New York's Packard Meadows a respite spot for humans, horses

New York's Packard Meadows a respite spot for humans, horses
Photo: Ginny O'Malley

Everyone has their own personal place for finding tranquility and solitude, and mine is around horses. Sometimes my comfort takes place with morning visits on the backside of my local racetrack, and other times, peacefulness generates with a drive out to a farm.

In the town of Newfane, N.Y., approximately 30 miles northeast of Niagara Falls, nestled on 7.5 acres of land sits Packard Meadows Farms

The name Packard Meadows has lived with owner/operator, Virginia Broome O’Malley, since she was a young lady. It combines a farm her parents bought in Northern Maryland that had rolling meadows, and her grandfather’s 1905 Packard that her dad was restoring at the same time

Virginia, or "Ginny" as she is better known, performs a variety of roles on her farm.

“I am the Mom, the treat giver, the 'kisser," she said, with the latter a mandatory thing all horses on the property have to learn. "I’m also the instructor for riders working with our horses, the board collector, the bill payer and play vet when I have to."


O’Malley has provided what is necessary for everyday care,
health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of her horses since 2011. However, her connection with and love for equines extends back over four decades.

“In 1972, my sister and I were taking riding lessons, and later that year our parents bought the horse we were learning on," she said. "But by the middle of the first winter, my sister decided that taking care of our ‘Sandy’ before school and especially in the cold was not for her. So, Sandy became mine."

In 1975, during her senior year of high school, Ginny spent many of her days riding. But then her parents divorced and Sandy passed away. Ginny "just went on with my life”.

After befriending Sue Williams, the owner of Abdullah, the horse that earned national fame and a gold medal for the United States at the 1984 Olympics for show jumping, O’Malley started thinking about getting back into horses. “I thought it would be fun”, she said.

The fun began eight years ago when O’Malley joined Facebook and found a swayback, thin chestnut gelding on the Camelot kill pen page. He was described as a "rescue with a neurological disorder." The horse’s name was, Shinhopple, and he was a grandson of Foolish Pleasure, the 1975 Kentucky Derby winner.

“Well, that was it,” O’Malley said. “This horse needed someone and no one could take him”.

Getting in contact with a Facebook group to try to save the horse, O’Malley indicated she could take Shinhopple and care for him, but was unable to afford the $550 purchase price. A man named Tom Lock, a virtual stranger with whom O'Malley had only one phone conversation, wanted to help rescue a horse, and thought this was the one. He drove from his home in Pennsylvania to New Jersey and paid Shinhopple's fee.

On the second phone call between Tom and Ginny, he told her she now owned the horse. That was April 6, 2011, “a date we still celebrate,” O’Malley said.

Soon after, a leather halter arrived with an engraved name plate on it. The plate read 'Champ,' no doubt, in reference to his sire. Shinhopple was no longer his name.

“Honestly, Tom is the reason Champ did not go to slaughter,” O'Malley said.

(Champ hanging out at Packard Meadows. Courtesy of Ginny O'Malley)

 
After Champ’s arrival, O’Malley, changed locales a couple of times seeking better living conditions and accommodations for her horse. In the midst of this process, O’Malley explained how she found her second horse, Alex.

“He was 13 months old, stuck in a stall 24/7 and sick. The owner of the barn said to me, if I paid Alex’s board for three months, I could have him. He was severely anemic. I had to help.

"I stayed the necessary three months until I payed for him, got his papers and away we went."

Alex recovered and began training for the show ring, where he shined brightly.

“He was a star!” O’Malley said, as in 2014, as a 4-year old, Alex won top honors in the pleasure horse division and placed third in walk/trot in a popular local event called the Southtown Summer Series.

The following year is one O’Malley would like to forget. Alex suffered a severe injury to his right hind leg. Ginny, with assistance from some friends, cleaned the wound and wrapped it, and waited for the vet to arrive. Alex was transported to Cornell Veterinary Hospital where it was diagnosed the horse had severed his long and extensor tendons. The gruesome and catastrophic damage required Alex to learn to walk, trot and canter again.

