We get it, you don’t care about rescue horses
I once had a self-proclaimed “equine professional” look me in the eye and tell me that cleaning stalls for a rescue really didn't matter because they “weren't my horses and it wasn't my problem.”
I beg to differ. As someone who has owned horses, mentored kids who love horses, trained more than a few, trail ridden, shown, ridden around with the farrier to learn, taken classes to learn more, participated in clinics and taken lessons – it's every single horse person's problem when situations of neglect, abuse, and abandonment are still prevalent within our community. It has a direct impact on the horse community when someone in our town decides to stop feeding their horses, turn their horses loose in the state park, breed 20 horses on their 5 acre mini-farm, or start dumping their broodmares at the auction.
If you're a horse person – even if you have no interest in volunteering, donating, or adopting, there are a few simple things you can do to help a rescue:
1. Train your broodmares. Unless she has an injury that prevents her from being ridden, there is absolutely no reason in this day and age, where young, fit, registered horses end up run through the sale barn, that your broodmare should not be proven in the discipline you're breeding babies for before she is ever even considered to be breeding quality. None.
2. Have a plan. If you're breeding, that means a plan for the mares when they age out, and a plan for the babies that you create. If you're a weekend trail rider, that means having an emergency fund for unexpected bills. For every single horse owner, it means considering your animals in your will. I know many folks who worry what will happen to their horses, dogs, cats, and other 4- legged family members if something happens to them. Put it in writing and tell your family.
3. Disease panel test before you breed. See #1. There is no reason to create foals that carry on undesirable, life-altering, expensive-to-treat conditions that can be eliminated in one generation of educated breeding.
4. Feed and care for your horses – even when they get old. Sell, adopt out, or reach out for assistance before you get in over your head and can't care for them anymore. If you know you’re moving and won’t be able to take the horses, try to find them homes before you list your property. You risk their safety if you wait until the day you move out to consider that they need to move to different owners. If you’ve lost a job or know you can’t buy hay this winter, understand that it is much easier to find a home or for a rescue to assist in rehoming when a horse is healthy than when he needs 6 months of refeeding and rehabilitation before we know if he'll even survive.
5. Realize that euthanasia is not a dirty word. It's not a rescue's job, an auction's job, a kill buyer's job or your neighbor's job to take a horse that's older, injured, or no longer performing at a level it used to. It's your job as the caretaker to ensure safety for life, and sometimes that means that the comfort level of the animal has declined to the point that crossing the Rainbow Bridge is the best gift we can offer.
