Horse Rescue Groups Need Help

I have written a number of times here and in my blog on www.horse-jour?nal.com about rescue facilities and the horses available. Now I want to tell you about a new program, ?A Home For Every Horse,? which is part of http://www.equine.com, a site listing horses and horse-related items for sale.

A Home For Every Horse networks with recognized, certified non-profit horse-res?cue facilities through?out the country to help spread the word about horses who need homes.

I also must tell you that www.equine. com is part of the AIM Equine Net?work, which owns Horse Journal, Equus, Dressage Today, The Trail Rider, Practical Horseman, Horse&Rider, and much more. And, yes, I’m extremely happy to be able to tell as many people as possible about it.

Of course, you already know home?less horses are a huge problem, as our Performance Editor, John Strassburger, has also written on this subject. You may recall his commentaries and blogs describing solutions for the estimated 170,000 ?unwanted? horses. What a sad word that is. Unwanted. I can’t imagine being ?unwanted.?

At www.equine.com, you’ll find a rescue tab to click on that will give you detailed information about unwanted horses. You can search the same way you do horses for sale, and tHere’s a photo, description and more informa?tion about these horses, including a rating of the horse’s temperament.

A Home For Every Horse says they measure their success ?one horse at a time.? If you have room in your heart and room in your barn, take a peak. (My barn is full, or else there?d be an adorable black mini in it right now.) Yes, some horses are older, but horses today remain useful far longer than they did a couple of decades ago.

If you do decide you can take on another equine mouth to feed, remember that rescue groups do usually track the horses they place in homes for at least a few years to ensure the horse is in a good home. Normally you’ll need to qualify to take the horse, meaning that they check to see that you have the experience, means and facility to properly care for the horse. And references, of course.

Be aware that you’ll find few ?free? horses under this rescue tab. THere’s a good reason for it: Experienced rescue groups know that many people value things based on dollars. So, if someone has to hand over money for something, that item becomes (at least subcon?sciously) higher valued than something they got for free. The adoption fee helps stop people from thinking of the horse as a ?giveaway? or ?throwaway? and helps feed more horses remaining at the facility.

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