Okay, sure. He's pretty. He's got a long, romantic mane. He's got eyes that speak to you. He's also 20 years old, so not exactly adoptable.
This filly is pretty, too. She has a romantic mop top and is a pretty buckskin color. At just two years of age, she, too, will have a hard time finding a home unless someone comes along and gives her a head start, getting her gentled and halter broke.
The old guy will be sent to Long Term Holding with a couple hundred other geldings, where he can live out his days on a ranch, getting fed year round rather than starving in the winter like he did when he was wild.
The filly, on the other hand, will travel back and forth from adoptions to short term holding facilities, and eventually be shipped back east where she can again be hauled back and forth for people to look at and possibly adopt. But probably not. And she will continue this cycle until she is six years old, at which point she'll be shipped to Long Term Holding.
So tell me, why are people so anxious to sponsor the old gelding? Why do they want to spend their money to ship him to a sanctuary, where his life will be no different than if he were at Long Term Holding?
Why do they turn up their nose at helping a youngster, who could have a shot at a home?
I don't get it.
The old guy will be sent to Long Term Holding with a couple hundred other geldings, where he can live out his days on a ranch, getting fed year round rather than starving in the winter like he did when he was wild.
The filly, on the other hand, will travel back and forth from adoptions to short term holding facilities, and eventually be shipped back east where she can again be hauled back and forth for people to look at and possibly adopt. But probably not. And she will continue this cycle until she is six years old, at which point she'll be shipped to Long Term Holding.
So tell me, why are people so anxious to sponsor the old gelding? Why do they want to spend their money to ship him to a sanctuary, where his life will be no different than if he were at Long Term Holding?
Why do they turn up their nose at helping a youngster, who could have a shot at a home?
I don't get it.
14 comments:
There's lots of bleeding hearts out there, but not many who will step up to the plate and put themselves on the line, commit to the effort and expense and responsibility it takes to take a two year old mustang and make a future for it. I know that I can't do it, due to lack of money and living in Canada.
That is really sad, and doesnt make any sense. I would totally like to have a mustang, although i think it would be very challenging, but again i too live in Canada and can't. Hope someone will do good and take the filly home and give her a better life than a long term holding facility.
I could sure get your buckskin adopted down here... all I have for folks is bays and browns. We had a big pinto get caught running with the stangs. He was already gelded so who knows how he got on the range. He was kind of onery but EVERYONE wanted him rather than a nice well behaved bay.
It's not the adoption...it's that Mustang U volunteers are stepping up, but would like a little financial support to help cover some of the costs while the horse is being gentled. Instead, we have people who want to finance the old horse and get him into a 'old horse home', lol!
People cry about the situation, but won't put $10 where their mouth is, and it's driving me nutty. Well, nuttier.
PB, I'm finding that when I haul a small group to the fair, people fall in love with my one bay horse (usually Sandy or Steve Holt! in the past), but pay less attention to those who should be attracting them. I think bays are very popular, but it's hard to 'see' them when that's all there is in a pen, where as the lighter horses stand out and capture our attention.
I would love that baby girl! But I have two in training (12-year-old Warm Springs mare, 4-year-old Kiger mare), another (6-year-old Sheldon mare) who will probably never be ride-able, and no more room (physically or financially) in the barn.
I would have more if I could!
I can't answer your question. I just wanted to say that I was thinking of you this weekend as my friend made the hard decision to put her mustang up for sale. He's gorgeous, but she just hasn't been able to connect with him. They're horses, but they are not like other horses.
I'm new to this whole Mustang adoption. Why will she not be adopted? Is two too old? She's very pretty. The trainer that said she would help me when I'm ready to adopt told me I should get as young as possible for my first horse... What're your thoughts??
Jen, she's just one of 30,000 available. It's not just her...it's any of them. She may be adopted. She's cute. But most people are unable to adopt a wild horse simply because they haven't got the facilities or know how to deal with one. So gentling her, getting her halter broke, is a huge help. Her, or any one of the 29,999 others :)
I understand not everyone has the means to adopt. I simply get frustrated over those who disappear when they can't help an old one. Complain, but don't buy a bale of hay. Not those of you who've got your own barn full...I can't afford to send money to other rescues. I get that.
But those who complain, yet do nothing? Or think they're doing something great by 'helping' an old horse, when a young healthy one with a real shot gets passed by? Don't get it.
Leah, that's rough for your friend. Yup...I know first hand how it feels :) Give her a hug from me. They suck you in, heart and soul, and it's so bloomin' hard when it doesn't work the way you dream it. (Tell her I can fix her up with another one, lol!)
My guess is that people project their own feelings into the horses--they don't want to be forgotten when they get old. Remember--most people don't make decisions with logic (even if they think they are.) They make decisions with emotions.
One thing I have wondered about adopting a mustang--if you get one that has been gentled through TIP or the prisons, they still expect you to have the same facilities that are necessary for a wild mustang to be an approved adopter. I am sure that that puts many people off because they don't have those facilities. Is there any way around that requirement?
I would love to take on another horse but I'm full and I can't. I've got one rescue horse that needed us. She sure is pretty and I hope that she find someone that will give her a chance.
Unfortunately there will always be those people on the fringe who just like to stir things up but really do nothing to really solve the problem.
I suspect that Judi is right about what motivates those willing to help the old horse and not the young one. We humans are odd creatures. Every bit as complicated, if not more, than the mustang. If anyone could really "figure" us out, who knows what might happen.
I just have to say how much I appreciate your dedication to the mustang. We are like minded individuals although the horses we have selected are not the same. Preservation of each an important role in the world of the equine and we humans. Keep up the good work, Tracey!
Judi, you may just have hit the nail on the head there. Sounds so obvious when you're not banging your head against a wall, lol!
Ah...the TIP program! Well, it was designed so that adopters didn't need to have 6' fences, because the horse should be able to be turned out by the time it hits a new home. However, each office interprets the specifications differently, and some like to err on the side of caution, something that drives many of us crazy. I've had several horses leave here, though, and go to homes with just your average fencing, no problem.
Gina, good for you for taking on an extra mouth! Not an easy decision, especially when horses struggle so to find homes.
MiKael, thank you. I know we face similar challenges with our selected equines. People must think we're nuts. Maybe we are? Or maybe we just like the challenge and beating the odds, eh?
I love mop tops
People suck. The whole thing breaks my heart.
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