Jeff Michaels and Freedom
One of the biggest attractions at the Horse World Expo this year was a first time event – Rescued to Stardom! The audience packed the stands at the Harrisburg, PA Farm Show Complex arena to see entries from seven rescue organizations across the region show the great things that can be done with horses that no one wanted.
The winner of the competition was Freedom, a paint gelding from Omega Horse Rescue of Airville, PA. “It was a lot to ask of the horses, but for the most part, all of the horses that were entered into the competition did a really nice job. It was pretty impressive,” Kelly Smith of Omega Horse Rescue said.
Freedom came to Omega from the auction kill pens. The first day Smith saw him, she and the kill buyers agreed that the unbroken paint colored horse with the floppy ear was probably not a good candidate for rescue.
“He was at the kill pen where we get a lot of our horses. The first day I was up there, they told me I do not want this horse that he was wild and was too much horse than I was looking for, and just to forget about him,” Smith said. “We were looking at a lot of horses that day. When I went back the second day, I went in the pen to start looking at the horses again and this horse with the droopy ear kept backing up into me. I thought ‘what’s he doing? Is he going to kick me?’ All he wanted was security and safety. He wanted someone to be his protector. I’m sure of that. He followed me everywhere.”
Smith decided the horse was worth a chance and negotiated with the slaughter buyer so that the odd little horse was donated to the Omega Horse Rescue. “There’s no doubt in my mind that that horse, that day, knew I was his ticket out of there,” Smith said.
Once he was at Omega to begin his recovery and training for a new life, he was given the name Freedom. “His name is Freedom because he was free, and he got his freedom that day,” Smith said. “We got this droopy eared horse we brought home who really didn’t know anything. From the moment we got him home he tried his hardest to learn everything we asked him to. This horse is just amazing. There isn’t anything we have asked him to do that he hasn’t tried.”
Freedom seemed like the perfect choice to be Omega’s entry in the Rescue to Stardom! Competition. He was put into the hands of Jeff Michaels of Equine Solutions, who frequently works with horses from Omega, preparing them for adoption.
Contest rules limited each unbroken horse to no more than 90 days of training prior to the event. Freedom actually had twenty days less than that.
As a student, Freedom had some issues at first, since he had never had any training. “He could be led around, but he had never been trailered, never ridden, he didn’t have any manners,” Michaels said. “He was really good. He’s a super athletic horse, a very smart horse. We had to work through some of the typical psychological issues horse develop while they are in the kill pen process. He’s a very special horse in that he has a lot of try and he’s very athletic.”
A True Star
Freedom progressed rapidly, and when it came time for the Horse World Expo demonstration, he proved to be a true star.
The competition was broken down into three phases. People could vote online for their favorite horse, At the Expo, the horses took part in a groundwork competition phase, and finally a riding phase where they were judged on specific skills as well as a freestyle ride.
Trained by Michaels to lie down on command, Freedom was calm when blown by a leaf blower, and did not mind when a drone was landed on him, plus he demonstrated lunging without a lunge line.
Michaels is upbeat about the Rescued to Stardom! competition. “I think it’s great. You don’t get a whole lot of recognition as a guy who trains rescue horses,” he said. “We’ve got a serious rescue horse problem in this country. There’s a lot of really good horses that go to slaughter, that have the ability to be rehabilitated.”
Freedom and the other horses made a good showing for everyone at the Expo. “It’s a great representation, not just of horses but of people and life. It’s OK to be broken a little bit, you can still be fixed. It just takes a little bit of work and somebody to help you out,” Michaels said.
Now a star, Freedom will soon be up for adoption and one potential home is already being considered. “He is beautiful, he is full of life, and he has a lot to offer someone,” Smith said.
For anyone else interested in adopting a horse that has gone from rescue to success, consider Omega Horse Rescue. They can be found online at www.omegahorserescue.com, or by calling Kelly Smith at (717) 862-3322.