........Faded Legacy........

Figured I'd weed this out before I head off for the day. I have no class today due to going to the hospital to visit some peeps.

Altho I could have gone and attended at least one class part of me is just in this funk lately. I know what path I want to take in life. The general area at least but I don't know it's just really confusing right now. For a while I wanted to be a cop, but now not so much. That is mainly due to the fact that I don't believe I am mentally strong enough to be in such a position. And then I wanted and I suppose still want to work with the FBI in the missing person field. And while the path I have planned, go to school for 6 years, apply for the FBI internship 2 years into school, and then apply for a position at the FBI any to get me in the door.. part of me just feels I am not intelligent enough to get into such a place. Part of that is just me looking back on my past and then comments my Dad has made. Basically laughing at me when I suggested continuing my education for 6 years. That insult does fuel my fire in a lot of ways but at the same time it cuts me down and makes me doubt I could ever grow up and be an important person in life that can save someone else. For a while off and on I toggled at the idea of joining the military. Took the ASVAB at one point scored a 91 which you're knowledgeable about that sort of thing a 91 is pretty good, pretty much gives the ability to pick the MOS of my choice. I've debated between the Air Force and Coast Guard for the longest. I discussed about the CG with my Uncle and he was very encouraging. However, the plans for that ended when I discovered you actually have to have some college credits under you belt before enlisting. And that they are very selective. Granted, even if I had the credits I doubt I would be CG worthy.

About a year ago I was having this discussion with my Nana and my Aunt, and that's when my Nana told me something I had never know. She said, "Your pop-pop had always said that he thought you would do well in the military and that is where I should go." I never knew that and I don't believe I ever told him any hopes or desires to go for it. And now that I know that this was said, and that is where he thought I'd be good at I can't help but wonder if that is the exact route I am supposed to take with my life. When a person like that who is your Hero in all ways possible and would confidently tell you that he's proud regardless of what I accomplish and even don't accomplish states something like that you almost have to listen. But then also on the other side I am not sure if I would be mentally strong enough for the AF, the discipline is greatly needed but would I amount to anything good or crack under the pressure? Would I ever make it to be a pilot? Am I even intelligent enough for that? Probably need a bunch of waivers to even get into training.

I doubt myself too much. But in honesty, I just want to be someone. I'm tired of being broke trying to figure out how I am going to last until the next pay check. I'm pretty sure I am going to be one of those people who spend their entire lives alone because they are too afraid to step out of the comforts of their own shadow, or that I'd ever feel myself as good enough in the eyes of someone who is good enough for the world. I guess I am just having a bad day, my paycheck got sucked completely dry due to the Occupational tax so now I got to try and explain this to two companies and pray a "disconnect notice" doesn't come before my next to paychecks. The one coming in two weeks is due to go towards rent. My car.. good god that's a mess. The battery died on me the other day, I can't afford a battery. I can't afford to put enough gas in my car to go to the Magistrate office and plead guilty to a ticket I got. (Not a speeding ticket) I just know what's going to happen when I go, I'll be expected to put down $20 as a payment and I'll be parking my expired in everyway possible car right next to police cars so as soon as I go plead guilty, I will get to face another ticket!!!! And yes I am aware it's my own stupidity that is at fault for it. Reality is I spent too much at Christmas hoping to get some smiles out of my Mom. I was even offered help to do so and I still went over board. And now I just cannot seem to catch up.

Why am I going on about this? I am so sorry, I just started a rant and ran with it. Some days I just enjoy the ability to sleep 24 hours, sometimes I wish I could it continuously but lets stray away from a comment as such before more of my "mental" stability becomes an issue.

Hmm.. So Cash. I started a second job, it's only part time and when I say part time I mean max of 12 hours..part time. It's at a ranch and horse rescue in Grantville. That's not far from the Penn-National Race course. So you can get a pretty good idea of what kind of horses are rescued. Basically horses that were once money makers for the disgustingly rich people but when a horse becomes too old or gets injured they become worthless for them so they get sold at Horse Auctions. Those auctions can be pretty cruel. Sometimes there are other horse rescue ranches that want to buy the horse but most time's it's slaughter houses that buy the injured horse. Google Dog Food & Horse Slaughter you'll get the idea. A slaughtered horse is used to make dog food, cat food. There are about 4 Slaughterhouses in the US that are known. There are also Rendering plants, a rendering plant takes a dead a horse and well makes it into dog food. The only difference is that they claim that rendering plants don't pay for live horses but get the carcass. How much of that can be proved I have no idea. I'm against the whole thing. A race horse gets a injury so all of a sudden he's no good?

