Massachusetts Woman Fighting Back After City Demands She Remove Mini Horse From Her Home

Judy Hinchey of Newton, Massachusetts, is being forced to relocate her therapy animal — a miniature horse named Clover — after spending $100,000 to build a proper shelter.

Hinchey explained via social media that she believed she had followed the city’s “rules,” but Newton denied her application for a license for Clover.

“I followed the rules as I interpreted them, fixed my yard to make a nice home for my miniature therapy horse. I quit my job so I could work from home and take Clover to therapy outings in hospitals, nursing homes, centers for kids with autism and any other place where a calm, well trained, very friendly miniature horse could provide comfort, care, joy and happiness to people,” she wrote in a Tuesday, September 29, Facebook post.

However, without visiting her property to inspect her newly built shelter, her application was denied. Hinchey — who also shared that many of her neighbors were “smitten” with Clover — added that her application was denied because the city “doesn’t recognize a distinction between Clover and a full-size horse.”

According to documents viewed by People, “The regulation expressly identifies horses as Large Animals and does not include any exception or threshold based on the size of the horse… A miniature horse is therefore a horse for purposes of the Regulations that expressly identify horses as Large Animals.”

Clover is described as standing 28.5 inches tall and weighing 165 pounds, similar in size to a Great Dane or Saint Bernard.

Hinchey has launched a GoFundMe in the hopes of raising enough money for legal fees to appeal the city’s decision.

“Clover is a great addition to the city and all the surrounding facilities [where] her proven good nature, calm behavior and friendliness can be beneficial to all,” she explained in her Facebook post.