by Rachel French

Created on: October 13, 2008

A Brand New Penny

It was a cold morning and the drive was long but one that was taken frequently. My mother, the driver, and I were busy chatting away about what duties would need to be done today. Our destination? Hytyme Equine Rescue, a place my mother and I had been volunteering for quite a few months now. A place to relax and to fill the urges of helping something you believe in. Many horses came and went, being rehabilitated and adopted. Most volunteers had their 'Project Horse'. My mother had yet to find hers.

We parked and gathered our things. Walking towards the barn we noticed a new horse in quarantine. As we came closer the extent of this horses injuries became apparent. My mother's heart melted. This registered thoroughbred mare with no name had a pair of pantyhose cut to fit her head. Her nose had been skinned and was swollen, a bandage being held by the pantyhose covered a weeping wound the size of a silver dollar on her jaw. Another bandage was wrapped around her front right foot. After changing the bandages we went on the hunt for the owner of the rescue.

After finding and asking him about this new thoroughbred we found out what had really happened to this sweet horse. The previous owner had bought the horse for their seven year old child. They had their own ideas of how a horse should be trained and from the looks of our new thoroughbred, they were the wrong ideas. They had home made a hitching post covered in sheet metal, haltered, tied and left the horse there to teach itself how to stay. She freaked and threw herself to the ground several times, broke her nose, and skinned her face anywhere the halter was touching. She fractured her jaw leaving a puncture wound, and cut her leg right where the hoof grows out all the way to the bone on the sheet metal.

The owners decided that this horse was too "wild" for them, put her out to pasture and called Hytyme. When she was picked up the owner said that her injuries were healing nicely. Further inspection showed otherwise. She had dirt and maggots in her wounds and was very swollen. She didn't look good. They felt they had no choice but to take her. After bringing her back to Hytyme and having the vet come out to see her, the diagnosis was iffy. They didn't know if her hoof would grow back properly or if her broken nose and her fractured jaw would heal. The owner and volunteers of Hytyme, including my mother and I, thought the way she had been treated was horrible and thought about calling Animal Control

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