Well, I didn’t find the typical Bucket Fund story for this month…
…So I did a little soul searching and decided that maybe it was time to honor and help a Rescue that hasn’t asked me for help – but needs help nonetheless.
I have decided to shine a light on a Rescue that I admire – and I hope you will, too.
BLUE STAR EQUICULTURE.
Click to go to the website.
Blue Star Equiculture saves draft horses (and one mini), rehabs them, teaches them work skills, uses the horses daily in all sorts of happy farm activities and the BSE team works hard at financial solvency.
They do a lot of things right…
All of their healthy horses work.
All of their horses look great.
All of their horses look happy.
The people that work there look happy.
The people who visit look happy.
The townspeople who interact seem delighted.
The supporters love to visit the facility.
BSE grows their own food as a business.
The horses are part of their family…
Just as a refresher, remember Cupcake the Herdmaster? He is the mini who used to live tied to a tire… Well, Blue Star Equiculture rescued him, too! His video is one of my favorites.
Click image to play Cupcake’s video! One of my favs!
THE BLUE STAR CREEDO
This sums up why I like them… I found this on their website.
What We Believe: Blue Star Equiculture’s Credo
• We believe that the draft horse is a national treasure.?
Currently there is gross misinformation in the public about the lives and well-being of working horses. While we certainly do not begrudge the Mustang its place in the American psyche as a “national treasure,” we seek to have the draft horse–which built our roads, harvested our crops, supplied our railroads, fought our wars, and carried us to our graves—recognized as a national treasure, an indispensable part of our heritage and our common history.
• We believe that horses and humans fundamentally belong together.
We have journeyed the same path for the past 6000 years. We have made the horse who he is, and the horse has made us who we are. This is a bond that should not be broken. This bond is a sacred one, and with it come moral obligations to the horse.
• We believe that all horses deserve loving homes where their physical and social needs will be met.
Draft horses and other “working” horses have, through their co-evolution with humans, developed a psychological need to be with people. They enjoy their work, whether that “work” is in harness pulling a carriage or a plow, under saddle, or as a companion.
• We believe that “work” should not have a pejorative connotation.
When we speak of “working horses,” we are speaking of what these horses do. “Work” can and should have a positive meaning. “Work” for horses in the context of meaningful, productive partnership with humans should never be equated with “slavery.” (We find slavery to be morally repugnant, and as such, slavery should not be a term thrown around cavalierly to describe the domesticated horse.)
• We believe that in these troubled economic and environmental times, working horses offer a sustainable means of equine husbandry.
We hope to create other opportunities for working horses to have meaningful jobs in addition to the carriage industry and in limited use on farms. We hope to initiate new uses for working horses in urban environments, such as watering urban gardens, collecting recycling, or making deliveries. We hope to expand the use of horses in organic agriculture, and spread awareness of using animal traction (that is, real horsepower) instead of hydrocarbon energy to power agricultural implements.
• We believe that every working horse deserves to have his needs taken care of for the duration of his natural life.
This is the moral obligation of having horses in one’s life, especially when one’s own livelihood has been provided for through the labor of the horse. We believe that the vast majority of working horses are well-taken care of so long as they are working, as they provide not only for their human partners but also fund their own care. We are concerned about the fate of horses who no longer are able to work or whose owners are unable to continue to work with them or to care for them. Blue Star Equiculture seeks to assist these horses and provide for them or find adoptive homes for them for the rest of their lives.
WHY DONATE?
Because they didn’t ask… but they need it. Feeding and caring for these big guys is a huge responsibility.
Blue Star Equiculture works really hard at not needing money.
However, they do need donations.
If you love the photos below, please ‘Atta Boy’ them for doing such a great job and for tenderly caring about the big ones…
We will SURPRISE THEM with an ‘appreciation’ donation from THE HORSE AND MAN GROUP!
VERY LOVELY VIDEO OF WHO THEY ARE AND WHAT THEY DO…
I think this video shows who they are better then anything I could write…
I’ve cut and pasted some photos from the video….
