Horses - the forgotten minions of the drought.....

Let me begin by saying that I DO NOT begrudge any assistance given to farmers. I support Buy a Bale myself. Farmers rely on their stock or crops and without rain cannot live. But there is a forgotten side to this drought, one which is beginning to rear its ugly head.

The every day horse owner.

The paddocks are bare. There is no rain in sight. Your horses need to eat.

There's no hay. You can't get it for love nor money, without spending three times it's value in transport. You can't afford to buy it by the truckload, and nobody will sell it in small quantities any more. Even if you had the money, the few farmers who can afford to, will snap it up right from the paddocks it's grown in, before you get a chance to get some. Hay is sold by word of mouth in these dreadful conditions, before it's even cut. I personally cannot buy it for my 6 horses. I will be relying on chaff and hard feed this winter. It's going to be rough.

There's no drought assistance for horse owners. There's no celebrity-driven, charity hay runs for horse owners. Our pockets bleed money just trying to keep your precious creature(s) fed. Things start to fall by the wayside. Shoeing? Nah, he needs to eat, his feet can wait another week....or two....or three! Dentist? Nah, he needs to eat, he isn't showing signs of dental issues, so better put that money into feed. Ribs? No, those aren't ribs, he's just in "paddock condition."

Sell them, I hear you say? To whom, I ask you! It's a dreadful market to sell. Every day horse owners don't have high end horses, and the current fad of buying the desperately ill ones in droves from the sales (under the auspices of "rescue") leaves the every day horse owner stuck. Plus, if you're out west, like me, nobody wants to travel all that way when there are plenty of nice, fat horses available for bargain prices, in areas where it is actually raining. Not many options left.....feed them what you can scrounge, take them to a sale (usually quite far away), or euthanise them. The hard reality of drought.

There's no denying that welfare organisations are seeing the run-on effects. Horses are being surrendered, and owners are crying out for help. They are going to sales in large numbers, in less than optimal condition, in the hope of either finding a decent home who can feed them, or ending their starving misery. Others are slowly fading in paddocks, supply of feed unable to keep up with demand.

So next time you see an item on the news, or on facebook, about the drought - remember the horses, the forgotten victims of this horrendous drought. It's a pity that the welfare organisations don't raise money to buy a truckload of hay to sell at cost price to their local horse owners - instead of buying more horses and then crying poor! That'd be a better way to get supporters, who will surely give back when this terrible drought breaks. I'd support that. Like a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" kinda deal.

Come on horse owners! Let's get together and support our own! Restore Cynical Horse's faith in the horse community......