WRITTEN BY: BRAD ROGERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY: JOSHUA JACOBS
Hooves & Harmony
Horses and music come together to help working equines across the globe
For the second year in a row, Ocalans will have the opportunity to see some of the world’s top equestrian riders and their elegant horses dance to the beautiful sounds of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra when Brooke USA presents Divertimentos & Dressage on Jan. 29 at the GoldMark Farm.
“It’s really cool for Ocala,” said Divertimentos & Dressage co-chair Sally Lewis, who has been involved with Brooke USA since 2010. “This is just a really neat event that is three-dimensional. It brings together the horses and the riders and the community. It’s really special for Ocala.”
Divertimentos & Dressage is a special performance that will feature some of the world’s top dressage riders performing in the ring with their horses to the music of the Ocala Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Matthew Wardell.
The horses dance and prance as the orchestra plays divertimentos, or short, lively pieces. Brooke USA described the performances as “a dynamic program that perfectly compliments the fluid choreography of elite dressage riders and their Grand Prix horses.”
“Classical riding and classical music could not be a better fit,” said JJ Tate, or Landrum, S.C., the founding ambassador for Divertimentos & Dressage who is also a nationally known rider and trainer
“It’s beautiful, and everyone just loves it,” added Sally Frick, a Brooke USA board member, professional rider and a professional flutist.
It’s about survival
While the fund-raising event is special, the cause it serves is even more special. Brooke USA is an offshoot of The Brooke, an organization founded in Britain after World War I by Dorothy Brooke. The goal of Brooke USA is to help working equine around the world – donkeys, mules and horses – by educating their owners in third world countries how to better care for and protect these animals that are vital to their health and economic survival.
Brooke USA CEO Emily Dulin said there are 100 million working equine – again, donkeys, mules and horses – worldwide that support the livelihoods of some 600 million people.
“These people represent people who make less than $2 a day,” she said. “These are very poor people.”
Over the past decade, Dulin said, Brooke USA has reached 1.4 million working equine and improved the lives of 6 million impoverished people.
“We fund veterinary services, community training, vocational training, advocate to governments and do emergency services when needed,” she said.
One of Brooke’s homegrown efforts came after the Hurricane Helene devastated communities in the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee in 2024. Because many of those impacted by Helene lived in mountainous areas that were impossible to reach by vehicle, Brooke helped arrange for mule teams to take provisions to stranded residents.
Brooke also assisted in areas of Southern California after last year’s wildfires left many areas unreachable by vehicle.
But most Brooke’s work is done in developing countries in communities where vehicles do not exist. The communities where Brooke focuses its efforts depend on working equine to farm, haul water and provide transportation.
Brooke board member Tate recently visited Guatemala and saw for herself the importance of working equine to their owners and their communities.
“You get into places like India, South America and Africa and it’s pretty incredible how much those people depend on those animals for success,” she said.
Dulin said Brooke is increasing focuses on working equine in industrial settings.
“When you look at working equines across the world, many of the worst problems are due to the fact they work brick kilns, coal mines and gold mines,” she said.
Dulin explained that donkeys and mules particularly are used in these grueling work situations and are overworked and not properly cared for.
To help these animals, Brooke last year spent $1.25 million on helping working equine in India’s brick kilns.
It’s about education
Brooke officials say they provide more than equipment and veterinary care. They also focus on teaching these remote and impoverished communities “sustainable” ways to care for and extend and improve the lives of their working equine. For example, they show owners how an old tire can be turned into a feed trough. Or how if you need a halter or harness, rope can be used to make them, as opposed to expensive and sometimes hard-to-get leather.
“We try to show them things that make sense for them with what they have available,” Tate said.
Beyond tack and supplies, Brooke also teaches owners of working equine how to better care for these essential animals.
For example, they teach them how to grow crops that can be utilized for healthier, more nutritious feed. The are establishing Donley Care Clubs in some countries where children attend after-school classes on how to care for their donkeys using of music, art and dance as teaching tools.
“What we’ve learned in the Donkey Care Clubs is there is a need to teach children how to care for their donkeys,” Dulin said.
And what Brooke offers to each individual community depends on the specific needs of that community.
“We meet with communities to determine their needs and tailor our programs to meet those needs,” Dulin added.
Brooke also does advocacy work on behalf of working equine. Currently, one of its big initiatives is lobbying for passage of the Ejiao Act, Bill HR 5544, in the U.S. Congress. It would ban the importation into the United States of ejiao, a gel used in cosmetics and seen in some regions of the world as a cure for impotence and infertility. Ejiao comes from boiling donkey hides.
“Donkeys are being stolen from poor people,” Dulin lamented.
Tate said the results of Brooke’s efforts are palpable when you see the people who are benefitting directly.
“It’s pretty cool to see the empowered women who do the work in the village, and how our efforts are contributing to them,” she said. “It can really create significant change.”
‘It is art’
The Horse Capital of the World is the perfect place for an event like Divertimentos & Dressage, said Laurie Zink, co-chair along with Lewis for the second year in a row.
“I think it’s the most beautiful blend of two of our most important communities – the horse community and the arts community,” she said. “And it’s the perfect way to introduce the two to each other.”
Moreover, Zink added, you don’t have to be a horse person to enjoy this wonderful evening hooves and harmony.
“You don’t have to know horses to go and enjoy this event,” she said.” It’s beautiful. It’s art.”
To attend this event featuring world-class Grand Prix riders and horses prance and dance to the music of the Ocala Symphony, go to brookeusa.org/events for ticket and sponsorship information.
Divertimentos & Dressage will be held Thursday, Jan. 29, from 5:30-9 p.m. at the GoldMark Farm.
