How Horse Rescue United Protects At‑Risk Horses

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Today's guest is Diana from Horse Rescue United.

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Diana is a dedicated advocate rescuing

and rehabilitating horses in need.

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We'll hear about the mission, the

challenges of rescue work, and the

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lives being changed one horse at a time.

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Hi, Diana.

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Thank you for coming on the show today.

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Diana: Of course, anytime.

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Dixie: My vet, Dr.

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Charlotte, is the one that

recommended you because she got

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her horse from Horse Rescue United.

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So I would like to hear

all about your rescue.

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Before we get into that, tell

me a little bit about yourself.

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Diana: Sure.

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Basically I work in marketing and

communications for a university,

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and then I also, on the side, I

write fiction novels about horses.

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And then I've been involved in horse

rescue pretty much since I was 15

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years old doing fundraising and

marketing horses and things like that.

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So yeah.

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So basically I joined the rescue

ith somebody else back in, in: 2010

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So it's been 16 years

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Dixie: When you first got

into horse rescue when you

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were younger, what did you do?

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Diana: I started out sponsoring a

horse, and then I realized they didn't

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really have anyone to promote the

horses for adoption and sponsorship.

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And I was 15, I was like I have

a computer and I can make flyers,

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so if you guys want help."

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So I would basically make flyers and

then go to 4-H fairs on the weekend

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and just hand them out to people And

this is like pre-internet really.

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And then once we got, once the internet

was up and running, like more people

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were going on that, then I would

share stuff via the web and message

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boards, and then eventually that

became things like Facebook and stuff.

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So I've been on and off involved

in horse rescue since then.

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So that's been, 31 years now.

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It was just always a passion

of mine to help animals in

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need, and especially horses,

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Dixie: yeah.

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I have spoken to a lot

of different rescues.

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I've had, of course, cat rescues, dog

rescues, rat rescues, bunny rescues.

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Oh, wow.

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You're the first horse rescue.

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The only other time that I ever did

talk about horses was we're in the

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New Orleans area, so we have Mardi

Gras here, and after Mardi Gras they

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have the Mardi Gras horse adoptions.

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So- Okay … I spoke with the Humane

Society of Louisiana about what they

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do to get these horses into homes.

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So I would like to hear way more

about horse rescue, where the horses

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are coming from how you handle homing

the horses, do you foster them?

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I'd like to hear all about that.

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Diana: Oh, sure.

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Yeah.

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So how we get the horses is like

a variety of different ways.

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It can be like for example,

Charlotte's horse, Cooper,

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actually came from an auction.

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So a lot of times these horses end up at

auction, people don't want them anymore,

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and then that's where their last stop is.

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And there's, sometimes they can find

a home through there, but most of the

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time it ends up like people that are

kill buyers that actually sell them

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to slaughter in Canada or Mexico.

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So there's people that bid on the

horses for meat, and they get sold and

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then carted off to Canada or Mexico.

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Sometimes they just get sold to the

Amish and a lot of the Amish horses

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are, they're basically treated like

equipment, so they end up working in

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the field, they end up pulling buggies,

and, a lot of times not very many years

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later they're at a home and then they

end up back at the auction because they

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can't, perform those duties anymore.

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And a lot of our horses, like

including Cooper, were ex-Amish horses.

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And then honestly, and then,

we've had horses who are abused

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that, the SPCA gets involved in.

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We've had neglected horses, a lot of

those that are just skinny and starved.

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But then we've had, for as many of

those as we've had a lot of really

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nice, owner surrender situations.

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So people who have financial distress

or a death in the family or something

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those people will contact us and as often

as possible we try to help those horses

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before they end up, going to auction

and going to the slaughter pipeline.

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So that's where all the horses come from.

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I would say most of our horses are

ending up being owner surrenders now.

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But when we can go to auction, we do.

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And then as far as what we do,

so we don't have our own farm.

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We board horses at a

facility in Wall, New Jersey.

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So we have three, I think four

paddocks that we board the horses,

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and they live out 24/7 with sheds,

and we can stall them when we need to

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for emergencies or other reasons But

basically, the horses all live there.

