The Bond of Trust - Ali Graves

India Ink
16" x 20" x 0.5"
 
Although most think of mental health struggles in relation to people, animals can suffer from them as well. I rescued this horse out of a kill pen several years ago about half an hour before he was slated to be on a truck bound for a slaughterhouse in Mexico. When he arrived at my farm, he was terrified of people; that they would hurt him, abuse him, deprive him of food, and of love. I was in school at the time and not able to give him the attention he needed and so he bonded with my mother. This is based on a photo I took of them where they are leaning in to each other and their body language is completely reflected. This was the moment that he started trusting people, and the moment that we learned just how special he was.