When I was in high school I purchased my first horse and named her Lady. She had been owned by an old man who due to health reasons had allowed the care of his horses to go to neighbor boys who got to ride his horses in exchange for feeding them. My horse was gentle and was often left with whatever the younger horses did not eat. She was starving. It was not that there wasn't enough food, but the boys in their hurry to get the job done carelessly threw good feed on the barn floor where it got trampled into the manure.
Lady, was shoved out of the way as the younger horses ate first and as time passed she got less and less feed. I came to the farm with my father who was a friend of the owner of the horses. When he found out I had a love of horses I was invited to come out and ride. The first time I went to the barn the boys would have nothing to do with me, so I walked around petting the horses and then spotted Lady, standing in a corner of the barn. As I walked over her head raised up and her ears perked up and she whinnyed at me. As I stroked her neck and checked her over I could see the condition she was in and it broke my heart.
That evening at home I began to form a plan on how to save this horse. I had money in the bank I had been saving to buy a horse, so money was not a problem. Then where to keep her came into question and I called my uncle who had a dairy farm and ask him if I could board her there until other arrangements could be made. He was delighted to help me out and proceeded to clear out a stall in his barn. Next was getting my parents to approve and finding someone with a trailer to haul her to my uncles farm. In the end all went smoothly and I became the proud owner of a beautiful intelligent chestnut mare, who now had another chance at a healthy and happy life.
This is a great story. I'm so glad you had the resources to rescue Lady and give her a nice, comfortable life. I think I must have dreamed about owning a horse in high school, but I didn't have an uncle with a farm or parents who would have said yes. How long did you have her?
That is such a sad story, but with a very happy ending for Lady and for you. I hate to see animals being mistreated. If owners cannot give their animals the right quality of care, it is far better to find new homes for them. The owner in this case thought the boys were feeding his horses, but he should have checked that they were doing this correctly, and noticed that Lady was not thriving as she should have been.
I'm happy that you were able to help Lady in such a way. I know that posting here helps get your message through but why not take it a step further and create a website specifically on how people in their own way can help increase awareness on animal abuse and what we can do about it. I think a lot of people would want to help but don't know specifically what to do or who to approach.
Wow! What a great way to give such a beautiful animal another chance at life! This is what I have done with most of my animals and am so glad that I did! It is such a blessing for so many people to be able to have animals! I have 2 horses, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and a rabbit and let me tell you, they are all good therapy. Good luck to you and Lady and I am so glad that she is in a better home!
As horses get older, it is harder for them to chew and eat their food, especially tough hay, so it will take an old horse much longer to finish their food than it does a younger horse. Also, the older horse can be injured by an aggressive younger horse; so they will stand back waiting for their turn to be able to eat safely.
So, even if the boys were putting enough food out for all of the horses, the older mare would not get enough, since she was the last one to eat, plus it took her a lot longer to eat what she did get.
When I was trying to rehabilitate an older horse like this, I would always separate them, and feed them where they could take as long as they needed to eat their food, and no other horses could get their food or chase them away.
Also, it helps to get processed food that is easier to digest, such as alfalfa pellets rather than just h alfalfa hay, which is much harder to chew.
