The old ones cannot be adopted so they are to be auctioned off for general purpose use. Horsemeat, pet food, glue...

Sounds reasonable.

These are feral animals that really don't belong in the wild but have some form of protection.

....mcDonalds, F.mangluesmoker

I love horses and have bread them and had them for years. If you offer a horse for sale at a good price many time that where they go. I have had horses that were so high strung that they would hurt or kill a person that did not know what they were doing that ended up at the dog food factory. If you are going to put a horse down you may as well put it to good use. I hate that it happens but some horses just should not be sold to the general public. Wild horses are not a natural animal here and due to the destruction of their natural preditors their numbers get to high for the environment to support them and the starve to death. I believe that the "dog food" factory is a more humane way to controle their numbers in the wild.

I ate horseburgers in Germany. Not that bad.