By GRAHAM SPIERS of Scotland on Sunday
“I can’t imagine my life without them”
“It’s “Feel Good Sunday” and as I write from across one great ocean I would like to share a story from across another; a story of love from Scotland. Half a world away, the feelings and compassion are no different than that which is felt by North American companions to equines. It is truly the Force of the Horse that binds us and not only allows us to enjoy and celebrate thier company but empowers us with the responsibility to appropriately provide and take care of their needs. Please sit back, relax and prepare for another week of battle, the war is not over but the end is in sight.” ~ R.T.
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EVERY morning at 7am, whether there is early summer sunshine or spitting winter rain, Aileen Allan crawls from her warm Ayrshire bed and pulls on scruffy clothes or a boiler-suit before heading outside. She does this just about 365 days a year, all because she loves her horses.
Last week I got to know Jack, a 26-year-old Clydesdale cross and his two companions, a pair of Shetland ponies called Hector and Sunflower, as they stamped about in the stable anticipating Aileen’s arrival. It is a beautiful scene, witnessing the love and trust that can exist between a human and a horse.
Allan, an inspector for a major British food supplier, has owned a horse since she was 19. “The happiest times of my life have been around horses,” she says. “By nature, a horse is an animal of flight, it is a wary animal, and yet they come to trust you implicitly. I can’t imagine my life without them.”
Jack, something of an old clod-hopping scruff to an equine-layman like me, is a fine beast. He is incredibly friendly, and enjoys that human touch much advocated by the horse whisperers whereby you rub your hand against the grain of his hair on that long neb between his eyes.
As Allan busies herself around him – cleaning, feeding, mucking out – Jack looks well contented at her familiar presence.
I’ve grown to love the clip-clop companionship of horses since my family and I moved out to the country. They pass by our front door producing their familiar stomping percussion, and my children rush to our window and shout “look, it’s Alfie!” or “hey, there’s Edward!” There are few greater sights than the regal, upright horse out for its daily ride.
All sorts are drawn to horses and their companionship. In Allan’s case, now 20-plus years a horse lover and keeper, there was no early farm-life which imbued in her a love of the creatures.
“I grew up in Paisley,” she says. “When I was a kid there were always horses in the outlying fields, and my dad and I would cycle out to see them and feed them. It was my dad’s Saturday and Sunday chore for me.
“There was something about horses that I really enjoyed. I started going pony-trekking, and I asked for a horse at every Christmas and every birthday of my youth – but I never got one. I was one of four kids and my parents felt it would be unfair to lavish such an expense on me.
“So when I started working, I saved up and bought my first horse when I was 19. She was a black Shetland pony called Pepsi because she was dark and full of fizz.”
Today Allan’s life is woven around her horses, and the time and cost can be expensive. She has to rent a local stable near Dunlop and she sees Jack, Hector and Sunflower first thing in the morning and last thing before dusk, and often in between. Her devotion to them, it seems to me, is some sort of amalgam of joy, labour of love, and mucky necessity.
“It is exceptionally hard work, and it is 365 days a year. Horses don’t take days off. Some days you wake up and you are warm and snug in bed, but you know you’ve got to get up at 6.30am to go and tend to your horse. It can be tough.
“It can also be an expensive hobby. Once you’ve bought the horse, you have to insure it, pay for livery, pay for feed, for vets fees, for annual vaccinations, for blacksmiths, for saddle, for bridle… the list goes on and on.
“Every six weeks a blacksmith costs me £60. I’ve just bought hay for about £200 – that might last a few months. My livery costs me £160 a month. My feed for Jack, Hector and Sunflower probably costs £30 a month. Over 12 months it all adds up, plus your vet fees on top.”
But, Allan insists, it is all worth it, for the deep bond that grows between a horse and its keeper. And with that trust comes a heavy human responsibility.
There have been some horrendous cases recently of human abuse of horses, where the RSPCA, acting on tip-offs, have found neglect and dire stable conditions, with horses bleeding or suffering. Owners have been banned from keeping the animals.
Allan says that a caring horse-owner will know and appreciate the vulnerability of the creatures.
“It’s actually against everything in a horse’s nature to allow you to sit on them. But they come to trust you that nothing will go wrong for them – that you will keep them away from danger. On a road your horse learns to trust you, if a car or a van goes past. It’s a special relationship. ”
Sharing the yard with Allan’s beasts are Charlie and Ricki, two horses owned by Rachel McKenzie, an 18-year-old university student who fits her academic life – and everything else – around her love for her animals.
