Square Peg Foundation

I was reading a blog of a popular horse rescue expert.  She’s at the Homes for Horses Roundtable and she posed the question about how a rescue chooses horses to save and how to say no when you have more animals than you can feed.  I expect that her questions will elicit a lot of chatter and I’m eager to hear what people have to say.

This week, we brought in a new horse to the program.  He’s not staving, he wasn’t headed for slaughter.  He’s young and healthy and he’s played a lot of polo.  He’s sweet and he’s cute and he’s nice and small.  He’s going to be great for our riding program.  But each time we bring in a horse, we have to answer to the public, to our board of directors and most importantly, to the kids who participate in the program – “why this horse and not another?”  It’s one of the hardest questions we have to answer.  Here’s my attempt:

I think the question that ALL rescuers ask themselves late at night when they replay the phone conversation in their minds from the “take my horse or else” people is

“if you can’t save them all (and you can’t) whom and why do you save?”

The answer we came up with sounds trite, but it’s true – education. We pick the horses that we can use to educate the next generation that animal ownership is for LIFE and that taking on any animal into your family means that you have a responsibility to that being. So we have 14 horses, two goats, some cats and two retired foxhounds. Each day, those animals reach out to kids in the community to teach them about responsibility and second chances for animals, most of which  were “thrown away.” Maybe, just maybe, we can change the thinking of the next generation and then the problem will be, if not solved, then at least much more manageable. So some of them are old and lame, some are young and adoptable, most are in-between. We don’t actively solicit for adoptions, we use the horses in our program to teach important lessons and we hope to find sponsors for them. Then we hope those families that sponsor will go on to be responsible horse owners, or owners of any pet. We get flack for not “leasing” or adopting out more horses. But each day, our rescues change lives and each day they are guaranteed the care that they need. It’s the only way I can answer the question of who and why do we save a particular horse.

I’ll step off the soap box now.

Meet Beetle

**Update**  I was contacted by the author of this piece, a Ms. Julia Edwards (Dake) of Camden, South Carolina.  She’d also like us to know that she is not 87 years old.  Her lovely blog can be found at:

http://voiceforhorses.blogspot.com

I ride.
That seems like such a simple statement. However as many women who ride know it is really a complicated matter. It has to do with power and empowerment. Being able to do things you might have once considered out of reach or ability. I have considered this as I shovel manure, fill water barrels in the cold rain, wait for the vet/farrier/electrician/hay delivery, change a tire on a horse trailer by the side of the freeway, or cool a gelding out before getting down to the business of drinking a cold beer after a long ride.

The time, the money, the effort it takes to ride calls for dedication. At least I call it dedication. Both my ex-husbands call it ‘the sickness’. It’s a sickness I’ve had since I was a small girl bouncing my model horses and dreaming of the day I would ride a real horse. Most of the women I ride with understand the meaning of ‘the sickness’. It’s not a sport. It’s not a hobby. It’s what we do and, in some ways, who we are as women and human beings.

I ride. I hook up my trailer and load my gelding. I haul to some trailhead somewhere, unload, saddle, whistle up my dog and I ride. I breathe in the air, watch the sunlight filter through the trees and savor the movement of my horse. My shoulders relax. A smile rides my sunscreen smeared face. I pull my ball cap down and let the real world fade into the tracks my horse leaves in the dust.

Time slows. Flying insects buzz loudly, looking like fairies. My gelding flicks his ears and moves down the trail.

I can smell his sweat and it is perfume to my senses. Time slows. The rhythm of the walk and the movement of the leaves become my focus. My saddle creaks and the leather rein in my hand softens with the warmth.

I consider the simple statement; I ride. I think of all I do because I ride. Climb granite slabs, wade into a freezing lake, race a friend through the Manzanita all the while laughing and feeling my heart in my chest.

Other days just the act of mounting and dismounting can be a real accomplishment. Still I ride, no matter how tired or how much my seat bones or any of the numerous horse related injuries hurt. I ride. And I feel better for doing so.

The beauty I’ve seen because I ride amazes me. I’ve ridden out to find lakes that remain for the most part, unseen. Caves, dark and cold beside rivers full and rolling are the scenes I see in my dreams The Granite Stairway at Echo Summit; bald eagles on the wing and bobcats on the prowl add to the empowerment and joy In my heart.

I think of the people, mostly women, I’ve met. I consider how competent they all are. Not a weenie amongst the bunch.. We haul 40 ft rigs, we back into tight spaces without clipping a tree. We set up camp. Tend the horses.

We cook and keep safe. We understand and love our companions, the horse. We respect each other and those we encounter on the trail. We know that if you are out there riding, you also shovel, fill, wait and doctor.

Your hands are a little rough and you travel without makeup or hair gel. You do without to afford the ‘sickness’ and probably, when you were a small girl, you bounced a model horse while you dreamed of riding a real one.

