Animals rescues everywhere are struggling right now, not just financially but also to meet the demands of their community. Horse rescues are no exception.
Carol Sumner, rescue coordinator for local nonprofit Hoofprints in the Sand, said her organization gets calls multiple times per week, begging them to take in horses – many abused or neglected – who have nowhere else to go.
But the 20-acre facility can only hold roughly 30 horses and is often at full capacity.
“We have to turn people away because we’re only allowed by law to have so many horses per acre,” Sumner said.
What happens to the horses they must turn away? She tries not to think about.
“Some go to auction, others (are) put down,” Sumner said over social media. “My heart hurts to turn away any horse. I joined this rescue to do just that … rescue.”
On top of space issues, the pandemic has exacerbated the already exorbitant costs of owning a horse. For instance, prices for necessities like alfalfa feed and sawdust for stalls have skyrocketed. The situation became so dire that a horse rescue in Amity, the only other equestrian refuge in Yamhill County, recently shut its doors.
Despite various obstacles, Sumner estimated that Hoofprints in the Sand has helped find homes for nearly 200 horses in its roughly two decades of operation. In addition to providing shelter and helping re-home the animals, they offer medical and dental care, chiropractic services, vaccines, training and “all the love and compassion by so many” volunteers, Sumner said.
Jacquie Lukens, who previously used the land as a boarding house for horses, founded the organization in 2003 after learning about a neglected pony named Sweet Pea who lived up the road. The neglect started after the original owners’ daughter developed a fear of Sweet Pea, but worsened when the pony bucked off a neighbor. When Sweet Pea arrived in the Lukens’ barn, she was under weight and traumatized.
But thanks to the rescue, Sweet Pea recovered both physically and mentally, eventually allowing children to ride her again. She later chose her own family, as is the rescue’s policy, who doted on her until her death in her late 20s to early 30s.
Although Lukens fell ill a few years ago and no longer oversees the organization, her work continues. Sweet Pea’s harrowing story is just one of many.
“(Without Footprints horses) like Jack would have died in the field he was abandoned in,” Sumner said via email. “Our beautiful horse (would have been) put down due to the owners not having the money to fix a fixable medical issue.”
Not every horse, pony or the occasional mule will be adopted, however. These “pasture pals” are often too old or have too many health issues to be a viable pet. Sometimes, a rescue animal will pass away shortly upon arrival at the barn due to pre-existing conditions.
“We give them the best care and all the love they deserve before crossing the rainbow,” Sumner said. “Yes, it’s hard on the heart, but (it’s worth it) to know that their final days were surrounded by people who gave all of themselves, asking for nothing back.”
Footprints in the Sand is always in need of help, especially in the way of money and volunteers. What the organization makes off of adoption fees is little, if anything, and not sustainable.
“Rescues aren’t places to make money,” Sumner said. “No government agency is handing out money. It’s hard work and you need volunteers to make all rescues work.”
Sumner herself spends 30-plus hours at the barn each week.
“Honestly, it’s a full-time job and your biggest reward is the faces of these majestic creatures looking at you when you walk into the barn,” she said.
In exchange for volunteering, such as mucking stalls, people can get free riding lessons. The rescue also always needs experienced trainers.
Alternatively, people can attend organization events; sponsor bales of hay and other feed, horse blankets, fly masks, grooming equipment and even individual horses; or support the organization through 100% tax-deductible donations.
“It helps us help them,” Sumner said.
In the future, the rescue hopes to secure grants and start a foster program, which would allow new rescues to live with volunteers until space opens in the main barn. The organization’s website is also under renovation and should launch in the next few months. A dream – one that Sumner said is unrealistic right now due to the economy – is to eventually buy a bigger property so they can rescue and support more horses.
“Our hopes are that others will see what we are trying to do and get enough money or property to grow,” she said. “All our volunteers donate time and their own money from time to time. We have an amazing bunch of people that we call family.”
While managing Footprints in the Sand is no small undertaking, Sumner strongly believes that volunteers get a lot in return.
“It’s also a safe place for people to get away from whatever they are dealing with in their lives,” she said. “For me, it’s my happy place. A place I can give back to the world. A place where a child can come and love on a horse and leave their troubles behind for a little while. The way the horses react to these little people, the smiles it puts on their faces is so rewarding.”