Helping Those Who Help Horses In Need

Two weeks ago I received a call from a lady who was concerned about her friend who was rescuing horses. She acquired 23 horses in need and placed them on her property. My caller told me her friend had a big heart but was way over her head in her effort to help these horses. She had run out of money. Her hay barn was nearly empty, and her bills for water and other necessities hadn’t been paid. She said, “I think my friend’s problem is she has too big a heart and too little business sense.” I called the property to make an appointment to go to visit her and look over the situation.

A woman answered the phone and I could tell that she was very overwhelmed and scared. She had come into a trust fund from her parents who had passed, and had spent it all on the horses, and was now at her wits end. She told me that there were 23 horses, every one of them rescued from a situation of abandonment or neglect.

I called Dr. Kevin Smith, the Heart of a Horse equine vet, and before dawn the next morning we teamed up and the two of us drove 200 miles to her property. We arrived just after daybreak. A little lady was standing out by the gate. She looked worn, worried and tired. As we drove up I rolled down the window and said, “I’m from Heart of a Horse.” She said “Oh my God, thank you. Most people don’t do what they promise, and you’re really here.” From a sad desperate face I saw hope and a smile.

She opened the gate and led us onto the property. We pulled up to her hay barn, which had barely enough feed for two days. I said to her “You weren’t exaggerating when you told me that you were down to the last flakes.” As we walked around the property, she told me the stories of each horse and how she had rescued them. Some were old horses that weren’t wanted anymore; others were horses that had been ridden too hard and not cared for and become lame, and no longer wanted.

All I could see around me were these orphans who had been left behind. They had lame issues and skin problems. There was a colt with its mother, and a very old horse with no teeth. The woman had been working hard to treat them all on a dwindling budget. I noticed the property was getting run down, the stalls and feeders needed attention, and the area needed to be raked and cleaned up. I was struck by the fact that there was old hay on the ground everywhere. It was just overwhelming.

I asked her, “Have you fed them yet?” She said no, she was just beginning. At that point Dr. Smith looked at me and said, “April, do you see what I’m seeing? There’s all this hay left on the ground.” We started questioning her about how she fed the animals. Through the questions we began to realize she did not have the knowledge to manage the feeding of these animals properly. She was feeding hay to horses that were into their twenties and could no longer chew. They needed pellets not hay. We realized this was not just a feeding issue. We had to start educating her. And not just about hay.

Dr. Smith started to teach her about proper care, and what it takes to care for each individual horse. We went through her horses, case by case, one horse at a time. Dr. Smith examined several of them. He pointed out the ones who needed pellets rather than hay. He discussed hoof care with her, and went over vaccines. He told her the younger horses needed to be exercised. We told her to get a scale so that she could figure out how much hay was required to feed each horse for a week, so she could buy the proper amount of hay and not waste it, and manage her rescue as a business.

I told her that Heart of a Horse would fill up her barn with hay and medicine but only if she was willing to educate her herself and manage her situation so that what we brought her would not be wasted. She needed to know what it would cost, week by week, to keep each horse. She agreed to do so.

We went out and bought sacks of pellets and a truck full of hay and brought them to her. The barn once empty was now full. We went over her irrigation and made suggestions as to how it could be made better. And we stressed again that she had to run her rescue in a more efficient and less costly way.

Finally, we told her that she needed to begin finding homes for some of her horses. It was just too much for one person of her means to take care of 23 of them. The love for them was there but not the ability to give them healthy and happy lives.

I have had several people say to me since this happened “Why would you help someone like this?” I truly believe that when there are people willing and wanting to do the right thing but lacking the education, there should be a helping hand to reach out to them. I had said to this woman, “I’m sure you know that saving each life comes with a cost. You have a big responsibility to each of these horses.” She said she knew that, and that’s why she welcomed us.

Since we left this woman has purchased a scale, has each horse on a feeding program, and now understands that it’s not just the will to rescue, but the knowledge and ability to manage the rescue that will save the horses in the end. Heart of a Horse will be beside her every step of the way, and I will let all of you know when she is ready to put up some of her horses for adoption.

Heart of a Horse can only do this with your contributions and help. Please give. There are so many horses out there and people who care for horses who need our help.