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And then depending on the situation,

the horses are either made adoptable

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or they're sanctuary horses,

depending on if they have medical

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needs, if they're extremely old.

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So we actually have two horses

right now who are in their mid-30s,

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which is really old for a horse.

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The average age of a horse lifespan

now is pretty much 25 to 30, and some

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of them don't even make it that long.

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So we have one horse who's 35.

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We have another who's 33.

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And those horses are sanctuary horses.

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And then we have some horses who a lot

of them are adoptable, but they're only

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adoptable as a companion horse 'cause they

can't be ridden or , pull a cart anymore.

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So those horses just stay and

people sponsor them, or they

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might get adopted for a companion

home every once in a while.

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It's really hard to find people willing

to just take a companion horse, but

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thankfully we have found a number of

those horses homes over the years.

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And then the horses who are rideable or

able to drive a cart, those are usually

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the ones that are more adoptable.

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And we, do a lot of our networking

is on Facebook and Instagram.

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But we'll go on like local Facebook pages.

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We'll sometimes try to do local

events as much as possible.

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Most of the promotion we do these

days are digital, so there's not

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a whole lot of like flyers and

things like that happening anymore.

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It's all online.

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People sometimes find us through

Petfinder and on our website too.

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So there's lots of different ways that

the horses can find homes that way.

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Dixie: So the sanctuary horses that

you have, are they living in the

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facility that you have in New Jersey?

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Diana: Yes.

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Yeah.

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So we so we don't own that facility,

but we board there, so we pay, a monthly

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fee basically to have the horses there.

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And then we're really lucky that we have

volunteers that are completely unpaid.

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So we've got about 25 volunteers that come

in twice a day to do all the horse care.

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So it's like mucking the horse fields,

making sure they have their hay and grain,

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medicine, supplements grooming, all that

kind of care, make sure they have water.

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So they come in twice a day

and take care of the horses.

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So thankfully, we don't have to

pay anybody to feed the horses, but

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obviously we have to pay all the

hay, grain the farrier for their

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feet dental costs, vet bills on top

of their hay, grain, and whatever

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medication and supplements they get,

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Dixie: and what about an

exercise time for the horses?

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Diana: So they're actually out 24/7.

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So the horses all have their own paddock

with a run-in shed, so they can just

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go in and out whenever they want to.

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And the horses that are obviously not

rideable it's just whatever they wanna do.

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And most of the horses that are companions

or sanctuary horses, you don't wanna

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really get them to run around too much

because they're already dealing with leg

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issues and lameness and things like that.

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So they can just freely run

around as they feel like.

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But they're just in and out all day.

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Most of the time the horses are

outside, and then they just go in

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their shed if it's too hot or maybe

when it's raining, but sometimes

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they don't even care about the rain.

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They just stay outside.

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And then the horses that we do have

that are rideable, which right now we

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don't have any rideable horses, but

when we do those horses are basically

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we try to either bring in a trainer or

if we happen to have an in-house trainer

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those horses are ridden, and then we

take videos of those horses and keep

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track of their progress to post those

on Facebook and other places to try

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to find them homes and just keep track

of their progress, but yeah, the ones

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that are just companions or sanctuary

horses, they just hang out all day.

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They're like big dogs.

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Dixie: Yeah, they have a good life.

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Diana: Yeah, I have two pasture pets at my

house, and I'm like, "Man, I could just…

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this is the life right here."

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Dixie: So what is the criteria

that you have for adoption?

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Diana: We actually have a

pretty strict adoption process.

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I've talked to other rescues, and

a lot of the rescues don't do what

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we do, but we're really committed

that our horses don't end up in the

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bad situations they come from again.

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So we have a really long contract.

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It has everything from, if the horse

is ever sold, leased given away,

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that kind of thing, without our

permission, there's like a $10,000 fee.

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We require photos from the

adopters every three months.

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Thankfully, I have a really good

relationship with our adopters, so a lot

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of them will just post them to Facebook.

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I don't actually have to ask them.

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And they'll put them on Facebook or

Instagram, tag us, and then we always

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provide those updates back to the people

following us, so people that give money.

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That way if they wanna see a

horse - Some people call horses

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that were adopted 14 years ago, and

they ask for updates all the time.

