We have a horse in the rescue right now....beautiful older girl named Jolene. She came to us from a lady whose father had just died - he had owned this gorgeous mare and had her out in pasture for years with little to no "peer interaction" or mental stimulation. She's not "broke" to ride and has really never even had a saddle on her back. She basically sat out in pasture and only received attention/stimulation when the neighborhood kids came and gave her treats - which she adores, as most horses do.
I haven't interacted with her much - as a matter of fact, she's spent a good deal of time sick since she came to the barn. But one of my last visits up there, my heart really went out to this beautiful and, I think, greatly misunderstood animal. Which is ironic because on the last visit, she nipped at my shoulder and pushed both Gretchen and Amber away. They shook their heads in frustration and we walked away from her... but I glanced back and my heart just wrenched... "It's not her fault" I wanted to plead with no one in particular. I've watched her nip at the neighboring horses and startle away from a gentle touch. While many would dismiss her as just being a crotchety old "nag", I see so much more in her. The woman she is most familiar with - her former owner's daughter - brings her apples sometimes. I watched one day while the woman stood just outside of the barn entrance, talking on her cell phone. Jolene's nose pressed against the stall and she listened intently, obviously recognizing her voice and anxiously attentive to what she was doing.
It all served to remind me how sensitive and complex these animals are and how often their own "quirks" and personalities mirror human behavior. Horses are "flight" animals and react and operate according to that nature - they're not aggressors and act out generally only if they are truly afraid. And it saddens me to see such a beautiful horse as this who has learned to be mistrustful, solitary, and wary because someone didn't love her enough to provide the basic attention and things that she needed. You can write them off as simple, dumb animals that only need food and water to survive, but you do them - and ultimately yourself - a great disservice. Just like a child that went for years without the love and comfort that are essential to growth and basic functionality in life, Jolene is proof that a horse can also experience pain and heartache and lash out because of it in ways that are hard to comprehend.
Neglect can manifest itself in ways less obvious than the picture of a starving and ill horse left to waste away. Neglect is about witholding even more than just physical needs. It's my hope that through the rescue, horses like Jolene, who are jaded and world weary, would come to experience pure and unadulterated love....no judgment...love that is available to them for just being.