Horse Whispers

Healing At Second Chance Ranch

HOW CAN YOU HELP? Not everyone can adopt a horse, but horse lovers can help rescue in other ways. Second Chance Ranch is a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, so donations are tax deductible. Individuals can sponsor a specific horse for $10 to $300 a month and receive a picture and story of the horse. For more information on current needs, visit the Web site at secondchanceranch.org. Donations and correspondence can also be mailed to Second Chance Ranch, P.O. Box 899, Elma, 98541.

The newcomer, her lower leg wrapped in purple tape, plays with the automatic water dispenser, tossing her head, drinking and splashing water. A 3-year-old mare, Little Ava, has recently arrived from Emerald Downs in Auburn. The purple tape signals her professional racing days are over.  

Some of the other thoroughbreds move to the fence to check out the new girl. Almost all of them have been there — in a separate paddock on their first days recuperating from an injury or just getting accustomed to their new surroundings. And most have also raced at Emerald Downs.

Now far from the glitz, glamour and excitement of the starting bell, they’re part of the herd at Second Chance Ranch in Elma. It’s a nonprofit organization dedicated to equine rescue, rehabilitation and transitioning. Katie Merwick, 46, whose house is literally built into the huge barn, is the founder, director, horse rehabilitator, trainer and chief stall cleaner.

“She will heal up fine,” laughs Merwick, who seems to delight in Little Ava’s playful behavior almost as much as the mare does. “We heal mind, body and spirit here.”

Behind Merwick, dozens of stunning horses amiably eat, nicker and yes, even occasionally challenge each other to a race. In addition to the 38 current residents, another nine are in foster care at other facilities. Some have been rehabilitated from injuries, some are retired after long racing careers and some, despite perfect breeding, simply didn’t win often enough.

For those familiar with horse racing, the names and pedigrees are impressive. The Great Face and No Give Away — both winners of the Longacres Mile — as well as Glo’s Moe and SeaTac Jet, reside here. And when it’s his time to retire, there’s a stall waiting for Mr. Makah, a well-known local stakes winner.

It’s not just former race horses that need a place to live; over-breeding of non-competitive or performance horses and the slumping economy have increased the number of horses being sold to feed lots, which often lead to slaughter houses in Mexico and Canada, Merwick said.

About 1,000 horses are slaughtered each week in North America, she said. “Slaughter is an unnecessary evil and people who take their horse to feed lots need to know that most of them are bought by kill buyers. It’s a gruesome death and the journey to slaughter is almost worse than the slaughter,” she said. “The horses hear the screams and smell the blood of hundreds of horses before them.”

That’s why Merwick offers a home, food, training and lots of personal attention and tender loving care. She tends to their injuries, gets to know their personalities and works to find them a new home. Currently, 18 of her horses are available for adoption.

The horses’ adoption fee depends on age, health, soundness and training, with most costing between $1,000 and $2,500, typically a lot less than she’s put into them. Before adopting out the horses, she checks their new living conditions and carefully matches up personalities of horse and owner.

Merwick acknowledges — and debunks — the stereotypes that thoroughbreds are jittery and high-strung.

“These horses have been trained and ridden by professionals. They have impeccable balance, swap leads automatically, and have a great eye for distance. They bathe, clip, tack up and load in trailers better than any other horse,” she said. 

“And thoroughbreds are the most-versatile breed. They can ride Western, English or dressage. They’re good at jumping, eventing, polo playing, carting. They make great police mounts and therapy animals. There isn’t anything they can’t do.”

In fact, when it comes to bad behavior in horses, it’s usually “operator error,” Merwick says. The key with race horses is to stay calm. If you’re not over-reacting they calm down, she said.

“Horses and dogs, like any herd or pack animals, choose a leader by whoever is fit to lead. If you present yourself as a bully, they’re not going to have any respect for you. A lot of people unknowingly present themselves as a bully,” she says.

 “It’s all about stimulus and response. When training a horse, immediately reward them when they do right. When they misbehave, correct the behavior, but stop correcting as soon as the bad behavior stops. You do not stop behavior by punishing it after it stops.

“Most importantly, focus on the behavior that you do want. They learn from what they do right. Some unwanted behaviors should just be ignored,” she said. “If they are in pain or scared, I don’t get after them for reacting. Horses are emotional like people. You don’t shake a crying baby.”

Over the years, Second Chance Ranch has adopted out more than 500 horses. The success stories are inspiring. One horse, Gentlestone, was a lucrative champion. Famed jockey Gary Stevens from the “Seabiscuit” movie rode him at a California race track and deemed him the best horse he’d ridden that year. But when he got to Merwick he was “cantankerous.”

“He didn’t feel good and was just nasty. And yet, you could just feel him begging for help. He wanted to be a good boy.” Now he belongs to a woman and she and her 7-year-old daughter ride him.

Then there’s Peggy Sue, a 3-year-old mare with Seattle Slew bloodlines. Even though racing was literally in her blood, she just didn’t have the competitive spirit needed and ended up at Second Chance Ranch. Enter one young mother, Jessica Hoppe of Tumwater, who learned about the ranch one night searching the Internet looking for riding lessons. Her husband had been deployed to Iraq and she was seeking a hobby.

It’d been years since Hoppe had been on a horse and she was actually a little afraid of them. She’d never even cleaned a stall. She visited the ranch and then came again and again, learning how to care for horses, clean out stalls, and made a deep connection with Peggy Sue, whom she adopted a few months later.

Not only has Peggy Sue proved to be an easy-going mount for this novice rider, she’s safe enough to have
Hoppe’s toddler feed her treats.

Now Hoppe is on the board of directors of the ranch and is one of two regular volunteers. Merwick could use more. Just cleaning stalls for her more-than-barn-full of horses is time-consuming work.

“It’s a 24-7 job,” said Merwick. “I’m often in the barn until midnight or 1 a.m. and when I’m in the house, the monitor's on. … I have left the horses overnight only once in 27 years.”

The ranch is also in need of financial help. As the economy got worse, Merwick got hit with a triple-whammy — less people could afford horses so more horses came to the ranch, fewer people were willing to adopt and donors were giving less.

It costs $240,000 a year to run the place, including about $40,000 for vet bills and a monthly feed bill of $4,500. In addition to those horses she boards, the organization also assisted 68 additional horses last year by helping with feed or vet bills.

Sharon Ross, a longtime horse trainer at Emerald Downs, says she greatly appreciates Merwick’s dedication.

“She cares so much about them,” Ross said. ”Last fall I took a couple owners to see what it was she was doing. They were so glad to see the horses were fat and happy and the barn is big and clean. The horses have a good life there. She basically has dedicated her life to taking care of these animals.
“Thoroughbreds are the smartest horse God created. They’re athletic and intelligent and they’re born to run.

After racing, they have a great capacity to have a new career. And Katie’s very good at transitioning them, training them to be someone’s pet or show horse.”

As Merwick says, “These are intelligent, incredible athletes, well deserving of a second chance.”

Gail Greenwood Ayres is a freelance writer who lives in Montesano.

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