How To Rescue a Lady
The call came in to Save Equus, from a member, that a horse just south of Perth metro had been seen, very skinny and with ribs showing. It’s a common story and all too familiar, I’m afraid. After a bit of investigating, the peak animal welfare body in WA said that this horse had been on their radar for many years and that many attempts had been made to correct the owner's attitudes to feeding just hay. The owner’s ability to cover the costs, etc, was the main reason and they had been told to "leave us alone or just put the horse down".
So, the Save Equus Animal Welfare Officer (AWO), Jayne, stepped in and made contact with the owner. He had cared for the horse and loved her like a child for a long time, but times had got a bit tough. After many convincing discussions, he agreed to sign the horse over to Save Equus.
When we arrived to load ‘Lady’ on the float, it was an extremely difficult task set before us. You see, Lady had not left this paddock for about 22 years, and she was 31 years old! After trying everything in the book to load her, we decided to take a different approach, leave her there and organise supplementary feed to be delivered. This was a win/win situation, we felt – the horse would get better nourishment and gain weight and feel better for it. The owner was happy with the assistance, and if the horse looked better he would not get people stopping on the road side to complain.
Things went well. Wesfeeds’ Tony Christensen agreed to assist Save Equus and the pattern was complete.
After a few weeks Lady started to feel better and had become quite vocal, expressing herself to the owner at every chance. After a few months, her condition had gone from very bad to a visible difference and looking much better. And you would say she was quite ‘perky’ now.
But, just as things had settled down and the routine was set, we got a call from the owner to say that the property had been sold and we had one week told move her or she would have to be euthanised. Instant panic for us! Maybe an open float would work this time? We tried, but no such luck. She wasn’t having a bar of the float method at all. Time for ‘Plan B’ – we would just have to walk her to her freedom. Whatever it took we couldn't fail her now, We had all been through too much to give up at this stage.
After careful planning, and with the local police informed on which roads we would walk, we got started at 7am that Sunday morning, the last day she had left to live on this property. I was a bit emotional as we started the walk. With a safety/support vehicle behind us, and wearing a bright coloured safety-vest, this was the best we could do. We settled down quite well and after a couple of kilometres, relaxed into a fair stride. The cars and trucks were a frightening thing and I kept between her and the road, trying to walk as far over on the verge as possible. Some parts were very narrow and we had to wait for a break in the traffic before moving forward. We would stop for a rest every half an hour or so, and I didn’t know how she would take all of this, or whether she would even survive the walk at all. We had fresh water and food in the support vehicle, at the ready for both of us, but a strange thing was happening – she didn’t want to stop! It was almost as if she was saying “Come on, let’s just get it done and over with, I want to get out of here!”. So, that’s what we did, just kept going.
She noticed many things during that walk. There were other horses and animals on the way. You see, she had not seen any other horses for about 20 years and probably didn’t know that others still existed. She neighed and whickered to all and sundry as we walked along.
At one point, after about 2 hours walking, another strange thing happened. Four young colts ran up to the fence-line on the other side of the road, and yelled out. Lady stopped and looked across, with the occasional car passing in between. I stood there and shouted, “And so you should all stop and salute this grand old lady!”. Well, they all turned around and started walking nose to tail along the fence-line as we continued our walk. At this point I was fairly bawling my eyes out. It was just too much to think that they may have actually understood me or were doing it for her, irrespective of what I had said, but there they were, all in a row. Just amazing!
I was starting to tire a bit. Not her though! She was pounding the dirt, still not wanting to stop and if we did, she'd walk and stamp and scrape the ground until we got going again. After about 2 and a half hours we were joined by other Save Equus members and I felt a little relieved that the journey was nearly done. It was certainly great relief to sit in that car and have someone else walk with her for a while. It also gave me time to reflect and feel that we were actually going to make it.
I decided that I would lead her for the last bit of this walk, another 3 or 4 kilometres or so. There was no doubt that the trip had forged a bond between us and that trust was evident from both sides. We got closer to our destination and I was feeling very foot sore. I hadn’t walked like this for 30 years or more, but determination was pushing us both, and any pain barriers just had to be broken. The last 200 metres was on asphalt road, then the home gate was in sight and relief started to set in. At last, we arrived at the end of her journey to freedom, having covered about 12 kilometres in 3 and a half hours. Emotions ran high for everyone there, and she was safe now. We were greeted by Alex (one of our little ones) and she was happy to rub noses with him. The photo later showed her with a definite smile. We had not really understood the significance of that moment. This was, from what we are aware, the first contact Lady had had with another horse for about 20 years!
Later that day, during a walk around her new home, she took it upon herself to start trotting around as if she owned the place. She had accomplished what we all thought impossible. For a horse of 31 years, to do what she had done was a miracle of determination and stamina.
Now after several months in her new home, a new lease of life has lifted her back to a normal feeling of health and vitality. Lady has some control now. At 5am every day she yells at me to get up and give her her breakfast. And to tell you the truth, I don’t mind it one bit. Her yelling diminishes to a deep whicker when she finally sees me walk down to the stables, next to her night paddock. She gets rugged at night (to help her put on and maintain weight without too much stress to her system) and washed and hooves trimmed, just like horses should normally have. And all done without a lead rope! She just doesn’t need it. Lady stands still or walks beside me whenever we are together and where ever we go, moving around her new home without any restraint, taking control as she feels the need to.
So there you have it, a very true story of life at its best for a ‘Lady’. We are indebted to the members of Save Equus, Wesfeeds’ Tony Christiansen, Geoff Ahmat, Kim Robinson and Europa Saddleworld Maddington for helping to provide this fine old ‘Lady’ with a comfortable and respectable life.
For all horses,
Frank Smith President and Founder Save Equus