The Brown Stallion: Year after year, Bart the Horse is a crowdpleaser with Gael students at wellness fairs, hosted by Saint Mary's Counseling and Psychological Services. / Photo by Francis Tatem
How Bart the Horse Became Everyone’s Favorite Four-Hoofed Gael
The stallion has been a highlight of wellness fairs since 2022, offering creaturely calm to the SMC community. That’s largely thanks to Bart’s owners, Page Baldwin ’24 and his mother Sally Baldwin ’89; they see Bart as part of a long Gael legacy.
At the WellGael Fair on September 17, hosted by Saint Mary’s Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), visitors encountered a familiar face—well, muzzle. For the fourth year in a row, CAPS welcomed Bart the Horse back to campus as a therapy animal. Stationed in Dante Quad, Bart offered Gaels a moment to brush, pet, or simply enjoy his comforting presence.
Heidi Tend, who organizes pet therapy through CAPS at SMC, has ensured that Bart has become a staple of the WellGael and Stress Management Fairs. But it was Bart’s owners—Page Baldwin III ’24 and his mother, Sara (Sally) Baldwin ’89—who reached out and proposed the idea in the first place.
Page and Sally first acquired Bart in early 2020, when a local rancher needed to find a home for Bart to spend his retirement. The Baldwins were immediately taken with the horse’s calm, easy-going nature. “Bart’s the kind of horse you can put out to pasture for weeks on end, letting him wander,” Sally says. “Then, when you need him, you can pull him in, saddle him up, and go. He won’t be jiggy or restless.”
A year later, while at SMC, Page attended his first wellness fair on campus. “I saw a mini-horse there, and goats and llamas,” Page recalls. Knowing his horse’s personality, he immediately thought: Bart would fit in great here.
The Baldwins first brought Bart to WellGael Fair in 2022, to great success. The 25-year-old stallion has been a stable addition to the animal lineup ever since. “Students are amazed at how gentle he is,” says organizer Heidi Tend. She notes that Bart is a big reason that the fair is so beloved. “Students always say, in general, the pet therapy component of CAPS events is the aspect they most look forward to.”
Generations of Galloping Gaels
If you consider Bart a Baldwin, he’s just the latest in a line of Gaels going back decades. Page Baldwin’s grandfather was John F. Scudder ’35, who went on to teach in San Francisco public schools for decades.
Two of Scudder’s children—Sally and John F. Scudder Jr. ’77—also attended Saint Mary’s. John Jr. studied government and played baseball, going on to further involvement in Lasallian education as a teacher, coach, principal, and president of Sacred Heart Cathedral Preparatory in San Francisco.
As for Sally, also a government major, she made her mark on the SMC tennis court. Today, she’s a rancher in Rio Vista—and a formidable pickleball player. The fact that Page, and Bart, have continued the family connection to Saint Mary’s is no small thing for her.
Back in 2022, when they first brought Bart to campus, Sally felt that legacy acutely. “Page was leading Bart up across the walkway going to the Saint John Baptist de La Salle statue, in front of the chapel,” she recalls. “And I just thought about how my dad walked those very same steps back in 1935. Now, here’s his grandson, who he's never met, because Page was born long after his grandpa died. And we’re here with this horse on campus. What would his grandpa have thought about all that?"
Sara (Sally) Baldwin ’89 on bringing Bart to Saint Mary's wellness fairs: “It’s been so fun to see [students] get over their nervousness. Eventually, they are all over him, just hugging him and petting him.”
Retired and Riding with Purpose
By now, the routine for the WellGael Fair is well-established. The night before, Sally and Page bathe and comb Bart, dressing him in a special blanket to ensure he stays clean for the big day. Then, the following morning, they wake up early to adorn him in Saint Mary’s swag: red and blue extensions in his mane and tail.
Once the wellness fair is underway, students are invited to come up to Bart and pet, comb, feed, or stand by him. All in all, it’s a pretty luxurious day for this former workhorse. For years, Bart was used to skillfully sort, rope, and brand cattle. These days, though, Page mostly hops on Bart to do light work around the ranch.
Otherwise, he’s a bit of a party horse, Sally says. “Whenever we have kids over, we’ll put them on Bart, and Page will lead them around.”
She’s confident Bart enjoys WellGael Fair as much as the students do. “Many of the students have never touched a horse, or some miss their horse at home,” Sally says. “It’s been so fun to see them get over their nervousness. Eventually, they are all over him, just hugging him and petting him.”
For the Baldwins, bringing Bart back allows them to stay connected with Saint Mary’s community. At the same time, the SMC community now looks forward to Bart’s presence year after year.
All the while, Bart gets attention and adoration galore. It’s not a bad way for a horse to spend his retirement.
Katie Hayek ’28 is a Student Writer with the Office of Marketing and Communication at Saint Mary’s. Write her.
