Heartland KZN

04/12/2025

❤️ To the horse husbands. To the ones who had no idea what they were signing up for…and stayed anyway:

Her life is all about the horses.
And somehow, now, yours is too.

You learn early on that “I’m just running out to the barn for a quick second” might mean she won’t be back for hours.

You realize her heart belongs to fragile animals who always seem determined to hurt themselves, and that nothing you can do will ever protect her from the heartbreak of losing her best friend.

You get used to hay showing up in the dryer and in every jacket and hoodie pocket. You understand that true days off are few and far between.

You watch her through the window sometimes, her eyes lighting up as she dances around the arena with a horse she loves, and you realize you’re witnessing a part of herself that she never had to explain.

You quietly take in a world that made no sense to you at first, a world you’d never stepped into, yet one you chose the day you chose to love her.

And you show up for it all with so much grace, so much patience. So much love.

You hold her after the emergency vet pulls away, when she’s out of strength and questioning why she chose this life.

You take her hand and walk beside her down the driveway, holding the bag of cookies, as she leads her horse to his final resting place.

You carry grain bags and heavy things, even though you know she’s fully capable.

You offer her breakfast as she runs out the door, just in case today she chooses herself.

You quietly take care of the behind-the-scenes things she abandons because the horses need her more.

You heard the stories about “crazy horse girls.” You knew the lore. And you chose her anyway.

She loves the horses.
And somehow, now, you do too.

Her life is all about the horses.
And now…wonderfully, impossibly…so is yours.

04/12/2025

03/12/2025

"Be so steady in your own energy that you invite people into your peace, instead of falling into their tension."

~ Yung Pueblo

Image ©Tamara L Sanchez, licensed via Shutterstock. No re-use/downloading/saving of this image is permitted.

03/12/2025

03/12/2025

We worry about our horses. We worry about them spending too much time inside, developing vices, getting stiff, getting bored.

But we rarely stop to notice that we have become "life sour."

Look at the human habitat:

We sleep in a brick box.
We commute in a metal box.
We sit for 8 hours staring at a glowing light box.

We are the ones living in captivity. We are the ones who are domesticated, clipped, and rugged by society. We are fed a diet of artificial urgency, blue light, and processed stress... 📱

And we wonder why we feel anxious.
We wonder why we feel "nappy" on a Monday morning.

Then... we drive to the yard in our metal boxes 🚗

It is often the only time in 24 hours that we touch something real. Mud. Cold water. Rough hair. The smell of earth and hay....unless you work here.

We tell ourselves we go there to exercise the horse. But if we are honest about it. They are the ones exercising us.

They are re-wilding us, one grooming session at a time. They are the anchor that pulls us out of our heads and back into our bodies. They remind our nervous systems that we are not designed for spreadsheets—we are designed for connection.

When you feel that desperate, magnetic pull to go to the yard, even when it’s freezing, even when you are exhausted... That isn’t just a "hobby." That is your survival instinct fighting for air.

You aren’t just "checking on the horse." You are escaping the human zoo for an hour to remember what it feels like to be a living thing.

So if you just stood in the field today and breathed them in? You didn’t waste time. You just came up for air. 🫁🐴

03/12/2025

03/12/2025

We ❤️ NSPCA - National Council of SPCAs - What a wonderful initiative 👏

The NSPCA's festive initiative this year combines the important task of animal welfare education with giving back, aiming to make Christmas morning just a little brighter for 150 children in care.

03/12/2025

A heartfelt thank you to everyone from Sankontshe Community who cared enough to bring their pets to the Rabies Vaccination Drive at Mathafeni Sport Field. ❤️🐾 Your love and commitment to your animals’ health is inspiring!

❤️ Special thanks to our amazing vets, Dr. Barnard and Dr. Lee, for their dedication and expertise. Together, we assisted many dogs with deworming, wound care, and administered life-saving rabies vaccines.

⚠️Rabies remains a serious threat and a pandemic in KZN — we must fight this battle head-on to protect our communities and beloved pets.

❤️ Heartland KZN is proud to serve Hammarsdale, Cato Ridge, and Sankontshe and looks forward to continuing this vital work through upcoming sterilization campaigns and more rabies clinics.

Together, we can build a healthier, safer future for all.

Heartland KZN Octavoscene Pty Ltd Midmar Vet clinic



🙏 Proverbs 12:10
Thank you Lord for using our hands to commit your works

03/12/2025

⚠ Community Warning - please share ⚠ We urge everyone to exercise caution and direct your kindness and generosity *only to verified, transparent animal rescues and shelters*. Please do not fall victim to individuals who exploit the plight of innocent animals to serve their own personal agenda.

Dear Pinetown, Upper Highway, Cato Ridge & Camperdown Neighbor's,

PLEASE BE CAREFUL OF WHO YOU SUPPORT - If someone asks for assistance with their cat feeding stations and they give you a whole list of places they feed at and want you to donate items, animal food or money then PLEASE INVESTIGATE IT FIRST - some people have been doing this for years, pulling the wool over the eyes of the public and abusing the communities kindness.

⚠ Check things out - ask for proof of feeding stations with time and date stamped photos or videos of animals being fed, ask for a copy of receipts for feed purchases or better yet ask to see their bank statements. DONT LET YOUR KINDNESS FUEL SOMEONES PERSONAL AGENDA! ⚠

It has come to our attention that a well-known pair have been presenting themselves as animal welfare advocates, claiming to run a rescue and frequently requesting donations and assistance through various community platforms including WhatsApp and Facebook groups.

Despite their persistent appeals for support, repeated requests for *proof of receipts for cat food purchases* and *evidence of the many cat feeding stations they claim to maintain* have been met with defensiveness and no verifiable documentation.

Over the years, multiple reputable animal rescue centres have intervened to assist them, only to discover that *not everything is as it seems*:

- The supposed feeding stations are often *unserviced and neglected or simply do not exist*.
- Donated animal feed has been found to be *sold off instead of used for the animals*.
- Monetary donations are believed to being spent for personal use rather than on animal care.
- The long list of their "feeding stations" has been investigated and no suggestions are found or seen at these alleged stations nor is there any evidence to suggest that there is any feeding happening there.

Your compassion is invaluable—let's ensure it reaches the animals who truly need it.

Thank you for your vigilance and support in protecting our community and its vulnerable animals.