Impractical-15 year old mare
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Colts at Dan's farm
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The Newaygo 23 |
In late February I received an email asking for help with a thoroughbred breeder in trouble. Two years prior, he received a kidney transplant and was very ill for many, many months. He left his farm that he loved dearly in the care of others and unfortunately, it fell into disrepair. Then his kidney transplant failed and things went from bad to worse. Fences started falling down, horses started getting loose. The township finally made a deal with a local kill buyer to remove any horses remaining on the property on March 20, 2012 and take them to the local auction.
The man named Dan was not a person who didn't care about his animals. He didn't purposefully neglect or abuse them. He simply had a life threatening illness and couldn't hang on to his precious horses he truly loved so much. He could have taken the easy way out and sent them to auction and just moved on. But, what Dan did was to almost give up his life to make sure his horses would never, every go hungry. He stayed on the farm IN HIS CAR to make sure his horses were properly fed 2 or 3 times per day. He ate at an all you can eat buffet ONCE a day so save what little money he had to feed his horses. If he's guilty of anything, it's waiting to long to ask for help. I think we can ALL relate to that line of thinking......
Our rescue, along with the Michigan Horse Welfare Coalition, started working to place 23 horses on the farm. It was not an easy task. There were broodmares, babies, his prized and precious stallion and some stallions that had not been handled since they were very young.
The man named Dan was not a person who didn't care about his animals. He didn't purposefully neglect or abuse them. He simply had a life threatening illness and couldn't hang on to his precious horses he truly loved so much. He could have taken the easy way out and sent them to auction and just moved on. But, what Dan did was to almost give up his life to make sure his horses would never, every go hungry. He stayed on the farm IN HIS CAR to make sure his horses were properly fed 2 or 3 times per day. He ate at an all you can eat buffet ONCE a day so save what little money he had to feed his horses. If he's guilty of anything, it's waiting to long to ask for help. I think we can ALL relate to that line of thinking......
Our rescue, along with the Michigan Horse Welfare Coalition, started working to place 23 horses on the farm. It was not an easy task. There were broodmares, babies, his prized and precious stallion and some stallions that had not been handled since they were very young.
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Our rescue made four trips to the farm to get horses to their destinations to get them out of harms way. Each trip was three hours ONE way. It was only because the incredible dedication of the Day Dreams Farm team we were able to make this happen. Our team members gave up countless hours and several hundred dollars in gas money to get these horses to safety. The good news is that WE DID IT. We SUCCESSFULLY helped place 23 horses in THREE weeks. Our rescue took three, Starry Skies Rescue took one pregnant mare, Horses Haven took one and Sandstone Rescue Effort took one pregant mare. The rest were placed directly into private rescue homes. This was the biggest rescue we've ever been involved in. Yes, it took up an incredible amount of time and effort. Yes, we were exhausted when it was all over. Yes, we all put our lives completely on hold. and YES, I'd do it again in a New York Minute........
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