Corralling the spirit of harmony
"A horse is worth more than riches," is an old Spanish proverb, and at a farm near Franklin a lifelong horse lover is striving single-handedly to protect and preserve this inestimable treasure. The James Hughes Iron Horse Ranch Equine Sanctuary and Youth Mentoring program is a long name for a simple yet glorious mission - to promote the understanding that leads to harmony between beings.
Jennifer Hughes is proprietress of the ranch (and two others like it) and founder and custodian of the James Hughes Memorial Foundation. James (Jimmy) Hughes was her brother, "taken by the dark hand of another," as she puts it, and the sanctuaries, the youth mentoring, and her nonprofit organization, Harmony Corral, are her way of honoring and remembering him, of bringing light where there was darkness.
The horse is a national treasure, she maintains, and there are those who agree. Herman Melville, famous for writing about the whale, wrote this about the horse: "There is a special halo about a horse, that should forever exempt it from indignities." Hughes is heartsick to see the indignities that are heaped upon the horse, not just ignorance of its intellect and spirit, but its wholesale slaughter for food. She believes that mentoring - with horse as mentor - can instill a respect and an empathy so profound that it can change one's heart.
Hughes's heart has always been one with the horse. She grew up around horses; her mom was a NYPD mounted policewoman, and her brother used horses to help kids and families. She moved to Nashville from upstate New York to start a music business, but when her sister and dad got ill in succession, she had to close up and go home. After her brother's death, she opened the first Harmony Corral Equine Sanctuary in New York. Today that facility has 38 horses; there are six at an annex in Arizona and four here (the farm is in Arrington). All the horses have been rescued from different places, including slaughterhouses, and the environment of the sanctuaries is holistic; that is, the horses go barefoot and are fed all-natural grain and feed.
All kids and their families are welcome at the ranch. Hughes offers a six-week program with a flexible schedule, for kids to learn about the horse and partake of its spirit. Kids and horses are paired, and each child learns how his or her horse came to the farm. The kids must earn the privilege to ride their horse, by first learning horse care, the care and maintenance of a saddle, proper mounting and dismounting, and, above all, a respect for the horse as a fellow creature.
"They form a bond on the ground with the horse, then they go into the saddle," Hughes says. "They come to know the horse, an incredibly intellectual animal." At graduation ceremonies, kids run through a drill performance, showing their family and friends the relationship they've formed with their horse. (Harmony Corral does not offer riding instruction.)
After graduation, parents and kids can sponsor their horse in its career as an ambassador of sorts: the horses of Harmony Corral visit children's hospitals and nursing homes and take part in community activities that allow people to get close to the majesty and grace of one of Nature's noblest creatures.
Adoptions and foster-care relationships with the horses are also available.
Hughes believes there are plenty of people out there who would benefit from helping a horse. She especially wants to get musicians involved, and she says she can help them with their own horses, with her expertise in horse communications. (She gave Bret Michaels, of the rock group Poison, his first Arabian horse.)
"I want to reach a lot of people, so we can save more horses, and in turn help more people," she says. And she feels that the more people come to know horses, the more they'll share her passion for them.
"I was a good person to begin with because of my mom and dad," she says. "But I've become a better person because of horses."
Harmony Corral will present a series of clinics at the ranch at 4786 Murfreesboro Road (Hwy. 96) in Arrington. The Bare Foot Cross Clinic, Sat. and Sun., Aug. 25-26, is a Natural Hoof Care Clinic with Jim Apple, Nora Miller and Joe Amelang. Tickets are $55 per day; horse/owner participation is $145 for one day. A clinic on Sat. and Sun., Sept. 1-2, covering the subject of building a trusting relationship with a horse, will feature Dale Rudin, an equine behaviorist, trainer and author. Tickets are $55 per day; horse/owner/rider participation is $275 for two days. On Sat. and Sun., Sept.8-9, an Equine Dentistry Clinic will give visitors the skinny straight from the horse's mouth. Dr. Chip Kreiling of South West Equine Dentistry will invite horse people to bring their horses to be clinic subjects or make an appointment for a home barn call after the clinic. Spectator tickets are $55 per day; horse/owner participation and prices are based on pre-phone consultation with Kreiling.
All the clinics are sponsored in part by Horsesneaker Hoof Wear Company (www.horsesneaker.com).
A Wish List: Harmony Corral is in need of volunteers, tack, grooming tools, barn supplies, wood to fix up its barn, a laptop computer, monetary donations, land donations to its expand its youth mentoring and rescue efforts, a horse trailer of any size, and HAY - simple grass hay - for the upcoming winter. All visitors to the ranch are asked to give a donation of at least $8 - the cost of a bag of grain.
For more information, call 615-395-8014, or visit www.usenta.org.