Equine Action Queensland
Helping Hands for Hooves
By Michelle McKenna
When I was a little girl growing up in England I wanted three things – A castle, a pony and a trampoline. We could never afford any of those things and as I grew older, the castle got discarded, a trampoline was obtained and finally on my list was that elusive pony.
So, I thought when I emigrated to the spacious land of Australia, I shall move to the country, buy acreage and get me a hoss. Maybe some kinda white hoss that I can brush n play ponies with, go on long rides with – how hard can that be?
Then…I started researching. And researching some more, and some more and some more. And the more I researched, the more I realised that a horse is one high maintenance animal. Not only do they cost a lot in feed, shelter, space and maintenance – did you know they can live for up to 50 years?! Imagine owning a dog or a cat for that long – the vet bills, the feed bills, the commitment. No holidays without someone to feed and watch over them, no transporting them without immense cost, no “surely they just eat grass like a lawnmower, right?”
They are also herd animals. You might just want one horse – but imagine that horse being alone for the next 50 years of its life.
Horses need teeth cleaned, hooves maintained and let me tell you, that can be one costly pedicure. So, when my kids then started exhibiting extreme love of horses I decided I needed some expert help – and I found Equine Action Queensland.
EAQ is a horse charity with a difference. While they want to rescue each and every horse and give them the homes they so desperately need, they want to change the world so horses don’t need rescuing any more. So that each person who would like to welcome a horse into their lives knows exactly what they’re promising to do, what their commitment is and the scale of that commitment.
The wonderful team at EAQ are in the process of building an online reference library with everything you need to know at any stage of horse ownership from thinking about buying, to fostering, to how you can help in cases of abuse and to how they can help you.
If you love horses and you want to join us in changing the world then please find us on Facebook, visit our website at www.eaq.org.au and look out for us at equine events. *
