At the end of the day, there is no choice to leave rescue and just clean the house, wash clothes, take the children to the park, to not leave the farm chores to a husband, to not miss another family events. . . for me and for others. . .rescue doesn’t wait. Sometimes. . .Sadly so, just so you know.
To not look at very real people with very real, disappointed eyes and wonder, “How on Earth can this be right?” sometimes would mean I wasn’t human, but I am.
Still. . .45 horses in a rescue means you drop everything, no matter what it is, because you have to, because there is no choice. . .because. . .
45 horses.
It means being asked what on Earth you are doing, ridicule and mockery, it means hearing, “It is just a horse,” thousands of times each year. It truly means missing things you wish you had not missed, it means staying the course when another way would be easier. . .It means deciding you will not pursue a career where a large salary is possible because that is an avenue open to you, as well, in lieu of saving animals.
It means saving lives. Teaching children to give and do it freely. It means showing a way that gives and doesn’t take. It means a life worth living. It means change that will outlast yourself. It means inspiring another generation.
I am asked so many times about what running a successful rescue takes. . . What it costs.
It costs everything, ya’ll. Everything.
A friend and co-rescuer (Cindy Smith at Central Virginia Horse Rescue) wrote a blog on why starting a rescue isn’t a good idea for most people last week. It spurred this thought process for me.
A few quick facts on rescues that some followers, supporters and donors are unaware of are:
- Most animal rescuers are unpaid.
- There are no government grants for rescue.
- Most rescue funding comes from monthly donors giving what they can.
- Most rescuers have families, full times jobs and barely make ends meet.
- Most successful rescues were grown from efforts funded out of pocket by one or a few people for a very long time.
Rescue is a bit of a calling and a labor of love.
When I began doing rescue, I was newly pregnant with my third child. I was in my mid twenties. I had hypertension, previously had eclampsia (with the last birth) and had a heart defect that made my survival during this said 3rd pregnancy unlikely. I had a 6 month old, breastfed baby who was born 2 months premature just 10 months before. I had an 8 year old who was home schooled. I was trying to finished my 4th year of my undergraduate degree while maintaining a Manga Cum Laude worthy grade point average, and on the side, I tried to keep my small farm in order. I’m also inclined to keep a neat’ish home, so there were, at at all times, 4 loads of laundry a day and 3 loads in the dishwasher to deal with and put away, but that was no matter compared to the rest of the struggles.
My husband and I used our personal truck that was far from new, our own little trailer and our meager dollars for some years. We used our 23 acres of hillside, too. I stayed up all night posting stories and updates to tell the tales of the horses here. I wrote many a post with two babies in my lap and on 45 minutes of sleep in 3 days. We received no discounts from farrier or vets. We had no family to help in any manner for anything. We made 16 hour trips many times with all 3 kids in the car and just barely enough to make it back and feed the horses we brought in, but we did it. Over and over until folks noticed and wanted to help. Thank God they did.
I think back and thank the Lord, I was (and am still) a networking maniac. I sought out those on the same mission, those, in some way, trying to help horses, as well. And in the end, amazing people came in to save the day.
What we see today is hardly something of my making. And that is as it should be if long term success is a goal. It is something grown from many people from a seed one little couple planted, though, through such hardship and so many broken ideals and maybe some tears.
Today, we have Heart of Phoenix Equine Rescue, and we are the first of our kind in the entire state of West Virginia. We are 70 plus volunteers, board members and officers strong. We have nearly 300 adopters and have saved well over three hundred horses. We all give and give and give for nothing in return beyond our hope to help more horses in need. We are still ONLY volunteers. All unpaid. The goal? Sure, it is paid staff, so it outlives the starters and remains here as long as it is needed. We aren’t there, yet, and that is okay.
Rescue still costs everything.
It is never only a job. You rarely leave it behind or at home when a day is done, and when is a day done, anyhow?
As a founder and volunteer, I spend far more than 40 hours each week working for our horses. I still have a farm, 3 homeschooled children and a husband who runs two businesses. I still have 4-6 hours of work at home daily consisting of simple, basic routine care, breakfast, washing, laundry, picking up after three boys. . .For me, that is fine. It is all a conglomerate of a life well lived, fully lived.
I am sure the hours number 60 or more most of the time, as some days stretch to 15 hours. The time given by others in HOP are really impossible to number. And for it, I am grateful, but folks do this to save the lives of horses, not to impress you or me. Like me, they have households, children, businesses, work, family and personal horses and farms to squish in to this effort. They try as hard as they can. They make time when it isn’t even possible over and over.
At the end of some days, there may be no choice to leave rescue to just clean the house, wash clothes, take the children to a fun function or avoid missing another family events. . . for me and for others. . .rescue doesn’t wait. Sometimes. . .Sadly so, just so you know.
To not look at very real people with very real, disappointed eyes and wonder, “How on Earth can this be right?” sometimes would mean I wasn’t human, but I am.
Still. . .45 horses in a rescue means you drop everything, no matter what it is, because you have to, because there is no choice. . .because. . .
45 horses.
It means being asked what on Earth you are doing, ridicule and mockery, it means hearing, “It is just a horse,” thousands of times each year. It truly means missing things you wish you had not missed, it means staying the course when another way would be easier. . .It means deciding you will not pursue a career where a large salary is possible because that is an avenue open to you, as well, in lieu of saving animals.
It means saving lives. Teaching children to give and do it freely. It means showing a way that gives and doesn’t take. It means a life worth living. It means change that will outlast yourself. It means inspiring another generation.
Rescue.
With eyes wide open and no apologies. . .thankful to be part of it. . .
It costs everything.
RESCUE.
With eyes wide open and no apologies. . .thankful to be part of it. . .
Like this:
Like Loading...
