Why Horse Rescue Also Needs Cat People. Dog People Too!

This past weekend, I had the pleasure of representing LEARN horse rescue at the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation walk held on Daniel Island. Another volunteer, her daughter, and I offered rides in the pony cart pulled by this adorable guy, who aptly goes by the name Smarty Pants. Smarty is typically a huge hit wherever he goes. He's adorable, personable, well behaved and did you see his hair? He's the Fabio of the horse world. This handsome mini-horse practically has paparazzi for the amount of photos taken of him and he's a great ambassador for LEARN, making friends wherever he goes.

So when a young-ling shrieked in fear of him when offered a ride in the cart, I have to admit that I was surprised. Finally it dawned on me - not everyone likes horses. Granted, it has taken 38 years for me to come to this revelation so the case could be made that I am a little slow on the uptake, but I have now officially seen the light.Years ago, when my husband and I were first dating, I was working in a horse related business. My now mother in law expressed to me that she had no idea how I managed to work with these animals because they were "just so big!" Granted, these were draft horses weighing in around 2000 pounds each and standing six feet at the shoulder and my MIL barely breaks five feet, so that was understandable. But even then, I just didn't really get it. I have loved horses all my life, so basically what I am saying is that I have no frame of reference for this feeling.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is because it dawned on me that maybe something similar applies to horse rescue. Everyone not living in a cave has exposure to dogs and cats. People living in caves probably do as well, actually. But there are a lot of people who have never even touched a horse or pony, let alone spent any time with one. And if you have spent your entire life not ever having had contact with an 1100 pound animal with small anvils on the ends of its legs, then maybe you aren't interested in starting now. Understandably so.

When it comes to horse rescue, I'm thinking that maybe this is part of the challenge. Horse people, as they are sometimes called, are a notoriously crazy bunch of human beings. And for good reason, considering some of the shenanigans we all get up to while astride an animal of this size. But here's the deal. I cannot stop and put a stray horse in my car and take it to a shelter where it has a hope of finding a home. I cannot sneak a bowl of water to one that has none. There is no crate large enough for me to offer a horse standing out in horrible weather conditions.

This is why what LEARN horse rescue does is so important. LEARN has the capability to respond to these, and much worse, kinds of equine crises. Serving as a resource for both horses and people with horses, LEARN needs the same kind of support that cat and dog rescues need, just on a much larger (literally) scale. But we can't take our horses to PetSmart, hoping to have them adopted on site, unfortunately. Their sheer size and nature prevents many adoption and sponsoring opportunities from ever materializing, and this is where you come in.

You don't have to be horse lover. You can even be scared of horses. I'm scared of monkeys - it's okay to be an animal person and not want to hang with all of them. But if you share information about LEARN with your friends, I'll bet someone in the bunch IS an horse person, or at least wants to be. Exposure of, and support for, rescue horses is critical, and not just those with dramatic back-stories like Whisper. And even those who are not adoption contenders need care and love too. All creatures deserve to be treated humanely and I believe that if us animal lovers support each others causes, greater good will be accomplished for all.

So, please, take a minute to "like" the LEARN Facebook page and share that information with your friends - it's the neiggghhborly thing to do.