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The Horse Rescuer
Each year, thousands of horses are born as a byproduct of the pharmaceutical industry. Kathleen Schurman wants to save them all. But do they need saving?

by Ryan Kearney - December 1, 2005

Kathleen Schurman gazes fondly at Cap'n Crunch.

Kathleen Schurman is standing with Captain--aka Cap'n Crunch, or just plain Crunchy--in a stable on her Bethany farm, entreating the 2-year-old horse to show off for his guest.
"Smile," she says. "Show him how smart you are."

Sure enough, Captain's lips peel back, as though yanked by fishing hooks. When Schurman says, "I want lips," he kisses her. And when she offers the horse her hand, he responds with a hoof.

He even counts, she says, stomping into the hay-strewn ground three times. Captain imitates her.

"So, yeah," says Schurman, deadpan. "This is a throwaway horse, sent to slaughter."

That is, Captain, a paint/quarter horse cross with a shimmering brown and white coat, is a byproduct of the pharmaceutical industry, the offspring of a mare whose estrogen-rich urine was used in the manufacture of the prescription drugs Premarin and Prempro, which treat menopausal symptoms.

So are Bingo, Beatrice, Bart and Benny. And Clue and Izzy. But not all arrived at the farm, Locket's Meadow, as foals. Others were urine-producing mares on Canadian farms until a few years ago, when a government-funded national health study revealed serious health risks associated with Premarin and Prempro, prompting a massive decline in the Pregnant Mare Urine (PMU) industry.

But all 14 of Schurman's PMU horses have one thing in common, she says: Were it not for a nationwide network of horse rescuers, they and countless others would have been butchered long ago, then digested by diners everywhere from Mexico to Japan.

The PMU industry says otherwise.

On their Premarin and Prempro websites, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals does a fine job of corporate tiptoeing. Under "Important Safety Information," it says "estrogens increase the chances of getting cancer of the uterus," and that estrogens, whether combined with progestin (a steroid hormone) or not, "may increase your chances of getting heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, and blood clots" and "may increase your risk of dementia."

What they really mean is that Premarin and Prempro themselves carry these risks: Premarin is composed of estrogens, while Prempro is composed of estrogens and progestin.

These risks were highlighted in a Women's Health Initiative study on the effects of estrogen as well as estrogen plus progestin, the findings of which were released in 2002 and 2004, respectively. The result? Millions of women stopped taking the drugs, and sales fell drastically.

"We wouldn't use the word ’drastically,'" says Wyeth spokeswoman Carrie Merchant.

No? Net revenue from Premarin fell from $1.24 billion in 2002 to $659 million last year, while Prempro fell from $637 million to $221 million. With demand plummeting, Wyeth no longer needed 400 equine farms, and it cut ties with all but 73. Thus, the number of mares producing PMU plummented from about 30,000 to 5,200, according to Norm Luba, executive director of the North American Equine Ranching Council (NAERIC), a non-profit organization that represents PMU equine farms, nearly all of them in Canada.

Most of the other 327 farms continue breeding horses, says Luba, but he counters Schurman's claim that the horses are being bred primarily for food. "That is a very small market, actually," he says, estimating that less than one percent become horsemeat. "The majority of horses go for show animals, recreational riding animals."

Same goes for the 5,100 or so foals produced each year on the 73 PMU farms that remain, according to Luba. In fact, he adds, those farms risk losing Wyeth's business if they're selling horses for slaughter, because they're contractually obligated "to properly market their horses," and selling horses for meat is "considered a salvage market."

So why would Schurman make such claims?

These folks, Luba says, travel up to Canada, buy horses from any old auction and then "put a story in a local paper" claiming they rescued them from slaughter. Inevitably, some members of the "unsuspecting public" are moved to buy a horse, and the so-called rescuers "continue to pad their pockets."

"That's fraudulent, in my opinion," he says.

cket's Meadow is not just a horse farm. It's a sanctuary for all types of rescued or unwanted animals. There are former cockfighters, some of them blind. There's Rosie the Nigerian dwarf goat and Vanna the snow-white mini horse, which compete for Schurman's affection by jumping from hay cube to hay cube--through a purple hula hoop.

There's the farm's namesake, Locket, a burro rescued from Death Valley. Fjona the Fjord. Percival the Chinese goose, found in Milford and once unable to walk. An entire room of exotic birds, including a Jardine's Parrot, an African Gray and a Hyacinth Macaw so loud no one else would take him.

Clearly, she is not in this for the money.

"I'm not able to say no--can't you tell?" says Schurman, petting one of her six formerly stray cats.

Since 2002, nearly 150 PMU horses have passed through Locket's, including seven this year (and plenty more are on the way). "I've got to get them pre-adopted, because if I don't, I fall in love with them," she says. And when she falls in love with them, they stay for good.

Through FASTeam, her non-profit organization, she sponsors horse rescues through other groups, like Frank Weller's Equine Angels Rescue Sanctuary in New Milford. He deals directly with farmers, paying them "meat price," plus a little extra so the foals can spend another six weeks on the farm with their mothers, thereby becoming better established. Like Schurman, he says he doesn't sell horses for a profit, but rather prices each one based on purchase, transportation and veterinary costs. Most horses sold by "rescue" or "adoption" groups cost from $500 to $1,500.

Weller got involved five years ago, when he began a documentary on a horse rescuer. "She became overwhelmed, so I put the camera down and helped her feed the horses," he says. "The reason I haven't finished the documentary yet is the story hasn't ended yet."

And it may not end anytime soon. In spite of the bad publicity, Premarin was ranked 31st and Prempro 167th on Rxlist.com's list of the most prescribed drugs in America in 2004. And both drugs' revenue figures are up this year over last, indicating that Wyeth's "educational" campaign to lure women back is working. (So, too, are the lower doses Wyeth has unveiled.)

Thus, the 73 PMU farms in business are likely to remain that way for now. While the glut of former PMU mares on the market is likely to subside, thousands of foals will continue to be born on PMU farms each year. And hundreds of horse rescue/adoption organizations will continue to buy them.

Among the rescued will be horses like Captain. Sold by the pound for a mere $400, he was a particularly difficult foal to break. But now, says Schurman, "He'll shake your hand."