Recently, I was in my local bank, doing business and talking with several of the ladies that I know. It’s one of those small branches where everyone is friendly and they call me by my name. The lady I have known the longest asked me how my horses were doing. As we were talking, I noticed a young teller listening intently to our conversation. As I turned to look at her she said, “I want to have a horse rescue someday.” I took a deep breath and said, “Not me. I want to live in a world where animal rescues are not needed because people keep their animals until they pass away instead of ‘getting rid of them,’ when keeping them might become a little inconvenient.” She looked at me like I had lost my mind, then she smiled, just a little. I hoped she was realizing the point I was trying to make. It’s a problem we can all help solve. The solution? Don’t produce any animals that will become unwanted. Spay and neuter your dogs and cats and keep the ones you have. Really, pretty darn simple. Okay, I’ll get off my soap box now.
So, yesterday Rainhill accepted another blind horse into our sanctuary. The difference between a rescue and a sanctuary is that a sanctuary keeps the animal for the rest of their life. Rescues usually adopt out the animal to, hopefully, a good home.
This handsome Standardbred gelding is 19 years old and his name is Premium Cigar. He came from North Carolina where he spent some time at a rescue. Unfortunately, they were not set up to handle a blind horse and so, once again, this poor horse was moved down the road… thankfully, to Rainhill, where we have 32 blind horses and are definitely set up to properly care for them. I have no idea how many homes this sweet horse has had but now he can breathe easy because, at last, he is home!
The one thing we know about these Standardbred’s is that most of them start out as race horses. You know, the kind that pull the carts at places like Red Mile in Lexington. Most of them are then purchased by the Amish to use as buggy horses, as they do not drive cars. Their lives become one of drudgery, pulling buggies on hot pavement as cars speed past, sometimes colliding with the unlucky horse, always with disastrous outcomes. Sadly, after the horses break down or become too old to work, they are sent off to auctions where the final bid is made by a kill buyer. This becomes their fate after years of devoted service. So, when Rainhill can step in to help one of these beautiful horses, we scream YES!
So, just yesterday, Cigar stepped off the trailer into his new life at Rainhill. He is so sweet and understanding, believing, I think, that he has finally found his forever home.
If you have never read one of our stories before, let me tell you that Rainhill Equine Facility is a 501c3 non-profit horse rescue/sanctuary that is home to 54 horses, 32 of them are completely blind. Rainhill has been on this 202 acres since 1984, making this our 42nd year loving and caring for horses of all types.
If you are touched by our mission and would like to help, please do. We would be so grateful and the horses you help care for would be grateful, too!
Sincerely,
Karen Thurman
Rainhill Equine Facility
11125 Ky. Hwy. 185
Bowling Green, KY 42101
270-777-3164
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