Story by Madison Douskey and Eilish Foy / Shepaug Valley School
Beginning in 1981, volunteers and staff members have joined hand in hand at the Horse of Connecticut Foundation to save over 700 neglected and abused horses.
Lily Kaiser, a volunteer, talks about Gus, one of the rescued horses. His original owner was suffering from cancer, and couldn’t afford to pay for his vet bills anymore.
“He is looking for a little girl who would like to ride him and spend a lot of time with him. He loves to play and he is the sweetest thing.”
Ken Magnon has been a volunteer here for a year. He talks about how people have come together to help the horses.
“I think it just does a lot of good for one thing it brings a lot of people together and I’ve met a lot of people and basically since you are doing a lot of good for the animals it helps out them too.”
Not all the volunteers started off knowing anything about taking care of horses. For example, Helen Moriarty, a sponsor, explains her experience.
“We knew nothing about horses at all when we initially came but we learn something new every week.”
Ken proceeds to tell us how he was looking for somewhere to spend his free time helping the community outside of work.
“It was actually suggested by someone where I work because I told her I don’t really work much on the weekends and she suggested this place and I came here one day and I’ve been here ever since and I love coming every Saturday.”
Horse of Connecticut provides a safe environment for animals around the community, and a place for people to come together for a good cause.