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So we require the photos and the updates.

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We also require a vet check form.

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So the vet check form is given to

every adopters every adopter once a

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year, and then they're responsible for

having their vet fill out that form.

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It says that they've gotten their vaccine,

they've gotten a physical there's no

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issues that we need to be aware of.

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There's a mechanism in place so that if

the vet does see a horse and there's an

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issue, they can contact us anonymously.

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So that's one of the ways

that we keep in touch.

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But thankfully, most of our adopters

in the contract, it does require them

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to update us, so if the horse, it needs

to be put down or dies suddenly, or if

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there is a very serious medical issue,

we require them to get in touch with us.

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And if somebody isn't able to keep their

horse anymore, so if they have a financial

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situation or somebody passes away and,

they can't keep the horse their contract

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requires the horse basically to come back

to us, unless we can find a new home.

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Now, we've had situations where a horse

is adopted out, somebody passes away,

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they can't-- you know, , their family

can't keep the horse, they'll contact us.

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And thankfully, we've been really lucky

that a lot of those horses haven't

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actually had to come physically back

to the rescue, but we were able to,

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find them a home through the rescue

and then get them adopted that way.

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So it's a pretty strict process.

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We do background checks.

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We do reference checks

of people to make sure…

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Like we're actually okay with first-time

horse owners, as long as they have some

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horse care experience, and we don't

require anybody to own their own farm.

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But we just like to make sure that, people

are committed to the horse, especially

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even if the horse is rideable at the time.

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We have , a clause in the contract

that specifically asks, "If this

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horse isn't rideable anymore,

will you keep this horse?"

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And if the answer is no, then

that's obviously not a good fit.

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If the answer is yes, then we

know they're a committed home.

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They're gonna keep the horse.

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And most of the people, are true to their

word and do that, unless there's a very

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serious financial situation or something.

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Dixie: Yeah, I like that clause

about the photos, 'cause that's

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nice always knowing how they're

doing when you see the photos too.

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Diana: Yeah.

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I feel like a lot of rescues,, they

adopt something and it's like, how

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do you even know where they are?

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If they're okay.

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Like they're just, there's just so much.

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And One of the things that our rescue does

is we maintain that, that quote-unquote

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"ownership" for life, even though I would

consider all of our adopters owners.

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We at least have the safety net

of if something happens to that

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adopter, whether they, if they have

an issue or if they need to reach

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out to us, like we're at least there.

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So there's never a situation

where it's like, "Oh my God,"

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"I lost my job," or, "There's a

family member that passed away."

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They always, like the horses always have

a spot with us no matter what as long as

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they were, if they came from the rescue.

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So there's always people that contact

us for places in the rescue, but we

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can't always accommodate those unless

they came from the rescue before.

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Dixie: So have you ever had to enforce

that $10,000 portion on your contract?

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Diana: Thankfully, we haven't.

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We have had two horses that were

neglected that had to be taken back.

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But thankfully other than

that, we've been really lucky.

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We've had several horses that

have come back two or three times.

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Two, like one of them in

particular, both of his previous

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adopters passed away from cancer.

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So it was one of those situations

where they didn't really have any,

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the families weren't horse owners.

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It was really just those adopters that,

that had the horse experience, and

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they just didn't feel like they could

keep the horse for various reasons.

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So those horses got returned

to us, and thankfully they've

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all been adopted out since.

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So like I said, there's been a

few that have had two or three

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homes depending on the situation.

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But thankfully, I have a lot of

horses that we adopted out in: 2010

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2011, and they're still in those

homes today, which is amazing.

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Dixie: Yeah, that's fantastic.

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Now, you said that some of the horses

are companion only, and in other

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ones y-you may be able to ride or

people may be able to do a cart- Yep

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with them.

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So would- Yep.

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E-explain to me what a cart is.

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What does that mean?

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Is that a workhorse?

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Is it, or is that different

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Diana: oh, yeah.

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That would be like if somebody

wanted to go on a carriage ride.

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There's a lot of around the country,

there's a lot of pleasure driving

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that happens, so there's people that

do like even, people just take their

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horses out with a carriage on a trail.

