SCARE South Carolina Awareness and Rescue for Equines Inc.

08/29/2024

I’ve seen this all too often in rescue. The ones that don’t end up being dumped at a sale barn end up slowly starving to death out of sight. And people think there’s no way I’m a real rescuer when I tell them there are so many things worse than a kind peaceful death. It’s heart breaking.

Yesterday after we posted the two senior horses at auction we did make an assumption that they were dumped at the sale for profit after being given to "good homes". I need to clarify that while we shouldn't always think the worst, we have come to these conclusions after more than a decade pulling senior auction horses. We all hope they are there by some tragic misfortune and that the people didn't know what they were doing. Usually though we find out that they are victims of the same story over and over. It takes away that part of you that wants to give people "the benefit of the doubt".

Unfortunately, we were right in our assumptions. Again. Because old horses given to "good homes" simply DO NOT get happily ever afters a vast majority of the time. Of the last 6 horses over 20 we bought at auction, 5 were given to a family for their kids. The horse ended up needing senior horse care they were not willing to provide and they wanted that last dollar instead of just euthanizing.

Cody is a registered paint 25 years old. He was given to a Rodeo family for their kids to ride. They admitted that he wasn't sound enough and needed too much feed. Also they said they wanted the money and knew he wasn't worth anything to sell privately.

Nugget is also 25+. Given to a family for their daughter to run barrels on. He also found himself dumped when he wasn't able to do it anymore.

How do we know? The owners who gave these horses to those families reached out to us. Both completely shocked. Both thought these homes were amazing and would be great loving families. Both told me they cried when they saw what happened. These weren't seniors with no options, these weren't broke single moms. The family that dumped Cody even kept the other horse they got with him since he doesn't have the care needs he does.

I won't soapbox again with a chapter book. I write on this often enough... but in the future please understand why we think the way we do. It's because nearly every senior horse we meet has this same story.

DON'T GIVE AWAY YOUR OLD HORSES. If you must, try a rescue, do contracts, hold brand inspections or just let them pass on at home where they are loved.

08/27/2024

This is interesting - resolving an abscess.

08/24/2024

To My Faithful Friend

In the twilight of our years, my dear old friend,
We stand together where the golden fields extend.
You, with your weathered coat and gentle, knowing eyes,
Have been my constant companion under countless skies.

We’ve wandered through the valleys, climbed the hills so high,
Galloped through the meadows where the wildflowers lie.
With you, I’ve felt the wind sing freedom in my hair,
Every moment with you, no other could compare.

Remember when we braved the storms, unyielding in our way?
Or when we watched the sunsets, ending each long day?
You carried me through heartaches, through joys and endless dreams,
Together we’ve seen life in all its flowing streams.

Now, as the years have softened both your steps and mine,
I treasure even more this bond so rare, so fine.
You’ve given me your strength, your trust, your gentle grace,
In your steadfast presence, I’ve found my safest place.

So here’s my heart, dear horse, with gratitude so deep,
For every trail we’ve traveled, every secret we keep.
In your eyes, I see the stories of a life well-spent,
And in my soul, your spirit is forever sent.

As we journey onward, to wherever time may lead,
Know that you’ve been my dearest friend in word and deed.
For in this life of ours, with adventures yet to see,
There’s no greater love than what you’ve shared with me.

08/09/2024

I’ve seen way too many horses who don’t have the retirement they deserve in the home they’ve lived as long as they can remember. I’ve taken many and given them the best we could. It is those we could not take that haunt me.

The horse does not know his score, at the end of the dressage test. Only, that he went along, just as he was ridden. Lazy by nature he tried only as much as he knew would be insisted on. However, being pretty and relaxed, as well as a relatively good mover, has earned him many points and blue ribbons in the past. His young rider though, has ambitions, and he cannot meet them. He will be put on the market and then sold.

The horse does not know... the time on the clock, at the end of the jumping round. All she knows is that she tried, even though some of the lines ridden to the fence depended on her heart, to clear them. She knows, that some of the spots where she left the ground, were hard to navigate a fence from. She only knows that it is her job is to jump what is in front of her. She trusts her riders guidance to help her, to do that job.

The horse does not know... a fraction of a second divides the winners and the losers in the rodeo barrel racing finals. He does not know that less than 16 seconds of his efforts could earn enough cash to keep him in hay and grain for the rest of his life. All he knows is that he must apply all his efforts into a very concentrated time span, and that the young lady that rides him is his very best friend.

The horse does not know... losing this race might put his very life in jeopardy. He knows his leg hurts and so do his lungs. He knows he is not the fastest horse out here. He is trying his hardest and some of the others are just coasting and he still cannot keep up. He knows he must run, because that is what he was born, and trained, to do. He does not know that this is his last race and two weeks from now his life will be over.

