by Stacey Randall, Farm Manager

In 2011, CDHR was just a small group of friends of our founder, Stacey Golub, DVM, who all have a passion for horses. In fact, CDHR was started in the backyard of Dr. Golub, rescuing just a few horses at a time. One of the group’s first rescues was from the New Holland Auction house in Pennsylvania. The group received a call that there was a Percheron mare going into the auction. Help was needed.

Little did they know of the surprise that was waiting for them. Standing in the back of the trailer was a five-month-old draft filly. Knowing once they entered the auction ring, the pair would most likely be split up, and each would face a potentially dangerous, uncertain future, the group was not about to let that happen. A deal was made in the parking lot, and the horses were loaded from one trailer right onto Dr. Golub’s trailer. The mare and her foal never saw the auction ring in Pennsylvania.

The mare was named Grace, and her foal was named Figlet (our horses’ favorite treat). Grace, like her name implies, was charming, beautiful, and patient. She was an absolute angel. She was rideable, drivable, either single or double, and loved people. She was a true ‘gentle giant,’ so much so, we thought about keeping her as CDHR’s draft ambassador. But Grace was so special we wanted to give her the best possible gift of finding her a forever home.

Grace was adopted in 2013 and is living her best life. This past week we received the following update on Grace: “ Gracie remains her kind, loving, patient, intelligent self. She continues to follow her daily routine of a morning nap followed by afternoon snacking. I have not been riding regularly (living that pandemic mom life...) but Atticus (almost 5 years old!) has become interested in riding Gracie. Sometimes we ride her together, and sometimes he rides on his own (on the lunge line). We have been working on developing his independent seat and doing small "obstacle courses." I hope we'll start riding pretty regularly when the weather improves in the spring. Gracie is such an amazingly caring horse. Her relationship with Atticus is so special. She is always interested in what he's doing, is never spooked by his wild-little-boy antics, and seems to genuinely love his cuddles and attention. We are so blessed to have her in our lives.” Laura Barbash

Figlet the little filly grew into a fine horse and was adopted to a wonderful family in 2015, where she too is living her best life.

Grace is a shining example of our motto, “You can’t change the world by saving one horse, but for that one horse, its world is changed forever.” And in this case, two lives were changed forever.

Help us continue to make a difference for draft horses that need our help, by making a donation here.