At the start of September, in an act of true compassion and kindness, an Oklahoma resident rescued a horse destined for slaughter and gave it a wonderful new life.
Angie Koontz-Pike clearly loves horses. She works as a manager at High Hopes Thoroughbreds, and also helps rescue and rehome horses that would otherwise be slaughtered.
Angie was attending a kill lot to pick up a horse to transport to her new home, and had to stop at another lot for some information on a couple of other horses.
“While I was there I saw a horse standing way off in a corner by herself. Her head was down and I had to go check on her to see if she was ok,” she captioned.
“She turned and put her head on my chest,“ Angie wrote. ”She needed help. She was defeated, she didn’t understand why she was there.”
Angie saw that the horse was a little older with a few bumps and scars, but she saw this as more a sign of age than a problem. Certainly this was no reason for the poor horse to be discarded.
“I looked into her eyes and could feel her talking to my soul asking for help,“ she said. ”My eyes welled with tears, I told her I would do everything I could to help her get out of there.”
The horse had clearly bonded, and tried following her, but Angie had to go. She did, however, promise to do her best to help her. As she walked away, the horse “nickered” at her. Angie turned and told her, “I promise.”
When Angie looked back, she saw that the horse had gone back to her corner, head down, looking utterly defeated. So she made a couple of calls and decided that she’d get her.
She wrote: “We had to go back to the first lot to get everything taken care of. As I drove back by her I yelled out, ‘Raven I will be right back,’ her head perked up over the fence.”
Having sorted her other business, Angie bought a new halter and raced back to the yard.
“I couldn’t get there fast enough, but finally I saw her, her head was down and in her corner, she saw my truck and trailer and her head perked up,” read her post.
As Angie approached, Raven came to meet her halfway and stuck her head out to be haltered. She was then loaded onto Angie’s vehicle, and the rescue was complete.
Angie ended her original post with the words, “Welcome to your new life sweet Raven. You are loved.”
If Raven could talk, she would certainly be thanking Angie for her kindness in giving her such a wonderful new life.
Sadly though, many horses are not as fortunate as Raven.
They state that the U.S. Department of Agriculture documented that 92.3 percent of horses sent to slaughter are in good condition and are able to live out a productive life. These horses would be sold, donated or otherwise rehomed; however, kill buyers outbid legitimate horse owners and rescues at auctions.
They believe many horses are therefore denied a second chance at life.
