Another year, Another battle

Yes... It is nearly the close of yet another year... and for me nearly the first anniversary of the day I saved my beloved companion Sargent from a tragic fate. There he was in a kill pen in Kansas, on his last stop, one day away from his shipping date. He has transformed completely in just under a year and it has been a truly humbling, frustrating and enlightening experience. I was asked by a boarder at the barn the other day if I was just keeping him until he was ready to be sold, or if he is a "lifer", and without hesitation I think you know what I told her.

I won't got into the entire story of his journey right now, but there is no question as to why he was at his last stop, this was a difficult case, but it was one that could have been avoided with proper handling from the people who had entered his life before me. While he cannot speak with words, his body speaks a difficult story. At one point, I had considered passing him off to someone "with more time" but realized that no one would love him as I did and the risk of him returning to an unspeakable fate was too great, in the end, he was my ward and responsibility. It would have been like giving up on myself. Very sadly this happens to horses that are "saved" every single day, by both well-meaning small organizations and individuals, whether planned or acting on a whim.

It is yet again "The Dumping Season", yes it is probably the most difficult time of year for both equines and people alike, especially the people trying to pull them out and dust them off. The people sitting out in the freezing cold at the sale barns, watching them get pushed through, trying to decide... who gets a ride that night. Then there are people strapped into financially burdensome situations and difficult times and lets face it... horses are not cheap and many people do not see them as being truly important... more or less fancy recreation.

Elderly horses, emaciated and injured, suffering in the crowds of horses, pregnant mares in need of a soft place to lie down but forced to stand in crowded and dirty pens, foals stripped from their mothers and forced into groups on trailers, terrified. Horses injured and sick, some in good health. But, what of our BLM mustangs? Once upon a time they had family bands on ranges their ancestors had traversed, preparing themselves for survival, now rounded up and stripped of their rights to care for themselves properly... suffering and awaiting, either a home, or the trailer shipping them to death.

This is sadly what happens to horses not only every day, but even more so as winter begins to roll around us, their suffering can be heard in the screaming winter wind as it carries long, cold nights.