Save A Horse…..
by Barbara Ellin Fox
This beautiful bay horse is Spud. He’s pictured here at his first cross country schooling event. You can tell by the look on his face that he’s a happy boy.
Spud was not such a happy boy when I first met him. He was one of the sorriest looking horses I’d seen in a long time. Skinny, with bones showing all over, feet that had not been attended to on months, but still held shoes, and down on one knee trying to rich a tiny peace of hay with his lips before it blew out of reach. His big sad eyes made it impossible to leave him behind.
I won’t tell you about all of the things Spud had to overcome but suffice it to say that it took one year to safely fill out all of the empty places on his insides, and another to completely cover the bones and ribs on the outside.
My research revealed an amazing history. Spud’s racing career had produced a lot of wins and a good deal of money. His speed index made the lady at the Quarter Horse Registry gasp. And he is the spitten’ image of his mega bucks sire who is deceased.
One minute Spud was on the top of the world, fit and beautiful with lots to eat, waiting for the next race. But once his racing career ended he was a hungry and forgotten fellow. It makes you wonder, doesn’t it, how someone can let a horse like Spud down.
Spud has put his sad life behind him and he has started a new career that he loves . In fact, I don’t think he even remembers being hungry and miserable.
I believe in horse rescue. I have 10 horses. One is a National Champion, one is imported, and 3 are rescues. Rescues find me rather than me trying to save horses and everyone one of them has proved to be a trust worthy friend. 2 of the rescues are TBs who have show records, but when they got older their owner was going to let the dealers haul them to Mexican slaughter houses. I’m so glad they ended up at my place because they have given unsure riders lots of confidence in riding lessons.
I support and applaud horse rescues. A sad part of rescues is that sometimes you have to watch them for awhile to be sure they are legitimate and not a fly by night organization. I’ve watched NorCal Equine Rescue for some time now. I’ve been encouraged by their love for the horses and their ingenious ways of raising money. Macho Man, a tiny miniature who wears sneakers makes public appearances to sell buttons to raise money for a new facility. Macho Man is the poster pet for NorCal’s new campaign, “Little Horse, Big Smiles”. NorCal has a daily blog that is heartwarming and informative. I look forward to reading it every morning. Jason and Tawnee go the extra mile to spread the word about horse rescue. And NorCal has two very helpful clinics. One is a gelding clinic and the other is an euthanasia clinic so horses that need it, can have a dignified and peaceful end when their time comes. These clinics are free and NorCal can always use financial help to keep the clinics available. Needless to say NorCal is my favorite Horse Rescue. NorCal’s url is http://www.norcalequinerescue.com/index.php
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