Pearl Found her True Calling

Liz and Tom have hearts of gold and love horses of all kinds. The problem was that the gold was in their hearts and not in their pockets. That, plus the fact their time was limited to only 24 hours in a day, told them that they had too many horses. It didn't matter that they loved each one. Their situation demanded that somebody had to go.

Of course, Liz's very first horse, now one-eyed, wasn't going anywhere. And Liz wasn't about to sell the horse she dreamed of competing on, nor the gelding that her husband loves best. That left several others who needed new homes and jobs, one of which she had shown years earlier. Liz had bought Pearl to show, and after a short but successful show career, Liz determined that the competitive life didn't fit either her or Pearl, and Pearl came home.

Pearl is a black Tennessee Walker mare with a heart as big as Tom's and Liz's. She loves kids and everyone falls in love with her. And Pearl is happy as long as she's with other horses. But put her in a field by herself — even though she can see another horse — and she comes unglued. She had the worst case of separation anxiety that Liz had ever seen. Pearl once jumped two fences to get back to her buddy — who was only on the other side of the farm.

As you can imagine, Liz was struggling with parting with Pearl, since she loved her and she and Tom had taken care of her for six years. It was all the harder since Liz worried that she'd sell Pearl to someone who would put Pearl in an "alone" situation in which she might hurt herself.

Liz put out the word that she was going to sell some of her horses, and she told her friends about Pearl and her special concerns. She also told them about how sweet Pearl is and how much she enjoyed children. A friend knew of an exceptional therapeutic riding center, and it turned out to be a wonderful match.

To make a long story short, Pearl is now in a primo situation — living with 20 other horses who don't leave the property and helping children and adults at the center for "Exceptional Equestrians." Liz's good training and insistance on good manners means that Pearl will have a job for life.