Horse Rescue's - A No Win Situation

I started this site six years ago with really several purposes in mind. The primary reason to help those horse owners who had no where to turn for help so they could have a resource for a more functional knowledge about horses, develop a better relationship and generally provide a better life for horses.

I ventured into writing about subjects that interest me or I am involved in,....... see "Army Scouts and History", "Mantracking", or "Mustang-Wild Horse Issue", and I have even included some humor along the way - or what passes as humor to me.

One of those subjects that I write about from time to time is Horse Abuse which greatly saddens me.  It's hard to describe abuse - it comes in many forms. Sometimes you just have to say, you'll know it when you see it.   Sometimes it's poor feeding, evident by a poor body condition (like the horse pictured above) or a lack of fresh water.  Sometimes it's very harsh handling where some one else may believe it's just strict training.  Some people look at a horse as just property and not a thinking, feeling animal.   I think that people who keep horses in a small area, like a 12x12 stall, and especially by themselves is a form of abuse.       

In February 2012, I wrote a pretty critical article, Starving Horses in El Paso Texas, on those responsible for abandoning more than 60 horses in West Texas and I received a couple long winded negative replies on that article. I left those comments up in the interest of being fair and letting someone have their say even though they played loose with the facts. In fact, I have only deleted two comments in six years. One time some jerk wrote a reply with filthy language and another time some jackwagon insulted one of my horse. Other than those two comments, I'll let replies stand and let the readers sort it out.

In December 2013, on a request from a reader, I wrote an article about Rough Start Horse Rescue. The reader who asked me to write the article assumed it could provide some (likely not much) exposure for contributions.  The requestor was known to me, however the rescue was not. That article has generated many replies, from the gamment of total support for Rough Start, to derogatory comments, accusations of fraud, and personal attacks on the Rough Start management. I have left those comments up for all to read and sort through.

While I do not run a horse rescue, and likely never will, I do have two horses that are basically rescues. One that a lady kept for almost two years and couldn't keep anymore, so I bought him from her, and another horse that was basically abandoned by a border. However, I have a great deal of respect for people who run legitimate horse rescues. By legitimate I mean people who care for horses, provide a fair life, and work on rehabilitation to either find these horses a home or they will keep until a natural death.

My experience with rescue people are that the constant exposure to abuse, suffered by horses at the hands of humans, takes a heavy toll. I see in dog rescues as well. Animal rescue people sometimes don't possess the most refined people skills, but that, if true, an be chalked up to the abuse of animals by man that they see repeatedly.  And again trying to be fair, there are some people who fall on hard times which prevent them from giving their animals a fair life. Some of these may not know where to turn to for help.

I have also seen or heard of people who have personal problems with local horses rescue management, who sometimes actively work within the community or on social media to degrade these rescues. So the obvious questions may be "Do you have personal knowledge of immoral or fraudulent practices of the rescue? If so, what are those facts?" Or, if you just disagree with how they manage their horses or facility then "Have you tried to help? What have you done to make things better for those horses?"

More than likely there are some horse rescues who use the façade of a rescue in order to fund their hobby with horses. However, the four local rescues I personally know spend a large portion of their own income, not to mention all their time, towards caring for horses nobody wants. The lack of a humane method to get rid of horses, meaning the ban on U.S. based slaughter, certainly does not help the issue of a growing population of unwanted horses. I have written about this as well and I am on the side of re-opening horse slaughter plants for the humane disposal of unwanted horses.......this is different than the shipping of horses to Mexico where they are cruelly treated and even more cruelly slaughtered.   Re-opening U.S. based slaughter plants is in opposition to many rescue people who want all horses to live to a natural death. That is preferred in a perfect world, but not possible in the world we live in, or at least the world as I see it.

Previous articles on the Horse slaughter issue: 

Horse Slaughter Update, December 2011

Slaughter Ban Saving Americas Horses? December 2014

When I ran a large public barn, I had to deal with a diverse group of horse owners, from those who thought their version of horsemanship was superior to all others and deserved special waivers to the rules, to owners who would not provide adequate feed, vet care or farrier services.  I found myself making assumptions based on the poor care of horses that often stemmed from just a lack of experience.  In any event, I could not make a difference in those horses until I figured out the whys of the problem.  So I guess I'm saying when it comes to horse rescues, people may want to find out the facts for themselves and volunteer to help if needed before making harsh judgment calls on these organizations.