"Give A Hoot About Animals" Writing Contest

Read this winning entry for the "Give A Hoot About Animals" contest! Learn more about the contest here.

Grand prize winner, ages 12-15

Alyssa O., age 12, Chillicothe, OH

For the Love of a Horse 

I never intended to get into the horse rescue and recovery business.  My intention was to find a new horse to show in 4-H.  I looked for a long time; I looked in ads, papers, on the internet and asked everyone I knew if they had a good horse for sale.  One day my aunt and grandma stopped at a trail riding business to find a horse.  Most of the horses were too small or too mean for me.  However, they spied a dirty, eighteen-year-old mare, Dee, and asked if she was for sale.  The owner, Dale, said he would sell her but he didn’t really want to because she was the best horse he had.

Upon their return home, they told me all about her.  They stated she looked “rough” but knew she was gentle and kind. The next day, mom, my aunt and I went to look at her.  What we found surprised us!  She was very dirty, malnourished, and stuck in a stall half the size she needed.

When I walked up to her, I noticed her hair was rotting away and her halter was too small and embedded in her flesh.

We took her out of the stall and she behaved like a lady.  We wanted to ride her but because she was so dirty, we were hesitant.  Dee had so much old manure caked into her hair she looked like an armadillo with its shell.  We began to brush her but the owner shooed us away and threw a saddle on her.  Although the owner reported that she had been in the stall for two months without being walked, he rode her around his arena and she did great.  He was rough and pulled on her head really hard but she was gentle and responsive.  When I rode her, she was willing to do everything I asked her to do. We bought her that day.  When we left his farm, I had already decided that I loved her and wanted to save her.

We returned the next day with a new halter.  We had to peel the old halter off of her flesh and put the new one on loosely. When we got her to our farm, we started feeding her supplements and proper grain.  We had to feed her gradually because her body was not used to regular, proper feedings.  When it got warmer we gave her baths with iodine solutions everyday for about two weeks to clear up fungus infections on her skin.

We had the vet come check her teeth so that they were not sharp and she could chew properly.  She was given medicines to care for parasites and vitamins to help her gain her energy back.

It took us about eight months and lots of love and attention to gradually nurse her back to health.  When we bought Dee she was about 350 pounds underweight and she had to grow back patches of hair along her back and legs where the fungus had eaten it away.

In August I showed her at the county fair.  Dee and I participated in Showmanship, Horsemanship, and Western Pleasure classes.  I didn’t think she would do well but I was happy that she had made it this far in her recovery.  She was still underweight but she was clean and beautiful.

While we were preparing for the show, a man named Steve walked up to us and said hello to Dee.  He informed us that he was Dee’s first owner and had raised her for sixteen years.  Due to financial problems he had been forced to sell her.  Steve said that he and his family had visited Dee at Dale’s house one time, but they were so devastated at how poorly she looked that they could never return.  They did not think she would survive the year.

Because Steve had talked to Dale that morning, Steve found out that Dee was at the fair and that she had a new home.  When Steve saw Dee, he quickly called his wife and daughter on his cell phone and they came over.  They all started crying because they were so relieved to see her in such a happy, healthy state.  They thanked us for buying and rescuing her.

Steve and his family stayed to watch Dee and me show.  Dee got seventh in Showmanship and second in Horsemanship.  I was so excited!  I now had big hopes for the future.  Over the next year we kept her on her regular diet and spent a lot of time with her to get her to accept love and hugs.  We began serious training.  I got discouraged a lot because I really wanted to do well but there were many obstacles to overcome.

In August 2005, Dee and I made our second appearance at the county fair.

This time Dee and I got Reserve Grand Champion in Showmanship, third in Horsemanship, seventh in Trail, third in English Equitation and seventh in English Pleasure.  I was very proud of Dee because she kept on trying no matter what had happened to her in the past.  Although she may not have been a famous show horse when we first met her, she has been the best teacher and friend to me.  She will be a horse I will remember for the rest of my life no matter how many other horses I have.