Emergency Horse Care

by Karen Pickering

I've written often about learning life's lessons, and that has never been more clear to me than over the past few months, during which I've faced plenty of challenges including a sick horse, a totaled car, and surgery. I think it's appropriate that our coming issue theme is "Boarding and Training," because I've been thinking a lot about boarding lately.

My husband and neighbors aren't horse people, so as I recover from my accident and surgery, finding the best way to care for my horses has presented a bit of a challenge for me. I am sure many of you have faced this, too, whether through health concerns or simply needing to travel. What do we do when we can't care for our own horses? What if we can't afford to board? With the help of family and friends, April and Dawn are getting by, but it's tough on everyone, horses included.

What do you do when you can't keep up with your horses' care? Do you have a quick and easy way of introducing non-horse people to horse care so they can fill in safely and effectively in your absence?

I encourage you all to think about what you would do to care for your horses if you became unable to care for them for a period of time. If you have a plan, share it with us! Either post a comment to this blog entry or email your thoughts to editor@nwhorsesource.com with the subject line "Emergency Horse Care." I'd really like to get a conversation going about the best way to handle this kind of situation. Horse owners and horses alike can benefit from the sharing of knowledge!