“My treasures do not chink or glitter, they gleam in the sun and neigh in the night.”

summercamp2010

Square Peg Ranch was started in  2004 by my husband and myself (Chris and Joell Dunlap) with the notion in mind to change the world “one horse, one child at a time.”  We have been doing just that, every day since then.

The ranch, located along hwy 92 in Half Moon Bay within the gates of Canyon Creek Equestrian Center  hosts 16 horses, two retired foxhounds, two pygmy goats, a few cats and a gaggle of kids of varying abilities, ages, learning and financial challenges.

The hardest part of my job is turning down horses for the program.  I see way too many “please take my horse or else” emails and just want to cry because I know that we can’t save them all.  I have to look at the fact that all of our students, volunteers and their families are learning that taking on the life of a pet means making a commitment for the rest of that pet’s life.  They learn this when they help wrap the injured legs of a retired racehorse or take our elderly horses out for a quiet walk.  Each horse at Square Peg Ranch has a story to tell and a lesson or two to teach us.

Take Hank, a gorgeous 16.1hh six-year-old thoroughbred gelding;  he raced at the track as a three-year-old several times.  Each time, he would race badly and then not be able to walk for a couple of days.  His trainer x-rayed his legs, took blood samples to see if he had a metabolic problem or infection and each time, things would come back negative.  He was given to Square Pegs in May of 2008 and was doing well adjusting to being a saddle horse when he began being dull and listless and laying down all day.  We also had a blood panel run to see what was the matter and, just like at the track, we found nothing.  So we put him in a large grassy paddock with another horse his age and watched his hair grow long and shaggy; he seemed to lose weight no matter what we fed him.  Just as I was getting really worried, a volunteer mentioned what a tall horse he was.  Hank (registered racing name; My Cheatin’ Heart) was not what I would call a tall horse by our standards.  Suddenly, it all became clear – Hank’s lethargy and appetite were due to his crazy growth spurt!  We measured him and compared the measurement to what we had taken when he arrived at the ranch.  The young gelding had grown almost three inches in 90 days!

It was clear from the start that Hank and our ranch manager, Greg Crosta had a special bond.  Greg, standing 6’2″ at age 22 knew that an adolescent growth spurt could be physically painful as well as daunting.  Greg adopted Hank in September 2008 and they both enjoy a rousing chukkar of polo on the weekends and casual gallops on the coastal trails during the week.

Most of the Square Peg horses are Thoroughbreds with a Dutch Warmblood, a Paint horse and a pony thrown in for variety.  Some have had splendid show or competition careers and some have come to the program over a bumpy path.  Each year, we find a forever home for one or two of our horses and are able to take in horses to take their place.

Compare Legacy, a giant Hannovarian gelding who was long listed in dressage for the 1986 Olympics (had he gone, he would have competed against Reiner Klimke and Ahlerich) to Stella, an older Thoroughbred mare who came to us after being found with 32 other horses starving in an orchard.  Stella and her friends were all suspected of being used in “horse tripping.”  In this “sport”  horses are run out of a chute and roped by their hind legs.  Stella’s legs healed as she gained weight, but we decided never to ride her deciding that she had paid her debt to humankind several times over.  Stella, after a year of TLC at the hands of the Square Peg volunteer community, now lives at Joe Shelton’s Thoroughbred Friends ranch in Winters, Ca. Legacy died peacefully at the age of 34.  Both made huge impressions on the kids at the ranch.  They taught lessons in generosity and forgiveness and kindness that can’t be learned in any classroom.

Square Peg Ranch is a place where kids come not only to learn how to ride at their own pace, but to learn to be a part of a community doing something important.  Most of the students volunteer, to the extent that they are able, but often their family’s do too.  From running the online auction, to the daily chores of stall mucking and cleaning, the work at the ranch is about as hands on as you can get.   But don’t take it from me.  If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a quote from the heart might be worth a few pictures.  Here it is, straight from the folks we serve.

“I feel like Square Peg has not only helped me grow as a rider, but grow as a person as well. At Square Peg, I have learned that everyone can fit, and how much it makes a difference.” Nicole, age 13

“There are lots of places where you can learn to ride a horse, but none that offer the love, support and just plain fun that this one offers. It is a magical place where kids can be kids and are celebrated for it.”  Cathy, parent

“Square Pegs has helped me become me. A haven. A place i feel i can just be myself. It means the world to me. I’m not sure words can really describe what the ranch means to me.” Farris, age 13

“For me, Square Peg is a place where the world stops and a horse listens

Of course, the ranch runs on program fees and donations.  And while feed and other costs have hit an all time high, donations are harder and harder to come across. If you can help us make a difference “one horse, one child at a time” please consider supporting our work with a donation.

“When you call upon a Thoroughbred, he gives you all the speed, strength of heart and sinew in him. When you call on a jackass, he kicks.”
Patricia Neal

It’s been great business for the trainers and for the dogs themselves and people were able to feel good about their dog ownership. For awhile there, being seen at a local dog park with a pure bred dog seemed selfish and terribly unfashionable.

