For the past 20 years, I have rescued horses who have been abused, neglected or the owners were no longer able to provide for them. The past ten years, my rescues have been focused on senior horses who have been thrown away because they are no longer deemed “useable”. These horses deserve the comfort and security of being able to enjoy their elder years after providing their youth and stamina to humans.
After moving to Montrose, Colorado in 2016, I had many people reach out asking us to take their horses. Some were senior horses, others were unrideable, and a few were still in the prime of their life, just needed special diets or medical maintenance. After my oldest daughter was diagnosed with femoral rotation and would require multiple surgeries over several years, we let the lease go on our horse boarding facility, and downsized, keeping our own personal horses. During this time, we have lost 4 different pastures we were leasing due to subdividing or farming. We also experienced loss due to ignorance of people who would chase our horses, wanting to pet them, not realizing some of our horses came from abusive homes and were running from fright, not pleasure, and another who choked to death because a person in the subdivision next to our pasture fed him grass clippings, which horses should not eat. Last week, three of our horses were poisoned due to a ditch rider accessing the property without notifying the landowner, and sprayed weeds along the ditch. Most people do not realize that several herbicides (weed poisons) make weeds that horses would not normally ingest, palatable and they will eat them. Our younger two horses are recovering, but our senior guy who has a history of ulcers, is not recovering well and coupled with his Cushing’s disease, will be peacefully put to sleep September 29th, 2023.
Out of this pain, a friend of mine reached out and has offered our family to lease her property for a year and see if we like the new climate. She is excited about the senior horse project and her 40 fenced acres will be the perfect place for senior horses to retire. I am currently filing the forms for the 501(c)(3) with the IRS so that we will be a legitimate not-for-profit horse rescue. What makes us different is that none of our horses will be adoptable. Every single senior that comes to us will live on the property until they no longer have a good quality of life. Due to the fact we won’t be depending on adoption fees, Elder Equines Horse Rescue Project will be depending on the kindness and donations of others. Since this is such a special project in my soul, 100% of the royalties from my books bought off of this website and Fourthwall, will go directly to Elder Equines Horse Rescue Project.
The facility has 40 fenced acres of pasture and a beautiful kennel with runs and a large, fenced play area. Once established, the facility will expand care for the senior dogs who have also earned the retirement they deserve.
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