A Home for Every Horse’s second Equine Comeback Challenge will be held Tuesday, October 14, at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg. It’s in the main arena at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. Learn more here.
A Home for Every Horse paired 10 trainers with 10 horses for 90 days of training in preparation for a one-of-a-kind competition. The trainers, who have been working with their horses since mid-July, will converge to compete in versatility trail class.
Following the course, each will have an additional two minutes to showcase, in freestyle form, the work they’ve done with their horses. Following the Challenge event, the horses will be sold privately, by the trainer, to approved homes, and each will be listed as available rescue horses on Equine.com. Learn more here.
The 10 trainers are: Todd Feaser, Jessica Flaherty, Tammy Marsh, Joel Miner, Missy Morris-Rothfuss, Shane Ogden, Melissa Smithmyer, Kimberlee Strauss, Courtney VanderBrook and Erin Zellefrow. They’ve been paired with 10 rescue horses—which were all previously listed as unwanted—to showcase their abilities. Learn more about the trainers here.
A Home for Every Horse was founded in 2011 as a way for Equine.com – which, like Horse Journal, is part of The Equine Network – to develop a lasting partnership with equine rescues all over the country and use their resources to help find forever homes for the more than 170,000 unwanted horses. Mariah Hammerschmidt, the Project Coordinator for A Home for Every Horse, wants to assist rescue organizations in their efforts.
“Rescue horses needed a platform and a knowledgeable partner to show the world what they are capable of,” said Hammerschmidt. “With a competition like the Equine Comeback Challenge, rescue horses are given that much-needed opportunity to showcase their abilities and potential. Ninety days of training is all many of these horses need to find their forever home.”
In February 2014, the inaugural Equine Comeback Challenge took place at the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in Denver, Colo. After a very successful finish, the need to do a similar event on the East coast became prevalent.
For the East Coast Equine Comeback Challenge the 10 rescue horses were provided by these regional rescues; Geauga Humane Society’s Rescue Village, Lollypop Farm and the Humane Society of Great Rochester, Second Chance Thoroughbreds Inc., The ANNA Shelter and Triple B Ranch Horse Rescue. Rescues all over the country have adoptable horses just like those that will be participating in the Challenge event.
Footage from the March event:
A Home for Every Horse’s generous partners are on board to help with the East Coast Equine Comeback Challenge in a big way; Purina delivered four bags of grain to each trainer to help the horses achieve optimum performance condition, Tractor Supply Company provided gift cards to each trainer to assist in hay and other supplies, while Zoetis and WeatherBeeta will be providing donations to the forever home each horse finds after the competition. New to the East Coast Equine Comeback Challenge, Cinch Jeans will be providing shirts and jackets for each of the trainers.