Galloping Angels Rescue and Sanctuary

I want to write something in regards to abuse since soooo many people try and claim they have rescued abused horses. I have dealt with a number of REAL emotionally abused horses. MOST of these horses... View MoreI want to write something in regards to abuse since soooo many people try and claim they have rescued abused horses. I have dealt with a number of REAL emotionally abused horses. MOST of these horses DO NOT recover from the abuse. Im going to use a few examples of horses that have been abused so you understand a little more about it. But first, I would like to mention, horses that run from you and act jumpy and fidgety around you are not necessarily abused. These are unhandled horses. Yes, you can love on these horses and eventually they do come around. Horses you typically buy from another party are not real rescue horses. These are horses people want to sell for whatever reason. This includes auction horses. Yes, you can claim an "auction rescue". But you need to be sure you mention you got it from an auction. True rescues: Horses that are emaciated. Typical body scores or 2 and below. The horses that have body scores deemed BELOW 1, are at serious risk of not surviving over two years. Yes, you can proudly bring these horses back to health. BUT there is some unknown reason that these horses MAY NOT make it for two years due to organ failure. Organ failure can happen suddenly. It could be lungs, heart, kidneys, liver, or another vital organ. Now for the emotional abuse: Another rescue rescued a horse that had been hog tied and repeatedly stabbed (the blade went in 1 inch in ever stab). This horse had stab wounds throughout its entire body. This horse feared ropes as well as people. He would go through 5 fences in order to avoid being caught or touched by a person. He never was rehabilitated. A rescue in Nevada brought in a horse that when a person came around, tried (and did) scale 6 foot fences. The horse would go bizerk on the sight of a person. A horse was bought at a local auction that was in foal. The horse freaked out each and every time someone went into her pen. When she foaled, she rejected the foal (the foal was hand raised). The horse went back to auction a couple times. The last report I heard, was a top notched trainer got the horse and the trainer had NEVER seen a horse flip out like she did. I got a POA from a private party. They fed me all sorts of reasons why she had a scar on her head. None of them were true. What the truth was, someone in that family hit her with a crowbar and left the indentation. The horse was never the same after that. Her training ability had stopped. She couldn't get passed the point she had been trained prior to the injury. A trainer wanted to work with her. I told her not to expect much. She could not train the horse. I have a mini that has been here going on 11 years. When she first came, she shook when she was put on a lead rope and halter. She shook and freaked out when she was put in a pen. When I touched her back, she went bezerk. She did everything in her power to get away from me when I went to touch her neck and chest. Nearly 11 years have past and she still doesn't want to have her head touched. Throughout these 11 years, she has been able to rid a great deal of her pinned up anger. She would fight with the other horses and I would have to tell her to knock it off. Each time she fought, I could see a slight improvement in her temperament. She realized she wasn't going to get beaten. She was able to gain some peace within. At this point, I believe she is as far as she is going to go. She is never going to be an easy catch because the trust will never be completely restored. And it will always be a battle to touch any part of her head. I have another mare I am not quite sure what has happened in her life. She was a horse that had been bought by a lady at the SPCA who chose not to want her because she wasn't a friendly horse and she kept her distance from her. I haven't had time to determine whether it was abuse or if she was just unhandled. These above, are types of cases of abuse. These types of horses will never completely heal. An unhandled horse will come around.

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