The Noble Horse

I had a dream as a kid, that I could be a horse, and then as an adult,  I would own one. Well, I tried really hard to be a horse, and thank God I did not become one. I did own several with my ex husband, though. So that dream was accomplished in spades.

Like the dolphin, horses encapsulate a noble, and beautiful image. Bella, the horse pictured above, could have been a mythological unicorn, or a pegasus, she looks so poised. She was a percheron, a  draft horse, that was bred and raised to be a hard working, and gentle horse.

There are not many stories, or historical facts in human history that do not involve the use of a horse, in one form or another. From Native Americans, who gained a knowledge of horses that embedded them firmly into their tribal memory. To the fields of war in WWI, war horses, whose proud visage, looked with the rider toward the end, whatever that would be, they were for the same thundering end, feeling the same pulses of excitement, and the same rush of fear. More than one can say, the horse did what he did, because he relied upon the rider to be strong.

Around some 900,000 horses went to war in WWI, from the US. Only a handful returned. See the film "War Horse", which I have not, if you want to see the emotional bond through all the horror, this horse went through. Because they trust, they love, they are loyal.

I've seen this in person. I trained a horse to ride, with the gentle method of repetition, rubbing, touching,  knowing I would ask of my horse, this animal whose hide is so sensitive that it can feel a fly land on it's butt, or a mosquito on its back, to carry me around, with all kinds of equipment, and for him to do it willingly. I would ask him to open his mouth for a large piece of metal, that I would place between his teeth, and over his tongue, that would put pressure on his gums, and he would know which way I wanted to go. I would strap a saddle over his sensitive back, often rubbing his sensitive withers, run straps around his belly, and sometimes under his tail. I would cinch it tight, walk him around so he would breathe, then cinch it tighter, because he held his breath. And he took it! He did everything.

Then, to add insult to injury, I would step into and out of the stirrup, that first day of asking him to carry my weight. Up, down, up, down, over and over again, until it was nothing to him. The miracle of all of this, is that this horse, was my very first colt. My very first training a horse to ride. The miracle is, this horse, never, never, bucked anyone off of his back. To this day, he is a great horse under saddle. He will do anything you want, you have to tell him what you want. That is how good this training was. I didn't come up with it, but I read a book, I watched videos, and I took the time to gain his trust.

I'm not talking about Bella, above, but her pasture mate. I got Ishi when he was six months old. When a woman who was either a breeder came onto the property, I fell in love with this little guy. I began to work with him immediately, and touch him. I didn't do much else until he was two and a half. Then we began to just lead him. I didn't do too much with him but that.

Ishi had the personality of a teenage boy. He was a little pushy on the ground, but under saddle he will do anything for you. Which is my point. One day, my then husband took him up the trails on the mountain across the street, in Issaquah, WA, from where we boarded our horses. Ray was with someone else, and apparently wasn't paying much attention to the trail, but Ishi almost kept going straight, when the trail turned right. Our belief of that moment, was not that Ishi was stupid, but that he trusted us to know what was good for him. He trusted us enough to believe in our ability to decide where was good to go, trail or not. I loved that horse, and still do. He was the coolest horse. He still lives with the ex, happy and well cared for.

Which brings me to the present. There is a woman, who could be a character in a Stephen King novel. In fact, I will picture her next time one comes up that resembles her. Representative of Wyoming, Sue Wallis, is a cruel, heartless woman when it comes to animals. It is said she does not own horses, but she really wants to kill them. She wants to open a horse slaughterhouse in the US, and is doing everything she can to make it happen.

Being a representative, Republican, by the by, she knows all the ins and outs of the way legislating works, all the secret deal making, all the ways to slip out and in legislation to get what she wants. When this slimy woman talks about this issue, she refers to horses as livestock. It never meant anything before to refer to horses that way, but it does now. By referring to horses as livestock, she distances them from us as pets, and companion animals.

More than 80% of Americans polled do not want horse slaughterhouses for our horses. More than 80%! This woman has the audacity to continue, using phrasing like "humane slaughter" for horses that are starving, and mistreated. Oh, this slaughter house will process the horse meat for human consumption over seas, where it can fetch (currently) $20.00 per pound! I am certain that no starving horse will go through this processing plant.

We need to sign this petition- <div id="change_BottomBar"><span id="change_Powered"><a href="http://www.change.org/" target="_blank">Change.org</a></span><a>|</a><span id="change_Start"><a href='http://www.change.org/start-a-petition'>Make Your Own Petition</a></span></div>
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://e.change.org:80/flash_petitions_widget.js?width=300&petition_id=284560&color=1A3563"></script>
  Please copy and paste this into your address bar,

and contact your congressmen, senators, governors, to let them know this is unacceptable.  It is not a jobs creator that anyone but Hispanic workers will be employed at, it will bring down the economic status of an area, we will see more stolen horses, more equipment theft, our homes will lose value, and the rivers of blood will have no where to go, but into our local water supplies, or into holding ponds. The stench will be unbearable. 

Over 100,000 horses go through the horror that is listed above, every year since Slaughterhouse Sue began her quest to open United Equine, LLC. Bouvry of Canada is trying to put one in somewhere in the state of WA, Slaughterhouse Sue wanted Rockport, MO, and a guy named Ducquette is seeking approval for getting one put in Hermiston, OR. He is soliciting a group out of CA, an equipment rental group, to buy the acreage, which they have done, to tie up the land so Ducquette can get it operational. Ducquette's group is known as United Horsemen, LLC. Really? He must have tortured little animals as a child, for he has no concern for life, or morals. I am not sure of the group that wants to put one in New Mexico, but there is one. 

Horse meat is a delicacy in many foreign countries. That is the one and only reason to open a slaughter house, to feed China, Kazakhstan, Russia, France, Belgium, Japan...I am not sure where else, but there are more. As we are fed lies, they will be fed our horses. 

But horse meat is laden with drugs known to be carcinogenic to humans. Bute is oft used to alleviate joint pain in horses. Cyproheptadine (I think that was it) for Cushings, and a host of others. Why would you lode a livestock animal with drugs, if you intend to kill him? Because you didn't intend for him to go to slaughter. 

But our pets are not the only ones to suffer. They, with the BLM, are clearing our public lands of the horses we love, for money. 

The BLM has even gone so far as to kill the wild horses on private land, those that don't go to slaughter in Mexico, or Canada, and enough is enough. There are many enemies here. The cattle rancher who demands that the horse get off of land he could run his cattle or sheep. The BLM, who is only too willing to do their bidding for money, and the individuals who keep breeding horses, that feed into the whole horse over population conversation. This is a travesty, pure and simple, and one with thousands of screaming voices.

Please stand with me, DARCY AND MOM, EVERYONE...and sign the petition above. Time is of the essence, and the horses are suffering, from both greedy, heartless people, and from our inaction. This has to stop.

UPDATE: I've been told the link didn't work, so I went in and tried to copy and paste it from the site again. Please try again! Thank you.