Trudging for days across the exposed moor, this is a dying mother’s final act of love for her newborn.
Just hours after leading her foal to the safety of a farm, the mare died.
Experts believe she knew she did not have long to live when she spent five days fighting illness and exhaustion to guide her young offspring across Dartmoor.
Final journey: The emaciated mare walked across Dartmoor for five days in order to deliver her foal to the home of owner Lorraine Chambers
Sad tale: The mare then died less than 24 hours later
The foal was dependent on her mother’s milk, and would have died alongside her if she had not been escorted to human care.
But the tired and emaciated mare battled to deliver her to the home of her owner, Lorraine Chambers – only to die less than 24 hours later. Vets confirmed that the mother died of natural causes but said she would have been aware of her failing health.
Now five months old, the foal, who has been named Queenie, is being hand-reared by Charlotte Faulkner of the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association. She will be rehomed on another farm after she is weaned in the coming months.
Doing well: Now the orphaned foal is being hand reared by Charlotte Faulkner of the Dartmoor Hill Pony Association
Dedication: Ms Faulkner is now giving the little pony her undivided attention as a tribute to the courage shown by its mother
Mrs Faulkner said: ‘Both mare and foal would have been out there on the moor for the whole summer and would have been brought off the moor in the annual round-up next month.
‘The mother must have known what would have happened to her foal if she had died so she brought her in.
‘Queenie has her own little paddock at the moment and has a friend in another foal close by, but if she gets a little lonely she cries out for my attention, just like any other young toddler.
‘The mother was dying of natural causes and she led the foal to safety. She had the sense to head to her owner’s farm.
‘She knew the route – she had been there many times before. They are amazing animals and perfectly adapted to Dartmoor.’
There are around 1,500 ponies living on Dartmoor, all owned by farmers who have rights to common grazing. The ponies are native to Britain, but have declined rapidly from more than 25,000 in the 1930s.
A university expert in social work knows the healing power of horses. Jane Moorman reports on the work being done by Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome, who is assistant professor in the School of Social Work at New Mexico State University.
For Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome horses are more than an animal to ride or pull a wagon. They are a way to help people with emotional problems and physical disabilities.
Whittlesey-Jerome, New Mexico State University assistant professor in the School of Social Work, combines her love of horses with her desire to understand ways animals can help people heal.
Wanda Whittlesey-Jerome
“As a teenager, I was fortunate to have my own horse,” she said of her life growing up in a rural community north of Dallas, Texas.
“I have always had a special place in my heart for horses. I don’t know what it was. I couldn’t put it into words, but I knew I had a connection. I wasn’t a lonely teenager. My mare was always glad to see me in the morning and after school. Having a horse helped me meet other kids through equine activities, as well as people who also loved horses.”
As her life progressed to young adulthood, Whittlesey-Jerome’s interaction with horses ceased as other interests occupied her time. Later, as her life path moved her toward a profession as a social worker and eventually a college professor on the subject, in the back of her mind she knew she wanted to someday have horses back in her life.
That day came when she and her husband, Ric, moved to Corrales, New Mexico. “While I enjoy my personal horses, Eli and Lady, I wanted to explore the use of horses in therapeutic settings,” she said.
Through the National Association of Social Workers New Mexico Chapter, Whittlesey-Jerome is networking with other social workers in the state using horses in therapy with their clients.
Therapies with horses can be either on the ground, known as equine-assisted psychotherapy, or while riding, vaulting or driving, known as therapeutic riding. The prefix “Equus” is Latin for horse; in Greek, the prefix “Hippo” means horse; and while hippotherapy typically uses riding to strengthen gross and fine motor skills, as well as communication skills, equine-assisted psychotherapy rarely uses riding as part of the therapeutic intervention.
“A number of years ago, I became aware of the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association’s model which was created by a clinical social worker as an intervention for behavioral health and mental health,” she said.
The EAGALA model has clients working either individually or in groups with horses. While not riding the animals, the people work the horse through obstacle courses within an arena. The work is often done without touching the horse or talking to the team members.
“The teams come up with some really unique problem-solving and the individual members learn about themselves through the way the horses react to them,” Whittlesey-Jerome said. “Since horses are prey animals they are very aware of everything in their environment. They know if a person has self-confidence and is in control of the situation, or if they are afraid.
“A teenager hiding behind a tough attitude soon learns that the horse is not impressed by his or her baggy pants and blue hairdo. Horses act as mirrors and are not judgmental. They approach these kids just the way they are and they usually open up and are more like their real ‘selves’ around the horses.”
She adds that horses are curious, precocious, social and like being with people and other horses. Horses like contributing and being busy, so they enjoy being part of a therapeutic exercise.
