Freedom speaks Saturday: What is rescue?

The first photo is of the DOR's rescue horse Harely Darling. He was Jack's prankster playing best friend.
















This little horse is one of the ranch rescues. He reminded us of Harley and we all loved him. Pascal was let go on Thanksgiving Day when his kidneys got so bad he went into congestive heart failure. The Horse Guardian, a friend of the DOR , took wonderful care of Pascal. As they waited together for the veterinarian to arrive the Horse Guardian was crying, letting them go even when it is the right thing is hard. Pascal, even as ill as he was, tried to comfort her. He nuzzled and rubbed his head on the Horse Guardian. You see we horses care about our humans and do not want to see them unhappy or sad. Pascal loved the Horse Guardian. She showed him that not all humans were mean, she gave him back his courage, with her he found the Brio that he had in his youth. He passed away peacefully and will be laid to rest by Harley Darling and Her Royal Highness Ginger.
Now while this may seem like a sad post that isn't my purpose. You see at my old age I have seen a lot of pasture mates cross the rainbow bridge, it is part of life. What I want to talk about is what rescue is. Many people think that rescuing a horse means that a horse is taken out of a bad situation, rehabbed, trained, and moved to a forever home. That is rescue is what all rescues should turn out like. But the truth of the matter is that sometimes a rescue means taking a horse that is beyond rehabbing and giving it as many good days as you can, then granting it a peaceful end. On a rare occasion a rescue means just making final arrangements for a peaceful end. There are humans who will be happy to rescue as long as things are going to go the way they should, they are blessings to us horses. But then there are the rescuers who take on the hard cases, the horses that they know will need to be let go because they will never get well-only get better for a short period of time. These people are not only blessings, but they are true angels. Time and time again they make the last days of a horse heaven on earth before the horse crosses the rainbow bridge. The Horse Guardian is one such person...she has exceptional courage and a huge heart. I wish to thank her for all she does for us horses. I wish the Horse Guardian's heart wasn't hurting right now and I hope she knows that every horse at the ranch loves her deeply.
Life is so good! Oh and Jack told me to remember to say: Enjoy your day and don't forget to hug your DOR