Adopt Don Jamie (1983 – 2020)
Don Jamie © Josepha Guillaume
Don Jamie unfortunately passed away on September 16, 2020. You can, however, adopt other animals. Read the imprerssive story of Don Jamie below.
Don Jamie’s name is actually Don Cubero, he comes from a well-known ex-bullfighter and breeder of fighting bulls and horses: Don José Benitez Cubero de Pallarès of Madrid. Jamie was a well-known horse that was used in the nineties in bullfights of the Portuguese style. His horseman was rejoneador (a bullfighter on horse) Juan Sanz. At a given moment Jamie started to fight his bullfighter. It seemed that he was fed up with it and he became quite unmanageable. The bullfighter thought he could make a ride with him outside but Jamie threw him from a bridge. From this moment on, the bullfighters could not do anything with Jamie and they did not dare to take him from his stable. For nine months he stayed there until a Dutch woman, Sandra Boddeus, bought him out of compassion. Jamie was brought to a field of 11 hectares to regain strength. However, Sandra could not help Jamie and she looked for a shelter where he could be treated for his severemental issues. On june 1, 2001, Sandra found what Jamie needed in the person of Josepha Guillaume.
Start of recovery
Josepha gave Jamie shelter and together they set forth on a journey of trial and error. Josepha had no other goal with Jamie than to help him process the severe traumas. Josepha grew up with horses and she was known to get on with horses that were said to be difficult or even impossible. But with Jamie she realized that she had never before been confronted with such a heavy case. In the course of several years Josepha was able to build a deep friendship and a bond of trust with the horse, and – most important – he started to have fun in life. Working with Jamie gave Josepha a lot of more insight and experience and it helped her to become an international trainer of horses and an author with many publications. In 2012 she started a training school thanks to the knowledge she acquired working with Jamie. She also initiated a non-profit foundation to promote the welfare of horses by carrying out a message based on a friendly and healthy way of training and dealing with horses.
In the meanwhile, Jamie turned 37 years old. He has a benign type of cancer of the skin, prostate and bowels. He needs supplements for this and he has difficulties to maintain weight and has to eat enormous amounts of food, however he fortunately is not in pain. He still feels very good and still jokes around with the people and horses in his vicinity. Jamie lives with other revalidation and education horses at Equus Universalis. He regularly connects with horses that are recovering at Josepha’s organisation. These horses are severely traumatized and the contact with Jamie helps the healing process. You can see them standing next to each other, with closed eyes. This is very beautiful and serene to experience.
CAS visiting Don Jamie in october 2017:
Jamie’s value is enormous and Josepha hopes he will stay with her for 10 more years. His upkeep and that of the other revalidation horses is very expensive, with all the other work that has to be done to improve the welfare of horses staying within the non-profit organization. The staff is constantly lacking the necessary hands, hours and means. To support Jamie would help them enormously. Aside from this, adopting Jamie would contribute to the work of CAS International to end bullfighting. Read how the adoption process works.
Do you have questions about Don Jamie? Please contact us.
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