By: Admin
This is my story about the adoption of my new Premarin foal. The first question you may have is what is a Premarin foal? A Premarin foal is a foal produced during the process of producing Premarin, a popular medication used by menopausal women. Premarin is processed using pregnant mare urine. Yes, it is true. The name originated from a key ingredient, pregnant mare's urine.
There is controversy over the treatment of the pregnant mares used to collect the urine. The mares must be kept in foal as much as possible and during that time are kept attached to a urine collecting harness, they do not receive regular exercise and are stalled most of the time, except after the foal is born and when they are being re bred. All the foals produced year after year become surplus. The majority of these foals end up at the slaughter house. Most of the several hundred Premarin Ranches are located in Canada. The United Pegasus Foundation offers a means through which these PMU horses can be adopted. To learn more about these ranches and the horses used please visit www.unitedpegasus.com
My story is the adoption of my Premarin foal or PMU foal. Over the past 3 years I have met many horse lovers who have adopted numerous PMU foals to prevent them from going to slaughter and have had wonderful results, however adoption is sight unseen, so all you really know about the foal is the current color (from a photo), approximate age, sex and usually sire name and photo, but the dam is usually just a number and photo, I would imagine at the ranches that is how they are identified and may not have a name. Horses leaving Canada and entering the USA also must pass a coggins test and receive a health certificate. The majority of PMU horses that I have seen are a draft cross, which make great hunter prospects. I have not yet seen any that were beyond repair and their confirmation ranges, but nothing that is not useful for one job or another. This spring my horse of 27 years went to horse heaven and the past 5 months I have wavered between whether I was ready for another horse or could I ever find the right horse again. As it turned out, it did not amount to whether I was ready for a horse, I am always ready for a horse, but more so finding the right horse. My previous horse was a Tennessee Walker cross and I did not think I could find a horse up to his standards, but then I went to www.unitedpegasus.com and fell in love. I planned to get another walker cross or pure bred, but just looking at the filly I had lost all sense of what I thought I wanted. She has a broad forehead and large ears denoting intelligence, she also has very soft eyes. I know she will be a dream.
Now the other stuff. Most of the horses up for adoption live in Canada, but there are also a few in the US. The horses in Canada are not considered trained for riding and their history may not be known. The foals are born into a herd environment and not handled much, so they are untamed. From my experience, some are easy to get to know, while others take more time to learn to trust humans. This is normal for each individual horse.
How do the horses get to you? Well loads of horses that have found homes are shipped together to a pick up area. Shipping costs range, because the more horses that get shipped to one area eases the cost a bit, however, when you visit the site you will see estimates and more information on shipping.. The entire process is the best that it can be with faithful, caring volunteers working hard to find homes for the horses in need. These caring volunteers take a lot of time to find homes and make themselves available to prospects interested in adopting or sponsoring.
The adoption process has many phases. The first phase is making the decision of whether PMU adoption is right for you. The horse you adopt is not typically one you can drive out and take a look at, so it is kind of like a surprise, but this is not normal procedure when acquiring a new horse, it is more like taking a chance on faith. For me this was easy, others may find it difficult and you must be willing and be prepared to take care of a sick or injured horse if the case would arise from travel. From where the horses are in Canada to Pennsylvania (my home) is a very long ride, about 30 hours and this can be hard on some horses. However, in the past 3 years I have not known of any severe issues with horses that have been adopted.
Consider your level of experience. I have seen completely inexperienced horse lovers adopt and have great success due to their desire to learn and work hard, but this may not be for everyone. Placement is meant to provide a permanent loving home, are you ready for that?
If you decide adopting a PMU horse is right for you then you want to visit the website www.unitedpegasus.com, carefully choose the horse you feel is right for you then call volunteers listed on the site who can provide you with answers to your questions. Some questions may not be able to be answered immediately, such as the exact date of when the horse is going to be delivered and where it is going to be delivered. At this point, I know where my filly is being delivered, but do not have an exact date. We are still working on adoptions in this area trying to find loving homes and fill the load.
Steps to come are arrival to the pick up area, halter training and delivery to my home and naming her. If anyone has a good name let me know by writing to Webhost@eHorsePlace.com
Check back for updates on my adoption process and a journal of my filly once she arrives and day to day information I provide on her adaptation and training.
Her photo on the adoption site:
