Our core values tend to come by way of our primary years…our parents, families and early
important influences. While as we age and mature, we certainly add values, or in some cases
shed beliefs that no longer provide the foundational road map that allows us to navigate a
purposeful life. This cycle clocks our emotional growth…and there are certain values that are
core to us. We guard them, incorporate them into our lives, and hold them dear. In spite of
growing up in a devout Irish Catholic home, my family was a rich blend of diversity with my
gentle, conservative father and a bold, liberal and open-minded mother. My parents openly
debated everything from politics to football teams while holding hands, usually while watching
an interactive Jeopardy show on our living room couch. There were also many agreements,
including the importance of chores, social responsibility, lifetime commitment to family pets,
and the staunchly held belief that life is to be respected, valued, and protected.

A few years ago, Red Bucket adopted the tag line, “Where Rescue is Only the Beginning”. While
this phrase comes after our name, it is in no way an afterthought and quite conversely is very
intentional. 92.3% of all horses going to slaughter are healthy, trained and sound. It has also been
our experience that there are a good number of horses in the slaughter and abuse pipeline who
are emotionally damaged, injured and geriatric. These animals have most often experienced
unspeakable abuse and trauma. They come to us as a last resort. Most of them have given up
hope…have never known kindness, care or love. They do not expect gentleness in our touch or
regular meals…let alone a red bucket…or the consistency and quiet commitment that slowly
becomes their new normal. These deserving horses do not know what we know…that they have
just been given the gift of their life, and a promise of both dignity and a future. There has been a
growing trend for rescues to euthanize for space…or convenience. Some of these programs build
their efforts around euthanizing the imperfect, and even boast about their inflated euthanasia
rates. It is our belief that the horses and donkeys that come to us deserve the very best care that
we can provide them. We stand squarely and steadfastly on the side of life…and we staunchly
protect our animals, because rescue means just that…rescue.

Yesterday Lauren texted me a little video clip. The short video did not need an explanation or
accompanying verbiage. It was a picture of our beloved Jack, walking briskly toward what I
knew was his afternoon turnout and eagerly-awaited enrichment. It is a fair statement to admit
that underneath what may appear to be a matter-of-fact and business-like exterior, I have both
shed tears and lost sleep worrying about whether Jack would turn the corner on what has been a
bit of a battle to fight for his quality of life. For now, we have declared an exhilarating victory,
and while we know that the triumph will not last forever, our promise to Jack will follow him
closely as we work to provide him the gentle retirement and daily enrichment that he deserves.
For now, his afternoons will be spent in “Finbar’s Pasture” in the reciprocal exchange of mutual
grooming with his love, Brinkley, in mentoring our foals in appropriate horse behavior, and…on
a very good day…scraping Joey off of his legs as Joey pursues the playful game of keeping his
“Pop-Pop” young at heart. His evenings are spent in his well-bedded paddock with Joey, and
while for the last few years Jack would stoically stand guard over Joey’s little sleeping self, I
now observe an almost undetectable changing of the guard as Jack now lies down to sleep, and
his little charge Joey curls up in the crook of Jack’s hind end.

This month marks the close of our 6th year of Red Bucket. To date we have saved 273 horses
from the horrors of the slaughter plant, starvation, and abuse. While we cannot save all of the
horses in the world, for those horses that we do save, it means all the world to them. They matter
to us, and in time perhaps the most important gift that we give them is that each one of them gets
to know and deeply comprehend that they matter to us. Rescue is Only the Beginning, and it is
our volunteers and donors who make our beautiful work possible. On behalf of Jack, and all of
the horses who have been given the gift of their lives and the accompanying underlying promise,
we thank you for your selfless acts of love and generous contributions, and wish you the happiest
holiday season.