Painted Horseshoes Lucky for Hundreds of Children

By Jesse Poole

Gordon College News Service

(This story appeared April 5 in The Salem News, as well as The Boston Globe, Beverly.)

For students at Landmark School, a non-profit education center in Beverly, art is not always something they can take home and pin on the walls. Instead, many children here have been painting horseshoes for a greater cause, one called ‘Horseshoes for Rescues.’

The painted horseshoes are then sold at Salon Bogart in Manchester-by-the-Sea, and all of the profits go to Windrush Farm in Boxford, MA, a therapeutic equitation nonprofit that specializes in teaching physically, emotionally, and learning disabled children and adults to ride and work with horses.

“It’s very important to share the message of Windrush with children,” said Jennifer Tartaglia, director of development at Windrush Farm. “We work with more than a 1,000 people each year, and we couldn’t do it without the help of others.”

It was two years ago that Lauren Rowland, owner of Salon Bogart and founder of Horseshoes for Rescues, discovered this better use for old horseshoes.

“At first I just brought them into the salon and had the girls [employees] help me paint them,” said Rowland. Rowland owns three horses herself.

Now Rowland collects horseshoes from neighboring farms and distributes them to Landmark Elementary and Middle School.

“Landmark school has a strong reputation for giving back to the community in the form of community service,” said Susan Tomases, director of marketing and communication at Landmark School. “And this is one of the ways we give back.”

 The horseshoes sell for $20 each in Rowland’s salon at 4A Summer Street, Manchester-by-the-Sea.

“It’s important to get the children involved because the kids in Manchester are so blessed,” said Rowland. “And I’m not sure if they know all that’s out there. I want kids to learn that it’s okay for someone to be different from them.”

Manchester/Essex School’s a cappella group, The Sound Waves, will be singing in Salon Bogart on Friday, April 8 at 6PM to celebrate Horseshoes for Rescues. Rowland also hopes to sell the horseshoes at the upcoming Manchester Arts Festival on Saturday, July 23.

“The collaboration between Landmark, Windrush, and Salon Bogart has been fulfilling for everyone,” said Tomases.

“We’ve sold about 250 horseshoes and there’s no set end to this. I will do it forever,” said Rowland.