It all started with a blind horse.

Dianne Hooker said her daughter Fawn, now 14, went horseback riding for the first time when she was seven years old and became completely enthralled with the animal.

“She fell in love with horses the instant she saw them,” Hooker said. “A friend had a horse for sale, so we went and looked at it and bought it.”

Hooker said the family didn’t realize the old horse, Chief, was blind. Regardless, she said he was a great companion to Fawn and started her down the path of adopting more special-needs horses