When we bought our farm several years ago, we only wanted to acquire a couple of horses and a pony for us and my daughter.  We never even knew horse abuse and neglect existed until we bought my daughter a pony.  Unfortunately, the couple we bought her from had run into problems finding and affording a boarding facility and for a two-week period this pony was kept tied to one of their deck posts in their backyard because they couldn't afford to board her. Shortly after acquiring the pony, we wanted a pasture mate for her and obtained a free thoroughbred gelding from a couple moving to Florida that didn't want to bring him.  This couple had operated a thoroughbred breeding farm for many years, but closed their breeding farm several years ago.  This gelding was the last baby born on the farm so they kept him.  Unfortunately, the husband had had a stroke a few years ago and could not walk very good.  The wife had to go away a lot on business trips, therefore, this gelding was not being very well taken care of and had very little interaction with people.  When my husband went to see him, his stall was so filthy and deep in muck that his back was only a couple of inches away from the ceiling which had rusty nails sticking out of it.  This gelding had not been out of that stall for a long, long time.  Because of the husband's condition and the wife being away a lot, we figured this horse was probably only being fed once a day and it was only during this feeding time that he had any contact and attention from his owners. When we first brought the gelding home, we thought he was going to have a stroke because he was so not used to people and being in a field.  He would run around us in a circle and not let us get anywhere near him.  In just two (2) days time with us continuously talking and soothing him, we were able to put our fingers on him.  In just two weeks, he was out puppy dog and he and the pony were best friends.  After rescuing a few more horses, we began contemplating opening an official horse rescue so that we could help as many horses/ponies as we possibly could, but it wasn't until a very special, proud horse came to us in April, 2005, that we made up our minds.  He became and will always be our inspiration. OUR INSPIRATION His name was Major Bailey and he looked just like his great-grandfather, Seattle Slew.  Because of his looks and bloodline, his owners attempted to turn him into the next million-dollar racehorse at all costs, and with no concern for Major.  They even tried to beat Major into one.  After all he was made to endure, however, Major was never going to be the next famous racehorse. After leaving the racetrack, Major was taken in by a woman who attempted to help him with the many injuries he sustained on the track and during training.  His most severe injury was swelling in his right rear hock.  After having him for a year and this woman's vet attempting several different medicines without success, her husband told her she had two (2) weeks to get rid of Major or he was going to shoot him.  A friend of ours heard of this woman's plight and told her about us.  The woman contacted us and we immediately brought Major to our farm. Major was a beautiful and proud horse.  Major had so much pride and determination that no matter how much pain he must have been in, he strutted around our field as if he owned it.  Even after all he had been made to endure by the people who previously owned him, Major was one of the most kind and gentle horses I have ever known.  He was over 16 hands and he was so sweet that when my daughter (9 at the time) would go to him, he would bend his head down so she could reach him to pet him.  When Major arrived, his right rear hock was still swollen.  Our veterinarians performed blood work but it did not reveal any medical reason for the swelling. Various medicines and treatments were prescribed, but we were only able to reduce the swelling, never totally eliminate it.  Our veterinarians performed a biopsy on Major and sent the samples to Cornell University for analyzing.  The Cornell experts determined that Major had internal scabbing which was so severe it was preventing proper circulation in his leg and, therefore, preventing the medicine from getting to the injury.  This internal scabbing was most likely the result of many, many doses of Cortizone shots (called Hot Shots) given to Major during his racetrack training so that even if his leg were causing him pain, he would not be able to feel that pain and would keep right on running on it.  Worse yet, after all of the medicine Major had been on for over a year, he developed stomach ulcers.  Our veterinarians and the experts at Cornell informed my husband and I that we had done all we could for Major but there was nothing more we could do for him.  So, we had no choice, but to put poor Major to sleep. Because of Major this horse rescue now exists and he will always live on through our horse rescue.  He is our inspiration and because of him many horses/ponies will be rescued.