How it all began
The herd at our farm started with Casey in 2015. He was not a rescue – he was in fact a gift to Michele from her husband John as a measure to counter Michele’s emotional turmoil and periods of depression and anxiety. While on a holiday, she had an opportunity to do some trail riding and found a calmness on the back of a horse that John had not seen in a very long time. It was the beginning of something beautiful, and important. Casey and Michele shared love at first sight, and soon it was clear that he was going to need a pasture mate. Horses are herd animals and can only thrive when in a group.
The search for Casey’s mate began, and Michele’s love of Friesians, a graceful and nimble breed from The Netherlands, soon led her to the lovely Wasabi.
Even though Michele had no experience in the Equine world, it didn’t take long to learn that not all horse owners treat their animals fairly. In fact, there was far more abhorrent treatment of horses than there was of dogs. Michele had seen the worst of dog treatment, having worked with rescue dogs for many years. This realization awakened the horse rescuer in her, and a mission was born.
Her first step was to work on donating the ‘bail’ that other rescuers needed to save horses from certain death at the hands of kill buyers who ‘harvest’ horses for meat. Soon, Michele was not only donating bail but paying for them to travel to her home in Virginia’s Loudoun County.
