Bowles, Melanie Sue: - When
Melanie Sue Bowles stumbled across the quote, "The purpose of life is to
live a life of purpose," she loved it so much that it became the steadfast
philosophy by which she has lived her entire adult life. Unwanted, elderly, and
abused horses became her purpose, and she and her husband Jim began Proud
Spirit Horse Sanctuary with one horse in need on five acres of land in rural
Florida. Their facility grew to hundreds of acres in Georgia, and then North
Carolina, where rescued animals were allowed to roam as natural herds. Over the
years, Melanie and Jim have intervened on behalf of over three hundred
downtrodden horses, many of them coming to the sanctuary to live out their
lives in peace and dignity. Their story has been featured on PBS and in three
books Bowles has written about the Sanctuary's animal residents. Bowles comes
from a large family, many of whom own horses and love all animals as much as
she does, including nieces, nephews, and grandchildren who helped inspire the
characters in her middle grade novels Liberty Biscuit and Little
Pearl.