“But, they’re just animals,” you may think.

I can assure you, once you spend a little time with horses, you realize they’re so much more.

Think of why you love your dog or cat. They have personalities, right? They learn, perform and even serve. They become part of your daily life – part of your family.

Horses are truly no different. I could literally go on for days about each of our horses‘ little quirks and foibles. Like how Bo and Winston have to inspect absolutely everything – ensuring it’s safe for the herd; and if they determine it’s both safe and entertaining, they make themselves an active part of the project until it’s finished. Or, how Aubrey – ever the efficient (lazy) mover – cranes her neck to look back over her giant booty rather than expend energy to turn to face you with the Mare Glare. (But she will deliver the Mare Glare.) Or how Romeo doesn’t want you to know he’s fascinated by you, so he nonchalantly turns up wherever you are, just to be near you – like it’s a coincidence. Or how Everest loves to have his bottom scratched; so he casually and ever-so-slowly turns his body to deposit his rear just where you can reach it. Or how Anastasia screams with excitement every time she hears me open the front door. She’s Pavlov’s Dog and I’m the bell (her mouth waters with anticipation as soon as she sees me.) Or how Mazi flings her head and prances about with her tail held high whenever she gets what she wants – her happy dance when she feels like she’s really accomplished something.

The point is, they each have unique personalities. How do you slaughter something with a personality?

Now, think of someone offering you $15 to let them eat your dog. Imagine your dog’s confusion, terror and sense of betrayal as his new owner leads him away from you (and to his brutal death). If you have other dogs, imagine the confusion, sadness and longing of your dog’s four-legged mates if you sold him for slaughter.

It’s unfathomable, right? Yet we’re perfectly fine with perpetrating the same betrayal on horses that develop just as profound bonds with humans and their horse families. (Don’t even get me started about horses forming familial bonds.)