Ace at his new home in Cheshire, New York. His friend, Riggs, looks out from the barn. Ben and Vanessa found a home for Ace one mile from their farm.

 

If you’ll remember, Absolute Charmer, known as Ace, is a 15.1-hand-high, sleek chestnut gelding with a white mitten marking on his face. Ace was given to Vanessa after life’s circumstances forced his owners to abandon him on our farm. I told his story last issue in “Holding an Ace.” 

About two days after The Trail Rider was out, I began receiving a flood of e-mails from individuals who were concerned for Ace’s future and were interested in adopting him. We were touched and gratified by the outpouring of sentiment for Ace. It was fun thinking about the variety of people whose lives could’ve been affected by this horse.

Some of those interested had lost their horse and needed a new best friend. Some were looking for a good first horse, while others needed a retirement companion. One mother wrote wanting to acquire Ace for her son. Ironically, I received another e-mail from the same address, apparently from her son, who wanted to give Ace a home with his mother. They must share their issue of The Trail Rider.

A woman from Missouri wrote to me about her “Ace,” an abused black Quarter Horse that was rescued by the owner of the farm where she trains. A day later, an equine-rescue ranch in Michigan offered to give Ace a home with other horses who shared his predicament.

My favorite was the retired horseman from Oklahoma who lives with his wife in an equine subdivision that has 15-acre lots and acres and acres of common riding lands. Ace would have a good time living there.

The dozens of letters I received touched Vanessa and me in a special way. It was reassuring to know that there were good people all over America who are concerned for the well-being of horses and feel that they have a place in their hearts for this horse in need.

Ace found a new home. This is what happened.

Lonely Barn
In Vanessa’s tax office, she’s known as the “Lady with Horses.” As such, horse stories often surface in small talk at her desk during the tax-interview process. Since Ace’s situation was an important matter to us, Ace’s story frequently became a topic of discussion.

For Vanessa and me, there was never any emergency to find a new home for Ace. We did have a vision for him, though. It was always paramount in our minds that if he were to leave our farm, it would have to be a good situation for both horse and owner. We didn’t want to have Ace stalled at a boarding facility or be lost in a herd. We envisioned his new owner as a person who’d have daily interaction with him.

In mid-February, when a longtime tax client heard about Ace’s plight, he told Vanessa that he knew of a woman from his church who was looking for a trail horse. Being a busy time in the office, Vanessa pulled out a business card, jotted the amount of back board due on Ace, handed it to her tax client, and suggested that the woman call if she was interested.

About a week later, we received a phone call from Rosemary, the wife of a gentleman who had a beef cattle farm just outside the hamlet of Cheshire, about a mile from our home. Her old riding horse had died in 2005, leaving her black 18-year-old Quarter Horse, Riggs, alone in the barn. The horse’s death also left a void in Rosemary’s relationship with her daughter-in-law. Having only one horse, Riggs, they missed the long conversations they shared during trail outings.

Match Made in Heaven
Vanessa offered Rosemary information from Ace’s extensive file. She told Rosemary about Ace’s personality, breeding, and careers both in the show ring and in endurance racing. The only concern Vanessa expressed was that the horse hadn’t been ridden in six years. Nonetheless, by the end of the conversation, Rosemary decided to see the horse.

At first, she was interested only in meeting Ace. But after her first visit, she accepted our invitation to come back with her tack and work with the gelding to see whether she got along with him. After her second interaction, she was catching him up like they were old friends, tacking him, and riding him in our pasture.

The deal was struck. Ace and Rosemary came together like a match made in heaven. As Ace rolled down the driveway in the trailer for the five-minute ride to his new home, Vanessa and I looked at each other, sad, but thankful and confident that the future was bright for the gelding. 

“I would’ve just ridden him over there,” Vanessa quipped to break the silence. I laughed.

Recently, we called Rosemary to see how things were going. “Great,” she said. “My husband, who feels more comfortable around cattle than horses, says Ace is ‘the friendliest horse that was ever on our farm.’ ”

We suspect that Ace will live out his days on Rosemary’s cattle farm as an experienced trail horse. His role in life will now be a companion trail horse. He’ll permit Rosemary and her daughter-in-law to once again take long rides where they can share conversation and forget about life’s challenges.

Our regular travels take us right by Ace’s new home. We always look for him. He’s usually grazing in the pasture next to the road with his buddy, Riggs. Some afternoons, we spot Rosemary riding Ace or doing ground work with him. But whether we see them or not, we always smile, knowing that when we went looking for a perfect situation for Ace, we found it almost in our own back yard.

It's a happy ending to a real-life story.