Ambassador Award

 

Billy (Young Lord)-

It is said that some things are meant to be , or perhaps that sometimes, things happen for a reason. I have always believed that both are true. I did not need to find, look for , buy, or adopt another horse. I have had horses for most of my life and I had 7 when Young Lord’s picture appeared on the MAHR Available Horses link. It was only a head shot but I knew instantly that this horse was part of my “family” and
needed to know more about him. After speaking to Bev at length I decided to go and see him to see if I could possibly rehabilitate him. I recall saying to Bev that he had value to me if he would be able to safely and sanely carry a rider at W/T if that is all he was ever able to do. He had previously been a Children’s and Ammy Jumper and had quite the show career before his injury. He had also been one of Bev and Ginny’s first race rescues at age 4 and was successfully adopted. He had now been returned in need of the right home and someone who would give him the time to heal and relearn yet another job if he could...and if he couldn’t well hell...he was the right color to go live at a farm in Penna. called Grays and Bays.

His previous owners had called him Prince. I always give my TB’s a barn name. I paid $1.00 to adopt him regardless of if he rehabbed well or not. My friend Liz came up with the name Dollar Bill which made me laugh out loud so Young Lord aka Prince was now Billy. My husband Jay upon finding out I had brought yet another horse home came up with his own name for him ...The DIVORCE Horse. Apparently 8 was indeed enough for Jay and though he yelled and threatened rather seriously to divorce me he did agree to let me see if I could fix Billy. I have always worked with, loved, owned, and been owned by TB’s.

In my younger days on my own I would go to New Holland and pull TB’s from the kill pen. I have rehabbed, retrained and re-homed many over the last 35 years. TB’s will give you their all even when they have only 3 safely usable legs or feet that would be better off removed ,or for whatever reason they may not currently be sound to do their job. I have found that their heart never quits or gives out until it finally does simply stop. This and the drive they have once they know their job is the reason I
love them so much. I had to stop going to New Holland because I simply could not stomach leaving so many behind and knowing the fate that awaited them. Bev, Ginny and Suzanne became my heroes long before I ever met them because they continue to go and do it. I had offered to rehab or provide a foster home a few times if it was
needed just so they could get 1 more out of there. Suzanne would always call or email and tell me about certain horses from time to time as she knows my home bred TB’s bloodlines and what type I look for. Then along came Young Lord.

My practical plan was to go and see him and take along my husbands bombproof reliable QH Coal for me to ride and my friend Laura agreed to ride Billy and honestly evaluate how lame, sore, or unsound he actually was at the time Bev said we could come and see him. We also wanted to be able to pony him as this would be part of his rehab program if he needed more time without a rider on his back. He passed our tests all though I had never heard a horse creak and crackle and pop like he did yet for all that he was pretty sound but he had some real body soreness issues along with the RF injury that we already knew about. He didn’t really canter...he kind of shuffled and scooted with his back end. We were both amazed he was as solid feeling wise at W/T because the canter he did was downright scary due to feeling like he wasn’t really there behind or under you, yet he never felt like he was going to give out...it just felt really WEIRDI’m sure at this point I should have said, “Thanks Bev but I don’t think so” but NO, not me. I think I said , “Well , Jay can’t bitch about this one costing a fortune....he’s only $1.00 so of course I’ll take him.” You now all know how that turned out ... (refer back to the end of paragraph 2 LOL!!)

My “real” job is as a mental health counselor for boys ages 14-21 who have social and behavioral issues. Many of them are also “mentally retarded” a term /label that I loathe but that’s what it is. These boys do not have a lot of opportunities to do things outside of the facility where they live. They love animals. They volunteer and work at a local animal shelter , they help me care for the feral cats on the campus where they live. They love Billy and my other horses. Billy is already the MAHR “Spokes Horse” to them. They know his story. They made lots of posters to put up in our building and collected a lot of donated items for Ginny’s kennel. One of my co-workers is a cake baker. She donated 2 of her specialty cakes for a cake raffle. The boys and I sold tickets and I have a check to write for the Scavenger Ride on April 9th that is from the boys.

