A dear family friend and a dedicated horse breeder for many years, is facing a difficult and heartbreaking decision. Due to age and health challenges, she has struggled for the last five years to find suitable homes for her beloved horses. The pandemic and rising costs made it even harder for her to find the right buyers. Now, at 80 years old, she has reached a point where she simply cannot care for them any longer, and she has to find new homes for them.

The horses are Purebred Polish Arabian mares, fifteen years old and older. Some of these horses are best suited as companion horses in need of a peaceful retirement, while others are clean slates to be trained for new vocations, bringing the maturity of an adult horse to new jobs in their new, loving homes. But getting them ready to move on requires a lot of physical effort and resources, which is where we need your help.

A small group of horse advocates have come together to assist in catching, handling, and preparing these horses for their new homes. The owner is living on a fixed income that has shrunk in parallel to recent inflation and she is unable to compensate workers for their efforts or cover the expenses related to this effort. We are using gentle, positive reinforcement and fear-free methods to make this transition as smooth as possible for each horse. However, there are several costs involved, such as travel expenses for our trips to her barn (we all live over an hour away) and the ongoing care the horses need as they prepare for their next chapter. Without our help, it would not be possible to protect these mares from uncertain fates in the auction pipelines.

This GoFundMe is a way to ask for help with these expenses, which will allow us to continue the important work of rehoming these horses. We will provide updates on the costs and share success stories of the horses that find new homes. For the privacy and dignity of those involved, updates will remain mostly anonymous, though I will be posting as the primary contact.

If you feel moved to contribute, no matter how small, we would be deeply grateful. Additionally, please share this with others who might care about helping these horses. If we raise more funds than needed, the remaining amount will be donated to sanctuaries that provide forever homes for horses in need, such as Traveller's Rest Farm Horse Sanctuary in Maryland.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. Your generosity, whether through donations or simply sharing this with others, will make a world of difference for these horses. If you’d like more information about the horses available for adoption, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Warmly,

Becki