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A Whisper of Hope for Abused Horses

The Turners have been donating hay and money to help horses and other animals in need at the Animal Rescue League of Iowa for many years. It gives them great pride to be able to a little more.

In the spring of 2007, the ARL together with the Dallas County Sheriff department, seized 14 horses. The ARL rescued more than a dozen horses from these same people a few years ago in what ARL Executive Director Tom Colvin called one of the worst horse abuse cases he had seen.  At that time, a Dallas County judge ordered that the horse owner not own more than 25 head of horses.  "We were disappointed after the magnitude of their cruelty that the judge allowed them to have any horses, "says Colvin. "But, we accepted the ruling as progress and vowed to keep a watchful eye on these people."

Suspecting that they were over their 25-head limit and that horses were suffering, the Animal Rescue League of Iowa found a local pilot who flew the ARL's cruelty investigator, Josh Colvin, over the property to inspect the situation. Josh counted many more than 25 horses including foals and mares mixed with stallions. Even from the sky, the horses were visibly thin.

"When we went on the property with the authorities we found more horses in the dark, dilapidated barn - no hay, no water and standing in mounds of manure, " said Colvin. That day, the ARL was allowed to take as many horses as it took to reduce the herd down to the 25 maximum number. The ARL took the 14 worst cases, including six stallions. 

Of the 14 horses the ARL seized this summer, most were in horrible condition - physically and mentally. Two of the horses had to be humanely euthanized due to severe cases of untreated founder or hoof abscess. Several others simply needed a few weeks of good quality hay, feed, veterinary care and some farrier work and they would be ready for their second, and hopefully forever loving homes. But four of the horses, including three stallions were beyond physically unhealthy. The ARL staff knew their bodies could be healed with food and care, but with these horses, that wouldn't be enough. Years of abuse and neglect had left them violent and uncontrollable to people as well as to other horses. The stallions were trying to kick their stalls down...and that was after they were tranquilized.

"We didn't know what we were going to do," said Carol Griglione, ARL board president. "Three of them had behavior problems beyond our expertise to work with. We were advised to euthanize them. People said that if we weren't going to keep them as studs, they weren't worth keeping at all. But, when I first visited the horses after the rescue, I looked in to the soft brown eyes of one of the stallions name DePHiance and pledged to him that I would do whatever I could to give him and the others a second chance."

That second chance came in the form of a Hail-Mary-what-do-we-have-to-lose call to Monty Roberts' farm in southern California. Monty Roberts is a world-renowned horse trainer and is known as the original "Horse Whisperer." Monty gained international fame by developing a method of communicating with horses using their natural body language and a technique he calls Join-Up. Founded on a consistent set of principles, communication, and trust, Monty's methods assert that violence is never the answer.

"It was Tom's idea," explained Carol. "We knew it was a long shot." Carol checked Monty's website and found a number to call. After a couple of calls explaining the situation Monty Robert's head trainer called Carol and said they would help. They needed troubled horses for their training program. Monty would donate several weeks of training for the four horses (worth thousands of dollars) if the ARL could get the horses to them. "We knew this was a magical opportunity for these horses -probably their only hope. We had to do it. We asked several special friends of the ARL to help us with the transportation costs and care for the horses and they came through," said Carol.

A couple weeks later, the three stallions - DePHiance, Beck and Ali - and a yearling filly named "Mouse" were loaded up and headed for Monty's Flag is Up Farms in California for training with Monty himself and his experts. Mouse had never been handled, was scared and emaciated.  Monty planned to train her himself in a beginning yearling class. During Monty's yearling class and demonstration with Mouse, (pictured left), one of the participants, Joe Camp, fell instantly in love with the scared filly and decided he needed to adopt her. Joe, who in addition in being a gifted, yet rather new horseman, is also the director and producer of the Benji movies and an avid animal lover.

Mouse is settling in wonderfully with Joe, his wife Kathleen, their small herd of horses, and, of course, Benji. Joe finished his latest book, and has dedicated a chapter in his book, Soul of a Horse,  to Mouse and is considering including Mouse in his next Benji movie. Since the return of the other three horses Beck, Ali and DePHiance, both Ali and Beck found permanent, forever, loving homes.  It was determined that DePHiance is physically unrideable due to the neglect he endured, but he, in turn, has now taken on the position as the ARL's Ambassador on horses and promoting the message on behalf of rescued horses.  

DePHiance debuted in his new position at the ARL's first annual Mane Event held in March of 2008. DePHiance showcased his courage and ability to get over his fears of humans as he pranced around the arena, but what was most remarkable was his attitude towards children. DePhiance, once so fearful of any human, now sought out children to receive attention from. He gently would go up to any child in the crowd and be sure to show them his undivided attention and share a special moment with each of them.

DePHiance, pictured left, came to the ARL as a scared, untrusting horse and is now the ARL's model for rescued horses. DePHiance is here to encourage people to speak up when they see neglect and report it and to let people know the next time they are looking to get a horse, to adopt from a rescue or shelter.  DePHiance lives permanently at the Kruidiener Barn Buddy Barn at the ARL Main location and is not available for adoption; however, to check out horses we currently have for adoption, click here. 

Just like in the case of DePHiance, Ali, Beck, Mouse and the other ten horses the ARL seized in this horrible neglect case - there may be other horses that need someone to speak out for them.  If you know of a horse, other barn buddy or any other animal, being neglected or abused, please speak up and report it.  For more information on reporting animal abuse and/or neglect click here. 
  
  

Please click here to help abused and neglected animals and horses. Thank you!