MAY 2020 THE RIDER /27 ^Between The Ears^


welfare of horses during the pandemic. “We all started riding on a schoolie so we owe it to them to help” says Sweet who started her riding career back in the late 70’s near Newmarket Ontario at a summer camp, where she fell in love with a bay mare named ‘Markanna’. That led her to part boarding a school horse from the Horse Lover’s Day Camp. A little chestnut gelding named


her


Helping Lesson Horses During COVID-19


‘Sam’ provided her the con- fidence she needed and con- firmed


love of


equestrian sports that re- mains strong to this day. The current goal is to help get


these unemployed


horses through this period to prevent a situation where they will need to be saved later. Sweet projects a 6-8 month survival plan is needed and recognizes that they all can’t be saved but


Jen Sweet Jess Blackwood


By Ellie Ross. I normally write


about equine behaviour and various ideas on how to modify behaviour or teach your horse new skills that enhance understanding and education, however this month, I am writing about how we need to help all the horses due to the COVID- 19 shutdown. The 2020 show season has turned into the 2020 no season and while our economy has been provided government sup- port for many businesses and unemployed work forces, there is a group of unemployed that are falling through the cracks. There are thousands of unem- ployed horses and the money to look after them is


running out fast. Lesson horses, therapy horses, race- horses, trail horses etc. have all the same basic needs and as the revenue has gone down, the welfare concerns have risen. Most equine op- erations don’t meet the cri- teria for the emergency benefits programs, so the shortfalls will be plentiful. Recognizing the urgent


need of our equine friends, Jen Sweet of Lions Bridge Stables of Ayr, along with Jessica Blackwood, came up with a plan to help the horses. They launched a website and program called ‘Helping the Schoolies’ whose goal is to distribute a pandemic relief package for each riding facility in need. Relief will be used to ensure the basic needs, health and


The Fire Horse


her, a very young foal, too young to be so far away from the mother, in my estimation. Too soon for both of them to be out in the field in my opinion. As soon as I got close to them, without any warning, she sent


the little one far from her. I thought her behaviour was strange. I watched her do this


same exercise over and over again. I turned to the owner and asked her if she did not find it


strange that the mare kept the baby so far away from her. I did not tell her that the mare had already explained why


she sent the young one away from her. The owner of the barn called me aside and this is what she


told me. She said her husband and the mare did not like each other,


as a matter of fact they had a terrible fight one day, they almost killed each other. Since that day they keep out of each others’ way. The mare had told me that he was a very cruel man, and she


kept her baby far away from him so that he would not beat the lit- tle one as he had done to her on more than one occasion. I under- stood then that the horses know the behavioural pattern of humans better than we do. I tried to find out from the human responsible for having such an impact on the horse, his version of the events which led up to him and the mare being in an all out fight. He re- fused to speak with me and walked away. Now, I am not in any way saying that men are cruel to ani-


mals, I am simply relaying what I witnessed and what was told to me by a horse and a human. I must add, I have never been to a farm where the animals


By Lauren Bode All content copyrighted


My mission statement. Having developed and practiced my talent


for years, I speak for animals. I willingly provide a voice for the non-


human creatures of our world, in the hope that I may assist them to obtain greater health, better un- derstanding of their expected roles, and better re- lationships with their human partners. Through my classes and daily contacts, I


encourage others to develop closer bonds, appre- ciation and mutual trust with animals, and a re- spect for all life in this world.


Chapter 18 I met a beautiful mare at a farm, I noticed


have complained about lack of food. Almost all boarding barns are pretty much on top of everything. The workers are mostly younger people who are very invested in the care of these animals. I am astonished at how hard they work. I also enjoy the joy on their faces when I speak with their horses. Because horses are big animals, we do not believe they feel


pain. They do, every animal feels pain, every animal is a sentient being, and just like us humans, have the same feelings. In all my visits to stables, I have never ever caught a horse


in an outright lie. Certainly, their view of their association with people and other animals may vary from our observations, but never has a horse’s declaration appeared to be a purposeful and incompatible departure from the facts as presented by its human associates. Granted, a horse may have an exalted opinion of its own abilities, or a one sided view with riders or other horses, that may not co- incide exactly with human opinion, but these are understandable variations of the story reflecting the animals “personality”.


that she had a baby trotting quite a way behind Copyright Lauren Bode • www.animaltalk.ca


many can be helped and she is helping the best way she can. Turning to veterinarians and fellow equestrians the brainstorming started that led to a FB group and website that provided immediate relief to the most urgent calls for help. The movement to help grew quickly


and at the time of this interview, there were 209 Farms and 2195 Horses registered. “Let’s get them fed and figure out the rest later” says Sweet as she reflects on the fu- ture of this overlooked industry. The support has been extraordinary


with fundraising efforts like that of Baker’s Saddlery that raised an amazing $24,000 with their online auction. The Ontario Equestrian Federation


partnered up with Sweet and has since taken over. They launched a provincial fundraiser called ‘For the Herd’ at forthe- herd.ca , recognizing that the industry will be slow to recover and many summer camps were already sold with deposits and full payments made before the COVID shutdown. It’s a business nightmare but with the added concern of living beings that need to eat and be cared for. On the first day that the OE launched their program, they received 100 applica-tions for assis- tance. The fundraising goal is $500,000 of which 5% has been raised at the time of publication. Undoubtedly, equestrian operations


will be faced with downsizing but even selling horses is proving near impossible with the inability to see or even try out horses, not to mention the drop in value due to lack of de-mand with the associated eco- nomic hardship many are enduring. “The efforts being made are simply to help assist in order to avoid catastrophic consequences for the horses. It is not a handout to pay someone’s bills” says Sweet. “The skepti- cism is understandable and the process to apply for aid is about as good as it can be given the current situation”. An un-named


barn owner stated that she has only 5 days of hay left for her hors-es but was willing to share what she had left, with another in urgent need. There are stories of operators giving up their residence and living in the dressing room of their horse trailer so they can spend their rent money on hay. The love and loyalty of the equestrian commu- nity is like no other and it extends from the dressing room living horse owner, right up the the elite of the Olympic teams. Plans are underway with the past and present Canadian Show Jumping team members who are currently gathering paraphernalia to auction off at www.32auctions.com For those needing assistance, the


process is fairly simple. Barns should register on the OE web-


site to qualify for assistance • Apply online at fortheherd.ca • The application will be screened and ver- ified • It is then entered blind into a committee comprised of non-boarding barn owners and veterinarians The assistance is to ensure that basic needs are met and each request is considered on a case by case basis. For those looking for sponsor aid, you


can also post a Free Classified Ad at horse- canada.com Anyone that can spare funds, hay, vet-


erinary, farrier services, feed etc., or can foster or sponsor a horse in need, is en- couraged to become a do-nor/sponsor via OE and can do so by filling out an online form at forthe-herd.ca The political side of this matter can’t


be forgotten either. Equestrian Cana-da has been busy lobbying government and indi- viduals are encouraged to do the same. You can find your MP at https://www.our- commons.ca/members/en and your MPP at https://www.ola.org/en/get-involved/con- tact-mpp to write to and share your con- cerns.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52