There is something that's a constant irritant to me and I'm reminded of it every day, one way or another. It seemed particularly pertinent this evening, as I looked out at scrawny little Ada, who arrived this week. She's such a sweet girl who is a bit unsure of her new surroundings, trying to be friends and fit in with everyone but nobody is very interested in her. She is now in a small paddock with her mother, but Hazel has forgotten they're related apparently, and she is not being the Camp Esco welcoming ambassador that she usually is. We've had to give Ada her hay at the opposite end of the field this evening, so that she doesn't get chased off... She needs every strand she can get!
I do wish people would "think before they breed". This is sound advice for all species I think, but sadly not the case often enough with horses. Aside from the obvious fact that there is an endless supply of unwanted horses out there, without caring humans to call their own, there is the lesser known route into rescue and that is as a direct result of horses simply being bred for no good reason. Anyone who has the space and a big enough heart to offer a rescue horse (or horses) some help really should be able to keep that space available for those poor horses that are most desperately in need, as a result of abuse and/or neglect, rather than simply picking up the pieces in the wake of indiscriminate breeding and the results of bad decisions. When careful consideration is not given, and there is no regard as to what will happen up ahead (once that gorgeous, fuzzy foal grows up) there will always be a horse market that is literally flooded and bursting at the seams with poorly bred horses. Rescue spaces are especially vital in times of economic difficulty, when even professional and well regarded breeders are having trouble giving their impeccably bred horses away!
Having a new foal frolicking about the place is a joy, that can't be denied. If you've ever had the chance to meet a brand new foal in person you will know, they are the most beautiful and gregarious babies to have around. The cuteness factor falls somewhere between a deer calf and a puppy, only they really are a million times more cute than either... It's true! But a baby horse, just the same as a baby anything, requires some kind of "plan for life" to have been thought out on their behalf from the get go in order to get the best start possible... It's when that doesn't happen that things can go horribly wrong. The neighbour's stallion might look really nice and all, and it certainly won't cost much to walk your mare up the road for a week or two and let them "get on with it", but unless these horsey parents are exceptional in every way, then the stud probably ought not be one at all and your mare would be far better off being given a job to do besides producing random offspring. Indiscriminate breeding is a big problem, and one that's growing, for rescue operations worldwide.
Foals are usually weaned at around 6 months and they quickly grow into bouncing young horses that will need proper care and attention, not to mention ongoing training and a good home for the duration of their lives, which can be 30+ years in some cases! There is currently a "Responsible Breeding" campaign underway in the UK, which was launched by the British Horse Society (Gawd bless 'em) fairly recently (http://www.bhs.org.uk/Horse_Care/Campaigns/Responsible_Breeding/Responsible_Breeding_2.aspx) and, along similar lines here in Georgia, GERL (http://www.gerlltd.org/events.html) regularly run their "Stallion to Gelding" clinics, offering cut-price castration (no pun intended) to encourage horse owners to participate and be sensible and selective, rather than adding to the already massive population of unwanted equines. You can't make wannabe horse breeders take a more serious approach to the subject, of course, and there is no law in place to deal with utter idiocy (I wish there was) but hopefully these initiatives will help raise awareness and make folk think twice about breeding for no good reason.
So, skinny little Ada is here. This young lady had not done anything at all except run wild until earlier this year, when she was lightly backed and turned away for a few months over the summer. It didn't go fantastically well I have to say, but it's early days for Ada. At almost 5 years old, there has been a huge gap in her education, and this presents problems aplenty, for us, for future trainers, for the vet, for the farrier, etc. She has never had a routine of any sort, and has barely been handled really, so we are all entering into a world of the unknown as far as Ada goes.
On the up side, she behaves very nicely, all things considered, and she is extremely calm minded and willing and, curiously, seems naturally respectful of our space, so far. She isn't pushy at all and she's a really friendly, sweet natured girl at least. She virtually leaps into the halter when it's time to be caught out in the pasture... You can't shake her off! On the down side, we have discovered that Ada doesn't think she can stand on three legs. She refuses to lift her feet without an almighty fight, mule kicking with both hind legs, just like the board game "Buckaroo". Sadly, this is something that could have been dealt with so easily when she was a foal, or as a weanling for that matter, when the "fight" in her was not quite so determined or dangerous. Now it's a big problem. It's all very well being able to saddle a horse up and ride off in a reasonably straight line, but it really is these basic, every day routine things that will render a horse a problem in the long run. Interestingly, she doesn't mind us moving around or being behind her and she absolutely loves to be groomed all over, including all four legs right down to the tips of her toes... Just don't try and pick 'em up!!! Standing 14 hands (1 hand = 4 inches) and weighing in at far less than she ought to right now (but still, somewhere around 650lbs) Ada has never willingly stood for a farrier to trim her hooves in her life... Not without being drugged up to the eyeballs. We have yet to see how our lovely farrier (Chad) approaches this and we'll be following his lead on how best to work through it without getting booted into next week in the process of teaching her to balance politely. We aim to work out Ada's foot foibles over the course of time, and it might be a while yet. We are getting some meat on her bones before winter hits hard as a matter of priority and we'll just take each day as it comes. She's such a sweetheart, really, she just doesn't know anything except how to look pretty. There will be a big celebration come the day she happily lifts her hind feet up to be cleaned out without even noticing.
So, this is a perfect example of "those that shouldn't" breeding horses and it's nothing short of infuriating! Whoever "bred" Ada wasn't looking very far ahead at all, that's for sure... Probably not beyond 6 months! Nobody worked with her as a baby and it's through no fault of her own at all that she is utterly clueless as to what's expected of her. If she hadn't come our way, she may well have ended up with people less patient or with someone who had no understanding of how she came to be a such a handful in the first place and handled her roughly in response. I'm certain she would have gone through umpteen sales and would have been bred by now too, since she is registered with fairly respectable looking papers (AQHA/Toots Shining Star). And this is how the sad cycle continues for so many.
Luckily we found Ada in time and plan on giving her a chance to start over, from scratch. And so, Ada begins again :)
