Well we all know that putting our horse down is the absolute hardest thing we ever have to do, but turning your neighbor in for neglect is not easy either.

This actually happened about 10 years ago, or more, but it still haunts me.

When I lived up north I was involved in a rescue group.  The horses we took in were bones with skin hanging on them.  Some had no hair left because of the burns, from laying in their own urine.  Walls were collapsed on them, no food, no water.

The worst part was trying to get the courts to charge the owners with neglect.  The one woman was allowed to buy back some of the horses that we had just rescued from her.

My friend dealt with a farm where the body parts of the dead horses were cut up and left in buckets.  Horses were roaming through the house.  You wouldn’t believe how many years it took to prosecute her.

However, these were people I didn’t know personally.  When it comes to going after one of your neighbors, it was a different story.

It was winter, it was going down into the 20’s over night here in Florida.  That is considered a “Hard Freeze.”  It’s tough enough bouncing from 80’s to freezing, back to close to 80 again.  It really plays havoc on your body, but 20 is crazy.

So here I am double blanketing one night, (my horses were shaved for Fox Hunting) and giving them extra hay to get through one of the coldest nights we had since moving here.  Then I looked across the pond to my neighbors horses, and my heart dropped down to my toes.  There were five horses next door.  Some older, mostly young, unbroken.  They were skin and bones, with no hay, no pasture left, no shelter to get out of the wind.  That was it.  I couldn’t watch anymore.  I knew that the horses belonged to the wife, she had walked out on the husband, children, and animals.  He was trying to keep it together, but I knew that he traveled over an hour away for work, got home late, and was just getting by.  I’d never seen the horses up close, and didn’t realize how bad things had gotten over there.

When my vet showed up the next day for shots, I spoke to him about what could be done.  He said, “you have to turn him in.”  I thought, “I can’t add more trouble on him.”  My vet told me that as a professional, I had to.  My other option was to start feeding them myself.  I couldn’t financially take on that many horses.  So that day I made the call.  They sent out the sheriff, and an animal control officer.

I spoke with my neighbor several days later.  I was going to try and take any horses that might fit into my lesson program.  None would.  But I wasn’t really prepared for what he told me.  Yes he told me what I already knew, that his wife had left, and that they were her horses, and he knew nothing about taking care of them.  He thought they’d be fine on the pasture, and he was hoping that she’d come back, and would do something with them.  He then told me that the best thing that could have ever happen, was the sheriff coming.  Now something would be done for the poor animals.

I was shocked.  I was expecting anger, actually rage, but there was nothing there except gratitude.  He went out and got them hay, and within a couple of weeks, the horses were loaded, and sent to other places to find homes.  But when we have cold nights, I still see those horses looking across the pond at me while I’m feeding my horses.

This was a welcomed intervention, a happy ending.  They are not usually like that.  It usually plays out that people threaten you with a gun to get off their property.  They tell you there is nothing wrong with their horses.  It’s a situation that you have to approach with great care, if at all.

Our group, up north, discussed many ways to approach an owner.

• First thing is you have to know the situation.  You can’t assume, because a horses is skinny, that he is being starved.  He could be very old, or he may have a health issue that the owners are trying to work through.
• They may have just rescued him.
• Look at all the horses.  Are they all in the same shape?
• What a control officer looks for is if there is any hay and grain on the property.
• If you have to approach the owner, say something like – I’ve noticed your horse in the field, and I was wondering if you’d be interested in selling him, I may know someone who is looking to buy.  They may then tell you the story about the horse.  That they are struggling to feed him right now.  They may have lost their job.  It was their kids horse, and the kid moved away.  Then you can either offer help, or suggestions.  Or, if necessary, call the sheriff.

Look to see if there are people around regularly.  We had one rescue where there were seven horses in a field.  Someone who passed every day noticed that the horses were eating snow and digging under the snow to find dead grass.  It took them a little too long to act on what they saw.  When the control officers went to investigate, they found two dead horses, and removed five others.  It seemed that the woman who owned them was an alcoholic, and would go off on binges, and not returned for long periods of time.

Once again I say, don’t assume, but don’t hesitate to call the right authorities when you believe there is something to worry about.  Times are rough for everyone, especially for the animals who can’t fend for themselves.

You may be the only one standing between life, and death.  Don’t stall, make the call.