When it comes to inspiring others to live life to the fullest no matter the circumstances, not many horses come close to the abilities of a little one-eyed rescue horse named Lulu. Found in a half-collapsed metal building by the
Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation in Zimmerman, Minnesota, she was in foal, starved, abused, and worst of all, her right eye was so severely damaged that it was split in half and had to be surgically removed. She was considered "unadoptable" by many within the rescue, the wildest of the bunch, but miraculously, the little one-eyed wonder made the decision to trust an eleven year-old girl, Aimee Schulz, and was officially adopted by Aimee in April of 2009.
Lulu first hit the horse show circuit in 2009, quickly making a name for herself as the one-eyed rescue horse with unknown bloodlines, taking on the registered horses, often times winning. In 2012, Lulu was hardship registered into the
American Miniature Horse Association (AMHA) and
American Miniature Horse Registry (AMHR) as Skip To My Lulu. Since then, she has not missed a beat as a top competitor, competing across the nation in Miniature horse shows sweeping youth, amateur, and open classes in everything from showmanship and obstacle to jumping and earning AMHR Hall of Fame recognition.
Lulu's fame escalated after she became the National Champion in Youth Hunter out of 77 entries, and swept the remaining jumping class by taking National Champion in Youth Jumper by mere tenths of a second out of 45 entries. Soon the whole show grounds was buzzing about the one-eyed rescue horse, one without bloodlines or a trainer, that swept the youth jumping classes. "I was just a little girl trying to catch a wild one-eyed pony with no inkling that I'd one day be standing on the arena ?oor as National Champion with that same horse who had stolen my heart," said Aimee.
However, Lulu's greatest impact has come with her events outside of the show ring. Lulu has become a poster child for the rescue and disabled horse with a fairytale story that everyone fell in love with - a horse and a girl with a one-in-a-million bond. She gives demonstrations, acts as a lesson horse, walks in parades, visits churches, stores, and nursing homes, helps with fundraisers, and attends horse expos.
Hearing her story moves people to tears, even inspiring them to adopt and show rescue horses. Highly trained and patient, Lulu is capable of showing anyone the ropes. She has taught many youth the finer aspects of showing, and helped show many more the beginning steps. Most of all, Lulu has shown love and compassion when visiting nursing homes, changing her demeanor immediately as soon as she engages with the patients. "She becomes more careful when walking, and extremely quiet. It's as if she senses that she needs to be gentler with them," said Aimee.
Lulu has introduced thousands to the world of horses. Everywhere she goes, she touches lives and changes the world's view on horses and especially rescued horses - one small hoof-print at a time.