What is Rocky Mountain Horse Rescue?
Rocky Mountain Horse
Rescue (RMHR) is dedicated to the rescue, welfare, and care of Horses,
Ponies, Mules, and Donkeys.
Saved
from the Kill Pen
There has always been
a soft spot in my heart for appaloosas ever since I showed a jumper
named Silvester J. Cooke early in my career. We also trained some appaloosas
who went on to win Championships at the World's Horse Show.
When an attractive "ap" in excellent
condition was ridden into the auction ring on Saturday, March 29th,
my thoughts were, "Here's one horse that should get a great home."
My hopes were dashed when the auctioneer announced that the registered
12 year old had been inspected by the vet, and that he had a big knee
and was selling "as is" meaning no guarantees as to soundness.
When the opening bid was dropped down
to $200, a kill buyer signaled yes and since there were no higher bids,
the gelding's fate was sealed. I walked back to the horse's stall as
the owner was untacking him. He told me that he had used "Chester"
for trail riding and had even blanketed him all winter. He was surprised
that only the kill buyer bid on him, but said that he had four horses
and was only allowed three in his area. It broke my heart when he gave
Chester a final pat and told him "good luck" as he walked
away.
The kill buyer told me that I could have
him for more than double what he had just paid, but I decided to think
about it knowing I couldn't save them all.
Since it snowed both Saturday and Sunday
nights, I could not stand the thought of Chester milling around with
100 other horses in the kill pen, afraid to lie down. So on Monday,
I took my trailer to the kill pen and came home with one leopard appaloosa.
We x-rayed his knee, rode him all summer
and then sent him to a friend to foster since she needed a horse immediately
to buddy around with a lone horse that had just lost its stable mate
to colic.
While awaiting adoption, at least we can
be assured that this is one horse that is now on a run of GOOD LUCK.
CHESTER
BEING RIDDEN AT A CANTER
Making
a Difference
Every day
we are faced with difficult decisions on which animal to save and where
to allocate our dwindling resources.
Should we make room for the starved horse
impounded by Animal Control? Or should we take in the beloved old campaigner
who has paid his dues through a lifetime of service but now his owner
can no longer afford him? Or should we try to rescue a few of the poor
souls crammed into the kill pen with 100 others awaiting slaughter to
be eaten by wealthy people overseas? Should we save the pregnant mare?
Or the old-timer? Or the young untrained, registered three year old?—all
of whom have ended up in the kill pen because the kill buyer, with a
quota to meet, was the high bidder at auction???
We have asked ourselves countless times—are
we making a difference or just flailing at windmills?
I’m reminded of the story about a
jogger running along the ocean shore when he saw someone ahead of him
reach down and throw something into the water. Upon catching up to the
beachcomber, the jogger asked the man what he was doing. The man answered
that thousands of starfish had been left stranded on the beach when
the tide went out and he was throwing this one back into the water.
The jogger retorted, “You’re not making any difference; there
are stranded ones as far as the eye can see.” Whereupon the man
replied, “Well, it made a difference to that one!”
Bini Abbott
