Rescuing Horses from Neglect

Rolling in the mud has made Jack a rather dirty horse today, but that's nothing compared to the conditions that Steve Alexander sees when animals arrive at his farm, home of Central Illinois Horse Rescue.

"Anywhere from starvation, worms, lice, bad hooves, bad manners," Alexander said. "Probably 90 percent of them are not broken."

Jack himself isn't exactly feeling top-notch.

"Jack is dealing with an upset stomach, more or less called colic," Alexander said. "It could be from a variety of things: too much grain, the wrong kind of grain, eating molded grain, and not drinking enough water."

That means Alexander has to treat him with medication.

"You definitely have to get the vet's recommendation, but you apply Bantamine and some Bute," Alexander said.

Then's it time to do a lot of walking.

"Walk them around until their gases inside, same as us if we were using Alka-Seltzer or something like that," Alexander said. "It would help them release pressure, release gas."

He also tries to get Jack to take a drink, but there is that old saying about leading a horse to water, and he's going to all the trouble for horses that won't bring in much cash.

"If you get a broke horse it's $200, a non-broke horse, $165, with the application," Alexander said. "That's not gonna pay for very much, except for what has been donated by the few people that have been donating."

But the reward of the work isn't monetary anyway.

"They're just beautiful," Alexander said. "Once you get them back to the correct weight they're supposed to be, the way they run, the way they walk, and their nature, they're just so friendly and they're beautiful. It's something I've been very fond of since I was old enough to understand horses."

There is one other reason he puts in the work.

"Somebody's gotta do it," he said.
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Reporting in Greene County, Mike Brooks, ABC NewsChannel 20.

You can find out more information at Central Illinois Horse Rescue's website by clicking here.