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 Belle
of the Ball
(in front)
 Belle,
age 21, is an appaloosa/draft cross. She was blinded by an infection
common to appaloosas called equine uveitis (moon blindness). Belle was
rescued as she was most likely heading to a meat processing plant. Belle
has been blind about 3 years. She is an excellent horse for therapeutic
riding. Belle will carry any beginning as well as gallop in the fields
for an advanced rider. She is from Indiana and was one of the first two
horses to enter into the Flurry’s Hope program. She has been with us 2
years.
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Casino
Casino is an 8 year old registered quarter horse
who has spent his early years competing in barrel racing. When he began
to go blind, his owners left him at the veterinarian’s office with
instructions to find him a place to live or kill him (“put him down.”)
“We don’t want a blind horse,“ they told the vet. Remarkably, this vet
had just been to a seminar at NC State and had been given our brochure.
She contacted us and the owners agreed to pay for transport from
Louisiana. Casino is a beautiful, gentle, even tempered gelding who will
have a bright future. He has been at Flurry’s Hope since December 2009.
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Cassie
 Cassey is an eight year old registered quarter horse who was injured in
one eye in a trailer accident and lost sight in her other eye. She has
likely been blind about 2 years. Her owner, Brittany (age 17) was
tragically killed in August of 2009 in a car accident. Cassey had
nowhere permanently to go. Cassey is a very gentle and affectionate
horse that we are just beginning to ride. She is doing well with being
ridden blind. Cassey has been at Flurry’s Hope for about 6 weeks.
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Diamond
 Diamond is an appaloosa who is 15 years old. Her death
date was scheduled for July 25,
2009. Diamond’s owner did not know how to care for a blind horse and was
going to put her down rather than have her taken advantage of. We
learned of this therapy horse’s plight and Diamond came from
Pennsylvania to live with us in August. She is an excellent riding horse
and loves to go on trails. Diamond has been blind about 6 months. She
was blinded by equine uveitis.
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Fanny
 Fanny is a 16 year old quarter horse/Thoroughbred mix. She was raised
from a baby by the owner who was going to kill her if he could not find
a place for her once she went blind. Belle’s former owner found out
about Fanny and asked Flurry’s Hope to offer her a refuge. We were told
that she had two head traumas that caused her blindness. Fanny loves to
canter in the fields with her owner, Claibourne. She is from Indiana.
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Goldie
  Goldie
is a 23 year old palomino who was given to Flurry's Hope by Gold Mine
Ranch in Minnesota. Her family loved her but was afraid that she was too
cold in the rough winters that they had and she was pregnant. Goldie had
been blinded by an eye being poked out and also by an infection in the
other eye. Even blind, Goldie was a winning barrel racer. She was also a
steady mount in the Black Hills in the western US for this family's
young son. Goldie came to Flurry's Hope in 2008 and her foal
is Golden Ice T, the yearling on the farm. His father is Doc's Dry Ice,
a descendant of T Bar and was priced at $75,000. |
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Holiday
  Holiday
is a 15 year old appaloosa/Arabian mix. He was blinded by equine uveitis,
an infection common to appaloosas. His owner, Danny Fulp, asked Flurry’s
Hope to take Holiday so that he could live a productive life. Holiday is
extremely affectionate and will be anyone’s friend. He is great on
trails and has a huge personality. Holiday has been blind about 4 years
and is from Stoneville, NC. He has been with Flurry’s Hope about 6
months. |
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Jack
 Jack is a 16 year old palomino who has been blind
for about 5 years. He was going to be killed because his owner could not
keep him and feared that he would be taken advantage of. After hearing
about us, the owner drove from Oklahoma and brought Jack to us about a
year ago because he loved this horse. Jack was a trail horse at a ranch
and is very gentle to ride. We do not know the exact nature of his
blindness but it appears to be cataracts. |
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Justice
This is Justice, who came with her friend, Mercy,
in January 2010. Read their story in our
March Newsletter!
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LittleMan
 Little
Man is about 6 years old, and is a sighted horse. He was rescued
with a blind pony from an abusive situation. LittleMan was so afraid of
trailers that it took three different days to get him out of the
situation he was in, so that he could travel to us! Even different
people tried to load him in, until he finally relented. He has
settled into Second Chance Ranch for almost a year; and he is a great
trail horse. We know a young girl, Abigail, whose horse died suddenly in
December of 2009. Abigail has now adopted Little Man, and he is in
training for barrel racing. According to the trainer, he is a
phenomenal athlete, and Little Man has found a wonderful home and career
with Abigail and barrel racing. Another second chance! |
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Mercy (before and
after)
 
Mercy arrived, with his friend Justice, in February
2010. Read their stories in the
March Newsletter. The
picture on the left is how skinny and malnourished Mercy was when he
arrived. The one on the right is after just one month with us - he's
thriving again!
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Nova (Cassanova,
formerly "Unexpected Success")
  Nova is our newest baby (born in May 2009) BLIND horse.
