CARIBOU, Maine — Ella Voisine of Caribou was reunited with her miniature horse Koda after being apart for nearly a year. Now the 14-year-old is trying to find a part-time job and has started a fundraising campaign to maintain the animal.
Voisine first met Koda through family friend Pete Bernier while living in Frenchville. She said Koda is 8 years old and will turn 9 in June.
“We used to visit him all the time,” Voisine said. “But as Pete got older he couldn’t really care for all the horses. So he offered Koda to us.”
Koda stayed at Voisine’s home in Frenchville for about five years, but they could no longer keep him when she and her mother Hannah Voisine moved to Caribou roughly a year ago.
His most recent home was about a five and a half hour drive south. Ella Voisine said she wanted to be closer to Koda to make sure he was safe and being taken care of, so she and her parents were able to pay the last owner $730 to bring the horse back to Caribou.
As of March 9, Koda lives at Little Bit of Horse Heaven, a horse boarding stable just a mile away from Voisine’s Caribou home.
“I was really happy,” Ella Voisine said. “There’s not really words to explain it. He’s just been my best friend since I was like 8 years old.”
And though she was relieved to have Koda close by, Ella Voisine is now working to raise money to ensure her mini-horse is taken care of.
“It’s expensive to have him stay here, and I don’t really have a job at the moment,” she said. “I’ve been looking and I can’t really afford that much by myself.”
Author Cathie Pelletier, a friend of a family member, heard of Voisine’s situation and soon helped her set up a GoFundMe page to assist with the expenses.
“Cathie has been a big help,” Hannah Voisine said. “It was her idea to do a GoFundMe, and she really helped walk Ella through that whole process. She’s been a huge asset.”
As of March 19, the fundraiser has raised $875 of its $3,500 goal. Money raised will go toward Koda’s room and board, a veterinarian appointment and fees for a farrier to trim his feet.
Hannah said her daughter has been in high spirits ever since being reunited with Koda.
“We wanted to make sure he was in good hands, and not having that assurance was a huge worry, so when we found out that we were able to get him back up here, it was a huge relief for her, and for me too. She was excited to have him close by so she could come up to visit and spend time with him and the other horses,” Hannah Voisine said.
She said Koda has been a special part of her daughter’s life for years.
“It’s kind of like a kid’s first best friend, your first of anything always makes a big impact, and Koda was her first experience with a horse. He really helped her develop a love for horses, riding them, taking care of them, and understanding them. So he’s got a special place in her heart for sure,” she said.
Ella Voisine now spends much of her time with Koda, and visits him nearly every day.
“I rode him when I first got him, but now he’s obviously very small so I can’t ride him any more,” she said. “Sometimes we’ll do jumping, I’ll run up alongside him and he’ll jump, and we started training him to pull a cart. I mostly do stuff on the ground with him.”
Her mother said they’re both happy that the horse is being housed at the Caribou stable, and that owner Naomi St. Peter has done a wonderful job taking care of him.
“She’s great,” Hannah Voisine said. “These horses are her babies, and she welcomed Koda with open arms.”
Coincidentally, the family had known St. Peter while living in Frenchville, and Ella Voisine had actually started taking horse riding lessons at the farm shortly before learning she would be able to bring Koda back home.
“Everything just kind of worked out,” Hannah Voisine said. “I’d say it was pretty close to a miracle.”
