Joyful lessons from rescue horses
On any given day, on a sprawling 55-acre property that rests between the Wilson Powell Bird Sanctuary on one side and a Quaker retreat on the other, horses saved from frightening circumstances mingle with young and old, students and retirees in a multitude of innovative horse-human experiences. At Little Brook Farm, school children disembark from yellow buses that deliver them to the rural hamlet from Hudson, N.Y. Fresh-faced first-graders take their lunch far away from overhead fluorescent lights and the hum of cafeteria activity; instead, they sprawl across hay piles in the barn loft, their gleeful expressions showing their appreciation […]
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Once destined for slaughter, Grace flourishes
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in OfTrackThoroughbreds in October 2010. What saved the delicate mare from the slaughterhouse 13 years ago was a combination of little things, really. First there was Kim Gatto’s ability to see past the Thoroughbred’s nicked, dull coat to envision her at her best; she saw a beauty beneath the shabby exterior of a horse who stood quietly with 30 others at the Pennsylvania auction house. “I could see that she was really pretty underneath,” Gatto recalls. “She was really petite and delicate.” And the next small thing— the money that would determine who purchased […]
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Q&A: Dr. Ahlschwede on winterizing your horse
There’s a nip in the air at night and blankets have been pulled from storage at horse farms, as leaves and temperatures are dropping. So when the horses get fuzzy, and the grazing gets thin, what can we do to ensure that our favorite ones make a smooth transition into the chillier months? In this week’s Veterinary Answers Q&A., Dr. Scott Ahlschwede, DVM, Partner at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital of Kentucky, speaks to these issues. Q: How does seasonal or unseasonable weather change affect the health and dietary routine of a horse? Luckily horses are naturally well adapted to […]
