Dream Catcher Farm Horse Sanctuary
Lucky didn’t have a name until luck became his saving grace. Standing at 12-hands, the size of a large Irish Wolfhound, the young black stallion was sent with a birthday ribbon to a 4 year-old boy. As soon as inevitable damage was done, a kick to the child’s backside or a nip to his arm, the noble pony was banished to his stall. No more human interaction except for the giving of food and water, no more blue skies or green pastures, clover leaves, or curry combs. Away with the veterinary check-ups, farrier services, and stall cleanings. And the years passed by, 1, 2, and then 3. By luck, the grace of God, or the good will of a concerned neighbor, 2 humane society workers were notified and found the pony engulfed so deeply in urine and feces that his back was rubbing against the barn roof. His tail had grown into the muck and had to be cut, and the barn wall torn away. He required sedation upon rescue in order for his hooves, which had grown over fourteen inches long, to be removed, and his emaciated body cleansed of worms and wounds. He suffered a cardiac arrest during the lengthy surgery but survived.
Today, Lucky lives at Dream Catcher Farm Horse Sanctuary in the grassy hills of Rocky Mount, Virginia. He has 8 four-legged equine companions who are all cared for by Kitty L. and her husband, Bucky, a couple with a passion for horses. Kitty is a full-time social worker, wife, and mother of 3 grown children. Her day begins with her own assortment of medicines for juvenile diabetes and a few extras to aid in the recovery of a recent heart attack. There is a short walk from her back door to the barn where she cleans stalls, feeds, waters, and medicates her eight foster horses. Followed by an 8 hour day of work with the mentally challenged occupants at the assisted-living facility where she works, she returns to the barn again for evening feeding, watering, grooming, and medicating. “I only work,” she says, “so I can care for these horses. If I didn’t have to earn money to pay for them I would gladly spend all of my hours here.”
Lucky is not the only fortunate pony to live his life on Kitty’s farm. Eight others share the distinction of being Dream Catcher Farm Horse Sanctuary residents. And it is quite a distinction. Jackson and Samson were on a slaughter truck when Kitty tracked the owners down and offered the going rate of horse meat for dog food, a cost measured per pound of horse. Jackson is a bay Morgan with a white streak down his face, and is certainly one of the more beautiful residents, a beauty which is slightly marred by a limp in his gate. He has equine protozoan disease, or EPM, which means his spine is plagued by a protozoan which will slowly destroy his central nervous system. Samson, a handsome Appaloosa, was a former barrel racer who now suffers from torn tendons in his legs; navicular, a degenerative disease of the navicular bone; ring bone, a bone swelling around the hoof, and blindness in one eye. Kitty calls him “Sammy” and says he is the “kindest horse here.”
A few months after my first visit to the farm, I sent Kitty and Bucky a portrait of Sammy grazing. A few days later I received a card explaining that after a battle with an insect born virus Sammy had recently died. Kitty had the photograph matted and framed. On my second visit she showed me the portrait, now hanging in her foyer, and with teary eyes said it meant more than she could say.
Sammy conjures the most tears, and Lucky may have the most moving biography, but Jake’s story is almost as equally moving. Jake is a 10 year-old chestnut Saddlebred; he is best friends with Samson and Bubby, the oldest horse, but is very shy around people, reasonably so. He was formerly a show horse, but when he developed horny white growths in his ears his owners became embarrassed. They took a knife to the growths in an unsuccessful attempt to remove them. After this and other incidents of abuse, he would no longer allow a bridle or halter to be placed over his head. Thanks to Kitty, he now has a home free of abuse, and he is loved despite the harmless growths in his ears.
It costs over $1500 a month to feed, medicate, and care for these horses, and 99% of the cost comes from Kitty’s pocket. Out of a million, these horses are eight lucky ones who are living the cruelty free lives they deserve, lives that Kitty, who is one in a million, provides. Kitty tells me these horses and the abuses they have endured are not unusual. What I have found, however, is that people like Kitty are.
*I’m sorry that I don’t have a picture of Lucky to show. I’ll keep looking. I believe Sonny is the top picture, and Sammy is the close-up, grazing. This last picture is Kitty with Jackson.
*Also, forgive me for any errors you may see. This has not been edited by anyone before posting.
UPDATE:
I was able to speak with Kitty earlier this week. She updated me on horses I had met –some are still with her and some have passed on. She currently has 5 horses and 3 donkeys. Rosy, the first donkey to reside at Dream Catcher, had been sent to auction in NC. No one wanted to buy her, being sickly and emaciated, so the plan was to take her around back and shoot her. A person there, who thought Kitty might be willing to help, offered to buy the donkey, which she did for $5. Rosy was delivered by a volunteer and shortly after the life-saving move, gave birth.
Kitty shared other stories too, too many to tap out here. It was great to connect with her. She mentioned the photograph that still hangs in her foyer and said, “I just can’t tell you how much that means to me.”
Kitty’s health is declining and she in now in a wheelchair. Her husband does the bulk of the work , though her 3 grown children who live nearby also help. When I asked how others might be able to help, she said that hay and farrier services are the 2 biggest expenses. If you care to learn more about Dream Catcher Farm, wish to see pictures of the horses, including Lucky, or to donate, please click here: Dream Catcher.