McKenzie has the same outlook as Allan. The weather might be howling, but there she is, at the stables soon after dawn to be met by the excitement of her horses.
To see her lovingly and patiently tend to Charlie and Ricki is to wonder anew at a horse’s ability to capture the human heart. The lowest estimate of the number of horses in the UK is 600,000 so there’s a lot of love out there.
Ricki is a Shetland pony who, in the muck of the field, sometimes looks a tad drookit, with his wet hair slapped over his eyes. Years ago he was swapped for a dining room table by McKenzie’s parents when, as she put it herself, he seemed unwanted and was on the verge of being turned into dog food.
Charlie, a thoroughbred, is a former jump-horse, with quite a bit of cheek about him. McKenzie is smitten, as she has been by horses since she was a toddler. Her horses are certainly smitten by her.
“I’ve had opportunities to turn my back on horses, but I never have, and never could,” she says. “You build a relationship with a horse. You get to understand it, and it gets to understand you. I agree with Aileen – horses have a live-in-the-wild instinct and are easily spooked, so you have to calm them and look out for them. If a tree rustles, a horse can get spooked.
McKenzie almost speaks of a horse in a way that a man or a woman might refer back to a long-gone amoureuse.
“The love of my life was Beau, my pony who died a few years back,” she says. “We had a great time together, a great trust in each other. He gave me so much confidence. It took me two years to find another horse – in terms of me feeling the same way towards him – before I finally got Charlie.
“It sounds a bit ridiculous, but that’s how you are with your horse.”
So what is it like being the spouse or partner of someone so devoted to their horse? Well, to a degree you need to buy into it. It is impossible to imagine one half of a relationship being so devoted to a horse while the other remains uninterested, especially when a significant chunk of a family budget is set apart for them.
In Allan’s case, her partner Stephen has gradually come round, not just to accepting them, but also to being moved by them as well.
“Stephen isn’t really into horses – he doesn’t get it,” she says. “A while back one of my horses was really quite ill and I told him, ‘it’s going to cost £1,000 to get him booked into the vet hospital.’ Stephen said to me, ‘no way, we can’t do that’. But then when he saw the horse and its distress he said, ‘I don’t care what this costs… we’ll pay whatever it is to put him right.’
“Once you get involved with a horse, and you come to love it, you come to accept the costs.”
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Categories: Horse News, The Force of the Horse
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
Very nice story. Any animals which we own, become part of our family. Caring for them, in “sickness and health,” is a moral obligation.. You do this, because you care..
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They hit it on the nail!
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True commitment is what it takes to build a bond.
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Once I left hospice, by the grace of God, I moved to a small farm and adopted 2 rescue horses. The therapy, both physical and mental, was beyond what most can understand. They gave me a reason to exist. I had to get up every morning, I had to feed them and make sure they had clean water, I had to become Alpha to two 900 lb horses. They gave me strength, a new sense of responsibility, a feeling of self worth. You see once you’ve faced death you begin to question why it was you weren’t taken. For what purpose did God give me another chance? I’m told it mean’s there was something I needed to accomplish before I could move on.
Recently I had another scare medically which caused me to leave the farm and find the horses a really good home. I’ve moved into the hustle bustle of town but still get to visit the ‘boys’. When I’m not having a good day I ride out to see them, to pet them, to talk to them. Even now they make life bearable.
Horses are healers. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the fact that something so big can be so gentle and loving. It’s an example set by God and Nature we should all attempt to emulate.
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Glad you can get to see them when you want to, Steve! Stay strong.
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Steve I think they rescued you not you them.
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I am sorry that you had to give up your farm, and share the feelings others are expressing that we are grateful you can still visit your boys. I hope that you will continue to enjoy a level of health that guides you back to them.
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Beautiful story. I could relate to so much of it. Thanks for the uplift.
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Horses have been healers since the dawn of time, they are capable of entering your very soul, they help you to define yourself, understand yourself, they can heal your mind with the grace of their mystical qualities that no other possesses all of this done with no meds !!! who else can make 630 in the morning such a blessed experience to which aLL OF US LOOK FORWARD TO??????? How could something so huge so powerful be so endearing and loving ????? The answer can only be they are a gift of love and learning , they have taught most of us the very meaning of trust , love ,pride , courage, and their most precious gift of all their spirit , over the years no one being has been made to suffer so needlessly as the Horse………..His spirit has not been broken not even once, he is a powerhouse of it !!!!! A higher power brought him to us and is not about to falter him, we are here to help him , and help him and free him to Roam Free as was always intended , and free him we will. !!!!! For the Love of a Horse !!!!!
