As a young child, Beth Nickels would lay down for bed and ask her dad to draw her a horse.
“Mother would draw me a stick horse. And I would say 'No, not that I want a real horse,'” Nickels said.
Her dad, with all his artistic talent, would sketch out a perfect horse, complete with a saddle, reminiscent of his days growing up on the ranch.
Nickels said she grew up a city girl, not spending much time around the animals she asked her dad to draw, but in 1995, her next-door neighbor encouraged her to start showing horses.
After a while, she decided that showing wasn’t for her because of the subjective nature, rather than the objectivity of other sports she had played growing up.
So, she started riding ranch horses with her dad.
In 2014, she took her love for animals – and care for all living creatures – to start Rescued Animals Second Chance, a rehabilitation organization for horses that have been abused, neglected and sent to die.
Her ranch is home to 76 horses now, a few are the same horses she rode with her dad. Most have been purchased from kill pens.
According to the Humane World for Animals, kill buyers often purchase horses for their meat, which is sometimes seen as a delicacy in many countries.
“Not only do you have to purchase the horse from the kill pen, you have to either drive up and get it, or I have to pay somebody to bring it here,” she said.
From the selling to transportation to a crowded, prolonged death, the process of horse slaughter can be seen as one of cruelty.
Horses being sent to slaughter could be tightly packed, injured and without food for the duration of their travels.
Often, they see their fate enacted on others before they are dealt their own hand.
Nickels, believing she can do something about their fate, has purchased horses from around the nation before they were sent to die. Some have been pregnant; Most have been injured and skeptical of humans.
“They're evaluated by a vet within the first 24 hours,” Nickels explained. “Most of the time, they're pretty skinny, so you have to start very slowly on their nutrition.”
She mentioned the different personalities of horses. Some horses are more dominant, which can cause conflict with others. She has been able to prevent injuries by learning the personalities of her horses and separating the dominant horses from one another.
In kill pens, this is often not the case; they are thrown together, forced to share space with others. Crowded pens with a clash in temperament can mean some horses end up with a broken leg or do not receive food or water.
Caring for one horse is a lot of work: they need adequate room, routine grooming and hoof care, exercise, veterinarian check ups and dental care. Caring for nearly 80 horses is more than a full-time job, especially for a surgeon who runs her horse rescue like a hospital.
Nickels is not the only one who cares for her horses; she has a team that helps feed, train, water and medicate her rescues back to health.
She works on creating a special diet for each horse that includes special feed and supplements that they need to regain strength.
“I'm not throwing them just a regular old bag of oats or whatever. They're specialized in what they need and they're checked on once, twice a day, or three times a day; whatever their needs are,” she said.
The biggest challenge the horse rescue is facing now is the change in prices. Raising one horse is expensive with the price of feed, hay and medication. In 2014, Nickels said she was able to purchase a bag of feed for $14. Now, prices are over $40 and are expected to continue rising.
Even with her care for these creatures, the influx in prices and the time she invests between her rescue and her private practice is not an easy feat.
“I'm getting to the point I can't do two jobs forever,” Nickels expressed.
Through the stress, Nickels is working on applying for grants, keeping up with donors and furthering her mission on the ranch.
Each building she has added, each stall that has been expanded or fence that has been raised has all been done by the hands of her and her team.
Though it is a tough job, she has great care for her team, showing them support and special appreciation through the long days.
Almost all of her horses have been abused and beaten by kill buyers searching for money. It takes a village to run her rescue and she is surrounded by caring hands, ready to teach her rescues they are in a place built on trust.
“Well, they're God's creatures, and he cares for them all,” Nickels said. “He's put me here to not only be a trauma surgeon, he's put me here to take care of his creatures.”
If you want to get involved with Rescued Animals Second Chance, you can follow them on Facebook or check out their website, which has options to keep up with events or donate.