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There's some people that actually

do competitive driving in shows.

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We actually one of the horses I know

of that we've adopted out, she actually

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does do shows every year, and they

send us really nice photos of her

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competing in shows with the carriage.

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It's really pretty.

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I would say most of our horses are just

riding horses, but since we do a lot with

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Standardbreds, those horses, were driven

on the track mostly, so they can do both.

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So thankfully, we've had some horses

that, their adopters have the choice.

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So they can go riding or if they

wanna go out with a carriage.

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We evaluate all the horses

before they go out for that.

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Sometimes we'll have a horse that even

though it was a Standardbred, it's not,

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a great fit for a driving horse, but

it's a great fit for a riding horse.

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So that's how we evaluate that.

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But so yeah, we've had carriage

horses, nobody's doing any work horses.

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We don't allow any breeding of the horses.

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That's something that's really strict.

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So once the horses go out we

have a clause that they, if

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it's a mare, it can't be bred.

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We have a clause that they can't be

just given away The horses usually don't

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go to lesson programs or trail barns.

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I think when we first started, we

had a horse or two that went out to

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trail programs where people like,

come to a business and ride trails.

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But it was a really nice facility.

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It wasn't like a facility where

the horses are overworked.

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But in general, we seek private homes

and just trying to find people directly

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that are gonna kinda keep a horse as

a pet and just wanna do some riding.

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Dixie: You did mention that

you get some Amish horses.

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Do you get- Yes … more Amish

horses than you do other ones?

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Diana: I wouldn't say more,

but we've had quite a few.

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We've had many that were Standardbred

racehorses that got, for one reason

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or another, they were sold and then

they ended up, in an Amish home.

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My, one of my personal horses

that I adopted from the rescue,

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her name is Classic Cookie.

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She's one of those.

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She's 16.

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But she basically was in training

to be Standardbred racehorse.

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She wasn't fast enough.

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She's a small horse.

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She was sold and actually ended up

being a broodmare for a few years.

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And then unfortunately,

her owner passed away.

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I think, and before, he actually

got sick first and had to sell her,

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and then she just fell through the

cracks, ended up with the Amish.

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She didn't get adopted

through our rescue at first.

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She was like a private horse that, that

our that our founder knew from, 'cause

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she worked in the Standardbred industry.

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And what happened was, because she

was her trainer the Standardbreds have

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freeze brands on their neck usually.

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Anouk is the founder of our rescue.

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She got a phone call when they

found Classic Cookie at a sales

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lot, as basically somebody

saying, "Hey, we found this horse.

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: 00:15:30

Do you wanna purchase her?"

299

: 00:15:32

Thankfully, we were able to come together

and give her a spot in the rescue, even

300

: 00:15:35

though we were pretty full at the time.

301

: 00:15:36

And then she has old injuries.

302

: 00:15:39

So she has an injury that they think

is probably an old buggy injury,

303

: 00:15:42

so she's got a huge back ankle.

304

: 00:15:45

And then with her other

back leg is sunken in too.

305

: 00:15:47

So she could technically maybe ride at a

light walk, but that's all she could do.

306

: 00:15:53

There, she wouldn't hold up to a lot of

work, and that's probably why the Amish

307

: 00:15:56

ended up dumping her at a sales program.

308

: 00:15:58

So there's a lot of horses like that.

309

: 00:16:00

, It's such hard work.

310

: 00:16:01

They're wearing these really heavy shoes.

311

: 00:16:03

It just takes a toll on their bodies.

312

: 00:16:05

And, with my horse's case, she's

been with me for two years now.

313

: 00:16:08

All she does is stand in the field

all day, eat hay, grass, hang out with

314

: 00:16:11

her buddy and that's all I ask of her.

315

: 00:16:14

Sometimes you get lucky.

316

: 00:16:15

Sometimes we'll get a horse from the

Amish via auction that can be ridden on

317

: 00:16:19

some level, but a lot of times the horses

that come from the Amish especially are

318

: 00:16:23

just really beat up and it takes a lot of

rehab to get them in better shape again.

