A Horse Rescue Organization
Our new shelter in the arena went up recently, and we all love it! Rain is predicted for this week-end and the timing is perfect. Before this shelter was constructed, we had to move horses around to keep everyone covered. A great addition to the Sky Ranch, and with a little additional fencing to allow each horse to eat in peace, it will give us room to add another horse. We are thrilled!
Our horses at Sky Ranch, and the horses and other animals at rescues and sanctuaries all over the country, have been given a “second chance”: a chance to be restored to the magnificent whole creature each was meant to be. And I believe those of us committed to that restoration of health and offering a safe place to live out life are given a “second chance” by being able to provide that kind attention another being may need to survive and thrive.
I doubt there are many, if any, persons out there who have not been given a helping hand, seemingly from “out of the blue,” and I will even go so far as to say that most, if not all (even those considered the most dastardly!), have offered a kindness to another being with no thought of receiving something in return. But the wonder of it all is that we do get something back! Looking at Digger yesterday, not having seen him for a few days while I was out of town, I was struck by how strong and healthy he looked. Digger is by our vet’s best guess at least 30 years old, and he may never be as well muscled and vital as a horse of younger years, but he looks good, and he greets us with an enthusiasm in the morning that has replaced the dull eyed stance of his first days here. What a thrill to witness that!
For every horse who gets a second chance there is a person, or more likely persons, who in being part of that recovery and renewal process, get a “second chance” also. A chance to “do over” the times when we looked the other way or just didn’t have the gumption to do it right. These wonderful horses who come our way give us a second chance every day. Here’s to second chances!
Thanks to the rain we’ve had recently, grass is popping up all over. The horses’ heads are down and they are doing what comes naturally. Sometimes it’s hard to wrap one’s mind around “naturally.” We are trying to get the five horses out together during the day to give them a most natural environment, but it isn’t always comfortable, at least for me. For example, we recently put Digger, our newest horse, out with Snitch, Party Girl and Spirit. Spirit has decided he needs to keep his distance from them and chases him away when he tries to join the group. Spirit isn’t “wrong,” she’s just being a horse and following her true nature, but it’s difficult for human me to see Digger left out. What to do?
People have been studying horse behavior for eons and have come up with lots of ideas for managing that behavior in a humane way. But I’m still not sure we humans “get it”….we aren’t horses after all so how could we? (I’m not even sure, despite all of the information out there, that we have it down as to our own human nature, so it’s not surprising we haven’t figured out what it’s like to be another species.) We may try Digger with Sheldon and see if that can be a good pasture relationship, or we make try some other combinations and see how the horses get along. We definitely don’t want any horse getting hurt as they sort it out. But no matter how we proceed or try to interpret what’s going on, the true nature of the horses will prevail.
I am not a horse and perhaps can never know the true nature of another species, and I may not be able to figure out what is truly “best” for the horses, but maybe with an open, loving heart, and a watchful eye my best guess will suffice.
For those of you who don’t live in California, you may imagine December here with balmy breezes and people rollicking in the surf. Actually that can happen here any time of year, but this winter has been cold! The horse tank water has a sheet of ice on it when we go out to the barn in the morning, and we have to add hot water to the horse’s water, as some horses don’t like it super cold, and it’s so important for them to drink plenty of water. In this photo, Sheldon is trying to finds bits of carrot he dropped while chewing, off the slightly frozen ground.
At Sky Ranch Sanctuary we love Christmas: the chaos, the over-spending, the overeating, sugar indulgence…all of it. And we love sharing our Christmas enthusiasm with our horses. Our horses get carrots every day, but on Christmas we add in some Mrs. Pasture’s Cookies and apple slices. (OK, our horses are not strangers to those extra treats on other occasions, but at Christmas it’s a special mix of all the favorites.)
And we are grateful that these wonderful creatures get to enjoy our human celebrations with a full stomach, shelter, recreation time, and TLC. It’s chilly here on the California Central Coast today, and it really does feel like Christmas.The horses have their winter coats, and they are feeling especially frisky on these cool days.
We at Sky Ranch want to wish everyone, two legged and four legged, the Happiest of Holidays.