Horse Whisperers

My friend Tom Berry's mother, and sisters, are deeply involved in the care and rehabilitation of neglected Horses. They are founding members of the non -profit group Central New England Equine Rescue, based out of their hometown in West Warren, Mass. Here's a link to their website for more on how they restore the Horses' health, and just as importantly, their spirit...

C.N.E.E.R. occasionally holds events and fund-raisers, to help with the high cost of caring for the noble beasts. This year, they had an event at the Elk's Club pavilion, in West Springfield. I've been to one or two of these events, but this is the first one I've seen that was held outdoors. It was a good set up, with stuff for kids to do...



...and stuff for adults to do, like place bets on a video horse race game. There was also stuff for kids and adults to do, like the water balloon catching competition and the dunking game...







All the while, the barbecue griller was cranking out hamburgs and hot dogs, to go with macaroni salads and other good eats...

A short walk brought you to a small pen. where two of the horses in rehabilitation were on display. Monty (White) and Morocco (Brown)...



I'm not sure of Morocco's history, but there was a sign hung up telling Monty's story. To summarize:

Monty was almost twenty years old when a Boston businessman bought him at auction from the Amish country of Pennsylvania. He was bought intending to pull those 'romantic' carriages around the streets of Boston. Getting to Boston, the aging Monty turned out to be afraid of the noise, commotion, and sirens on the busy Boston streets. The new owner decided it wasn't going to work out, so he decided to put him up for sale for just one week, before selling him to a slaughter-house. A lady familiar with the animal found out about this and contacted C.N.E.E.R., who asked the owner to donate him. The owner refused, as he felt he could partially recoup his losses by selling him to the slaughterhouse. C.N.E.E.R. then went on a donation drive, and raised enough money to acquire the animal.

It's a sadly typical story about how some of the horses arrive into the care of Central New England Equine Rescue. Monty has permanent markings and scars around his head and shoulders, from a lifetime of pulling carriages and whatever else could be strapped to him.

Though he's getting better, Monty is still a little suspicious of the primates and stays aloof, lest the monkeys strap him to something else. Not so with Morocco:



Unfortunately for my ego,, it turned out Morocco was neighing so much not because I'm a horse-whisperer, but because his hoof needed some attention...which he quickly received.





Morocco was feeling much more amicable after that.



Back at the fundraiser, things were winding down with the long awaited raffle. They had long tables lined with prizes, seemingly enough for everybody. A lot of the prizes were wrapped gift baskets of one sort or another, and Kelly managed to nab a prize, to represent our table....





This fellow also took home some booty.



The prizes were of varying degrees of value, but I guess value is in the eyes of the prize-winner.



The bigger prizes were at the very end. There was a small girls bike, eagerly won by the portly fellow at the bar...



Then there was this lucky cowboy, who went home with what else? A Rocking Horse. A finely made one at that.



Vicky, or 'Ma' Berry as she's known to us, and Betsy, closed out the successful gathering with some closing comments.



It's a noble thing they're doing at C.N.E.E.R....for noble animals.