calling all animal lovers

Calling All Animal Lovers

My daughter, who lives in Los Angeles, rides at a horse ranch in the

area. She has sent the following letter to everyone she knows, which I

am posting in the hope that someone can help her save a horse who is

being sorely neglected by his owner.

I have met Shane, and he is a lovely animal.

He needs a new home. He will die if that doesn't happen soon. Please

take a few minutes to read Catie's letter, and if you know of anyone

who can help, let me know. Thank you all.

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It sucks to depend on humans for your care.

Hi, all-

Apologies for the spam, but I need to get the word out to as many

people as possible, quickly. The last time I sent out an email to my

whole address book was after 9/11, so please believe this is serious,

and cut me a little slack since i've put up with years of chain

letters, personality tests, stupid animal tricks,

find-your-porn-star-name, and god knows what kind of emails in an

effort to communicate with you people. (I'm saying that in jest, if

tone doesn't come through. Point is, we all have things we care about

enough to get others involved with, and if you've ever sent me a "hey,

lipstick is cancerous! pass it on!!" email-o-gram, this one's for you.

:) Seriously.

So, basically-- my barn has a wonderful horse named "Shane" who

colicked (basically a stomach upset that's very serious for horses and

can twist the intestines so badly everything vital is cut off).

Because he has a bit of a quirky personality and is getting on in

years, the owners don't want to try to save him-- they're leaving him

to rot in a dirty stall and ignoring him until he dies. They are

neither feeding nor walking him-- and movement is crucial in this

situation. There are animal cruelty issues here that must be dealt

with, but the more pressing need right now is to save him, and time is

truly of the essence. He is not suffering right at this moment-- I've

been giving him Banamine for days and walking him as much as possible,

but there isn't a lot of time he can exist like this.

My request is that you please help me save this beautiful horse if you

can. It doesn't cost you anything.

Why? Because he hasn't yet given up on himSELF, he still has a lot of

life in him, and sick as he is, he still pricks up his ears and looks

right at you, as if he is trusting that someone cares. He is not a

mean horse, but he is high spirited and mischievous, and people don't

like him because there are easier horses to ride. That's why he's been

left to die. They said it isn't "business-minded" of them to save him.

This is not some communist missive that will end with "down with the

rich people!"-- we all of us make sound business decisions every day.

But someone else's life shouldn't fall under that same rubric. And

saying it costs more than a being is "worth" to treat him just

deep-down fundamentally bothers me.

Without being overly anthropomorphic, please consider for a moment how

easy it is to be misunderstood, and just think if your life depended

on that misunderstanding. He's a good horse. He just needs a chance,

and someone with a little patience. Imagine if you needed urgent

medical care, and no one wanted to help you because sometimes you're a

little crabby. Shane has taught a lot of people a lot of things, but

at the end of the day, just wasn't bred to be a lesson horse. Someone

abandoned him many years ago after spending a ton of money to buy

him-- his original owner saw a pretty horse and had to have him, but

had no real idea what to do with him, and wasn't experienced enough to

deal with his spiritedness. The barn management made him a lesson

horse so he'd earn his keep, and for many years now he's been doing a

job decently well that he shouldn't do at all-- but it isn't his

nature to be ridden by amateurs all day, and every so often he sort of

acts out. He is NOT dangerous-- he just has some tricks to riding him

that a confident rider can quickly sort out. But rather than just

accept they made a mistake trying to make money on this one, they've

decided to let him die so they can get more docile animals any junior

can ride. Most of us have at one time or another found ourselves in a

situation at which we arrived purely by circumstance. But because we

are beings with free will in a free world, we're able to generally

wiggle ourselves out. Animals aren't so lucky. This is a trapped

spirit reliant on humans to fight for him, and I hope you will help

get him on the better path he deserves.

2 ways you can help. Neither involve money.

I have struck a deal with the barn owners not to put him down while i

try to do what i can to help him-- I've got vet care under control,

but if he makes it, I will want him rehomed.

So--

- 1. If you know any horse lovers in SoCal who could give an excellent

home to a nearly 20 year old Arabian gelding who is otherwise sound...

please let me know immediately. He very much wants a person of his own

with whom to bond. Arabians are not bred to be ridden into the ground

by many people- they are loyal and loving and trusting when it's

earned, and this particular horse needs someone kind who will shower

him with personal attention, and not push him to heal too fast so they

can keep making money. He will need a good 3 months solid time off

from work, but I am betting he will again be sound and a great riding

companion for many more years. He just needs an honest chance, and

someone to watch over him and not throw him back into work with idiots

as soon as he clears medical. I have ridden him extensively myself,

and am more than happy to give a thoroughly candid assessment of his

abilities, personality, etc. if you know anyone interested.

-2. That said, IF he pulls through is still up for debate. This is

somewhat more personal than asking for a new home rec.... but please.

If you can find a quiet moment, or better yet: several-- please just

send your best and most healing thoughts, however you conceive of

that. I do believe that helps tremendously. He has a heart and soul. I

know it's probably corny, but if you saw him, you would know that.

This horse has really no one on his side, and every bit of attention

he gets seems to be helping right now. Like people, they get sad when

they're sick and no one cares.

So that's really it. Long explanation, but it boils down to helping

find him a new owner, and please just adding him to your prayers, good

thoughts, and positive energy. Everyone at the barn expects him to

die, and I want to counteract that somehow. This horse has really

touched something in me.

Cynics among you, what can i say.

Philosophy friends: just think of this as a combination of a prayer

wheel and pascal's wager.

Psych friends: am i over-personalizing this? have I over-identified

with this animal? -No.

Old friends: have i gone and completely lost my mind? Maybe. I just

don't think that putting forth good energy to this can hurt. I hope

you'll help.

Thank you..