“I have also been involved with the Cloud Dancers Therapeutic Horsemanship Program in the greater Albuquerque area. While EAGALA is an equine-assisted psychotherapy model, Cloud Dancers has offered both EAGALA and therapeutic horsemanship – where clients have an opportunity for a unique therapeutic, recreational experience in a fun, safe environment,” she said of the organization, of which she had served on its board of directors until September 2012.
As a social work professional and professor at the university’s Albuquerque Center’s master’s of social work program, Whittlesey-Jerome wanted to quantify the impact equine assisted therapy has on clients through research studies in order to help build an evidence-base for its utility.
“Clinical social workers have been using companion animals, such as dogs, in the therapeutic setting for a number of years,” said Whittlesey-Jerome, the current president of NASW’s New Mexico Chapter. “So using horses seems like a logical progression to that. We have established a network of clinical social workers with horses across the state.”
To date, Whittlesey-Jerome has conducted several studies to quantify the impact of equine-assisted psychotherapy on at-risk adolescent resilience, and hippotherapy and therapeutic riding on the gross and fine motor skills, communication skills and behaviors for children diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
“A teenager hiding behind a tough attitude soon learns that the horse is not impressed by his or her baggy pants and blue hairdo. Horses act as mirrors and are not judgmental.”
“Early results are positive and indicate that this type of therapy does help,” she said. “In a study of at-risk adolescents, we learned that the equine-assisted psychotherapy group demonstrated stronger positive changes in resilience scores compared to those in a typical psycho-educational, talk therapy group,” she said.
Partnering with Cloud Dancers and Albuquerque Public Schools, the study of children on the autism spectrum showed that equine-therapies had a positive impact on the boys’ physical and behavioral health, which translated to a higher degree of success in school over the short term. Interestingly, Whittlesey-Jerome and the boys’ therapists wondered if riding atop a horse could have influenced these boys who were mostly confined to wheelchairs for mobility, and that their “change in perspective” might have influenced their overall sense of self as a result.
As she is compiling her findings into research presentations and articles, Whittlesey-Jerome has begun another equine study that will explore the impact of equine-assisted psychotherapy on the general self-efficacy of adult female victims of interpersonal violence. In this study, she will partner with Guadalupe Stables, LLC and Domestic Violence Resource Center, both of Albuquerque.
“Ultimately, my goal is to add to the evidence-base for equine-assisted activities and human-animal-nature activities so they can be shown to have therapeutic value to healing physical, mental and emotional/behavioral health issues,” she said.
Whittlesey-Jerome’s theoretical model, The Human-Animal Partnership Model, is being developed as a chapter in a comprehensive electronic textbook for veterinary and health professions students she is co-authoring with Gaylene Fasenko, assistant professor in the university’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Animal and Range Science Department.
Whittlesey-Jerome wants her work to go beyond research and authoring a book. She dreams of helping to develop a holistic, healing ranch that is run and operated by New Mexico State University, where animals and crops are a central part of the healing of American soldiers, veterans and their families as they face the issues associated with repeated deployments into war zones, and/or the post-traumatic stress disorder that has been growing in frequency among service members. The vision is to provide services to the soldiers, veterans and their families in this comprehensive continuum of care.
“The idea is that we will take them as they come, if they just need a weekend retreat or if they need to be there for weeks on end. We will help them reconnect with the feeling parts of themselves in a safe place where they can work it out. Whether through sweat therapy by working with animals and/or working in a community garden, or by participating in all kinds of other innovative creative therapies, like mediation, yoga, massage and aromatherapy, and dance, music and art therapy,” she said. “We want to bring together animals and nature, and everything in between, to help our military personnel and their families get back to a healthy life.”
The innovative military program, currently entitled “R&R Ranch,” was originally envisioned in 2007 by Whittlesey-Jerome’s graduate social work research students. But financial issues impacting the economy caused the idea to be tabled until recently.
“We have Dean Lowell Catlett of the College Agriculture, Dean Tilahun Adera of the College of Health and Social Services, and Dean Garrey Carruthers of the College of Business supporting the concept so far,” she said. “As the idea begins to coalesce, more deans will be brought to the table, since R&R Ranch would ideally involve all colleges of the university as well as the community colleges, and the Cooperative Extension Service across the state.”
“We currently have two social work students joining some business students to conduct a needs assessment, now called values proposition, through an independent study with Kevin Boberg at the Arrowhead Center during the summer,” she said. “They will be interviewing folks across the state to find out if people think R&R Ranch is a good idea. Once that happens, MBA students at the College of Business will develop a business plan and from there it will take off.”
Whittlesey-Jerome is excited about this future program, as are those who are supporting it.
