Major
Major was our first rescue at Midnight's Promise. We had just prepared our barn and installed fencing at the sanctuary when we received a plea for help for an older horse. The horse had served a local stable as a rental horse for many years and been retired the year before. The kind boarders at the stable bought him high quality feed and supplies to help him during his old age but the horse failed to put on weight.
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The stable owner no longer had any use for a horse that could not earn its keep so he informed the boarders that Major would have to go. The boarders asked if a rescue would take him would he let Major go to one and the stable owner agreed.
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A few days later the stable owner was talking to a farrier and learned that the farrier made frequently took horses to a livestock auction in Ohio. The farrier was familiar with the market there and felt that Major would bring at least $500 so the owner decided to send Major to auction on the farrier's next trip.
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The boarders who were very fond of the old horse were devastated. They knew Major's fate would be in he hands of kill buyers that shop auctions for horses to send to slaughter in Canada. No one at an auction would want an elderly horse that could no longer carry a rider. Surely this sweet old fellow had earned his retirement.
Major was the perfect companion to her mare, Lily, and her grandchildren took much joy in brushing him and feeding him apples when they visited Fairwinds. In October, Major passed away knowing that he was loved and valued until his final day.
One of the boarders had heard about Midnight's Promise, a new local rescue so they contacted us and asked if we could help Major. Of course, we would! All they had to do was bring him to us. That same evening one of our board members mentioned a friend of hers that needed a companion horse for her mare. She did not mind that Major was old so Major went to Fairwinds Animal Stay in Statesville to live out a useful retirement as a companion horse.
