Hope for Howie

This plucky gelding beat the odds—twice. Once when he survived being starved and abandoned, and again when he overcame a debilitating illness.

On a freezing December day in 2013, we [the Horse Protection Association of Florida, Inc.] received a call from a young woman who found a horse dumped on her rural road. When we arrived to pick him up, we discovered a pitifully emaciated sorrel gelding covered in rain rot scabs, picking at whatever feed he could find in the sand.

The gelding had a lip tattoo and we learned he was a Thoroughbred with a handful of race starts. His registered name was Howie Do; we dubbed him Handsome Howie. We started Howie on ranitidine for ulcers right away and turned him out into a large grassy pasture with another recent arrival. He had a pasture block of alfalfa to graze on around the clock and also received six small meals a day of Purina Senior and Purina Free Balance 12:12.

Howie gained weight easily and was a sweetheart to handle. How such a wonderful horse ended up dumped on a road nearly starved to death, we’ll never know. A year later, fully recovered, Howie was every inch “Handsome Howie” and was ready for adoption.

From Howie’s adopter, Monet Spears: [letter has been edited for length and clarity]