TEDDY: OUR HEART HORSE
Our Heart Horse
A horse who spent over a year unable to tell anyone what he needed now spends every day helping children find their voices.
This is Teddy's story.
When Teddy arrived at Celt Run Farm, he was a body condition score of 0.5 — a number most veterinarians never see on a horse still standing. Every rib, every point of his hips, every vertebra visible beneath a coat that had long stopped shining. Our vets estimated he had been in a state of starvation for over a year. Not weeks. Not months. A year or more of standing in the world, slowly disappearing, while no one asked why.
The cruelest part is that his starvation had a hidden cause. Teddy still has his incisors — the front teeth a horse uses to tear grass — but he has no grinding teeth left at all. He could pick up hay, but he could never chew it. So for over a year, this little Haflinger stood surrounded by food he couldn't eat, going hungrier by the day, while it looked to the world like he simply wasn't thriving.
We asked why. And once we understood, the answer to saving Teddy turned out to be beautifully simple: every meal, soaked and softened into a mash he could actually swallow. Slowly — pound by pound, week by week — Teddy came back to life. His coat turned to gold again. His eyes brightened.
And here is the part we still can't explain: Teddy has no business being this kind. Humans starved him. Humans overlooked him for more than a year. If he wanted nothing to do with us ever again, he would have earned that a hundred times over. Instead, he is gentle with adults anyway — a patience he doesn't owe us, and a gift we never take for granted.
But put a child in front of Teddy, and you see something else entirely. His head drops. His feet plant. He goes still as a statue — cement-still — as if he understands that this small person needs him to be steady, and he has decided nothing on earth will move him. We genuinely believe he likes children more than adults. Maybe he recognizes something in them: someone small, still finding their way, who needs the world to be patient with them.
He waits, never rushing, while a child works to form a sound, a syllable, a word. One day, a nonverbal child in our program did exactly that. After session upon session at this gentle horse's side, they spoke their very first word.
It was "Teddy."
He knew what it meant to be voiceless. He gave a child their first word.
HOW TO NOMINATE TEDDY — IT'S FREE
Teddy has been nominated for the USEF Heart Horse Award, a national honor celebrating horses making an extraordinary impact through US Equestrian's Community Outreach Program. Finalists are chosen from nominations, and the winner is decided by a vote of USEF members — presented on the same stage as the nation's top competition horses.
And here's the part most people don't know: anyone can nominate him. You don't have to be a rider, a competitor, or a horse person at all. It's free, and it takes about five minutes.
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Step 1 — Create a free USEF Fan account.
Sign up at: https://www.usef.org/membership/fans
It costs nothing and takes about two minutes.
Step 2 — Nominate Teddy.
Go to the USEF Heart Horse Award page and click "Submit Your Nomination":
https://www.usef.org/about-us/community-building/organizations-program/usef-heart-horse-award
Tell them what Teddy means to you — whether you've watched him carry your child, volunteered beside him, or simply followed his story. Every voice counts. (Need details? See "Teddy's Story at a Glance" below.)
Step 3 — Vote NOW.
When finalists are announced, USEF members — free fans included! — choose the winner. We'll share the ballot link the moment voting opens. One important tip: check your email after you vote. USEF sends a confirmation email, and your vote only counts once you confirm it.
Teddy used his second chance to give children their first words. Use your voice for him.
TEDDY'S STORY AT A GLANCE — FOR YOUR NOMINATION
Your own words matter most, but feel free to borrow any of these details:
Who he is: Teddy is a rescued Haflinger gelding and therapy horse at Speaking of Horses, Inc., a nonprofit equine-assisted speech-language pathology practice at Celt Run Farm in Stanardsville, Virginia — part of the US Equestrian Community Outreach Program.
Where he came from: Teddy arrived at a body condition score of 0.5 after more than a year of starvation. He has his incisors but no grinding teeth — he could pick up hay but never chew it — so he stood surrounded by food he couldn't eat while no one asked why.
How he was saved: Every meal soaked and softened into a mash he could swallow. Pound by pound, week by week, Teddy came back to life.
Who he became: A horse with every reason to distrust people, who is gentle with everyone anyway — and who goes cement-still the moment a child stands in front of him.
The moment that says it all: A nonverbal child in our program spoke their very first word at Teddy's side. That word was "Teddy."
Why he deserves this award: A horse who spent over a year unable to tell anyone what he needed now spends every day helping children find their voices.