“The idea is that we actually have a sustainable project that reaches out through our land-grant mission and our mission of military science to all corners of New Mexico. As Dean Catlett has said, ‘This is a no-brainer,’ and I agree. It’s a win-win for all who will be involved,” she said. “And, most recently, staff with our own NMSU Foundation have decided to focus on R&R Ranch as a priority project When I think about the possibilities, I couldn’t be happier.”
Video: For America’s next generation of doctors, bedside manner can fall by the wayside in the first few years of medical school. But one doctor in Arizona is hoping to change that by offering a first-of-its-kind class using horses to instill compassion. NBC’s Dr. Nancy Snyderman reports.
For the next generation of doctors to develop a better bedside manner, it’s important to spend some time in a stable.
Neurosurgeon Dr. Allan Hamilton of the University of Arizona Medical Center, Tucson, is using his ranch for a first-of-its-kind class to help train first year medical students, bringing the humans in close contact with large flighty four-legged patients who can’t talk and who can be highly -- and violently -- reactive to doctors who aren’t attuned to their patients’ body language.
At his first “lecture,” Hamilton shows this year’s class how to safely approach a horse. He slowly walks up to one of his horses, running his hand over the animal’s body as he moves around it.
“I put my arm around him like this so the whole time, even when I go through his blind spot, he knows exactly where I am,” Hamilton tells the students and NBC chief medical editor Dr. Nancy Snyderman.
The slow, careful contact with the animal is not only for self-protection -- the reaction of a startled horse can range from bolting away to spinning and kicking out at something it perceives as a threat -- but also as comfort and reassurance.
The idea for the course began when Hamilton caught himself approaching a patient too abruptly and without the right amount of sensitivity.
“The whole thing started one day when I was in a hurry,” he said. “I was delayed getting to clinic and we just burst into this room because we were in such a hurry and this woman, she just screamed when we walked into the room because we came in so fast. I just remember thinking to myself, ‘boy I never would have done that if that was a horse.’”
The concept makes a lot of sense to Snyderman, a horsewoman herself. “As a physician I hear from medical school professors all the time who say that the students come in eager and passionate about helping others, and leave as cynical and harsh doctors,” she said.
Riley Hoyer, one of the first-year medical students who signed up for Hamilton’s innovative class, recognizes the skills he’s learning.
Right now, “I'm studying books instead of focusing on patient care and so this was just one class that I could do as an elective to try and better learn how to interact with animals and learn how to use my body language to interact with patients,” he told TODAY.
Because horses can’t talk, students need to learn to read their body language to set up a “conversation.” They need to have a rapport and develop trust before the horse will stand still to have its heart monitored with a stethoscope or to get an inoculation.
Snyderman watched as one of the other students connects with a horse. “And now he’s making eye contact with you because you approached him in a very sensitive way,” she said. “It’s a lot like [approaching] a patient.”
Hamilton believes that the program can build better doctors, helping them to overcome fear and improve confidence.
“Probably even more important is it saves doctors,” he said. “Our salvation is going to be to go back to what really makes us fulfilled, which is this essence of human-human interaction and the ability to take somebody in the most dire of circumstances and say,’grab my hand I know we're going OK we're in this together.’”
Hamilton's class has been offered since 2001 and it's gaining attention around the country. Stanford University and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey are now offering similar courses.
Hamilton didn’t get his horses with a plan to teach students a better bedside manner. “I moved out here specifically to do neurosurgery by day and horses by night,” he said with a chuckle.
I cannot believe that people were good and ready to slaughter this endangered rare donkey! Thank you Ms. Annie Pollack for rescuing these wonderful animals! ~Declan
Woman's bid to save donkey that resembles a woolly mammoth from extinction after their numbers drop to less than 1,000
Annie Pollock began rescuing giant Poitou donkeys bound for abbatoirs
Hampshire farmer has built up largest herd of Baudet de Poitou in the UK
Loveable donkeys have shaggy coats and can grow to up to 8ft tall
By Kerry Mcdermott PUBLISHED:06:57 EST, 8 May 2013| UPDATED:09:01 EST, 9 May 2013 As posted on Mail Online A female farmer has dedicated herself to rescuing a critically endangered breed of giant French donkey after falling in love with the quirky creatures.
Annie Pollock, from Lymington in the New Forest, has devoted the past nine years to rescuing and nurturing enormous Baudet de Poitou donkeys - which resemble a cross between a woolly mammoth and Star Wars favourite Chewbacca.
Ms Pollock is now the proud owner of 22 Poitou - the largest herd in the UK.
Enormous: Farmer Annie Pollock, seen with giant donkey Izzy, has the largest herd of Baudet de Poitou donkeys in the UK
There are thought to be less than 1,000 of the 'mischievous' giant donkeys left in existence.