O’Malley credits MacKenzie MacFarlane for helping her get through the 10-months of daily bandage changes. “I could have never gotten Alex through this injury without her," she emphasized. “MacKenzie was a 20-year old girl going to college, she held a job and still found time to be here with Alex every day."

Defying the odds, Alex was back in the show ring 13 months after his accident and winning ribbons.

Alex has retired from showing, but this trusting wonderful horse has a new career. He goes to birthday parties, day care centers and church functions.

“He enjoys entertaining, especially the kids and is such a ham,” O’Malley said with a smile, and then added, “Alex loves nothing more than showing that he can shake his hoof and gives rides.”

O’Malley gives a call out to Benny, whose full name is Beckham Bend and is a son of Invisible Ink, runner-up in the 2001 Kentucky Derby. “Ben has been through tough times," O'Malley said. "He broke both rear legs as a youngster and a front leg was secured with screws."

However, his injuries didn’t prevent Ben from becoming a racehorse, and in 2015, as a 10-year old, Ben set a track record at Mountaineer which still stands. When it was time to retire Beckham Bend in September, 2016, O’Malley was off to Mountaineer to bring Benny home.

To compliment Beckham Bend, his full sibling, Adios Nardo, has recently taken up residence at Packard Meadows. Last December, after doing a bit of research, O’Malley found that Adios Nardo was still racing.

“He’s a gelding, and would have no value once he was done on the racetrack," she said. “So, I contacted his owner and trainer and explained to them Nardo’s connection to Ben, and offered a retirement home when they were ready."

Adios Nardo won a race in early May of this year, but days later, he was injured. “Thankfully the trainer had kept my five-month old message and now Adios Nardo is retired with his brother," O'Malley said. "The night Nardo arrived, it was the most beautiful sight to see the two horses reconnect."

With a growing horse population, O’Malley needed to expand. In 2016, she found the piece of property on which her farm currently sits. By the end of that year, she had 23 stalls.

“Knowing I was relocating to a bigger place I somehow saw the name Break the Ice," she said. "He was a 12-year old gelding who had raced 139 times and was still running in Puerto Rico, so I had to do something."

(Break the Ice. Courtesy of Ginny O'Malley)

Ginny contacted a friend who spoke Spanish and agreed to talk to the owner about purchasing him. $500 later, ‘Icy’ was done racing. O’Malley credits the owners of Caribbean Thoroughbred Aftercare for acquiring the horse for her.
Packard Meadows Farm was officially opened in early 2017 and has assisted in layovers, transportation, boarding and has taken in multiple racehorses who were injured or in need of a home. “We even helped claim a horse (Johannesburg Smile) and secured his future at Old Friends in Kentucky,” O’Malley said.

Many horses have come in and out of her farm. “Some of the horses were here for hospice care, some were in bad situations and we assisted in getting them out," O'Malley said. "At one point, our stalls were full."

She went on to add, “We do have a few boarders, but for the most part, I work to support the farm”.

The current roster of equine residents stands at 10, and there is also a donkey named ‘Jack-Jack’ roaming about with his horse friends.

“It is tough trying to support 10 horses on a budget just enough to suit its purpose, ”O’Malley said, “but when I get out of my truck and Benny calls to me, or Alex comes to the gate to see Mom, I wouldn’t change it for the world."

Anyone who has visited the horses at Packard Meadows to find comfort and peacefulness would agree.

Meet Nick Costa


Nick became instantly hooked on horse racing when his father first took him to the racetrack when he was 5-years old. As a racing fan, he's attended several Kentucky Derbys, Belmont Stakes and Breeders' Cups, and has visited several racetracks throughout the United States and Canada.


Back in the year 2000, Nick became a licensed owner and is currently still involved with the sport in that honored capacity. In 2010, Nick added another dimension when trying his hand at writing about horse racing for Horse Racing Nation, and thanks its readers for their support.

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