If you believe that philosophy please get the hell off my blog, I don't care to associate with such people. Since starting this Job I've seen first hand what the horses are like when they first come in. Some injuries are bad and sometimes the ranch handlers aren't sure if the horse will make it but they give the effort because it's better to give one of God's creatures a chance instead of chopping it up for food. Some of the uninjured horses that come in but are older come to the ranch usually scared and unsure of who around him can be trusted. So it's not easy to train them, it seems weird to say we have to train horses to be ... a normal horse. I've been against horse racing for the longest time and this was the reason why. Horses deserve to run wild and live their life on a farm if they aren't a mustang that can run free. Life on the farm is better than life running around a track where your only goal in life is to bring in money for your handler and pray you don't get an injured leg. Odd, Do horses pray? I think so. God created them. Seems cruel that God would allow for horses to be abused in such a manner but I think this subject falls under the God's will vs. free will.

Majority of the horses that come with or without injuries usually after a few weeks do come around and recover. Once you've fought for weeks for a horse to simply have an inch of trust in you, it's the most powerful feeling ever. Knowing that just a few weeks ago that animal was more terrified of anything and now is in a phase where the trust in each other is equal, it makes this job worth while. Which is a lot of reasons why I spend more than my "scheduled" hours there. Since they are a privately owned ranch they don't generate all that much funds, once they are able to sell a recovered horse to a farm owner the profit looks good but when you consider how much the ranch costs in property how much food and all the other like is. Not much of a high profit. But they have taught me that the lessons these horses tell you is worth way more than any dollar bill could. And they are right. The ranch also serves a duel purpose, the handlers allow for parents or organizations that work with the Handicap, disabled and the like to bring their clients, children to the ranch and use the horses as therapy.

There was this really brave kid that came in last time I was there, he was 14 and wheel chair bound. He also was mentally handicap, meaning his "mental" age was more or less like that of a 4 year old. The horse we had picked out for him to ride was what i believe to be the best choice. Bryson was scared of the horse instantly, and the Willow (the horse) was scared of him as well which is weird considering how tall Willow stood compared to Bryson. And what broke the ice, I'm not sure we'll know but after about a 5 minute stare off between Bryson and Willow they practically had full trust of each other. It's like in that 5 minutes they were able to see through each other and connect. And that's not the first time I've seen something like that, for lack of better word it's quite magical to witness that.

Aside from me there are 2 others here for Part time work, one is only working here until her court ordered probation period is up. And boy does she make sure she tells you how much she cannot wait for it to be done. Which is really annoying and really sad at the same time because I have only been here a few weeks and it's already taught me more about myself than I thought I knew. Sadly all that wisdom got wasted on her. The other part timer isn't so bad though, she talks to me and has helped me out a lot in the beginning. We're two totally different people but we have the ability to be friends regardless of it. Having that also makes the place you work at or volunteer at a lot more enjoyable and allows you to come back even on scheduled days off.

I suppose I should get to Cash already. I can ramble, I am sorry. The other day when I had just arrived about 2 hours early to work the Ranch Owner, Tucker, asked me if I would help him out. It seems the ASPCA had contacted him about a guy who had 5 horses who were in desperate need of Tucker's help. He was getting the one trailer ready when I had shown up, the other Ranch owner and his brother in law were in New York at a horse convention and he had no help. To transport at least 5 horses we'd need both trailers since by chance you can get at least 3 in a trailer but not 5. So I of course jumped at the chance and grabbed the other truck and trailer and we were off.

When we first arrived we were bombarded by rows of parked police cars, vehicles saying they are from ASPCA, and the like it wasn't that long after that we were able to see the "field" where the horses were being held and we quickly understood why we were also called. 3 out of the 5 horses were so thin, they looked deathly ill, and I'm not talking that you could simply see their ribs and were sleek like a race horse would be no, they were thin enough that I could point out and visibly see all the bones they have. It was extremely hard to look at, the other 2 horses weren't all that thick looking either but did have visible wounds, spots on them and various other marks on them that to someone who knows horses know it as they were being abused. After a bit of standing around I decided to head back to the truck and grab some supplies, grains, buckets to give the obviously starving horses some food and a chance at clean water since their existing water was blacker than the oil in my car. Tucker had gone alongside with the police and the officer with ASPCA to talk to the man who claimed to be the owner of the horses.

