WHERE AND HOW WE SAVE
FEED LOTS
Feed lots are filled with abandoned and unwanted horses. This includes every kind of horse one can imagine. Humanity for Horses made a commitment to try and save as many mothers and babies, pregnant mares, or young horses as we can. It is the saddest part of our job because we do not want to leave anyone behind. We consider this a holocaust.
THE WILD
Humanity for Horses works with people who watch and take care of wild horses. We have agreed that if a mother and/or baby are injured and cannot protect themselves, we will take them. It has been fascinating to witness how a wild horse knows we are there to save them, as they allow us to load them into the trailer very easily, without any stress…. simply fascinating.
FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
Quite often people fall into financial difficulties, especially people who save horses. We try very hard to help them, either by taking the horses ourselves, or finding other safe homes. Often, people with the biggest hearts end up having the biggest challenges.
FIRE
Because the fire seasons have been horrific, we have rescued hundreds of horses to prevent them from dying. This has been extremely challenging, as there are hundreds of horses in danger and at risk. We have built a solid, fireproof home for the animals, as we could not evacuate so many animals. Fire is a constant worry of ours and we have made sure to do everything in our power to be a safe haven for them. It has been interesting to notice that they seem to notice this and do not react to the smoke or fire trucks.
MUSTANGS
Mustangs are really in danger because they supposedly interfere with the cattle industry. They are round up, put in quite horrific conditions and set up for auction. There are some really good mustang rescues, so we have concentrated on the mustangs that were sent to the feed lots, because they did not sell at the auctions.
DEATHS
We do get many calls from people where a family member has died, and unfortunately the family cannot take care of the horse or horses. We never leave this hanging in the air. We either take the horses or horses, or find them a good home (which is difficult to do). We have witnessed so much sorrow over this situation. If you or your loved ones have animals, please make certain that are going to be taken care of properly when you would pass.
SAVING PREMARIN MARES AND THEIR BABIES
Humanity for Horses has put in an all- out effort to rescue horses that have been used to make the drug Premarin. Premarin is an estrogen-replacement prescribed to menopausal women. In the U.S. alone, 90,000 mares are impregnated every year, for the sole purpose of collecting their estrogen-rich urine.
The majority of Premarin mares are forced to give birth to a foal every year. The mares are kept in small standing stalls in order to limit their movement, so not to displace the urinary bladder bags. If the mare fails to become pregnant, they are sent to slaughter. When they do give birth, their foals are taken from them at a premature age and most are sent to the slaughterhouses.
This is where we come in. Humanity for Horses has rescued many of these mares and/or foals from the feed lots. We also work very hard at trying to reunite the mothers and their babies, if both were sent to the feedlot. They come in overwhelmed, depressed, depleted and sometimes even pregnant from being at these places.
However, thankfully, for those we are able to rescue, they are living a precious, peaceful life, filled with love and care. We never separate a family, so they are able to live with their babies, without any fear of separation or abuse.
The foundation PETA has put in much effort in having this Premarin procedure stopped, due to the horrific abuse done to these magnificent beings.
SAVING THOROUGHBREDS
Saving thoroughbreds is one of our most important missions. Right from the inception of Humanity for Horses, we have rescued more thoroughbreds from the feed lots than any other breed of horse. The atrocity is that once a thoroughbred has broken down, to no fault of their own, and can no longer win anyone money, far too often they are sent to feedlots to be sold to slaughter houses. Our goal is to rescue as many Thoroughbreds as possible. In truth, the racetrack industry must be held accountable for their abuse, or simply stopped.
We have a relationship with nonprofits that try to rehome thoroughbreds. However, more often than not, they are too injured to be ridden. Therefore, we love when they come to us, so that they can live out their lives being served by humanity, rather than being inappropriately used by humanity.
Recently the Humane Society of the United States put out a call for help. This is what they wrote:
“In the world of horse racing, many unscrupulous trainers prioritize winning over the lives of horses. Between the multitude of performance enhancing drugs injected into these beautiful animals, and the lack of uniform medication policy or punishments, racehorses are at major risk.
No victory in a race is worth the amount of pain and suffering these drugs can cause in horses. In the worst cases, injured horses are drugged and forced to race, which can result in tragic falls, collapses and even death.
The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act has passed out of the U.S. House of Representatives! It’s now up to the Senate to pass this bill in order to restore fairness to the sport of horseracing and improve the welfare of racehorses. This bill will ban race-day medication, create a national and uniform medication policy, increase out-of-competition testing and improve racetrack safety. Your Senators need to hear from you, today! Please help protect racehorses.”
Horses are such magnificent souls. They deserve our attention and caring.