Tuesday, September 21, 2010

On Neil Moore and Candy Widden

Candy Widden(I have no idea if I'm spelling her name correctly) is a woman who loves to spend lots of money on elderly horses(as well as unwanted horses of every description). Keeping them alive, after their normal biology has expired and spending exorbitant amounts of money on medications and blood meals and injectable vitamins and so on, to keep them going. Well bless her heart. I'm not sure how much the old horses appreciate it, but, it makes her feel great. So good for her.

Neil Moore is a fellow who, a long time ago, realized there was big money in, among many other things, confiscating neglected horses. Being who he is, that business also included other schemes such as, when running across other people who had old horses that needed to be put down, "sent off to the glue factory" - an inevitable and very necessary part of the agrarian tradition - he offers to take them instead. Seems pretty noble and humane at the time, and then, after he takes them and is unable to repackage and resell them for gain, he takes them to a Collector named Candy Widden and presents himself as a hero rescuing horses from some shameful frump of a former owner who had been neglecting them. Candy gladly takes them in, again feeling as though she's saved another small piece of the world from abuse or neglect. So we have Neil, occasionally getting lucky and either turning a handy profit, or, we have Candy having her dreams realized by getting more supposedly poor old neglected horses that she can credit herself with "rescuing". A nice back-up plan for Neil when his adventures go wrong.

Well last summer I had two old horses who had both experienced very long and remarkable lives. One was particularly old and out of the necessary tooth enamel to grind her food with. The other was just looking old and used up. The person who sold her to me doubted that she would ever be usable because of her hind quarters. But she was very usable and so was the other one. And they were used. And they were happy. But they both continued to age. And early one summer when after several months on virgin hay field, they both still refused to put on any weight. In spite of the usual deworming and teeth maintenance they were both showing that they were ready to go on to whatever the Lord had for them after this life. This happens to everything.

I had discussed with my friend and landlord the likelihood of putting them down. That's how nature works. Eventually everything dies. And you don't spend money that should be going to your family, your children, or someone else's family or children, on an animal that otherwise would have died naturally long ago had it not been for their domesticated life, and the very expensive technology and advancements that our medical industry has been blessed with. We can put old animals on life support but it is very expensive. And when they've had good long lives, do they really want to be on life support?

Well Neil found this out. Two horses that were destined to be put down that he could no doubt get his hands on. He had found this out while over visiting my landlord. He had seen the two horses and decided he could fatten them up and peddle them to some friends. That is what he told me anyway.

I warned him, reminding him of the tall green hay field they had been in all spring and into the summer. There age. Their teeth. The temptation was too great for him. He wanted them. Said he had two young girls somewhere who could use the two horses. I skeptically consented to giving them a final chance with him. Particularly, I must admit, to save myself the expense of having to put them down. I also suggested to him that possibly the one who should have put on weight, since she still had viable teeth, was having a reaction to the iron in the water (though unlikely). But all of this information was wasted on Neil. Neil is one to create his own facts. According to how he needs them.

Two months later, many bags of senior horse pellets, I watched them at Neil's, and they looked virtually the same. He could not get them to put on weight. So, the fun was over for Neil, it was time for his plan "B" bailout plan, and he gives them to Candy Widden, asks her to take them, and tells her that I'd been neglecting them, and that the was shame on me. And she puts them on life support.

So I walked right into it.

Now. . . I have had several other similar opportunities prior to this to learn that it is not a good idea to get involved with Neil. So shame on me. It is my fault.

So they are on life support. But I believe they were much happier when they were being used. And now that they are not being used, standing around old and achy, are they impressed with our modern medicine? Is keeping them alive at great expense, just to keep them alive, for their physical benefit? Or ours? Our personal emotional benefit?

It does not always benefit them.

Both Neil and Candy still peddle this story when asked about these horses. Candy Widden shares culpability in this scheme as well because Neil has been widely known to do this sort of thing for years. So, shame on both of them. Since. . . , yes, there was at least one other party involved who can validate What went on. The truth is available.

I understand that there has been 3-4 thousand dollars spent on these two old horses to keep them alive(so far).

If your emotional well being relies on keeping these old horses alive at any cost, or as long as the latest technology and state of the art medical science will permit, then (until of course, nature finally takes it's course and they do still die of old age), fine. But do so honestly.

Nobody begrudges anyone keeping their life long pet alive through old age. But remember. . . there are many folks out there who believe there 'is' a limit on what is sensible to spend on a very old animal (unless perhaps it has been your life long pet) and they see the large amounts of money required to do so better spent in other critical directions. Theirs and other's children's education, health, etc. Other needy people. Not to mention other peoples souls.

Or even just plainly, younger animals needing a start in another direction.

So there is what you won't hear from Neil or Candy.