Hero is coming home

In case you haven’t heard of it before, let me introduce you to Crystal Peaks Youth Ranch.

My first introduction to them was through the book, Hope Rising, written my Kim Meeder. The book is the story of Kim and her husband taking barren, discarded ground and turning it into a lovely place of love, health and hope for discarded horses and children. I have had the privilege of meeting Kim Meeder at a retreat that she led and then visiting Crystal Peaks and having her take us on a tour. It is quite a place and when you visiting there, you see the mountains that gave the ranch its name.

A friend gave me the book with the warning that I would need a box of tissue by the second chapter. She was wrong. I needed the tissue on the second page. It is a wonderful book full of stories about injured horses and injured children, both physically and emotionally, being brought back to wholeness by their interaction with each other. Most of us know the power of the love of a horse. This book just puts that into words.

I received a newsletter from Kim this morning with a story about a hero that I want to share with you. It is a story of survival and horror with a happy ending. I want you to know that up front so you wouldn’t be afraid to read it like I was. I admit that I had to skip to the end before I finished. So much of the reality of keeping horses in this strained economy is shown in this story. We have courageous people like Pat Brown and Lori Harris who work really hard to give some of these cast-off horses a better life. It works for some. This is the story of a horse that shouldn’t have made it but did.

Our Hero is Coming Home
By Kim Meeder
After nearly 14 years of equine rescue, I thought that I had seen it all,
sadly . . . I WAS WRONG.

On October 18th, Troy and I were contacted by those in charge of recovering a small horse that was found by hunters wandering in the high wilderness of the Cascade Mountain range. Evident by his halter and dragging lead rope, the bay Arab gelding was clearly not wild. Instead, while he was being transported to Bend Equine Medical Center for emergency treatment, he was kind and gentle, quietly submitting to those who were trying to care for him. Based on what little information that could be gathered, it was estimated that he had been wandering for several weeks. Even for a small horse, he looked to be about 200 lbs. underweight and was INCREDIBLY dehydrated. Once at the hospital, it was confirmed . . . his wounds were severe.

Click here to read the rest of the story.