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Wonderful story.
Only sad thing is that the $uey’s and Doink’s of the world wouldn’t understand a word of it, much more the spirit of it. They never will. Hopefully and soon, it won’t matter what they (or try to) think.
Those folks (in the article) respect horses and have a bond and sense of commitment beyond the killers’ brain capabilities, much more human empathy of which the killers possess none.
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Since it’s Sunday, an “amen” or two is in order. So “amen” to Arlene and “amen” to Steve’s “Horses are healers. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the fact that something so big can be so gentle and loving. It’s an example set by God and Nature we should all attempt to emulate.”
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I think it odd how so much of the world would have no problem with the notion of gassing up, housing and keeping in fine tune a luxury car, or a art collection, or a sprawling house. But the “work” of paying for and keeping a horse is viewed as almost a sacrifice of questionable merit!!
As for the “work”—for this we are made! Sitting on our hind-ends is making the human race a very unhealthy lot, while we continue to bend elbow at the table far in excess of need. Thank goodness there are still those who find joy and reward in this work and get a lot of love and satisfaction from their charges in return.
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I went to the Indian Springs/Broken Arrow facility tour on Friday. Suffice to say that the facility manager and I clashed. I have NO RESPECT for him. I asked him why don’t you quit rounding up horses, hire people to get in here to take proper care of the horses and do tours. This was in response to his statement that there is no money to hire folks. He UNCORKED! I feel bad for the horses because if he uncorked on me within minutes of seeing me (to my knowledge he didn’t even know my name–I hadn’t told him)what would he do to a horse that didn’t move fast enough for him? Maybe he has paperwork skills (my old boss was that way)but his people skills are less than acceptable.
But I’d like to tell you of the many horses I saw who so desperately want outta there. They get little to no spotlight. They live outside year round with no wind breaks and no shelters. Nothing’s change since Laura documentated Hope and Courage who both died in the winter of 2010 due to hoof sloughing.
I saw several beautiful gorgeous gray horses. Not really dapples more a solid gray. Kinda like a gray roan coloring. I saw red roans, maybe a medicine hat or two. (not really sure how a medicine hat is defined). I saw stunning blacks. Sooty buckskins like the one in Las Vegas. Not grulla. Kinda a mousy colored dun coloring. Gee it’s hard to describe!
Some were pretty scared and ran off. Others kinda jerked their heads back. But when I called easy easy– they just stopped and looked at me like–a friendly voice? You’re not gonna hurt me? I know that’s anthropromorphic but I don’t know how else to describe it.
Most of them looked at me like what is that clicky box you have? (camera). They seemed so CURIOUS. Ears up and so attentive. Just begging someone to be their friend and get them the hell outta there.
Indian Springs is the overflow holding pen. It’s mostly closed to visitors year round. Sad and depressing. These press get so little networking cause we can’t get in there to get pics.
It’s 320 acres and can hold 2850 horses. They have to leave room for moving horses around. Right now they have about 2600 horses. Horse’s that should be free. That would cost the taxpayer zero. But we are paying for them to be warehoused.
I think the hay looked pretty decent. But they feed all alfalfa which I don’t think is a really good choice considering these are wild horses and not domesticate. Supposedly when they first come in they feed a more grass hay and gradually introduce them to alfalfa.
Sadly I sat next to a woman who is pro slaughter. But I called her on it. She was telling me how the VA range roses are starving. That did I want them to starve? My reply to her statements was “great. You want NDoA to come in, round them up, ship them to slaughter? NICE” (nice was said VERY facetiously)
While I got booted off the afternoon tour–which is a whole nother story–I’m happy I waited cause I got to see Laura. She looks great. She looks almost rested. She’s spending a week in Reno getting ready for Court. Elyse came down from Northern CA–she over since I last saw her. And Cat also showed up. I was VERY happy to be with other advocates who understood how I felt.
Court next week for Laura is part of her First Amendment case. This is the one that Judge Hicks denied with prejudiced (meaning she couldn’t bring it back to be re-heard). Thats what prompted the Ninth Court of Appeals. And they said that Judge Hicks did not apply the law correctly. I hope I’ve explained this correctly so I don’t confuse this more than it is. Law suits can be very confusing! This case is REALLY important. Please think good thoughts for Laura and Mr. Cowan.
