SteveR Loc: Michigan

I always enjoy a story with a good ending. When my children were young we decided to get a dog. I went to the local pound several times before I came across Suzie. She was a mature pup (?). They thought she was a border collie/sheltie mix, and she was a wonderful, peaceful, yet active dog. For three months she didn't want anything to do with me, although she was friendly with my wife and kids. I figured that she'd had a bad experience with her previous male owner, but, eventually she realized that I wasn't him.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

I'm glad your dog came around to you. I adopted a dog once (4 months old) that had been kicked repeatedly by her single male owner. She literally trembled when she saw a man, so I took her home, walked in and put her right in my husband's lap. He hugged her until she stopped trembling. She adored him but never got over trembling when any other man walked in.
I now have a 3 pound Yorkie that was not abused until he was 2 years old and then abused for 6 years. It took him 2 weeks to realize he's the boss. I've had him for 9 years. He's 17 now.

Reuss Griffiths Loc: Ravenna, Ohio

Jo, did I get your name right. Thought I saw someone call you that. You're getting into the sh@*y end of the horse industry, the unwanted horse. Used to be about 130,000 a year that were sent to slaughter. Many organizations opposed this and got horse slaughter banned in this country so these horses were shipped to Mexico and Canada for the same purpose which actually made the situation worse. But they got shipping for purposes of slaughter banned as well, which put a cork in the bottle which ends up with people like your neighbor keeping a horse he really didn't want and you know the result. Until recently, I was the regulatory affairs chairman for the Ohio Horseman's Council (4000 members) and followed all of this to keep our members up to date on what needs doing.

The reason I'm going on about this is there is another horse issue that doesn't get much attention but involves literally 50,000 horses or more; the wild horse. Protected by the Wild, Free-Roaming Horse and Burro Act, they are to be managed and protected by the BLM (Bureau of Land Management, not Black Lives Matter). To control the sizes of free-roaming herds, they round up over 1000 horses a year and keep them in pens. They have an adoption program but only move on a few hundred a year. There are over 60,000 wild horses in pens across the US. There are a lot of horse organizations and rescues that oppose this, but in my estimation, the one that is the most effective by far is a California horse rescue called Return to Freedom. Not only do they have their own herd of wild horses (500+) but they actively work with the federal government to require BLM to try on-range sterilization programs instead of round ups. You should google return to freedom and see what they are up to. I've been following them for years and am very impressed. Thanks in large part to organizations like RTF, the number of unwanted horses is down to about 10,000-15,000 a year now.

Horseart Loc: Alabama

Yes, Jo is correct. Husband was Joe.
I remember all of this as we raised horses for almost 60 years. We often had 30 to 40 at a time but wound up one year with 77. I have birthed more foals than most human Doctors have birthed babies.
I think RTF should have started long before it did. I pray that this will eventually get the numbers of unwanted down to NIL!!!! That's a lot to wish for but though I know it will take a really long time, I see no reason why it can't be done.
We raised champion bred Tennessee Walking Horses but sold most of ours to be used as flat shod show horses or trail horses. Horses have been a huge part of my life since I started painting them at 4 years old. I went through all the stages, from raising, breaking to ride, training, showing and curing bad habits in other people's horses that were caused by PEOPLE!!!! I still paint them and have been blessed to have sold everything I ever painted. At my age and since my husband passed away 4 years ago, I knew I could not keep up a big house, big barn, pastures and horses and continue to paint, so I gave up the horses, downsized, moved to town and I miss them terribly! I can ride about any time I want to at a friend's place, but I've gotten slower and the painting takes most of my time now. Thanks for looking and for the news that sounds so much better for the horses!!!