The Horse Whisperer

One Texas rancher fights for unwanted foals.

Debra Naismith's motto is simple: "It's all about the horses." Since 2002, the founder and owner of Passion Horse Ranch in Joshua, Texas, has rescued more than 30 foals of so-called Premarin horses, saving them from slaughter and giving them the open space and human touch they desperately need.

The foals are born to mares that are kept continually pregnant so their hormone-rich urine can be collected and used to make Premarin, a drug that alleviates the symptoms of menopause in women. The foals usually end up being auctioned and killed for food in Europe and Asia. Thousands of foals face slaughter each year, but Naismith, 45, can help only a few. When she hears about a horse in need, she buys and ships it to the ranch, spending anywhere from $500 to $1,500. When it arrives, some of the ranch's 40 volunteers groom and train it. The horses learn to be calm around humans—"they've never been touched," says Naismith—so they're ready for new lives on new farms.

Of course, she doesn't let just anyone adopt one of her horses. "I am a big woman—six feet tall—and I'm not afraid," she jokes, "so I think I run off the weirdos." Naismith watches would-be owners interact with the horse and visits the site where the animal would live, often several times.

"Just seeing horses took my breath away when I was younger," she recalls. Naismith quit her job at a California software company in 2006, following her college-age daughter to Texas. She bought a four-acre spread south of Fort Worth, and word of the rescue spread (passion horse.com). "I knew I wanted to save horses and live in the country," she says.

"When that horse and that human have that connection," she adds, "that's success for me."

From Reader's Digest - March 2009

 

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