He is happiest be he king or peasant who finds peace in his home

Johann Wolfgang van Goethe

The hardest, and most heartbreaking, time in rescue is when you have to say no.

‘No, we cannot take in the sheep from the pound.’

‘No we cannot take in this horse to stop it from being slaughtered,.’

‘No I cannot take the cat you no longer want…..’

Animal rescue groups get calls and e mails every day asking them to take in stray and unwanted animals. Often the timeframes are urgent…‘The horse must be off the property this week….’, ‘The dog will be shot unless a home is found by tomorrow….’ 

Less often workable timelines are there, a relief , giving the animal a chance.

And when a rescuer has to say no, most will refer the caller, or will themselves,  try another group, in the hope a home can be found.

And so the call is put out, ‘Can you take in…….?’, ‘Do you know of anyone who could take in……’   Telephone calls, e mails, social media postings.

So every rescued animal is lucky. Lucky someone cared enough to see them in trouble, to contact a rescue group, and lucky that for them, the rescue group could say YES.

Tex was bred to trot fast, fast enough to win money for his owner and trainer. Tex was not fast, and so Tex was sent to the saleyards.

Tex was then bought buy a ‘meat buyer’, destination to be slaughtered, at just 4 years of age. He has not even got his full set of adult teeth yet.

Then Tex got lucky. Due to his good nature he was sold to a person who wanted a horse. So it looked like Tex’s worries are over……except not quite.

Experienced horse carers will tell you. that the cheapest part of owning a horse is buying a horse. Many people decide to rescue a horse, without factoring in the actual cost of caring for a healthy horse, let alone the costs to cover illness or accidents. or times of drought and increased fodder costs.

So Tex found himself in a paddock with a well meaning, but totally inexperienced carer. He developed a hoof abscess (a common hoof ailment). The cost of treating this set the carer ‘over the edge’ financially and it was very apparent that their knowledge of handling was minimal and in fact likely to put the horse, and them, at risk.

Then Tex got lucky again. His owner put in a call to an animal sanctuary. They could not assist but referred the caller onto Honey’s Pledge.

Young standard bred horses, untrained to saddle are sent to slaughter in their thousands every year, in line with the slaughter of thoroughbreds from the flat racing industry.

To get a call asking us to find a home for yet another of these poor animals is a blow, as inevitably we have to say no, we are already dealing with a number of horses needing homes.

But Tex was really lucky. Just weeks before, a supporter of Honey’s Pledge, had needed to euthanise their beloved aged horse , and they had contacted us regarding finding a companion for their rescue thoroughbred.

We put through a call to Jan and she agreed to give Tex a home for life. This is a ‘rolled gold’ forever home.

We contacted a  member of our committee, who was able to collect Tex the next day, and take him to their property to ensure hoof issues were resolved and to assess his overall well being,

So within hours I was able to call back to advise Tex would be safe for life. I also strongly recommended that the person not buy another horse and emphasised that the right homes are hard to find.

We were advised Tex travelled like a ‘pro’ and was soon settled in his short term home. Some of his behaviour was unusual until we were alerted to some of the handling issues from his previous home. These will settle with time and calm experienced handling.

Once we were happy that Tex had no ongoing hoof issues a transporter was contacted and Tex headed off in comfort for the next stage of his safe life journey.

Check him out in his new home with fellow rescue Al….we think he has not stopped eating that wonderful grass!!!

Tex was not undernourished or injured…but he was at risk …yet another standard bred superfluous to the industry in need of a home, where his value is as a living being in need of care and no more is expected of him.

Good luck Tex…..enjoy you new life…we were happy to play our part in getting you there

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