HORSE AND MAN is a blog in growth… if you like this, please pass it around!
Copyright
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Just wanted to say a big thank you for helping out BSE.
Blue Star is a little piece of heaven in my world. I live in the city but close enough to “THE FARM” to go there when ever I have some free time to help out. The folks who run BSE are among the kindest, caring, nonjudgmental, and hard working people I have met. All of the animals, people, and plant life, are treated with respect, love and dignity. They understand that all forms of life need a purpose and a reason for being, to not allow living things the chance to make a difference is counterproductive and negative. They have accepted me and helped me with my life long dream of working with horses. I am so very grateful to be a small part of something that is generating so many positive vibrations and so much love. Thank you man/woman and horse for recognizing and supporting BSE.
Eunice Marcelina
I am a fairly new volunteer at Blue Star Equiculture. To start I have loved horses my whole life. I am not experienced in horsemanship, but I am learning. I do have eyes to see and do not have to be told what I am seeing. I see working horses happy and proud to be doing the job, whether it be pulling a wagon, sleigh or hay to the paddocks. I see for myself the ones not chosen standing at the fence wondering if they will be chosen next. I also love to go to New York. I have seen the carriage horses working. I see how happy and proud they are to be working. I am not old enough to have seen the time before cars, when horses were the only transportation other than walking. What a beautiful time that must have been. So I ask, all those that sit inside and criticize what it so misunderstood to come outside and visit Blue Star Equiculture. Visit the NYC carriage horses. SEE with your own eyes how happy and LOVED the horses are. I don’t want to live in a world where horses are simply put to pasture to stand for the rest of their lives. Like humans, horses are happiest when they have accomplished the job. I ask, those who criticize, would you at any age like to be put in a pasture to stand, day after day and do nothing???? I don’t think you would. Or would your life be fulfilled knowing you are loved and have accomplished what you were made for. Visit, see, don’t judge what you don’t know.
First & Foremost,
It is a fact, that working horses, aka Heavy Horses / draft type horses maintain their health better when allowed to learn a skill and a routine. aka: a job. It satisfies them, provides a physical and also an emotional need to accomplish and maintain muscle health. And so much more.
A bond of trust develops, and a partnership, hence the word of teamster… The driver & horse are a team themselves. A connection through both “Lines” and verbal cues. Oh, there is so much folks could and should understand…
How does one explain, that the drafts at Blue Star come in from 10 acres of paddock to the fence line, when the trailer & truck back into the farm yard… Waiting eagerly, impatiently, leaning into the fence hoping to be picked for the days job & outing?
How does one explain how they stand with pride while being dressed into harness, pawing cautiously with impatience. Then walk briskly to the trailer or implement at hand to partake into a job?
How does one explain the subtle shift in the ears, always waiting for the voice of their teamster for verbal commands, as they have been trained. They average 2,000 lbs of might & power, and one does not partner with another unless they have trust & a bond together.
How does one explain, that a working horse with years of training and experience, who is just turned out to pasture and never allowed back into harness to perform their know abilities becomes severely depressed. That such a horse does not understand why the trust of bond has been broken. That horses like these, even though retired, enjoy to be harnessed and allowed to function in a roll they have come to learn and understand. Even if it is just to walk with a teamster ground driving them for exercise, they need this connection…For thier bodies may be aged, but their minds are sharp and alert.
(very similar to folks who retire yet seek fulfillment in those years by staying active in what they know & love to do. Take that away, and many pass quickly, do they not?)
And to the Extreme Fact, that the folks who do complain, especially about the NYC carriage horses, Well those are the folks who never take the invitation to attend the Open House annually to see first hand. ( http://clipclopnyc.com/ )
Of course one has to be polite and open minded, and on good behavior. That is not unreasonable, is it?
Add to that, the story of how the President of Mane & Tail completely reversed his companies support from the support of anti carriage To support of the Carriage Horse Association of NYC after his visit directly to the downtown stables. And talking directly with, and viewing first hand.
