ELBURN – Many people hear the phrase “field of dreams” and immediately succumb to thoughts of baseball and Kevin Costner.

But for 50-year-old Sue Balla, the phrase stirs up a feeling reflective of the adage “If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.”

Balla, who says she has been “into horses” for more than 30 years, is president of Field of Dreams Horse Rescue and Adoption, a nonprofit organization that takes horses that are in between homes, puts them through rehabilitation and then finds families to adopt them.

“We’re a safe haven for animals and people,” said Balla. “I want it to be a place of hope where you don’t give up. You just don’t give up. I believe [the horses] can get better if we give them what they need. And a lot of what they need is just hugs and kisses.”

Though Balla started Field of Dreams to help horses, she believed the organization could help people, too.

Before Field of Dreams opened nearly two years ago, Balla had her own barn and gave riding lessons to children. During that time she encountered a young teen named Shannon, who became one of the reasons Field of Dreams exists today.

“She came in with a chip on her shoulder the size of Texas,” Balla recalled. “She was into drugs, she was sleeping around – how she wasn’t dead in the gutter was beyond me. This kid was a rebel beyond belief.”

Yet Balla gave Shannon lessons. She had a natural ability for riding, and she helped around the barn in return for a free lesson every week.

When one of Balla’s boarders became pregnant and no longer was able to ride her horse, Balla asked Shannon if her father would be able pay for half of the board and shoeing bill and in return, be allowed to ride the horse to her heart’s content.

There was a catch – Balla requires good grades.

“That’s life – if you don’t earn it, you don’t get it. This kid was flunking everything,” Balla said. “[I told her] ‘Maybe if you said you will earn it, maybe [your dad] will pay half board.’ Lo and behold, he said yes.”

Shannon had a 3.9 grade-point average by the time she graduated high school and was awarded student of the month three times as a senior.

“She got a free ride through college, all because of the love of a horse,” Balla said. “I saw this horse turn this kid around. People who are down, if they feel they can help somebody else, it helps them, too. You see something like that – it changed her, but it changed me. It taught me how much of a healer a horse is.”

In order to allow horses to heal humans, Balla first has to heal the horse. She is one of the few local horse rescue agencies that use holistic healing practices.

Balla said these practices – which include oils, herbs and massage therapy – saved the life of a horse that two veterinarians had given up on.

“We had one horse we took in, Grey Sea, she was dead lame on her front foot – couldn’t walk on it at all,” Balla said. “Her vet said no way is she going to get better, put her down. We had no medicine whatsoever. I was very aggressive with the oils and herbs, so we did a lot of massage therapies, used a lot of magnets on her – I did a lot of energy work. [Now] she is 100 percent sound – she can run like the wind.”

Since October 2005, Field of Dreams has worked with 15 horses and had nine adopted. The entire program is completely volunteer-run, which Balla says is fuel for the adoption-side of the organization.

Balla looks for families to provide her horses with a life-long home. Consequently, every person who has adopted a horse through Field of Dreams has first been a volunteer.

Mike Daleiden of Sugar Grove has been volunteering for only a few weeks, but he’s become a faithful morning hand for Balla and has watched the horses improve immensely in a short amount of time.

“I have no more love for horses than I do for cats or any other animal, but you grow to love [these horses],” he said.

He’s stayed with Balla for two important reasons.

“One was the horses. The second is right here,” he said, pointing at Balla. “You just can’t help but catch the enthusiasm.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

When Balla’s friend Gaye Masnjak saw a newspaper clipping to rent a horse farm, she immediately showed it to Balla and made her promise to call the number. A reluctant Balla finally set up a time to meet with the owner.

Two nights before the meeting, she happened to catch the movie “Field of Dreams” on television and watched the entire film – which she says she is able to recite by heart.

“I kept hearing ‘If you build it, he will come,’ ” Balla recalled. “The next day I kept hearing it over and over again in my head. [But] build what? With what?”

