We are celebrating the remarkable rescue horse in the month of May on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose a rescue horse as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the International Rescue Horse Registry is a participating organization?
Here, a rider from Region 2 tells us about the two foals she and her husband adopted from Last Chance Corral, a rescue organization dedicated to saving orphaned foals – an unfortunate “byproduct” of the nurse mare industry.
By Kara Corpman
Cash is my 7-year-old nurse mare foal from Last Chance Corral (LCC)… whom I’ve had since he was two weeks old! Cash came to me with the name “Easy Money,” so it made sense to call him Cash right from the start. I’m not entirely sure what breed Cash is, although I did have him DNA tested, and he’s likely a Quarter Horse/Thoroughbred cross; this matches the information LCC had when I adopted him, so that’s what I’ve gone with his whole life. Cash and I compete in the dressage ring and are currently working at Training Level, although we’ve also done a little bit of trail riding and have even tried our hand at a trail obstacle course.
A number of years back, I had the opportunity to work with Last Chance Corral and see their facility while the foals were around. My husband and I loved what they were doing and decided that one day, we wanted to each adopt a foal from their organization. Last Chance Corral rescues nurse mare foals that would otherwise be thrown away or left to die when their dam is sent off to another farm. They rescue these foals, provide them with needed medical care, and get them stable and healthy enough to be adopted.
However, LCC requires that any potential adopter have their own farm, as boarding these fragile babies can be difficult, and they can’t always get the level of care that is necessary. My husband and I knew that our goal was to own our own farm and bring my horse home, so adopting foals from LCC became a “bucket list” experience for us further down the road.
Fast forward to 2017, and we were finally able to purchase our dream farm. I brought my Off-Track Thoroughbred (OTTB), Henry, home and adopted another OTTB, Tin, as a second riding horse; both of them came from New Vocations Racehorse Adoption. In the spring of 2018, we applied to be approved adopters through LCC. We had to provide multiple references, including vets, farriers, personal references, and those who knew of my riding ability, as well as pictures of our property. Then we started the waiting game.
My husband is a novice horseman, but I’ve been riding and competing since I was a kid. I’ve shown hunters and dressage, rode intercollegiate in college, restarted horses off the track, as well as worked for farms as a groom on the AA hunter circuit, so I had some criteria that I was looking for in both our foals. I specifically wanted a non-gaited colt, but other than that, I was just looking for something that was decently put together and more of a Thoroughbred or Quarter Horse type.
My husband found his foal, Carson, pretty quickly; however, due to the young age of these babies, adopters are required to adopt two at a time so they have a companion (unless the foals are older). Carson was being held for Equine Affaire, so he was not ready for adoption initially, which gave us time to keep looking for a foal for me. I actually fell in love with another adorable little chestnut, but unfortunately, he was too sick and was unable to pull through despite round-the-clock vet care.
It seemed like week after week, LCC got in fillies and gaited horses, until one day, the adoption manager called me and said they had just gotten in a colt that checked all my boxes. Cash was only a week old when they picked him up, so he needed to be given a clean bill of health by their vet before being cleared for adoption. In the meantime, we drove down to Athens from Columbus, Ohio, and picked up Carson (who was five weeks old at that point). Three days later, we returned to Athens and brought Cash home. They’ve been best buddies since day one!
One of the stipulations for foals to be released for adoption is that they are independently drinking milk from a bucket. LCC strongly believes that they should not be bottle-fed because it tends to lead to behavioral issues and difficulties with respecting people, so both of our foals were drinking from a bucket right away. We were given detailed instructions on how to make their “slurry” (a combination of milk replacer, vanilla yogurt, GUT™ supplement, and rolled oats) and kept that available 24/7. We also had regular checks with our own vets to ensure that they were healthy and progressing normally.
All of my horses have come from the track, so this was my first experience with true babies… it was such a special experience! Everything they know, you’ve taught them (for better or for worse!), so it’s really, really important that you have experience training horses or at least access to good trainers who can help you. I would absolutely recommend that if a foal isn’t able to nurse, get them drinking from a bucket ASAP. Not only does it eliminate you as the source of food, but it also allows you to keep free choice access to food without having to be there with them.