Read the complete story here:
http://manentailequine.com/expert-blog-news/a-word-from-the-president-of-straight-arrow-products-inc/
Take into account that Big League Players such as Budweiser, Perkins Hitch Team, and others always nod an approving look and smile when we meet them at parades and events. How we share information with them and converse so easily together. How the Phoenix Zoo
( http://www.phoenixzoo.org/ ) did a Nation wide search and re-homed “Magic” the Clydesdale with Blue Star Equiculture.
How does one explain that Blue Star Equiculture is Nationally known for their unique work with draft horse emotional & health issues, and how followers on their FaceBook page are world wide.
There is much to be said, maybe I have spoken too much. So I’ll add just this:
“No One Does It Better”.
~ Alan Rochette – volunteer to Blue Star Equiculture
& Guardian of an American mustang and a PMU Percheron
Thank you for supporting Blue Star Equiculture. It is a difficult time for American horses with the threat of horse slaughter looming in the U.S.
Blue Star is a beacon of hope and healing- both physically and emotionally for the horses that are lucky enough to be placed there. They especially support working horses …Blue Star does not smear animal lovers, they want to inform animal lovers of what is actually happening with the carriage horses, the care they receive, their housing, the work that they do and it’s benefits to their well being. This is a group who knows horses, especially the working horse. They are all about preserving the role of working horses once again in American life . No group such as Blue Star would ever support the carriage horse industry if it thought it to be detrimental , hazardous , abusive or otherwise to those magnificent horses … Never…
It is disturbing to me that people would assume that the carriage horse industry is linked to animal abuse without getting more facts and information.
Jeannie, if you are on Facebook, please look up the group Carriage Horse Facts and ask any questions you may have about the NYC carriage horses.
Thank you for spotlighting BSE! They do amazing work with these wonderful animals.
Thank you for highlighting BSE! I am a volunteer/photographer for them (since October 2012). BSE is a wonderful rescue/sanctuary/working farm. I am so grateful to be welcomed into such a loving family – and that is precisely what they are, a loving family! Everyone is treated like family and one can’t help but feel the magical tranquility and love from the big drafties to all who volunteer and especially Pam, Paul, David, Zoe and Omar who make all this happen. I encourage all to visit this amazingly wonderful piece of heaven on Earth! They all have hearts the size of the draft horses they care for!
Visit my website for photos of the herd – a portion of all sales of the “Horses of Blue Star” Gallery will be donated to Blue Star
They sound like a good group, but what’s the deal with the “We support carriage horses” sign? I most definitely do not support the carriage horse business in most circumstances, like in New York City, or even in small towns. I feel that when these magnificent animals are expected to work for their keep as carriage animals, there is an underlying financial motive that outweighs their well-being, therefore I am confused. I see that BSE has a link to a pro-NYC carriage horse group on their homepage and that linked page (Clip-Clop NYC) smears animal advocates as promulgating ‘rampant misinformation,’ so maybe that is the end of the story. Personally, I don’t like it when some animal lovers criticize other animal lovers.
I sponsor a rescued draft horse who was a foal from the Canadian Premarin industry — big pregnant horses produce more urine, but there is precious little attention paid to these animals and their foals.
That said, I really appreciate that Horse and Man is lending a helping hand to these underappreciated non-profit rescue groups! Well done, as always!
You guys are just awesome for spotlighting Blue Star Equiculture. I too am a volunteer at Blue Star. The deserve all the recognition they can get.
They are so beautiful, and must cost a fortune to feed. Nice choice for the Bucket Fund!
What a great thing that is. Everyone looks so happy even though I am sure they all work hard. It looks like it is all a labor of love. Great job.
This is AWESOME!
You have to read this article. Unprompted, totally out of the “BLUE”.
Thank You -> “Horse & Man”, for your
SPOTLIGHT: BLUE STAR EQUICULTURE!
A different kind of BUCKET FUND… but just as deserved!
~Alan Rochette – volunteer to Blue Star Equiculture
How wonderful that you have spotlighted Blue Star! I have adopted two Clyde’s from BSE Dalton and Magic and I am also a herd member x2;). Thank you:)