Meet Our Horses

It takes a special horse to be a Lift Me Up! horse.   To safely and gently carry a handicapped rider whose balance is frequently fragile and muscles unfit, a LMU! horse must be kind and steady.   Absolutely unflappable, as all of our horses are.

Our mounts are experienced veterans from a variety of previous careers. Many are wise senior citizens enjoying a productive golden age.

VALENTINE

Can you see the ‘heart’?

Lift Me Up! program participants, volunteers, and staff alike have a soft spot in their hearts for Valentine, our Belgian cross mare. Valentine joined the program as her first career, when she was only 6 years old. She has become an indispensable part of our program, carrying our taller riders cheerfully through ring exercises, dressage tests, trail rides, and state and local competitions. One of her more memorable appearances was as a ballerina in the costume class portion of a horse show held by the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia. Valentine is sweet and placid, gently reassuring her riders with her excellent ground manners and smooth, steady gaits.

Our own Valentine has received the NARHA 2005 Region 3 Horse of the Year Award by the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA). The award was presented at the 2005 NARHA Awards Banquet held on November 12 in Houston, Texas. Each year NARHA recognizes outstanding horses that make a lasting impact at a NARHA center. Although Valentine had little formal training in any discipline before arriving at Lift Me Up! four years ago, her quiet, willing attitude and forgiving temperament quickly made her an indispensable part of the program. She offers her riders, as well as the staff and volunteers who work with her, her own “valentine” each and every day: the gift of roots and wings, of belonging, acceptance and mobility.

BELLA

Student Melanie prepares for her lesson on our beloved Bella, assisted by volunteer Dodie Borland.

The largest member of our equine team, truly is the belle of the ball. Bella is a 17 year old Shire-Thoroughbred cross mare whose training includes eventing up to the training level, and dressage up to second level. The Shire is a draft horse breed that has been used throughout Great Britain. Shires are noted for their versatility and strength. They can be seen proudly transporting the carriages of royalty, or stoically toiling in the plowed fields. Bella comes to us through Judy G of Marshall, Virginia, where she was used primarily for trail riding. Bella has been an immediate favorite since arriving at Lift Me Up! in August 2005; her kind nature, broad back, and steady work ethic have helped riders’ balance, stability, and confidence immeasurably. This Black Beauty is worth her weight in gold…about 2,000 pounds!

CHARM

In May 2006, LMU welcomed the arrival of Charm, a 20 year old Morgan mare donated by Ms. Lou LeGard of Hillsboro, VA. Charm is approximately 15 hands high, and demonstrates the deep, compact body, muscular quarters, and distinctive head and expressive eyes typical of the Morgan breed. For more than 200 years, Morgan horses have been valued for their intelligence, willingness, athleticism, soundness, and stamina in a variety of disciplines, including both riding and driving. Many of our riders, both children and adults, have already fallen in love with Charm for her calm and kind demeanor and smooth and rhythmic movement. Charm’s background includes extensive show experience in Morgan breed shows, and she brought that experience to bear with great success in June 2006, when she traveled with LMU rider Matt Trott and LMU instructors Dada Suvak and Georgia Corey to participate in a paraequestrian training session at the U.S. Equestrian Federation national headquarters in Gladstone, NJ.

FINN

GOT CARROTS?

One of our most distinctive equine partners, especially noteworthy for his Mohawk-style mane, is Finn, our fabulous Norwegian Fjord pony. Finn is strong and hardy enough to carry children and adults alike, yet he stands only 14.2 hands high. He is known as the “lap horse” of the program, always happy to welcome a rider or to take a participant on a jaunt down the trail. Left to his own devices, Finn has been known to play with our ring setups, open gates and doors, and engage in boisterous play with his field-mates. Finn was foaled in Osceola, Wisconsin, where he was trained to pull a sleigh, among other things. Our intrepid program founder, Colleen Zanin, found him in Virginia through the Internet and brought him to Lift Me Up!

TRAVELER

Traveler has been integral to us since he arrived at the farm in early September 2004. He is a tall, flea-bitten gray Appendix Quarter Horse with a particular affinity for rolling in mud, to the chagrin of our horse care staff. He was donated to Lift Me Up by Allyson L., who enjoyed years of foxhunting with him in the Charlottesville area. His foxhunting experience is a tremendous asset to us, rendering him calm and unflappable in the face of unfamiliar and unpredictable sounds, sights, and activities in the therapeutic riding arena. Traveler thrives on the attention he receives from
program riders and staff.

ANDY

The shortest of LMU's fabulous horses and also its latest addition (2005), Andy is a handsome 9 year old registered Haflinger who stands at 13.2 hands. He is built like a miniature draft horse, which means that, despite his size, he can carry a small adult very easily. He was born in Indiana and through different owners made his way to Front Royal where he spent the last two years as a carriage horse for a small carriage company. He also doubled as a pony ride pony and a 4H lesson pony for a beginner rider. As such, he quietly handled the excitement and unexpected events typical of a kids event: balloons, strollers, kids running up from all sides, emergency vehicles and traffic in town . He is very sweet tempered, hard working and not easily flustered (We have yet to find something that bothers him), and loves nothing better that the company of his human friends, except maybe the company of a good bale of hay. All this gave him the training to become a wonderful hippotherapy horse. Andy brought his cart along with him, and cannot wait to teach us how to drive.

TOMMY

Tommy joined us in early February, and has quickly made his mark. He is a 7 year old Haflinger cross pony standing about 13.3 hands high, with handsome champagne Palomino coloring. He shares a field with Andy, our full-bred Haflinger, and we’ve already had to remove both ponies’ halters in the field to limit damages resulting from boisterous games of “halter tag.” Tommy was donated to the program by Nichol C. of Oakton, Virginia, and his previous experience includes ample time as a children’s trail pony. Tommy is friendly, inquisitive, and brave, with a good work ethic and nice movement at the walk, trot, and canter.

BEAR

Bear is a twenty-something Quarter Horse standing about 15.2 hands high. He comes to Lift Me Up after previous careers as a barrel racer and a lesson/trail horse for Debbie F. of Marshall, VA, who has generously shared him with us. Especially in colder months, Bear lives up to his ‘gentler’ namesake in demeanor and appearance---when his coat grows in thick and woolly as a teddy bear’s! A quiet, dignified and loyal gentleman, Bear will stand for hours while our program participants coddle and dote on him. He is a wonderful instructor, giving his riders immediate feedback and responses to their verbal and physical aids.

Horses Needed !!

LMU! does, on occasion, accept donations of safe, sane, and sound horses and ponies. Since we are a 501(c)(3) organization, any
such donation would be tax deductible.