This makes me so ANGRY!

Most of the time I'm a pretty laid back person and can take things in stride. But, there are a few things I get really, really angry about. Animal abuse and child abuse top my list.

For the past few years I've been trying to get something done about my neighbor's horses. I've reported them and I've provided hay for them (at no charge) when they were out. I've written about them previously here. This spring one of the three starving horses died after she got caught in their barbed wire fence and no one noticed she was missing for days.

This morning, the two remaining animals showed up on my farm and of course sent MY horses into a tizzy.

This is what I saw walking down my driveway:

This is Snickers, he is an Arabian cross and not older than 15. The POA in the background is Arrow, he doesn't look nearly as bad as Snickers.

There is absolutely no excuse, ever, for any animal to ever, ever look like this. None. People who are less informed may chalk this kind of condition up to age.

I've heard it more than once "You can't keep weight on old horses. They are just skinny."

Bullshit.

This isn't age. This is purely neglect and starvation and it doesn't happen over night. A body condition like this does not happen because you ran out of good hay for a week or two. This happens when you consistently don't feed quality feed or, heck, even bother to feed them at all.

Yes, older horses take more care, more calories, more hands-on maintenance and regular vet/dental care to keep them from getting to this point. Chief is 25. He looks fabulous, and is perhaps a bit on the too fat side. It takes a careful eye and adjusting of his diet to keep him healthy, but I do it because that's my responsibility. Period. I took on an aged horse knowing full well he could become expensive to maintain as he grew older.

I have dealt with horses who have a hard time holding weight. Star was one of those. I had to constantly pack the calories in her and keep the fat and protein in her diet fairly high, just to prevent her from becoming a walking rack of bones. Was it cheap? Hell no. Was it easy? Not a bit. Did I get to the point where she held her weight and looked GOOD? You betcha.

I have filed a report about these horses with the Sheriff's department and animal control. I can only hope they will do something to get these horses out of this situation. They deserve better.