Robin Howie always wanted to rescue a horse. When her internship at Days End Farm Horse Rescue wrapped up, she ended up with two. As told to Alice Collins/Jump Media.
I started volunteering with horses when I was 13 and began working on farms in college at 18, when I started riding.
I’ve always been interested in the rescue and rehabilitation side of things, and I knew Days End Farm Horse Rescue, located in Woodbine, MD, would be a great place to get this experience. I was accepted into their internship program right after college, but COVID-19 upturned those plans. I was so excited to finally get the chance to intern there in the fall of 2023.
I lived on the property, which enabled me to have a very immersive experience. I absolutely loved it, and it solidified that this was the career I wanted to pursue.
I had so much fun and really appreciated helping with some of the impounds—even though they could be quite sad—where law enforcement works with Days End Farm when a horse needs to be removed from its current situation. Almost all the Days End Farm horses come in from these types of seizure cases.
Because horses are legally considered more like property than companion animals like cats and dogs, removing them from bad situations can involve many more steps. I had recently graduated with a degree in animal science and completed a course in equine law. I was fortunate that my time with Days End Farm included experiencing the impoundment process and then getting to see the first court session for that case. This was really lucky because the court case rarely happens in the same internship timeframe as the seizure.
I also did a lot of hands-on medical stuff, spent time with the horses, and had the opportunity to tour other facilities. In fact, I got my current job after we toured a nearby equine veterinary hospital in Leesburg, VA. After the visit, they invited me to apply for an available position. I give a lot of credit to Days End Farm for my current role as a clinical veterinary assistant at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center—I wouldn’t have applied if we hadn’t gone on that tour.
During my Days End Farm internship, one of the horses I helped care for was an off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding named Trevor, who raced until he was nine. About a month into the internship, I really fell for him. He needed daily medical treatment for mud rot, so I spent time with him nearly every day to treat his legs.
He had a lot of opinions, so he was not for everyone.
For example, if he didn’t like the grooming tool you were using, he’d take it out of your hand. He was very communicative and when he was happy, he’d nuzzle your chest and ask for ear rubs, making it clear he was having the best day. He even began running up to me in the field or waiting at the gate for an extra head scratch before heading to his buddies.
Toward the end of my internship, I talked to one of the trainers, Sara Strauss, about how Thoroughbreds are totally my vibe. I’d been planning to lease a riding horse after my internship, but I began to realize that adopting Trevor felt inevitable.
After my internship wrapped up, I continued to visit Trevor, who had entered their training program by then. When I started my job, I was on call every other night and every other weekend for three months. Whenever I was up past midnight, I’d get the next day off, so I’d use that time to visit Trevor and the team at Days End Farm.
In the summer of 2024, trainer Leigha Schrader began riding him, and I started working with Trevor, too. At first, we did groundwork lessons, and then she began inviting me to ride him. I had been doing small things in his stall, like asking him to back up, turn different ways, and stretch, but getting the chance to work with Leigha in the arena was eye-opening.
Everything was going really well, and I started searching for barns where I could board him. But, in October 2024, with an adoption date all set, Leigha and I each got on Trevor during one of our riding sessions, and something felt off.
He had chronically bad feet due to his neglect, but there were no visible issues. A few days later, he became noticeably lame at the walk, limping up to his feed station. The vet examined him, but couldn’t find a cause. We paused the adoption and his training while Days End Farm investigated and tried treatments.
I knew I still wanted to adopt Trevor, whether he was rideable or not. I didn’t know if it was a question of retirement, stall rest, or six months in a field followed by euthanasia. Nobody knew at that point.
Given all the uncertainty, my love for Trevor, and my access to medical diagnostics at work, Days End Farm offered him to me as part of their Guardian Program—where the organization retains ownership—rather than an outright adoption. I jumped at the chance, and on December 20, 2024, Trevor came to his new home.
Around the same time, Hobbit, another goofy chestnut Thoroughbred, came back from an adoption that didn’t work out. He had first arrived at Days End Farm as a foal with his dam, and returned from the initial adoption when he was around two years old through no fault of his own. During my internship, I remembered seeing Trevor and Hobbit together in the field, and Trevor had taken him under his wing and taught him how to be a horse. He’d been his babysitter.
I knew Trevor might never be ridden again, so I thought Hobbit could be my project horse and, eventually, my riding horse.
At the beginning of 2025, I decided to adopt Hobbit. Before he left Days End Farm, I had the amazing opportunity to travel to the World Horse Expo in Pennsylvania with him and the Days End Farm team. Hobbit is a very social horse, and the trip was a great opportunity for him to experience lots of new things.
Getting two horses within three months of each other was not initially in the cards, but seeing how good Hobbit was at the Expo solidified it all for me. I officially adopted him on March 10, 2025.
Trevor has continued to show big improvements thanks to careful shoeing by an excellent farrier, support from coworkers, and a great vet team. We are slowly putting him back into work, building muscle, and I have even begun riding him at the walk.
I love my goofy chestnuts—they’re my babies. Trevor, now 12 years old, took a minute to remind Hobbit who is in charge, but is once again helping him integrate into the herd at their barn in Purcellville, VA, by following him around and making sure he stays safe. They really enjoy the place, and they both still run up to greet me.
I’m so excited for the future with them. I’m not committed to needing to show, but I want to ride, connect with the horses, and be around them. I enjoy reading them and learning from them, especially given that Trevor is so expressive. The whole experience of adopting them has allowed me to meet new people and grow my knowledge base.
I’d like to train them both for low-level eventing, which involves a bit of everything. Hobbit is learning the basics now, like bathing and standing on cross-ties. Hopefully, I’ll be able to start him under saddle in the fall with a trainer—I’m in no hurry.
My end goal is to have my own farm and rescue center. I’m so grateful to everyone at Days End Farm for the insights they have given me. Their community outreach also really touched me—some kids that come out to Days End Farm on school trips have never seen a farm, let alone a horse, and then they get to see a mule or hear a donkey bray, and they’re in awe.
Days End Farm works with all their equines to get them to the point where they can be adopted. They aim to make sure every horse that comes through their gates can find a loving forever home, and that’s huge. I’ve been able to ask a ton of questions and learn how to make decisions that keep each horse’s long-term welfare at the forefront, even when those decisions aren’t easy.
The whole experience has made me very happy. I have my two cats and my two horses, and I feel like I have a very full family.
The post Meet Robin Howie, the Intern Turned Double Adopter appeared first on Horse Network.