That just left me time to stand there and check out the horses and their horrible field they were left upon. Upon walking around the property a bit I noticed a few disgusting things, some dead cat's carcasses and what I think was a dead dog carcass but it was too far gone to really tell. I made the mistake of accidentally walking to close to one of the horses and he freaked out letting me know he's scared and has the power to hurt me at the same time. I quickly backed up and accidentally backed into an officer who asked me what I did. I told him they're scared, they've been abused and are afraid of us even though we were there to help him. My comment made the officer alert to the other officers to back up and approach with extreme caution. Soon after the "owner" came out and was ranting and raving about how he treats his horses just fine and the abuse charges are bogus. Really? Did he really think that was going to fly? In accordance to the one horse that was leaning against the wooden fence the owner claimed the horse was born that way. Like yea, horses are born to lean up against fences and are born to attack someone who calmly walks up to try and help. BULL!

After hearing that the Sheriff (everyone was there) handcuffed and rattled off his rights soon after telling him why he was being charged. That's when we had to begin figuring out how to get the horses in to the trailers. Horses who were terrified of us, it wasn't easy. The police went inside the house and announced they had some loose cats so the majority of the ASPCA officers went in to deal with the cats and left myself, tucker, and a couple sheriff's deputies to deal with the bucking horses. The 3 that were skinny as hell were quite easy to get into the trailers, they didn't really have the energy so sadly that made it easier. For the horse that was laying alongside the fence it was difficult but only because he didn't have the energy to stand up. Luckily, a rather chubby officer (no offense) was able to use his weight in helping to prop the horse up as we guided him to the trailer. We got the three skinny ones in the one trailer that sadly also had room for one more but due to the weight of the leaning one we only left it at 3. Next was the task of getting the other two very scared horses into the remaining trailer. This was difficult and that was known from the start. The one horse a very beautiful all while with a few black spots on her almost had us believing she was going in at first but once up on the ramp she stopped. Tucker had run around to his truck to try and get some hay, sometimes this can help coax them into the truck. We tried to talk her into walking forward, I was brushing the back of her just trying to get her to understand we do not want to hurt her. Like a moron the one Deputy slapped the rump of the horse and she let us know she wasn't having that. She bucked, and got up and was just spazzing out. The one ASPCA officer slapped the deputy on the back of his head and told him to get lost. You NEVER hit a horse, tho during some races they think they can you should never. It accomplishes nothing but fear. It took a lot for us to get this horse to calm down after that and it riled up the other horse even worse so. Upsetting her could have also injured herself on the trailer. We had to start from square one thanks to mr. dippity.

Back at square one was just as difficult since the dippities actions has caused the last remaining horse to get upset. In the end it took several attempts by her to get to the ramp, stop and then she'd back up. You can't show a horse you're getting impatient with her, nor can you take a break and attempt it later. That's showing her you won and then it will never occur. After about 90 some odd minutes she finally made her steps into the trailer and all the way in!! We waited about 10 minutes before roping her side up and letting her know she would be in there until we made it back to Tucker's ranch. She did great, didn't show that she was nervous nor that she wanted out. She basically just started munching down on the hay. I take it that by Tucker and I showing her great patience she soon sought out that we could be trusted with her and weren't going to hurt her. Horses are really intelligent when it comes to sensing out trust and who not to.

The remaining horse wouldn't be as easy. This horse to me was absolutely beautiful despite his skinny appearance and visible wounds, through his eyes I swear you could see all the hurt that had been inflicted on him. He was all black not a single marking of any other colors not even on his mane nor his eyes. It was a bit intimidating also. So much so that none of the officers really wanted to attempt to approach him. When I attempted to approach him to try and wrangle him Tucker yelled out and told me to heed with caution that he was a Stallion and they are known for not taking any abuse. So with that tid bit of knowledge I stepped back, way back. And tried to move closer to him. I'd take a few steps and either he'd take a step back, or he would throw a fit, causing me to step back. We played this dance out for about 45 minutes before he ever allowed me to get close enough to start putting on the halter. My first attempt to do so, failed and failed horribly. I dropped the halter and was too afraid to pick it up, thus leaving myself entirely open to any attacks the horse was going to throw. Luckily, I was able to distract him long enough so Tucker could creep in and pick it up for me.

