Miss Molly can’t tell the story of how she wound up in two Texas auctions, just a short step from being sent to slaughter. But the scars on the palomino Quarter Horse’s face and legs; the way she bit at people, aiming to wound them, or kicked hard enough to leave more than a mark, spoke for how she had been treated.
A trainer who saw her photo bought Molly out of a kill pen, bringing her to a barn in Hillsborough, New Jersey, as a prospective lesson horse. But from the beginning, it was obvious Molly had big issues.
“Whatever you do, don’t take off her halter,” the shipper who dropped off the horse warned the trainer. And this was a mare advertised by the killl pen as “well-broke, extremely sweet, friendly and gentle.”
However, “It was very clear within a few days that she would never be a lesson horse,” said Christianna (CC) Capra, the co-founder of Spring Reins of Life (SRoL), a therapeutic organization that was based at the Hillsborough stable when Molly arrived. The mare’s tendency to bite and kick looked as if it would spell her doom. The prospect of euthanasia was right around the corner.
“She was not handleable. Anyone who came near her, she would react this way,” said CC.
There was one exception.
Veterans who had been receiving therapy with SRoL walked up to the round pen to see Molly and would pet her on the face.
“She had her ears forward and was like `Hi, how are you?’” CC recalled.
“I saw that out of the corner of my eye,” CC said, wondering at the time, “She hates people. How does she not hate you? There’s something about this horse and veterans.”
Just before SRoL moved to Hunt Cap Farm in Three Bridges six years ago, seven women joined together as Team Molly to pay the mare’s bills and give her a chance.
The trainer who owned Molly agreed to let CC take her, with this admonition: “If she doesn’t work out as a veterans’ horse, you’ve got to let her go.”
SRoL is an EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association) Model Program offering equine-assisted psychotherapy for groups of trauma survivors. It uses horses for therapeutic intervention designed to reach veterans, teens, women at risk or others who have a hard time in traditional talk therapy.
Horses are selected for their capacity to work with troubled or suffering individuals. These clients are able to develop personalized coping skills from interacting with horses on the ground (the program does not involve riding.)
Molly with Christiana Capra and her Winnie award. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Dr. Judith Shoemaker, a Pennsylvania veterinarian who specializes in integrative medicine (which includes chiropractic and acupuncture) worked with Molly to overcome her reflexive reaction of biting and striking. Also involved with Molly’s program is Dr. Maria Katsamanis of Hopewell, New Jersey, an author and dressage trainer who has a doctorate in clinical psychology.
Molly soon proved her worth.
“It was really the veterans who opened her up,” said CC.
“She’s highly intelligent. Molly would approach someone in the arena; if they’re really suffering, she would leave the wall and go to them.”
Perhaps the most dramatic example of how Molly connects with veterans involves Stephen Cherry, who was referred to SRoL eight years ago by the Lyons Veterans Administration Hospital.
The 65-year-old retired Air Force veteran had seen Molly at the Hillsborough farm, and asked CC if he could go in the ring with the mare.
He got permission, with the proviso that if Molly showed any adverse reaction, he would be pulled back.
Steve was advised to watch the mare’s eyes and ears; then he walked in slowly, as if he were rehearsing the wedding march. He approached Molly, kneeling in a submissive manner, and finally was able to lean on her shoulder. It was a special moment.
“I felt an instant connection right there,” said Steve.
That moment when veteran Steve Cherry made his first connection with Miss Molly, shortly after she came to New Jersey.
“The thought of being loved was something I could feel in that horse.”
Everyone who saw that breakthrough was so moved they were crying, noted CC.
Now each Tuesday and Friday, Steve visits Molly, so eager to get there that he wakes up at 4 a.m.
“I have a responsibility,” he explained.
Steve feeds and grooms Molly, takes her to the paddock, then handles another important duty: “One thing I love to do with a horse is give them a little kiss,” he confided.
At first, he was worried about approaching her, after finding out from a psychic how she had been mistreated. But he stayed with it.
“And she’s done nothing but respond to me. Miss Molly has brought out the best in me I’ve ever been,” he stated firmly.
“She has gone from being a frightened, uncared-for horse to one that’s willing to accept people. I’ve had days I get down on the ground and lie down and she would lie down, I would crawl towards her, give her a kiss and then I’m lying across her back.”
A glimpse of Steve Cherry sleeping on Miss Molly, as another horse stands watch.
