In 2012, we helped remove 22 surviving horses from an extreme neglect situation in Sumner, Iowa — a case we still refer to as the Sumner 22. More than 30 horses on the property had already died.
Summer and Emma were two of the survivors.
They were found in a low-ceilinged turkey barn divided into makeshift pens, with almost no daylight and the air thick with ammonia. Their 24x24 pen was knee-deep in manure, and the body of a third horse lay in the same space. Both mares had gone blind — one of several Sumner horses who lost their sight, likely due to some combination of prolonged darkness, malnutrition, ammonia exposure, or toxins in the occasional cornstalk bales they were fed.
Summer was extremely emaciated. Emma was thin and dull-coated. Both were hesitant, trying to interpret a world they could no longer see.
They were removed together and placed briefly in a temporary foster, but the chaos of a group setting made it hard for them to find water and feed, so we moved them directly to our GSH facility where they could be cared for safely. Once stabilized, they went to rehab foster together and adjusted well.
Around the 30-day mark — a point when many starved horses begin to process the stress they’ve held in — the mares needed a short separation to keep them safe and comfortable. After a couple of weeks, they were reunited and went right back to seeking each other out.
Once their personalities emerged, they proved to be easy horses to work with. Summer was steady and mellow. Emma was more expressive and tended to seek out reassurance, but she was also well trained and remained rideable despite her blindness, with an exceptionally smooth gait. Both enjoyed people and settled into routine without fuss.
Not long after their reunion, Summer was adopted while Emma remained at the rescue. During those two months, Emma bonded closely with Pirate — another blind horse whose presence had shaped much of our early rescue work. She gravitated to him naturally, and he served as her anchor. The day before Pirate passed unexpectedly, he stood beside her for her farrier visit, providing the quiet reassurance blind horses offer one another.
Shortly after his passing, Summer’s adopter returned to bring Emma home as well. They had the space and setup to keep the mares together, and they knew the pair had shared most of their lives.
For the next nine years, Summer and Emma lived in a safe, quiet, predictable home — exactly what blind horses require. When age and health made it difficult for their adopter to continue their care, the mares were returned to us under our lifetime safety-net promise.
Back at the rescue, it was clear we wouldn’t separate them again. After everything they had come through, their lives made the most sense together.
They didn’t wait long. A family with a safe, fully fenced environment designed for blind horses adopted them as a bonded pair. Today, Summer and Emma are still together, still cared for, and still enjoying the uncomplicated life blind horses thrive in.
Their story moved from darkness to stability to a new beginning — not through dramatic moments, but through steady, thoughtful decisions made on their behalf.
Takeaway: What “Bonded” Really Means
The word “bonded” gets used loosely in rescue, often leading to debate. Some believe any two horses who stand near each other must stay together. Others argue that horses don’t bond at all and shouldn’t be placed as pairs.
At Gentle Spirit Horses, we live in the middle.
We work hard to help horses build new friendships and adapt to new herds, and most do very well. But there are cases — especially with blind horses like Summer and Emma, whose entire histories were built side by side — where keeping them together isn’t sentimental. It’s simply the most humane and practical choice.
Their partnership wasn’t dramatic or fragile. It was steady. Functional. True to who they were.
Sometimes, the right answer is to help horses learn healthy independence.
And sometimes, the right answer is to respect the relationship that has carried them through everything.
15 Years, 15 Stories, $15,000 Matching Funds
Stories like Summer and Emma’s don’t end the day a horse is rescued. They unfold over years — through foster care, the 30-day turning point, adoption, returns, and eventually finding the home that fits. Every part of that journey exists because people step in when it matters.
A generous donor is matching the first $15,000 this Giving Tuesday, doubling every gift. Reaching this match will fully fund our winter hay supply, giving the horses in our care the consistency and security they rely on — especially the older, blind, or medically fragile ones.
If you’re able, we invite you to give toward the match and help us continue these long, quiet, steady stories of care: