Three years isn't much of a life for a horse, but in some ways I'm lucky, because most of the other horses going on the truck are broken down from pounding the pavement or they haven't had enough to eat and they've not been cared for. I thought all humans were good... I'm friendly and sweet. I've been handled, taught to pick up my feet, lead. But then, something happened to my right eye. I lost my home with the good people, stood out in terrible weather and got a bad case of rain rot and ended up in a pen with a bunch of other horses where I didn't know anybody.

Last week a lady came into my pen and looked at me, she rubbed my head and I used my best manners while she looked me over... but then she saw my eye and I knew I probably wasn't going with her. It was late, the lady loaded some other horses on her trailer and I watched her leave. It wasn't a bad place to be I guess, there was plenty of hay and water, and I was inside. The next morning, the truck came and lot of other horses were run up the aisle and loaded on the truck. For some reason I didn't go though. I was put in a separate pen with a percheron (who I adopted as a surrogate mom) and we were left alone for a week... yesterday the lady came back. She had a nice halter and some more head rubs and scratches for me. Then she went on, getting other horses out, trotting them up-and-down the aisle, riding some of them. One by one they were put in the pen with me and my surrogate mom.

Finally they came back and loaded us all on to their trailer. Mom got her own stall at the front. They took all of the partitions out and I got crowded in the back. I stepped right up onto the trailer though... I wanted them to see I was good. It took several hours, but when we stopped I was unloaded and the lady rubbed medicine on my back and petted me while I stood politely tied. Now I am in I stall where I can see my adopted mom. We both have good hay to eat and all of the people here seem nice. I am a three year old... and this is the story of how I ALMOST went to slaughter.