A Journey In Writing

Feb. 28, 2008

Horse Trivia 3: Rescue

My next several “Horse Trivia” entries will be about horse rescue. This is something I am passionate about, and I believe educating people about the horses that need our help is important.

There are millions of unwanted horses in the United States. There are more horses than there is a demand for them. Some horses have health issues, or are too old, and therefore are not wanted. Some horses are perfectly fine, but need a little (or a lot) of TLC to bring them back. There are some horses with real mental problems that are a danger to us. They should be peacefully put down, or turned out to pasture for the remainder of their days, not hauled off to slaughter. Most “impossible” horses just need professional training, or something as simple as someone who understands them.

Some horses are “excess,” from breeding, racing, or other industries. Responsible owners need to care for their horses until they die, or at least keep track of them, insuring a happy retirement.

The entries that follow will be about specific horses that need help. There are many that live at rescues, with no specific reason that need help as well.

How can you help?

The very best way to help would be to adopt a horse that needs a forever home! Obviously most of us do not have the money, time, or property.

Another way to help is to volunteer at a local horse rescue/shelter. You can help with mucking, grooming, or sometimes even riding! Some rescues love it if you just stop by to give the horses love, attention, and treats!

The rescues need a lot of money to take in these huge animals! Money donations are always helpful, and some rescues love donations of feed, halters, grooming supplies, tack, etc.

If you have, or have had, a horse, make sure you care for it all it's life. If you have to sell him/her, keep track of it! A horse can be sold dozens of times in it's life, and eventually end up at slaughter.

A really easy way to help, is to educate people! The more people know these sad facts the better!

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Comments

Feb. 28, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by SuzyScribbles

OK, where did you get that picture of the gorgeous palomino??? Do you share? I only ask because my the horse in my kids' books is a palomino and I'm always looking for cool pics (not copyrighted) to use for things like my Circle C blog.

Anyway, yes, Panda was a quarter horse--and just enough hands that she could show as either pony or horse. She was Grand Champion at the fair one year (I don't know what for---fitting and showing maybe?) But that was when her previous owners had her, and their daughter showed her.

I'm glad you like English. I much prefer Western riding. My D in Law was really into Dressage for the longest time, and her horse, Vanna, was a beautiful light-gray Arabian mare. Paste this link into your URL and you can see a picture of Vanna with my DS, Ryan.

http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/8850/ryanandvannaaj4.jpg

When my DS and family moved over to our side of the state (and left their acreage), Joanna sold ALL her horse stuff at our garage sale! You could have found some super English-riding tack and riding clothes. Just last month she sold her last "horse" thing--her very expensive English saddle. She knows that she has children and is in a new season of life, and horses are not in it. Sadly for her. She taught riding lessons and showed and did all manner of horsey things before and after she married my DS, Chad. Now they live in a development.

Bet that's more than you wanted to know about our "horse" history--not that there's much.

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Feb. 28, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by writer4him

Aww...I wanna adopt a racehorse! He'd have a great life on our one acre, don't you think?? :-) Maybe I should stick to volunteering ;-).
Enjoyed your post!
~Beth

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Feb. 28, 2008 - Horses

Posted by SuzyScribbles

My favorite breed is a quarter horse. Although I do like the Morgans, too. (My D in Law had a Morgan named "Chase" short for "Chasing After the Wind." Yes, the same D in Law that owned Vanna. Actually, Chase was her sister's horse, but Joanna gave lessons on Chase, too. She gave me jumping lessons on Vanna.) But Chase was a little green and I, like a fool, let my 8-year-old son, Ryan, take lessons on him. Duh! He got bucked off, but climbed back on. He also took him to a show and got second place (in doing what he's supposed to do), so Chase wasn't a bad horse, just...well...green.

My daughter played with Panda in the pasture--braiding her tail, lying on her, and sliding effortlessly onto her back by grabbing onto her mane and jumping. She always rode bareback, as I wasn't going to go out and saddle that horse whenever she wanted to ride, and Kristel, at 11, was very petite and couldn't handle the saddle. She rode across the street, in acres and acres of grass and nothing. Panda was her pet and we never did any of the show stuff, nor did any of us (except Ryan, years later), take lessons. Just get on the horse and figure it out---like in the old days. No stress; just fun.

Go here to see another picture--Kristel and her brother riding Panda (note the braided mane and tail!) LOL
Just 2 kids, a horse, and lots of free time to play!

http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8189/kandcandpandaek3.jpg

I hope you're not confused. The kids on the horse are Kristel and Chad, and then 10 years later I had 2 more little boys. Ryan was the one with Vanna--years later. So the timeline is pretty far apart for our horsey stuff. None of this happened at the same time! LOL

p.s. I saved the image of the palomino. Thanks a bunch. I know how to host it and get the code.

Edited by SuzyScribbles on Feb. 28, 2008 at 9:55 PM

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Feb. 29, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by tulipscorner

Hi I just wanted to let you know that I want to help out in this too but I just don't know if there is a shelter or place that I can help around here.

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Mar. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Angelhorse

...ya...we sold my first horse and my trainer 'took care of it' as in she sold it to some person and never told us who it was. I never even got to say goodbye. I'm gunna look on the internet for him, but I have a good feeling he ended up in a slaughter house.

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Mar. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by Angelhorse

well, *sniff sniff* a isnt getting the PMU horse lol oh wells, I found a nice ranch. man yer hyper!!! lol
~Fellow horse FREAK KD

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Mar. 1, 2008 - Untitled Comment

Posted by writer4him

Thanks for the comments! To disable right-clicks, you just paste this code in your template RIGHT AFTER the <body> tag:


</script>

And you can change the "var message" to whatever you like :-D. There's also a code to make it impossible to select text, which I also have enabled so people can't copy my story even using the CTR-C shortcut. I can give you that if you like :-).
Ha, that's funny about the cow! My sister had us all worked up once because she said she saw a cow in the backyard (which isn't entirely impossible!), but it turned out to be a deer :-). Oohhh, I've thought the same thing about our neighbor's land! He used to own the lot almost across from us, which would be the PERFECT size...but then he sold it, and now there's two houses there. :-P What a bummer!

~Beth

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About Me

I am a writer. A person does not have to be a published author in order to be a writer. A writer is a person who writes. I am learning to be the best author I can be, and I invite you to join me in my journey.