Meet Dany, the Sweet Rescue Horse
Dany was scheduled to be slaughtered...
Dany was in a feedlot in the state of Washington. I had no idea what a feedlot is, so I Googled it. A feedlot is the last place that animals go to grow a lot of body fat and muscle prior to slaughter. It is illegal in the United States to slaughter horses. Dany was scheduled to be shipped to Canada to meet his fate at a slaughter facility.
Luckily, this particular feedlot allowed rescues.
As luck would have it, a young woman noticed Dany on a website and sprung into action and told her mom about him. Rescues are allowed to come to the feedlot and photograph the horses for rescue. Her mom has horse property and plenty of beautiful space for horses.
Mom was able to purchase Dany for his "meat price". What is a "meat price" you ask? His meat price is the price that the feedlot owner would get for selling him to slaughter. Dany's meat price was $500.
As you can see by his photographs, Dany is the sweetest rescue horse!
Beautiful weeping trees and ivy surrounded us in Dany's backyard! The light during golden hour was magical! Dany lives with two other horses. The other two horses greeted me as I approached the barn. They were not very excited to be left behind as we took Dany out for our photo session. The other horses were very vocal about our departure. Lots of whinnying and neighing could be heard as we walked into the secret garden.
I came armed with an arsenal of tools to get Dany's attention for the photo shoot.
I brought a crinkled water bottle and my phone loaded with all kinds of sounds, like babies crying, cats meowing, other horse noises. Dany was so chill that he barely noticed me. He was very good at ignoring most sounds, especially his barn mates who were whinnying behind me! I was making all kinds of noises with my mouth and trying to play my sounds on my phone, all while trying to get my camera settings and gear to cooperate! Many of my attempts had us in stitches with laughter, since most of my antics did not work. Patience was key as I waited for Dany to give me his best expressions.
Rescue Animals Give Back More
I am a firm believer that rescue animals know that they have been rescued. There is something so special about an animal that has been rescued. It is as if they KNOW you saved them. I was honored to capture the beautiful relationship between Amy and Dany. The moments of trust and love were so evident between these two as I edited this gallery.
Thank you Amy and Dany!
Thank you for opening my eyes to horse rescue! I learned a lot and had so much fun at our session!
