Maddie Kanda is in a different kind of horse race — a unique horse-saving competition.
Seventeen-year-old Maddie is foster mom to a horse that nearly starved to death last winter. At the Trainer’s Challenge of the Unwanted Horse, she will be competing to see who is best at rehabilitating a rescued horse.
“I wanted to use my time and ability to give this horse a second chance at life,” Maddie said as she patted Raayna, an 8-year-old Arabian mare.
Last winter, the horse was left outside to die in northern Minnesota. Today, she looks healthy and strong, having regained 200 pounds and her confidence in humans.
On Sept. 20, the horse will be shown at the Trainer’s Challenge event at the University of Minnesota, and pre-screened new buyers will take her to a permanent home. And the rehab derby has prizes — about 20 trainers will compete for $10,000 in prize money.
The challenge was started seven years ago by Drew Fitzpatrick. As director and founder of the Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation, he said Minnesota’s problem with abused horses is “increasing horribly” because of the economics of horse ownership.
Last year’s drought and this year’s flooding have led to high prices for hay. Fitzpatrick said the hay he buys has tripled in price in three years to about $10 a bale.
High prices mean that fewer people can afford to keep their horses, leading to neglect and abuse. When the horses are rescued, most have been neglected. Without human contact for years, they won’t tolerate being ridden, touched by a veterinarian or even standing still to have their hooves trimmed.
That makes them unadoptable.
“They have had no training, and no future without training,” Fitzpatrick said.
But rehabbing a horse is expensive and time-consuming. So Fitzpatrick developed the Trainer’s Challenge, which is a way to inspire volunteers to foster a horse and retrain it.
In December, Fitzpatrick first saw Raayna and three other horses in Crow Wing County in north-central Minnesota. They had been left outdoors in the dead of winter.
“They were just leaning up against a building in the snow and the freezing rain,” he said.
Two had died, and Raanya and a younger horse were starving. Raayna also had pneumonia and equine herpes.
In the meantime, Maddie had applied for the competition.
She met Raayna and took a “before” photo — of a horse so thin that she looked like a sheet draped over a chair. The hip bones stuck out, and the ribs were visible.
Maddie found that nursing Raayna back to physical health was fairly easy — it mainly took plenty of hay. “She inhales food,” she said.
Much tougher were the behavioral issues.
Raayna, which means “princess” in Arabic, always was worried about where her next meal was or about her water supply.
She was afraid of being left alone. “She gets nervous when other horses leave, too. She starts calling to them,” Maddie said.
To train the horse to accept a rider, Maddie started by putting a weight on her back, then gradually increased the weight. When the time came for a saddle, Raayna accepted it without flinching. “She had to learn how to be a horse again,” Maddie said.
Maddie visits Raayna six days a week — which is difficult, considering that she goes to high school and takes college classes at Inver Hills Community College. She also works part-time at a veterinary clinic. Maddie contributes to the horse’s upkeep, and other organizations chip in.
The horse now is healthy and affectionate. “She is so sweet, so people-friendly,” Maddie said at the mare’s stable in Woodbury.
Right on cue, the horse sauntered over and planted a sloppy-lipped kiss on her arm.
As the event approaches in September, Maddie is facing her own emotional issues. She has grown close to Raayna and dreads saying goodbye.
“I know it’s going to be really hard. But without this, she would not get adopted. I have to be careful not to make that emotional connection,” Maddie said. That clearly is a struggle.
At the Trainer’s Challenge, buyers and trainers will be able to meet, which often leads to the trainers being hired by the new owners.
“This is the only event where you can go and interview 20 trainers at one time,” Fitzpatrick said.
Last week, Maddie was training Raayna for the various events in the 20-horse challenge — jumps, riding, holding still. There also is a “special talent” category, but Maddie said she still was searching for a way for Raayna to compete in that category.
Then, Raayna reached back and scratched her hindquarters with her mouth, bending like a noodle.
“You’re so flexible,” Maddie cooed, patting the horse. “Maybe that can be your special talent.”
Bob Shaw can be reached at 651-228-5433.
Follow him at twitter.com/BshawPP.
