Reviewed by: Elizabeth Hobbs
How this mom + daughter duo is changing the lives of veterans + horses right now
Reading time: 5 minutes
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Just 45 minutes from Huntsville, you can find a town called Skyline where an incredible mother-and-daughter duo lives.
Five years ago, Kaye and Kara decided to use their love for horses to make a difference in North Alabama. Learn more about the life-changing organization they started and the recent award they won.
Meet Kaye + her daughter Kara
Kaye and her daughter Kara were recently recognized by Redstone Federal Credit Union and received their Community Champion Award.
“When I heard that I had won the Community Champion Award, I was just so overwhelmed. I felt way out of my element. But the Redstone team was so kind and encouraging to work with.”
Kaye Bough, Owner, Kindred Hope
Moving to Skyline, AL
Originally from a 125-person small town in Indiana, Kaye Bough journeyed south to Florida in her adult years. There, she met her husband and embarked on a long career at the University of Florida.
But Kaye and her husband dreamed of retiring in Alabama. After looking for four years and encountering numerous roadblocks, they finally settled on a six-acre farm in Skyline, right outside of Scottsboro.
After Kaye officially retired in 2011, they moved up with their pet clan—a robust group of six miniature horses.
The why behind Kindred Hope
After happily living together in Skyline for a few years, Kaye’s husband was diagnosed with liver cancer and told he had five years to live.
He lived five years and two days.
After his passing in 2019, Kaye knew she wanted to find a way to give back to the Department of Veteran’s Affairs (VA) for the incredible care her husband received from them.
At the same time she was pondering this, Kara—who was living in Texas—got laid off at work. After the death of her father, Kara had originally tried to convince her mom to move to the Lone Star state, but the recent news at work had her thinking otherwise.
“Kara called and was just crying, and I said don’t worry about it—I didn’t want to move out there anyway. I said, ‘You just come here. There are jobs around here. Bring your horses.’
I knew she had rescued one horse, maybe two. But then I saw her coming down the driveway with five horses.”
Kaye Bough, Owner, Kindred Hope
Once Kaye and Kara were reunited, Kaye’s desire to give back to the VA blossomed into a full-fledged plan.
While researching ways to benefit the VA, Kaye and Kara came across the Man of War Project. They discovered that when veterans were around horses for just two weeks, their PTSD symptoms would be lowered up to 68%.
She and Kara decided to combine their herds of horses and give back to veterans. Thus, Kindred Hope was born.
Learn more about Kindred Hope by checking out Redstone’s Community Champion series.
Real stories from real veterans
At Kindred Hope, you can find a family-oriented farm that’s always friendly to new faces. Veterans can make appointments to come spend time with the horses. Or, they can just show up—they’re like family anyway.
“We do have a place on our website where the veterans can make appointments. But most of the time they just either show up or call on the way and ask, ‘Hey, are you home?'”
Kaye Bough, Owner, Kindred Hope
Since opening up their farm to veterans, Kaye and Kara have seen countless lives changed. One poignant example is a veteran who was on his deathbed. He was a regular at Kindred Hope, visiting the farm several times a week.
As he lay in bed, he called Kaye and lamented that he could not see his favorite horse, Coco, one more time. He was too weak to make it out to the farm, so Kara loaded up Coco in the trailer to come to him. It absolutely made his day.
Expansions on the farm
Since Kaye and her husband first purchased their farm in Skyline, she’s been able to buy some adjacent properties to expand into a larger ranch. The extra space has helped Kaye and Kara get into new projects—like building a hospitality room with a glass door in the barn, so veterans can watch the horses from afar if they don’t want to get too close.
Kaye hopes the project will be completed in the coming months. On Kindred Hope’s website, you can find all the latest news on what’s happening on the farm.
Check out Redstone’s Community Champions Series
Redstone’s Community Champions series began last year as a way to honor the efforts of people in our community who are making a difference in the lives of others.
If you want to hear incredible stories like Kaye’s, stay tuned for our monthly Community Champions series and check out Redstone Federal Credit Union’s amazing video features.
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