319

: 00:16:28

Dixie: When you purchase a horse

from an auction, how much do you

320

: 00:16:32

typically have to spend per horse?

321

: 00:16:35

Diana: So it's gone up

considerably in the last few years.

322

: 00:16:37

When we first did it back in

: 2011

323

: 00:16:42

horse who had cancer in his eye.

324

: 00:16:44

So he obviously didn't have a good

prognosis, but we got him for $35.

325

: 00:16:48

Dixie: Wow.

326

: 00:16:48

Diana: We got another-- Yeah We

got another standard bred mare

327

: 00:16:52

who was in really bad condition.

328

: 00:16:54

We got her for $75.

329

: 00:16:56

So I think we got-- I think Cooper

and the other horse that we got at the

330

: 00:17:00

time were m- were closer to 150, 200.

331

: 00:17:03

And usually the cheaper horses, that's

the ones that the kill buyers go after.

332

: 00:17:06

But I know the last few years the

prices have definitely gone up.

333

: 00:17:10

That's why we don't really deal so much

directly with auction horses anymore is

334

: 00:17:13

for a reason, because, we went a few years

ago and there were horses that were in

335

: 00:17:18

really bad condition and they wanted $500.

336

: 00:17:20

So it just depends on the time

of year and things like that.

337

: 00:17:24

Sometimes you can get lucky and they're

not that expensive, but the prices for

338

: 00:17:27

meat and just for horses going through

auction has definitely risen considerably.

339

: 00:17:32

But any of the horses, that's one

of the things we always tell people

340

: 00:17:36

that are looking to place their

horses that we can't help, is just

341

: 00:17:39

to try to make the price as high as

possible or require a contract and

342

: 00:17:43

follow-up, because there's just so much.

343

: 00:17:46

If, people see ads for free horses,

those are the horses that they're gonna

344

: 00:17:49

target and try to sell to kill buyers.

345

: 00:17:52

Dixie: Would you mean this is like

an individual that contacts you for

346

: 00:17:55

a rehoming, but you don't have space

right now, so you just offer them

347

: 00:17:58

Diana: that advice?

348

: 00:18:00

Exactly.

349

: 00:18:01

Exactly.

350

: 00:18:01

So we'll just tell them, "Hey,"

we'll even tell people like, "You

351

: 00:18:03

can go to our website and take our

contract and just change it, the

352

: 00:18:08

wording, so that it's, your name."

353

: 00:18:10

And that way it's something a

little bit more tangible that

354

: 00:18:13

might scare a kill buyer away.

355

: 00:18:14

Because a lot of these kill buyers will

literally show up to people's houses

356

: 00:18:18

when they see these ads, and they'll

bring their kids, and they'll bring their

357

: 00:18:22

family and say, "Oh yeah, of course,

yeah, I really wanna help your 25-year-old

358

: 00:18:25

horse, and give her a great home."

359

: 00:18:27

And meanwhile, they're just literally

gonna flip the horse for profit.

360

: 00:18:30

So that's something that people

have to be really careful of.

361

: 00:18:32

And a lot of people don't understand,

like, how bad, the industry is as far

362

: 00:18:36

as just how dangerous it is to let

these horses go through the cracks.

363

: 00:18:39

There are horses we've talked to people

that we can't take that are older,

364

: 00:18:43

that have a lot of health issues, and

that our recommendation is to literally

365

: 00:18:47

have the horse euthanized because the

risk of that horse ending up in a worse

366

: 00:18:50

situation and suffering is just so high,

367

: 00:18:53

Dixie: yeah, that's very sad.

368

: 00:18:55

I know as far as with puppies and kittens

and cats and dogs, whenever people are,

369

: 00:19:01

like, giving them away, especially on

social media, I always tell them, do a

370

: 00:19:05

vet reference because they do show up

and they will actually pay a family to

371

: 00:19:11

go show up and make everything- Yeah

372

: 00:19:14

Look legit.

373

: 00:19:14

So you're like, "Oh, they have

kids, it's a nice sweet family."

374

: 00:19:17

Yeah.

375

: 00:19:18

I cannot- Yeah … believe they

do that for the horses too.

376

: 00:19:20

That just blows my mind.

