Vanilla Horses

Isn't it so that when people see dogs, cats, other common animals, they don't think of them as little beings with character and emotions? ... and horses. Much the same? See one munching on a field of grass, it may seem like a more refined version of a cow, or a large sheep. One is pretty much exchange-able for another. You don't know them. They aren't special to you. If they come or go, not only would you not know, your life would not be affected. They are Vanilla Horses.

But not so with these on the farm. Remember when I introduced you to each one personally? (see The Gang's (Almost) All Here) Living with these beautiful animals day in and out has made it's impression on me. I know them, and each of their little weaknesses, their petty annoyances, their secret preferences. Then how could I betray them by haltering them up and putting them in the stall tonight, knowing tomorrow at 8 am they will be trailered away?

You are looking at one of the two newest contributors-to-be for the OHSU study on equine fertility/DNA something-or-other. Remember Lizzy? and her mother Heart? the former racehorses here on the ranch... Sure, they are a handful, and not tame for the most part... they are THOROUGHBREDS and it takes a crazy bitch to even run in those races, this is what they have been bred for. Of course they need a lot of handling, they have come off the track and need to get used to being HORSES again instead of MACHINES. We were working on that...

Well, the owner has decided, since they evidently have some genetic tendency for being EXTREMELY CRAZY BITCHES, downright dangerous even, and should not continue their genes,that they will be donated to this project. Tomorrow we will be only 7 horses. All of us are feeling the loss. I have been weepy all day.

But wait, you ask- how can they be part of a fertility study if it has been determined that their crazy genes should not carry on?
Seriously, I had to write this because it is affecting the Grove Girls here BIG time. But YOU do not have to read it. Just a severe storm warning for the next paragraph.

Because to be a part of this program is signing their death certificate. The girls are put out to pasture with a stud for a while, and whenever it is that they are found pregnant, they are killed and dissected to study the fetus and the mare's reproductive organs. Along with a number of other mares. Other Vanilla Horses.
Perhaps not a bad way to go, considering that lots of racehorses are throw-aways, (see the Alpha Mare blog link on the right) people literally having such numbers that they put them down in mass graves, whole farms of them are starved to death, or they are sold to the slaughter markets, shipped weak and starving to Mexico and stabbed to death to preserve the meat for overseas consumers. So many... faceless, nameless, Vanilla Horses.

Well I'll say this prayer for them: That the Equine Collective Conscious watches over them, and when the time comes for them to join the Fold, that they will bless their kind with their beautiful presence. Continue running in our dreams. Rejoice in serving no one any longer.
Thank you for touching us, and filling our lives with grace. Farewell, my wild sisters.