Meet Our Horses!
Zorro’s Crossing is the forever home to 10 magnificent horses. At our sanctuary, these former racehorses are properly cared for, loved unconditionally and kept safe from all harm. Each of these horses has sponsorship opportunities for loving people like you. Click Here to learn how you can help.
Meet Zorro!
Zorro, the guy who started it all. Zorro is a 24-year-old Welsh/Morgan Cross. He may be one of the smallest at the farm at only 13.3 HH, but he is the mightiest. He started his riding career as a jumper pony and semiretired into becoming an equine-assisted hippo therapy pony. Once fully retired, he was adopted by one of his many riders, the Astrop family. Z-Man, as we lovingly refer to him, lives the life of luxury at Zorro’s Crossing. He has shown us the path to our mission: to rescue, rehabilitate and share our home forever with horses who have been cast aside and are in crisis. Zorro is quiet but has a strong presence. He is very regal but also has a goofy side. Zorro has been found breaking into the feed room and eating plants he isn’t supposed to!
Diva's Kitten Journey to
Zorro's Crossing
First put to the whip as a two-year-old, Diva raced 32 times and earned over $100,000 for her connections. Her last race was at Thistledown on September 17th, 2018, where she “trailed, stopped in the stretch and jogged to the wire” finishing almost 30 lengths behind. A month later, she was “up for sale.” Four years old and no longer wanted by her racing connections, Diva’s listing stated that she had a chip in her upper left knee joint. This mare had been bred by racing, used by racing and maimed by racing but received no financial support from racing. Within six weeks, Blue Bloods, a TAA accredited facility, had “flipped” her to a Colt Rainville, a self-professed “trainer” in Virginia. Diva was under Rainville’s jurisdiction for approximately five months and during that time she was neglected and abused. Thanks to Rose Smith and Mary Johnson's due diligence, they were able to track Diva down in May of 2022. She now enjoys being loved on, her daily grooming session and roaming the grounds with her pasture mates Ladd and Astrid. Sponsor Diva's Kitten!
Cupola
Born at Juddmonte Farms in Kentucky, she is the third generation bred for Prince Khalid Bin Abdullah of Saudia Arabia. She is the great granddaughter of Nijinsky Star, bought by the same prince in 1987 for $700,000. So how did a well-bred, beautiful, kind mare end up in the slaughter pipeline heading to Mexico? Cupola had foaled two fillies, one in 2019 and the other in 2020. When she could not get pregnant for the third consecutive year, she was consigned to a sale in New Holland, Pennsylvania. She was to be sold by the pound. With the USDA sticker already stuck to her body, she was ready to be shipped to Mexico for a horrific death. However, Cupola had some angels on her side, Unbridled Thoroughbred Foundation. Unbridled was able to purchase her from the “meat buyer” on November 20, 2020. She then made her way to their facility to adapt to a new life. Still very frightened and apprehensive, she was able to bond with Baby and Ladybug. These three are very bonded and are still pasture mates here at ZC. Cupola and the girls arrived to us in 2021 and have settled in very well. Cupola is still very timid but has made so many strides to becoming a happier and healthier horse. We are beyond proud of her.
Cupola is the head mare of ZC! She is very timid but loves to follow the other horses on the farm and watches over them like they’re all her babies. She loves scratches!
Click here to read Cupola's real horse rescue story. Rescued royalty: Cupola's path from darkness to light. - The Greenville Pioneer - June 30 2023. Page A5.
Lady Bug
Summlikealady (aka Ladybug) was born in 2010 and was raced in 2018-2019.A racing insider reached out to Mary Johnson from a low-level track about Ladybug being sick. Unfortunately, this person didn’t have the financial resources to treat Ladybug. Rose Smith, a woman that saves many horses behind the scenes, generously offered to foot the bill if Ladybug was seen by the track vet. Initially, Ladybug would be okay and colic concerns were dismissed. But then she was diagnosed with (gas) colic and eventually a blockage in the cecum. Five days later, she had not improved, and everyone thought that she would need to be euthanized, including the vet.