The other neat thing was I stopped at Wal Mart. I know. I do feel bad about how Wal Mart treats their employees but they have this proprietary line of V8 juice that I really like and CA doesn’t carry it! Anyway at the Fernley Wal Mart I found 11 bottles of my juice! YYYIIIPPPPPPPEEEEEEE!
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Great insight Margaret. I especially appreciate the mentioning that they can house 2850 horses on 320 acres. Now I understand completely that they feed hay but still that’s .112 acres per horse. Hardly room to move. Yet they can’t allow 900 horses to roam free on 575,000 acres…HUMPH!
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roses–horses
she over–she’s moved
My iPad again! Sorry for the typos! My computer is down…
I’m hoping to get pics resized, uploaded somewhere and I hope I can help network these horses in my own little way.
Just a thought here RT–do you have a way to load photos here so we can network from here? Or is there a bandwidth issue? I can certainly send pics to you or Terry.
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Beautiful story on a beautiful day. (-: Only those who have been around horses, I believe, truly understand their nature and their wonderful williingness to please, when shown trust, patience and love. Arlene and Steve hit the nail on the head “Horses are healers” and you don’t get better than that! (-:
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Beautiful story and you are so right I cannot see myself without my horses they mean the world to me, every time I have to say goodbye to one I have to get another. They are such good friends and companions they love us as much as we love them. People that want them slaughtered and keep saying they love horses are heartless people.
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Every time I go to the farm to see the gifts God has put in front of me to love and care for, I thank God again and again for finally granting me the wish I wished for before I even took my very first breath.
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The horses own me–no way around it. They set the schedule, they watch the neighborhood,they escort the stray cats/dogs off the property,they supervise my barn work. According to a friend, this is the policy for trail rides “50% of the time the horse does what she wants, the other 50% ,I do what the horse wants!” Once you know and follow their rules, it all works out.
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Isn’t that the truth! I use to direct my horse to the trail and after that he navigated the WHOLE thing!
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Margaret , Hheeehehehehehhe to funny but true !!!!!!!
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This is a nice article but Scotland has been sending 5000 horses a week to slaughter this past summer because of falling prices. All of the EU countries send horses to slaughter even if they don’t eat the meat just like the US does. I get a news letter from one of the horse charity’s in the UK and they are trying to get a lot of the cruelty that is involved in the hauling of horses long distances stopped just like we have tried to do but to no avail. But I saw photos of horses taken inside one of the slaughter trucks and it looked pretty good next to what happens to the horses here. The horses were separated from one another by a wall they could see over and there was no crowding. What the complaint was about is no food or water and not being rested for the long trip. I have sent them emails asking why they don’t attempt to try to stop horses from England being sent to slaughter but they never answer any of them. As far as I know horse meat isn’t on the menu in the UK.
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What a lovely post and I can so identify with it – and the work and expense! I’ve never had a lot of money and don’t come from a horsey family, but saved up for five years for my first horse which I bought when I was 21,and have not been without a horse since, although I don’t have my own land and the field and buldings I rent are half an hour’s car journey from where I live now. I’ve had to do without regular holidays and luxuries but to me my two horses are worth every sacrifice. My black Welsh cob Harri, and my little endurance mare Sal – who I lost a few years ago when she was 34 years old – are immortalised in my fantasy novella ‘Dancing With Fate’and I’m currently working on another novella which will feature my other horse, a paint mare, T’pau. Horses! Wew love them don’t we and they take over our lives, but in the best possible way. Your last sentence says it all!
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Sorry if I seemed to ignore the posts on here about the concern for mustangs and horses destined for the meat trade. I’m very concerned about these issues myself – but I’m not used to WordPress and my comment was in answer to the post about Aileen Allan. It’s heartbreaking, as a UK horselover, to hear of all the terrible things that are happening to the American mustang. You’d think ‘the powers that be’ would want to preserve this beautiful icon of America, and protect them, rather than treat them as vermin. As for the meat trade – sadly this is something I think many countries need to address. We’ve been campaingning for more ethical treatment of animals, including horses, which are transported for slaughter, hopefully one day someone will listen.
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is there a directory of places to stay near/with horses for holidays or to live – that is also connected to spirirual journeys-retreats etc ?
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