When
longtime Pound Ridge resident Marylou Tortorello took it into her head to
rescue horses, it was a mindful decision as well as a heartfelt one. “I’d been
donating, seriously donating, to other rescues for many years,” Ms. Tortorello,
a horse lover and professional bookkeeper said. “We don’t have children. I make
a good living. We have funds. If I
don’t get a penny in donations, I can still do this. I’ve planned it this way,
that if I have to, I can do this myself.”
Tortorello founded
13 Hands because she couldn’t stand the deluge of heartbreaking horse and dog rescue
material flooding her mailbox. “I told myself I needed to do something more
than write checks. I wanted to do something more hands on to help these
terrible situations. I’d been thinking about rescue for a long time.”
To
that end, she founded 13 Hands Equine Rescue, a Not for Profit 501c3 Animal
Rescue based in Bedford Hills. “We specialize
in the rescue of unwanted, abused and slaughter bound horses,” Tororella said.
“Most of our horses are rescued from kill pens and auction houses where we are
their last chance. The slaughter of horses is a highly profitable business and
most of the horses are ill-treated, underfed, and scared. Before we bring them
to Bedford Hills, they are sent to a quarantine facility for 30 days to rest,
receive medical attention and regain their health and strength.” After the
health status of each horse is approved by a licensed veterinarian, the horses
come to Bedford Hills to begin the next leg of their journey. “Some will be
trained and evaluated to see how they can might be used in our therapeutic human-equine
connection program,” Tortorello said. “Others eventually will be adopted out to
loving homes. Some won’t go anywhere and will be 13 Hands full-time residents.”
A few weeks ago 13 Hands held its first fundraiser at Courtyard Farm. Some of the 10 rescued horses presently in Tortorello’s care reside at Courtyard Farm where the rescue has leased stalls. “Marylou is my book keeper,” said Kristen Corollo, owner of Courtyard Farm. “I've known her for a long time. She used to ride and take lessons with me. Marylou is definitely an animal lover and wants what is best for her horses. We are hoping to be able to train one of them to be in our school program. He is very sweet but needs education.” The first annual Family Fun Celebration to benefit horse rescue, sanctuary, and education did get rained on, but a good time was still had by all. There were pony rides, live music, specialty foods, face painting and a silent auction.
“The event was really nice,” Ms.
Tortorella said. “It was blowing rain, but the rain gave us a break long enough
to have the pony rides and the petting zoo before the skies opened up again. On
the whole it was a great day and we met some really great people.”
Ms. Tortorella
has been riding since the age of 5. As a child she attended horseback camps and
as a young woman rode at Fox Hill Farms. When she started college, she thought her
life’s work would be with horses. “I went to Pace University for Equine
Studies,” she said. “But that was a long time ago.”
A trip upstate
to the well-established and highly regarded sanctuary, Equine Advocates, was a
game-changer. “Susan Wagner, the president and founder, told me she started her
entire operation with about $3,000,” Ms. Tortorello said. “I knew I had more
than that.” Her next step was establishing her nonprofit status. “I went to an
attorney who helped me expedite the process. There is a horse rescue in Vermont
that I support; at their silent auction I won a photo shoot. I asked the
Vermont rescue what else I could do to help and they said, ‘Adopt some of our
horses,’ so I did. I found a temporary situation in Lewisboro where I knew I
could rent stalls.”
Ms. Tortorello knows
she is a novice running a rescue organization and is eagerly learning from more
established rescues. She mentioned as mentors Dorset Equine Rescue and Lucky
Orphans in Dover Plains. Her operation exists at Courtyard Farm and Willow
Walker Farm, the latter located on Succabone Road. “I have 11 horses now,” she
said. “All of them were rescued from a Pennsylvania kill pen.”
So
who are the rescued horses under her care? There’s Pike, a 4 year old paint gelding; Sassy,
a 12 year old paint mare; Eyeliner, a 15 year old paint mare; Grandma, 15 year
old paint mare; Spirit, a paint mare and former Amish cart horse; Finnegan, 12
year paint gelding and also former Amish cart horse; a 12 year old Bay Pony
whose name is, simply Bay Pony; Carmen Mary, a 12 year old Arabian mare; Johnny
Handsome or Guapo, a 15 year old Arab gelding; and Poco Harry or Dirty Harry, a
12 year old Arab gelding.
Spirit,
she said, was rescued from the PA Kill Pen in Shippensburg, P.A.in January 2016.
“She was
very skinny and just trying to survive,” Ms. Tortorello said. “She is very
sweet and not an alpha horse, so she was very beat up trying to get to the food
and water which is on both sides of the pen. The horses in the pen are
all frightened and some become aggressive fighting for their food and lives. The women working
at the pen try to help network these horses to homes before they ship on the
trucks to slaughter in Canada or Mexico,” she said. “When I saw the situation
with this particular horse I knew it was extremely desperate.”
Spirit,
she said, was emaciated, and bleeding with cuts above her eyes. “She had huge
bite marks on her body. The other horses were running her up against the walls
to move her out of the way. It was heart wrenching to watch. We discussed
that she would not make it through the night if she did not get to a safe
place. The safe place would be 13 Hands Equine Rescue.”
She said
funds to rescue Spirit were made possible thanks to a woman named Jennifer who
was trying to rescue a horse that did not make it out of the kill pen. Jennifer had
paid for the horse and they were going to return her money, but she said give
it someone else trying to rescue another desperate horse. So they gave the
money to me, what an honor. I rescued Spirit and Finnegan with the money.
Both horses were former Amish cart horses who gave 100 percent to their masters
but were thrown away without regret. They both are beautiful horses now
and greatly loved by all our volunteers.”
Ms. Tortorello said she feels really good about
what she’s doing. “I want people to know what we’ve done. I feel like I’m putting good out into the
world. When the horses arrive, they’re scared. But after awhile you see the changes.
They’re happy now. They whinny when they see my car coming up the driveway.
They understand they were given a chance.”
13 Hands Equine
Rescue invites people to come and visit. They’re also seeking volunteers and
have an active wishlist. Most needed are buckets, blankets, halters, wheel
barrows and horse treats. When you keep horses, there’s never enough treats.
For more
information contact Marylou Tortorello at 914-325-4941,
13handsequine@gmail.com, their Facebook page, or visit the rescue’s
website at www.13handsequine.org.