So once more I tried again. This time my approach was to simply just get close enough for myself to touch him, give him a pet allow him to realize my touch wasn't going to hurt him nor did I have intentions of doing so. It took about 20 more minutes before he allowed me to get close enough to be able to touch him. But then one of the officers coming around the truck spooked him and sent me nearly flying. So we had to start all over again. It got tiring and at points everyone was saying to get someone here to knock him out, or to simply euthanize him due to the condition some of his wounds were in. Luckily, Tucker refused. He told them he was leaving with all horses whether or not the officers stayed. Some left at that point but some did comply to stay and attempt to help us. I think the drastic reduce in number of people helped calm the horse down, also not seeing the owner there had helped some as well. We did the loading No-no and agreed to take a break, you're not supposed to but upsetting this horse wasn't helping neither us, nor him nor the other trailered horses. We also used the break as a time to give the horse fresh feed and some water. We had hoped this would help him feel more that he could trust us.

It didn't work at all, he was apparently too nervous to even attempt to begin eating. He just kept a fixed eye on any of us that were close enough. During that time Tucker walked behind him, way out of the horses view to get a closer look at some wounds he had on his back. Tucker, amazingly, was able to apply Yellow Lotion to the wound in the back and stated for me to cover it up once we got the horse into the trailer. After that we resumed trying to get him into the trailer. After some time I was able to get close enough to the horse to touch him, I softly spoke out to Tucker and told him to get the fleece halter instead, up that close I was able to notice some markings around his face, where the regular leather halter would upset the wounds or hurt him. Tucker was able to easily throw it at me, dropping it at my feet. I slowly bent down to pick it up, the horse didn't move the entire time. I think by this point he was finally get used to myself, and partially to Tucker.

The horse finally allowed me to place the halter on him, and barely flinched as I placed the lead on to it as well. I began talking to him, in the ways Tucker had instructed me to do so with other horses who came to the ranch, trying to ease him and also let him know that I wasn't about to strike harm to him. Slowly, but surely, he began to take with the lead and allow me to walk him out of the corner he was in, and towards the trailer. We got to the trailer, and without announcement the remaining ASPCA officers and deputies cautiously walked away from the truck and trailer, this seemed to calm the horse down some more. At this point I think it was safe to say that the horse was beginning to trust myself and Tucker. But getting him into the trailer would take more patience and time. He like the previous horse would get so close but then back away. Tucker said that he was just "testing" us, seeing how much control he had, and seeing if we would be upset by his defiance. But we didn't. Hell we were just happy he trusted us enough to be led towards the trailer. After a few failed tries, we had once more decided to take another break. Not so much because we were frustrated but because we weren't sure of what our next steps should be. That's when to our surprise our break was much more of something we should have done way before. After Tucker and myself walked away from him and sat down we tried to figure out the best way to get the horse into the trailer. We placed food in the trailer that didn't work, we tried to slightly nudge him in and that didn't work. That's when it happened, the horse just calmly walked into the trailer without myself or Tucker trying to get him in. I guess he finally realized we just wanted to help him and decided to go ahead on in. Once in we didn't jump up and hurry to put the ropes up nor shut the doors we acted still with the most extreme of caution. He may have trusted us at that point but that could have changed at any moment. So after nearly 7 hours all 5 horses were in the trailers and calm enough for us to take off.

Once we arrived at the Ranch, which was about 2 hours later after getting the horses in, and stopping several times to check on the wellbeing of the horses it was an even more feat trying to get the horses out of the trailer and into the fields. Tucker at first had decided to put the 3 skinnies in one field and the other 2 in another. But after carefully thinking about it he figured to leave all 5 together, he figured being around something or someone familiar would help in their recovery. The 3 skinnies were easier to remove from the trailers, including the leaning tower of horsey. We were able to get them in the field, Leany had some trouble due to the snow but made into the stall without incident. The remaining two weren't that easy. The white one didn't really want to be led anywhere and was defiant on several attempts. After enough coaxing though we were able to get her into the stalls, she did stop several times to nibble on the snow on the ground clearly showing us she was thirsty but eating snow wasn't going to help her. So as soon as we got her into the stall we fetched her fresh water, she calmed down pretty much immediately. I'm not sure if it's because she saw we were working with her with basically kid gloves or it was for the fact that the other 3 horses were also okay.

