Last year I stumbled upon a really cool television show, Heartland, on GMC. GMC is the Gospel Music Channel, but there are family oriented TV shows on the network, it's not all gospel music. I am very picky about the TV shows I watch and there aren't very many that interest me. I am so thrilled to have found Heartland! I look forward to the airing on Thursday nights at 9pmEST. There's also an encore at 10pm EST. The show is well made, well written, and well acted. The stories are believable, realistic and visually captivating at times. The series was made a few years ago and GMC is currently showing Season 2.
The TV series, Heartland, is based on the book series of the same name by Lauren Brooke. I've not read the books. Amazon notes that the books are for ages 9 and up. Well, let me tell you, this 50 year old girl is hooked! Even my husband has been watching it! There is something for everyone in the characters and the storylines.
The series began, and I don't think I'm spoiling anything, as Amy, the young heroine, and her mom, are trying to rescue what they believe is an abused horse.On the way home, with horse, Spartan, in the trailer, there's an accident. Amy's mom is killed. Spartan is traumatized. Amy blames herself for her mom's death because she begged her mom to go after the horse. Amy wrestles with the "if only" and eventually starts working to bring Spartan out of his trauma to ease her own pain.
Amy's mom is a well known horse trainer/horse whisperer, and believed Amy had the gift for horse training/whispering as well. Amy had never trained horses on her own, always with her mom's guidance. The story moves on as various characters are introduced. Grandpa, the gruff, no nonsense cowboy who realizes ranch life is changing, but longs for the old days. Lou,the older sister who gave up a high profile job in New York to help out at the ranch after the tragedy. Will she stay? Will she go back to New York? Mallory, the sweet neighbor girl who sometimes gets in the way but means well. Ty the handsome, bad boy, trying to make right his past wrongs by working at the ranch. He's not so good at horseback riding and no one lets him forget it. As the seasons roll on, more characters emerge. Lou and Amy's father, Tim, a rodeo star who's trying to connect with his daughters again, decides to settle down close by. Ashley, the rich girl who's mom owns the local riding facility. Kit, the barrel racing gal who tends to come between Amy and Kyle because neither one of them want to admit they have feelings for each other. Caleb, the aspiring rodeo bronc rider who decides Amy is worth his time, but just can't quite keep from lying to her.
The horses are always a centerpiece of the story, in some way, which I love.The show was done intelligently. It's respectful but not sappy. It's clean without being preachy. The young people are up against various trials like most teens and find ways to work it out. They get into trouble but the consequences are always dealt with in an appropriate way.
There aren't many TV shows worthy of praise these days but I give the highest marks to Heartland. If you can't get the the TV show, the DVD's are available at Amazon.com as is the book series.
Let me start by saying I am not a fan of most reality shows, but recently found myself caught up in this one.
Surfing around the channels, I stopped on Animal Planet's Confession: Animal Hoarding. I thought to myself~How bad could they be?
Unfortunately, from my viewpoint, it was like a train wreck. I could not help watching. I suppose that's how all reality shows get people hooked. But watching this one, I was interested in the psychological aspects of how the people got into such dire situations with their animal addiction.
I felt bad for both the animals and the people. I was relieved that the people were handled compassionately, at least that's how it came across. One of the stories made complete sense to me. A woman worked at an animal shelter. Every time a dog came in, and she felt it wasn't going to find a home, she ended up taking it home with her. I can see that happening. It was reasonable...to a point.
Some people don't have an off switch, some people do. I am fortunate to have an off switch. I have two dogs. Sure, I'd love to give a home to more dogs, or even more cats, currently have only one sickly, asthmatic cat, but I know it wouldn't be right for us to bring more animals in at this time. Both our dogs were abandoned, as were most of the dogs from our past, and we gave them a home. We've had many dogs over the years, usually no more than two at a time. Probably the only animals we've had, who weren't abandoned, are the two horses.
Anyway, the people who ended up hoarding started out with good intentions toward the animals. At least that's how I see it.They did their best to care for them, although you would think they could realize as the numbers increase and they're feeling stressed, something isn't right, but they feel they are needed. Needed to the point of turning their backs on family, friends, and the reality of what is happening. The off switch quits working.
No one should judge them. I appreciated that the show ended on a positive note with the people getting help for their animal hoarding issues and the animals going to a better place than where they were living.
I suppose sometimes it's hard to talk to these people. Friends and family often say they tried or the other side of the coin, they had no idea how bad it had gotten.The hoarders believe they are saving lives and see others as interfering.The man with over 100 chickens was an example. He was very concerned the roosters would be killed once they left him and he didn't want to take that chance. Some of us might say, "Chickens, they're just chickens!" but to him they were individuals and they filled a need he had for acceptance. We often do the things we do because we get gratification from it. Sometimes, that gratification drives us to addictions, when we have no off switch life can turn ugly.
I hadn't realized how widespread the problem of animal hoarding had become, according to the statistics presented. I suppose it's been a problem shoved aside in the past. Neighbors or family members may have known of someone, but possibly had no idea how to help, so they ignored the situation.
One lady asked her son to help her clean the house. I can't even imagine the odor...it looked horrid. She had cats. Over 80 if I'm remembering correctly. The woman lost her restaurant job because of the odor that stayed with her, in her clothing, constantly. Her husband couldn't stand to live in the house anymore. Disgusting, yes, but also, sad.
My hope is that this reality show helps those people AND brings to light the importance of spaying and neutering cats and dogs. There are so many free clinics these days where even people who can't afford it can get their pets neutered. I do have trouble understanding reasoning behind not getting pets neutered. It's good all around for the pets and their owners. Lack of neutering is often one of the key issues in these hoarding situations. The people acquire the animals without thoughts of neutering, and then they multiply. I think sometimes the people are so overwhelmed, yet so guilty of what they'd done yet were afraid to admit they'd lost control. From what I've seen of all the people in these episodes, they seemed to genuinely love their animals. Most of the time they had favorites, which in most cases they were eventually permitted to keep once they'd gone through a kind of cleansing.
My husband and sons have often joked that they could easily see me becoming the "cat lady" of the holler, but I've never had more than 4 cats at one time and all of them were neutered. These episodes give new meaning to the title "Crazy Cat Lady." It's not a joke when it goes too far.
Our dogs are neutered. Every dog we've ever had over the years was neutered, even when we were in lean times.The horses are gelded, but they came that way. Anyway, if you get a chance to peek in at this TV show I recommend it. It's done very well, with compassion, which I find admirable. While you watch and feel disgusted by what you see, you can also realize that the people who take up animals to the extreme, also seem to have love in their hearts. They have that on their side.
