Why we do what we do

I haven't been here in a bit to add to this blog and i decided what should have been done is talking about why I personally started this rescue. People have their reasons why they do this and some i have seen have there hearts and minds in the right places others sad to say they dont.
Our family has been into horses many years, never really took a look at how others where caring for their horses because we lived in our own happy little world, everything was perfect there.
My reason for getting into this? Well...you can say I'm not the rescuer here, it is the horses that rescue me. For all those who ask me why? Here's your answer.
Many years ago while in the US Navy i was injured in a damage control simulator, injury was to the right side of my body, i was paralyzed, i couldn't even brush my own hair let alone take care of anyone else. 18 months of physical therapy, mental and physical pain far beyond any normal human can handle i struggled every day to get out of bed. I was diagnosed with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome, Fibromyagia Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (this i got from a shot i got while in the military 80% of those who got this shot got this diagnoses), and Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. I'm not going to go into detail because it would take forever but these are trauma related pain disorders that have no cure, hence the word Syndrome. Lets just put it this way, I'm in pain 24/7 i dont remember what having no pain feels like. After a few years deal with this learning to use the right side again and trying to figure why i was still alive, what my purpose was because you know we all need one i seek out a new adventure. I went to work with our local fire dept...Loved it, oh my i cant explain how being able to help people, being able to walk into a burning building and walking back out alive does to you. Now i dont think I'm some sort of superhero but it does give you the feeling of power you can do anything and survive it. This last many years until...while directing traffic at a traffic accident i was struck by a one ton truck...Ok maybe i have a target on my forehead that says hurt me i can take it. So needless to say here we go again, i still do not feel parts of my body but have learned through the years how to do things differently. I spend more time trying to get myself together and i decide I'm going to get me a couple of horses, i missed having them around and we have plenty of space here.
Here's where it starts, I'm out and about looking at horses and i see things, things to me just dont seem right. I have a friend with me who has been riding and training well over 40 years and she pulls me aside, we have to get this horse out of here whatever it takes. So i purchase the horse loved her dearly how anyone could hurt her is beyond me. I didn't own her long because she passed on Aug 2nd, 2009 she was older and i gave her the best few last years of her life, she never knew pain or hunger, only love. Purchasing this horse got me thinking, i should look into getting a rescue started, maybe this was what i was meant to do. Paperwork and more paperwork to get this 501c3 and not to mention the money, lots of it. I started taking in horses, i believe at first it was a dozen, then one or two sliding in here and there. People who know me and know i will take care of the horses started telling other people and here i am two years later and I'm moving horses in and out of here. I'm so grateful that the people who have adopted the horses from here are so good i want to move in with them also LOL. There have been return visits and one adopted three from me. I believe in being honest with folks, if the horse is crazy i will tell you, there is no need to call 911 because of some bad behavior a horse has and it hurts someone, that firefighter in me is still rescuing people.
People often ask me how do you do it? I just tell them being disabled hasn't stopped me from living its those who curl up in a ball and pity themselves are not living, they are just surviving. Sure i do things different but i have adapted to my limitations and its those whinnies and big brown eyes that give me my purpose, it makes all the aches and pains of everyday worth it. Granted i do have bad days and with the help of my board members and volunteers we make miracles happen here.
My plan is to get a therapeutic riding program for disabled adults and children, they need to have this feeling i get from working with these horses, i cant even express in words how they make me feel. Pure love comes from theses horses, they dont ask for much, only a full belly, a little love and attention and they give back 110% more than you put out.
Our Ranch Foreman is a paraplegic, he is paralysed from his upper chest on down, my goal is to get him on a horse. Everyday that man is out there working with the horses, i know he has bad days too. He told me one time, this just breaks my heart to say but that he felt like half a person, he had no purpose and I hope now he feels as i do, these horses love him. The first horse we got basically was his, everyone picks a horse out here to tend to as their own till they are adopted, i figured this was the best way for the horses to get more one on one time with someone. When she passed he was it her and she left behind a 2 1/2 month old filly who he is working with. I believe he wants to keep her, hasn't said anything to me yet but i see it in his eyes.
We also having working on the ranch an Autistic adult who handles, feeds and whatever the horses need he does. He is supervised but with his autism he is consider a functioning which means he can take care of himself basically with limited supervision.
So that's it, a ranch full of crippled folks helping those who can not take care of themselves. Maybe we have a better understanding, maybe our hearts and minds are in the right place, maybe this is what we were suppose to be doing with our lives and our accidents that bound us to this same place was meant to be. Whatever it is that brought us all together has now created something special and i hope in the years to come we are able to take care of many horses that pass through our gates.

More rescue stories to come...