Thor and Athena’s Promise Sanctuary: a home for old horses

By Jon Huang

In 2005, Lynn and Paul Cairney were living in Colorado Springs and saw a news broadcast about a local horse rescue; they decided to volunteer. There, they met Thor and Athena, who eventually became their first two horses for what today is Thor and Athena’s Promise Sanctuary.

Unlike a rescue, which rehabilitates animals with the goal of adoption, a sanctuary serves as a permanent home. Lynn Cairney said much of the work involves providing medical care, a spacious environment for horses to roam and healthy volunteers who help groom them and clean the stables.

During their time at horse rescues, the Cairneys learned how many elderly horses were abused — some from hard labor on farms without proper medical care, others from being Pregnant Mares’ Urine horses (PMUs) for harvesting horse hormones for pharmaceuticals and others from breeding practices to obtain desirable horses for competitive racing. Many of these discarded horses were left for slaughter.

As Lynn Cairney began caring for rescued horses who were often hobbled from arthritis and injuries, emaciated from poor feeding and antisocial, she was overwhelmed with emotion.

“I was so offended and so angry that somebody could allow this to happen,” Lynne Cairney said. “They’re designed for love. They’re not designed to be treated like a machine.”

Cairney said she grew up in California and during her elementary school years, worked on a local horse ranch where she traded chores for lessons. She always wanted a horse but her family didn’t have enough money for their car. She still remembers having to search the car seats to find spare change to make a phone call whenever it broke down.

“That was my dangling carrot,” she said. “I just wanted a reliable car.”

Cairney said she attended college where she found an interest in political science; she eventually worked in the California state’s governor’s office. She met Paul, who grew up in Colorado Springs and was in the U.S. Air Force, and the two married at age 25.

After moving around domestically and abroad, Cairney said Paul retired from the military in 2013 and began working in school security in Texas, a career that has involved designing programs to prevent school violence, including initiatives to partner mental health professionals with school districts.

In 2015, the couple officially began the horse sanctuary. In 2022, they moved back to Colorado and now live between Falcon and Black Forest where they currently care for 14 horses on 27 acres. While the sanctuary is a nonprofit and accepts donations, Cairney said they cover about 90% of the expenses themselves and are volunteer run.

The Cairneys’ efforts rehabilitating traumatized horses come with personal ties. Paul Cairney has dealt with PTSD from his tour in Iraq and experienced firsthand the importance of proactively addressing the issues. While stationed overseas in Germany, he began experiencing uncharacteristic bouts of anger and irritability to the point of having suicidal thoughts.

“I was just in a horribly dark place driving home,” Paul Cairney said. “On those narrow German roads, there was a bus coming this way and I’m going this way and I remember looking at the bus and saying, ‘Just kill me, I don’t care,’” he said.

After that night, he decided to seek help through counseling and other support. Part of his recovery included time with the horses, especially time with Thor.

“He was very patient with me when I was being a jerk,” Paul Cairney said. “It was good being out here with him. Just brushing and picking at his hooves … just spending that time, it really helped me bring my blood pressure down when I was having a bad day.”

The Cairneys have heard similar therapeutic stories from other sanctuary volunteers and guests over the years.

“Animals can be very helpful and focus on something constructive instead of whatever is going through their mind,” Paul Cairney said.

The Cairneys also use the horse sanctuary to work with local community groups like the Salvation Army and hosting outings for displaced families of domestic violence. From watching children get excited as they interact with horses to seeing the parents’ joy watching their kids, the community connections remind them how much elderly horses can give.

The Cairneys also use the horse sanctuary to work with local community groups like the Salvation Army and hosting outings for displaced families of domestic violence. From watching children get excited as they interact with horses to seeing the parents’ joy watching their kids, the community connections remind them how much elderly horses can give.

Now 55, Paul and Lynn Cairney have a heart for seniors. In the same way they see old horses, they feel as strongly toward the elderly who might often feel forgotten by society, less confident in their physical disabilities and less valued without paid employment.

“When we meet senior people, we gravitate to them,” Lynn Cairney said.

Their passion has led to their involvement in the Connected Horse Dementia Project, a program for elderly people with early stage dementia and their families to help reduce anxiety, increase self-awareness in both caretaker and patient alike, and build stronger relationships through guided interactions and exercises with horses.

The Cairneys are currently working to get the horse sanctuary to qualify as the site for a local Connected Horse pilot program, which will be free for participants, since health insurances don’t cover it. They want to partner with local senior groups in the community and encourage interested parties to reach out to them.

From elderly horses to senior citizens, the Cairneys hope that Thor and Athena’s Promise Sanctuary is one place where age, in many ways, is just a number.