Source: @Grace Gibb.
Horse aficionados in North America face a horse shortage due to lack of breeding which increases the demand. Exports have been drastically reduced because of closed borders implemented by European governments.
Canadian horse trainer Grace Gibb,21, reveals the truth about the horse breeding industry, which has had a drastic decline in recent years affecting imports to North America.
Gibb highlighted that Covid has halted horse breeding, leading to a huge horse shortage. “Everyone wants horses but they can’t find any... Horses are triple than what they used to be since last year… animal rights people are saying people need to stop breeding but that’s not true as we have nowhere near enough horses for the demand.”
She said that there are two types of horses: cheap horses and high-end horses. Cheap horses costing under 10,000 Canadian dollars. The cheap end horses are often brought as pets or to entertain hobbies. Grace illustrated that these cheaper horses could be acquired at auctions or rescued at slaughterhouses or even sold on Facebook.
The horses being so cheap are usually not the best quality, needing training and to gain weight. Another reason why the horses are so cheap is that people often don’t know how to market them.
On the other hand, high-end horses can cost millions, “high-quality jumpers are 20,000 to millions, there’s a huge difference in prices” Gibb said.
Miss Gibb disclosed that North American horse trainers and jumpers export horses from Europe “cheap horses are local, the high-end horses for the hunter-jumper world… most of the jumpers are in Europe… our horses are way lesser quality… our homebred horses can’t compete with the European horses. The Europeans sell us their rejects but their bad horses are way better than our good ones.”
She said that European horses are better because they are warmbloods, a European invention specifically bred for horse jumping. North American horses lack the European bloodlines on which the horse jumping industry is founded. Gibb also stated that in Europe horse riding is an activity done with passion and pride, whereas in North America it is often a status symbol. Exporting horses is an expensive ordeal and so there is a procedure to be followed. Horses must have a show record and must be reputable, after one year a $30,000 CA horse can be resold for $50 dollars CA.
Gibb and other horse riders suffer financially because of the closed borders due to Covid. “Covid has affected this industry as the sales are not local, they’re international… The borders are closed and people can’t come here…,” said Gibb.
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