Ann LaBelle, Twin Cities, MN

As I was growing up I had such a love for horses and dogs and animals in general that I actually got bitten and scratched regularly. It seems that I could not understand that they all didn’t want to sit in my lap and get hugs. When I was 11 years old my dad bought me a pony that was green broke. I named him Cochise. He looked like Layla. When I first started riding him he would buck me off at least once, every time I rode him. That was 40 years ago. I eventually got Cochise to the point that I could ride him downtown or anywhere I wanted to, with only a thin rope around his neck. I started working for a summer camp riding program when I was 16 years old. We had 40 horses to take care of and we gave riding lessons to 144 kids who stayed at the camp all summer. I would start 4 horses every summer before the camp started and those were the ones that the riding crew rode all summer. The horses that I started were from a big herd of horses and had never had anyone touch them in their lives. When I turned 17 years old I had another sad thing happen. I was forced to sell my horses because of a hay shortage. When that happened I vowed to never ever get another horse until I knew that I could take care of it, even if there was a hay shortage. Over the next 35 years I got married, divorced, no kids. I worked in a traveling carnival for 6 years. I worked for a Veterinarian for about 7 years and I worked in the Hotel business for about 10 years. I am now working for a trucking company in the corporate office doing safety and accounting. I had my best friend Jody move in about 6 years ago. She has MS and can’t work, so it seemed like a good match. Together we have rescued and rehabbed so many animals, I lost count years ago. I know the list includes a cockatoo, a blue and gold macaw, our potbelly pig, a bottle lamb, and a mini named Magic. Our own dogs are so used to dogs coming and going that they just sort of shrug their shoulders and then show the new guy the ropes. I had gastric bypass surgery in 2006 and I lost 170 lbs. I finally bought my DanMan last year. When I was researching Dan’s pedigree I found a website that was about Raiders Gift, his father. I talked to Kathi for about 1 1/2 hours the first time in January. She actually sent me pictures of DanMan when he was a baby. When first I read the story about WindChill I was surprised to see that It was Kathi and Jeff that had him. I felt such a strong connection. I could see WindChill’s eyes in Dan’s eyes. Believe it or not I was standing in WindChill’s stall when someone had said that they were going to try to find a mini that could be used for educational outreach. I immediately thought of my Magic. I went and talked to Jody and asked her how she would feel about donating Magic to the WindChill Legacy, Jody immediately said yes. Now Magic is also a part of the WindChill Legacy and living at Raindance.
Ann