Let's get a few things straight:\r
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1) Peter Sparks buys horses from auctions because they are cheap, old and therefore too calm to flip out when a novice gets on their back. His perception of horses as disposable money-making machines is evident in the lack of care he gives them. Any person with eyeballs, ""horse person"" or not, can see that the horses' hooves are overgrown and chipped and that the majority are grossly underweight. Incidentally, when the horses at Sparks become too broken-down and lame for even Peter Sparks to use, where do you think he takes them? Right back to auction for a profit, so he can buy a replacement. I assure you that his trail horses are not ""retired"" when they become unsound.\r
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2) HORSE SLAUGHTER IS ILLEGAL IN THE US NOW and while some horses go to auction to be purchased by meat buyers and eventually be shipped to Canada or Mexico for meat, I swear to you that a death in a slaughterhouse is better than a life at Sparks Trading Post.\r
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3) IT IS NOT ""NORMAL"" FOR OLD HORSES TO BE THIN. EVER. Old horses sometimes have issues keeping weight on. If and when that happens, YOU NEED TO FIX IT. It's not that hard. Soak their hay, feed them Senior feed, give them a weight building supplement, have the vet out to float their teeth more often. Do you think Peter Sparks even knows what ""floating teeth"" means? \r
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4) I worked at Sparks as a child - yes, I was hired as a 12 year old. I was appalled at what I saw there - immunizing several horses with the same needle, Peter Sparks threatening a horse with a pitchfork, horses kept tacked up all day long in their stalls, 6 days a week. None of the horses have any bedding in their stalls, and many don't have stalls big enough to lie down in. Out of the 4 months I worked there, I saw stalls cleaned ONCE. Manure was 3 feet deep in some stalls and a tractor was needed to scape it out.\r
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to be continued...
Pros: Absolutely nothing.
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