The black horse also gave us a fight. Despite his defiance of not wanting to enter the trailer, he gave us a fight of not wanting to LEAVE the trailer. It was quite ironic but understandable as now he was facing a new field but I am sure certain things were throwing up triggers for him. After another hour and an injury to Tucker, the horse bucked and accidentally kicked Tucker, he was as well placed in the Stalls. It took him a lot to calm down and I think he did only due to being exhausted. After that was done Tucker ordered me to make sure all the horses had fresh hay, fresh water and enough hay in their stalls. He went back to the house to contact the Vet to get the horses checked out and see what our next plan of action should be. We could only give the horses a small portion of food to start out with for the horses that were beyond skinny. To much food at once could cause Colic, horses can't vomit so too much food isn't helping anyone here.

After the phone call out the Vet soon showed up and was equally disgusted by the appearance of all horses. The vet gave us guidelines for how to feed the horses, telling us to stay away from normal feed for a couple of days and he also tended to the wounds they all had. We were instructed to keep the halter off the black horse while the sores went away. It was also quickly discovered that the leaning horse, later named Soldier, had to be Euthanized. His one leg was completely deformed and was apparently saddled to early and had the permanent marks on his back, he would never walk the same again nor could he move without support. Watching this play out in action was one of the most difficult things to see. We named him Soldier because despite the life he led for a while he never gave up that says a lot about who he was. He was eventually buried on a different location on the Ranch.

As time went on the other horses soon became more trusting of myself, Tucker and the other handlers. Everyone was moving along greatly they were even upgraded to normal feeding habits for horses. Everyone except for the black stallion. He would put up such a fight for anything for us, walking, feeding, even tending to the sores he had from improper halters being used. For a while Tucker thought he may have to be euthanized because he believed the horse's mentality would never be that of being able to trust anyone and would cause more harm to himself and others around. But then something happened, and I'm not sure what but after a few days of me constantly being there and being around him, he eventually let up. He allowed me apply lotion to the wounds, allowed me to brush him and simply just let my hands on him. When I told Tucker and then he himself attempted to do the same, the horse freaked. As time went on I was called to the Ranch on more than my days off, usually with Tucker or his wife Lillian telling me they will do anything if I were to come in, because the horse would only respond to me and no one else. I always assured them that I wasn't looking for anything special that I was happy to help them out and more so with this horse. They offered to pay for extra time but I knew the Ranch was struggling as is and even had to fire the one part timer that announced she could have cared less. So taking extra money wasn't in it for me. After time I was able to get the horse to take to my lead, he would run around the field with such an ease, like all his fears just disappeared for him. The biggest feat that we had to cross was someone riding him. I told Tucker one day that I wanted to try it, he was apprehensive to the idea and his brother in law flat out stated that it would be beyond dangerous no matter how much of a trust the two of us had together. But after enough pushing to Tucker I was able to test it and see where we would go. At first the horse wasn't in for it. We're not sure if he's ever been ridden or if he was it may have been a negative experience. The first three times went horribly. The first time stepping up he wanted no part of it, the second two times he threw me on my back to the ground which was easily padded with an abundance of hay laying around. At this point Tucker kept trying to get me to give up, but he knew and I knew I wasn't going to.

I had thought about leaving it alone for a few days but some reason decided against it, and I am glad I did. On the 4th try, I grabbed the saddle and talked to him the entire time. I got up far enough to stand and I immediately felt him disagreeing to my motions, but he didn't do anything and I was able to sit in the saddle. It was quite an amazing feeling but the amazement didn't last long as I prepared myself to be thrown off once again, but he didn't throw me off. Instead he took a stance as if he was ready to go walking. Tucker just stood there in amazement also. Neither of us really knew what to do next, we didn't really expect him to let me do this in the first place. In fact we had set up the space around him so that when he did throw me off I would be protected. I soon after just bent down, wrapped my arms around his neck in a motion to hug him, this motion scared him at first for a bit but he soon eased out of it. I can only imagine the pain that was inflicted on him, he was so scared no matter who it was. Soon after that our rides went easier, he no longer fought me getting on him, nor did he freak out about a simple hug. We spent most times riding around the field, and I was able to utilize him in helping Tucker wrangle up some other horses from another farm that ran amuck on his field. It was truly a great thing.

For a while we thought he was over his fears, but that was quickly turned down when one of Tucker's close friends came by the Ranch. This man screamed at the chance and vowed he was the best Jockey that we could ever be lucky enough to meet. (his words) We told him all about this horse and his loud defiance for anyone, except for me. He ranted and raved about how Tucker just wasn't handling him right and that he guaranteed us that this horse wouldn't afraid of him. So like the smartalec he was, he immediately tried to step on the stirrup to mount the horse. But he got no where, Mr. "I know all horses", was thrown off the horse in a matter of seconds. After another try and the same results he finally went on a rant about how he can't be fixed and how he's going to do more harm than good for this ranch, despite the fact I was able to ride him away.