With the infamous phrase running through her head, Balla decided to check out the pastures of the farm on her own. It was only after she left her home that she realized she didn’t know the farm’s address. She realized she would be forced to guess which farm was the one mentioned in the newspaper ad.

When the paved road she was driving turned to gravel, Balla said her heart dropped. But she kept going and was astonished at what she saw.

“And there’s this little sign that says ‘Field of Dreams,’ ” she said with a smile. “It depends on what you believe in, but I believe I have my guardian angels around me all the time. I said ‘all right, I got the message.’ If that’s not a message from my guardian angels, then I don’t know what is.”

FUTURE DREAMS

Though Balla now leases the 20 acres housing Field of Dreams, one of her long-term goals for the organization is to buy property.

“We are absolutely blessed with where we are and that the man is letting us do this,” she said of her leasor, “but if we had our own property, we could do a lot more.”

She described plans of creating a handicapped-accessible farm with a paved road around the outside of the pasture for wheelchair use, going as far to say that she envisioned wheelchair races being held down barn aisles.

“Eventually what I would love to do … is have a program where senior citizens in homes could come out in their wheelchairs and visit, have a picnic,” she said. “Just so they could get out of the home for a day. We have some horses that are super quiet and they could walk around between the wheelchairs and not think a thing of it.”

The only thing that is stopping that dream from becoming a reality is lack of funding. Her veterinarian bill last month was $1,100.

A member of the Field of Dreams’ board of directors sent out five land-acquisition grants for $250,000 each on Tuesday, and a Realtor is keeping a watch out for available property, Balla noted.

The organization also has co-hosted numerous fundraisers and has several more set up for the near future.

“You can have all the heart in the world, but if you don’t have the money you still can’t do it,” she said. “And we’re always short on money.”

A team from the Guinness Book of World Records was in Niota over the weekend to measure Tina the horse.

Tina stands about 20 hands tall, which is about 7 feet. The current record holder is only 6 feet 9 and half inches tall.

Tina’s measurements will be authenticated in London at Guinness’s headquarters.

In case you’re wondering, Tina eats a bale of hay a day. She can also go through a 50-pound bag of horse food in no time.

Tina is only three years old, and her owner said she is still growing!

A rubber horse is the latest training tool being used by firefighters in south Wales to help in animal rescues.

Lucky the horse stands at 5ft (1.52m) tall, with a 70ins (1.77cm) girth and weighs in at 70 stone (450kg).

He will be used to help South Wales Fire Service’s new large animal rescue team train for dealing with incidents.

Last year the brigade received 129 calls to animal rescues with about a third of them to help large animals who had become trapped.

The rubber horse was imported from the USA and cost £5,000 as part of the brigade’s £50,000 investment into large animal rescue training.

About 132 firefighters are due to receive specialist training.

Jane Denman, a firefighter from Ebbw Vale, will be one of the trainers involved.

She said: “We can put lucky into positions to show the crews the safest way to rescue the animal without them getting hurt.”

A spokesman for the brigade added: “Lucky has articulated limbs, an optional tail attachment, is completely rust proof and accepts standard horse harnesses, glides and other associated rescue equipment.

“He can be used in all weathers, in mud, in water and is designed for training indoors and out.

“His feel and articulation closely simulates a sedated horse, which means that students can learn correct positioning and application of the necessary rescue equipment in scenarios that recreate the challenges of real life incidents.”

On a warm spring day, you are likely to find Dr. Mike Painter inside a barn treating one of his four-legged patients rather than at his Oakley chiropractic office examining humans.

Last week, Painter spent an entire morning at Pleasanton’s Buena Amor Ranch, where he saw two regular patients: a 5-year-old gelding named Meike and a 17-year-old Arabian saddle breed called Smokey.

The chiropractor’s horse patients are as varied in their ailments as their human counterparts. Whereas young Meike suffers from injury-related neck problems, the much older Smokey is prone to back soreness.

Painter guided Meike to a grassy area near the stables and placed his strong hands on the horse’s back. The longtime chiropractor slowly built the horse’s trust, taking time to relax the muscles through vigorous massage.

