THE HORSE RESCUER – SPAIN’S FORGOTTEN TRAGEDY
With the collapse of the economy, thousands of Spanish horses were abandoned by their owners. Lois runs a rescue farm where she has been saving horses for the past ten years. We follow her as she goes about her daily work.
During the building boom in Spain, horses became a new status symbol. People with no experience of horses suddenly saw an opportunity to breed valuable thoroughbreds for money. Then the crisis hit, demand declined and the owners had to get rid of their horses quickly because of high costs of caring for them. Many were abandoned and left to die in the vast landscapes of Spain. On the Costa Blanca, Lois runs a rescue farm, a Noah's Ark in the middle of barren countryside. For the past ten years, the 45-year-old has been saving horses. She works calmly, day after day, trying to achieve something others consider futile. At her farm, Lois and her volunteer helpers try to regain the animals’ trust. We follow her as she tends to the animals, looks after her farm, family and volunteers, and struggles to overcome all kinds of adversities. Her husband has had an accident, and she is even more concerned about the financial challenges she now faces. But certain moments give Lois renewed strength: a new-born foal running around the yard, dressing up the horses for a local parade, or seeing an old horse venture into water again. A moving film about a woman who is undeterred by the fact that her efforts will only ever be a drop in the ocean.