Beauty's Story: The Beginning

Beauty was one of 25 horses that had been severely neglected.  The county removed these horses from the owners and held an auction. All of the horses had been bid on but Beauty was the only horse that no one would bid on. Even after all of the other horses had been bought, they came back to Beauty to see if anyone would bid on her. Everyone was silent. Finally, a lady asked what would happen to her and the auctioneer said she would go to rescue. Through all of the silence, Beauty stood there looking with begging eyes as if to say "Please give me a chance."  I knew in my heart that God wanted me to help this horse. I felt sorry for her and knew that she deserved a chance for a better life.

Beauty's hooves had never been trimmed.  Her front hooves looked like paddles and she could barely walk. Her ribs were protruding and although she is 3 years old, she looked like a yearling because her growth had been significantly stunted. We later found out that the previous owners gave these horses moldy hay and never cleaned out their stalls. Their stalls were so full of manure that the horses had to dig to get to their water. The pasture had bones from horses that had died as a result of neglect. Needless to say, these 25 horses were the lucky ones.

Even though Beauty looked helpless, I saw hope and gentleness in her eyes.  It was almost as if she were begging me to give her a second chance at life.  So this is Beauty's story. It is a story of hope and resilience, recovery and a chance at a better life.