When Billy was getting better I kept him moving with the help of an 8 yr .old boy with ADHD/ODD and a 13 yr. old girl with Aspergers Syndrome. Billy carefully carried them at W/T so his joints would warm up and his back would loosen. Billy had a job again. He never once took a wrong step or tried to. The moms refer to him as Saint Billy. The kids were light enough to be his riders and it really helped him. He also really helped them. Billy now has kids who need him and want to ride him. When they ride they are focused on riding ...not their problems. Billy has also really helped me. He brings me JOY, he makes me laugh. He has been the challenge of my former abilities with horses and if I can get it all back. If I can’t ...well... I don’t care... I’m doing it for the LOVE of it and the FUN of it. I don’t think Billy really cares about that either. I love him and he loves me. We are both older, we are both gray (except I color my hair) and we both LOVE the chiropractor and massages and mints. He was worth that dollar.....he is priceless to me.
Rosemary Smetzer

Update 11/1/11

Hi Bev,

As you know Billy is now 100% sound and he is so much FUN!! It took 10 months of rest, rehab ,(he had all of last winter off) and slow steady flatwork to get him feeling good and acclimated to his new jobs.Billy continues to be the MAHR "Spokes Horse" where ever he goes. He always wears his bright blue MAHR saddle pad to his events. He has become quite the trail horse and cross country mount. He has been cleared to compete in Competitive Distance and Trail Events as well as some novice Endurance rides. The minimum distance for both of these are 15 miles. In Sept. Team Grays and Bays "Saddled Up for St.Jude's Childrens Hospital" Billy racked up $335.00 in contributions just from my workplace. He has quite the fan base at work! We also traveled to Georgia in Sept. where Billy logged 42 trail miles that were recorded and many more trail miles that were on private lands. Again, he was 100% sound on some very tough trails and terrain and he competes barefoot with only his Hoof Armour applied to his fronts. This month we went to a Paper Chase @ Mr. Stewarts Cheshire Hounds out on the Broadlawn Farm acreage and all through the Cheshire Hunt Country Conservancy lands. This is some pretty formidable foxhunting country. Billy cruised through the 10 mile course and even jumped a few fences. He was quite the "Rocket" and could have easily done the entire pace again. I on the other hand needed to go to bed very early that evening and was sore for 2 days afterwards but the FUN we had far surpassed my 55 yr.old aches and pains.

To say I LOVE THIS HORSE is an understatement. In his original story I referred to him as "bringing me JOY". He continues to do this every single day and he has given me so much more appreciation for what he and I are still both quite capable of doing. As you know I work with kids and teens age 8-22 with MH/MR disorders. Several of these kids assisted me in Billy's initial rehab when he needed lots of handwalking and lighter riders then myself. Their enthusiam for helping him and the positive effects of being around my horses became very evident to the clinical team at my workplace. Several of my kids were given approvals to visit my farm regularly and learn about horses and all the work and responsibilities involved in caring for horses. Because of their desire to visit with and help Billy I wrote and submitted an Equine Assisted Learning and Vocational Training program. This program was recently approved by our Kids Peace Board of Directors and is now awaiting approval from the Budget Committee. Hopefully in 2012 Billy will be the lead horse in a program that will teach many kids what we who love horses already know,that horses are very good for our souls,minds, bodies and spirits and that they have so very much to teach us if we are capable of listening to them and learning from them. Billy was truly a blessing, a gift, and exactly what I needed when he came into my life. I believe it was meant to be even more than I did when I first saw him.

With heartfelt gratitude and appreciation for your dedication to all the TB's you ladies save,

Rosemary Smetzer and Billy

 

 

 

 

PO Box 407
Chesapeake City, MD 21915

For information call: 302-376-7297
or Email: Bev@MidAtlanticHorseRescue.org
MidAtlantic Horse Rescue is
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
©2002-2012 MidAtlantic Horse Rescue

MidAtlantic Horse Rescue is a Federal 501(c)3 organization, that buys slaughter
bound ex-racehorses and adopts them into good homes as pleasure and sport horses.