When Painter got to the tender spot on Meike’s neck, the horse instantly showed signs of relief. Owner Harriet Merritt said she can always tell when Painter’s adjustments bring the young horse relaxation and spinal comfort.

“He has a very good knowledge of the skeletal structure of a horse,” the Danville resident said. “He understands animals well. He treats them as a whole.”

During his 13 years treating horses, Painter has developed a philosophy that these large animals are prime athletes and his job is to optimize their performance. After being a human chiropractor for a decade, Painter read an article in Horse Illustrated about a female veterinarian turned chiropractor who worked solely on horses.

Bringing his lifelong appreciation and knowledge of horses, Painter studied with her in Illinois and became the 33rd graduate of the American Veterinary Chiropractic Association. Upon his certification, Painter made animals a vital part of his Oakley practice, devoting at least one day a week to helping them and eventually launching Performance Equine Chiropractic.

“My personal philosophy is that my equine patients are elite athletes who perform better and are stronger, faster and more coordinated in their movements when their bodies are balanced,” he said.

At least 90 percent of Painter’s horse patients ride competitively. On the other end of the animal spectrum, he also adjusts show dogs who usually need treatment for an injury or improved posture.

“I prefer large animals because I’m in an office all day and it gives me an excuse to be outdoors,” he said.

According to Painter, the only difference between his human and horse patients is that the people tell him where their pain is and with horses, he has to read their body language.

Like many older horses, Smokey gets sore muscles from all of the physical movement that he endures daily. As Painter slowly manipulated Smokey’s tired muscles, the horse relaxed, and his canter and trot later improved.

“Basically, I see two kinds of horses. The ones that need crisis care whom are lame or stiff and can’t do what their rider is asking of them. I also see a growing number of horses that are actively training and are striving to reach that next level in personal performance,” he said.

Painter said that Smokey is in good shape despite his age. That is key to the chiropractor, who said that his examinations should be combined with proper nutrition and exercise for both animal and owner.

“The biggest deal with these horses is you have to be in the same shape as your horse,” Painter said.

Knightsen resident Kathy Fagan said horses are just like their human owners, who sometimes get out of shape and overweight, and they need to stay active and fit. Fagan’s quarter horse Lady was bucking her off and suffering from performance problems before she saw “Dr. Mike.”

“What impressed me the most was how he handled her,” she said. “I observed his gentleness with her.”

After watching Painter work on Lady, Fagan has incorporated some of the massage techniques into her regular horse care. Painter knows the horse’s vulnerabilities, she said.

“He is listening when he is working with them. He watches how they are responding to his touch,” Fagan said.

Painter’s technique includes an evaluation of the horse’s spine and supportive connective tissue. His goal is to adjust and balance those areas of the horse’s body.

“It is not only their bodies but how the riders sit on the saddle,” he said. “If the rider is not balanced and in shape, it will affect the horse.”

The dedicated doctor is constantly updating his skills and knowledge through seminars and study. He said his continued education is the difference between his practice and some so-called “animal adjusters” with just a few hours of weekend training.

After a morning at the stables, Painter returns to his Oakley office to see at least 25 to 30 human patients. He savors the fast pace and diverse nature of his practice.

“I like being busy,” he said. “It makes the day go by faster.”

Nevada’s Mystery Horse by Carol L. Erickson investigates a real 21st century mystery–the origins of curly-haired horses, a breed which managed to survive against incredible odds.

Most people have never seen a curly-haired horse, and their origins remain a complete mystery. Yet fourth generation rancher Carol L. Erickson fell in love with these strange curly-haired horses the moment she saw a photo of them. Nevada’s Mystery Horse is her gripping account of how one very special woman came to champion a very exotic breed, and how careful breeding saved them from extinction.

Erickson journeys back to the 1930s to describe how these mesmerizing animals were initially destroyed because ranchers believed they were sick. Originally, less than 300 of these creatures were alive, but because of increased interest and the formation of a curly-haired horse registry, they are now 3000 strong and growing.

