VULCAN, Alta. – Since 1997, Paul T. Mitchell has been rescuing horses on his 11 acres of land 100 kilometers north of Lethbridge.
After 18 years of raising horses, Mitchell has now reached a limit, with 35 of them in his stables. This is due widely to a price rise in hay for the horses, causing other people to ask Mitchell to take their horses. He says it’s also due to an unfortunate reality of modern horse training.
“The trainers of today are basically pigeon-holed,” said Mitchell. “They do reining or they do jumping or they do barrel racing, but they don’t look at a horse as an overall project.”
Mitchell’s love of horses is of course one reason why he’s so enthusiastic to rescue them, even in spite of the fact that investment in them is only becoming more risky. However, his reason for possessing as many horses as he does goes a little deeper than a simple appreciation for them.
Eighteen years ago, around the same time he purchased his property northeast of Vulcan, Mitchell was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Doctors gave him only a couple more years before losing his ability to walk. It’s been 15 years.
“I think that horses are very underrated as to their ability to provide for people with medical problems.”
The animals keep the 64-year-old going.
“I can’t take a day off, I mean there’s 35 horses out there, including boarders. If I’m having a bad day with the MS or I have a wave coming in, I can’t lie around and go, ‘Oh, woe is me,'” Mitchell explained. “I still have to be out there filling tanks, feeding horses.
Mitchell’s history with the animals dates back to 1970, and thanks to the horses themselves, that still continues 45 years later.
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