The lovable donkeys can grow to more than 8ft tall - bigger than most horses - and breeders have to keep them to a strict diet to prevent them growing too large.
Annie, 52, has spent the last nine years building up a herd of 22 Poitou donkeys, which originate from the Poitou-Charentes region of France and are known for their friendly yet mischievous personalities.
She and her small team of farm hands work round the clock to look after the rare donkeys, dedicating hours to grooming their unusual shaggy coats to stop them turning into dreadlocks.
Loveable: Poitou foals Charlie and Cadeau at the farm in Hampshire, where the farmer made a home for rescued donkeys that had been bound for the abbatoir in France
The breed were popular working animals until the mid 20th century when they were replaced with machines.
A survey in 1977 found just 44 surviving donkeys, and there are still less than 1,000 in existence.
Ms Pollock, one of only two Poitou breeders in the UK, said: 'In 2004 I phoned a lady in France looking to buy a llama, and ended up with two Poitou donkeys which I instantly fell in love with.
'I started looking into the breed and found out they were incredibly rare.
'Gradually I built up the herd, and then started rescuing them.
'I have rescued seven from France which would have otherwise ended up going to the slaughter house.
'Word spread I was rescuing them and I have since been approached by a lot of people about taking in their Poitou.
'The breed were to France what shire horses are to Britain and were exported all over the world,' Ms Pollock said.
'Then came mechanisation and they fell out of favour.
'There are still less than 1,000 in the stud book and we have 22 of them,' she added.
Critically endangered: There now are less than 1,000 Poitou donkeys like Izzy in existence
Mischievous: Ms Pollock said the donkeys are funny and friendly, but also 'a bit naughty'
The biggest donkey at Annie’s 120-acre Norley Farm is Verveine, dwarfing standard donkeys at a whopping 16 hands - or 5ft 4ins - measured to its shoulders.
Its huge neck and head add several extra feet to its overall height.
The largest in the world lives on a farm in Texas and stands at 17 hands (5ft 7ins).
The biggest donkey in the UK is thought to be at a farm in Lincolnshire, standing at 8ft tall when measured from the ground to the tip of its ears.
Annie added: 'Verveine is huge and will probably get a bit bigger still. At 16 hands she is quite a bit bigger than people like to ride horses.
'Most people tend to ride horses that are 14 or 15 hands.
'Historically they had very poor diets so we actually have to limit what they eat otherwise they will grow too big.
'I love their temperament, they’re so funny and friendly, and they teach you patience.
'They’re very intelligent and also a bit naughty. People often write-off donkeys but I think they are just wonderful.'
Dogs have long been valued in the medical world as indispensable companions for people with disabilities. They can see and hear for the impaired, move for the immobile and are better than Prozac in lifting the spirits of just about anyone, with or without disabilities.
But how about horses?
“Few people know the gifts horses bring with them,” said Tara Glessman, founder of Harmony Ranch, a nonprofit equine-assisted activities program in Mountain Ranch, where children and young adults partake in recreational therapeutic riding.
Glessman bridled her 10-year-old mustang Hadassah and led her through the barn doors toward the arena on the El Dorado Ranch property. The horse is one of six that Glessman uses to work with students who have emotional, behavioral and physical disabilities such as autism, post-traumatic stress syndrome, Asperger syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
“Horses changed my life in ways nobody could since I was 14. I wanted to share this gift with others,” Glessman said. “We provide a place where students can make a change in a very positive way.”
Her students have the opportunity to develop trust, self-confidence, and responsibility through mastering horsemanship skills. She builds a strong foundation by teaching them how to halter their horse, groom saddle, lead and ride. They discuss how horses think and how to be safe around them.
“Our goal is independence,” Glessman added.
Over time, students often learn to ride largely because they’ve developed strong communication skills with the horse, forging a trusting relationship that can be elusive with people.
“Horses teach kids empathy,” Glessman explained as she admired Hadassah. “They’re masters of communication without words, the perfect mirror of emotions. Sometimes a student can’t tell me what’s wrong, but it’s reflected in their relationship with the horse.”
“Eighty percent of human communication is non-verbal,” she continued. “A horse is honest. The way they respond to the way they are ridden tells a lot about the student’s energy.”
Glessman has seen dramatic changes in her riders. Three years ago, a student with Asperger syndrome began her program.
“He had intense hyperactive behavior. At first, he couldn’t even look me in the eyes,” she recalled. “Over time, he started to trust and connect to the horses, and controlled his emotional swings when he saw them reflected in the horse’s behavior. On a trail ride one afternoon, as he rode an Appaloosa named “Jellybean,” the peace and rhythmic movement of the trail provided a safe haven. He started to open up and trust me, too. Then he looked deeply into my eyes; I didn’t think it was possible.”
