Newroz, Queen of Hearts

Springs of Hope
Oct 11
6 min read

As some of you will recall, Newroz was given to us, a noble Arabian mare, but one that, even by three years old, had been overworked and was significantly underweight. She was pregnant, although due to her lack of weight, it took a few months for us to discover that.

Upon her arrival, we immediately changed her diet, gave her food supplements along with a great deal of love and care, which she in her gentle, noble way, returned to us. We often looked at the fruit and vegetable salads that we prepared for her and Taj ( the stallion ) with envy. Only the best quality products, snacks of dates and seasonal fruit. We wanted to restore her to prime condition and to ensure that her pregnancy would be the best we could possibly make it.

Her Arrival

***Chilled Mum with Almas and Oscar, the dog.***

Newroz soon learned to trust us and would immediately come to greet us. Taj, although majestic, had not been treated with any human kindness, so feared that by connecting he would forfeit his dignity. Today, he is the most amazing stallion, a big softie who loves his hugs.

Newroz is the heart of Horses for Hope. She is the gentle Mama; she is the one who has quietly set the tone for her children to imitate. We will never know where the healing process began - did we heal emotionally first? Did she? We believe that it’s a parallel journey, where hearts and emotions sync and lives change forever.

Newroz has the ability to hold presence, space and time. To accept everyone just as they are and to remain silent for as long as the individual needs. She carries an ancient wisdom and discernment, one that we humans could learn much from.

Our students are wowed by Taj, they love our younger horses, they are fond of old man Emir, who is turning into an empath, but Newroz is Queen of Hearts. So when we noticed Newroz limping, having let off steam after a healing session, just jumping for joy, we were concerned. Arabians are so noble that they do not show their pain.We called our local vet in (local being Duhok city), he did his best, but she continued to limp. We began to search for a place to get her X-rayed. There is none. In Iraq, a horse or animal breaks a leg and is put down. Amazingly, we found a vet in Erbil who had been trained in both the UAE and Egypt. I recall one late evening call with him, yes, he was on the page of putting her down, but eventually agreed to give her a chance. His words were, “As a vet, I should put her down, but I see how determined you guys are to fight for her, and I will fight with you although I am not optimistic.” As her front leg was broken, he gave her a 1% chance of recovery. Just 1%. That was enough for us.

Newroz was fighting for her life, in incredible pain, but amazingly, she knew that we were all with her, fighting for her. She never complained; she was highly stressed but remained silent.

Vet B girded himself to see a miracle. He, in his sheer brilliance, called X-Ray suppliers in the UAE to see if perchance one had been purchased by anyone in Iraq. Bingo. He found a small machine in Duhok, one which its owner, a vet, had used on rabbits and cats. Vet B, along with the X Ray machine, came over, and the journey of healing began.

Yes, we did everything medically possible, but we all prayed, and prayed and then again. Even Vet B would say, “with the help of God and medicine.” As we set her leg into a cast that was examined (and its inside smelled) daily and changed monthly, we began to see the percentage slowly rising.

Vet B gave her plasma injections and laser treatment. He sourced painkillers in the UK. He did everything known, drove back and forth to keep checking on her.

By the way, I refer to him as Vet B, as he comes from another minority group that suffered immense losses when ISIS swept into his village, not so far from Erbil. They too lost family members, who were taken into captivity and millions of dollars demanded for their ransom. They live low today, taking every security precaution regarding their identity.

***We built an outside stall for her to keep her connected***

The guys saw that she was super frustrated to be in the stables looking out at the others, so they built her a summer palace outside where she could be in the midst of all the comings and goings whilst on bed rest. We encouraged our students to visit her and love on her, to which she responded with joy. She felt needed again. She is an animal who wants to give, wants to love. (We ensure that all our horses have plenty of physical and emotional rest time, as they give out a lot.)

It has been a six month process. Medicine, good care and constant prayer have gone hand in hand. The first time we let her out into the paddock was under the supervision of Vet B. She immediately tried to run, saw that she could not and dialled her pace down accordingly.

We will never ride her again, but that was never our goal. Her physique was ruined by men riding on her. We are content to walk with her, alongside her on this precious journey of healing.

Helene is one of the orphans who comes to the stables every week. She has asked the orphanage time after time whether Newroz can come to visit her every day. She was sad when Newroz was injured because “like Newroz needs safety without injury, so do I. Newroz fills the emptiness of being an orphan without parents. Now that she is healing, I can celebrate again.”

“When we discovered that Newroz had broken her leg, I was devastated. I cried when I was alone but knew that I could not let her see my tears or feel my sadness. This was the time when she needed me to be her rock, to take care of her, to perform all the daily treatments, and to pray for her in the firm belief that she would heal.

Newroz was used to having her sons beside her, Almas the firstborn and Sapphire, the younger. It concerned her that they were separated, so several times a day, I would bring them to visit her so that she would not be overly stressed. I cared for Newroz more than I cared for myself. They were hard and worrisome days for us both, but thank God we endured and overcame together.”

Wissam, Director, Horses for Hope.

We ask you to continue to pray for her, that her leg will remain strong, and for all our horses, each of whom has a different role in our communal life, each of whom bonds with a different student.

As we enter into the new school year, we will be working alongside more autistic children from Duhok who have asked to be given one hour a week. We need our horses and all our animals healthy, patient and loving. We need wisdom to continue to pioneer this work of healing with our precious Queen of Hearts, teaching Almas, Sapphire and Ruby how to hold presence so that healing can flow.

I close with a poem prayer that I read this week, written for sick people, but I take it for our animals.

“You designed our bodies with a wondrous capacity for regeneration and healing. You give wisdom and knowledge and skill to those who, by long training in their professions, learn to diagnose and treat ailments of the body. And you, sometimes effect miracles of healing that even the most skilled of practitioners can not duplicate.” D.K. McKelvey

With thanks to God, a skilled practitioner who decided to give life a chance, and Wissam and his team, who fought for her day and night. With thanks to our students, the kids rescued from ISIS who had dreamed of horses whilst in captivity and refused to lose our Newroz. With thanks to the Downs and autistic kiddies who just wrap themselves inside her neck. With thanks to our Syrian kiddies who come to visit with Mums bearing plates of home cooked food. With thanks to all who have prayed for and encouraged our Queen of Hearts.