Kim has a long history of rescuing animals, they just happen to be mostly dogs. Kim and her husband Jeff Smith currently have 7 dogs. For years she taught obedience classes along with fostering dogs, and currently uses two of her rescues in Pet Therapy. Kim also volunteers with Therapy Dogs, Inc and part of her job is to test new teams interested in becoming therapy dogs. A couple of times a month Kim takes her own dogs to their favorite place to go, an adult day care for mentally challenged individuals.
One of the most amazing things about Kim is the fact that Lex is only the second horse she has ever owned. Kim acquired her first horse 14 years ago, now thirty he is one we would call a great first horse.
“From Rescue to Champion”
Like many of our members, ACTHA’s 2013-2014 Pleasure Champions, Kim Pundai and her 10 year old Thoroughbred gelding Lex, could be the ACTHA poster child for the support of our mission.
Kim & Lex
Story by Jen Wenzel
ACTHA Monthly | January 2015 |17
Continued on page 18 >
Taking on Lex was a new extreme for Kim. She didn’t have much experience in training horses, just riding and helping at local stables. Kim had no interest in showing or competing, just trail riding and having her own horses to play with at her house.
Kim rescued Lex from the Horse Protection Association of Florida in 2009. They acquired him as a 3 year old stallion from an abandoned farm where he was kept in a paddock and never handled. His horsenality was reactive, spooky, unconfident and lacking human trust. They said he took panicaholic to the extreme. The rescue had him for 2 years and had started under saddle when Kim adopted him. For the first year she thought she had the wrong horse for her. But Kim is a rescuer by nature, and with that comes compassion, determination and a fair amount of stubbornness.
Photo by Sharon Crockett with Kim, Daisy the Beagle and Mako the Pit