Dear friends and family,

My name is Seraphina, I’m 15 years old, when I was 4 I met my first horse, in that moment my love for horses was sealed, at 15 I know my life is to be dedicated to love, train and help horses.

I’ve been incredibly lucky to own 2.5 horses over the last few years, my first horse a mini named April, the next one being Annie who was an ex race horse with severe trauma, and my horse Bella who joined our family so I could learn to jump and ride dressage.

Annie was a horse that captured my heart, we understood each other and she taught me so much about horses and working with connection to heal and rehabilitate past traumas. My plan was long term for her, no pressure to perform but a long unfolding and growing of our relationship. we were riding beautifully together the future looked bright between us. Devastatingly Annie got sick over Easter and died within a few days. I’ve learnt so much from my time with Annie, how traumatic the racing industry can be and ultimately that love and connection is so important, Annie only knew love after meeting me and her love will live with me forever.

It’s only been just over 3 months since Annie died, a month after her death I was dealt my next difficult lesson in horse ownership. Bella suddenly presented with a swollen hock, this was an emotional time for me, I was really sensitive fresh out of losing Annie. It was hard not to fear the worst and to be positive and hopeful. Over the last 2.5 months we have thrown every remedy, vet, medication, acupuncture, compress and therapy at her to help her heal. And sadly after all of this love, care and effort, she still has an infection in her hock that appears to be in a tendon. Horse people tell me this is the most unlucky and unlikely spot for such an infection, but it has now deemed her unrideable and her future uncertain.

This is so devastating me and an enormous emotional blow to our family, I don’t know why I’m learning in this way but here I am. I know for sure that I can’t be without a horse to care for, it’s truly a part of me that’s hard to explain. Unfortunately over the last 3 months my family have spent over $4000 to care for my horses, and now are not in a position to help me buy my next horse. I’ve been working hard to contribute to my horses vet bills which means all of my savings are gone too.

Annie taught me how the racing industry affects the livelihood of horses, if they aren’t suited to this industry horses as young as 3 are discarded quickly, they have a lifetime ahead of them, but the amount of horses discharged means there are alot of horses without a loving home or training that can support them because they weren’t suited to an industry they were bred to perform in.

I’m inspired by my connection with Annie and dedicated to work towards giving my life to training ex race horses so they can go on to live meaningful and healthy lives. Even though they’re not expensive to purchase they are still more than we have after our vet bills and ongoing care of Bella.

This is where I humbly turn towards my community to ask if you will help me on my way towards still owning a horse? Despite what life has thrown at me, I truly know taking on and re- training horses is my life and future, and how I want to contribute to the lives of horses. I have the most incredible mentors here to assist this dream but I need a little help to get me going until I can start backing myself financially as I turn this into work, I’ve calculated I’ll need about $2500 to help me, if you feel you have a few dollars to contribute I would be so grateful to have your belief in me as I take these steps in my life to follow my dreams. If you can’t contribute but wish to share with your friends this too would be appreciated.

Hopefully not too long from now I’ll be able to send my contributors stories of triumphs and joys as I dedicate myself to the next horse whoever they are.

Sincerely yours,

Seraphina

The money raised will go towards horse and transport depending on location. If there is an excess I will donate to Save a horse Australia