My name is Kim Bair and I, along, with my family recently had a wonderful visit at Seasbiscuit Stables on the grounds of the Wateree Correctional Facility. We spent a beautiful Saturday morning with “our”  Thoroughbred, Little Me Too. We were met there by Page Hodson and her husband Joe who filled us in on the local, as well as the nationwide effort of the TRF. Page is very passionate about the TRF and its programs and it was easy to feel compassion for the horses that it saves. We were also able to learn about the prison’s Groom Elite program from Lieutenant Tim Ammerson, who runs the TRF’s Second Chances program at Wateree.  Tim seemed as eager to save horses as he is to save inmates’ futures. My family and I met several of the forty-one horses currently at Wateree and we proved to be very popular---could have had something to do with the carrots, apples, and sugar cubes that we had stuffed in our pockets!

You might be wondering how we came to choose to contribute to the TRF among all the other worthy causes out there…and that’s a good question! My family is made up primarily of adults, ranging in age from twenty-two to eighty-seven so naturally buying Christmas gifts for one another has become less satisfying and more difficult because, basically, we have the things we need. A few years ago we decided to spend some of our gift money on charities instead. We each threw $50 into the pot and, since my father was the oldest, he was the first to choose the charity. We’re working our way down through the family tree each year and last year it was my turn to choose. I was already aware of the TRF, so early on I decided that it would be one of my choices. While I was online making the donation, I noticed that you could actually pick an individual horse to sponsor and since Little Me too was only about a forty-five minute drive from our home, he was the obvious choice!

We feel very fortunate to be able to see our donation at work. It made a small dent in the funds that are needed to care for these horses, but after visiting Little Me Too, we’re inspired to do more. I hope if there are other contributors in the area, they will take the time to go see what the SC TRF has been able to accomplish. We shared the wealth of treats with various other horses and had a chance to get nose to nose with several. We will definitely try to make a return trip in the near future.