EPISODE 194 SPARTACUS….MARJORIE’S HORSE…CAME FROM AN ESTROGEN MARE…A SAD STORY
Note: “A little too much about us, Alan.” Which is true. Writers are encouraged to write
about what they know…not about what they do not know. I suspect a lot of writers clothe
their stories in things about themselves then tell the stories in the third person to escape
that trap. I like writing in the first person. If you find that a bit too personal the answer is simple.
as I have said often,..just press delete.
EPISODE 194 SPARTCUS … HIS MOM WAS AN ESTROGEN MARE WHOSE LIFE WAS GRIM
alan skeoch
Dec.2020
Spartacus was a pinto gelding. He was Marjorie’s horse shortly after we had the boys. Sprtacus was
foaled from an Estrogen mare stabled in a secluded barn somewhere in Wellington County. In the 1960;s
there were many such barns filled with pregnant mares. Why” Because estrogen could be distilled from
the urine of pregnant mares. Profitable. Estrogen was a key chemical that relieved women’s experience
with menopause. Little if anything was said about the source of estrogen in the last half of the 20th
century. The source was the urine of pregnant mares…called PMU (Pregnant Mares Urine).
When Marjorie got Spartacus I had never heard of the word estrogen. What we did hear was
that Spartacus was one lucky animal. The fate of foals from PMU horses was grim indeed…they
were expendable…slaughtered.
That was why we called him Sparatcus. Like the Roman slave who entertained Romans. “Sparky” for
short.
Anyone who buys a horse takes on a big responsibility. Horses require care. Horses cost money…
often lots of money. In our case we were spared the big costs because my Uncle and Aunt , Frank
and Lucinda Freeman agreed to board Sparky with their two horses both of which were still used
for transportation in winter months when the roads were impassable due to snow drifts. A team
of horses could take a bob sleigh over and through the deepest of drifts where a car or truck could
never go. If a horse got stuck, he or she could be unharnessed and get out. A car stuck in a
big drift was stuck, really stuck.
Later Sparky was stabled with Lorne and Carole Ssunders with their two horses. Both barns
did not have electrify. I always got n unsettled feeling in those dark barns just knowing that
horses were standing in the stalls looking at us as we moved through the stable inside our
little circle of lamplight (Naptha gas lanterns). Uncle Frank feared electricity…linked it to many
barn fires. He was correct.
I was a failure with Sparky. Never trusted him. My fault rather than his. Animals know when
a human is nervous…distrustful…scared. Just as they know when a human is at ease…trustful…
confident. My fear seemed justified when Sparky tried to kick me in the balls with his back left
hoof one night in Uncle Frank’s dark barn. I was nervous but tried to keep a stiff upper lip
and be friendly.
“Good Evening, Sparky, nice winter night…warm in here.”
And I patted him on the left bum at which point he shot his shod left hoof at
an angle aimed at my thingamabob. Lucky. I was in the next stall so all he got was a wooden plank.
“Marjorie, Sparky tried to kick me…to neuter me.”
“What did you do?”
“Touched him on the flank and said Good evening…or Hi, Sparky”
“You startled him Alan. Never strike a horse on the back flank unless
he knows you are there.”
“Bloody nearly castrated me.”
“Not his fault.”
“I thought you were counting on my 50% involvement making babies.”
“Did you say 50%?”
“I did…goddamn nearly lost my works.”
“Did you say 50%?”
“I did.”
“I hate to say this Alan. The role of men in raising children does not
come close to 50%. More like 10% But we will see. “
My nervousness with Sparky never changed. I just could not trust him.
One autumn day Marjorie asked me to give her a boost up on to Sparky.
“That means I have to get close to him, Marjorie.”
“He won’t bite you.”
“Not sure about that…he’s looking at me.:’
“Just give me a boost.”
“OK, here goes…:
“YOWEEEE!”
“Where did you go?”
“You boosted me so hard that I flew right over Sparky…landed
on pile of rocks…I think my arm is broken.”
Her arm was broken…cracked. Marjorie never asked for
another boost as long as we had Sparky.
Sadly, one day Marjorie said we would have to sell Sparky. She was
having difficulty getting pregnant so Sparky was sold to a Doctor’s
wife, Dr. Kunica , who had a big farm down near Hornby. Marjorie
rode him down there. I think she cried all the way.
The end result was OK She got pregnant with Andrew almost
immediately. My role, as she figured, was closer to 10% in
the business of child rearing. Never did get on to the business
of changing diapers. Goddamn safety pins.
I much preferred being the third male child in our family.
No diaper duty but lots of fun.
Sparky may not have liked me. But I cared for him. Glad he
had been rescued from the hell of an Estrogen barn where mares
stood chained for six months of every year with some contraption
that collected their urine.
Farming is not all sweetness and light. For some farmers life
is a very nasty treadmill that demands life and death decisions
with each step. Imagine your life as an estrogen producer;
alan skeoch
dec. 2020
alan skeoch
Dec. 2020
Below is a short version of the Estrogen story. In the 1990’s these mares got more attention. But the business
of collecting Mares urine continues. The barn below is much cleaner than the barns where mares were
kept in the 1960’s. All the same it is a very bad life for them. Do not read the story below. It is not nice.
The Pregnant Mare Urine (PMU) Industry: What you need to know
Marie, in her former life as a PMU horse, before she was rescued by the Ark Watch Foundation and eventually brought to Duchess where she lived out the rest of her days in comfort and peace.
The Pregnant Mare Urine or PMU Industry produces pharmaceuticals containing the urine of impregnated horses. Many consumers are unaware of the cruel and inhumane treatment these horses often endure. They are routinely impregnated and confined to stalls for the sole purpose of facilitating the collection of their urine. The products are used to treat symptoms of menopause, but the advertising doesn’t mention the source of the ingredients.
Between our Duchess Sanctuary in Oregon and the Cleveland Amory Black Beauty Ranch in Texas, The Fund for Animals is caring for and providing lifetime sanctuary to more than 150 horses saved from the PMU industry.
Read on to learn more about what’s currently happening in the PMU Industry.
A: PMU stands for Pregnant Mare Urine. The hormones in the urine are used to manufacture Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) products for women. The most commonly known drug produced with equine urine is Premarin®, now manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer (Pfizer purchased Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, the original manufacturer of the drug, in 2009). Other products include Prempro®, Premphase® and the newly approved Duavee®—a combination osteoporosis-menopause drug. In 1990, Premarin® was the most widely prescribed drug in the United States and in 1997 it became Wyeth’s first one billion dollar drug.
Q: How are the horses used? A: Pregnant mares are often kept in narrow tie stalls for approximately 6 months of the year with a urine collection harness in place. It’s an inhumane life for an animal designed to be in near constant motion. While in theory they have room to lie down, they cannot turn around or take more than a few steps forwards or backwards. In addition to the hardship for the mares, many of the resulting foals end up in the slaughter pipeline because they are considered by-products of this industry.
Q: How many horses are affected? A: Although the number of mares in PMU barns has decreased significantly from an estimated high of 55-60,000 in the late 1990’s, and there are no farms operating in the United States, right now there are reportedly 2,500 to 3,000 mares on PMU farms in Canada. In addition, Pfizer is now contracting with PMU farms overseas in countries like China, Poland and Kazakhstan.
