Around Labor Day 2007, a ~2.5 year old intact male horse was found wandering a road in Johnston county.
Luckily for him, he was eventually taken in by the United States Equine Rescue League and named Grayson.
Here's what he looked like back then.
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The woman who rescued him wrote Grayson's story from his point of view.
I had no home. I had nobody to give me food and water; nobody to love me, to brush me and talk softly to me. I had to find my own food and water along the roadside. I don’t even know where I came from.
Then late one night, some people found me walking along a road. They tried to catch me but I was scared of these strangers. I didn’t know what they were going to do to me if they caught me. A strange man had a rope and he swung it around and it got wrapped around my legs. He caught me and took me to a barn where he locked me in a stall. I heard people talking and there were men wearing uniforms with stars on them. Who were these people and what were they going to do to me? Was this the end for me?
About 2 hours later, a lady came into the stall. She started talking softly to me. I was scared, at first, but after a few minutes, I realized that this lady really cared about me so I stopped shivering and let her touch me. Her hands were so soft and gentle. It really felt good. After a few minutes, she stopped touching me and left. Why? Was that all there was? I really liked the lady with the soft touch and gentle voice. Why did she have to leave? A few minutes later, she came back. This time, she had a rope and a thing that was made of rope. She let me smell the rope and the other thing. She told me she wanted to put the rope thing on my head and take me away to a safe place. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to stay in this strange place and I didn’t want to keep wandering around without a home. I really wanted to believe this lady wouldn’t hurt me.
OK, put that rope thing on my head, just don’t hurt me, please! Hmmm! It doesn’t hurt. Now she is leading me out of the stall past the men with the stars on their shirts. But what is this? There’s a big white box with wheels and the lady wants me to follow her into it. Now what do I do? She says she’s going to take me home. She’s telling me to “step up”. Oh! What the heck! Anything is better than roaming around homeless. Once I was in the box, the lady rubbed my neck and said I was a good boy. Oooooh! She closed the door. It’s dark In here. What’s happening? The box is moving! We are going down the road where I was wandering around lost. After a long ride in the white box, we stopped and the lady opened the top doors of the box. She talked softly to me and told me I was home. She opened the other doors and told me to step down slowly. It was very dark outside. She led me to another stall, but this one was different. It had fresh, clean bedding on the floor, fresh water in the corner and sweet-smelling hay in a rack. This is nice. Perhaps I have finally found someone to care about me.
The next morning, the lady gave me more fresh water and more sweet hay. She named me Grayson. I like that name. I like this lady with the soft voice and gentle hands. I like being loved. At last, I have hope and a reason to believe.
Fast forward a couple years... In March of 2009, I started looking for my very first horse. I shopped online; I looked through dozens of horses but none of them caught my eye like this guy.
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| As you can see, the USERL did a really good job! |
I went through the adoption process and had Grayson delivered on May 2, 2009.
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| Grayson and Flash on the day I got him...they're still buds |
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| Boyfriend meet horse, horse meet boyfriend |
I have no regrets with adopting a rescue (despite the fact that he has bad teeth because of it). Grayson is an amazing animal who's sensitive and funny and wants nothing more than to love and be loved. He appreciates attention from anyone and usually wants to please.
If you are looking for a new horse, I highly recommend you at least look at what your local (and legit!) rescue organization has to offer. As I mentioned earlier, I got Grayson from the United States Equine Rescue League. I had a super positive experience with them and I'm still in contact with the women who I dealt with.
