The Horses
of Proud Spirit

There are approximately seven million horses in the United States.  Each year over 20,000 end up going to slaughter.  Hundreds of  thousands more are abused, neglected or abandoned to callous and irresponsible owners.  

Melanie Bowles is probably the most natural nice person I've ever met.  Melanie is too happy in what she's doing to ever fall into the trap of having a cross to bear when you're doing things for other people and other creatures.  Dispensing over 200 pounds of grain a day and 8 square bales of hay a day and watching out over a herd of horses she has rescued is almost pure fun for Melanie.

Melanie was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Florida in her early twenties. After acquiring her first horse in 1992 and learning of the mistreatment endured by many horses, she set out to create what would become Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary.  At first this was a fifty-acre facility in Myakka City, Florida, where she and her husband Jim provided peace and shelter to horses that have been abused or mistreated.  Some of the horses they have now have been confiscated by law enforcement agencies and placed into Melanie's custody.

To support their mission Melanie and Jim Bowles have worked as firefighters in Sarasota, Florida for the last 25 years.  As retirement neared they began looking around for more land, cheaper land, land with a view, land that horses would love.  They found that spot of land near Mena Arkansas by searching through realtors on the web.  The ranch that was to become Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary was the second one they looked at.  "As soon as we saw the view they were ready to make an offer."    

Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary is an award winning 320 acre facility in Mena Arkansas where over 150 horses have come to live out their life in peace and dignity.  "We try to keep an environment as natural as possible because horses need to move, run when they want to, drift around casually to find the sweetest clumps of grass. They need the companionship of other horses.  We look out our bedroom window and watch them naturally form herds and sub-herds.

It took three fifty foot semis to move 40 horses from Florida.  "Now we have 44 horses. That is the most horses we have ever owned at one time." 

The daily expense for care of the horses comes primarily out of the couple's own pocket.

Melanie has written a book entitled The Horses of Proud Spirit to tell people what motivated them to start the sanctuary.

It was published by Pineapple Press in 2003 and is now in its second printing. The ISBN is 1-56164-2851  There has been a tremendous response from readers moved by the stories in the book. Your library can order a copy for you to read, and it is available in almost any large book store. When you order through her Powells Books account (at her web site) Melanie does earn more money to take care of the horses with.

The worst offender is a burro named Biscuit.  He followed us for half a mile, demanding more affection at every step.  Biscuit had been abandoned for years.  His owner didn't even know he was still alive when Melanie rescued him, earning his trust with a handful of biscuits.

http://www.horsesofproudspirit.com is the home page for Melanie's Proud Spirit Horse Sanctuary.  Stop by and take a look.  For a real treat, order her book and settle yourself down for a refreshing story almost as nice as Melanie is.  Oh, she has another book in the works.