We are a rescue, please understand that does not mean we have limitless funds, nor does it mean we have staff that provides all the care and maintenance needed with horses.
Donations graciously given by our supporters pay for feed, hay, medicines, vet care, euthanasia, burial, farrier, horse supplies, some barn supplies (buckets, feeders, manure forks, etc.), legal or corporate fees, holiday cards, calendars and stamps, transportation cost when hauling horses and small amount for labor if we need to hire someone to help with the horses needs.
Volunteers are few and far between, but those few we have a very greatly appreciated for the time the freely give to help these sweet horses.
We have limited space, no free grazing so hay and/or feed and supplements must be fed to every horse and in this rural part of the state hay is not cheap.
We donate our personal time and property to care for horses that were in urgent need of help or rehabilitative care. We feed, water, scoop poop, clean feeders, water buckets, put fly masks on and off, in the winter blankets on & off, put fly spray on, pick hooves, deworm, vaccinate, provide wound care, administer meds, massage therapy, make and attend appointments with the farrier or vet, be sure we or someone is here daily to oversee the health of each horse, we provide the space, barn, fencing, stalls, water, tractor, truck & horse trailer, vehicle to get supplies, office space, computer, phone, printer, file cabinets, pens, tape, paper clips, etc., camera, storage and more out of our own pocket.
I spend my personal time on the phone and computer responding to peoples requests for help, networking horses in need, fundraising, seeking and applying for grants or other opportunities to pay for the horses needs, doing all the administrative paperwork and reporting to be corporations in two states, a 501c3 non-profit with the IRS, on Guidestar and other important sites, maintain our memberships in various support organization and the ongoing reporting they need to maintain that membership, daily social media posts, regular blog posts, updating medical/health care records on horse, bookkeeping, and much more.
I do it willingly at no charge to the rescue. I do not get a salary or any sort of wage and it is more than a full time job. My husband gets no wage or salary either. He has a full time job so we can pay for this ranch, so the work he does for the rescue and its horses is all done during his free time.
Equine WellBeing Rescue's Mission Statement:
EqWBR strives to help horses in times of emergency, natural disaster, personal illness or other unforeseen circumstances where placement of the horses may be necessary to prevent starvation, neglect, abuse or anything detrimental to the well-being of the animal.
To help horses that have been abandoned, abused, neglected, unwanted, starved or in danger by providing placement, foster care, housing, medical care, proper nutrition and other services needed to maintain their well-being.
Educate the public about proper care of horses, including nutrition, husbandry, training, health care needs and issues pertaining to the well-being of the horse through special events, educational materials, various media sources or individual consultation.
To engage in other activities related to educating the public about the well-being of horses and equine related issues.
So if you are in need of finding a new home for your horse(s), please consider all of the above and how you can help us if we can help you with your horse(s).
Have you advertised your horse on social media, Craigslist or horse ads to try and find someone to purchase or take your horse (s) yourself? If so we will be glad to share your listing and have those interested contact you directly. We will help you network your horse(s) so you can chose its future owner and keep in touch with them and your horse over the years. A donation to the horses here for our time and efforts to help you is always greatly appreciated.
If you are wanting your horse to come here, can you provide for the horse's ongoing feed and health care needs? If not, will your friends and family donate to us to help support your horse? For the rest of its life? Can you raise funds for us to provide for your horse in other ways? Do you have an asset or items you can sell to raise such funds, or donate to us so that we can sell it to raise those funds?
If your horse is untrained or unhandleable? I hope you realize we are not a training facility, nor can we risk getting hurt by a horse and be unable to work ourselves or do the work to care for the horses already here, but we will be glad to share your information on our social media if you provide us with a complete post with picture, details about the horse and your contact information. A donation for our efforts is greatly appreciated.
If you don't want your horse because it is lame, disabled, in poor health, or elderly and at best can truly only be a companion horse, have you considered humane euthanasia? By asking us to take your horse you are asking us to decide when it should be put down. Passing that decision on to us is very unfair and heart wrenchingly difficult for us. Vet care is not readily available and when the time comes to put a horse down one of us has to hold the horse while the other pulls the trigger on the gun, then we must bury the body on our land since there is no disposal service. I cry for days when we have to do that! But we do it out of love for the horse when it is needed with prayer to God for the strength, forgiveness and peace.
Do not tell me that you don't want your horse to go to auction and that is why you are contacting us. What that tells me is that you are willing to take your horse to auction or you are using that as leverage so that we will jump in to save the horse. I find that very dishonest and it makes me mad and less willing to help. If you take your horse to auction and a killbuyer purchases it, that is on you, not me!
The well-being of horses in our care is our number one priority. They are loved and if not adoptable will live out their days here. That is a huge responsibility and one we don't take lightly. We will not put those presently in our care at risk by taking on more horses than we are able to realistically provide for, nor will we adopt out without great scrutiny just to move a horse along so we can take in more.
I get calls, emails and messages almost daily for horses in need, I wish we could help them all, but we simply can't. That weighs very heavy on my heart and can be overwhelming at times. I wish we had an endless stream of donations coming in, but we don't. We have wonderful supporters who believe in our mission and donate to help us help and care for horses and we respect their hard earned donations and deeply appreciate ALL SUPPORT we receive.
Please, if you need to find a new home for your horse consider what you are asking of a rescue and if you get told 'no' or 'we can't help', understand that those words are just as painful for us to say as they are for your to hear!
If it is an emergency or urgent need that falls within our mission statement please contact me and we will do our very best to help.
Thank you!
Christine Griffin,
Founder & President
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