Growing up in Webster, New York, Molly Copeland wanted little else than to own a horse. So, as a child, she did everything she could to make that happen. She said her childhood home was not a farm, but there were always animals around. That was the beginning of her journey into the world of veterinary medicine — a journey that has inspired her to create a small sanctuary for veterinary mental health at her Spring Street home in Groton.
Molly’s parents, the late David and Patricia Copeland, taught Molly and her five siblings the value of hard work, as they all helped to raise a large vegetable garden and operate a roadside stand. Between the allowance Molly earned from that and her newspaper route when she was eight years old, she paid for horseback riding lessons and later raised $600 from working at Burger King and cleaning stalls at a local farm to purchase her horse.
“My dad said he would match whatever I could raise, so that was enough to buy Beater when I was 13,” Molly said. “He was a broken-down thoroughbred racehorse, but he developed colic after two years, so I had to put him down. I learned early that things happen that we don’t want to happen.”…