Stanfield was a kind fellow with a pretty face and eyes that would focus just on you. He was a big 16.3 hands at three years old and though broke to ride, he had not been trained for racing. Most would think he was quite the opportunity for a competitive sport horse — that is until they saw his pictures.
Stanfield was “low backed,” a kinder word for sway backed. The conformation defect wouldn't hamper him for riding, many low backed horses actually race. However, Stanfield's conformation was a slap in the face for all the potential adopters that passed him over for 10 months.
“I felt Stanfield was special from the moment his hoof touched down in our barn,” said New Vocations trainer Leandra Cooper. “His personality was grandiose and his capacity to make us laugh seemed to know no bounds. He deeply endeared himself to all of us, but we also knew that his conformation would be a deterrent to most people despite the fact that our vets clarified that it didn't cause him any discomfort or limitations.
“Stanfield did a tremendous amount of learning and maturing in the time that he was in our program, and we continued to try to showcase the broadening breadth of his skill sets. He just needed someone to take a chance on him, so he could really shine and show how much he had to offer.”
Unbeknownst to Leandra and her team, nearly 500 miles away, Sonya Ericson had been stalking the New Vocations website for months and kept finding herself drawn to Stanfield, viewing and re-viewing his pictures and videos.
Sonya came from a background deeply rooted in horses.
“My Irish mother had a riding school – until she died in a car accident when I was six,” said Ericson. “My family were all about racing, point-to-points, and steeplechasing. I worked as a vet assistant and a flight attendant to pay the bills, but horses have always been my passion.”
Being so knowledgeable, it's no surprise that Sonya was a stickler for good conformation. She thought she wanted perfection in her next horse until her life dramatically changed two years ago.
“I broke my back, was diagnosed with breast cancer and grounded as an International flight attendant by COVID-19. I reached a point of perfect fragility,” she said. “I lost confidence in my body — that had never failed me; in people that I loved, in people that I did not even know…
“I watched Stanfield's posts many times over, for months. I had concerns regarding his back…and well, he was flawed. But he seemed so kind and that expression on his face – just wide open and willing.”
After waiting ten long months for someone to choose him, Sonya stepped up and adopted Stanfield.
“It's the best chance I have ever taken,” she said. “I needed a horse to take care of me, which he does every day. Horses are intuitive and emotional and extraordinarily perceptive.
“I have no family, other than my dad. I never married or had kids; I was too scared after my childhood. The things that I have survived I have survived because of my horses and dogs. Thank God! In all of my years with horses, I can honestly say Stanfield is one in a million; he is so ridiculously special. He lights up the moment he sees me; it fills my heart. We ride almost every day. He makes me laugh a lot and he has never taken a step wrong.”
Stanfield is doing exactly what Leandra believed he would, “truly shining and radiating in his new home!”
Dot Morgan is the founder and executive director of the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program.
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