Pat and Mandy Retzlaff enjoyed a hard but satisfying farming life in Zimbabwe. After their children, the couple's true pride and joy were their horses. But in early 2001, their lives were thrown into turmoil when armed members of President Robert Mugabe's War Veterans' Association began violently reclaiming farmlands owned by white Zimbabweans. Under the threat of death, they were forced to flee.

As families across the country abandoned their land, they left behind dozens of horses. Devoted animal lovers, Pat and Mandy--virtually homeless themselves--vowed to save these beautiful...