For the Love of An Animal

After the winds and damage of the past week left for other pastures, we went to the barn today. First time I had seen my four legged babies in two weeks, due to work and family commitments. Pulling up the drive, all the horses mingling around the barn for breakfast and morning hay, I remembered that long ago fall day my darling daughter took her first lesson and another generation of women fell in love.

My first memory of pony love is of a fat little pinto at the neighborhood fair. Of course back then each pony was tied to a wheel and walking in preset circles for 5 minutes then stopped for the next group. When it came time for me to leave that pony I screamed like someone was cutting my legs off. At that age it was hard to put into words the peace and sense of purpose I found on the back of that pinto.

Throughout my life I have ways to be around horses. My cousin was the lucky one, she actually became a jockey back when that was strictly a male profession. She has the injuries and scars of many pileups and dismounts but worse, she lost the passion for the horse itself. Because racing is a big dollar business, thoughts of what happen to the poor horses that don't make it on the track are avoided as the cost of doing business. That side, unfortunately, I am all too familiar with. Perhaps sadder than the grown animals discarded around the country are the poor foals, stripped from their mothers after only days in order for the mares to nurse the foals of more valuable horses.

Several years ago, my friend and her daughter became involved in the rescue networks. Working mainly with off-track thoroughbreds, they soon found themselves the savior of more than one OTTB. At Blue Skies Riding Academy we have more than 8 OTTB currently being trained for dressage, hunter, jumper, and trail professions. But these "throwaway horses" existing in more industries than just racing.

For any of my friends who are on hormone replacement therapy, I apologize in advance. In case you don't know it, the hormones the pharmaceutical companies use come from pregnant mare urine. And how do they get this urine? Mares are kept pregnant, then stripped of the foal after birth so they can be re-inseminated to produce more urine. The poor babies who are taken from their mothers are divided. If female, they might be allowed to mature, so they can join or replace their own mothers "on the line". Males are not wanted or needed. Three guesses where they end up.

So the next time you see a post on my Facebook or Twitter about a horse needing a sponsor, think about the Starbuck's latte you drank that morning and consider exchanging your caffeine habit with something better - being a part of saving an innocent from the avarice of mankind. Listed below is the link for Blue Skies Riding Academy. Your donation is tax deductible as we are a registered 501c(3) non-profit. We also do pony rides, Girl Scout and Boy Scout programs, birthday parties, lessons, and summer camp.

If you don't live in this part of the country, namely the South, check into local rescues in your state. Horse Rescue United, located in New Jersey works and listed reputable rescues in several states. In Georgia we also have Iron Gait Percheron Rescue, Georgia Equine Rescue League, and Save the Horses to name only a very few. I know there are a lot of people out there asking for money who have no viable references. Always check into a rescue before donation. But please do donate - dogs, cats, horses, donkeys, mules, you name it they need help.


To Donate to Blue Skies Riding Academy

Catching Up With My Friends

I hadn't been out to the barn for almost two weeks until yesterday. Unfortunately, I do have a real job which allows my to have my horses and spring is one of my busier seasons. So when I arrived for my normal barn day I had almost forgotten we had a schooling show on the books. Oh well, there is nothing happier than the sound of happy people around the horses. Since we had visitors from another barn, several people wanted to know more about our rescue program.

Nineteen months ago BSRA joined with several other mid-Atlantic rescues to save horses from a supposed rescue in West Virignia. The lucky three who came home to Georgia that September day were Ella Grace, Sterling, and Connor. I have written quite a bit on our newest horses, but tonight I want to brag on the West Virginia 3.

Arriving at the barn the first morning the 3 were at BSRA I wasn't truly prepared for the emotionally diverse animals we had been entrusted with. Connor was a baby, around eighteen months old and unattached to the others. He accepted the alfalfa tea and hay offered with all the manners of one who had been kicked down the seniority line. Only after noting that Sterling and Ella Grace had their own piles to eat from did he settle in. Connor's life hasn't been blessed, ten months ago he impaled his chest on a fence post. The deep, life threatening wound healed slowly, keeping Connor stall bound for almost six months with minimal hand walking. Too much activity might open the wound again and set his recovery back.