377

: 00:19:22

Diana: Yes.

378

: 00:19:23

Yeah, and if anything, it's worse 'cause

it's just, they have the horse, the

379

: 00:19:26

dogs that they use for fighting and

stuff, but with the horse industry- Yeah

380

: 00:19:29

the way it is, it's so easy to be

like, "Oh, I'm just gonna take this

381

: 00:19:32

horse, and I didn't have to pay

anything for it, and now I can go to

382

: 00:19:35

auction and get five, $600 for it."

383

: 00:19:37

And if it ends up, going to a

kill buyer, what do they care?

384

: 00:19:40

That's just a way to make money.

385

: 00:19:42

Dixie: Yeah.

386

: 00:19:42

It makes a lot of sense because, even

with the, with what people will try

387

: 00:19:47

to do to acquire cats and dogs, and

like you said they're doing this- Yeah

388

: 00:19:51

and they're not really making a

profit off of them because, most of

389

: 00:19:54

the time a cat or dog- Yeah … is

just gonna be like a mutt basically.

390

: 00:19:58

But I mean- Yeah … that makes a

lot of sense though with the people

391

: 00:20:01

going to get these horses because

it's a financial thing for them.

392

: 00:20:05

But I mean- 100% … still it just,

it like blows my mind 'cause I guess

393

: 00:20:08

just most people never think about

that, especially people in the city,

394

: 00:20:11

they just don't think about that.

395

: 00:20:13

Diana: Yeah, it's horrible.

396

: 00:20:15

It's one of those things I learned

the hard way when I was 15, 16 and

397

: 00:20:18

didn't wanna believe it, but it

was just, it's just gotten worse.

398

: 00:20:22

It's…

399

: 00:20:22

And unfortunately you hear from

people that are, desperate.

400

: 00:20:25

There's people that reach out to

us all the time, "Oh my God, I

401

: 00:20:27

can't afford my horse anymore.

402

: 00:20:29

What should I do?"

403

: 00:20:30

And we just, all of the rescues,

especially the good ones

404

: 00:20:33

don't have that much space.

405

: 00:20:34

There's just a limited

amount of space and funds.

406

: 00:20:36

So a lot of times it's "Oh, we'll

put you on a wait list," or, "We

407

: 00:20:39

can share your horse's photos out."

408

: 00:20:40

But it's really hard, and it's really

heartbreaking to see some people.

409

: 00:20:44

But like I said, we-- sometimes the

best bet is if they can't afford it

410

: 00:20:48

and the horse is especially older, it's

like you might wanna just, consider

411

: 00:20:53

giving them a good end now before they

end up in some terrible situation.

412

: 00:20:57

Because going to those auction houses,

you see some absolutely terrible things.

413

: 00:21:02

Dixie: Yeah, I can imagine.

414

: 00:21:03

So how many horses can you

house at your facility?

415

: 00:21:08

Diana: Normally we can house, let's

see, six, about eight or nine at max.

416

: 00:21:14

Right now we have eight, because one of

the horses we have is actually, I would

417

: 00:21:18

actually call her a semi-feral horse.

418

: 00:21:20

She's a 35-year-old horse.

419

: 00:21:22

Unfortunately she was badly abused.

420

: 00:21:24

She has a lot of issues, and we

can't put her directly in a field

421

: 00:21:28

with other horses, or she becomes

too territorial with those horses.

422

: 00:21:32

So she actually is taking up

an entire field right now.

423

: 00:21:35

So otherwise we could

probably put two where she is.

424

: 00:21:38

But other than that, we have

the the eight we have right now.

425

: 00:21:42

It's a mix.

426

: 00:21:42

We've got, I think we have three

Standardbreds, a Thoroughbred.

427

: 00:21:47

We have a kind of a Welsh cross pony.

428

: 00:21:50

We have what's called a Criollo

mare, which is a Thoroughbred

429

: 00:21:53

that's from South America.

430

: 00:21:55

And then we have a Quarter Horse.

431

: 00:21:58

And we probably are about to take

actually a Oldenburg horse that's

432

: 00:22:03

a European breed, that we just got

an emergency in-take request from.

