Mahatma Gandhi said, “The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.” This thought-provoking sentiment can also apply to individuals. Thankfully, amidst the many overwhelming and sad things happening in the world, there are “great” individuals doing amazing things to make life better for both people and creatures. One of these renegades resisting indifference and callousness is Vicki Alberti of Schoolhouse Farm in Plympton -and her new best friend, Journey.
Alberti is no stranger to second chances. In addition to rebuilding her life as a single mother, remarrying after finding a second chance at love, and even living in a charming old schoolhouse given new purpose as a residential home, Alberti has a soft spot for seeing that animals, particularly horses, are also set back on the track to happiness through the right kind of love and care.
Several horses before Journey have come to live life to the fullest at Schoolhouse Farm. One glance at the picture-perfect scene will make you want to live here, too. The antique schoolhouse is surrounded by various lush gardens, sprawling pasture, and framed by dense New England forests laden with horse trails and biodiverse wetlands. The barn and farmyard outbuildings are tidy and well-kept, and the animals healthy and active. Many local bands and groups use this magical place as a backdrop for concerts and events -the best performances are enhanced by the nearby farm animals chiming in mid-songs which makes everyone laugh. In short, if you were a horse -or any farm animal for that matter, you would be lucky, indeed, to find a home with the Alberti’s.
Alberti has been doting on and caring for horses her whole life. With a father who kept and showed horses, Alberti learned from a young age what goes into their care and training. When she found herself living on the perfect farm for horses, she didn’t hesitate to offer up her home. “I decided to foster for Stone Valleys Ray of Hope Equine Rescue. One of my fosters, Tristan, was just a scared weanling and I got to raise him for seven months until he was adopted by a family with a 14 year-old girl on a 30-acre farm in Michigan. It was a pleasure to see how well his story turned out.”
Two other fosters, an Arabian mare and her colt (Dani and Trevor) were looked after with love and responsible care until adopted out to happy homes. Most of the time, these beautiful animals arrive at Schoolhouse Farm scared, abused, neglected, and from environments completely opposite to the one they find with the Alberti’s. In order to understand exactly what these animals are being spared from when they are taken in by agencies and people like the Alberti’s, you have to better understand the horse auction and harvest industry in our country and our border-sharing countries.
Horse rescue programs in the United States have a massive undertaking in the effort to save as many mistreated, low-end auctioned, slaughterhouse-bound horses as possible each year. In 2024, 19,195 American horses were shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter because there are no slaughterhouses in the US. These slaughterhouses are killing the received horses and harvesting their meat for human consumption overseas in Asia and Europe. These ill-fated horses come from irresponsible breeding practices, owners who are unable to care for them, abusive situations where the animals are seized by authorities, retired sport horses, and horses with injuries that make them unrideable. Alberti explains, “Being unrideable is a real danger for horses because that is usually what people want them for. They don’t see them as potential pets like a dog or cat, just for companionship and love. Horses have a lot of expectations on them.”
When a horse is no longer with an owner, unless they are prestigiously bred and sought after, they are usually auctioned off at low-end horse auctions or sold privately via community advertisements. People, who seem to not mind profiting off the demise and abuse of innocent animals, called “kill buyers” regularly attend these auctions and out-bid legitimate prospective horse owners who could give these animals a second chance at life. “There are a lot of people who only care about profit -not the animals,” Alberti says when asked why such a career exists, “They see horses as disposable food product and nothing more.”
Once the kill buyer purchases the horses, they either attempt to sell them off at another auction, or send them off to places to be held until they are transported to international slaughterhouses. If a horse is not purchased and loaded onto a slaughterhouse transport, they are met with anything but a quick, humane end. The journey there is so unsafe, unregulated, and carelessly executed that many horses die enroute from injury, dehydration, and exposure.
The slaughterhouses also usually lack oversight or regulations and thousands of often unvaccinated, ill animals are kept in tight, loud, and upsetting conditions that frighten and overstimulate these sensory-enhanced creatures. Horses are large “flight” animals that can sense when another horse is in distress or suffering and their instinct is to flee. This, in addition to the advanced psychological nature and powerful stature of horses, means the slaughterhouse methods render humane methods of ending a horse’s life impossible -humane being veterinarian administered euthanasia. Weakened horses are forced into chutes in masses and then subjected to ineffective mechanical killing devices.
With all this heavy information in mind, it is also important to be aware that there are a lot of people trying to do the right thing and lessen these tragic outcomes. Over 500 organizations and networks in the U.S. operate with the sole intention of saving, rehabbing, and properly adopting out these abandoned and endangered animals. These are people dedicated to tracking slaughter-bound horses and intervening before they are shipped off by either purchasing them (ridiculously referred to as posting their bail -indicative that the horse has done some wrong) or posting their locations and images online for people to try to claim online before they are gone.
Once the endangered horses are taken in by these rescue organizations, they often require immense amounts of medical and emotional care and attention -a daunting feat in terms of the finances and energy required. According to the Animal Welfare Institute, it can cost anywhere from $10,000-35,000 a month to run a horse rescue. The cost of hay, feed, vet care, farriers, facility upkeep, and rehabilitation requires intense marketing skills, grants, and private funding through community support. They also rely on people like Alberti to offer fostering in healthy environments until the agency finds a safe and legitimate adopting customer.
