The day Sarah knew Minnie needed to be a sanctuary horse was the day she arrived back at a local shelter from a third failed adoption. She had a visceral and overwhelming sadness. The failed adoption was simply someone not understanding the depth of her wounds. It was true, Minnie’s spirit was completely broken, she was so sad and scared of humans, yet she walked up to Sarah in a desperate attempt to share her sadness. Minnie’s entire life had been filled with abuse and neglect. Her first exposure to abuse was when she was chained around her ankles to all four corners of her stall in order to have her feet trimmed. The person that rescued her from the abusive situation kindly tried to give her the freedom and love that she deserved. Unfortunately, the woman who attempted to save Minnie became very sick and was unable to care for her. She was left in a field for a long time and had almost no interactions with humans. Minnie finally found herself in an animal shelter, broken, scared, and with no idea that humans could be caring partners. This is about when Sarah was introduced to Minnie. Minnie needed to heal. She took nearly two years to get comfortable standing next to humans without a halter on – standing next to humans by choice was a very scary concept for her sweet, damaged soul. Minnie is a type of horse that needs to live out her life in Sanctuary so that she is never at risk of abuse or neglect again. In order to send Minnie as many positive thoughts as she needed, we gave her a few names when she came to Keeper’s Haven. “Princess Yasmin,” to help her feel like royalty with special treatment, and “Minnie Mouse", to help remind her that she is the most precious sweet little girl that shines bright with kindness like Minnie Mouse. While Minnie still has miles ahead to reopen her whole heart, she is making incredible strides. We are so pleased to watch her soul so sweetly growing back into the beautiful bloom we knew it could be.