People can EASILY find uses for so called "unwanted" horses if they would just try and honor the horse! ~Declan
Middleboro woman finds new homes for unwanted horses
Hidden inside the heart of Middleboro horse country is one equestrian who has made it her mission to rescue horses.
So far, Derel Lee Twombly’s Amazing Grace Equine has saved 71 of the gentle giants.
Finding new homes for these horses in need is a blend of tenacity, tenderness and technology. Twombly creates videos of horses that need homes and the message spreads like viral wildfire.
It’s a service that’s given many of her clients, both horse and human, a new lease on life.
“It’s just been great, it’s been life-changing for me because I didn’t think I would ever ride again,” said Melissa Kerins of Whitman, who is getting ready to celebrate her first year since adopting her rescue horse, Cricket.
Kerins, who has three children, grew up on a horse farm. She was taking her 11-year-old daughter for riding lessons when she spotted Cricket, a horse she had seen up for adoption on Amazing Grace’s website.
“At the riding center I asked if I could groom Cricket, and as I brushed her I saw that she was a gentle being,” she recalled.
Kerins said the next morning, she made up her mind to adopt Cricket and it’s been a therapeutic bond ever since.
“I’m physically disabled and the horse has been the best therapy for me, she gets me up, out and moving,” she said.
Cricket is boarded in Carver and Kerins said at least once a week they go for a ride together.
“She’s so trusting, and she’s in such good shape,” Kerins said. “I didn’t think we would ever ride again and now we are pretty much inseparable.”
Twombly has been working overtime, finding homes for horses that she says would otherwise be headed on an international trip to the slaughterhouse.
“We have a tough economy and people have horses that might not be lame or old but need to be re-homed,” she explained.
Twombly’s been in love with horses ever since she can remember and has spent more than four decades working with them.
She’s been a certified riding instructor since she was in her teens, and is also the CEO of Ponies for Parties, a company that lets people of any age experience riding.
Twombly wrote a book, “Horses and People Matching.” But the spark for Amazing Grace Equine Rescue flared when she saw too many horses with a lot of good years being “thrown away."
“That’s when people can call us,” said Twombly. “And what happens next is a little like a miracle.”
Twombly makes a video detailing the physical characteristics of the horse, its personality and who would be the best fit for the horse. That video, once it is married to music and edited, then goes to YouTube.
For many people thinking of adopting an animal, especially one as big as a horse, the responsibility can be daunting.
Kerins said the staff at Amazing Grace Equine is always available for any questions even after adopting Cricket.
“Derel Lee is a saint,” said Kerins. “I appreciate them (Amazing Grace Equine) and to think that this horse could have potentially been slaughtered.”
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