“Sorry…Too much for a rescue.” Is a response we often get. I get it…people see rescue horses as a “second hand” type deal…Or, think there must be some reason why they landed in a kill pen, or on a kill truck. There’s some reason why they are being sold at auction…Or there must be something wrong with them for someone to be selling them. The truth is…People buy and sell horses on a daily basis. I have found perfect, broke, well mannered horses in the loose pen and bid against kill buyers for them. My own children’ pony, Spark, was a kill pen rescue. She is broke for any kiddo to ride, and will ride triple for my kids.
There is a LOT of time, money and effort that goes into rescuing horses from the kill pen. Maybe we find an amazing horse…a diamond in the rough in the pens, and write its number down..Kill buyers will send out scouts into the pens to write down what is remotely broke and they will pay higher amounts for those horses to be able to put them on their bail out sites. If you have ever wondered where they get there horses for bail out, now you know…They go to auctions that have large amounts of loose horses and large amounts of catalogued horses. They buy from both sides…catalogued and loose.
So yes…It may be too much for a “rescue horse”. But how much would you pay for a pony to teach your kid the ropes of riding, and build confidence on…that you know won’t run buck or rear on them, and do anything crazy…How much would you pay for a sweet draft mare that will let anyone ride her, including a 7 year old beginner rider boy and do everything he asks her to do? If you knew she wasn’t a “rescue”, would you pay more?
How about a paint mare who was blind…And reared up multiple times when spooked? But, in the right hands, and quite a bit of rehab and patience, has blossomed into a fabulous horse and is in turn instilling in a little boy a love for horses and confidence in the saddle?
What would you pay for the life experiences that come along with showing compassion and helping an animal who had no hope…Teaching all of us lessons in what love can do for a creature, both animal and human. They know…They know when you care about them and when you have given everything you can so they can have a better life. The ones who are the worst off, are often the most grateful, and in turn will be more likely to give you all they can in return.
This month we set a record…For the most we have ever spent on a horse. It wasn’t a fancy, well trained show horse, or a well broke amazing trail horse…It was a chestnut mare in foal. There were four pregnant mares on the kill truck…And we wanted to at least make the difference for one of them. This Mama was too old, and would inevitably be shipped after foaling. We had already spent every dime we raised fundraising in the loose auction…And we pooled cash together with our friends, and we bought this beautiful Mama horse directly off the kill truck. We paid more for her, than we raised in our fundraiser. For ONE horse… But you know what…We are the difference for that one horse, and her foal. And the family who adopts her, they will have one amazing grateful mare.
You know what’s crazy…Mama came from the catalogued sale. She was not in the loose pen with all kinds of horses with no background info…She has papers, and papers to register the foal. She has awesome breeding, and so does her baby. A kill buyer bought her from the catalogued sale. Some people think it’s safe to sell their hose in a catalogued auction, and they will be more likely to go to an individual there. But at big sales like this one, kill buyers buy horses on both sides, and pull them all together at the end, and they all leave on the same truck.
So, let me ask you..What would you pay for a horse that will forever impact your life? Who may be the horse you cry on when your day isn’t going so great, or who may one day look at you, and you just know they love you back like you love them? Or the horse that your kids can grow up loving on who babysits them in the pasture..Or the pony the kids drag around to their playhouse with them and follows them everywhere? Don’t write off the rescue horse because they are too expensive…In that expense is a labor of love, and care and compassion, and that horse is no less an exceptional horse than the one you see on Craigslist.
