My other love!

[Alplily NH]

I spend a lot of time volunteering at a local horse rescue. An underweight, nervous, abandoned mare (Appendix Quarter Horse? Maybe with a little Arabian?) arrived late last summer, I took her under my wing, spent a lot of time with her and we really bonded. After doing lots of natural horsemanship-based groundwork, I was able to ride her with just a halter and lead rope last fall, and hope to really get her going under saddle later this spring. I don't have the money to adopt her myself, but perhaps I will win Powerball! Meantime, she gets lots of love and I am helping to prepare her for a perfect forever home (my heart will be broken, but I will be glad for her!). There's nothing like the warm, throaty "hey.. hey.. hey" greeting a horse reserves for its special person...

[Brutal_Dreamer]

She is really beautiful, Julie. I seem to remember you mentioning something about abandoned horses in another thread. What a good thing you are doing. I hope you do get to adopt her. I am sure she hopes so too. Thanks for sharing her story with us.

Cheers,
BD

[cherublace]

she'll make a great companion! it's a wonderful thing you do!!

[playtime8978]

What a wonderful and fulfilling thing to do! I used to have a horse, an irish cob that was only broken to driving I spent many years with him breaking him to the saddle and riding and schooling him and I ended up in hospital and sick and someone looked after him for me and screwed up the years of work I put into him he was only a baby ( a rather big baby ) and when I came home from a long stay in hospital he would only go backwards or throw you and freak, I ended up selling him to a riding school which to my knowledge he is there to this day and back to being a good riding horse, It broke my heart letting him go but I couldnt give him what he needed and the time to retrain him. Anyone that can take on a troubled animal to me is one of the best, you should be very very proud of yourself giving these guys a second chance and getting them back to full health and fitness.

[eaglssong]

Anyone that can take on a troubled animal to me is one of the best, you should be very very proud of yourself giving these guys a second chance and getting them back to full health and fitness.

Amen to what Carrie said. There's a very special spot in heaven for people like you!!

[Orchidzrule]

There are several outfits near where I live who are similar to what you are doing, Julie. That is, caring for essentially abandoned horses. It's scary how many such horses there are in need of outfits like yours--I know several of the ones near me are always in need of funds for feed & other essentials. Good on you for caring enough to help out!

Cheers,
Rob

[Alplily NH]

Thanks for the warm thoughts, everyone. Due to the economy, there are many horses in need right now. I'm not that selfless... I think I get just as much as, if not more than, the horses out of the work. It is really good for the spirit. Now... I must win Powerball right away!