A Letter From the few ! Thank You Nancy !

We found this on the G.E.R.L web site .. although I wish we saw this the week it was written. I am so happy to see there are more people out there who are really in it for the Animals and not the MONEY!!

September 25, 2007

Dear Brian,

First, please allow me to state that although I am both a member of the GERL and a GDA employee, the opinions here are not intended to be representative of either group; they are simply and humbly my own.

I read the article in the September newsletter about “Eddie,” the blind Appaloosa gelding who was adopted at the June GDA auction. I’m so pleased that he is doing well in his new home. For the past two years I have had the honor of helping to care for the horses who call the Mansfield Impound their temporary home. Those of you who have attended GDA auctions at Decatur or Mansfield during that time may have also seen me running around like the proverbial headless chicken getting information from buyers each time the auctioneer yells, “Sold!” In this capacity, I get to interact very briefly with each of the people who will take home the horses we have nurtured, loved, and fed back to heath.

I had the pleasure of meeting the couple who came to the auction to buy “Eddie,” known to us at the impound as, “RB Braille.” Although I unfortunately do not remember their names, I was very impressed with their story and hope I will recall the details correctly here. It seems that when the Pike County horses were impounded, this couple felt moved to volunteer at the emergency impound facility and they became particularly close to “Eddie.” They promised themselves that if he became free for adoption they would do what they could to purchase him. They also told me that his intended use would be as a hippotherapy horse for blind children. I congratulated them on their purchase and told them how pleased we were that “Eddie” was going to a home where he was already so clearly wanted.

In the newsletter story about “Eddie” the writer stated that they (she and her husband) no longer had faith in the GDA because at our auction they saw “horse traders” and ‘the woman who purchased horses for [Roger] Prater’ bidding on horses. She said that they found it hard to watch the horses being sold to “the highest bidder,” thus continuing what they felt was a vicious cycle of returning horses to possibly bad situations.

Public auctions are quite simply that, though. Although we may desire otherwise at times, we have no ability to prevent someone from bidding on or buying a horse at such an event. However, buyers at GDA auctions sign an agreement for the horse to be monitored by state equine inspectors for a period of time after the sale. Horses have come back into the state’s care as a result of this monitoring. There is no such agreement signed when people purchase horses through traditional horse auctions or through private sales. It may not be the perfect solution to the problem but it offers one layer of protection that the open market does not.

When the time comes for the horses sold at our auctions to be picked up by their new owners, more often than not we feel very good about the new family the horse leaves with. Occasionally, we are unsure if the horse and the family will be a good “match” for each other and we send the horse off with a hug and a prayer. Sadly, there are times that we worry as we watch the horse being driven away. Again, this is the nature of a public auction but I think that it also speaks to having a caring barn staff.

I’m still tickled pink that “Eddie” has found such a wonderful home. I thank his family for keeping us updated on his progress. We love hearing from folks who have taken “our” horses home. And if “Eddie’s” new family (or anyone else) should ever find themselves wondering if the dedicated volunteers, impound staff or equine inspectors really care about what happens to the horses after our auctions, please come to see us on auction pick-up days. We have a big box of Kleenex that we’ll be happy to share with you……or better yet, come on out, fill out a volunteer packet and find out for yourself.

Respectfully,

Nancy Bogardts
Mansfield Impound