We were asked to take in a horse this weekend. The mare fits the criteria and deserves a retirement. Unfortunately, without her (or any of the other Sanctuary horses) being fully feed sponsored, we can't take anyone else on. It's frustrating because I know it's my fault. I need to get the paperwork figured out but there's so many hoops to jump through and I don't have the mindset for that kind of stuff. I've always struggled with paperwork. And when it's very important paperwork, I freak out even more.
So instead, I'm forced to turn away horses that deserve a permanent retirement. All the information is in my head to answer the questions, but it's mastering the paperwork that has me stuck.
I'm on the Auction Horse Forum and they are daily putting new horse pictures up. These are horses that have hours to escape certain death. There's nothing I can do. I can share their pictures and that's about it. But some of those horses that are being posted, are horses from South Dakota. I always assumed that the horses of South Dakota would be shipped to Canada, because its' closer and at least the slaughter would be more humane. Then I watched Alex Brown's documentary. I. was. wrong.
South Dakota horses ship to Mexico. That's much farther away, much harder of a drive, and now I'm seeing the faces of these horses. I'm glad that the lady is going the extra mile for these horses. I only wish that I could do more, be a part of spreading the word and helping save the horses. But I can't even seem to help one horse out that needs retirement.
If only the Sanctuary could be better funded (other than my paycheck) with steady grants or donations, we could do more. There's four senior mares (I'm guessing all had been broodmares at one point), at a feedlot in Washington. They dont' deserve that type of end. Of course, none of them do. But why is it that at the golden year, people want to get rid of their beloved horses? I guess we push our elders into retirement homes so that we can continue with our lives, so why not dump a horse at an auction or a feedlot so that we can be free of the facts of old age.
We are currently watching our senior dog, grow weaker every day. She's a few months shy of being 15 but we both know she's not going to make it. I guess I'm a little bit more heartless and am ready to say goodbye, whereas Mike isn't ready yet. I've seen it before. It's that look, the body condition, their daily struggles, etc. But every once in a while you'll get that glimmer of hope and that's what we hang on to. But it's difficult to watch as they grow old and feeble. It's part of life. I guess because I deal with old age on a daily basis, with the worry every day of the horses and their care, that I'm more immune. I don't know. I hope that my heart hasn't turned hard against death. It could simply be pregnancy, or it could be simply facing the truth and acknowledging it.
But I have a hard time facing the truth that so many good horses, horses in their prime, are headed to slaughter. That fact I can't wrap my brain around. These are not horses that are crazy. These are horses that ended up at the wrong place at the wrong time. I see all these horses doing fancy dressage moves, jumping huge jumps, doing reining moves, etc. It's because someone put time into them. I look at these horses standing in the slaughter pipeline, given a number, and waiting their turn to load into the next waiting semi, and I think, why aren't these horses given a chance? With a little bit of education, I bet most could excel at one discipline or another if given a chance.
I dunno. I know I'm rambling. It's partly pregnancy and party whatever bug I caught that's keeping me home sick. I just dont' know what more I can do without other people's help. I am but one person.