Glessman smiled quickly, as emotion caught her breath. “He’s finding himself. He’s getting comfortable in his own skin. It’s beautiful.”
Besides the soulful allure of galloping a white stallion down a sandy beach into the sunset, there are very real physical benefits to riding as well.
For example, at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, Danish equestrian legend Lis Hartel became the first woman in the equestrian sports to win an Olympic silver medal. She accomplished this feat despite being paralyzed below the knees, and told the world how riding her horse, Jubilee, had helped her recover from polio.
“A horse’s stride is the closest to the human gait,” Glessman explained. “Moving in rhythm with the horse provides sensory input which is rhythmic and repetitive, very similar to human movement patterns of the pelvis while walking. This stimulates muscle memory.” Riding can improve balance, posture, mobility and function for people with physical disabilities such as cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.
How did Harmony Ranch begin? Three years ago, Glessman started teaching at Bridlewood Equestrian Center in Copperopolis. In January of 2012, she moved to the rolling green hills of El Dorado Ranch in Mountain Ranch, and became a certified trainer in horsemanship skills and safety training with the International Professional Association for Therapeutic Horsemanship International. She feels fortunate to see her vision blossom into reality with the use of a large barn, ten horse stalls, a round pen, arena and easy access to serene mountain trails.
As Executive Director, trainer and barn manager, Glessman is grateful for a group of dedicated volunteers who assist her.
“They are a huge part of our success. I’d welcome anyone interested in volunteering to contact me, so we can help more kids,” she added hopefully.
“We keep our riding prices very low and have a sponsorship program as well. I don’t want to turn anyone away. Everyone should have a chance to heal,” Glessman smiled as Hadassah seemed to whinny in agreement.
Glessman admits that meeting the expenses of Harmony Ranch is challenging.
“I just can’t let the kids down,” she said without hesitation. “I’m very lucky to have a great board of directors who share my passion and determination. This isn’t a job; it’s a mission.”
While more studies are needed to show exactly what role horses play in health, Glessman sees firsthand the benefits of her program.
“We’re reaching those hard-to-reach kids,” she said as she led Hadassah back to her stall, stroking the horse’s soft mane gently. “I’ve seen how lives can change by working with horses. I just love what I get to do.”
For more information on Harmony Ranch, contact Tara Glessman at (209) 754-4299 or Harmonyranch@rocketmail.com.
After months of false starts, state authorities have opened a formal criminal investigation into Tom Davis, a southern Colorado wild horse buyer who admitted to breaking state laws while shipping hundreds of federally protected wild horses to an unknown fate out of state.
Last week, the Conejos County Sheriff's Office opened the investigation at the request of state brand commissioner Chris Whitney, who said Davis, of La Jara, admitted to the commissioner that he broke brand laws.
A ProPublica report published in The Gazette in September detailed how Davis, a proponent of horse slaughter, purchased truckloads of protected wild horses from the Bureau of Land Management. Davis said he then shipped the horses to what he called 'good homes ' all over the country. None of the horses has been accounted for. Wild horse advocates believe they illegally went to slaughter. Davis denies this.
Colorado law requires a state brand inspection when livestock is sold or shipped more than 75 miles. Brand records show Davis received more than 1,700 horses from the BLM, but shipped only 765. None of the horses is in his possession, meaning almost 1,000 were shipped or sold without an inspection.
Davis admitted as much to ProPublica in 2012, saying he did not want brand inspectors to know where the horses were going. When the reporter suggested that was illegal, Davis replied, 'Since when is anything in this country done legal? '
He could not be reached for comment last week.
Each violation of the brand law is misdemeanor punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $1,000 fine.
After the ProPublica report, state agencies dithered, unsure how to enforce the law. The brand commissioner thought it was the job of the district attorney in Alamosa. The district attorney said it was not. Nothing happened with the case until a Gazette inquiry in early April.
After being contacted by The Gazette, the district attorney, David Mahonee, referred the case to the Conejos County Sheriff, where it was seemingly forgotten again.
'We don't have any open investigations, ' Undersheriff Chris Crown said in late April. 'If Davis didn't get a brand inspection then you need to need to speak to the brand inspector. '
Brand Commissioner Whitney, notified by The Gazette that there was no investigation, said last week he called the sheriff's office and the undersheriff assured him he would open an investigation.
The undersheriff could not be reached for comment.
On Wednesday, the district attorney confirmed that the sheriff had opened an investigation. 'I can't say more than that, but I know they are working it, ' Mahonee said.