Since we didn’t bottle feed Cash, I didn’t really experience any issues in that aspect, but we have had struggles with separation anxiety from his “brother,” Carson. Having them both at home makes it difficult to truly separate them, so we’ve gone through struggles, much like any other foal has when it’s weaned from its mother.
One of the other requirements that LCC had for us to become approved adopters was that we have access to an older horse that could become a “mentor” for the babies. It’s important that these foals learn how to be a horse from other horses, but you obviously can’t turn out small foals with just anyone. My OTTB, Henry, took on the role of babysitter when the foals were about six months old; he took them under his wing and really taught them how to be respectful in the same way that their mother would have. It was fascinating to watch the herd dynamics and behavior between them! Henry was absolutely crucial in their development into well-behaved horses.
Before coming into contact with Last Chance Corral, I didn’t know much about the nurse mare industry, but I’ve since learned a lot about the pros and cons. Nurse mares are always going to be needed for a number of reasons, so the industry itself is not likely to go away. However, through this experience, I’ve met many wonderful people who are directly involved in the industry, and I have learned that there are alternatives to bringing a mare to term.
I had the pleasure of coming into contact with people like Bronwyn Watts of Coldspring Nurse Mares; she runs a nurse mare facility that uses hormones to induce lactation in mares, meaning that they no longer have to deliver a foal in order to produce milk. This allows her to provide nurse mares to orphan foals without contributing to the surplus of horses in the United States. This technology hasn’t always been possible, so I hope that as word spreads of this option, fewer and fewer foals will need to be rescued by organizations like Last Chance Corral.
Every “first” with Cash feels like a huge accomplishment! Since this is the first horse I have completely started from scratch, I’ve celebrated each milestone – our first time on a trailer, our first ride, the first time off property, our first blue ribbon, etc. It feels so special to have done all the work (with help from my wonderful trainer Renee Peters, of course!), so each new experience or skill feels like something to be proud of. Last summer, we did some schooling shows at Training Level, and I was so excited to celebrate our first canter in public. My husband is even showing Carson in some Intro Level western dressage classes, which makes my heart burst with pride for both of them.
Knowing that orphan foals can struggle with socialization and respect for people, I’ve really focused on getting Cash and Carson exposed to as many things as possible. As a yearling, I started showing Cash in the In-Hand Sporthorse Breeding classes at our local schooling shows. We handwalked trails long before we could ride them, and we make it a point to haul away from home for lessons or “trail rides” at nearby farms to get them comfortable going to new places. My entire goal was to ensure they turn into productive citizens, because should anything ever happen to me, I want them to have a useful future in someone else’s hands. What has influenced my partnership with my horses more than anything is having them at home, where I get to see them every day and be involved in every aspect of their care. I’ve become much more attuned to their needs, and I think they’re all happier for it.
Cash is definitely a “momma’s boy!” Everyone knows he loves me and looks to please; he’s always keeping an eye on me in the barn or out in the field, and will usually leave his buddies to come greet me. He’s a nice mix of sassy and sweet, so he keeps me thinking and pushes me to keep his brain busy. He’s a big-time napper and loves stretching out to catch some ZZZs regardless of the time of day. Even at age seven, he can still be found lying flat out in the field on a nice day.
While competing isn’t everything, I have gotten so many lovely comments from judges and other riders alike regarding Cash. We’ve won numerous year-end awards through the Mid-Ohio Dressage Association, the Region 2 Schooling Show awards, and even the International Rescue Horse Registry’s year-end program. It breaks my heart to think that without rescue organizations like LCC, his life may have ended before it even began. I am proud to share his story with others and highlight that success can be found even without a high-dollar horse.
Cash and Carson have both brought so much happiness to our lives and are valued members of our family, even if they never compete again. I would urge others to consider rescue if possible, because there are so many other diamonds in the rough out there waiting for someone to see their potential.
I loved this story. Thank you