To help Connor with his 'imprisonment', Sterling was voted his steady friend. When Stir-fried arrived he was more than three hundreds pounds underweight, a two year old with a vicious cribbing problem. A crippling dependency on Ella Grace made it hard to get the scrawny Thoroughbred into a stall, but soon he began eating and growing, a process which he has repeated in many cycles, now standing more than 16 hands and still cribbing despite collars, herbs, special hay nets and grazing muzzles. While never a speed demon, Sterling is graceful, his long legs delicate at the trot, and his foster mother loves him with a ferocity and depth of heart this wonder pony needed.

Ella Grace, the mother of the West Virginia 3, is a twenty-something Thoroughbred who was never raced, never tattooed. Feminine and lovely she endured the obsessive Sterling and worried over Connor until she was slowly worked into the mare herd. She moved smoothly and can jump cross rails with the grace her names implies. But she isn't truly a lesson girl, Ella misses a special person to care for her. While several of our riders love Ella, so far there hasn't been just one for this beautiful little mare.

Three lives, intersected and joined by the whims of men, to be on that farm at that time to be placed in our care. One mare, two geldings, three stories - how far they have come since that first Saturday when I met them. Ella has been in the program and is currently up for possible adoption to the right person. We love her, and don't want her to leave, but know she deserves that important 'one person'. Connor's chest has healed, and overnight he has turned into the sweetest little cow pony anyone could ever desire. His attachment to Sterling is iron-clad; when his buddy is in the ring, Connor stands right outside the door to hear how Sterling does. Once they are together in the pasture, Connor will go his way, but one eye is always out for the cribbing bay gelding, no matter what fence post he is worshipping at the moment.

And Sterling? Well, in some ways he has hit the proverbial jackpot. With one loving foster mom, Tiff, and under the instructions of our two fabulous trainers Kristina and Sami, Sterling is winning classes and divisions in the Hunter / Jumper competitions around Northwest Georgia. At the true age of almost 5, Sterling is finding his groove in life.

The Days Are Getting Longer

I went to the barn today, even though it wasn't a normal day for me to be there. Part of the reason was for paperwork, Bev and I never seem to have time for all the paperwork. Having 30 horses can be more taxing than having 30 people employees. But the other reason was our new residents. The sense of protectiveness I feel for these 6 is immense. Because of the circumstances under which they were redeemed, the mother instinct is kicking in.

The Super 6 are settling in to their new routines. Morning brings hay and grain, fresh water and lots of scratches from loving hands. Once they have finished their first round of hay, mid-day means a little more of everything and plenty more love. When I arrived the first to notice me was Dynamo, of course. I was welcomed with a long round of sniffing. She remembered me and was ready to learn more. It was nice to stand and acknowledge her curiosity. I apparently passed her test, because she head bumped me, then left to start on her hay. I have been accepted.

Sparky was eating, as he should be. We can't wait to see weight (ha ha) return to this guy. Daisy and Dozer either have a 'thing' going on, or she is just a mooch, haven't quite figured their relationship out. She feeds quite liberally from his hay, and so far Dozer doesn't seem to mind. He has such a laid back vibe, it might work out just fine. She is a flirt.

Dolce and Maple were both napping. The next few days here in Georgia are supposed to be in the 80's, so baths and shed blades are the plan for the remainder of this week. Saturday we are gong to string a pen around their stalls, so they will be able to move around and graze but still have their stalls for individual feeding. Changes we hadn't expected but are glad to implement for these babies.

On a side note - our trainer K has two mares expecting first foals between now and the end of the month AND the little donkey we helped Iron Gait Percheron Rescue take from a neglectful owner earlier this year is pregnant. So BSRA is going to have a hinny. We haven't quite figured out how that is going to work, because we have some very dominant mares. Will a donkey let a horse mare steal her baby? Tune in for details as the events unfold.