The federal government is also investigating Davis for allegedly selling wild horses to slaughter in violation of agreements he signed with the Bureau of Land Management.
Repeated calls to the spokesman for the Interior Department's inspector general's office regarding the investigation were not returned.
This story proves that slaughter bound horses are NOT worthless and that EVERY horse is at risk!!! Thank you Ms. Gail Vacca for saving Lulu and unknowingly saving her foal Magna Fortuna too!! ~Declan
Horse saved from the slaughterhouse when his pregnant mother was bought for just $300 beats the odds and wins Chicago race
He may never run for the Kentucky Derby roses, but Illinois race horse Magna Fortuna and his owners are celebrating a victory none-the-less — his survival. The three-year-old gelding's name means 'great luck', and he was a long shot when he won a recent race at Hawthorne Race Course outside Chicago - one of the biggest race tracks in America. His mother Lulu was purchased for $300 at an Indiana slaughter auction by Gail Vacca, founder and president of the Illinois Equine Rescue Center.
Lucky: Magna Fortuna, with jockey Julio Felix up, rides to a 9 3/4-length win during a horse race at Hawthorne Park in Cicero, Chicago
Dark horse: The three-year-old gelding whose name means 'great luck' was the longest of long shots when he won the race
Vacca found out later that Lulu was pregnant when purchased. When the foal was born he was first named Taxi - that was until Vacca traced his lineage back to an impressive sire — a $2.58 million career stakes winner called Magna Graduate. Speaking about the race, Vacca said the horse - who was the number six spot in the seven horse race - led the entire way. 'He was out for a joyride,' she said afterwards. 'He didn't even look back.' Magna Fortuna's 'biography' explains the moment Vacca rescued the horse's mother Silver Option from slaughter: 'Ms Vacca was at the auction looking for any thoroughbreds that may have come from the tracks in Illinois when she spotted a smallish bay mare that was in obvious discomfort from being severely lame in both front feet. 'Unfortunately the mare was already in a "kill pen" just waiting to be loaded onto a trailer for the grueling ride to slaughter in Canada.' After being taken back to Illinois, Silver Option soon gave birth to Magna Fortuna, who was originally named Taxi until his routes were traced back to his race-winning father. It was then that Vacca decided he would be trained to race. Since the victory, offers have flooded in to buy the horse but so far they have been rejected.
Rescue: Gail Vacca, center, the founder and president of the Illinois Equine Rescue Center, purchased the horse's mother at a slaughter auction and later found out the horse was pregnant with Magna Fortuna
This story is awesome and gives proof that there is no such thing as an"unwanted horse"!! Thank you Karen Bander for giving these horses a second chance and a new life with a wonderful job! When I look into a horses eyes, I see the healing hands of God and I am so thankful that these horses get to help heal these children and adults. ~Declan
Abandoned Horses Helping Children and Adults Facing Challenges
Throwaway Ponies is giving horses a new leash on life
Some ponies once abandoned by their owners are now helping people facing serious life challenges, thanks to Throwaway Ponies in Rockwall, Texas
Ponies once abandoned by their owners have a new lease on life; helping children and people facing serious life challenges.
Sometimes healing can come from an unlikely companion. For 13-year-old Rachel Papson, her horse Flaminca helps ease the crippling pain in her feet caused by Lyme disease.
"She would just protect my heart if I gave it to her. She is just amazing," said Papson. "It's just a pure blessing from God. I just don't know how to express it; just a new world and I don't know what I'd do without her."
Throwaway Ponies are animals nobody wanted, but they're getting a second chance as therapeutic riding horses for children with physical and emotional disabilities.
"The horses help them learn. If they can handle a 1,000-pound animal, they can handle what life throws at them," said founder Karen Bander.
The organization started nine years ago as a backyard operation with three horses. Now it has more than 70 horses being used for therapy riding and hundreds more that have been adopted out.
The group said with the economy, it's about 30 percent more expensive to feed horses, making the number of abandoned ponies skyrocket. Now, they are receiving help from business executives who've also been laid off.
They call themselves Executives in Action and they help the organization with strategic planning and fundraising.
"So many have lost their jobs, through no fault of their own; now they can give back to the community by helping us," said Bander.
It's a safe haven, helping horses, while healing minds and bodies and healing hearts.
"These horses are a blessing," said Wendy Papson, Rachel's mom. "I truly believe they are a blessing from God to help her, because she is in pain every day and when she is with horses it is a time when she is at peace."
Throwaway Ponies is always looking for volunteers. They can be contacted at 214-202-1390.
