It’s been some time since I’ve posted here at Sweethearts
of the West. I apologize to my fellow Sweethearts and our readers for being
away so long. I have a great horse story I hope will make up for my absence!
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| In the Corral |
My husband and I took a road trip with his brother and sister-in-law and two of their children a couple of weekends ago. It was a rescue mission. They are horse owners. Before our trip, they had three horses and room for one more. When they heard of a wild, abandoned horse on a large property outside Mobile, they decided to help.
The story of the horse unfortunately has a lot to do
with the economic downturn. A family built a beautiful mansion in the woods
outside Mobile. It’s removed from the city and sits on several acres. The
family, however, couldn’t afford the house and were forced to give it up to
foreclosure. Instead of finding their horses loving and caring homes, they left
them to roam wild on the land that now belongs to the bank. It’s rumored that
one of the horses died because by the time my brother- and sister-in-law got
wind of it, there was only one horse on the property. The upside to this tragic
story is that the bank was concerned for the remaining horse’s welfare, so much
so that they offered it free of charge to whoever could catch it.
Several people tried and failed. One Saturday, my
brother- and sister-in-law traveled with a horse trailer to Mobile to see if
they could rescue the poor animal. They spent the better part of the day trying
but couldn’t quite get the horse corralled. That night my brother-in-law called
my husband, asking for his help. My husband agreed and the next day I tagged
along for the ride.
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| Brother-in-law & Hubby in the Corral with the Horse |
When we pulled through the gate onto the property,
we spotted the horse lingering around the house. She shied at our approach even
when my sister-in-law got out of the truck and tried walking to her with a
bucket of feed. We parked the truck and horse trailer. While their youngest
child and I watched from the house, the horse ran into the woods and the others
did their best to catch her. It was a hot day, as most are on the Gulf Coast in
July. Thankfully, the bank had left the back door to the house open so we could
take advantage of the air conditioning and restrooms if we needed to. My niece
and I watched as the horse ran from the woods and into the fenced-in pasture
where it was once stabled. The others hurried to build a corral with portable
fencing we had brought in the truck at the entrance to the pasture. It took
them less than an hour after building the corral for them to corner her inside.
The four of them were already exhausted from running across the large property,
but now that they had the horse in the corral they were so close to their end
goal of getting her safely into the horse trailer that they couldn’t stop.
It was now clear to everyone that the horse hadn’t
had any human contact for some time. Her diet was poor and she was dirty. The
fact that she was small took everyone by surprise. My sister-in-law managed to
get a look at her teeth when the horse took a treat from her hand. They were so
tiny, she couldn’t have been older than two years. Still, she didn’t make it
easy for my husband and his brother to get her into the horse trailer. By the
time they finally did so, their clothes were soaked clean through and everyone
was in desperate need of some cold beverages.
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| Meeting her new family.... |
The ride back to our side of the bay was a long one,
but we made it safely out of Mobile and soon brought the horse to her new,
loving, caring home. It’s been a few weeks since she arrived at my brother- and
sister-in-law’s house and she seems to be doing well on a healthy diet and in
the shade of their front pasture. When my husband and I visited a few days ago,
she even let me pet her face.
Thank goodness for people like my brother- and
sister-in-law who are willing to go out of their way to help horses like this
one. I thought it was an important story to tell because I know there are
others horses out there who might have been abandoned or suffer from poor care.
I personally don’t have much experience with horses, but I do know there has to
be better options for those whose owners can no longer care for them. I also
think it’s important to recognize everyday heroes like my brother- and
sister-in-law, their children, and my husband who take action when an animal is
in need.
