Neglected or Free - A Rescue Horse Debate

What is a rescue horse? Lately, I have been posing this question to myself and others. One of the replies I received bothered me, so I thought I would explore the topic a little more on here.

We all have different thresholds of tolerability regarding animal treatment. Some people tend to believe that a horse should only be rescued if they are getting abused and malnutrition. Yet, others seem to believe that a horse needs to be rescued if it is getting simply under-utilized.

Should we be defining what purposes people can have for owning horses? The comment that concerned me indicated this person’s belief that if a horse is well-fed, but neglected attention, the horse should be taken from them. In a way, I feel sorry for the horses, and in a way I feel they are lucky. I think we take for granted that they are beings in their own right, and perhaps being well-fed and having safety provided to them is almost nicer than the standard alternative of feeding, grooming, and working.

To me, these owners were merely offering their horses freedom in a safe environment. Granted, they are not wild, so they are not totally free in every sense of the word, but as free as security lets them be. Is this really neglect or rather acknowledgment of a different species? Horses are herd animals, and since these couple of horses had other horses to interact with, they were not alone, either. Plus, they were in a pasture, not pens.

What am I missing? Generally, there are two sides to every argument. So, am I missing something that should be rather obvious?

Just some random thoughts.

Recently, one of my friends in Wyoming emailed me, because one of her friends (who happens to live close to me) is feeling a lot of financial pressure, and she's afraid she won't be able to keep her horses. However, apparently, she doesn't want to sell them, because she just can't stand the thought of never being with them again. Of course, I totally and completely understand where she is coming from, so, I offered to take them from her as a kind of "temporary rescue" basis. Then, if she is able to get back on her financial feet, she can have them back.

The fact that the economy is low right now does not mean it will still be so in two more years. So, instead of losing our minds and acting out of fear, we need to get a grip and start planning for the future. I mean, there are so many ways to creatively make due until the economy perks back up.

For instance, if someone has only a couple of horses on a large ground of pasture, lease a large part of the pasture to a cattle rancher. With the economy down, the cost of feed and bales seems a little more hefty, and having more area to free-range cows means the farmer doesn't have to sell cattle to keep them all fed. So, keep the quid pro quo (this for that) necessity in mind, and lease the other part of your pasture for a lower cost than normal. Not only will you help someone else out, you can also ask for just enough to ensure you're able to keep your horses. You know what I mean?

Granted, this isn't a feasible fix for everybody, but there are so many options people have before they have to get drastic. See a horse on the side of the road that seems starved in the pasture, well, you can't trespass and feed the poor thing, but nothing is stopping you from driving up to the farm house, knocking on the door, and saying something like, "Hey, I actually have too many bales right now. Is there any chance you'd want some? I could just throw them in for your horses for free. You'd be doing me a favor, because I just don't have the room for them." This offers help to the horse without accusing the owner of neglect or asking if they could use a hand-out.

If everyone would just pull together for once, or just a lot of people would pull together, I think we could get out of this economic low with less damage.

I don't know. Maybe I'm just all sorts of messed up. Who knows.