It's so good to see organizations out there giving racehorses a second chance and a new life and saving them from slaughter. <CLICK HERE> to flip through all the pictures of OTTB's (Off the Track Thoroughbred's) waiting to be adopted and in their new jobs. ~Declan
Once considered an unlikely candidate for adoption because of his injuries incurred on the track, ex-racehorse Watson (formerly Wooden Phone) is now enjoying a new life with owner Suzanne Minter. She adopted him while working at LOPE Texas, a thoroughbred rehab and adoption farm.
Click through our gallery to learn more about how ex-racehorses are enjoying a second chance:
HIDE CAPTION
After the race, a new life
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
When a racing or breeding career ends, thoroughbreds quickly lose value
Organizations are working to provide adoption and retirement options
Thoroughbreds can be retrained as gentle therapy and family horses
(CNN) -- Wooden Phone was never asked whether he wanted to race. Born in 1997, the dull-brown thoroughbred didn't show initial signs of greatness, but the horse would net more than $800,000 in winnings during his career.
A warrior on the track, he kept coming back from severe injuries to beat likely champions. His temperament wasn't suited for the highly stressful industry -- trainers called him "difficult," a diva.
After his racing career ended at age 9, retirement didn't suit him either.
Easily agitated, Wooden Phone would pop his lip -- the equivalent of a child sucking his thumb. He was nervous just leaving the pasture.
Anyone who has been around thoroughbreds will tell you that these horses love a job, and now Wooden Phone's duties were outsourced to younger, stronger workers. Intelligent and sensitive with a drive to please, racehorses like him also crave human attention and care.
Unfortunately, when a racing or breeding career ends, thoroughbreds can quickly become useless to their owners. The injuries compound and when money and options run out, convenience leads them away from the stables and into the slaughterhouse.
The racing industry has worked to provide retirement programs and track policies that prevent slaughter. But Brown wants to see even more accountability: transparency of medical records from owner to owner, as well as support for programs that rehab ex-racehorses.
"I think all of us who make our living with horses have an obligation to give something back and provide for the welfare of these horses," Dan Rosenberg, head of Thoroughbred Charities, said.
Horsemanship teacher Michael Richardson demonstrates the sensitivity and responsiveness of Santo, a former track horse at LOPE.
HIDE CAPTION
After the race, a new life
LOPE Texas is just one of hundreds of organizations across the country dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating ex-racehorses for new homes and purposes.
Suzanne Minter, an experienced rider volunteering her time at LOPE, first met Wooden Phone two years ago. His personality captured her heart.
LOPE founder Lynn Reardon was surprised by Minter's soft spot for the horse -- Wooden Phone was not an adoption candidate after his many injuries. And then, there were the stress issues.
Ex-racehorses get a bad reputation for being aggressively energetic, although their "bad manners" come from training gaps. With the right rehab techniques, they can be gentle enough to work with veterans who suffer from PTSD and children with autism.
Wooden Phone and Suzanne Minter quickly bonded.
Minter was dedicated to rehabbing Wooden Phone, although it became more sporadic when she had unexpected abdominal surgery. She wasn't able to ride, but she would sit on his back as he gently stood still. As she had helped him, he took care of her in return.
"He fell in love with her. He just melted every time she came around. It was a match that was so clear the moment he met her," Reardon said. Minter adopted him.
Over a two-year period, the 16-year-old horse, once known for the foamy stress sweat on his neck, is now the gentlest horse in the barn. Together, Minter and the newly named Watson are training for dressage events.
The lip popping has evolved into quirks, such as holding one brush in his mouth while Minter uses the other to groom him, grabbing people's jackets with his teeth for fun or curiously following his new obsession: ponies.
"Ex-racehorses get overlooked sometimes because people just think they are fast, but they have a lot of heart," Minter said. "I think they are all looking for a person of their own."
David and Ace of Hearts, which is waiting for adoption, share a moment. "Every time I go to the barn, I can tell someone has changed by being around these horses," Tucker said.
HIDE CAPTION
After the race, a new life
Turning hope into help
"There are so many places for these horses other than slaughter," Cindy Gendron of the Homes for Horses Coalition said. "Now people are using them for therapeutic riding, equine-assisted psychotherapy, show events and family horses."
The Homes for Horses Coalition aims not only to end horse slaughter, but to promote growth and collaboration in the horse rescue and protection community. Supported by the ASPCA, the Animal Welfare Institute and the Humane Society of the United States, this coalition in Washington is an umbrella for 240 organizations.
CANTER, a member of the coalition, was one of the first groups to create an online showcase of ex-racehorses in 1997. It's an all-volunteer organization with affiliates across the country, where people scour the "backsides" of racetracks every weekend and document the horses up for sale, executive director Nancy Koch said.
"The racetrack is quite a closed-in world. Not everyone can wander into the backside, you need to be escorted otherwise. We broke a lot of barriers that way," Koch said.
