SEATTLE _ Long before Michelle Akers became one of the greatest soccer players in history, even before she started scoring goals at a mind-boggling rate at Shorecrest High School in Shoreline, Wash., she had a passion that had nothing to do with sports.
She wanted to have horses.
"There was definitely no money for horses when I was young," said Akers, 52. "We were just making it, duct-taping my cleats together for as long as the duct tape would stay and hold things together in order to play soccer. But it was always my dream to have horses someday.
"As a little girl, I used to read the Black Stallion books and I daydreamed about being that kid in the Black Stallion and having my own Black Stallion horse, and being able to ride off into the wilderness like we were best friends. Just like the Black Stallion."
And if you understand that passion, then you can understand her life. Akers lives on an eight-acre ranch in Powder Springs, Ga., about 30 miles outside of Atlanta, where she cares for abused and abandoned horses, along with occasional other animals.
She has tackled the cause of helping animals in need with the same fervor with which she used to tackle opponents, when her physical style of play made her nearly impossible to stop.
Akers got her first horse in 1996, but it was in 2007 when she got Zoe, that her life changed forever.
She got Zoe, who had been abused and starved, from a local animal shelter. With Akers' care, Zoe recovered fully.
"That is when I started horse rescue as an official nonprofit (business)," Akers said.
She threw herself into saving horses, showing the same passion and desire that helped propel her to soccer greatness.
Akers has seven horses she is tending to, and one pygmy goat (down from four), and she once even took in a pig. She also works with a much larger horse sanctuary in Florida, and wants to have an impact nationally.
And to do that, she has a plan that involves her first love: soccer.
