10/30/07 Horse owners and wildfires

Despite the horrors of the California fires there are heartwarming stories. One especially near and dear as a fellow horse owner was the fact the horse community rallied together to save thousands of horses and cattle. It sounds like virtually anyone with a horse trailer showed up to haul animals to safety, some making numerous trips back to the fire. Stables opened their doors and by Tuesday night over 700 horses were munching truckloads of donated feed at just one San Juan Capistrano facility while hundreds of volunteers cared for the displaced horses. A reporter awed by the outpouring was told " If you know anything about horses owners it is the smallest group of people there is". From trainers, to ranch hands everyone pulled together to keep what one man described as the " integrity of a good clean ranch" . He cited the fact the camaraderie in midst of terrible tragedy made everyone feel like a big family. Makes one wonder why that level of "integrity" failed to exist in New Orleans where countless animals were hastily abandoned and people feared for their lives midst rape, rioting and looting