433

: 00:22:07

So that's gonna be, that once

that horse comes in, we're

434

: 00:22:09

gonna be at capacity, basically.

435

: 00:22:12

Dixie: How many adoptions do

you normally have per year?

436

: 00:22:16

Diana: It varies.

437

: 00:22:17

The last few years have definitely

been down because we've been getting

438

: 00:22:19

a lot more older horses that can't

be adopted or just aren't adopted.

439

: 00:22:23

So over the course of the past

16 years, we've adopted, I think,

440

: 00:22:28

somewhere in the range of 93 horses.

441

: 00:22:31

But we-- the last few years

have been two or three a year

442

: 00:22:34

max, depending on the situation.

443

: 00:22:35

I believe last year we had

two adoptions, if not three.

444

: 00:22:40

But then this year we

haven't had any so far.

445

: 00:22:42

Currently, we only have o- two

horses for adoption right now,

446

: 00:22:46

and they're both companion horses,

and one of them is amazing.

447

: 00:22:49

One of them is just the

nicest, sweetest family horse.

448

: 00:22:51

But again, it's a companion horse, but

you can't really ride her a lot of people

449

: 00:22:55

don't wanna deal with that right now.

450

: 00:22:57

So our adoption rate right now is

pretty much stagnant other than, we have

451

: 00:23:01

two that are available for adoption,

the chances of them getting adopted

452

: 00:23:04

are pretty low, especially right now.

453

: 00:23:05

People don't wanna take on

a horse that they can't ride

454

: 00:23:10

Dixie: Before we end the call, do

you have any good rescue stories

455

: 00:23:14

Diana: we have so many

good rescue stories.

456

: 00:23:16

I'm trying to think.

457

: 00:23:17

I always had really great

situations where we had a horse

458

: 00:23:21

years ago, his name was Silver Gem.

459

: 00:23:23

He was a gray stallion, and basically

the, our founder, Nook, was out driving

460

: 00:23:30

in a neighborhood and saw two little

ponies chained on the side of the road.

461

: 00:23:35

So she pulls over, she goes and inquires

with the house with these ponies, why

462

: 00:23:40

are they chained on the side of the road?

463

: 00:23:41

It turns out it's just this family

that really doesn't know any better,

464

: 00:23:45

and it turns out they have this gray

stallion living in their backyard.

465

: 00:23:50

And he is just skin and bones

living on a chain in their yard.

466

: 00:23:54

And we were able to save the ponies.

467

: 00:23:56

We were able to save the the gray horse,

and he was one of those horses where he

468

: 00:24:00

clearly had been trained at some point

in his past, but was just sitting in this

469

: 00:24:04

person's yard on a chain, like neglected.

470

: 00:24:07

We checked it probably took us about six

months to, to get him to rehab so that

471

: 00:24:10

he gained weight and things like that.

472

: 00:24:12

We finally got him back in training,

and he was one of these horses that

473

: 00:24:15

was like beautiful under saddle, but

really needed a very experienced rider.

474

: 00:24:19

So we had him for a good year, and

we didn't really have a lot of great

475

: 00:24:23

inquiries because, again, there's

not a lot of people out there

476

: 00:24:26

looking for a horse that needs an

advanced rider, and especially people

477

: 00:24:29

that can actually ride that well.

478

: 00:24:31

But we were able to find we, a

12-year-old girl contacted us of

479

: 00:24:36

all things, and we require all the

adopters to be 18 and older, so her

480

: 00:24:39

family ended up adopting the horse.

481

: 00:24:41

But she adopted this horse.

482

: 00:24:43

It was like love at first sight.

483

: 00:24:44

They rode.

484

: 00:24:45

Everything went amazing, and she

still has him to this day, so she's

485

: 00:24:48

had him for, I think, 15 years.

486

: 00:24:51

And he's a little old man now, and that's

one of my favorites, just like seeing

487

: 00:24:55

like that horse would've probably died in

this yard if we hadn't, come across him.