By the same token, I was out walking our latest project, a three year old colt fresh from Santa Anita racetrack when my dear friend and our resident dressage trainer looked at his lovely, lithe body prancing at the end of the lead rope, crossed her arms across her chest, scowled at her students and proclaimed “Thoroughbred” in a tone that was clearly pejorative. Then there was an instance on an endurance ride when a woman would announce to her riding buddies every time my friend and I came near her with our ex race horses she would yell “oh no, here come the THOROUGHBREDS!”  As an aside, I do believe that we crossed the finish line within two minutes of this woman and her highly bred endurance horse with our throughbreds who not only scored well in recovery rate and soundness, but each of the vets complimented on how relaxed and sweet our horses were.

At the track, a race horse is fed a diet of cooked oats and other high availabiliity energy food.  His diet is geared to giving him a burst of speed to carry him for about two minutes of racing or less.  If you don’t want him to act like a racehorse, don’t feed him like one.  Like your rescued dog, he needs exercise and companionship – if you want him to act like a neurotic mess, then lock him in a stall at a boarding stable and visit him twice per week. If you want a dressage horse that can execute moves like Baryshnikov with hooves, put him with the best, most consistent trainer you can afford.  Otherwise, don’t expect it of him.

Meet Ocean Fury, aka: “Quincy” a 3 year old colt recently injured on the track in January.  He has a sponsor who is committed to healing his injuries and paying for his retraining as a saddle horse.  He’s beautiful and sweet and has a slightly naughty sense of humor.  With any luck we will be riding him in the next three weeks or so and have him exploring the coastal trails by summer.

Regretfully, for every Quincy, there are several that end up in less than ideal circumstances.

Here’s a quick video of Square Peg kids riding a whole pack of retired and rejected racehorses.  Not bad if I say so myself (except for the video editing, which is clearly not my forte).

Square Peg Off Track Tb parade

After two years of looking, a wonderful long term home for Square Pegs found us.  As with many things in life, the answers turn up in unexpected places.  I struggled with the decision to leave the beautiful flowered Purisima Canyon with our lovely neighbors and the sweet little red barn that has housed so many memorable moments.   I worried that I would dearly miss the purple African Daisys and the neighbor’s manicured white fences, the redwood grove and the sound of Purisima Creek.  I looked long and hard into my heart.  I asked anyone who had a moment what they thought that Square Pegs needed most.

I put all this information together and presented it to our Board of Directors.  With the trust that the board has always afforded me, they told me that they reccomended a move, but that the ultimate decision lay with me.

I needed room to think.  I needed time and space away from the daily needs of the barn.  One of our board members offered Chris and I their place at Tahoe for a couple of days.  We packed our skis and headed up the mountain.  The house had a lovely view of Lake Tahoe and the winter snows delivered a fresh blanket of white for me to stare out at from the warmth of the home.  I thought, I wrote, I read.  In the silence of the snowstorm I listened hard to what my heart and mind were telling me; “Go, be brave, make the change, the time cannot be better.”  Then I listened harder and knew that the only way this would work is if I made the move the effort of the entire community at Square Pegs.  I knew that it would take hundreds, possibly thousands of man hours to pick up and re-establish ourselves as a stronger, closer and more effective community.

With resolve I came back to the coast and prepared the biggest, boldest move that Square Pegs has ever undertaken.  With 16 horses, 6 barn cats, the goats, an 11 ton grain silo and more tack and equipment than you could shake several sticks at, I called a staff meeting and started with a list.

The rest now is mostly history. We are getting settled into our new space.  We have stalls to build, boxes to unpack, things to organize and re-organize.  We have horses to feed, waterers to fill, holes to dig, weeds to pull.  We are exhausted and exhilarated.  The horses are happier than ever before. Just like the wildflowers that spring up on the hill behind our barn, we are stretching out in new and colorful directions with new growth and new hope with a stormy winter behind us.

We have made new friends and forged new alliances for which we are very proud.  The days are longer and the winter rains have given away to spring showers and warm sunshine.

What we have learned is that community is everything.  That Square Pegs is all about participation on whichever level works for the individual.  We couldn’t have pulled off the move without the people who came out in the rain storms and helped us trailer horses, mend fences, scrub the old clubhouse, drive the tractors, groom the horses, answer the phone, reorganize the office files, keep the bookkeeping on track, pick hooves, clean stalls, walk sick horses, deliver lunch. The legal help, the pats on the back and the encouragement.  The list is endless of what this community was able to accomplish.  The donations that were sent in saved us from financial ruin while the February rains pounded us and made lessons impossible. All of it made the difference.

In gratitude and humility, I thank you all.

The Parks Family has invited us not only to their barn and their business, but into their hearts and home as well.  When they bought Canyon Creek Equestrian Center, (formerly Serendipity Stables) they had a dream of a family friendly place for people to enjoy their horses.  We hope to help make that dream come true for them as they host our program and help us turn “I wish” into “I can.”