The one day after I was done making sure everything was completely set up, all fed, all brushed and all cleaned I swung by Tucker's house just to talk to him and see if I could possibly get verification for longer hours. This was needed because my other job had no problems with me having other things scheduled so they could schedule my hours for them around it but I needed verification of it. I've heard people tried to get work schedules worked around "free time". My other place knew I wasn't being paid for more hours on the Ranch but they took it as Volunteer time. And at work, volunteering is huge and they actually work with you more if you opt to volunteer. So Tucker wrote out the form, and told me to have them call if need be. But before I left he asked me one of the greatest questions ever. He asked if I wanted to maintain ownership of the black horse. The question took me back and any obvious answer would be yes but honestly I told him I wanted to but there was no way I could afford ranch fees and upkeep fees. So he told me he would convert my longer hours into hours where I would agree to work for him, not be paid and all amounts I would have been paid will just be applied to my fees. Basically working, to own him. So with that I became the owner of a horse no one else could seem to train.

I asked Tucker why he decided to do it, and he said that the thinks me and the horse have a common bond, which is the reason why he trusts me. The common bond being I know what it's like to be abused by someone you're supposed to trust, and then having that fear and always believing that everyone that comes near you will only treat you the same. Tucker, as a very heavy Indian, believes that the horse and I spoke to each other without spoken words and that is why he trusts me. On the off level it makes sense and it makes everything I had to endure almost worth it to have the chance to help someone else out, even if it is a horse. So after being granted ownership of him Tucker asked me next, "What will you name him?" I hadn't thought about it, most the commands we've used just either didn't use a name or went with the generic "buddy". I took a few minutes and then it hit me, I'll name him Cash. Tucker and his wife looked up at me, unsure of why I would name a horse that. But it didn't take long, I told him he's the horse in black, Johnny Cash was known as the man in black. So his name officially became "Cash". Tucker even went out that day to get his Halter tag to state his name. And his brother in law has been working on mounting his name above his stall and in areas of the Tack room for his other items.

I think Cash likes his name, he seems a lot happier now than he did before. He is actually starting to take to Tucker not freaking out as much, still I am the only one allowed to ride him. It may take time before he trusts someone else and he may never. And while he may not be able to be used for the therapy like the other horses he is still an essential part of this Ranch and has incredible wrangling skills. Cash has found a home, and that is amazing.

I haven't been able to ride Cash much since the car accident, mounting a horse when it hurts to breath is quite difficult. I think he understands it some what but still would like to go on a ride. Hopefully soon I will be able to.

Since that time, the remaining horses gained majority of their weight back, they are still a bit skinny but you can only do so much so fast. They are no longer afraid of us and 2 out of the remaining 4 are even working as Therapy Horses. They have come a long way. The other horse aside from Cash, can't be a therapy horse right now because she is pregnant, with her low weight we are also concerned but are hoping for the best for her and the little one.

Upon gaining this job I at first just thought it would be an easy way to make a couple bucks to help my financial situation but since being here the meaning of this job has gone way beyond anything I could ever expect. I am now responsible for the health and wellbeing of a horse, that is major. But I have also learned more about the cruel world that is horse racing, and the amount of abuse that horses of all types go through. When kids are little some times they wish for a horse, which is great but do you ever realize what really happens to the ponies and horses after their owners grow tired of them? Where the injured race horses go now that they aren't bringing in any money? It's a very scary world out there, and even though there is an abundance of Rescue Ranches there is just not enough to cease the cruelty that is out there. I've seen the videos, I've seen the real life abuse. I've seen a perfectly healthy pony being shot between his eyes because an owner no longer had a need for him so now he can be used for Food. But sadly there isn't much I can do, nor Tucker nor this Ranch. But the little bit we do does help. I may never look at the world the same after taking this job but that may be the best thing for all involved. If you want to get involved I encourage you to do so, and I will also help you do so. Whether it's volunteering time at a rescue ranch, or just learning about the abuse and spreading the knowledge that little bit can do wonders. Helping is huge, and it doesn't involve money.

For other horses who are being treated like Cash was, ignorance isn't going to save them. Time to step up.