"Rescued" horses

Oldhorselady · 09-04-2012, 04:43 PM

I will continue to say I rescued my percheron, not for the attention of the deed, but to announce to the world how this well-known restaurant owner in our area neglected this poor mare and her filly. He had no compassion or heart to allow this animal to decline as she did. Then for her to just be tossed aside and for him to say to just put her down.

Saddlebag · 09-12-2012, 06:59 PM

Oldhorselady, we are speaking in generalizations, as are fully aware of the exceptions and genuine cases but countless times the first sentence starts with "my horse is a rescue" or "I rescued a horse". My arab looked like the grey arab when I bot him. I never thought of him in terms as a rescue but rather a horse that needed to gain weight. When one thinks in terms of "rescue" the owner becomes a victim as well as the horse. Poor baby often isn't handled how a horse should be handled and trouble soon happens. My horse didn't know he was underweight so my mindset wasn't to feel sorry for him or tiptoe around him.

stevenson · 09-12-2012, 07:32 PM

Oldhorselady, I agree with you. I rescued my horses. Some were given to me, some I purhcased, young, scared skinny starved going to go to the KILLER.. I saved them from that fate, There fore I rescued them. The previous Owners were not victims, the horses were victims, but treated like horses and fed correctly. I don't treat any of the recued dogs that have come up and different than any of my other dogs.. oh wait.. they were all rescued from going to the dog pound.. my bad..lol

Saddlebag · 09-12-2012, 11:00 PM

I did not say the previous owners were the victims. Often when people believe they have rescued a horse, they fail to handle the horse as they should. They often pussyfoot around these horses and before long the horse is causing them a lot of grief. This is how both become victims. When a horse doesn't get enough feed, he doesn't know he's skinny, he just knows that there are times when he's hungry. Does he appreciate the new owner who supplies more feed? Not really. He has more to eat, but he is reading the new owner and assessing how much he can boss her, and it's invariably women.

stevenson · 09-13-2012, 03:18 AM

Guess I misread that.. treating a horse like it is a victim is wrong.
They do know that , yes its getting fed , but if a person lets the horse walk over them then the horse will become rude . I do have one old 31 yr old , who dislikes me. I have not let him get away with being rude, but he bite, kick and strike me. He gets smacked for it, but it is a constant thing with him. Not to so much to anyone else, just me. Rotten old horse. He was that way from day two, I had to doctor him and he associates me with pain now. He had lots of issues when I got him. Abcess after abcess, cuts etc. Lots of antibiotic shots.

Oldhorselady · 09-13-2012, 08:16 AM

I definitely agree with Saddlebag in the fact that some people rescue horses with the intent of saving them on the emotional level. Where they go wrong is not understanding that they have to gain the respect of the horse....which is beyong some people's capabilities due to their soft personality. I am told that I am a VERY tolerant and patient, soft spoken person. HOWEVER, when it comes to getting business done, I get business done. When people see me interacting/training horses, they may think that I am not being firm because I am very quiet. However, the horse knows my firmness just with body language. There are times when I would have to get much firmer where people would see this and react like it is at that time that I am being firm only. When the reality is that I am always firm, just different levels....the person that doesn't understand that type of relationship with the horse wouldn't recognize that.

There have been people I have tried to teach this to and it just wasn't there thing and they just didn't understand what the heck I was talking about. It's like with anything, some people are better at certain things and not others. The problem is that the ones that don't get it and take in this 'poor' animal have taken in a very larger, dangerous animal that quickly sours and looses respect for the human making it even worse. It then becomes a vicious cycle.

Hopefully I explained this correctly....since I am not good at people communication.

Oldhorselady · 09-13-2012, 09:29 AM

I do want to add tbough.....it is ok to have the emotional lovey-dovey pookie-doo kissy relationship wooth your horse AFTER you have already establoshed boundries and respect with your horse. But onlu expectoing to have that respectful relationship by feeding treats and giving kisses wont work.

kellylee · 10-30-2012, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nikelodeon79

My opinion is this:

If you got them from a legitimate shelter/rescue or paid nothing for them to get them out of a bad situation, they are typically "rescues."