Being an expert in horse care, handling, and now experienced with the fostering process, Alberti was now dreaming of having a rideable horse to keep as her own. Her beloved mare, Pearl, was getting old and was no longer rideable. Then, in June, her dream came about in an unexpected way. Aberti faced a health issue earlier this year that caused her and her husband, Dave, to have to forgo a much-anticipated, rarely indulged in cruise vacation. While home feeling unwell and sad to miss the trip, Alberti was scrolling through Facebook recuse sites when suddenly a picture of Journey came up. “I stopped and immediately fell in love. Those eyes! Those ears! He was adorable. I had to have him. I just heard my inner voice tell me he was the one, so I trusted my instincts and went for it.”
That said, in addition to the beautiful features and a call to the soul, Journey was suffering from severe starvation. He was found by a woman in North Carolina who networks with Last Chance for Kill Pen Horses. She intervenes before horses are taken to slaughter by posting their pictures and information online. If a particular horse is spoken for, she offers to hold them in quarantine until the adoptive owners can have the horse transported to its new home. After investigating, Alberti learned that Journey had no documentation, he had been through two low-end auctions already, had serious dental issues from complete dental neglect, and he was slaughterhouse bound.
Alberti did not let any of this deter her. She sent the money to post his bail almost immediately. “I took a huge risk jumping into this,” Alberti says, “I had to trust this woman in North Carolina, that I paid a lot of money to, to quarantine and care for him without me being there to oversee things for seven weeks. But I am so glad I did it.”
One of the biggest challenges in Journey’s rehabilitation was, and is, his ability to eat. Prior to Alberti’s adoption, Journey had not received dental care called floating. Floating is a crucial process in which a horse’s teeth are filed to smooth out sharp edges, thus ensuring proper alignment and gum and teeth health. For a horse to be able to eat normally and maintain dental health, floating should be done about once a year. At an estimated age of 18-20, and based off the state of damage in his mouth, it was possible that Journey had never received regular floating procedures. With detrimental misalignment and pain when chewing, Journey had been unable to eat for an unknown amount of time and was dangerously weak. In addition to the dental emergency, Journey had lameness from being overworked. Still, Alberti only saw his sweet nature and vibrant spirit and continued with the adoption process.
By mid-July, Journey arrived safe and sound at Schoolhouse Farm. While still kept a distance from the other horses at the farm, Pearl and Blackberry, Journey was immediately seen by an equine dental technician and a veterinarian. He was also put on special feed. “He is given extruded feed that is already broken up, beet pulp pellets, alfalfa pellets, and other supplements to get him renourished,” Alberti explains. “When he arrived he was so thin, but he is an absolute gem. He has perfect manners and loves to be loved. He is just perfect,” she beams.
Journey also arrived without a name or any records. Alberti had DNA testing done and discovered that he is an Arabian. As for the name, Alberti’s husband Dave fiddled with AI-generated horse names, and Journey came up. “Given his story and how far he had traveled to get here, we just knew it was the perfect name for him.” Journey began to slowly adjust to his new life on the farm. He was rotated out to pasture by himself for a while to have peace and a low-stress environment while adjusting to his new surroundings. At first he was so weak he could not be out for long, but now he has worked up to three hours in the pasture. Alberti is also taking Journey on longer and longer trail walks -non mounted, to build his muscle again as he gains weight. As for his starved physique, Journey is nearly unrecognizable (in the best way) in just five months. “He is actually just about ready to start trying to saddle and ride,” Alberti says. “It will be a slow process, but I think he can tolerate a light rider soon and that will help him strengthen and regain his physical abilities.”
In addition to the improvements and milestones Journey has already made and met, he had his first outing in November at New Beginnings Stables in Middleboro. Alberti recounts, “He went to a versatility clinic and he was really anxious when he got off the trailer. He had pretty major separation anxiety and was calling out for his barn mates back at the farm -which was understandable given his history of bonding with other horses and then being ripped away from them and transported multiple times.” Once the clinician at the barn met Journey, he was able to show Alberti some ways to calm him. “After we got him calmed down, the rest of the time he was great and handled all the obstacles and tasks like a champ!”
With the enthusiastic, unconditional, and responsible love and care Alberti provides, and his natural tenacity for life, it is no question that Journey’s story turned out about as happy as it could possibly be in the end. Healing will continue -both body and soul, and soon Journey’s terrors will only be a distant thing of the past. With Alberti by his side every step of the way, he will no doubt be back to a muscular frame and running through the pasture, or trotting in an arena with saddle and rider before long. His fear is being replaced with trust and love -healing both human and animal spirit. What if this beautiful ending could be the story for every horse?
Though most of us are not in the position to go out and adopt a horse, there are many ways to support this incredible endeavor. Horse rescue organizations rely heavily on donations and sponsorship to manage the continual influx of horses in desperate need. Volunteers are also needed to help with barn chores, marketing, and fundraising. It is impossible to do too much to help in the efforts to rescue these beautiful, innocent animals.
As the holiday season nears so do harsh winter conditions, economic hardships such as tariffs making hay and feed far more expensive for owners, and the continuation of a national horse industry that focuses more on performance and exploitation than love and respect. Perhaps this year could be the year we venture from the common, go-to charities and show solidarity with the tens of thousands of horses waiting for a second chance. Every horse saved is a horse saved. Humans control the narrative for so many living things on this earth -and we can tell much better stories. Consider adding to the happy endings in your community by looking into and supporting these local horse rescues:
Stone Valleys Ray of Hope Equine Rescue
Black Feather Horse Rescue
NEER North Horse Rescue
Central New England Equine Rescue
Cedar Oaks Equine Rescue