488

: 00:25:00

And just being able to s- like just

have him be with somebody who's not

489

: 00:25:03

only you think when somebody's 12 years

old, like they might lose interest in

490

: 00:25:06

horses or they might send the horse

back, and the fact that, she's well

491

: 00:25:09

into her 20s and and she doesn't really

ride him anymore but she's dedicated

492

: 00:25:12

to him and just that he's had such a

really good, end of his life because

493

: 00:25:17

he came from a really rough situation.

494

: 00:25:18

So that's one of my favorites, but there's

so many that are similar to that, whether

495

: 00:25:22

they're companion horses or riding horses

that our adopters have really stepped

496

: 00:25:26

up for and given like amazing homes.

497

: 00:25:27

And it's really great to like still

get the updates after 15 years from

498

: 00:25:31

some of these people and see like

what an amazing life their horses

499

: 00:25:35

have had as the result of the rescue.

500

: 00:25:37

Dixie: Yeah.

501

: 00:25:37

That is amazing to hear that she

started at 12 years old and she still

502

: 00:25:41

has the horse that many years later.

503

: 00:25:43

That is amazing.

504

: 00:25:44

Diana: Yep.

505

: 00:25:44

Yeah.

506

: 00:25:45

Yeah, exactly.

507

: 00:25:47

Dixie: Thank you so much for coming on

the show to talk with me about this.

508

: 00:25:51

And I hope it raises some awareness too,

because I think like a lot of people,

509

: 00:25:56

and particularly in the city, you hear

about things like this with all these

510

: 00:26:00

horses going to auction and getting sold

to slaughterhouses, but I don't think

511

: 00:26:05

it really sticks with a lot of people.

512

: 00:26:06

I don't think they tend to believe it.

513

: 00:26:08

Yeah.

514

: 00:26:08

I think it's just one of

these things where they're

515

: 00:26:09

like, "Oh, that's just a myth.

516

: 00:26:11

It doesn't really happen."

517

: 00:26:13

Yeah.

518

: 00:26:13

So I think it's good, to speak with you

to raise awareness for that too, so people

519

: 00:26:17

know that kind of stuff does go on, and

these animals need to be rescued as well.

520

: 00:26:22

Diana: Yeah.

521

: 00:26:22

Yeah.

522

: 00:26:23

Thank you.

523

: 00:26:23

It's one of those things, like until I

went to my first auction, which I think

524

: 00:26:26

I was a teenager when I first did it,

it really is just eye-opening and just

525

: 00:26:30

makes you wanna, help as many as you can.

526

: 00:26:32

And it's just hard 'cause

there's always more to help.

527

: 00:26:34

But but at least the ones that

we do help, we really feel good

528

: 00:26:36

that we've changed their lives,

529

: 00:26:37

Dixie: yeah.

530

: 00:26:38

I couldn't imagine going to one of

those auctions because, it's gotta

531

: 00:26:41

be- Oh, yeah … so awful because

you can't take all of them with you,

532

: 00:26:46

Diana: yeah.

533

: 00:26:46

And when I first went, I was a teenager.

534

: 00:26:48

I couldn't take anybody, and it

was just like, "What do I do?"

535

: 00:26:51

And and Nook, who was our founder,

she went up several years ago, she

536

: 00:26:55

called me, and originally she was

gonna take two horses, and suddenly

537

: 00:26:57

she's I think I'm gonna take four."

538

: 00:26:59

And I went, "Do we have money for four?

539

: 00:27:00

Like, how are we gonna get four?"

540

: 00:27:02

But we, thank God we got four because

those horses all really needed it,

541

: 00:27:06

and they all ended up in, in much

better situations as a result of that,

542

: 00:27:09

Dixie: yeah, that's wonderful.

543

: 00:27:10

Thank you for the great work

that you do with the horses.

544

: 00:27:13

Diana: Oh, thank you so much.

545

: 00:27:14

And if people are interested

horserescueunited.org

546

: 00:27:17

is our website.

547

: 00:27:18

Obviously people can go look at

us and we always need sponsors and

548

: 00:27:21

things like that, so really appreciate

anybody helping to support us.

549

: 00:27:25

Dixie: Yeah, and I'll put that

in the show notes too, so that

550

: 00:27:27

way people have the direct link.

551

: 00:27:28

Oh,

552

: 00:27:28

Diana: that'd be great.