I don’t usually post links to rescues as there are just so many of them and it makes my head spin and heart break. But a gal posted to FB and I checked it out. The account of this one opened and run by a young, 20 year old girl, struck a chord with me. Her photos of horses at New Holland do not depict the horrific scenes that are normally posted.

She talks of those horses who have given their hearts to their humans and then, for one reason or another, have ended up in Pennsylvania in the “yard” for auction or direct shipment to Canada for slaughter.

I think of the horses that have come to PENZANCE — unwanted for one reason or another but had and have so much more to give.

Blackie, my first horse of my very own, unwanted because the owner ‘outgrew’ him.We had him for just a short time when life threw a curve ball. Blackie was then delivered to two small boys on Christmas day with a big, red ribbon around his neck.

Bub, what can I say? He was one in a million. Given up because of serious health issues that were masked when I first saw him. Once those issues were revealed to me I promised never to let him go again and he stayed with me until the day he passed some  years ago at the age of 32. We traveled thousands of miles together and he taught hundreds of children how to love, care for and ride a horse.His gentle, wise nature endeared him to so many. I miss him dearly.

Ginger, the Horse That Made People Cry, ran away from her ‘home’, not once, but twice to come to PENZANCE at the age of 36.  And from 36 to age 40, she was the best ‘schooling’ horse for us but not ‘schooling’ in the traditional sense. She brought the air of dignity, beauty, self worth and most of all love to so many women in those 4 short years. Even though her physical body gave up at 40, her spirit still heals.

Dorian, a retired OTTB, who at the age of 18, was going to be sent “to the meat wagon” if he wasn’t adopted ‘that day’. After racing for 6 years, winning a large amount of money over those years, he ended up a ‘trail horse’ but was known as the “Psycho” horse — the one no one wanted. He wasn’t ‘psycho’ but extremely sensitive. Truly, he was a great sage and continues to plant treasured thoughts in my heart and soul.

Holly came to PENZANCE chronically foundered and unwanted. She had been left out in a large pasture of tall, lush grass and basically untended. Though Holly wasn’t *my* horse she was a dear, dear friend who belonged to my dear friend Jane. She recovered from her foundered state and became a most animated teacher and ‘girlfriend’. Shortly after she arrived we found out that “Holly” was the young lady’s first horse — and that young lady was not only our neighbor but a friend, as well. Coincidence?

Misty — what a grand soul she was. The ‘matriarch’ of PENZANCE — she looked out over the herd with an air of “Don’t mess with me or mine!” . A long, complicated story  – I won’t go into it here but suffice to say that she was *the* horse who saved our daughter’s life. She came into our lives, into our daughter’s life, when she couldn’t have been more needed. Simply, but surely not only, for that I will always be grateful to Misty. Misty arrived in our family on her hind legs, totally green, yet carried our daughter to blue ribbons after a mere 90 days of little girl love and training. She left PENZANCE with Dorian, just a couple of months ago, in old age and ill-health. DSLD and Cushings are not pretty dis-eases but Misty will always be grand and beautiful to all who knew her.

Cheyenne — our 7 year old Mustang girl, was on a one way trip to the slaughterhouse after being deemed dangerous and a ‘killer’. She wasn’t either and nor is she now. Instead, she’s now a “pocket-pony” who still has fear of the saddle and humans on her back but will reach her lips out so carefully to give a kiss and wait patiently to get a treat. She’s the first at the gate to welcome visitors  and will spend hours just standing quietly next to someone who ‘accepts’ her as she is.

Tamilyn, also 7 years old, came from a PMU ‘factory’ on 3000 acres in Manitoba, CAN when she was just a wee 5 months old.  Scared, missing her Mom, and oh so tired after a week-long trailer trip to get here, she is now a big, beautiful, loving Chestnut sorrel mare who has taken over the herd “alpha” role since Misty passed. She does a good job but is clearly still learning. Very vibrant, full of life and love – Tami is such a treasure.

Rusty, a little 28″ half-pint Pony, arrived on PENZANCE full of pee and vinegar! At just a short yearling he had been on the way to the Rainbow Bridge for behavior that was just not safe or sane. The truth is — he was just a misunderstood, frightened little toddler. He  has blossomed into a 3 year old shadow of Cheyenne. He, too, will trot up to the gate at the first sound of a visitor. He and Cheyenne, the two most terrified when they got here and now the two most outgoing and biggest ‘clowns’.

And of course we have Cider and Crackers and Amahl … Amahl is almost 50 and a small, spry old guy — he’s not a horse, tho, but a Sicilian Donkey whose life mission is to make humans L.A.U.G.H. !! How can anyone hear his bray and not laugh! And God forbid one does not greet *him* properly — he’ll wait til your back is turned that come right up and goose ya with his head! “Hey! You didn’t say Hello to ME!

Cider and Crackers are not ‘rescues’, per se, but are rescuers for many who meet them. For those adults who never learned how to play, Cider and Crackers have the best grown-up games in the world! The smiles they cause to happen around here are just as precious and healing than anything else.  Like Rusty, they are short, round little fuzz-balls standing at 32″ and 38″. They are ‘ambassadors’ for Personal Ponies LTD., and very special program for those children who are ‘specially abled.” They came to PENZANCE back in 1999 for ‘training’ and have never left. Children and adults alike absolutely adore these two characters and they simply eat up the attention they get!

And then there are Frosty, CD and others — who have come to PENZANCE for a short stay in their journey  to loving homes.  They all had something to share and give the humans in their lives.

I wish I could ‘save them all’ but, as with children, one at a time will have to do.  The critters here at PENZANCE all have individual missions and when their missions are complete they will move on. But rest assured, they’ll never have to see the likes of New Holland yards – not in my lifetime.

God Bless those who save horses from auction and slaughter. God Bless those who give the horses the love and care they deserve for all the love and blessings they brought to their former humans. I pray that if I’m ever in a position where I cannot care for the herd members here that there are angels in disguise who will keep them the circle of love that abounds in angel hearts.

They have so much to give.