Stewart Home School May 20, 2007 newspaper article

Love Rises From the
Ashes

By Vince Tweddell
State Journal Staff Writer

Maybe no student was as devastated as Jim, the early November night a barn fire killed seven of the eight horses that lived at Stewart Home School.

"These were my children," the 53-year-old said of the horses who died in the Nov. 5 fire.

Jim, whose main job the past six years has been to tend to the horses in the school's riding program, had to be restrained from attempts to run into the blazing barn. He said during those moments, watching the barn burn, his mind was only for the animals inside.

"I was thinking more of the horses than myself," he said.

That devastating, helpless feeling was partially healed Monday morning when Tia Marie " the lone survivor " returned to the school. And with her came a friend: Cyclops, a gift from local racehorse trainer Buff Bradley and his wife, Kim.

Cyclops " a one-eyed thoroughbred who was not known to have ever raced " may stay on at the school if he turns out to be a good riding horse for the students, said Linda Word, the school's equine director.

Both horses will have use of a small run-in shed with stalls until the school can build a bigger 10- to 12-stall barn, which is planned for construction during the summer months, Word said. And a new indoor riding arena " to complement the barn and an existing outdoor riding ring" is also planned at the school.

The fire began when lightning struck the barn situated among the sprawling hills of the 850-acre campus. At about 7 p.m. Franklin County firefighters were dispatched. The blaze was under control before 8:30 p.m.

But the freak accident didn't spare seven of eight horses stalled there.

Tia Marie, who had been at the school only since March, escaped " her only injury some singed hair at different spots on her body.

Monday morning, the chestnut Saddlebred wore a green blanket to ward off the chill while chomping on grass in the horses' fenced area with her companion, Cyclops.

She was relaxed, readily letting Jim pet and kiss on her, and didn't flinch when others went to her. Word pointed out that the remaining wound " undetectable to an untrained eye " was the shorter, curly hair on her chin where it had been singed.

For Tia Marie, it's her second close call. She was brought to the school after being bought at an auction, saving her from being "destined for the kills," Word said.

"She has miraculously survived twice," Word said. "She was meant to be here."
Word said she has received hundreds of phone calls since the fire. Some offered tack. Some offered horses. And after the new year, Word will travel in search of the horses to fill the stalls in the new barn.

Word said "excited" students will begin riding again in March. Until then, the horses will be readjusting, while hanging out with Word and Bass.

Jim, described as the student who knew the horses best, says he got up at the crack of dawn to work with them. For this horseman " who's been at the school for 41 years " not having horses to work with has left his days "boring."

He'll have just over two months to help Word get the horses ready for students to ride. That's something for which Jim been waiting a long time, and probably Tia Marie, too.

His arm around the mare's neck, he said with a smile, "She'll have to get used to me all over."