Meet Josie.
Uh...Josie?
This is your introduction.
Josie always hides when people are near.
Usually behind Hank, her best friend.
She only feels safe around him, and he only feels safe around her.
Even though they've just been rescued,
they're still kinda sad,
and their rescuers are worried about them.
Josie and Hank are still young.
And young horses usually want attention from humans and to play with other horses,
because playing is an important part of learning how to be a horse.
Which means the sooner the rescuers can get these horses feeling
happy and playful, the better.
But before they could play, there was an even bigger problem.
Josie had an injured leg.
Even if she wanted to play, she couldn't.
Not until she was healed.
And Hank wasn't going anywhere without her.
But the rescuers came up with a plan
to help the horses feel happier while they waited for Josie's leg to heal.
They started spending extra time with Josie and Hank every day,
sitting with them quietly and saying nice things.
“Hi, Jo-Jose.”
And the more they
visited, the less Josie hid from them
until she stopped hiding at all.
And when her leg got a little stronger, they started going outside,
where Josie and Hank did something amazing.
They started following the rescuers everywhere, which meant
they actually wanted their attention and were feeling safe with them.
Josie and Hank had made human friends.
This was a huge step, but the rescuers knew it was just the start,
because when Josie's leg was fully healed, it was time for the two horses
to try making some even more important friends: horse friends.
But Josie and Hank weren't so sure.
The idea of meeting new horses made them nervous.
But the rescuers had found the perfect horse to help.
Josie and Hank, meet Catwoman.
I know. I know.
Catwoman would seem to imply that she's part cat and part person,
but I assure you, she is 100 percent horse.
“Are you guys going to have fun together?”
Josie and Hank were like, “Uh, fun? With some strange horse?”
Making friends was not really their specialty.
Luckily, it was Catwoman's specialty,
and she had the perfect way to get the ball rolling.
A horse ball!
No horse can resist playing with one.
But Josie was like,
“Mmm, you first, Hank.”
And Hank was like, “Is this how you do it?”
Uh-oh, this was going to be harder than Catwoman thought.
Time for plan B...
Some good old fashioned horse-style running!
But Josie was nervous.
She hadn't run on her leg in a long time.
Could she do it?
Just to be safe, they decided to do a test run on the dry lot,
which is basically a big indoor playground for horses,
where they could practice running with just the three of them.
No other horses allowed.
And right away, Josie realized
her leg didn't hurt at all anymore.
She also realized that she loved running, and Hank did, too.
Catwoman was so excited for them she could barely contain herself.
“Whoa, Catwoman!”
They were definitely ready for some outside running.
And...go!
Catwoman went left, and Josie went right.
And Hank.
Hank? Hank?!
“Ahhhh!”
We really got to work on these near horse-human collisions.
But the horses were too busy to think about that right now.
Busy figuring out who was the fastest.
Josie was like, “I'm the fastest!”
And Hank was like, “No, I'm the fastest!”
But to be honest, the horses didn't really care who was faster
because they were having the time of their lives.
Thanks to the human friends who helped them come out of hiding
and their new running buddy, Catwoman,
Josie and Hank were finally brave, playful horses.
And two, no, make that three best
animal friends ready to take on the world.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, it was Catwoman.
She was the fastest, like, by a lot.
[horse whinnying]
Champagne the horse is really scared of people.
She won't let her rescuer, Emily, get anywhere close.
"Champagne. C'mere."
But Emily's not really surprised.
Champagne had a hard life before she was rescued.
Her old family didn't take good care of her.
They let her hooves get overgrown
and never gave her a bath.
Emily wants to find Champagne
the perfect forever home.
But first, she has to help her trust humans again.
So the first thing she does: fix Champagne's hooves.
They had grown so long that Champagne had trouble walking.
"Oh, your feet hurt, huh?"
Emily got a farrier to trim her hooves
so she would be more comfortable.
A farrier is a professional horse hoof trimmer and shoer.
What a relief!
How's that feel, Champagne?
After her hooves were taken care of,
Champagne got a much-needed bath.
Look at all that dirt!
With a clean coat and trimmed hooves,
maybe Champagne would start to trust humans.
Nope.
She still ran away.
This was going to be really tricky.
"It's OK!"
But Emily wasn't going to quit.
She had another idea.
Champagne was scared of adults,
but maybe she'd be less scared of kids!
So Emily's coworker brought her kids
over to meet Champagne.
They took her for a walk around the pen,
and she didn't try to run away!
She even let them brush her
and happily accepted snacks.
All of a sudden, Champagne didn't seem so nervous anymore.
So Emily tried to give Champagne a snack, like the kids had.
But Champagne still ran away.
Emily got a little worried.
Maybe Champagne would never trust humans!
But she had one more trick up her sleeve:
her own little dog named Remy.
"Guess who I have in?"
"Let's go see her!"
Remy was a playful, happy puppy.
Maybe he could get Champagne to trust Emily.
Champagne didn't know what to think at first!
She was like, "Who is that fast fluffball?"
But soon, Champagne realized Remy was there to be her friend.
Remy and Champagne spent time together every day.
Champagne couldn't quite keep up with Remy at first,
but she loved to try!
Running and playing with Remy every day
helped Champagne become a brand-new horse.
Champagne loved her playdates with Remy.
And if Remy was so trusting of Emily,
well, maybe Champagne could be, too.
So the next time Emily tried to get close,
Champagne said, "Yes, you may!"
Emily was so relieved!
Champagne trusted people again!
Which meant she was finally ready...
to be adopted!
She got a family all her own to take care of her and love her.
She even has kids to play with!
Now, Champagne is a happy horse with a forever home and a loving family
all thanks to Emily
and Remy, her best animal friend!