By Mary Cook
Recently retired, I found myself with time on my hands that I wanted to put to good use. I decided to apply to be a volunteer at the Colorado Horse Rescue (CHR) in Longmont, Colorado.
Having been a horse lover all my life, and a horse owner for the past 20 years, this seemed like a natural way to give back. After completing orientation, I found myself at work, once a week, as a barn volunteer.
What does volunteering at CHR mean?
Well, CHR has on average 55 to 60 horses ranging from babies to geriatrics, or “geris” as we fondly call them. These horses come from every walk of life, and as CHR might say, “the only difference between a rescue horse and any other horse is a set of circumstances.” From owners who are sick, to owners who can no longer financially afford to keep a horse, to owners who have older horses with health problems who can’t bear the thought of having to put them down, there are a myriad of reasons why horses end up at rescues. There are also many horses that are rescued from local livestock auctions, where the majority, who are not rescued, are transported to slaughter in Mexico or Canada—a fate not deserving of these animals.
As you might expect, there is plenty of mucking, feeding of special diets, haying, watering, and loving. It’s a rather physical job having to lift 50 pounds bags of feed, hay bales and manure buckets, but I found myself connecting with my fellow volunteers as well as the great staff at CHR—we are definitely a team!
You really get attached to these horses working with them on a weekly basis. You are happy when a horse finds a good new home. You cry when one of your favorites has to be put down. But, all in all, I look forward to my time each week that I spend with these wonderful animals and volunteers.
I wanted to teach my granddaughter Helen a little bit about CHR and what a horse rescue provides to both its volunteers and horses. I had the opportunity this past summer to share this with her at a CHR Open House. She is pictured above with Lavender, one of CHR’s mini‘s.
I encourage anyone to learn more about volunteer opportunities at CHR. No horse experience needed! CHR provides all the training and education. For more information, please visit www.chr.org.