When I was nine years old, my mom took my sister and I to two events.
We went to see a ballet recital at the Nassau Civic Ballet.
And then the following day, we went to see a horse show at Camperdown.
And then she sat us down and she asked us which activity would we like to do.
Those were our two options, our two choices.
So my sister chose to do ballet and I just thought that the horses were the most fabulous
thing I'd ever seen and it was wonderful and amazing.
And so I chose to do that.
That was the catalyst for jumping into the horses.
I know most little girls have a horsey dream.
Mine just kind of stuck around for a really, really long time.
My name is Claire Cash and I have a Bachelor of Arts in horsemanship and my main occupation
is I rescue horses and I take care of them.
All their needs throughout the day, feeding them, tucking on their health.
I also teach a handful of students.
I have varied other activities in order to fund them.
I house it for people when they go away and take care of their animals for them while
they're off the island.
And I also foster puppies for the Humane Society and for bark.
Since my love for horses was really, really strong, when I came back from college, it was
about the time that there was a farm situation in Andros and North Andros and there were
a lot of horses and cows that were dying and the horses in particular were brought
to the attention of the Humane Society that something was wrong and these animals needed
help.
And as I had just come back from college and I had just finished studying horses for four
years, I joined in and at the time there were a lot of the horses were being born during
this situation and they had nowhere to go and fortunately for me and I had this property
that we're on had always housed horses and it had always been a part of my life.
There were horses here and I always came here to be with the horses and to interact with
the horses that were living here when I was a child.
And in fact, one of those horses was still here at the time the Andros situation was
going on and I just asked the owner, I said, you know, we got this situation, these animals
need somewhere to go, space is limited in Nassau, there's not a lot of places where
you can have horses, you know, could I bring them here?
And she said yes.
She said yes and it just kind of took off from there.
Every now and again I would get a phone call, we have this situation and we don't know what
to do, we can't get any help, unfortunately by the time they called me in most cases it
was too late for the horse and we had to have them put to sleep.
Myself and some of the other horse owners on the island have encountered situations
that have been not very pleasant for horses.
People bring them in to family islands or even to Nassau sometimes and the horses end
up coming here and the people realize they can't cope and unfortunately the horses are
left and they try to fend for themselves and of course that doesn't go very well.
Sometimes we're successful and sometimes we're too late but a lot of times we've been able
to help.
I have seven horses in my care at the moment and they cost roughly on average because I
do most of the actual physical work for them about $10,000 each a year but they are beautiful
and they do bring out the best in people, in children, they've been known for rehabilitation
purposes for physical needs individuals in particular but also for people with PTSD
have benefitted greatly, lots of children who have been abused in situations have been
brought out and been completely transformed by interacting with horses so horses have
a great value to communities at large.
I'm really really grateful to the late Bob and Bertha Sands who were the property owner
and allowed the horses to live here, they're absolutely amazing people, very generous allowing
them to be here and their daughter has also continued on with that allowing the horses
to be here.
Horses have always lived on this land from what I understand so they have a grandfather
clause for being here even though we're in the middle of a residential area they are
allowed to be here and it's a real blessing because like I said earlier finding property
in Nassau to house animals in particular is difficult so I'm very very grateful to them.
The horses have been trained throughout the years after they were rescued and fattened
up so I do have a few students that I teach to ride.
So our main activities are riding in the riding ring also going out on trail rides to the
neighborhood we tend to go through Blair mostly because that's close to us and we also go
to the beach because Montague is very very close and we hike down the sidewalk and we
go swimming and the horses absolutely really enjoy that.
I would really like to expose more people to them I've had over the years about 40 students
and so I've made a tiny drop in the bucket some of those students have actually gone
on and ridden in other countries and done very well so I can say that I'm very proud
of that and a lot of people have been very surprised when they find out where the student
is from and the fact that not only do they have knowledge of how to ride a horse but
they also have knowledge of basic care of the horse.
Another goal would be for the horses that are here on island particularly those that
have a job a job especially that's noticeable to the public that their care and their housing
and their general living conditions would be improved.
I know that today even though people might disagree with me that they are better than
they were I've seen changes over the years it's been a difficult road but things have
improved but I think they could be even better than what they currently are.
I think that having them here and especially with the younger people over the you know
the 40 people that I've had over the last 20 years who have been interested in horses
and been given the opportunity to ride here I hope that has benefited them in just in
their life as a part of their good memories of their childhood every now and again I will
get a message from someone saying oh we remember when we did this and you know they're good
memories and they're they're they're pleasant and and we hope you know when we have kids
that we can pass this this fun and excitement and joy that we had with horses on to them
as well.
My name is Claire Cash and I love animals.
