Loving the Unloved.

 “Horses are incredibly forgiving. They fill in places we’re not capable of filling ourselves.” Buck Brannaman

For whatever reason, I've always been extremely drawn to rescues. No matter how crazy or scared they may act, no matter how many scars mark their bodies, I believe that they should have a chance - even if that means living as a pasture ornament - to experience love.

 Red, as you all know, has almost always been a very loved horse, he was taken care of quite well, but there's only so much you can do when you can't afford expensive things. He lived in Florida with my aunt for 10+ years, but in the end, his sweet itch got worse and he was so miserable that he didn't even want to eat. He lost weight to no fault of my family, she couldn't afford it anymore, so she gave him to me. Now, Red has always been a very lazy horse, a good horse, but if you want him to trot...be prepared to force him into it. He wasn't the prettiest horse in the world, his coat was dull, his skin was disgusting (Sweet itch is really, really nasty in warmer climates full of bugs.) and he was absoloutly NOTHING like my "dream horse" that I begged for ever since I was little, but I literally fell in love with him the second I saw him. He was hard to catch and stubborn, but man, I loved that horse. Something about him completely captured my heart and I was determined to make him into something amazing.

Barbie, my old mini mare and my first horse, belonged to horse flippers. She was pregnant, scared, wild and man, she had an attitude. Catching her took a good few hours, and the owners literally chased her with their horses and ROPED her. We never did get closed to her when we went to go see her - and she was apparently a kid-broke, friendly horse used for pony rides, NOT - but I had to help her. We paid for her that day and she was trailered to our house.

Halfpint, my current mini, was so, so neglected. Definitely the worst case that I had gotten to work with. At 9 months old, he had never been handled. He was infested with lice, and was literally filled with worms. Disgusting little guy. It took us a few weeks of TLC for him to even let us get closed to him, but now, he's a sweet, sassy little dude and just like with Red, he's totally captured my heart.

 

I love being able to look at the before and afters, it makes me feel so great knowing that I helped them and in turn, they've helped me. Maybe it's because I know how tough life can be, especially with no one to help you through it, and I want to prove to them that us human's aren't all that bad. I love going out to the barn and seeing my previously very hard-to-catch, lazy horse do something he had never done with anyone else, run to me from the pasture and be excited to see me, whether or not I have treats in my pocket. I love seeing the changes, the progress. Proof that damaged souls can heal.

There's something about the rescues, the ones that kept living even though they had no good reason to, the ones that fight for their lives and for some reason, they continue to be open. Isn't it amazing, how forgiving horses are?

 

And in turn, my rescues have rescued me. I feel a connection to them, I don't know what it's like to be starved to death, or alone, but I do know that life is hard. I know how it feels to have a bad time. But someone has always been there to rescue me, don't they deserve the same? It's not their fault that they got a bad owner, that they were bred at the wrong farm. It's not their fault that people are so stinking greedy that they would rather breed a horse into this world and send it to slaughter because they want money, or because they get one and then discover how expensive they are and send them away or just ignore them in a field. Humans stink sometimes, but horses? I've never known one that isn't willing to forgive, as long as you give them love and respect in return.

 

Every horse deserves a chance to be a little girl's dream, regardless of their past life or problems.

And I figure, since horses have saved me from so much...I might as well try to save them in return.