Lend a Hoof Haddam Neck
by Karena Garrity
Connecticut Draft Horse Rescue
I
Karena Garrity
t was the late 1800s when the mighty This show of anxiety distracts Moose, the 16-year-old alpha-mare Clydesdale European draft horses, with their rescue who’s trying hard to be good wide, muscular backs, towering and concentrate on her lesson with new height, and the strength of Hercules, trainer Jess Kuwaye, with whom she were imported to America and put to seems to be quite smitten. work in both fields and urban centers. Moose stands quietly in the bright Today, there’s little need for draft red round pen as Jess (a farrier from horses as vigorous workers. But it’s not nine to five) gently picks up each hoof their formidable capacity for labor that attracted Stacey Golub to these massive beings; it was their big heart and their sweet disposition. Lured by the gentle temperament of her first draft, Baron, Stacey — an equine vet — has a soft spot for these oversized equines and now jokes that founding the Connecticut Draft Horse Rescue (CDHR) is her second full-time job. “They do say that once you go draft, you never go back,” she says Jess Kuwaye working with Moose. under the gaze of several volunteers with a laugh. who’ve worked with this sometimes dif“Drafts are good natured, calm, ficult horse. “Oh, my goodness,” whisand kind, and they return every bit of pers one onlooker to another. “No one love you give them,” she says. “They’re here has ever been able to do that. Jess great family horses, the gentle giants of is so good for her.” the horse world.” “It’s about trust and respect,” Jess On a windy day in late spring, it’s says as he moves Moose around the apparent that the volunteers agree with pen. When he begins to introduce the Stacey’s assessment. As they busy themsaddle, Moose seems to bat her long selves with the daily chores, the men eyelashes coyly. As Jess climbs the three and women who dedicate their free steps of the mounting block in the centime to the CDHR are inundated with ter of the pen and drapes himself over noisy nickers and low whinnies. Moose’s back, one volunteer sheds some tears at the sight, knowing what a WHEN CORA (a Belgian–Quarter long haul it’s been to get Moose to this Horse cross) is separated from Maxine point. — one of the five feral Clydesdales the A neigh from inside the large rescue took in two years ago, after their brown barn begs for attention. This owner passed away suddenly — Maxine outburst comes from the newest and lets everyone know how she feels: she’s smallest rescue, Hershey, a dashing, vocal in her protest and gallops thundark brown Miniature Horse who was derously up and down the fence line.
12
July/August 2015
surrendered by his owner at the most recent annual CDHR gelding clinic fund-raiser. This tiny former stallion has an attitude much stronger than that of his draft herd mates, and likes to make sure everyone knows it. He rears up quickly in his stall to be eye level with visitors as they admire his spirited personality. From big Moose to little Hershey, Stacey knows that with some training and a lot of love, CDHR’s rescues have a chance for — and a right to — a forever home. IT ALL STARTED with an 11year-old Shire that she and several other like-minded horse lovers rescued. Then, once Cleo was in a safe home, Stacey was itching to help more animals. Now her mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and rehome drafts. “It was such a wonderful feeling,” says Stacey. “I knew I wanted to keep on doing it. Since Cleo, we’ve been able to rescue fifty others and that doesn’t even count the ones we play matchmaker for that have never actually come to us.” Early on, in recognition of the fact that Stacey was moving in the right direction, the rescue received enormous aid when the owner of 68 acres called and asked her if she wanted to rent the property. “The landowner said, ‘Why should I pay someone to mow when I know there are horses you’re rescuing and I have property you could be using?’” Stacey remembers. This was the spark she needed to follow her passion, and