VULCAN, Alta. – Paul Mitchell describes himself as a “professional horse nut.”
The 48-year-old horse trainer and retired mechanic has turned that passion into a personal crusade by starting a centre for abandoned and unwanted horses.
This year he and his wife Brenda started the Mitchell Centre for Equine Rescue and Education, a registered charity located east of Vulcan.
Mitchell suffers from progressive multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome. The horses keep him active and maintain his high spirits.
He also admits to having a soft spot in his heart for foundlings. Mitchell has been saving hurt and abandoned animals all his life. As a horse trainer he had his share of orphans staying at the farm, including dogs, cats, hawks and deer.
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“Our poor vet never knew what he was going to walk into in our barn,” he said.
Now Mitchell is helping unwanted horses and he is confident there is a demand for these animals, based on the number of calls he has received from people looking for a reasonably priced, gentle family horse.
The idea for a rescue service was realized last winter when he and a friend rescued 45 abandoned mares whose foals had frozen to death. Some of the mares died, but others survived and no one claimed them. He knew there had to be a way to salvage these animals if someone was willing to do it. He decided to be that someone.
Rescued from slaughter
The problem is not usually the horses, but the people who own them, said Mitchell.
Some horses are rejected because they are the wrong color for their breed, or they are unwanted by their owners. One of his rescued horses was caught in the middle of a custody battle in a divorce.
Horses can also be financial investments and are frequently misunderstood by novice buyers.
“A lot of people come out here and they think horses are like cars. You turn the key and go. Horses don’t work that way.”
When the owner has had enough, the animals are often sold to horse meat plants.
Mitchell attends several grade horse sales a month and bids against the meat plant order buyers, hoping to save a few from the slaughter house.
He picks up most horses for less than $300 and seeks homes for them.
Four yearlings are the newest members at the centre because the owner needed some quick cash. The meat buyers would have paid $200 each for them.
While Mitchell does not object to the slaughter plant and agrees some horses have to go if they are vicious or injured, he feels too many good ones are sold and lost.
The Mitchells can keep up to 24 horses at a time, but want to expand their 10 acre farm to build an indoor arena where they can offer riding to handicapped and underprivileged children. Their dream is that the children will become good enough to compete in horse shows.
When horses arrive at the farm, they are isolated until they pass a veterinary inspection.
Mitchell doesn’t work with the new horses during their first five days at the farm to let them get accustomed to him and the surroundings.
Mitchell also raises registered Quarterhorses and he mixes the animals together.
Visitors have a hard time picking out the castoffs from his registered steeds.
Finding a new home
A new program offers first-time owners a horse for $500. The price includes lessons on how to take care of the horse.
If the relationship doesn’t work out, the horse can be returned to the centre.
The Mitchells’ phone rings constantly as people search for family horses that are gentle, trained and suitable for children.
He said people tell him they can’t find a well-broken kid’s horse for under $3,000.
“The reason they can’t find any is because we’re slaughtering them all,” he said.
“My job as I see it, that I’ve been called to do, is to save these animals. These animals have done nothing wrong.”
