Living in a Dream: Horse Auctions and Reality

I have been meaning to do a post for a while now on the sad reality of the horse market. I often go to the monthly horse auctions here in town. Why...I am not real sure. Especially since I never have plans on buying a horse. At least I can say I have only ever came home with one :) And since Navi is my last horse purchase for a long long while, its safe to safe I won't be coming home with another one, but I will still go and watch. Maybe its a weird obsession to truly see just how flooded the horse market is. I go look and watch the horses in the pens before the sale. I tend to navigate to the back pens where the loose horses are, the ones usually sold to slaughter. Many are there because they are injured, sick, or old. But some are still healthy usable horses. Yes, I am that crazy person there talking to them and petting them if they come up to me. Many times I wish they could understand that not all humans are uncaring. I wish I could give them what my four have...food, shelter, and love. But the reality of it is that I can't. I can't save them all, I will never be able too. There are many that go to great homes, but there are that many more that end up going to slaughter. For the record I understand slaughter is a very very controversial topic, not one that I am up for debating. I support it, because I understand that there are not enough homes. Horses are expensive! I spend more in board a month than I do rent. In fact its plain and simple I could own my dream car a Nissan 370z plus my truck if I didn't own horses! To be clear I do not expect others to live this way just because I do. What I do not understand though is how someone could turn their back on their horse when it wasn't usable anymore. I think we owe them a good end to their life if they have given us everything they can. Will I ever understand that way of thinking, no, so I deal with it as a fact of life and look for ways to help the ones I can. I have limit funds and time so all I can do is give my four the best possible life.

So my reality is this...I can't save them all, I don't have the time or money. But I can try to make a difference in some of their lives. I will always rescue horses (and other animals) that may not be worth much to other people. I will continue to be that crazy person who goes to the auction yard to see the sad reality of it all, and I will stand by the pens of the unwanted horses and tell them sorry.