On the left, he's 'chillin' after his favorite meal! His original
owner in Montana has lupus; she raises foals but did not have the
energy to also work with a blind foal. She tried to place this horse
everywhere. Couldn't find anyone who was even willing to try, so she
never did name him. Finally, she found Flurry's Hope. After we agreed to
take him, she named him "Unexpected Success." Our volunteers call him Cassanova because he's so handsome. |
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Reggae
   Reggae is a registered Saddle bred horse who was a
champion competitor in show classes (far right). He was being
sold for $50,000 however when the vet checked him for sale he was found
to be somewhat blind in one eye. Reggae’s sale price went to $0 in that
one moment and he was disqualified from competition because of his
eyesight, not his performance. Soon thereafter Reggae became totally
blind and was rescued by an individual in Indiana who was concerned
about his plight. After three years, when she heard about Flurry’s Hope,
she wrote and asked us to take him so that he could be productive again.
Reggae is a very sweet and fancy horse who will be a very beautiful
sight to behold. He has been with Flurry’s Hope since November 2009.. |
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Snowflake
 Snowflake is an appaloosa pony who is about 22
years old. She is blind and partially deaf. Snowflake was found
wandering around Surry County, NC without an owner or enough to eat. Her
past history is not known, but it seems as if she was neglected for many
years. Snowflake is a very gentle horse who loves hugs. She can be
ridden easily. Snowflake tilts her head because of her hearing problem.
She was blinded by equine uveitis, the infection common to the appaloosa
breed. We have had this adorable pony for about 18 months.
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Teddy
 Our youngest horse at Flurry’s Hope, Teddy is a 5
year old quarter horse. He was bought by an individual in Mississippi to
be a trail horse. When he became blind, she drove from Mississippi to
bring him to Flurry’s Hope because she wanted him to have a place where
he could be productive. Teddy is being used for just what she bought him
for originally, a trail horse. He is very willing and loves to ride in
the fields. Teddy has one-half of an ear that was bitten off by his father. We
do not know the specific cause of his blindness.
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Former Horses that received a
Second
Chance at Flurry's Hope
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 Flurry
This blind appaloosa was given to one of the HorseFriends
board members because she was unwanted. Likely, equine uveitis took her
sight.
 Dirty, thin and worm infested, she was fearful when first seen by
Emilie in a large pasture. With a smaller environment, lots of love and
consistent care, Flurry became a beautiful, noble and willing trail
horse. Quickly, she learned a mental map of her living area and would
freely move about without running into things. Flurry
loved to be ridden and became the dominant horse over two sighted
horses. A few days before she was to begin working in HorseFriends'
therapeutic program, she died unexpectedly, leaving a huge void and
great sadness. Because of her inspiring life, Emilie began Flurry's
Hope to help other blind horses have second chances in life. Flurry's
amazing courage has been the inspiration for other horses to be trained
and used in different ways. Her devoted spirit, enhanced by her
blindness, demonstrated the strong connection that blind horses can have
with their owners. Her true age was unknown but she was likely about 21
years old at the time of her death. |
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 Promise
Promise, a 4 year old Thoroughbred, was blinded in an
unknown pasture accident on a Kentucky race horse farm at the age of
three months. Although there was hope that her optic nerve would heal,
it never did and the owner of the racehorse farm asked the vet to put
her down. Having spent time with her, the vet realized what a wonderful
heart this horse had and decided to take her to his own farm. After a
couple of years of her living in a dirt lot with a miniature burro, he
began to look for a permanent home for Promise. Emilie found out about
her on the Internet and Promise moved from KY to NC. Promise proved to
be a wonderful and willing mount. She had not been ridden before she
came but learned to work both in the ring and out on rides during the
nine months that she spent with Emilie. People who saw her in her
paddock could not believe that she was blind because she trotted and
cantered about with complete freedom.
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wonderful woman, Deirdre, loved Promise too and wanted to teach her to
compete in dressage. Knowing that this horse had so much potential,
Emilie knew that she had to let Promise go to become all that she could
be. Promise is currently in training for dressage and seems to be
enjoying her new work. The connection that she had with Emilie is one
that she will never forget. Promise loved to be touched, and to hear
and to smell Emilie. She was a tremendously devoted and loving horse.
Promise taught Emilie the importance of connecting with all the senses
with blind horses. She also revealed that many blind horses have
somewhat of a sixth sense. Either through sound echo or some other
unknown ability, this horse knows when there is some large structure
beside her. It is amazing to see knowing that she has absolutely no
vision since her optic nerve was destroyed. Promise has pupils that are
always fully dilated due to the destruction of the optic nerve. This
adds to her warm and gentle appearance giving her deep and thoughtful
eyes. |
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 Miracle
 This
is Miracle, a beautiful three year old registered quarter horse who was
born blind. As a weanling, she was injured by barbed wire fencing and
rescued by a family in southern North Carolina. She has been trained
with groundwork for about two years and has been ridden only a couple of
times. Miracle is very sweet and loves to be used. She has a great
temperament and will make someone a wonderful mount. Since Miracle was
blind from birth, she is very comfortable with her blindness. She has
lots of energy and is still very green. She will need training under
saddle and would not be appropriate for an inexperienced rider at this
time.
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Belle
of the Ball
(in front)
