Sometimes we see things differently than other people. My Uncle and I argued about the color of my mothers flowers. I saw white with a hint of yellow and he saw a hint of purple. There are people that are color blind. When my brother-in-law went to take his drivers test, and they asked him what color the light in the middle of the stop light was, he said yellow because he knew that’s what his brother told him it was at home. He couldn’t tell Red from Yellow except by the location of the brightness. We always tell our Pastor what a great color that is on him, and it compliments his wife’s outfit. He has no idea what color he is wearing, his wife picks his clothes out, he’s color blind.

I saw someone post a picture of a very skinny horse. She commented on how bad a certain barn was at caring for the horses. Another person posted a picture of the same horse, who was no longer thin, and commented on how wrong the person was.

Things are not always what you think. You can’t just make snap decisions and ruin the reputation of someone or their facilities. You really have to inquire as to the circumstance.

Perhaps the horse just came in from another barn. Perhaps the horse was a rescue. Perhaps the horse was old or had health issues. You can’t always assume. I’ve had many horses who were in their mid 30’s. You’re just not going to put weight or muscle on an old horse. They may be just fine physically, and mentally, but just old.

When I lived in New Jersey, we did rescues. If it were a backyard horse, we’d stop and talk to the people. If no one was home, we’d leave a hand print on a piece of construction paper in their mailbox asking if they possibly need a helping hand with their horse. We’d leave a name and a phone number and hope that they would call us. If they didn’t we’d try catching up with them at some point. Many people had no idea how to take care of a horse and really appreciated any information we could give them. In some cases we’d offer them food for their horses, or help them re-home them.

Now if you pass a farm and there is no hay or grass, the horses are bones, it’s a different approach. We had people sneak in and check for water, hay and grain in the barn (yes it was trespassing), we’d speak to neighbors, and then we’d turn them in. Different states have different views on how this should be handled, check the laws before you proceed.

I know I’ve told you before that my vet told me it was my responsibility to turn in my neighbor for starvation. I did and my neighbor was grateful for the help with regards to the knowledge of how to take care of the animals and the help in re-homing them. They were his wife’s and she walked out leaving the kids, the dogs, and the horses.

You just never know what the circumstances are. Don’t assume that someone is intentionally starving an animal. Don’t spread false rumors about a person or a barn until you know the truth and try to help. Someday you may have an old horse, or rescue a starving animal. You may be the one people whisper about behind your back.

Things aren’t always what they seem.