UN News Marisa Striano, founder of Spirit’s Promise animal farm.
Spacious paddocks, green pastures, and a devoted all-female staff: on Long Island, a strip of land surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean near New York City, horses once destined for slaughter are given a second chance – to live, and to help people heal. The farm, founded in 2010 by Marisa Striano, is named after her beloved horse, Spirit. It offers healing – for both horses and humans in need.
A faithful companion
From ancient battlefields to modern therapeutic programs, horses have been by humanity’s side for millennia—but in today’s high-tech world, few remember that legacy.
“Horses didn’t just help us survive,” says Marisa Striano. “They built America with us. They plowed the land, they carried people.”
Many cultures revere horses not only for their strength, but for their spiritual presence. In Mongolia—the country that introduced the resolution for World Horse Day—horses are sacred, central to national identity. Children there often learn to ride before they can walk, and folk songs celebrate the animals’ loyalty and nobility.
Fading from view
Once humanity’s primary mode of transportation, horses have largely been replaced by machines. Today, they are mostly found in sport, tourism, therapy, and entertainment. But this shift doesn’t mean they’ve lost their place in human life. “Horses haven’t lost their value – we’ve just stopped seeing it,” Striano says.
A second chance
Sick, aging, or retired racing horses are often shipped to slaughterhouses in Canada or Mexico.
“Imagine working 15 years, giving your all, and then being thrown away just because you got old,” Striano says. “Those are the horses we take in. We give them more time. A second chance.”
The farm is home to 19 rescued horses, including retired police horses, former breeding stallions, and even old Amish workhorses – each with their own story.
“One of them is Gus – he’s 107 in human years,” Striano says. “He used to be a therapy horse, but near the end he started throwing kids off. Now he’s retired and in love with his blind companion, Ramona. They’re inseparable. That’s the horse’s soul.”
Emotional congruency
Horses aren’t just helpers – they’re deeply emotional, intuitive, and highly social beings. With near-360-degree vision and a heightened sensitivity to their surroundings, horses are naturally attuned to emotional states, Striano explains. This makes them ideal partners in therapeutic settings
At Spirit’s Promise, horses work with children with disabilities, survivors of abuse, and older adults with dementia. A horse can calm an anxious teenager or bring joy to someone who thought they had forgotten how to feel it.
They’re often called “mirrors of emotion”: horses instantly pick up on a person’s true inner state—even if the person isn’t aware of it themselves.
“Horses are 100 percent emotion. They don’t lie, and they can’t stand lies in others,” says Ms. Striano. “If you say you’re fine but inside you’re falling apart, they’ll sense it—and walk away. But if you’re honest—even if you’re sad or angry – they’ll stay with you.”
This sensitivity makes them remarkable companions for those experiencing grief, addiction, or trauma. One moment stands out vividly for her.
A young man came to the farm early in his recovery from drug addiction. Dressed in a hoodie with sleeves pulled low, he seemed constantly on guard. At the time, the farm had a horse named Heartbreaker. Though she has since passed, Striano recalls what happened next with awe.
“She walked right up to him and just… accepted him,” Ms. Striano says. “She looked at him like, ‘I see you’re broken. I am too. But that’s not the end. You can still love.’”
The two entered the paddock together. Heartbreaker lay down on the ground, and the man sat beside her, resting his face on her body. For half an hour, they just sat there in silence.
“It was complete peace,” Ms. Striano remembers. “Trust without words. Presence without conditions.” Then the young man’s mother approached. Heartbreaker, who had been calm and gentle, suddenly grew agitated — snorting, tossing her head, trying to break free.
“She acted like she wanted to protect him from his mother,” she says. “I rushed to lead Heartbreaker away. And the young man turned to me and whispered, ‘She hides behind her religion, but she hasn’t forgiven me. She’ll never say it – but the horse saw it.’”
For Ms. Striano, this confirmed something she’s seen again and again: horses don’t respond to appearances, only truth. “They don’t see the mask. They see the soul. And that’s their power. They see us for who we really are – and still choose to be with us.”
Between Care and Exploitation
Debates around horse exploitation are ongoing: from carriage horses to racing and show industries, where is the line between tradition and cruelty?
“I hate racing,” Ms. Striano says. “Maybe it had purpose once. Now it’s just about money. Horses get pumped with drugs, locked up, used up. Then slaughtered.”
At the same time, she acknowledges that ethical questions aren’t always clear-cut. “I don’t believe in sacrificing one soul for another,” she says when asked about the horses pulling carriages for tourists in New York’s Central Park. “Those horses feed entire families. We have to find a balance. But we must never forget: horses are not tools. They are living beings.”
To Forgive and Love Again
For Ms. Striano and the horses she cares for, the farm is a place where trust between species is rebuilt. She sees her work as a privilege—a daily chance to be with creatures that know how to forgive and love again, no matter what they’ve been through.
“When I walk into the paddock and they come up to me—I thank them. Every time,” she says. “Because a horse is pure. They’re not with you because you broke them—they’re with you because they chose to be. And that means everything.”
A Day to Say ‘Thank You’
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), there are around 60.8 million horses in the world. The United States has 2.41 million horses and ponies across 63,000 farms, while the European Union is home to about 7 million horses and 800,000 jobs in equestrian breeding, sport, and tourism. In Mongolia there are 3.4 million horses – nearly one for every person.
Beyond sport and industry, horses, donkeys, and mules are vital to rural life. According to research by the World Organisation for Animal Health and FAO, 112 million working equids support the livelihoods of some 600 million people in low- and middle-income countries, helping transport water, food, and much more.
On July 11, the first World Horse Day, the UN invites the world to say “thank you” to humanity’s loyal companion – for their labor, trust, and patience. For staying by our side – and helping us heal. “A horse is a gift,” Ms. Striano says. “And we have no right to lose it.”
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