This is a fascinating story for anyone who loves horses, cares about preservation, or just loves a galloping good mystery. Told with warmth, wit and a keen love of animals, Nevada’s Mystery Horse is a winner to be enjoyed by all.

A pony that fell into an abandoned well this morning was rescued unharmed after crews used a tow truck from a local auto repair shop to lift it to safety.

The pint-sized equine was reported trapped in the well on Parker Hill Road just before 11 a.m. The well was located just outside the fenced-in property of the pony’s owner, Madeline Howenstein.

State police and Killingworth Fire Department were first on the scene and were able to secure the animal until veterinarian Dr. Jonathan Jeffery arrived and sedated it. Rescuers then rigged the 7-year-old brown and white pony to a wrecker provided by New Image Automotive of Killingworth.

“We gave her a little bit of sedation just so she wouldn’t be anxious when she was lifted out of the well,” Jeffery said.

The pony was not injured and the town road crew filled in the well opening. Fire officials speculate the cover to the old well caved in under the pony’s weight.

A horse had to be rescued by firefighters after becoming stuck in a farm gate for more than two hours.

The New Forest gelding had tried to jump a galvanised farm gate in the West End area and its hind rear leg caught in the top rail.

The horse was given a sedative by a vet and a crane was used to support it as firefighters cut it free.

The horse was then released by a specialist animal rescue adviser employed by the rescue services.

Anton Philips, the fire service’s watch manager, said: “With the nice weather we are getting called to more and more incidents where animals have become trapped in some way.

“Now that Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has a team of animal rescue advisors we are able to immediately respond.

“It’s really important that owners alert us as soon as possible and are also on hand to keep their pet or animal calm.

“The owner did a good job in working with us to keep horse calm and to feed it lots of hay, which is a natural sedative.”

You can learn a lot about someone’s emotional state when you pair him or her up with a horse. What clients don’t say in sessions in the office often reveals itself in just a few minutes when they’re around one of two horses at Adagio, a small farm in Plainwell, according to Ulla Frederiksen, who’s certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy.

“When you put yourself next to a 1,000-pound animal, your focus becomes inside your body. It bypasses a lot of the defenses you might see in the office,” Frederiksen said. “It’s really hard to be in denial when you’re engaging with a big animal.”

Frederiksen, owner of the Sundance Center for Personal Growth, 813 W. South St., has been offering equine-assisted psychotherapy to her clients for the past six years.

Equine-assisted psychotherapy is considered to be an emerging field in therapeutic practices. It involves a client, under the supervision of his or her therapist and equine professional, performing various interactive tasks with a horse. The horse, and the client’s interaction with it, serve as tools for emotional growth and learning.

The practice is primarily governed by the Equine Assisted Growth and Learning Association, which formed in 1999 and maintains the philosophy that horses are able to mirror human body language and feelings.

“Horses are extremely sensitive and intuitive beings. You can’t hide from them,” Frederiksen said. “You have to be true. You have to match your inside (thoughts and feelings) with your outside.”

Although any client can request a session at the farm, Frederiksen said she often suggests it when office sessions aren’t progressing. “If I’m hitting a blockage in the office, I suggest at least for them to come out here (the farm) at least once.

“There’s nobody I wouldn’t recommend this for, really.”

Among some of the most effective uses for the therapy are addressing behavior problems, low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and marital or other family problems.

Unlike other therapeutic fields that involve horses, equine-assisted psychotherapy does not involve riding. Clients interact with a horse in a variety of exercises within a fenced pasture. Exercises can include catching the animal, moving it through an obstacle course, cleaning the hooves or leading the animal without a lead rope.

For some clients a first session may simply involve watching horses while staying on the other side of the fence.

For couples, it could be working together to put a halter on a horse. Frederiksen said the way they interact while haltering the horse can speak volumes about their relationship.

A task as simple as picking out which horse a client wants to work with can tell Frederiksen a lot about the client.

Some pick Blackjack, an appendix quarter horse (a quarter horse and thoroughbred cross) who is in his mid-20s and somewhat shy and reserved in his behavior. Others choose Sidney, a 4-year-old quarter horse mare, who is friendly and outgoing.

