One cold, snowy day my mom drove to work. As she passed a once-used pasture she spotted an animal. She stopped and looked out her window. The cold December wind rushed into the car. She squinted and as she looked closer she spotted a white pony. It all started that day.
She had seen him arrive in this 24 acre wooded lot in April, 2008. There was a herd of cattle there. The cattle disappeared in August, 2008 - pony was still there. Summer came and went; then fall. The winter winds began to blow and he was still there - alone.
Every day as she drove to and from work she saw the pony standing in the wooded field. The weather got colder and colder and her anxiety for him grew. She contacted 2 local humane societies and they said there was nothing they could do. Obviously, this little pony had shelter in the trees and a running creek and he was not malnurished, but no food. This little pony tugged at her heart time after time she drove by. One day she came home and grabbed half a bale of hay. I drove with her to the abandoned field and we threw him hay. We couldn't let him starve. We gave him as much hay as he could eat.
The winter passed and his strength amazed us. Every day he spent the night alone and every day he would graze through the snow to find the little bit of grass that was left. We always made sure that if snow covered the ground - he had hay!
Spring came and the snow melted. We searched frantically for someone who would help us bring him home legally. Finally in April, 2009, a woman from the Bureau of Animal Health and Welfare (Il Dept of Ag) found out who owned the land (she lived in Arizona), and who had leased it the summer before. The people who leased the land for their cows said he just showed up one day. That he basically was abandoned - alone for entire year in that field. The Dept of Ag said we had their permission to go ahead and take him home! So we contacted the HARPS humane society and they said they would help. We had to get him out before May or the land renters would shoot him. April came and with one hectic day he was home, in our paddock, with our herd.
I made this page for all the neglected horses out there. That after you read this, you will have a better understanding that these animals have no voice. Why should they suffer while we ignore them and believe someone else will save them? I have to wonder at how many people drove by this pony. It was a busy road. How many people did nothing? Please, please, don’t let the horses that have no voice go on suffering with uncaring owners or no owners at all. With this economy, people leaving horses free in forest preserves, dropping them off at shows, leaving them at barns, you should step up for these animals. Be assured, they return your love ten-fold.
