There are twenty-two horses who were poisoned here in Florida, and I know this has happened in other states before, and occurring now north of here.  The feed mill that supplied their grain was not careful enough and included an additive for cows that a horse cannot tolerate.  It has killed several and the others are dying slowly.

I saw a picture on Facebook of these young girls giving their dying horses a spa day.  I know that there are people out there that are saying, “Oh they’re only horses.”  Seriously.  I know I am preaching to the choir, because if people aren’t interested in horses, they are not viewing this post.  But they just don’t get it.  They don’t get what our horses mean to us.  They are way beyond a pet.

Truly, think about it, what does your horse mean to you?  He/she is your best friend.  Someone you can go to after a hard day, and they will make it all better.  They are your therapist, your comforter, a shoulder to cry on.

How many times when I was a teenage girl, did I just walk up to my horse, throw my arms around her neck, just cry, and tell her all my problems.  Problems about school, boy friends, girl friends, how the world wasn’t fair.  Horses don’t care if we have the “In” designer clothes, or if we are having problems with Acne.  Children and young adults are very cruel, but horses love us for who we are, pimples and all.

When parents would stand with me, while I was teaching their children, they would say that their child loved taking lesson, but it was so expensive.  I would look at them and run down the list of how cheap it really was.  Where would you prefer having your child, hanging around a street corner, or at a barn.  When we were kids, by the time we all left the barn, we were so dirty and tired, all we wanted to do was go home, go to bed, and get up the next day and do it again.  Children who are into horses don’t usually get in trouble with the law.  They are too busy and exhausted.  They are focused on the horse, not themselves.  They learn responsibility, and concern for another’s well-being.  They are spending time with those that feel the same way.

These horses that are dying have given unconditional love, and encouragement.  They have given someone the confidence to do things, they never thought they could do.  They have cared for their person, and shown them the time of their lives.

Oh they are so much more than just a horse, especially to a teenage girl.

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I wrote this post in the beginning of December when this all first happened.  Since then the company has made good and is picking up all the expenses of the affected horses.  The company has also promised to pay for horses to replace the horses that are dying.  They have also said they will no longer produce horse feed.  They are making right for the wrong that was committed, even though it was not intentional.  The new horses will never replace, in the hearts of these kids, the horses that have passed, but it will help the families with the expense incurred.  At least they stepped up to the plate and did what they could.

In the January /February copy of America’s Horse on the “Sage Remarks” page I noticed two remarks that caught my attention, one that speak to this article.  There is also a remark that mirrors comments I have made in previous posts.

Sometimes I feel like people look at me as if I’m crazy, with some of the things I come up with.  Then there are others that agree with me totally.  I do not know these people on this remarks page, and probably have never heard of them before, but we are sisters by heart in the horse.

The first one is Author Holly Davis, who in the introduction to “From Their Heart to Yours:  Inspirational horses and the people who love them:  she writes, “But it’s just a horse…”  “If I had a pound for each time I have heard this phrase, I would be a very rich woman.  Actually, the truth is that I am rich due to horses.  Not in the monetary sense that most people would think in terms of wealth. Rather, in terms of knowledge, love, compassion, life lessons and experiences that I have been gifted by numerous horses.”

And the next one is something I firmly believe.  This is written by Theresa “Tess” Andreozzi  of Spring Creek, Nevada, telling the Elko Daily News about her plans to show in ranch horse pleasure at the AQHA World Championship Show.  “Training horses is like doing math.  You can’t skip doing steps.”  This I totally agree with.  If you skip steps it will come back to bite you.

Now these two women know what it’s all about.  They are women after my own heart.

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Hang in there y’all, winter will end.