I have loved, owned and helped horses for over fifty years. Many different breeds, ages and temperaments – no two are ever the same, each a challenge, every one as important as the next. As big as horses are, they are very sensitive and once they learn a lesson, they usually don’t forget it. Which sounds like a great thing, but only if the lesson is beneficial to horse and human. Here’s an example: a thoughtless or distracted person is taking their horse through a gate. It’s windy and the gate slams into the horse’s back legs as he’s walking through it. Ah, lesson learned – gates hurt… walk through quickly! So, if your new horse rushes through the gate when you open it, he just might have been the victim of an out-of-control gate and a distracted person. Be understanding and pay attention. Assume he just might do something unreasonable. Horses, sadly, have many owners in their lifetime and many of the lessons they learn are not good ones. Your animals really do want to please you and they will, if you give them a chance.
The reason I started thinking about horses that bounce from home to home because of “bad behavior” is simply because I have many of those horses. They come here with lots of baggage – not accessories, but heads full of bad experiences constantly reassuring them the same thing will happen again.
Right now, I have a little blind mare in my barn that has been here for about two months. She is so terrified of everything – I really wonder what unspeakable treatment she was subjected to in her life to make her so fearful. Whatever those lessons were that some cruel person or persons taught her, she is not ready to change her mind and is sure the next touch will hurt. And so I touch her gently and talk to her whenever I go by her stall. Maybe, slowly, she will forget and come to realize that not everyone is mean and hurtful. Until that day, she is safe now and will never be hurt again. Rainhill is a life-long sanctuary. These horses are family, and we love them.
Now, here is the happy part of the story. The horse I am featuring this month is Yoder. He has been at Rainhill for 21 years! He came here as a yearling when a friend purchased him at an auction. He thinks the world is a wonderful place. No one has ever mistreated him. He’s never been hurt or stressed. He’s lived with the same group of horses for all of his years here. He has no baggage and it sure is nice to see. I wish more horses had less baggage and more happy endings!
Thanks for reading our little stories. If you’d like to help Rainhill care for our horses, we’d be so thankful. We are a 501c3 non-profit organization and have been for 24 years. No one here receives a salary of any kind. All money raised goes directly to feed and care for our 48 precious horses.
Bless you for caring!
-by Karen Thurman
11125 Ky. Hwy. 185
Bowling Green, KY 42101
270-777-3164