Recent training for Rob Atwood, a psychology student at Kalamazoo College who plans to do some work for the Sundance Center, offered the kind of insight Frederiksen said she often gains when a client interacts with a horse.

Atwood, who told Fredericksen he was anxious about what to do after graduating in June, picked Sydney to work with and said it was because she was the opposite of his shy personality.

“If I sat in the office and asked Rob, I don’t think that he would have said he was shy and reserved,” Frederiksen said.

Once he picked Sydney, Atwood was asked to catch her.

He first tried to get the horse to follow him on her own. He then tried to use some hay. Neither technique worked. After about 15 minutes, Atwood selected a halter and lead rope. Still, he did not attempt to halter the horse for another 15 minutes.

After the training session, Atwood said he hesitated in haltering the horse because he wasn’t sure how the halter worked and feared he would put it on wrong.

Frederiksen said the halter can be seen as a metaphor for the diploma Atwood would soon receive, and his fear of using it revealed an underlying anxiety about having a tool that he wasn’t sure what to do with.

After completing the exercise, Altman made the connection between not haltering the horse and his fear of failure after graduation. “I like the concept of using an animal” in therapy, he said. “You can lie to your therapist all you want, but you can’t lie to an animal — they’re very intuitive.”

During sessions with a horse, therapists will offer resources to clients such as halters and lead ropes, but they let the clients choose for themselves what they will use and only intervene when the use of the equipment would interfere with their safety or the safety of the horse, Frederiksen said.

“It (what they do and use) tells us a lot about the person and how they get along in life,” she said. Even something as simple as asking or not asking questions about how a halter is supposed to be used offers information to the trained therapist.

For some clients it can take several sessions just to feel comfortable enough around the horse to halter it.

“Most of the exercises are designed to eliminate the need for traditional horsemanship skills,” said Kerry Mulso, an equine specialist who works with Frederiksen in the equine-assisted psychotherapy sessions. A lifelong equestrian who also gives riding lessons, Mulso said she has become a better instructor from having seen the connection between emotional issues and how horses respond to the feelings of their riders and handlers.

Like Mulso, Frederiksen says she has grown in her profession through working with horses. But in a field that upholds privacy of both client and therapist, she felt some initial uneasiness as she moved into equine-assisted psychotherapy.

“Just bringing clients to my home (the farm) at first, I was uncomfortable,” Frederiksen said. “There are a lot of ethical boundaries (that must be maintained). It’s definitely out of the norm for my profession, but I’m happy I did it because it rewards me greatly.”

Before moving to Michigan from Chicago in 2000, Frederiksen had not used horses in her private practice. When she and her husband, Fred Bueltmann, moved to Plainwell and purchased their small farm, it came with a horse named Sundance. The couple had no previous experience with horses. While learning how to take care of Sundance, they also learned about the field of equine-assisted psychotherapy. Sundance, the namesake for Frederiksen’s practice, was in his mid-30s when he died in 2006.

“Sundance got me involved in equine-assisted psychotherapy,” Frederiksen said. “He led us to this work.”

Learning to care for him and experiencing her own profound moments of interaction led Frederiksen to pursue certification and to offer the form of therapy at her farm. By doing so, she says, she’s grown not only professionally but personally. “I’ve learned so much and have had to stretch.”

A 27-year-old Chico, Calif. man, who is planning to ride around the world on horseback, is riding through Broome County today.

Ezra Cooley began his trek in April 2006. New York is the 11th state he’s ridden through on what he says will be an eight-year odyssey.

He plans to finish the United States portion of his ride in New York City in June and then take a boat to Spain with his horse, Red.

Along the way, Cooley is raising money for children’s charities. He has raised $6,000 in donations so far for the National Children’s Cancer Society.

About two decades ago, Kathleen Schwartz says, she felt sorry for a 20-year-old horse named Toby who was so weak and sick from years of neglect that he was not expected to survive much longer.