If you paid for them (and I'm not talking adoption fees to a legitimate rescue) they are not "rescues." By paying for them, you gave the former owner/breeder the funds to go out and get another animal and put it in the same bad position.

If someone wants to "save" a horse from a kill buyer that's their decision. But... do so knowing that you just gave the kill buyer money to go and buy ANOTHER horse.

If someone wants to "save" a dog from a puppy mill, they've just given the puppy mill owner more money/incentive to breed again.

If you adopt from a rescue, you've freed up a spot for them to rescue yet another animal.

It gets MORE complicated when you consider that some "rescues" actually buy their animals from puppy mills, etc. That's why it's important to do your research on any given rescue/shelter.

I have three "rescue" dogs. I don't go around saying "I rescued them" or even call them "rescues." (I'm not a huge fan of the term, but it is what it is). One of them I got from the shelter, another came from a rescue, and the third one came from a behavioral trainer who pulled him from a shelter and placed him with me.

With my horses it's more complicated. My first Arab came from a friend who got him from a bad situation (for free). He had a good home with my friend, but wasn't much more than a pasture ornament. She gave him to me and I trained him. I don't think I actually "rescued" him because he was just fine at my friends. My friend, on the other hand, DID "rescue" him. I still consider him "a rescue" because that's what he is: regardless of whether I was the first one to get him out of the bad situation. I don't go around saying "I rescued him" but if asked, I say that he was "a bit of a rescue."

With my other Arab, I broke my own rules and paid for him. I got him from what I consider to be a "horse trader" for $250.00. A client of mine bought a horse from the trader and I told them to throw the Arab in the trailer too, because I was thinking with my heart and not my head.

Apparently now this "trader" is calling themselves a rescue and I have serious doubts about that... but oh well. :(

I think this post has sort of trailed off, but I found it while searching for the terms "rescue advice" and wanted to comment from the perspective of someone who has been around horse people enough recently to be put off by someone calling their horse a "rescue".

I think of it exactly the way Nickleodeon put it. If I decide to pay an adoption fee to a legitimate rescue versus buying one from a barn/private owner, then maybe I've not rescued the horse (as it has already been rescued) but I am helping the rescue agency provide an open spot for a new rescue. While finding a horse that is suitable for me is priority number 1, if I had to choose between two equals - one a rescue and one a private horse - then I would choose the rescue simply to open up additional capacity for more.

This discussion was interesting to me. I have two dogs that I consider to be "adopted". I got them both from rescue organizations, and I was happy to pay a fee for both of them to pay for the care they had received so far. I will never buy a dog, I will always adopt. When people ask me what kind of dogs I have I always say mutts. Then the next question is did I adopt them and I usually say yes. I can't recall anyone asking if I rescued them. If someone did, I guess I would say no as they were both with fosters at the time and unlikely to end up at a kill shelter. But I am still happier with my decision to adopt vs. buy as my assumption is a dog for sale probably has some quality (breeding, training) that will make them attractive enough to easily have a home whereas an adoptive dog might not.

Saddlebag · 10-31-2012, 12:26 AM

My boarders horse was walking all over her. Thankfully the horse wasn't mean, just didn't listen to her. One day I asked what she wanted from this horse. I want her to love me. I nearly gagged at her remark. Why does she desire love from a horse? Well, says I, you can love on the horse after she respects you and there seems to be a big shortage of that. One day soon after her horse nearly knocked her over just by paying attention to other horse and not her and got excited with their running. That was her epiphany.

Clava · 10-31-2012, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wallaby

For me, if any money changes hands, you aren't rescuing that horse - you're buying it. If money was in play for a horse in terrible condition, you "upgraded" that horse.

Well in that case I did not "rescue" my haflinger Hattie as I paid �100 for her, but then again I would always pay something as it helps to make a proper legal purchase and get a receipt for proof of ownership. I have no doubt though that she may well have died if I had not bought her.

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