Day in the life of helping Wild Horses...

It started out at 6:00 a.m., trudging through the slush and ice.   I was Ioading up and heading over to Nevada to pick up the Virginia City - Virginia Range horses that were saved at the last minute from a one way trip to the slaughter plant.  Now normally I wouldn't be driving the 200+ miles one way over there to help move horses, but we were one trailer short, and as I was available, off I went.  I really feel honored to be able to help out and make a tiny difference, although fuel is always a consideration.  However, I have a wonderful lady who is sponsoring my plane ride to the Wild Horse and Burro Advisory Board Meeting in Salt Lake City, so it worked out very well.  However, the first three hours were solid ice and snow.  The roads had been called "clear" and there were no chain requirements.  I was definitely not expecting the conditions to be as slippery and icy as they were.  It took Soldier and I over three hours to go 85 miles and if I took the truck out of 4 wheel, the trailer and truck would start to slide.  Will never ever voluntarily take a trailer in those conditions again, and if I had been loaded, I would still be parked on the side of the road. :)  So I guess in retrospect, I am glad it all worked out.

I arrived about 12:30 in Dayton, and we headed off to the Fallon Auction Yard.  What a dismal place.  My stomach was sick and I wanted to cry as I saw  the horses standing there.  It was such a far cry from the freedom and life they had once known.  We loaded them up to go get their blood work done.  As they stood in the trailer, their eyes wild and wondering, I wanted to let them know that, eventually, they would end up in a place where they could live life in peace.   I can only imagine what it would be like to be terrified, yet still having their home and the wild mountains in view, right in front of them.  We picked them up, loading 5 wild ones in our trailer and headed to the vet to get their Coggins done.  We worked until just before dark, leaving the horses at a beautiful family's place.  They are amazing and stepped up to help these horses so they would have a temporary place to stay.  "Temporary" being the operative word.

Now this is where things get tough.  Once they are "saved from slaughter", people seem to forget that THEY NEED TO EAT - every single day!!  We are constantly bombarded with requests to "SAVE THE HORSES FROM SLAUGHTER".  NO ONE WANTS SLAUGHTER- YET THEY SEEM TO FORGET ABOUT THE FACT THAT THESE CRITTERS COST MONEY TO KEEP.  JUST GETTING THEM OUT OF SLAUGHTER DOES NOT COMPLETE THE JOB.  WE NEED PERMANENT HOMES AND PEOPLE TO HELP FUND THESE GUYS.  

So please think about that when you are on the computer, typing away, about "SAVING ALL THE HORSES".   We desperately need people to "git 'er done", not just talk and type about it.  Donations, permanent places for the animals and being PART of the SOLUTION!!! is critical.

God bless everyone who is stepping up and helping these horses!!