“I have a slight form of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) I didn’t want to be around people at all. But now, the people that are involved with the horses — I’m talking to people, I’m working with people, I’m laughing. I’ve actually come out of my shell. I’ve gone from city boy to country boy.”
He owes so much of his progress to Miss Molly.
“It’s wonderful. She understands me. What I’m doing now is just a start, I plan on doing anything in the world I can for this horse, and any other horses after this.”
Sean Glynn, a volunteer at the barn, is another who greets Miss Molly with a kiss.
Volunteer Sean Glynn always gives Miss Molly a special greeting. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“When she’s calm, I feel some type of energy from her. Whether she’s in a good mood or a bad mood, I can feel that vibe.”
He noted, “Just by her actions, It’s sad to say someone probably abused her, hurt her. Now that she’s here, I think she trusts people a lot more.”
Molly has gotten recognition beyond the accolades from those she has helped in the SRoL program.
In 2019, she was named the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs/New Jersey Health Care System’s Therapy Animal of the Year. Her video story, “Miss Molly’s Journey,” won a Winnie award at the 2023 Equus Film & Arts Festival in the category of Horses for Mental Health.
Steve noted, “She seems to feel something in people like us: `Oh, I’m going to come over and stand next to you. Oh, you’ve got some kind of a problem? I kind of understand you’.”
But now Molly has a problem.
She hit her head on a stall door, which exacerbated what is possibly an old concussion, leaving her with what Dr. Shoemaker said may be comparable to traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a human. That resulted in a loss of equilibrium when she walks. She has to move on a flat surface; it is difficult for her to step up, but Steve has no problem getting her in and out of the paddock with the incentive of treats.
Meanwhile, Molly is on hiatus from her therapeutic duties. The mare sees the world in a distorted way, due to a visual problem with her depth perception, so it isn’t safe for her to work with clients at this time.
Because SRoL’s mission is to rehabilitate people, that organization cannot spend money on helping a horse. After Team Molly ran its course, Dr. Maria’s Friends of Pegasus foundation has become the avenue for funding that can be used for Molly’s treatment, which includes special food, veterinary care and other therapy.
For a complete rundown on Miss Molly, a look at her award-winning video and how to help by contributing via Venmo and Paypal so she can get the help she needs, click on this LINK
To contribute by check, make it out to Friends for Pegasus (make the memo Miss Molly) and send to Friends for Pegasus at Mythos Farm 128 Lambertville Hopewell Road Hopewell, N.J. 08525.
“Head trauma or soft tissue injury as a result of training or mishandling and injury is not much spoken about,” Dr. Maria noted, but it can happen when “people get harsh with horses” or use poor equipment. Behavioral issues, she said, “can very well be untreated concussive injuries.”
The horse can perceive things in their space very differently than it would if their brain were normal.
“Then people deem it dangerous, or it gets itself into harmful situations,” she commented.
They put on more pressure, thinking it’s a behavioral issue, when actually the horse’s perception is off.
“Molly must have seen very harsh handling,” Dr. Maria believes.
She pointed out that “because we could see the injuries on her face, we could deduce there was some jostling of the brain.”
One way of addressing the situation was “a breathing protocol that we used to reverse her severe hyperventilation and poor breathing behavior,” combined with a visual motor process protocol.
As Molly progresses, said Dr. Maria, “People will see themselves in her eyes. They will cheer her recovery on and therefore, their own.”
Molly definitely makes an impression.
“She is truly an exceptional therapy horse,” said Dr. Shoemaker.
“She has appreciated the care and concern for her. She likes being touched now more than she did, and touch is such an important part of TBI programming. You want to reach as many corners of her brain as possible, and all those corners of her brain are connected to her body.”
A happy Miss Molly after a good roll and a treat. (Photo © 2023 by Lawrence J. Nagy)
The veterinarian said she is hoping that “will open up other places in her brain to help her have a more enriched life. Look at all the people who come through this program that people have written off. Yet with the proper kind of therapy, it’s possible to see miraculous changes.
“She’s in the right place to give it a try. Her job is such she doesn’t have to be cross-country riding sound. She has to be upright, safe and happy.”
For a complete rundown on Miss Molly, a look at her award-winning video and how to help by contributing via Venmo and Paypal so she can get the help she needs, click on this LINK
To contribute by check, make it out to Friends for Pegasus (make the memo Miss Molly) and send to Friends for Pegasus at Mythos Farm 128 Lambertville Hopewell Road Hopewell, N.J. 08525.