Other CANTER affiliates in "phase two" have taken in horses and provided rehabilitation so they can find new homes. They placed more than a thousand horses in 2012, according to the Homes for Horses Coalition.
Volunteer-based adoption farms, such as Kim Smith's Second Stride near Churchill Downs, follow a similar model and work to connect owners and horses. Like LOPE, an extensive adoption process ensures that each new home is a good fit and requires follow-ups in the months and years ahead. If the home doesn't work out, they take the horse back.
These farms also make thoroughbreds available to people who may not have five figures to spend on a horse but have the time and resources to care for one, administrative manager Leslie Pratt said.
Life after the track
"In the horse adoption world, ex-racehorses are seen as the equivalent of pit bulls," Reardon said. "People think they are edgy, so you have to do a lot of myth-busting."
Retraining can ease the issues that create negative stereotypes about ex-racers. And helping these horses can help heal the trainers, too.
The James River chapter of the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation pairs men at a correctional facility with ex-racehorses. The horses are cared for by men who work through and graduate from a groom elite training program, which trains them for a job once they are released.
Anne Tucker, the foundation's president, likes to tell the story of Happy and Will. Happy, a nervous thoroughbred, was kicked in the face by another horse while trying to assert her authority after arriving at James River. Will was the insecure young inmate taking care of her.
Will and Happy's bond helped them to heal each other.
"It's hard to say whether Will gave Happy confidence, or Happy gave Will confidence," Tucker said. "Horses look at everyone on even footing. The men have made some mistakes, but they aren't bad people. They just need someone to confirm that, and that's what the horses do."
The pair bonded and healed one another. Happy was adopted after a full recovery, and Will has been released and is working on a local thoroughbred breeding farm.
The golden years
"Some of these horses are like your best athletes -- they gave everything to the sport, and they got banged up in the process," said Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Center. "To me, this is like having Larry Bird in my backyard."
Formerly with the Boston Globe, Blowen had racehorses at Suffolk Downs. He quickly learned that when the horses couldn't race anymore, they weren't "going to a riding academy in Maine" as he was told -- they were going to slaughter. He decided to dedicate the rest of his life to offering ex-racehorses a retirement paradise.
Old Friends' locations care for more than 130 horses across three states, located near racetracks so fans can come visit the "retired athletes" in big paddocks.
"It is the equine equivalent of retiring and living on a golf course, except they eat the greens," Blowen said.
One resident, Clever Allemont, earned $316,329 during his eight wins. In 2009, he ended up in a kill pen in Kansas, deaf with one eye set in a graying face. He seemed to know he had reached the end, according to Kristin Chambers. Chambers and Diana Baker saved himfrom a trip to the slaughterhouse.
Now, he is living out his golden years at Old Friends, gleefully rolling in the dirt and inspiring the groups of deaf children who tour the farm to see him. But not every thoroughbred that gave their lives to racing has the same happy ending.
Old Friends has also inspired others to save ex-racehorses.
Sally Steinmann, who grew up dreaming of having her own horse, became a milliner known for her derby hats. And now some of those hats are created in honor of Old Friends and auctioned off to benefit the horses.
"I feel like these hats are little ambassadors and if anybody can learn about these horses, what we are trying to do and how much we all feel a responsibility to take care of them, then it's a really great thing," Steinmann said.
She studies photos and old racing film to craft hats that represent the horses, translating their legacies into silk dupioni with vivid trims. While the hats are extravagant pieces of wearable art, they are also creative pieces of awareness.
"Michael said we each get a dot, and this is his," Steinmann said. "I just want to connect our dots. We all have something we wish more than anything else that we could change in this world."
Inside and outside the racing industry, ex-racehorse welfare is a world of slowly connecting dots.
These retired horses are returning the favor by enriching the lives of the humans working to save them.
"People connect well with horses because they are gentle, instinctive creatures," Gendron said. "Just to lay your hands on a warm, powerful horse that puts his head down and looks you in the eyes is an amazing feeling, especially for someone who is in physical or emotional turmoil. Horses seem to sense that, understand it and take care of people."
Agent Alex, adopted in 2012 by Sarah McCullough from Second Stride, before adoption, left, and after adoption. He is just starting his eventing career.
Horsemanship teacher Michael Richardson demonstrates the sensitivity and responsiveness of Santo, a former track horse at LOPE.
David and Ace of Hearts, which is waiting for adoption, share a moment. "Every time I go to the barn, I can tell someone has changed by being around these horses," Tucker said.
Agent Alex, adopted in 2012 by Sarah McCullough from Second Stride, before adoption, left, and after adoption. He is just starting his eventing career.