There is no doubt in my mind that nearly everyone is feeling the pinch of our struggling economy right now. Many of us have had to step back and evaluate where cutbacks and sacrifices can be made in order to get by. Whether it manifests itself through cutting coupons, carpooling to reduce gas consumption, or going without the "extras" we can all come up with creative ways to be more thrifty in trying times.

Those of us in horse rescue also have to find opportunities to save and scrounge. The cost of hay continues to increase and going into what promises to be a difficult winter, the future sometimes looks bleak.

But there's another way some are cutting back that has directly impacted horse rescue. Forced to make sacrifices in order to feed family or pay the bills, horse owners are surrendering - or worse, abandoning - their horses at an alarming rate. In times like these, I imagine a horse can seem to some like a luxury or commodity that they can or must do without. And while I cannot fathom being without my own horse, I understand the desperation some must feel when they don't know how they're going to feed or care for their horses.

I'm grateful that People Helping Horses and other organizations exist for people like that. I'm glad that we are a safe haven for these horses when their owners surrender them. Unfortunately, not all of the stories are this simple. Take Lucky, a sweet mare who just came to us -- shot just above the eye (bullet still lodged in when she was discovered), she was abandoned at a public trail head and left for dead with another horse. She survived but the other horse did not. As I stroked her gentle face the other day, I could not begin to fathom why anyone would believe this a rational or reasonable thing to do.

Sacrifice in difficult times is understandable. Cruel neglect and abandonment is not.

I'll never understand why people do things like that. Having just spent an intensive two-day clinic this past weekend with my horse, Tuff, I'm even more convicted in my heart that I would do anything to keep him in my life. And not only that, but everything to make sure his quality of life is as good as possible. Even if it means making sacrifices in my own life to ensure that (I cringe every time I see my odometer when I make the nearly 100 mile roundtrip drive to see him).

But the reward of being near him, experiencing everything he selflessly offers, the pure joy I elicit just from running my hand down his soft neck? Irreplaceable and something on which no pricetag could ever be placed.

I know times are tough in our country right now. But we owe it not just to ourselves, but to these precious horses, to find a way to be there for them. To do right by them. Sometimes that means stepping back and acknowledging that you can't offer them the life they deserve - and surrendering them to a rescue or someone who will be able to.

If you give even a little bit of yourself to your horse, you will be amazed at the ways in which they return that devotion. I can't think of anything more worthy of a little bit of sacrifice than that.