Karen Fowler has always been an avid horse lover. “I have ridden my whole life, and I have a long love of racing and thoroughbred racehorses,” she says. “I have worked with them, raised them, cared for them.” While horses are what initially attracted her to the James River Horse Foundation, for which she serves as president of the board of directors, it is the organization’s philanthropic work that has kept her involved.
The James River Horse Foundation runs a program that was created by a group of volunteers whose primary purpose, initially, was to provide sanctuary, a rescue home, retraining and rehabilitation to retired racehorses. The horses, which are housed at the State Farm Work Center in Goochland, are cared for by inmates who have been selected for the program, which also focuses on vocational training. Each year, after a lengthy application process, six to eight inmates are chosen to participate, and they’re taught how to care for the horses with a curriculum including barn safety, basic veterinary care and grooming. They learn basic management skills and how to work as a team.
For Fowler, who started volunteering with the James River Horse Foundation eight years ago, it has been transformative to see the way inmates respond to the horses. “The biggest lesson, I’ve found, is seeing the true goodness of people come out,” she says. “Whether it is the inmates that are in the program, our sponsors of the program that are helping to support us, or the general public as we try to spread our mission, the good in people really comes out when they see that interaction with the horses.”
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