Reposted from Heart Of Phoenix Equine Education
Sadly I see this sort of thing often. Your horse is YOUR responsibility-step up and do the right thing by him/her, not just what is convenient for you.
I was there for your old horse today.
Her body could barely withstand the muscle tremors she experienced when I came to her. She stumbled trying to turn, trying to walk on the trailer.
The ramshackle barn and foot of mud she stood in hadn’t always been her “home.” And the place before down the road where all they did was throw her out bread to eat hadn’t always been where she lived, either.
3 decades or more means someone was supposed to have loved her, once upon a time.
I did not know her before today, so I was unaware for a few moments she could not see on her left side and was afraid going into the trailer.
You weren’t there. I’m not surprised. She didn’t matter to you. At least, not anymore.
Maybe she came up lame, and you still wanted to ride. Maybe you moved, lost a job or had a baby?
She was used up, after all.
She gave and gave and when she couldn’t give more, maybe you thought she’d be a “good pasture pet” for someone because there are always so many people looking for aged, special needs horses, right? So you traded her, sold her, auctioned her or gave her away to so-so who was sure to take care of her.
I mean, this is all speculation. Maybe she has 100 “Yous” in her lifetime of 30 or more years.
I will never know, as her ancient tattoo has faded beyond recognition, no matter what tricks we might use to learn who she was. I mean, she deserves to be known. Where she was born, where she raced, where she served, what she gave humans.
Chances are high we’ve arrived far too late for this girl, but she will never spend another day neglected again. Her future will never again be unsure. She will not be passed around again.
NEVER AGAIN.
Before you dump, give away or sell your “old” and disadvantaged horses, PLEASE REMEMBER this mare’s story. We see it over and over again. If you cannot love and care for your old horse, GIVE that horse decency, kindness and consideration, and let your home be the last known. Do not let the horse go out there where the odds are slim life will ever be very kind.
I’ve named her Andromeda, and it means “Rescued.”