Tonto the blind horse
We're
not sure why, but most people relate to large animals differently
than small animals. When a large animal like a horse is no
longer “useful” for something – riding, packing,
breeding, etc. – because of age or an infirmity, it is
promptly sent off to “the sale” at the local livestock
exchange. This usually means the slaughterhouse. The same
people who will keep a dog until it dies of old age would
never consider doing the same for an elderly or disabled horse.
There is a different standard, but we haven't figured
out why.
Tonto certainly had some twists and turns in his life. We don't know anything about him up until a few years ago, when a sheriff's department impounded him in an animal neglect case. He was already old and blind in one eye. The sheriff turned him over to a boarding stable, whose owner promptly began fattening him up for “the sale.”
An employee working at the stable fell in love with this poor horse and did not want him to meet that fate, so she bought Tonto from her boss. Tonto, she soon found, was a sweet, gentle soul who was perfect for her kids to ride. She considered him the best horse she had ever had.
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Unfortunately, within a couple of years Tonto's other eye failed him. Now with a completely blind horse, the owner faced mounting family pressure to get rid of him. But she loved the old horse, blind or not, and did not want him to end up in a slaughterhouse.
So Tonto's owner appealed to us and asked if we could find room for him at the sanctuary. We said yes.
Now elderly Tonto has three other blind horses to hang out with at the ranch, where his handicap makes him special, not useless. Better yet, he's even started a romance with Lena, our blind Quarter Horse mare. We don't know if either one realizes the other is blind, but it doesn't seem to matter. They sure look like they're in love.
