Dark Horse Rescue Her other goal is to “strengthen the laws on horse neglect, starting with state laws By Nancy Brannon Christy Patrick Gross has found her purpose in life: rescuing neglected and abused horses. She got started on this path to horse care when she was a volunteer for Fayette County Animal Rescue for three and a half years. “Once I started working at Fayette County Animal Rescue, I knew what I was meant to do,” she said. “I grew up riding horses, riding as a kid in the Franklin, TN area. Horses saved me and now I save them.” One of the main cases she worked on while at Fayette County Animal Rescue was the Blackburn case. “That’s when it just clicked with me as my mission.” She left Fayette County Animal Rescue, because they work almost exclusively with dogs and cats, and started Dark Horse Rescue in May 2009. Her main goal is to take in abused, neglected horses, rehabilitate them, and place them in “forever homes,” she said. “All my horses are rescued horses, except for a miniature pony. And all six are available for adoption.” Her other goal is to “strengthen the laws on horse neglect, starting with state laws. We also need to educate the public on animal care and maintenance. The public needs to know who they should call if they witness abuse or neglect. They also need to know the costs and maintenance required for responsible horse ownership. I’ve done presentations on animal care in schools, speaking to groups from day care age up to 5th grade.” One of the problems she sees with current laws is the separate categories for pets and livestock. “Dogs and cats are considered pets, so there are stronger sanctions for abuse of them. Horses are considered 'livestock’ and the sanctions for abuse or mistreatment of livestock are much more slack. There is not as much concern for abuse of livestock,” she explained. She wants to garner the support of both county and city governments to help with the problem of abused and neglected animals. “I want to get the cooperation of police, mayors, and officials in all the mid-south counties to work on this problem.” Christy investigates reports of abused and neglected horses. “There’s a problem here,” she said. “I have seen dead horses, dismembered horses here. It blew my mind! It is hard to grasp how horses are treated this way. I’ve seen horses literally starved to death. And the reason is not always ignorance, but there is a lack of education on horse care. Sometimes people get in 'over their heads,’ and they don’t know how to properly care for and feed horses. Many have too little acreage for horses and don’t supplement their lack of pasture with hay. Owning a horse is not like owning a dog. Horses are expensive and many are not getting proper food and medical attention. I have sometimes seen horses tied to a pole by the side of the highway,” as people just abandon horses they can’t afford to care for. She sees overpopulation of horses as another contributing factor to the problem. She reported seeing mares in foal on insufficient grass, “starving horses, horses in areas with the fence falling down,” which is a danger to the horses. She has seen stallion owners breeding mares in neglectful situations in hopes of getting a few hundred dollars per foal. To address this problem of starving mares bearing foals that will undoubtedly be born in far less than optimum conditions, she favors regulation of horse breeding. Under her proposal, “Breeders would have to register and there would be a limit to the number of breeders in a geographical area. There would be requirements for care of the mare and stallion and requirements regarding the number of foals born each year.” She wants to see this overpopulation problem brought under control. Christy currently has six rescued horses ready for adoptive homes. The adoption fee is $325 for each horse, and be prepared for Christy to check out the prospective homes before she lets any of her horses go. Here are the six and their stories: Magic is a Welsh pony/Tennessee Walking Horse cross. He was starved as a foal and is about ten months old now. She has been giving him good feed and TLC for two months. Major is a 9-year-old, 17hh Australian-bred Thoroughbred gelding. He was used in steeplechasing and eventing. “He is very well trained and has a heart of gold,” she described. “His former owners lost their financial means and I got him the first of September 2009. He had been just put out to pasture with his shoes left on and no subsequent hoof care. When I got him, he was standing out in the pasture holding up his front leg, his feet hurt so bad. And he couldn’t eat.” Now he’s eating well and being exercised regularly: he free longes beautifully! Sasha is a 13.2hh Quarter Horse mare, a dark grulla color, that she got last July. “She is sweet, quiet. She was severely neglected and needs a chance. She has Thoroughbred-type conformation, so needs a small rider.” Buttered Popcorn is a 5-year-old Palomino mare that she also got in July when she got Sasha. “She was neglected and may be in foal. She is sweet and rideable. She’s a dominant mare in the group.” Lucio is a 14-hand bay pony gelding. “He’s cute as a button. He came from the West Memphis, Arkansas case. I was told a teenager was riding him.” [To read more about the West Memphis, AR case from August 2009, visit WREG’s website for the story, “Horse Owners Charged With Aggravated Cruelty,” by Candace McCowan; http://www.wreg.com.] Deni is a 2-year-old dun Quarter Horse mare. “She’s gorgeous! She was neglected and originally came from the Blackburn case. However, she was removed before Fayette County Animal Rescue got involved. At the time, she was a foal not yet born.” Currently, Christy and her husband pay all the expenses of keeping the horses. She hopes that people will generously give to support her rescue efforts. Donations can be made to P. O. Box 1197, Collierville, TN 38027. “Memorials make nice gifts!” she said. Christy will soon have a website, http://darkhorserescue.org/. In the meantime, for more information about Dark Horse Rescue, call Christy Patrick Gross at 901-378-1071 or email CGross@darkhorserescue.org. Dark Horse Rescue will be meeting February 11 at 6:30pm at the Collierville Library. The meeting is open to all interested persons to discuss fostering, organizing volunteers, etc. for horse rescue. Please contact Christy for questions and suggestions.