So, New Mexico State University...

I am curious. Are you guys PAYING for your mistake? If you haven't already, I think you'd better be writing a large check to the Horse Shelter!

An update came out on Miracle, the horse shot SIX times in the head, who survived. Now we know where Miracle came from. She came from the polo program at New Mexico State University! You guys all know how I feel about old polo ponies. I am furious to hear this!

They of course did the usual "gave her away to a good home." Which sent her to slaughter, but Brian Drake, 36, of Las Cruces decided to just take her out in the desert and shoot her. Six times. Basically, the piece of shit followed her for two miles, shooting her. She refused to drop. Yes, he is being prosecuted. They haven't named the asshat who gave her to Drake to dispose of in the media, but they damn well should. He's just as guilty. Another cheap shithead who wouldn't pay for euthanasia or god forbid retirement board.

(Memo to colleges and universities: Did you know that you can HAVE and ENFORCE an adoption contract just like the rest of us? Yes, you can! You may have to get off your dead behinds and do follow-up visits like the rest of us but it DOES work.)

Proving my long-held theory that (a) mares are really smart and (b) polo ponies are particularly brilliant, Miracle decided to go get some help. "She got past a cattle guard in the road about a foot wide and went and found a house and banged her head against the door until someone came to the door," Rios said.

So now Miracle is safe at the Horse Shelter in Santa Fe. But who is footing the bill? I'm guessing it's the Horse Shelter, and that's b.s. If you college equestrian programs would start taking responsibility yourselves instead of throwing these horses away - and they are thrown away every damn year, irresponsibly, often ignoring the wishes of donors who wanted them back - there wouldn't be so many messes like this to clean up. Don't tell me that out of all of the kids who rode and enjoyed this horse, you couldn't find any volunteers to do site visits and follow up. Nonsense.

(I often wonder: How many of these institutions actually try to contact the kids who rode the horse when the horse needs a retirement home? Has any such effort EVER been made? Fill me in if you've ever heard from your old university that the polo ponies or equestrian team horses you rode need a home. Are you given the opportunity to step up and help?)

Here's another idea. Why don't these colleges put together their own retirement programs, on site, for their horses? NMSU offers a masters in Animal Science and a pre-vet program. You have programs like that, and you can't think of any way to justify keeping your old horses around and using them as teaching tools?

You know, this story would make a good documentary. I wonder who had this mare in polo? Her name was Fui then. I wonder if she's originally off the track. Many, if not most, polo ponies are. This is just a long progression of dropped balls, pardon the pun.

And for anybody in the NM area, go adopt this mare and write a blog about it so I can stop worrying she'll get another crappy home. You'll never find a safer horse for your little kids than an old polo pony, and this old girl deserves to be safe at last.