Wednesday, February 25, 2009

And It Was Sunny

However....Ash Wednesday and To Church for Choir

I still did not ride, nor did I work a horse. When I came home my hay guy was here delivering my hay. I fed the Boys, talked to him a bit about some chores I have around here that need doing, and then started gathering up the recylcables and trash.

This all needed to carted down to the road and stacked in the new wooden can rack my friend Bill brought me. I have been losing garbage cans to the wind and traffic all winter and have only one good recycling can left to use. My trash can is trashed, but still able to hold the garbage bags, so it's out there. The blue paper recyling bin is totally cracked but can hold up for a few more pickups. Now the question is whether or not the trash collection trucks will recognize that my cans are now set out in the rack instead of standing free along the road. It's 50/50 right not whether or not my stuff will be picked up tomorrow morning, and another 50/50 if it is whether or not the empty bins will be put back in the rack so they do not blow all over the road and get even more smashed by passing cars and trucks.

Stay tuned. It will be an interesting story.

A local horse rescuer sent and email out today with pictures from an area horse auction. It was heartbreaking to see some really nice horses going to slaughter. Here in the US, there is ample evidence that slaughterhouses are a cruel an inhumane way to end a horse's life. Despite legislation to change this and efforts of many animal activists, unwanted horses--some of which are still fine riding horses--routinely end up in kill buyers' trucks headed for a miserable end.

I am always deeply upset by these stories, but right now, there is nothing I can do to help. I have no room here and certainly not enough money to take on rescues of my own. Chance and Toby are both from a horse rescue and either one could well have ended up badly if they had not been saved.

When I came home to feed them, I was especially appreciative of the fact that I know they are safe, comfortable, well-fed, and, from all appearances content. What a blessing it is to have them here with me.

If ever I can find the way, I will save some of those horses. I understand all the reasons they end up at auction, and have some sympathy for their owners who might well have been forced to sell. But I, for one, would euthanize my horse before letting it go to a slaughterhouse. It would be a far kinder end.

I hate the circumstances that force people to throw their horses away. I hate knowing any animal has been thrown away.

We are the caretakers of this world. And all creatures, great and small, are a part of this world. I wish everyone could remember that.

2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:41 PM

    I would also like to adopt - but I already have 5. I feel sorrow for the horse owner who loses their job and can no longer afford to keep their horse, but I blame the glut of unwanted horses on the breeders who breed too many, and the industries (horse racing, for example) that treat horses as disposable "equipment" that is discarded in the cheapest way. A horse, unlike a dog or cat, may live for 30 or more years and those who take on the ownership of a horse must be prepared to take care of that horse for the long term, regardless of soundness or health.

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  2. a friend just bought an OTTB to retrain - for less, she says, than the meat man would have paid....and this one had won a few times as well. but he'll now have a really good life!

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