Too many horses, not enough love

RAVENEL -- Chase, a chestnut stallion, once raced in the thoroughbred world where horses are treated like the noble beasts they are -- until they become disposable.

Now he stands quietly in a dirt corral, more than 20 years old, trying to gain back some weight after being abandoned.

He's just one of 16 horses being kept alive in this rural community by a group known as LEARN, which stands for Livestock Equine Awareness and Rescue Network.

Next to him is another horse, sway back, skin and bones, even older, clinging to an uncertain existence.

And there are others, housed in borrowed pastures, feeding on donated hay, unaware that unless some generous soul comes along and saves them, their future is uncertain.

Generational ignorance

This organization and others usually get attention and donations when something bad happens. Like last year when 33 neglected horses were taken from an owner in Colleton County.

We see the painful results of starvation on television and wonder how it came to this.

"We try to save as many as possible and adopt them out," Steed said as she dropped hay bales in another field for other horses. "There are people looking for gentle horses to ride. Unfortunately, too many unwanted horses end up going to slaughter in Mexico and Canada."

For people like Steed and her neighbor Erin Scarborough, it's a labor of love that requires passion and persistence in the battle against animal abuse.

"For too many people, it's just a matter of generational ignorance," Steed said. "Their grandparents had horses, their parents had horses, so they have horses. Unfortunately, they can't afford to take care of them."

Pasture ornaments

In this economy, the number of horses turned in or ignored is rising, which only makes this effort more difficult.

Then there are horse hoarders, people who can't help but collect more animals than they can afford to care for.

And unlike dogs and cats, horses are large, requiring lots of space, and they're expensive to feed.

The average horse eats six pounds of grain and 10 pounds of hay a day.

And then there are the vet bills.

"Some people see horses as pasture ornaments," Steed said. "But having a horse is like having a mortgage payment. It doesn't go away."

Unfortunately, there's no formal foreclosure procedure if you don't make the payments, and these animals end up starving to death.

Even disposing of an animal is expensive, up to $500 to euthanize, and then they usually end up in a landfill where those deadly chemicals linger forever.

When they're not tending the horses, Steed and other volunteers try to educate schoolchildren about animal abuse. But with 10,000 horses in Charleston County alone, the needs are increasing.

To help, contact LEARN 843-991-4879 or go to website learnhorserescue.com. They need feed, medicine and land. But most of all, passionate people who care.

Reach Ken Burger at kburger@postandcourier.com or 937-5598 or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/Ken_Burger.