Hello and welcome once again to my blog. This week it is with great honour that I present this article to you with full support from my family and friends and from RMJ Horse Rescue who allowed us to take out their beautiful horses to capture some photos to share with you all. We all have a role to play in this world and we all can make a contribution to make this world a better place. What influenced me to write this article and animate it this way with inspiration from the respectful native Indians is to talk about the importance of Speaking Up in our lives.
We all are born warriors with our own voice to communicate with but somewhere along the line, we seem to get muted. Very often we tend to avoid communicating with others and we don’t have the willingness to speak up for what is right. We often think that our voice does not matter to bring about a change. We are scared of how others will react , scared to speak up about delicate subjects for fear of attack or ridicule because we are in the minority against powerful individuals. Fear takes over and we have no courage to speak our minds. But the time has come for this to change. Speak Up With Love. Bring out the Warrior in You no matter how small you are, no matter what gender or colour you are. You have a Voice and it Does Matter. If you feel weak, join forces with other persons who have your same concerns. You have more chances of being listened to if you get together. Together is Better.
Nothing is as strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.
In this blog, we represent the love warriors in each one of us, we come from a peaceful heart and we wish to raise awareness about an important subject and also share some ancient quotes from native indian tribes who have so much to teach us, incredible wisdom brought down from one generation to the next in the hope that some of you will listen and take note.
“I do not think the measure of a civilization
is how tall its buildings of concrete are,
But rather how well its people have learned to relate
to their environment and fellow man. “
Sun Bear of the Chippewa Tribe
UNFAIR ABUSE OF HORSES
It is with tears in my eyes that I write this post today. This is because TOBY one of the beautiful horses who participated in this photoshoot has passed away and it is in his honour that we present you this feature today with the support from all the persons who knew him and loved him dearly. We would like to raise some awareness about the unfair abuse of horses in the racing industries all over the world including Malta. Despite all the help from loving individuals and healthcare professionals, the problem of horses being abandoned is still a recurring event.
It is thanks to some rescue stables and the backup of people with big hearts, who run to the rescue of horses the minute they hear of the news that a horse is going to be killed, that they step in and welcome an animal and give them all the love they have always deserved.
Why is it that after a race horse has given all his life to racing instead of enjoying its natural habitat and is no longer fit to race, it is disposed of and not cared for by the same owner who enjoyed him for all the years? If your brother or your mother is ill, you abandon them or send them to find a peaceful death? The alleged behaviour goes on, decade after decade, because the industry is unwilling to police itself. Because state regulators are lacking strength and because there is no uniformity among racing jurisdictions. Certainly, there are some who do and it is not fair of us to blame all horse race families and companies, but we cannot pretend that we are blind and that we don’t know about this sad situation.
“Honor the sacred.
Honor the Earth, our Mother.
Honor the Elders.
Honor all with whom we
share the Earth:-
Four-leggeds, two-leggeds,
winged ones,
Swimmers, crawlers,
plant and rock people.
Walk in balance and beauty.
Native American Elder”
These Indian headdresses were imported from Indonesia from www.thesoundingiron.com
Since the earliest days of animal protection, veterinarians have played central roles in working with animal welfare investigators and law enforcement authorities to aid animals that have been victims of human abuse and neglect. Animal cruelty cases are being treated with more respect than at any time in the past. Increased public concern for the animals that share our communities, a proliferation of university human-animal studies and animal law courses, and stronger scientific support for the links between animal abuse and human violence and for the therapeutic benefits of animals have combined to help generate a new renaissance of interest in animal well-being.
This increased attention is helping professionals to do their jobs better and to accord greater protections for animals; the problem of unwanted horses focuses additional attention on equine veterinarians, who may see more abandoned and abused horses than ever before. Practitioners who become involved in responding to animal abuse not only help address the needs of individual animals that may suffer, but fulfill their veterinary oath to use their skills for the betterment of society.
Horse racing
In the world of horse racing, the growth of the young foal is stimulated by a specific diet. These foals are put to work at the age of eighteen months, and those who do not adapt to the racecourse are taken out of service. Those taken out, which are an important part of the slaughter of horses for meat, often develop health and comportment problems.
In harness racing, the use of the riding crop in horse racing raises a greater ethical problem in horses because of the pain inflicted on an animal generally exhausted from effort. Studies demonstrate that the frequent use of the crop beatings does not translate into better racing performance, as race horse breeds are already genetically selected to run as fast as possible. In addition, blows delivered in the last 200 metres of the race often hit the horse in the sensitive part of the abdomen, leaving a very visible mark. The “anti-pain crop” invented in England is actually as painful as others.
These things happen for real and we have to be aware and start to think about all the animals and nature around us as having beautiful souls who also deserve happiness and peace.
We are warriors of love and to conclude this article aimed to raising awareness in a peaceful manner, , I would like you to read this beautiful Native American Prayer hoping that some of the good souls out there will take note of our message today and keep it in mind for future generations. Let us treat these animals with respect please.
Dear TOBY May You Rest in Peace wherever you are and I hope you are trotting around with all the other horses happily in the skies above us!
Native American Prayer
Oh, Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
hear me, I am small and weak,
I need your strength and wisdom.
Let me walk in beauty and make my eyes ever behold
the red and purple sunset.
Make my hands respect the things you have
made and my ears sharp to hear your voice.
Make me wise so that I may understand the things
you have taught my people.
Let me learn the lessons you have
hidden in every leaf and rock.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
but to fight my greatest enemy – myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
with clean hands and straight eyes.
So when life fades, as the fading sunset,
my Spirit may come to you without shame.
(translated by Lakota Sioux Chief Yellow Lark in 1887)
published in Native American Prayers – by the Episcopal Church.
Love
xxx Grazielle
I would like to thank Aleksander Grujovski and Ilija Grujovski and my daughter Luna for joining me on this photoshoot. Thank you goes to theRMJ Rescue who takes care of so many horses without much financial support. Thank you to the native Indians for teaching us so much. We respect you and want to learn more and more about life.
Photography Carlo Jourdan
Make Up Janice Baldacchino
Clothes & Necklaces: Stradivarius
Indian Headdresses imported from Sounding Iron
Styling: Moi
THIS BLOG FORMS PART OF OUR HUMANITARIAN PROJECT TITLED TOGETHER IS BETTER
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