On June 8, 1995, reporter Shirley Eastman submitted an article to the Newark Star Ledger about the Licari horse farm titled, "Miniature Horses Roam Hills of Livingston". Below is a rewritten version of her story

​

IN THE TOWNS: MINIATURE HORSES ROAM THE HILLS OF LIVINGSTON

 

Sleepy commuters who ride the New Jersey Transit bus through Livingston sometimes wonder if they have slipped back into dreamland. For there, just over the tops of the myriad vans and sedans traveling along Northfield Road, they see a herd of horses — each no bigger than a Labrador retriever — grazing on a white-fenced hillside.

 

But the commuters don’t have to pinch themselves to see if they are awake. The horses are real.

 

The tiny steeds — all 25 of them — belong to Andrew and Tootsie Licari, who live at the top of Livingston’s Chestnut Hill. The horses are their pets and their passion.

 

Andrew Licari, who owns an electronics business in Bloomfield, says horses of all sizes have been a part of his life for 35 years. “About five years ago, I bought the old six-acre Roselli farm near our house,” he said. “We got some goats, sheep, and chickens, but that didn’t work out — too messy. Then in 1988 I saw my first miniature horse on a farm in Pennsylvania, and I was hooked. I bought two.”

 

Before long, the goats and chickens were gone, and the old Roselli homestead had a new name — Licari’s Evergreen Miniature Horse Farm.

 

“I like to say that the Licaris have both town and country homes now,” he chuckled. “And our country home is in our town backyard.”

 

Just what is a miniature horse, anyway? The catalog for the 1994 national show, held last fall in Columbus, Ohio, describes the horse as a unique breed that must be no taller than 34 inches, measured at the withers (shoulders), but with all the grace, elegance, and symmetry of its full-sized cousins. According to the catalog, the tiny horses’ ancestors were 19th-century coal mine horses, Shetland ponies, and miniature horses from England, Belgium, and Germany.

 

The American Miniature Horse Association, which has set up standards of perfection for breeding and showing, was established in 1978.

 

Tootsie Licari, Andrew’s wife, said what attracts her to raising the miniatures is the love and relaxation the animals offer her and her family — even if they are too small to ride and too big to sleep at the foot of the bed.

 

But the biggest thrill for Tootsie comes when one of their horses wins a ribbon at a show. It was a huge moment, she said, when the Licaris’ top stallion, Brewer’s Orion Commander, took “reserve,” or second place, in the Senior Stallion class at the Columbus competition.

 

“When we’re at a show, we eat, drink, and sleep horses,” her husband said.

 

At home, though, the Licaris have other things on their minds, such as bringing home the bacon — and the oats — for themselves and their 25 equine boarders. The horses have a full-time caretaker and trainer, Donna Lavery, who graduated from Cornell University last spring with a degree in animal science. Lavery has her own barn-red cottage on the little farm and spends 24 hours a day with her charges, whose three small stables are only steps from her door.

 

“If one of the horses is sick, I’ll often get up in the middle of the night to check on it or take its temperature,” Lavery said.

 

Right now, two of the Evergreen mares have brand-new babies, as yet unnamed, and the Licaris have high hopes for them in the show ring. One of the new mothers is Windsong Hollywood Starlet, who is ranked among the Top 10 nationally in her class.

 

Each of the horses has a formal, registered name for competition, but also a “calling” name, which is displayed on a brass plaque on the door of its stall. Bambola lives next to Spring Diamond, whose neighbor is Jubilation. Andrew Licari pointed out one of the horses, Evergreen Adam Barker, named in honor of the Licaris’ young grandson.

 

Lavery has been Evergreen’s manager only since November, but she has always lived around horses. She grew up in Mayfield, N.Y., an upstate village where horses are a way of life. Besides looking after the health and welfare of all 25 members of the Licari herd, Lavery is responsible for preparing several of the horses to compete in the 1995 AMHA Nationals, to be held in Reno, Nev., in September.

 

When the horses must travel long distances to shows, they always fly, explained Tootsie Licari. Not that they sprout wings like Pegasus — a commercial airliner does the job, and each rides in its own custom crate. “Flying is a lot less stressful for an animal than riding for days in a horse trailer,” she said.

 

If necessary, the horses also fly to their specialist veterinarian in Texas. Lavery explained that their regular veterinarian is in Flemington, but if a horse has serious health problems, it’s off to Texas. One of Evergreen’s top stallions is there now under treatment for an infection.

 

Most of the time, though, the Licari horses are healthy, happy, and eager for company. Several recently visited the boys and girls at the ABC School of Wee Folk in Short Hills.

 

Tootsie Licari said one of the farm’s regular visitors is a man who brings his elderly mother to sit in Evergreen’s gazebo and watch the toy-sized horses roam the lush, green hillside.

 

“The lady lives in a nursing home nearby,” said Tootsie Licari. “I think she loves horses as much as we do.”