A Boy's Path to Filmmaking and Rescuing Racehorses

Carson Ceresa is an 11-year-old with a vision and an enterprising spirit. His new business, Seeds 4 Needs, took root as an idea to harvest seeds from the family garden and sell them to support two "needs" he is passionate about: amateur filmmaking and rescuing broken race horses.

I recently sat down with Carson and is mother, Lisa Marvier, in the living room of their family's Indian Valley farm house to find out more about this new venture.

One of the first things I discovered in talking with this Sinaloa sixth-grader is his enthusiasm for World War II history; an interest ignited by two great uncles and a grandfather who served in various branches of that campaign. This chapter in his family history so intrigued him that he collected a personal library of books and film on the topic to gain insight into the soldier's perspective.

As he learned more, he developed a desire to pay tribute to the American infantrymen who served in WWII. Using film as a means of expression, Carson has experimented in the past with "stop-motion" photography, creating "shorts" with the iMovie application on his Apple computer. Combining his interest in WWII and filmmaking, he came up with the idea of producing an amateur documentary about the infamous Battle of the Bulge in the winter of 1944. This winter he plans to fly to upstate New York with his family, using the snowy landscape as a backdrop for filming rough footage of the battle.

When his mom pointed out that making a documentary would require capital, Carson put on his thinking cap. His family makes a habit of collecting the seeds from their extensive gardens each season to replant in the spring. It was during one of these recent harvests that Carson's idea sprouted.

"People go to the store and buy packaged seeds for their gardens all the time," he told me thoughtfully, "and I thought maybe people would buy our seeds."

In addition to earning money to support his documentary film idea, Carson also decided that half of his profits from the venture would be donated to his mother's rescue operation to save "broken" racehorses; a cause he has grown up with and passionately supports.

Lisa Marvier has owned horses for as long as she can remember. She is an accomplished equestrian, and competes in dressage at high-level horse shows. Her love for these magnificent creatures took an unexpected turn 15 years ago when she was contacted by an acquaintance working at Golden Gate Fields racetrack. The track often had thoroughbred horses who became severely injured while racing. Like professional athletes, race horses are only valuable to their owners as long as they are fit to run. These animals find themselves in desperate circumstances. With fractured leg bones, the debilitated horses are shipped to lesser tracks where owners continue to race them until they are hopelessly lame, or put down and disposed of.

Horrified by the plight that faced these young horses, Lisa decided to start a second-chance rescue operation at her small farm. When she gets a call for help she travels to the racetrack, picks up the injured horse sight unseen, and brings it to her family's two-acre Novato property for rehabilitation.

"Typically, horses need three to six months of stall rest with their legs wrapped," she tells me. During that time, she pays for the animal's veterinary visits, medications and food.  It's an expensive proposition, but a gratifying one. "The horses come here highly stressed and anxious," she shared, "but it's amazing to see how quickly their behavior changes in the relaxed atmosphere at the farm."

Once rehabilitated, Lisa slowly begins working the horse again — first without a rider on a lunge line, then later with a mount. She and Carson have named each rescue horse after a famous movie star from the '40s and '50s. Over the years, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra and Ginger Rogers (to name a few), have all found their way to the Ceresa paddocks for rest and recuperation.

In the end, Lisa gives her rehabilitated charges away to a good home. Thanks to her loving care, these once "broken" animals receive a new lease on life as pleasure riding mounts and even compete in dressage, cross-country and trail events. Since she chooses not to sell the horses, she has not had a means for recouping the costs she invests in their rehab ... that is until Carson approached her with his "seed money" idea.

Carson pitched "Seeds 4 Needs" to his mom, who was initially skeptical of his enthusiasm to execute the plan; skeptical until she returned from doing chores a few hours later to find a basket of seeds that were wrapped, labeled and priced to sell in individual foil packets. "I thought, maybe I should take him seriously after that." she smiled. 

She helped Carson purchase materials he would need to package the harvested seeds and created a logo for marketing. The project became a way to teach him about the steps involved in starting a business, including applying for a business license. When the ladies in the Marin County Clerk's office at the Civic Center heard about Carson's idea, they promptly purchased several seed packets on the spot. He was on his way to funding his amateur documentary project, and helping his mom pay for the care of their rescued race horses.

Carson has seeds from several varieties of flowers, herbs and trees including Morning Glory, Hollyhock, Shasta Daisy, Day Lilly, Nasturtium, Wisteria, Love In A Mist, Basil, Green Bean, Cherry Tomato, Buckeye and Japanese Maple. Thus far his sales have been through word of mouth, and a booth he set up at one of Pam Garcia's Feathered Nest Barn Sales. Each clear cellophane packet costs $5.   

A packet of Seeds 4 Needs makes an idea stocking stuffer for the gardener on your holiday gift list. To purchase your seeds, e-mail marvier@comcast.net or call Lisa at 730-6917.