Arabian at the Crossroads (article) by Carol M Chapman on AuthorsDen

This article originally appeared in the "Arabian Horse Newspaper" and details the starvation and salvation of a horse. Next to a busy road, behind a barbed wire fence, an Arabian gelding was starving to death. Cars full of people passed by there daily, some shook their heads, some turned away, but no one stopped to help. The rains came, the fierce sun followed, and day by day his weight dropped. For six months, the gelding watched the traffic as it hurried past on important errands. When he had been placed in this bare paddock he had pricked his ears and nickered at the travelers, but for the last few months he was too weary to do more than stretch into and through the barbed wire to grab what mouthfuls of grass he could, to drink from whatever puddle was handy. An articulated skeleton barely covered by a hank of dry hair, his will to live blazed through his eyes and ignited the one person who took the time to call for help. Pulled from the festering paddock and transported to Habitat For Horses, he weighed less than five hundred pounds and only the determined pride of his up-carried tail betrayed his Arabian heritage. Any other horse would have lain down and died, but he was an Arab and the pride of his ancestors shone brightly in his sunken eyes. For the next month, all that was seen of him was the half not buried in the hay bin and an increasingly rounded form going to and from the water trough. As he gained shape, his coat glistened and from the pile of bones emerged a proud, elastic carriage Arabian. Where a thoroughbred would have died, a quarter horse foundered, and even an appaloosa might have gone blind, the Arabian had survived and came back to full majesty with no apparent ill effects. Once again, the Arab�s ability to endure had been tested by an uncaring owner. How anyone could treat a horse with the pride and dignity of this one in such a callous, mean spirited way does not amaze me as much as how a horse treated in such a way could still trust people. He embodies that deep, full heart of all Arabs and turns those huge liquid eyes full of love toward all people. Here is a horse redeemed from death, here is an Arabian Dream woken from a nightmare. Habitat For Horses is an equine rescue facility in Hitchcock, TX. Many Arabians pass through the doors of our ranch needing food, shelter, that someone special to love and carry safely on their backs. We are proud and honored to be able to participate in returning to the Arab Owner�s World a few of these �Wind Carried Spirits� brought back from neglect, hunger, and pain into the world of safety offered them by people such as the readers of this newspaper. For more information on what we do and to hear about some of the Arabians we have available for adoption please visit our website at http://www/habitatforhorses.org or call us at (409) 935-0277.
Web Site	The Arabian Horse Newspaper
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