This is a story of Tika. She is a beautiful protective mare with a spirited personality. A granddaughter of Secretariat, Tika’s life started on the racetrack. Films of her earliest racing days show her running hard and striving to win each time she was out of the gate. Like her grandsire, she wanted to be first! But over time, and after being hit with a crop again and again as she raced, she reached a point when she decided that she was finished with running and done with being hit. In her final race she ran a very slow last, clearly having lost interest in winning. Tika made her way from the racetrack to foxhunting in the rolling hills of the Virginia countryside. It soon became clear, though, that Tika had as little interest in foxhunting as she did in racing. After a very short time on the hunt circuit, she became unrideable due to her behavior. Deemed “dangerous” because of her continued acting out, one of her veterinarian’s even suggested that she be euthanized. Luckily, Tika made her way to a shelter that housed horses. But even in a safe and quiet place, Tika could not forget her previous experiences. She had decided to fight against the world! She took great delight in frightening the volunteers who would care for her, racing up to them and rearing at feeding time and pinning her ears, making horrible faces, and kicking out if they tried to blanket her in winter. When Sarah first met her she tried the same antics, but she told her she was not afraid of her and actually really loved her “performances” as she knew she was telling her about her feelings. She wasn’t “dangerous” in attempting to hurt people, she just wanted to scare people as a game. Unfortunately, a lot of the people did not know it was her game. This misunderstanding is what caused her to be recommended for euthanasia. Soon enough Sarah was able to realize that she was resentful towards humans for never trying to understand her or work with her. She didn’t have someone she could trust and rely on. We knew she was a perfect candidate for the sanctuary so Sarah told her she would be safe forever and that her power of heart would help other animals to heal. Now Tika spends her days helping her friend Minnie recover from trauma and keeping track of everything that happens at Keeper’s Haven. She truly is our Guardian Spirit.