ALAINA LOSITO: HELPING HORSES, HELPING PEOPLE. THIS IS THE MOTTO OF SUNSHINE HORSES. LOCATED IN THE TOWN OF CLAY, SUNSHINE HORSES RESCUES UNWANTED OR RETIRED RACE HORSES. HORSES THAT WOULD OTHERWISE BE SENT TO KILL PENS IN CANADA. THE ESTABLISHMENT HAS AROUND 140 ACTIVE VOLUNTEERS, WHO HELP REHABILITATE AND RETRAIN THESE RESCUED HORSES.
JAN LOWER: THE FUTURE LOOKS VERY SOLID BECAUSE WE HAVE SUCH DEVOTED VOLUNTEERS. THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE. AND NO ONE GETS A PAYCHECK, FROM TOP TO BOTTOM: BOARD, ANYONE WHO HANDLES OUR FUNDS. DONATIONS ARE MADE FINANCIALLY AND BY THINGS AS SMALL AS PAPER TOWELS AND APPLE SAUCE TO ADD TO THE GRAIN.
LOSITO: VOLUNTEER CHRISTIE MALDOON SAYS THAT THOUGH THERE ARE HORSES WITH ALL DIFFERENT TEMPERAMENTS SHE LOVES THEM ALL EQUALLY.
CHRISTIE MALDOON: I LOVE THEM YEAH. EVEN THE ONES THAT BITE OR THE ONES THAT THROW THEIR HEADS AT YOU AND YOU HAVE TO DART AS YOU WALK DOWN THE AISLES, I LOVE THEM.
LOSITO: I AM HERE WITH CHINA GIRL WHO IS ONE OF THE HORSES THAT WAS BROUGHT HERE LAST WEEK TO SUNSHINE HORSES. SHE IS CURRENTLY IN QUARANTINE FOR THREE WEEKS BEFORE SHE’S ABLE TO MEET THE OTHER HORSES AT THE FARM.
LOWER: AND WE SORT OF GET TO LEARN THEIR PERSONALITIES BECAUSE IT TAKES A HORSE ABOUT THREE WEEKS TO SETTLE IN TO WHO THEY REALLY ARE.
LOSITO: THE FARM CURRENTLY HAS 26 HORSES AND ALL HAVE FOUND THEIR SAFE HAVEN HERE. THESE TWO ARE LEGS AND MYSTERY. THEY ARE HALF BROTHERS AND HAVE BEEN TOGETHER FOR 27 YEARS. LEGS IS SIGHT IMPAIRED AND MYSTERY IS HIS GUIDE HORSE. THE TWO ARE NEVER TO BE SEPARATED AT THE FARM OR WHEN THEY ARE ADOPTED. BUT NOT ONLY HAS SUNSHINE HORSES CHANGED THE LIVES OF THE HORSES THEY TAKE IN, BUT THE PEOPLE THAT TAKE CARE OF THEM.
ED SWIDERSKI: BEING RETIRED, I NEEDED KIND OF AN OUTLET AND REDISCOVER MYSELF, SO I FOUND THIS PLACE TO BE REALLY HELPFUL IN THAT ASPECT.
LOSITO: EVEN DOWN TO THE SMALLEST ONE HERE LIKE STRAWBERRY THE DONKEY,
EVERY HORSE IS TAKEN IN WITH ONE GOAL IN MIND: TO FIND THEIR FOREVER HOME. IN SYRACUSE… ALAINA LOSITO…N-C-C NEWS
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Sunshine Horses, a local non-for profit horse farm, helps rescue retired or unwanted race horses. This organization thrives on donations and their 140+ active volunteers
Race horses normally retire after the age of 15. Once their time racing is over, owners decide there is no need for them anymore. Normally, these horses are brought to kill pens in Canada and are used to make dog food. This farm is dedicated to preventing this scenario at all costs.
Sunshine Horses has been around for 20 years and has saved countless numbers of horses. With their numerous volunteers this farm thrives on the love and care that each volunteer gives each horse.
“I love them,” said volunteer Christie Maldoon. “Even the ones that bite or the pines that throw their heads at you and you have to dart as you walk down the aisles, I love them.”
For other volunteers this has helped them in many other ways. For Ed Swiderski, it has helped him immensely with finding a purpose after retiring.
“Being retired, I needed a kind of outlet and rediscover myself,” said Swiderski. “So I found this place to be really helpful in that aspect.”
Not only has this helped the people that volunteer, but the horses themselves. Legs and Mystery are a perfect example of how this farm has changed these horses’ lives. Legs is blind and Mystery is his guide horse but most importantly, they are brothers who never love each other and never leave each other’s side; volunteer committee Jan Lower says that if they are adopted they have to go to the same place.
There are currently 26 horses at the farm now but each one of them is brought in with four R’s in mind: rescue, retrain, rehabilitate and rehome.
