By Julie Farneski
When Nicole Bianchi, of New York City, adopted a Premarin foal named Montana
from an organization called H.O.R.S.E of Connecticut, it changed her life.
Nicole first found out about the Humane Organization Representing Suffering
Equines (H.O.R.S.E) of CT as she was unpacking from a vacation abroad. “I
happened to catch the tail end of a Dateline special on horses with Stockard
Channing and Richard Gere, who had a connection to H.O.R.S.E.” Being a horse
person all of her life, Bianchi was mortified to hear about Premarin (PMU, which
stands for pregnant mare urine, contains a hormone which is used to treat
menopause. According to H.O.R.S.E, foals born to manufacture Premarin often
become unwanted).
Knowing she had to do something, she got contact information for H.O.R.S.E. from
the Dateline website, and quickly made an appointment for a tour and volunteer
orientation.
“On my first visit, I was escorted around the farm by Patty Wahlers, president
of H.O.R.S.E of Ct.,” Bianchi recalls. “She showed me every horse there and told
me all of their stories, each and every one — about 30 horses. I was outraged to
hear about the PMU industry, and at the same time, found heaven on earth. I
couldn’t believe I could help, right then. I could groom any horse I wanted.
Take them for a walk. Help around the farm. Help rehab horses! Pitch in at
fundraisers, help write grant letters. My boyfriend even got involved and is
just as committed as I am.”
She soon became part of the H.O.R.S.E. family. “I am not the only volunteer
who drives from New York City — there are many other diehard New Yorkers who are
H.O.R.S.E. volunteers,” said Bianchi.
Before long, she found herself going out on a rescue. “I was learning invaluable
information about equine care, medical information, rehabilitation methods. I
thought I knew a lot when I started volunteering, but like so many others, I was
soon humbled by my lack of knowledge and experience.”
Bianchi became entrenched in the American Horse Slaughter Prevention Act (AHSPA)
becoming an activist by starting a NYC street campaign on the issue. She also
wrote senators and house representatives, and created a grass-roots poster board
against Premarin. She handed out brochures in Times Square and Grand Central
Station.
“I had an advisor to Hillary Clinton approach me, take a brochure, and suggest I
read the book
Slaughterhouse. I had a teenage girl return to me one day and ask for more
brochures, because she told her teacher what she had learned and her teacher was
so moved, having never heard of Premarin or horse slaughter, that she asked the
girl to do a class presentation on it. I had people debating the issue right in
front of me, in the bustling underground amidst noisy subway cars. I had people
who refused to believe we slaughter horses in America.”
Because the drug company Wyeth, which makes Advil and other drugs, also
manufactures Premarin, Bianchi encouraged people to boycott Advil and other
Wyeth products, and saw people throw away their bottles of Advil after looking
at her brochures.
But even with all her activism efforts, the thing that changed her life more
than anything was doing something she didn’t realize she’d do — adopting a
Premarin foal herself.
“I never intended to adopt a horse when I started volunteering, it just happened
one day, just like Patty said it would,” explained Bianchi. “We were doing the
a.m. farm feeding and she said, you don’t pick them, they pick you. And as I
scanned through the farm photos I took for our newsletters, I kept seeing photos
of this one horse with his piercing gaze…Montana. Then I noticed that whenever I
was near Montana’s paddock, he would meet me at the fence line and walk with me.
I soon started training him as a yearling, and the bond was instantly and
instinctively formed. I have since adopted him, and my life has changed for the
better.”
Montana’s new home is on a 50-acre farm in Baiting Hollow, N.Y., where his
playmate and roommate is, coincidentally, another Premarin rescue.
Bianchi continues volunteering for H.O.R.S.E. of CT. which, in the past few
months, has revamped its website and has started publishing newsletters, with a
reader base of over 1,000, including many from New York. The organization is
also producing videos of farm life, horse rescues and adoptions. This year marks
H.O.R.S.E. of CT’s 25th year of rescuing and rehabilitating horses in need.
To find out more about H.O.R.S.E of CT, including volunteer opportunities and
adoptions, visit horseofct.org.
Bianchi also made an online short film of her rescue of Montana, viewable at
horseofct.org/spiritofthehorse.htm.
