05/29/2026
We routinely welcome horses whose circumstances have left them vulnerable, overlooked, or without a safe place to land.
And so it was with Mickey. This little, disabled c**t had developed a huge attachment to a pregnant mare and foal we rescued from a kill pen a few months ago. He was so little, so alone, so vulnerable, so scared. It was inconceivable for us to separate him from them, so we saved him, too.
Little Mickey, the dearest little boy, devoted, well-behaved, but seriously compromised. He struggled to keep up, getting along on three legs while his fourth leg, deformed and irreparably damaged, was incapable of functionally bearing his weight. It was likely an unrepaired old fracture. As he got bigger, things got worse, which might explain how he ended up discarded in a kill pen.
Until he wasn’t. He became one of us.
We vow to be there until the end for our horses. And most of them, true to our name, are older horses who have lived a full life, and we are proud to stand with them in reverence to their lives of service. This is part of our mission, our promise.
But when it became clear that little Mickey’s leg was not repairable, life-limiting, and posed a high risk of a catastrophic collapse. We had to honor that same promise. To respect his life—short as it was—by standing with him until the end.
This morning, surrounded by people who had grown to love him, he walked out to graze on a beautiful, sunny day. His faithful little friend Madeline, his constant companion, came along to make sure he wasn’t scared. And he was laid to rest.
We weep, we curse the inhumanity of his circumstances--all the what-ifs and whys.
But Mickey’s short life will be defined not by the hardships he faced but by his bravery, loyalty, and resilience.
The length of his life had nothing to do with the value of his life. We couldn’t have loved him more—only longer.
Love is good.
