"He Was Underweight and That Little Spark in His Eyes Was Gone"

Lauren Collora bought her horse, Romeo, for $1 when he was underweight and in poor health. The pair are now pursuing their USDF Bronze Medal in dressage.
By: Lauren Collora

I was born and raised in the north of England in Warrington, Cheshire, which is between Liverpool and Manchester. My dad trained police horses for the Merseyside Mounted Police, where he was the head trainer and a serving officer. My mom was a police dog trainer and serving officer, and also was a 2* eventer, so horses were something I was always going to end up being involved with. There wasn't really any other option for me! I was born into it, and it is in my blood. My mom was still competing when she was five months pregnant with me. The first time I ever sat on a horse was when I was four days old — my mom put me on the front of the saddle with her because she missed not being on her horse after having a baby.

We're an eventing family, so my mom and dad grew up training me in eventing, and that's what I competed in most of the time I was in the U.K. They got me my first pony when I was 10, and I kept him until the day he died when he was 26 and I was 23. My Irish Sport Horse eventer is still alive and well, he is semi-retired living with my mom and dad. My mom is one of the few people who I will trust to give me lessons. Whenever they come to visit, I tell her, “OK, you need to come kick my butt for a couple of days.”

I moved to Southern California four years ago to work in the film industry as I'm a trained special effects technician/special effects artist — I have a degree in making monsters for movies! I went on a college graduation trip to Los Angeles and attended a horror movie and special effects convention called Monsterpalooza. I instantly thought, “This is the place where I need to be.” Coincidentally, I also met my husband at the convention, as he is an independent filmmaker.

When I got to the U.S., it was at the end of COVID and the movie industry had slowed down a lot, especially in Los Angeles. I hoped it would recover, and jobs would come back to Hollywood, but they never really did, so it was a struggle to find work. I began to think about what else I was good at, and the obvious answer was horses. I reached out to local equestrian groups on Facebook and was contacted by someone who needed an assistant trainer to teach beginner lessons for kids, so I began working at the Anaheim Hills Saddle Club (now the Nohl Ranch Saddle Club). Through that job, I began to make connections in the equestrian community, and it slowly built from there.

I was working at another equestrian center in Orange County, Calif., when I first came across Romeo. He was in bad shape, and I was asked to ride him to get him ready to be sold. He was underweight and that little spark in his eyes was gone, but there was just something about him the first time I saw him, I knew there was a connection.
Romeo was nine when I met him (he is now 12). He had a pretty successful racing career under the name Tavasco Road, and retired injury free. He’s one of those horses who's been everywhere, and everybody knows him. I believe he showed hunter/jumper for a little while, then his owner wanted to try western, but he wasn’t interested in it.

“If Romeo never does anything else ever again, he's achieved more than I ever thought he could.” - Lauren Collora

There's a period between when he was five and when I met him that I don't know too much about. When he came into my life, he was basically like a hat rack with a head on. He was too skinny for me to ride or put a saddle on, so I would just walk him in hand and let him eat grass. I thought, “I need to help this animal,” so I started sneaking him food that I bought with money I didn't have. He would call to me in the morning when he saw me, which just broke my heart.

His owner said she was going to sell him, and I had first right of refusal, but she was asking $10,000 and I simply couldn’t afford it. I was distraught and crying as I didn’t want to let him go. There weren’t any offers on him and eventually his owner texted me and said: “What if you just take him, and we'll do the purchase price for a dollar? I know you love him and I know you'll do what's right by him.”

Sold!

That was how he came into my life. Once I owned him, I then needed to figure out how to fix him, and I suspected there was a neurological issue because he wasn't acting right. I had Romeo tested, and he was diagnosed with EPM (Equine Protozoal Myeloencephalitis).

He also had other issues, such as his teeth and feet being a mess. I started a GoFundMe and made enough money for his treatment, then a friend offered me work at her barn in exchange for paying his vet bills. If I hadn't had that support network, it would've been almost impossible, but we made it happen.

Three years later, here we are — his body is strong, and he's enormous and healthy! He has some lasting effects from the EPM, and stumbles a little every now and then, but he doesn't have the active infection in him anymore. Once the treatments started working and he began to feel better, it was almost like seeing him wake up. He started to have opinions about things, and I saw him grow and blossom. Romeo never used to play with other horses; he'd just stand there, but then he began playing and discovered he had a place in the herd hierarchy that he quite liked.

Romeo is one of those horses who just never says “no” to me. Anything I ask of him, he's like, “OK, I can do that for sure.” He keeps surprising me every day. I think he's a person in a horse's body — he is so much like a human being, he's very mellow and super sweet. I have some clients with special needs, and I use him to train them. Some have severe autism, and others have cerebral palsy, or physical and mental disabilities. Romeo is the horse I use for those lessons because he has so much patience and understands that these people are different and have additional needs. I didn't know how he would react to one of my students who is disabled with a walker, as he doesn't really like bicycles. She takes his rope, puts it on her walker, and off she goes with him following her like a puppy dog. Romeo has the gentlest mouth, so he is the horse I let all the little kids give carrots to, as he nibbles everything very gently and will never get their fingers.

“Romeo is one of those horses who just never says ‘no’ to me.” - Lauren Collora

However, when I'm riding him and I ask more of him, he will give it to me. He'll puff his chest out and prance around with his tail up over his back and be a Thoroughbred. He has the ability and is very good at knowing when that's appropriate and when it's not. Romeo benefits from being mentally stimulated as his body doesn't get tired quickly. It's like having a high-drive working dog — if you don't wear their brain out, their body will go all day long.

My mom taught me the premise of clicker training, and I grew up doing that a lot. I have taught Romeo little tricks, like “target.” I throw him a pickleball anywhere in the arena, and he will go and put his nose on it. We play that game and it works his brain but not necessarily his body. If he ever gets little tweaks, aches and pains, and is off riding, then I have something I can do for him that keeps him stimulated so he doesn't go stir crazy. He loves to work, he likes having a job, and hates being unemployed.

I yearn to go back to my eventing roots at some point, but moving away from my parents, I don't have necessarily the confidence to go take a horse out on cross country for the first time without them here to support me through that. We have a beautiful full-sized dressage arena at my current barn, SJC Equestrian Center in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. I always hated dressage growing up, that was the part I had to get through to jump cross country, but Romeo has taught me appreciation for it and a love for dressage. Not only is it good for him, but it's also really good for me as it keeps me fit and working.

I thought we'd maybe do some Training Level tests, but he kept offering more and more, so then I thought I could probably get my USDF Bronze Medal on this horse. Life is short and he’s not going to be young forever. I'm not one of those people who necessarily gets a horse with a goal in mind. I get a horse because I like the horse, and I want to work with the horse. I always said, if Romeo never amounts to anything other than a trail horse, then I’d be happy. I don't need him to prove anything, but he gives and gives and gives.

Romeo is training and schooling Third and Fourth level movements, so I decided I’d bite the bullet, and I registered him with everything and now we're actively on our journey to collecting scores towards our USDF Bronze Medal. I am hoping to get my First Level scores by the end of this year. I tend not to put too much pressure on myself with that type of thing — if I don't get it, I don't get it. This is my livelihood and it is how I make my money, but it also has to be enjoyable. I train, I make my money, I pay for my horse, and I follow my goals that I set.

If Romeo never does anything else ever again, he's achieved more than I ever thought he could, and I'm over the moon with him.

Photos: Lolo Photology, Annie Macaller Photography