At a time when Howard County animal control was not equipped to handle abused or neglected horses, Schwartz nursed Toby back to health and cared for him for about eight years until he died. Soon after encountering Toby, she began caring for other ill horses as a family project.

Kathleen and her then-husband Allan Schwartz established Days End Farm Horse Rescue in 1989, and the nonprofit animal welfare organization has rapidly expanded to become one of the primary horse rescue facilities in the state. Days End has cared for more than 1,000 abused or neglected horses impounded by animal-control bureaus across the state, and it is recognized in Maryland and nationwide for its horse rescue and community outreach programs.

Because most of the funding for Days End’s $1 million budget comes from donations, the organization holds spring and fall fundraising carnivals each year. The carnivals also allow Days End to showcase horses ready for adoption and to educate the public about what the farm does.

The 15th spring carnival was held Saturday. Schwartz said the fair draws about 800 to 1,000 people annually. As country music played in the background, children and adults from around the state came to see the horses and participate in family-oriented activities that included a petting zoo and games for children.

Days End, on Frederick Road in Lisbon, relies on hundreds of volunteers and a small staff to rehabilitate horses and prepare them for adoption. Days End also focuses on spreading awareness about equine issues, promoting animal welfare education and assisting in animal disaster rescue efforts.

“Education is very high on our focus, and we do a lot of youth education,” said Kathleen Schwartz, Days End’s executive director. “We know that if people are better educated about horses, they won’t get involved with horses without knowing what it takes to care for them.”

Days End is caring for more than 70 horses on its 20 acres, which is 25 more horses than it normally has. The organization got the 25 extra horses in December from the animal-control impoundment in Washington County.

The horses, many of which arrive at the barn extremely thin and weak from neglect, usually stay at Days End about six to nine months. Once they are fully rehabilitated and trained to be comfortable around people, Days End posts adoption notices on its Web site.

Those interested in adopting a horse are expected to donate from $500 to $1,200, depending on the horse’s age and capabilities. Staff members inspect the farms of potential owners and once the adoption is approved, they conduct follow-up visits on all adopted horses for three years.

Days End also has a foster care program to help establish a bond between horses and people. Under the program, the horses stay at Days End and are visited regularly by a foster person or family.

Lisa Shifflett of Westminster has been fostering one of Days End’s horses for two months and came Saturday for the carnival and to visit the animal. She first read about Days End on its Web site.

“This is a way for me to give back to them,” she said. “I like how they try to train any kind of horse and how they focus on educating people.” Shifflett said she also is fostering the horse to re-establish her involvement with horses to benefit herself and her toddler son.

Betsy Brewster and her husband, Dana Brewster, both of whom used to work on a farm and own horses, came from Annapolis to visit Days End for the first time Saturday. Brewster said she learned about the organization through the Internet, and “now I check their site once a week because I like to read their stories about their horse rescues.”

As Days End continues to get more horses to care for, the 20-acre property that the organization is leasing is becoming overcrowded. Schwartz hopes to move to an area with at least 30 acres, but she has not found a piece of land that meets the organization’s needs.

Brittney Carow of Mount Airy, the assistant farm manager, has been working at Days End for 10 months, after volunteering there when she was in high school.

“I came back to work here because of my love of horses. I’ve been around horses all my life, and I’m really interested in animal welfare,” she said.

Days End has more than 700 volunteers, ranging from adults to children and longtime horse owners to people with no experience with horses.

Vickie Allin from Bethesda in Montgomery County owned horses for 30 years and has been volunteering at Days End for three years.

“I’ve always wanted to volunteer here, and now that I’ve retired I have the time,” she said. “Days End does amazing, lifesaving work.”

Dahlia Cain, who is entering high school, began volunteering a few months ago.

“I have always loved horses, and I wanted to do something fun. I came in with almost no experience with horses but every time I come here I learn something new,” said Cain, who lives in Frederick.

Schwartz said her primary goal for Days End is to invoke greater respect for animals. “I hope that people who visit leave with a feeling of compassion for animals, and hopefully they will carry that throughout their life.”