Moral Horse Guardianship

An Editorial by the Publisher

By Robert WINKLER
The Desert Independent

January 17, 2010

You don't need to be around horses all your life or even for a long time to appreciate the basics of guardianship for an animal. This is not rocket science as some old timer's would have you believe. There are many that just stick a horse in a stall or pasture, throw it a flake of hay or two and leave it at that.

When we humans remove horses from their natural environment, from the wild herds where they roamed free and are not confined to the small pastures and stalls where we place them, we take on a great responsibility as their guardians.

•  In the wild, horses roam to find feed; as their guardians we provide their feed.

• In the wild, the herd seeks higher ground in storms so as not to stand in muck; as guardians we must provide that “higher ground” in the form of shelter from wind and rain or snow as we’ve removed our horse’s freedom to move.

• In the wild, horses don't live in close proximity to their own manure and therefore subject themselves to various debilitating worms and bots; so we as their guardians must de-worm our horses.

• In the wild horses are not subject to the diseases humans have brought to them such as tetanus and West Nile Virus; therefore we must guard them against these diseases through modern veterinary care and inoculation.

• In the wild horses don’t have barbed wire fences and other human contraptions to get hurt on.  To be sure we have done our best as our horse’s guardians requires the that the horses in our care be inspected by us as often as possible and daily is best.

They didn’t ask to be removed from the wild, we are their guardians.