I am so excited to write my very first article regarding my heart-and-soul Blue Line Ponies Retirement Range nonprofit 501c3 organization for retired service horses.
From the moment I could make sense of the world, I communicated with animals more than people. My mom loves to tell stories about how I, as a little girl, would hardly speak to anyone – but, I’d have full conversations with every creature that crossed my path. Naturally, my parents were a bit concerned at first, but eventually I “came around” and started talking to people … all the time. That love for animals never faded, though, especially when it came to horses.
As a young rider, I started out in the English style, but soon found my heart in the Western saddle, where I’ve stayed ever since. Thanks to my parents, who owned a couple of horses, I was able to keep riding well into adulthood. Even during the times we were without our own, we would rent trail horses to keep the connection alive.
Growing up, I’d dream endlessly about owning a stunning sorrel-and-white, paint-colored quarter horse. I always knew one day that dream would come true, I just didn’t know when, where or how. But the idea of it never left my heart.
Well, the when was 2023, the where was here at my home in Dahlonega, Georgia, and the how was by building a nonprofit dedicated to our country’s service horses.
In a nutshell, I started visiting the big beautiful horses at the Mounted Patrol Unit in Atlanta. I would go there to help groom them, bathe them, sit with them and give them way too many treats. On the first visit, I met Magnum, who is an 18.1-hands-tall (aka huge) Clydesdale/Percheron mix and he was just a big ole puppy. He was retiring because he was no longer happy and painfree working the streets. They wanted him to go to a good home and I said, “I want him!” In the end, Magnum was adopted by a therapy office that is using him to help children in all levels of physical and mental health, but the seed was planted. I was hooked. I did the research on how I can help the career service horse industry and BOOM, my dream became a reality.
My goal is to bring awareness to others through Blue Line Ponies – that some of these beautiful career horses are going to auction and sold to kill pens once released from their service. What a tragedy. These mature police horses, prison horses, search-and-rescue and border patrol horses aged out or are retired due to “lameness” and can easily end up in Mexico to be slaughtered, go to an abusive home where they are worked until they collapse, or are sold over and over again and are never truly “retired” until they pass away.
Blue Line Ponies is a volunteer organization, with no paid employees and in less than a year we have two locations in Georgia (my husband, Brian and I, along with Harriett and Charlie Williams) and one in Virginia (Gloria and Ron Krauklis).
Every day, Brian, Harriett, Charlie, Gloria, Ron and I dedicate time, love and energy to the ponies and it would be a real treat for you to read this article and fall in love with our organization.
Why did we name it Blue Line Ponies? Good question.The “thin blue line” is a term that typically refers to the concept of the police asthe line which keeps society from descending into violent chaos. The “blue” in “thin blue line” refers to the blue color of the uniforms of many police departments. I chose this name because it represents both police and police ponies, and the ideals of justice and freedom.
Now, let’s meet our ponies.
My first rescue was from a kill pen in Arkansas and she was the most beautiful paint-colored quarter horse that I have ever laid my eyes on. She was about 10-to-13 years old and we saved her on October 12, 2023, four days before she was scheduled to be sent to slaughter, using my personal money to bring her home. I named her Ashling Joan. Ashling means “dream” and Joan is to honor my dear friend, Joan (Corky) Hamilton. She was a very shy girl with very little trust in humans, but with daily work, we are now dear friends. She loves to run beside me, has a sense of humor and is very secure at Blue Line Ponies.
On November 6, 2023, Blue Line Ponies adopted Yoshi, a beautiful big dark bay (almost black) police/prison pony from the great state of Texas. He was born on the prison grounds, worked his whole life and was retired at the age of 21. He was sent to an auction where people can bid on these incredible horses. An awesome nonprofit was able to outbid the kill pens that wanted him for his meat. That’s a win for us. We transported him home in November and never looked back.
Yoshi worked the fields as security, with the dog kennels for manhunts, a cattle operation (we are told up to 12,000 head of cattle ), horse operations, the Southern border (ridden by law enforcement) and other places – including security at the Texas Capitol.
We suspect that Yoshi had never had treats before because he had no idea what they were. It took us one month to get him to eat treats and another two months to eat an apple. He is now a treat-a-holic! Yoshi loves kids, hugs, riding and his life at Blue Line Ponies.
On December 31, 2023, Blue Line Ponies adopted Marilyn, a search-and-rescue horse, along with Festus, a donkey (they are a very bonded pair) from Texas. You see, Marilyn’s dad, friend and handler passed away and that left her homeless. Due to her age (23), she would not have gone to a loving home; she would have gone to her death, so we stepped in.
Marilyn was a search-and-rescue Palomino with the Texas-based, Montgomery County search-and-rescue team (MOSCAR). She spent her career looking for lost children, good guys and bad guys.
