.paws.org/about/mag/issues/issue40/mary.php

http://www.horsemensguide.com/links/pages/In_The_News/more2.html

http://www.pmufoaladoption.org/

http://www.springhillrescue.com