I believe that with the help of the Blogs we can come together to work out a plan to insure the humane treatment of horses that are crippled or need to be put down. My vet will be coming out to do ultrasounds next week and I'm going to run an idea or two past her. If they would agree to help with a fund to be set up for the use of a horse owner that cannot afford proper care, it would be a great help. Here are some steps I think can be made to help with funding and rescues. The more ideas that we can come up with, the better chance we have to make a difference.
1. Try to write one letter to a congress person, sympathetic public person (Bo Derek) for example, high profile clinician etc. Since this has become such a common problem the humane society may need to become more involved to start this fund.
2. Have a fund raiser. How many trail rides and speed/pleasure shows have raised money for children's programs? Maybe someone like John Lyons could contribute a small portion of his fees to local programs. I'm just using him for an example, he may already be doing something to give back to the very people that have supported his ideas.
3. If possible take in a horse, even as a companion horse. Sometimes all it takes is a simple supplement to keep a horse comfortable. It's just like at the pound, the babies are sooo cute. They do grow up and have to be handled properly so that they do not hurt anyone.
4. I would like to see government grants for the care of these animals that are monitored better. I know someone that got one for a huge amount of money for one that involved troubled teens and horses that was used for the new trailer, truck, car, computer etc. I would love to find one to take better care of my horses. I keep them comfortable, I would love to see if they could be fixed. The owners of the race horse that foundered put him down after a year struggling to save him, they have started a fund for founder research. So many horses could be saved with the potential information this caring gesture will accomplish.
This is a small sampling of things that can be done. I appreciate any suggestions, everyone has different resources and may not realize that they can help. The horse industry is a multi billion dollar one, it would be a shame that they cannot find a way to fix some of these problems.
4 comments:
The horse club I belonged to has set up a fund to help care for abused or neglected horses. We have a club member who takes the horses confiscated by the county and we supply the funds for her to care for them until the court case is settled and the horse can be found a new home. If every horse club in the country would do that, imagine what a dent that would make.
Perhaps another "source" of contributions could be some of the on-line services such as dream horse, country supply etc etc.
Great ideas! I'm going to see if our club might get something going. I know of no rescues for the cutting horse industry. AQHQ and other associations might jump in on it too.
Hi - I'm from Zambia :) Love your blog, we have horses and my daughter rides competitively in show jumping and dressage. Sadly there is very little done here in horse welfare, those of us that care enough do what we can on an individual basis.
It's really great to see that so many people care - our horses give us so much, we should be prepapred to give back whenever we can.
Good luck in your endevours :)
P.S. Would you mind if I put your blog on my blogroll?
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