For those of you who have followed Nalani’s story, you know that I started the dream of rescuing horses with almost no experience and knowledge - just a driving NEED to do SOMEthing after I learned about the side of the horse world most people aren’t aware of; the tens of thousands of throw-away’s who are starved, neglected, and often end up on an over-crowded truck heading to an inhumane slaughter. My original plan was to take horses who were in danger of slipping through the cracks, get them some training, and find them a safe home. I was NOT going to the horrific auctions that I had heard nightmare stories about, not trying to save the old, sick or severely starved horses. That was for other “real” horse rescues. I wasn’t cut out or equipped for that.
Three years into this journey, we have now rescued an older abused and neglected horse who was thrown away after living his life essentially as a slave, a young horse who was broken early and left unrideable, a severely starved discarded racehorse, and an abused severely starved Amish horse who was thrown away for some unknown reason. We even rescued a horse just to be able to humanely euthanize him to end the suffering that a sorry excuse for a human was willing to profit from.
Okay, I admit it. I am a projector; I like to have the future planned out and tied up in a pretty little bow. File my horse rescue plans under the category of “life doesn’t ever go as planned”. Honestly, nothing in my life right now is going as planned. I’m learning to live one day at a time, and be okay with not having it all figured out. I have come to realize that often life actually turns out better than you could have ever imagined. It turns out my dream of horse rescue was far too small. Without planning it, we have expanded our mission to include the sick, starved and even the old. We ARE a real rescue. With that, I’d like to introduce you to Nalani Horse RESCUE (we updated our logo too).
Our mission is to provide horses in need of rescue with care, rehabilitation and training with the goal of finding them safe, forever homes. At Nalani, we are committed to giving these horses an opportunity to meet their potential in a loving, healthy and trusting environment. In addition, we recognize that some horses should not be rehomed. We are proud to announce that Lincoln is our first sanctuary horse. He will live out his days in peace with the only people he has ever known and trusted. We have started a fund in his name. "The Lincoln Fund" will be set aside for special horses like Lincoln who deserve a permanent home with us. Donations from this post will be put directly into this fund.
I can’t tell you how thankful I am to all of you who have supported this dream…it is my greatest pleasure to spend my life working for this cause. I am often asked where I see us in 5 years. I’m keeping that one close…it’s BIG, but I have a feeling it doesn’t come close to the reality that will unfold. All I can tell you is...stay tuned!
