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HOOFPRINTS ON MY HEART

If I had but a single candle wish, my wish would be this-
That you knew, every single day, how incredibly cherished and treasured you were.
I loved how much you loved your walks. Unfailingly, each time we returned from one of our strolls, you would race over to loop your head through the next horses lead rope, just in the off chance you’d get to go back out again.
And you loved kids. I imagine you spent the first few decades of your life as a kids riding horse. Whenever you saw children, you’d get so excited. But as soon as they approached, you would gently bring your head down low so they could love all over you.
I thought we’d have so much more time together. I cannot believe that you’re gone.
“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.”

SUGAR

WOODSTOCK

It is with a most devastated heart that I share that Woodstock died this morning.
We were so hopeful that we could reverse the damage done to his poor body over the last several weeks of his life. The vet shared yesterday that his heart and other organs had been badly compromised. But he was eating so well and moving around, so we were really optimistic for him to recover. But this morning, the weakness took over his poor emaciated body.
He never even made it to his new home.

COOKIE

“I’m not going to fall in love with you til you promise me that you’ll pull through this,” I swore as I leaned down to pour him his grain. I put my arms around his neck and he rested his chin on my head. We stood there like this for a few moments as my words disappeared into the wind. I hope he knew that my statement was a lie. Because the truth was, I fell in love with this sweet horse the moment I met him.
And despite the fact that I was not truthful in my assertion to him, this sweet boy was the quintessential gentleman. And he tried every single day to keep faithful on his part of our deal. There would be times he would energetically eat, flirt with the mares, and call out to his future herd. But those moments were consistently dissolved by the disease that he was exposed to on the kill lot.
He spent the vast majority of his time with me being poked and prodded with large needles of antibiotics, steroids, and pain medication. And through it all, despite how much pain he was in, he stood there patiently. Because he was always, first and foremost, a perfect gentleman.
I won’t describe the condition I found him in Saturday morning. But to say that witnessing the suffering that he endured throughout the night dropped me to my knees is an understatement. I crawled over next to him as I called the emergency vet for one last visit. My sweet boy was down, he must have been so incredibly scared. But he never thrashed or panicked. Instead, as I sat on the ground next to him, he lifted up his head once more and we sat quietly and watched one final sunrise together. Always a gentleman. Even through his final moments.
This was Parker (Cookie). He spent his life as a kids lesson horse, but was dumped for a kill pen after an injury. I had the sweetest young ladies write me to share stories and photos of their trail rides together. So many kiddos loved this sweet boy.
I loved this sweet boy.
A special and heartfelt thank you to Lanya Clinard for everything you did for us this week.

CHARLIE BROWN &
PEPPERMINT PATTY

Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty are the 2 greatest heartaches I’ve had since we became a sanctuary.  I pulled both of these horses from 2 separate kill pens, and they bonded immediately. Patty was Charlie Brown’s security blanket. He was so nervous when he arrived, and Patty protected him and made him feel safe. A girl, that I thought I knew and could trust, reached out to me as she wanted to adopt Charlie Brown for her and her husband to train and ride and agreed to adopt Patty also. 
I made a horrible mistake in trusting this woman and her husband. Without notifying anyone, they ended up dumping nearly all of their horses that they had “rescued”, including Charlie Brown and Patty. She dumped them at 2 separate places and Charlie Brown was so scared without his Patty that he couldn’t calm down. The place that she dumped Charlie euthanized him. The other place she left Patty also put her down because she wasn’t rideable. This was the experience that taught me that my horses will NEVER EVER leave my sanctuary again. I will always stay on Brand and will never adopt them out to anyone. 

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