Wounded kill-pen filly is adopted, safe now

The gray filly rescued by Mindy Lovell from a kill pen finds a kind, adoptive home

The gray filly rescued by Mindy Lovell from a kill pen finds a kind, adoptive home

In a fitting end to a storybook tale, a gray filly plucked from certain death in late November has been restored to health, and recently turned over to the loving protection of an equestrian who vows to love and care for her until the end of her days.

Glenye, a dappled-gray Appendix cross who was bleeding from a head wound when Canadian horse activist Mindy Lovell spotted her, was adopted in March by Michelle Donovan, a woman described as the “perfect match” for an animal whose story had attracted many interested adopters.

“I had quite a few people contact me about her after her story got out,” says Lovell. “At the beginning, everybody wanted her. But, I wasn’t prepared to adopt her out right away, because of the injury, and I was hesitant because I wanted to wait until the right person came along.”

Acknowledging that many of those who inquired about Glenye would no doubt have provided the mare with a wonderful home, Lovell waited until her perfect adopter came along this spring.

“Michelle Donovan is someone who won’t push a horse before she’s ready. She’s just a very nice person who has a little hobby farm nearby,” Lovell says. “When she asked me about Glenye, I didn’t hesitate.”

For her part, Donovan says she couldn’t be happier with the beautiful animal who she named Gracie. Now four, she is proving to be a wonderful addition to the farm.

“Having been lucky enough to adopt Gracie fills my heart completely,” Donovan adds. “I’ve taken it very slow with her, starting from a simple pat on her neck for praise, to grooming, which she loves.”

Gracie gets a kiss after she arrives at her new home

Gracie gets a kiss after she arrives at her new home

After taking tentative first steps away from the safety of her adopter’s side, the shy animal recently learned to work on the lung line, and in July, Donovan sat on her new horse for the first time.

“She respected me being up on her back, and behaved as a young, wiggly filly would,” she adds. “I plan to ride her again real soon, and continue with further training. She has a real hunter look, so I’d eventually like to have her jumping in a Hunter ring.”

The fact that the filly has any future at all, much less that of a Hunter, is a testament to Lovell’s great heart and dauntless ability. She takes the saddest horses and the most injured, all in hopes of saving a few more from the slaughter pipeline.

She admits on some days she wonders how she will keep the doors open at her overflowing rescue at Springhill Farm in Ontario, even while on others she must endure the loss of some beautiful horses to euthanasia. The path is very hard indeed.

So a bright spot is the gray.

The horse she spotted bleeding from a deep gash most likely incurred in the bleak, overcrowded horse-transport containers shipping slaughter-bound horses to kill pens.

Many times, Lovell has peered into these trailers and seen the darkest side of equine life: Pregnant mares spontaneously aborting their foals in the stifling, filthy transport cars. Frightened horses fighting each other for reasons unknown, injuring each other in the process.

When Mindy Lovell spotted the bleeding filly last August, she was impelled to help her

When Mindy Lovell spotted the bleeding filly last August, she was impelled to help her

And in the case of the filly, trembling and bleeding the day Lovell spotted her, she couldn’t know how it had happened. Just that it did. And she was determined to fix one more broken animal.

“I saw that filly as soon as I got out of the car, and I knew I would pull her out,” Lovell says in an earlier interview with Off-TrackThoroughbreds.com. “It wasn’t even really a decision. She needed emergency veterinary care; she needed to be stitched up before it was too late!”

Noting that 95 percent of her horses have been pulled from kill pens, Lovell says the vast majority is capable of future riding careers. “It’s not the horse’s fault that they end up there,” she says, noting that she is thrilled that the gray, at least, is one who made it out. Another slaughter-bound animal whose life turned around as time was running out.

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7 responses to “Wounded kill-pen filly is adopted, safe now”

  1. Jo-Anne Ward

    I remember her Mindy! Nice job you’ve done once again. Glenye and Thoroughbred mare EZ Irish…both beautiful grays that you shed light on.
    You&Peter must be exhausted taking care of over 50 horses. I appreciate and Thank you guys for your day in/day out efforts.
    I think that Transition Thoroughbreds should be receiving the equivalent annual financial contribution (from purses) that LongRun does. Sometimes, I wonder how any OTTB in the killpen can re-trust humans again after brutal insult to injury from racetrack connections, when we know whose sending them. I sure hope Michelle has a lot of fun with her new adoptee.

  2. LIATHAIN O'MAOLDOMHNAIGH

    WITH GRACE’S RESCUE, IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY TO KNOW THAT PEOPLE
    LIKE HER NEW OWNER ARE CHANGING OUR ROUND WORLD INTO A HEART- SHAPED ONE! I CRY A LOT WHEN I READ THESE RESCUE STORIES, BUT THIS IS GOOD FOR THE SOUL!

    LIATHAIN
    CREED OF TRUST

    WE WILLINGLY ADAPT TO
    Destiny’s path with comet brilliancy in spirit yet,
    remain with driven purpose firmly anchored to land
    WE ARE “EARTH ORACLE” FOREBEARERS
    breathing courage thru quivering nostrils, proud to
    claim fleetness of flank, and are a clever balance
    between reality and probability
    WE ARE TOMORROW’S FREE RUNNING CALVARY
    secure in our natural instincts to carry faithfulness
    to new, inspiring heights
    WE UNSELFISHLY GIFT
    a very responsible commitment enhancing the focus of
    human’s visionary dreams
    FROM THE INSTANT OF OUR BIRTH
    we promise to ask our hearts to teach our legs
    reasons to fly
    FOR WE HAVE ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD AS GOD’S CREATUES
    the nobility involved of saving man though the
    SIMPLICITY OF LOVE.

    Poeticlee yours, Liathain O’Maoldomhnaigh May 2013

  3. Cheryl Ann

    What a heartwarming story! I have a chestnut thoroughbred mare. It took her 6 years to trust humans again…sigh…I LOVE HER!

  4. Lisa Melone

    What a wonderful ending to an almost certain tragedy. Thank you Mindy! And thank you for the follow-up story, Susan!

  5. Marion

    Mindy, you are an angel sent from god to help these horses. I applaud you!
    That grey mare with the wound on her forehead captured my heart when I saw her picture. Thanks for being who you are. I’ve just landed a decent job and will do my best to contribute to your cause, I help front range because I believe the wild horses are more of a target for the food chain because their day to day live don’t include de-wormers bute and all the crap racehorses receieve. Please send me your info for donations and I will see what I can muster up! All the best, Marion

  6. Jon

    How anyone could do that to a lovely horse like Gracie makes me ill. It is good that she found a very good home and person that suits her.

  7. Adrienne

    This is such a heartwarming story.It is terrible what these beautiful creatures have to endure..Bravo Gracie was saved .She has a loving new home..

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