Testimonial by Carol Lindeman

The Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue is a nonprofit organization that rescues hooved animals that have been abandoned, neglected, abused or improperly cared for. This is a story of how our family acquired two such horses through the MHARF. I have been riding, training, and showing my horse doing dressage for many years. This past winter I boarded him out to have the use of an indoor arena so I could continue training throughout the winter. In the February rain and ice storm my horse slipped on the ice and went lame. I tried several good vets and even the U of M to treat the lameness to no avail. He was still lame after two months of evaluation and treatment. By mid April I knew I would not be showing him this season, if ever.
Meanwhile, Pat Holm of the MHARF, the owner of the barn where I had boarded, was following my plight in sympathy. I had not considered getting another horse to replace my beloved partner of ten years. When a horse was put up for adoption and brought to her barn, she thought we would make a good match. He was a beauty, ½ Arab, ½ Saddlebred and in the past, trained for dressage. He’d been sent to MHARF because the owner had to give him up. She wanted him to go to a home where someone would work him and love him.

Pat Holm is like a “cupid” and excels in finding people to adopt horses and ponies from the rescue, beautifully matching horses and ponies to humans. She knew our family had recently lost our 31-year-old horse. The horse had been my grandson’s baby-sitter and we wanted a pony to replace him. I had had my hopes dashed when my horse went lame, and about the same time the ½ Arab was donated, a pony became available. Pat knew, with her expertise, that these animals would be taken into our hearts, and that they were right for our family.

Well, we adopted both the horse and pony and it was a successful match from the start. I now had a horse to ride, and began retraining him. Soon afterward, I began showing him and won all my classes. We named the pony Smiley, (because of an accident that caused a scar on his lip giving him the appearance of smiling).

I worked Smiley for my four year-old grandson, and the pony is turning out GREAT! He is gentle, pretty, and safe. We showed him in a pony show recently, getting a ribbon in all classes.

The conclusion to this long story is: the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue is operated to rescue animals and adopt them into suitable, approved new homes at an affordable price. You too can adopt a wonderful animal companion for your child, a show horse for you, or just a good friend.

Respectfully submitted, Carol Lindeman.