A Horse, Of Course

A little over two years ago, just after my mother was officially diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease, and the full reality of that was coming to light, I was approached by a woman who lives two houses down the road from me and asked if I'd like to join her for weekly walks. We live on a dirt road, and the route from our houses to the main road and back comes to about 2 miles. I have always sucked at being motivated for exercise, so I took her up on it, knowing that it would be beneficial for my mental and physical well-being. And it has been.

Over the two years, we have met every week for the walk (except for about a month last June and July, when she was in her final weeks of pregnancy with her third child.) She and I have shared a lot during those walks, and she was especially kind during those last seven months of my mom's life, while I was very involved with mom's care, as well as in the aftermath of her death. My neighbor and I are just about one week apart in age, and we share a love of natural foods and animals. (The only area where we differ drastically is in our political views, but this never comes up in our conversations, thankfully!)

One of the things she had on her to-do list, when she moved to her house here on the hill 5 years ago, was to build a barn and rescue a horse or two from slaughter. Last year, her little barn was built and only two months after her baby was born, she scoured the web and found a horse to rescue from a wonderful organization called Another Chance 4 Horses.

During that process, she asked me to help her take a look at some of the horses on line. The horses from this organization are all housed in Pennsylvania, so it wasn't practical to see them in person. In August, her friend from down the road, who already owns three horses, rescued a sweet chestnut Saddlebred from AC4H. He was kept at my neighbor's barn for almost four weeks, because the animals need to be in quarantine before they can start living with other horses again. Check out this lovely animal that would have been killed:

Handsome!

Two weeks ago, I helped my neighbor select a big crossbred gelding, who was said to have been used as a lesson horse and was very calm. He showed up two weeks ago and is also very handsome:

He has not been ridden yet, but I think he'll be a solid and safe mount for my neighbor, who is a novice rider. This week, he'll have a complete examination from a vet, as well as his first visit with the farrier (he's only got one front shoe on, and his hooves desperately need trimming!)

Meanwhile, as I was browsing the web site, my heart started bleeding for many of these poor horses. Luckily, AC4H has a big following, and most of the horses do get rescued. I fell hard for one particular mare myself, and came *this* close to pulling out my credit card and saving her. She was a Cremello mare, and she had two beautiful blue eyes. She reminds me of my cat Spooky! She was a push-button, western pleasure broke, saddle horse, and from what I could see in the one video of her, a real mellow girl. I fell hard for her:

I followed her case on the organization's facebook page all week she was available, and it was touch and go for her up until the very last minute, when finally a woman out of Virginia saved her. I was so relieved. She couldn't have gone to a better home, because the woman is a vet tech and she and her husband have a bunch of animals, and apparently, not *suffering* financially. Phew. The mare needed some special care, with a cough (from a cold and stress) and a leg wound with pus draining out of it.

And I knew, in my heart, that as much as I pined for that mare, it would have been an emotional purchase and totally crazy for me to do. However, as I shared with Don the journey over the week following that mare, as well as other horses up for adoption, combined with helping my neighbor with her new horse on care and handling, I began to realize that maybe it was possible to get a back yard horse. I have a barn, I have land, and with my good eye for picking a solid, calm and sound horse, plus sharing resources with my neighbor, I might be able to swing it. And, it's something I have always wanted to do, one more time. Just a little guy to clip-clop around the hill on.

Don did some research on his own (which made me very happy) as to about how much it costs to maintain a backyard horse (at the least, about $2000/ year), and next year we are done with the car payment. We'd have to put up fencing (electric is the most cost effective), and construct two walls for the stall in the barn, and build up some dirt around the door of the stable. And, oh, a whole bunch of other things.....

Am I dreaming?
Is it possible?

I think it could be...

But, we have decided to try it sometime next year. It's not the cost of the purchase of the horse (the Cremello mare was listed for only $500), it's the upkeep, as well as any unexpected health problems...

It's scary. I was a very active and knowledgeable little horsewoman for 10 years, but since my early 20's I haven't been around horses, or horse people, a whole lot. But, living up here in the woods of Maine for the last 9 years, I have met a handful of people, poor people like me, who have a backyard horse or two. Could I handle one, too?

I have a new goal now, and as much time as I need to prepare. Everyday, there is another beautiful, worthy horse going to auction and getting purchased by "kill buyers" and shipped to Canada or Mexico for slaughter. If I could save just one more, like the two woman just down the road from me did, how cool would that be?