News - Lifestyles

Saturday, Sep. 27, 2008

To heal a horse

Katie Holme nurses and nurtures neglected and abused animals at Lancaster ranch

Katie Holme stood alongside a gleaming white pasture fence, whistled and raised her right hand in the air.

"You whoooo, Ginger," she called. A reddish-brown mare grazing in the distance lifted her head, snorted and galloped toward Holme, her month-old foal scampered behind.

Ginger, a quarter horse, was rescued in June from near starvation by Healing Horses, a Lancaster-based organization that rescues and rehabilitates abused and neglected horses. In August, Ginger gave birth to a male foal that Holme dubbed Lakota Merry Lakes.

Holme, 49, the organization's founder, learned of Ginger's deteriorating condition from a concerned citizen. Ginger was brought to Larkspur Ranch in Lancaster, a 1,200-acre horse ranch that is fostering Holme's six rescued horses.

"They have a huge heart for the horse," Holme said, referring to the ranch's owners, Missy and Joe Hinson. "They want horses to be cared for."

Ginger has put on 75 pounds since arriving at the ranch and she appears to be more energetic. She is expected to make a full recovery, said Holme, who lives in Lancaster.

"They are in greener pastures now," Holme said, referring to the horses. "They have all the acreage they need and all the grass they can eat."

The Hinsons have adopted both Ginger and her baby. "We fell in love with the baby, and Ginger is a very good mare," said Joe Hinson, whose father started the ranch in 1967.

Hinson, who loves horses, has been riding since he was 6. "These horses needed a place to stay and we had the facility," said Hinson, 58.

Holme, a native of Nottingham England, said her affinity for horses began when she was about 10. "My mother would drop me off at the stables and I would stay there all day. I would clean stalls to get a riding lesson," said Holme, who owns two horses.

The organization, a division of Project Halo, an animal rescue organization in Charlotte, offers need-based food and veterinary assistance to horse owners and, in severe cases, it acts as a sanctuary for abused and neglected horses. Holme, a former nurse, provides veterinary care, supplies and food for these horses through donations and by selling Healing Horses T-shirts.

Using her medical training, Holme prepares an individualized plan of care for each horse, whether it remains with the owner or is taken into foster care.

Horses taken into foster care receive a full veterinary workup, often donated or heavily discounted by local veterinarians. The horses then begin rehabilitation, which can take weeks to months.

Since its inception, the organization has rescued dozens of horses that were severely traumatized or near death.

Healing Horses got its start two years ago, when Holme began a feed bank to help area horse owners feed their animals.

"There was a severe hay shortage brought on by the drought. I was going around delivering hay, and I was coming across horses that were starving to death and people didn't want them," she said.

Today, Holme said she gets calls about neglected horses nearly every day. Sometimes it's an owner who cannot care for the horse. Other times, it's people who see neglected horses, she said.

Holme said often horses suffer neglect when owners fall on hard economic times. "When people can't afford their house payment, they can't feed their horses," she said.

A spike in hay and horse feed prices has compounded the problem, Holme said.

"Prices have tripled since last year," said Delpa Eddinger at the Farmer's Exchange in Rock Hill. Hay, once about $2 a bale, now runs $5 to $9 a bale, depending on whether it's purchased from a farm or a store.

When grass dies down in the fall and winter, a horse's diet must be supplemented with hay, Holme said. One horse eats about two bales a week, said Eddinger, who has five horses.

One horse also needs a 50-pound bag of of feed each week, and the cost of feed has risen to $11.50, said Eddinger. "Nobody wants them now because it costs so much to feed them," said Eddinger.

Along with the drought, rises in fuel prices and fertilizer have contributed to the price increase of hay, said Lancaster rancher Horace Porter, who donates hay to Healing Horses.