Hooves & Snouts

I'm wrapping up Internship week 2 and 3 in Horse Haven and Piggy Paradise (they are combined areas) and got the chance to give the pigs and horses their own photoshoots. The staff here are unbelievably awesome and have even been posting my work on each area's respective Facebook page! You can see my photos for the pigs here and the horses here.

I've always loved horses as most of you know, I have been riding for almost as long as I could walk. However, I have a new found respect for pigs. I've always liked pigs and have never been a huge pork eater but spending time with them on the day to day made me realize just how smart and social they are. The horses and pigs here are trained in Parelli Natural Horsemanship which focuses on positive training methods and building a positive bond between horse and rider and the pigs learn this way as well. It's something I haven't really gotten a chance to experience yet but I'm hoping to learn more about it before this week is over. 

I encourage everyone to do a little more research when it comes to pigs. There is no such thing as a teacup piggy, these small pigs are starved to keep them small and are even explained in their contracts to underfeed the animals to keep them small and these poor pigs experience many health issues because of it. Pigs also turn vicious when kept in homes if they don't have another pig friend which is why Best Friend's adopts them out in pairs. I'm not a vegetarian by any means, I've tried and failed many times, but I have so much respect for people who are and I have definitely cut down my carnivorous ways since I've been here.

If you get a chance to volunteer at the Sanctuary, make sure you spend some time with the pigs and horses. It's a really great time feeding the horses and giving pigs belly rubs. 

If you want to know more about the pigs at Best Friends, one of the other interns is running a blog specifically about them called Friends With Pigs! She also makes the cutest pig cozies as well as other animal cozies so be sure to check her out!