Claddagh Farm Horse Rescue

WHY IS CLADDAGH FARM HORSE RESCUE INVOLVED?

CFHR’s involvement with Premarin began with a simple goal: to rescue pregnant horses and give them a chance at a new life. These horses are being used for the drug called (PREMARIN).

Premarin is a drug whose name originates from a key ingredient, pregnant mare's urine. In 1942 a chemist discovered that hormones could be extracted from the urine of pregnant mares and given to women that need hormone replacement. At this time this was the only HRT available for women with menopausal symptoms and bone loss (osteoporosis).

This was the start of many ranching businesses in Canada where ranchers most likely bred low-quality mares. These mares were bred the natural way, just like if they would be living in the wild. This was a good thing, but when it was time to collect the urine they were put in stall just like the one you see at the top of this page. The PMU horse is then strapped with a device to collect the urine. This was done for 6 months out of their pregnancy. Then the mares were put back out to pasture to have their foal and the cycle started all over again.

During 1960’s and then again in the 70’s these ranches were investigated because  animal rights activists were protesting the ranchers who were taking all the foals that were produced directly to the slaughter. Since this investigation, laws have been passed to improve the well being of the horse. This includes barn cleanliness, properly fitting collection devices, nutrition and exercise. 

Today, instead of going directly to slaughterhouses, the ranchers take the foals to auction houses. This is essentially just using a middle man because a large percentage of foals sold at auction go to slaughter anyway. An estimated 80,000 PMU foals are sent to auction each year in North America alone. Pictured here are a few of the foals at feedlots in Canada.

We work with other PMU rescues to bring pregnant mares from Canada and place them in loving homes. This allows us to take mares out of production and keep future foals from going to auction where their fate is unknown. Pictured here is our first mare rescued in 2006.