Why Adopt? Why consider a Rescue?
The horses pictured below were all placed by us and are examples of
the quality of training and breeding Rescue horses can have these days!
Well bred, well trained, yet mistreated, abandoned or worse. . .
Often stereotyped by those uneducated . . .
A rescue horse CAN BE ANY HORSE
Many, many horses, at this time, face situations
where they could end up neglected, abused and/or abandoned.. . .
Never let the term "RESCUE" scare or dissuade you . . .
Instead, hold the humans who allowed these situations to happen, accountable
and do not fault the horse for human error and cruelty. . .
If your RESCUE has mental scars from abuse, from neglect. . .
Give him time to heal and a reason to want to!
YOU SAVE more than one when you USE A RESCUE!
Email US about Adopting ONLY AFTER READING:
RESPONSIBLE OWNERSHIP
ADOPTION GUIDELINES
ADOPTION APPLICATION
Adoption Contract
If you know anyone who feels like rescue should not charge for horses, that
rescues should not use a contract or that getting a free horse on craiglist is
the way to go, by-passing a rescue, let me give you some counters to those
notions that you can use, or even better, direct those folks to this blog:
First, early on, I placed horses without a fee, and while I was able to get
them into good homes, I have limited time I can put toward rescue work, and when
you offer horses for free, you end up filtering a far greater number of
unsuitable prospects than if you charge even a small fee. Additionally, I do not
know anyone that can continually afford to invest money into care of rescues and
receive nothing back to help offset their costs. For instance, I paid $132 or so
to purchase Kate, one past slaughter auction rescue. We spent around $25 in gas to
bring her back here. Her first trim was $30. Her vaccinations: $30. Her
initial worming was $11, subsequent worming: $11. I spent $30 in treatment of Equine Flu for her
(another $100 treating the horses here she gave it to, despite quarantine), and each month she
is here, we will spend no less than $50 in feed, not to mention countless hours
handling her, caring for her and networking to find her a home. You do the math
and tell me I make a profit with er adoption fee of $300. I hardly think so. Are
there rescues that charge too much, certainly. Most do not.
If I'd charged $500, it would have been reasonable, as well. So in order to keep
saving horses and giving them proper care, A RESCUE must charge SOMETHING. You
are not buying a horse, you are making a donation to save horses
when you pay an adoption fee.
Second, contracts help weed out meat buyers, horse traders and people who do
not give optimal care to their animals. I have found the best of homes, homes I
know to be quality homes, never blink at a contract. Does that mean everyone who
does not want to do a contract is going to neglect the animal? No, but it means
many, many of those WILL. It would be ridiculous to save an animal from a terrible fate to just
turn around, invest time and money and heart into the animal and think nothing
about placing him or her into whatever home comes up first. You cannot take a
person at his or her word. I wish you could. You have to have something that stands in the gap and
creates a tangible promise of good care and a right for you to take that animal
back if the care becomes inadequate. No one knows the future, but one should lay
up for the best possible future he can, and if it does not work out, at least a
sincere effort was made. If you have nothing to hide, then you have no reason to
flinch about a contract the does not allow you to sell or breed an animal, asks you return the animals
if cannot keep it, asks for a typical standard of care. Ask
yourself why the contract makes you uncomfortable. You are likely, if you’re
honest with yourself, to find the problem is in you, not the contract. Do some
rescue take contracts and requirements too far? Yes.
Do most? No. DO we? I do not believe so.
Third, isn’t it cheaper and easier to just go save one directly yourself? If
that is what you really feel you want to do, I do not want to ever discourage
someone from saving an animal in need, but consider this. . .when you save one,
though that is amazing, it is now done. It is over. One is saved. The End. When you use a
rescue, you help perpetuate a chain of animals being saved. You adopt one, save
it, and you make room for another to be save, your reimbursement or donation
allows funds to save another, maybe two, and you support a process that leads to
many animals having another chance. Your support something that is much bigger
than saving just one, though that is admirable, as well. You tell the rescuers
that their work is important, it means something and that there is a reason to
go on saving many more. Without adopters, rescues will dry off and cease to
exist, and the saving of only one will seem suddenly very small. I am all about
saving one at a time, but if you can save one and help others save more, you are
probably doing the greater good.
The moral is to support your rescue groups. Dissuade people from buying
pets and horses from most breeders, all traders and the like.
YOU SAVE more than one when you USE A RESCUE!
Encourage people to always look first to a rescue!
Remember that many horses have been through hell and back, whether they
come from a rescue or are purchased privately.
Any horse can require more
time and training to overcome their pasts, nomatter where they came from.
We will always give you an honest account of
a horse's behaviors while with us, but issues
may surface after adoption for any number of reasons.
Please be willing to work through them with your adopted equine;
they do deserve it.