The horse does not know... now that summer camp is done and the last of the children have returned to school, that she is an expense. One that will not be maintained through the winter. She does not know that the auction she has been sent to has no buyers for a horse like her. She knows she will do as she is asked and so when the others who share her fate, climb onto the trailer that smells of fear and of death, she obediently climbs on too.

The horse does not know... growing old in a pasture, or a stall, is not a right, that all horses enjoy. His owners are old too, and they cannot care for him... and themselves. He knows he has been a member of this family and has lived here at this farm, for as long as he can remember.
Sure his joints ache a bit and he would rather saunter than gallop these days. The family members of his humans do not consider him part of their family. They give him to a man that says he wants a companion horse for his wife’s gelding. There is no wife and there is no gelding. Twenty four hours later he is on a truck bound for Mexico.

The world is simple to a horse. They take each day as it comes and none of them...trained or untrained...winners or losers...unstarted or retired, deserve to get on a slaughter bound truck. However each year, thousands and thousands do. It is up to each of us to do what we can for those with no voice of their own. Educate yourself and others. Care for your horses, rehome responsibly, pay for your horses retirement, or pay to euthanize them. Check out your local rescue and get involved.

Be the change that must occur in the equine industry so we can all look up, smile and say. “ I am...part of the solution.”

07/18/2024

This is so sad I can’t imagine this mares pain.

07/03/2024

Whats the purpose of a flash? To keep a horses mouth shut. Why is the horse opening its mouth? Most commonly, evasion of pressure.

Address the cause of the behaviour, not the behaviour itself because it really is counter productive and just causes even more discomfort that there is no escape from.

Why should you say no to a flash and a tight noseband? 👇 do you see that soft bone with no support? That's why. Now imagine a dropped noseband on that. 🫣

Pic screenshot from Henlea Equine Wellness

06/19/2024

This is so very scary. Everyone please be aware

06/14/2024

I hate all the gadgets we put in horses to make them submissive. I especially hate the flash cranking their mouths shut, and yet, it seems to have become a standard piece of equipment noted in just about every photo I see. I just love this article.

I want horses to have opinions.

A horse with an opinion will express when they do not feel safe - because they are being pushed too hard, because they are hurting, because we’re asking for something incorrectly, because our energy is off. An opinion can tell me that something is not right - and it is my job to do my best to figure it out.

Leslie Desmond famously said “What value does yes have if no is not an option?” If we don’t give them the ability to express themselves, how will we have a clue how they are feeling? Do we actually care? How will they be able to learn willingly verses through submission? And yes, there is a difference. A BIG difference.

A horse with an opinion is thinking for themselves, verses blindly doing what is asked even when they are not mentally or physically capable. Better to refuse a fence rather than jump it in such a way that is going to be dangerous. Better to be unsettled in warm up and try to figure it out before entering the show ring. Better to act up in smaller ways, rather than push them through until the bigger explosion or the really unsafe risk happens.

In my practice, the horse is a feedback loop. How she moves and reacts, in addition to what I feel under my hands and see, tells me things. I need to be willing to let the horse have an opinion, to express how they feel, so that I do not push beyond boundaries to ask too much. I try not to get to “no”, but no is okay. No is important, just as important as yes.

A teacher recently said to me that the way we train and ride horses is often separating their sensory and motor functions to the point that they really don’t know where their bodies are in space. The way we strap down their heads and prevent full range of eye sight; the way that we restrict breathing and mouth movement (which impacts the entire body) by cranking nosebands tight; the use of harsh bits; when we drug them before we ride; the way that we simply ask for constant submission.

I have not really stopped thinking about this.

We are, in essence, teaching horses to ignore their nervous systems when we are on their backs.

No thanks.

No “dead broke” horses for me. If my horse, or any horse I’m working with, is feeling fear or pain or sweet release, I sure as hell want to know it.

Photo credit: Olia Gozha

06/03/2024

🚨🚨🚨FOUND🚨🚨🚨

Red Hill Road in Camden.

If you are missing your horse, please call our office. The person who has this horse in their possession will inquire about identifying marks, photos, etc. to confirm if it is indeed to be returned.

05/25/2024

We owe them such a debt.

05/25/2024

"Horses don’t think the same as humans.
Something that’s most unique about the horse, that I love, is not what he possesses but what he doesn’t possess..........and that is greed, spite, hate, jealousy, envy or prejudice.
The horse doesn’t possess any of those things.
If you think about people, the least desirable people to be around usually possess some or all of those things.
And the way God made the horse, he left that out." - Buck Brannaman.

Image of Buck is by Heather Kessler - https://www.facebook.com/kesslerphoto