TESTIMONIAL: MOLLY THE STANDARDBRED

You can read Molly’s story here:

ROLY’S GIRL

October 4th 2017 – we received a plea for help from the son of an elderly man who owned two Standardbred mares. Their beloved owner had unexpectedly fell ill and had to immediately go in to assisted living care. Both horses had been owned and loved by the same man their entire lives. They knew no one else, and change was going to be rough on them. They had less than a month to find a home as the person caring for them could not do it for more than a few weeks.

We immediately stepped in to action, but at the time our foster homes were full going in to the winter, and so we had to work hard to find an alternative spot for the mares. Unfortunately within days of our initial contact, the family had been offered money for the younger mare by a local Amish family and they took their offer before we could find her an alternative home. The Amish didn’t want the older mare because she was not sound or useful to them. However, they would give the family $100 for the mare but said that would be sending her directly to auction. With little time to spare, we gathered together $200 and offered it to the family if they would hold off and allow us to take her – thankfully they agreed.

And thus Molly’s journey with us began.

She spent a few weeks with one of our amazing supporters, and lovely racehorse owners who had sent multiple horses through our adoption program. Molly had her driving shoes removed and got a chance to stretch her legs (she had been kept in a stall since her owner’s unfortunate health decline).

Molly then moved to a permanent foster home where she struggled to find her place amongst her new herd mates, she struggled to come to terms with the changes in her life – and the new people caring for her. Molly dropped and gained weight, then dropped it again. She was stressed, sore, and scared. Her foster home worked hard to try to help her, but it became obvious she needed more time and a quieter environment than they could give.

So on April 1st (no April Fool’s Day jokes here!) Molly moved to one of our long time foster homes in the Belleville area – where she would be directly under the care of our wonderful massage therapist Ashley from Square One Equine, along with she had a quiet environment at a private farm.

In just mere weeks, Molly has gone from struggling to keep her weight on, to packing on the pounds! We’ve got her on some amazing products from Herbs for Horses, including their Serenity Calming Supplement and their Probio Plus Supplement. She has settled in beautifully with her fellow mare pasture mates; and she has taken an extreme liking to her foster mom Mallory.

After arriving, she received a full evaluation from the local veterinarian and it was determined that Molly has Stringhalt. What a huge relief it was to get to the bottom of her soundness issues, and we have now been able to help work on strengthening her body. While Molly will only ever be a companion horse – at 19 years old, she deserves to live the retired life of royalty! She has a cheeky personality and she loves to bond with people.

Molly has an incredible group of Guardian Angels watching over her and helping her to reach her ultimate goal in comfortability and happiness – their donations and the love that they send her way, we can never explain just how much it means to us – and to Molly. While we will never replace Molly’s original owner of 18 years – we hope that one day we will be able to find her an amazing family that loves her just as much!