We chose to adopt Festus, even though he was not in any “service.” Or was he? Marilyn is blind in one eye and failing sight in the other. They have been together for 20 years and we believe that she relies on him for comfort and independence. Festus is Marilyn’s seeing-eye donkey, aka service donkey. They are both very happy at Blue Line Ponies.
On December 30, 2023, Blue Line Ponies adopted Isra Rose – a beautiful bay (brown) Texas prison horse, from an auction in Texas. Just like Yoshi, Isra was born on the prison grounds, worked her whole life and was retired at the age of 16 because she “lame.” Lame means that something is wrong with her (usually her legs, ankles, feet, etc., are injured) and she can’t work from 5 a.m. to 8 p.m., 7 days a week. You see, these horses are tools, and if the tool does not work/breaks, it gets thrown away and replaced with another tool that can do the job.
Isra worked the fields as security, cattle operations (we are told 24,000 head of cattle), horse operations and the Southern border – ridden by state and federal law enforcement. She has no social/space awareness, which worked in her favor when chasing down bad guys.
We named her Isra Rose. Isra mean “journey of the night,” and Rose is to honor my dear friend, Harriett Rose Williams.
I was probably Izzy’s first female. She had no idea what to do with me, my voice or my hugs for the first three months. She was aloof, spicy at times and just plain disliked me. It took me months to build up enough trust for her to allow me to pet her or give her a treat. As of today, she is my shadow. Iz loves to go riding, loves a change of scenery, loves pets and is jealous of the other horses if I give them attention. When I call her name, she comes running. She loves retirement at Blue Line Ponies.
On the 4th of July, 2024, Blue Line Ponies adopted Sweet Magnolia Christine and Liberty Ann from Louisiana and Texas.
Sweet Magnolia Christine is an 18-year-old retired Louisiana prison/police horse that ended up in a kill pen. She actually worked in the notorious Angola State Prison her entire career. She is a big beautiful white mare that earned her name Sweet Magnolia from a fundraiser and her middle name, Christine, is to honor my friend, Jennifer Christine Dermody.
Sweet Magnolia Christine came to us with “kissing spine,” which means she cannot be ridden. She is friendly, trusting and curious. We thought she was darn near perfect until one day she started breaking into the barn. The next day she was breaking windows in the barn. The next days she kicked out the fence and they escaped. (We now believe she was actually an inmate at Angola Prison and not security.)
Liberty Ann is a retired search-and-rescue/posse/human recovery horse that also ended up in a kill pen in Texas. She is a stunning chocolate Palomino that is super shy around people and deeply bonded to Sweet Magnolia Christine. Liberty earned her first name since we got her on the 4th of July and Ann is to honor my mother, Marla Ann Luehder.
Liberty Ann is a bit of a mystery. We know her work history and we have been told that she had a foal and before weaning, she was bred again. She had that foal and it was taken before it was healthy to wean. She ended up with a life-threatening infection, had surgery and was cleared to travel to us one week before transport. We are gentle with her and we are working on trust through treats. So far, so good.
We are now considered “full.” That means that all three Blue Line Ponies locations are happy with the amount of horses on their properties. Do we want more locations? For sure, but we must make sure that we can take care of the ones we have in our care.
You see, Blue Line Ponies pays for everything for all of these babies. We are 100 percent responsible for their food, medical emergencies, treats, worming, shelter, farrier visits, yearly dental and vet, etc., so adding more horses could lessen our ability to pay for unseen emergencies.
It has been a blast to share a portion of my Blue Line Ponies journey with you! If you believe in our mission, and it aligns with your heart and values, then please consider a monthly donation (just set Blue Line Ponies up in your “monthly bill pay”) or a yearly donation of any size.
We also have three fundraisers each year. One is a Nationwide Training Giveaway, one is an in-person, 2-day pistol course offered by The Complete Combatant held here in Georgia on Nov. 2 and 3, 2024, focusing on self-defense and the last one is an online fundraiser held between Nov. 15 and Dec. 16, 2024, to win an HK, GLOCK, or a WALTHER.
We are transparent! That means we invite you onto our ranges everyday via social media with videos and photos. You can see exactly where your donations go because we upload at least one video per day on YouTube and Facebook. The focus is on our horses playing with toys, getting groomed, daily updates, having pool parties, training, riding, building trust, having visitors, breakfast time and so much more.
We are able to love, safeguard the dignity and comfort of our hard working ponies, and continue to provide the best care throughout their retirement because of you. They worked tirelessly with their human partners and they deserve nothing but the best. I am such a softy; I am tearing up as I write this. Thank you to The WON for encouraging me to write and share this article.
If you have any questions about Blue Line Ponies, please contact me through the website.
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