Hampshire rescue going well, but some horses unplaced
New homes have been found for about 50 of 75 quarter-horses that had been neglected at a Hampshire stable and were at risk of being sent to slaughter.
“The rescue is going pretty well,” said Jason Hornickel, executive director of the Hooved Animal Rescue and Protection Society of Barrington. Hands and Hooves of Chicago is also helping with the rescue.
He said most of the horses went to people from Illinois and Iowa.
The remaining horses are “the more challenging” animals to place, he said, due to their age and uncertainty about whether they have ever been saddle-broke. They are 12 to 25 years old, he said, and may only be suitable as companions.
The rescue groups had told the owner of the stable where the horses were boarded that they will have all the animals removed by Oct. 31, Hornickel said.
The previous owner of the horses lost them to the stable owner when she failed to pay her rent. Several horse rescue groups, including HARPS, had tried to persuade the horses' owner for the past two years to give up the horses. But Oct. 1, they announced that if homes couldn't be found for the horses in several weeks, the horses would be sent to slaughterhouses.
“He (the stable owner) is obviously very happy with our efforts so far,” Hornickel said.
The horses were owned by a past president of the American Quarter Horse Association and his wife. After the 2009 death of their adult daughter, who helped run their horse farm in Harvard, and his death in 2010, the widow lost the Harvard farm, and was unable to provide proper care for the horses, HARPS founder Donna Ewing said in an Oct. 2 interview.
Hornickel said Wednesday it looks like donations, both from people adopting horses and from those just interested in their welfare, will likely cover the groups' bills for food and veterinary care for the horses. At the start of the rescue, it was costing about $400 a day just to feed the horses.
Donations are still welcome and can be made at harpsonline.org, or sent to P.O. Box 94, Barrington, IL 60010. Donations to Hands and Hooves can be made at handsandhooves.org, or sent to 6 N. Throop St., Unit 3N, Chicago, IL 60607.