Although Ladybug was suffering and in awful pain, she showed a will to live and exhibited a fighting spirit. She simply wasn’t giving up. Rose and Mary stepped up and paid for her to go to Equine Specialty Hospital and determined that she had Grade 4 Bleeding Ulcers. Ladybug was aggressively treated, rehabbed and is doing remarkably well.
Even though she has recovered, she suffered, unconscionably, in silence on the backside of that track. What’s worse, there are countless more suffering – all alone in a tiny stall – in exactly the same way.
Ladybug is now at Zorro's crossing and loving life. She is a strong mare who is absolutely stunning and loves people and other horses. She is bonded with Cupola, and they even try to share a stall when they are in the barn. She is living her best life and is able to be lightly ridden. Sponsor Ladybug!
Ballet Gala aka Baby
BALLET GALA was born on 4/21/2018. She is the original pocket pony, a TV Star on Steve Caporizzo's Pet Connection. As the youngest member of the Unbridled family, she has earned the moniker BABY, Baby Doll, Babes … she is simply darling. Baby is a stout and strong 15.1-hands and growing! Her coat is a lustrous dark chestnut. Baby has a beautiful attitude and innocent willingness. She is a heart horse for sure with an in your pocket personality, she is a real love bug who is interested in being a part of everything that is going on. She never raced. She was donated in May of 2020 by her Breeder. She has a slightly turned out right front leg that would not hold up under the demands of racing. She is a gorgeous mover and sound for pleasure riding. We have saddled and hand walked her with a rider under tack. She is good inside and out and with other horses. Sponsor Baby!
Daisy
Daisy Mae (aka Daisy) was born in 2008. She is a 14-year-old paint pony / Haflinger cross. Daisy was rescued from a kill lot in Kentucky by our neighbor and friend at Wild Fern Ranch, which is located next door to Zorro's Crossing. Grace trained Daisy and used her for therapeutic riding lessons with children. We met Daisy when one of our sons took lessons with her and we all instantly fell in love with her and had the opportunity to purchase her. She is a "bombproof" pony and is extremely smart, strong and can adapt to any situation. She is also great on trail rides. She definitely has a "sassy" personality; however, any child can get on her bareback without a bridle and she will be extremely calm and still for them. Her calling is assisting children, and we hope to use her to visit hospitals and schools in the future. We are so grateful for Grace at Wild Fern Ranch for saving her life and now we are blessed to have her as part of our herd at Zorro's Crossing.
Ladd
Ladd is a 20-year Draft/Thoroughbred Cross Bay horse. He was a champion jumper back in the day. He is a very strong and huge horse, yet extremely gentle and easy to handle. He was owned by a family that lived on the farm where ZC is now. When they moved, they were unable to take him where they were going, so we were overjoyed to have the opportunity to keep him, retire him and love on him.
His soulmate horse, Lady, was his pasture mate, and the two of them lived on the farm for seven years together before we got here. She passed away in 2021 from a long and heroic battle with EPM.
She was our hero horse, and we still miss her and think about her often. She is laid to rest at our grave site at ZC's. Today, Ladd is very bonded with Diva's Kitten and Astrid and the three of them hang out each day in a paddock and are a happy little family. Sponsor Ladd!
Shamrock
Shamrock Road (aka Shamrock, aka Sham) is a 9-year-old Sorrel thoroughbred gelding whose Sire was American Standard, a famous $1 million yearling. Mary Johnson and a group of advocates began following Shamrock Road when he was 3 years old because, at that point, he had already been raced 12 times in 18 weeks. He raced 24 times in his first year of racing, which is unconscionable. In February 2016, he "won" for the last time and in the process was "claimed" (sold) yet again. In less than five years, Shamrock was raced 61 times and only made $42,000 in earnings, which is the definition of a low-level claimer. There are thousands more just like him. There were several attempts (offers) to retire Shamrock from racing, all ultimately failing. Finally, Mary Johnson and Rose Smith were given the opportunity to purchase him and finally end his suffering and servitude to the racing industry. In October 2022, we were fortunate enough to welcome Shamrock Road to his forever home at ZC's where he will live out his life with love and security and will never be sold or rehomed. Everyone has already fallen in love with him including Baby, his new pasture mate.
