Healing with Horses rescues ex-racing filly

THREE-YEAR-OLD filly Dulce Doma was almost food for tigers at the Emperor Valley Zoo in Port of Spain, before she was rescued by Buccoo-based Healing with Horses Foundation. The foundation, which started in 2007, seeks to rehabilitate horses that are injured or have other issues, through exercises in the sea.

Dulce Doma came from a racing stable but raced only twice, before developing a medical condition that caused her to bleed from the nose and mouth during and after strenuous exercise. Founder of Healing with Horses Veronika Danzer-La Fortune told Newsday on Wednesday the horse is "sound, but bleeds."

She said, "This is a term which means the horse is not lame—she can run—but when raced, would bleed from the nose or sometimes in the lungs. It can be treatable in some cases.”Dulce Doma was allowed to say her goodbye to her father Signal Alert and mother Sweet Aura before she was taken to the Police Mounted Branch in Long Circular Road, St James. “When they picked her up and brought her to the mounted branch and allowed her to run free there, she was running around for 45 minutes. It was indeed that the horse knew when the owner decided to discard her. So, basically, she ran out all her fear,” Danzer-La Fortune said.

On Sunday, Dr Leach Pouchet, a director at Healing with Horses, Cpl Dion Thomas and PC Jason Amaroso brought Dulce Doma to Tobago via the Cabo Star cargo vessel on the 11 pm sailing.

Dulce Doma arrived in Tobago around 6 am on Monday, and by 8.30 am she was at the Healing with Horses stable in Buccoo. Danzer-La Fortune said, “We got a call two weeks ago, it was Sunday night, from president of the TT Equestrian Association Patrice Stollmeyer that Dulce Doma was going to the zoo. We did speak to the vice president of Healing with Horses (Lennon La Fortune) and he agreed to take in the horse."

Danzer-La Fortune said the filly is enjoying her time at Healing with Horse so far. “She was welcomed by the vice president of the foundation and the youth board of Healing with Horses and other sponsors… She is fitting in beautifully. She was already walking with the other horses while we took out two tourists for their anniversary ride. She was running free with 11 other horses from her new family. “She was rolling in the sand but still a little unsure because she isn’t familiar with freedom. She was always ridden or led. We appreciate the opportunity to give another rescue horse this sense of freedom.”The foundation has a youth board training to rescue more horses. This project is in collaboration with the Tobago House of Assembly and the Magdalena Grand Beach & Golf Resort in Tobago.

Danzer-La Fortune said Healing with Horses has rehabilitated over 14 horses.