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52
winter
|
spr ing
I
t was a difficult day. Last month, I was called out to a ranch
in Moorpark where I met a beautiful paint with a wonderful
disposition: a sweet, loving horse. But every rib in her body
was sticking out and she could barely stand. It was clear she
had been left in her stall by her owners to die. A man at the ranch had
called me and asked for help from Heart of a Horse. He told
me the horse belonged to his father and his father
had gone back to Mexico and
REMEMBERING Pinto
eart
orse
of a
did not want to care for it anymore. The son called us because
he said he was too busy to deal with this problem. He had just
lost his job and was trying to find work. When I asked him
the horse’s name he didn’t answer. I found out later that her
name was Pinto but for a while I called her Sweet Pea because
of her temperament.
When I went to the ranch and opened the stall door,
what I saw was horrifying. Pinto was on
the ground. She was just skin and
bones, and her hooves were
by April Horowitz
photos by Joanne A. Calitri
Alvin (in photo) is one of two horses that
live full-time with April Horowitz, founder of
Heart of a Horse Foundation, who bought
the horse after falling in love with him. “He
was pigeon-toed and had an overbite,” April
says, “but was just a sweetheart.”