Reading various articles from veterinarian professionals along with blogs and inputs from the people who live in low temps with horses, I found the information from sales companies misleading. During my research I had found many logistics that play into the 'blanket or not-to-blanket' role such as: hair growth, medical condition of the horse, having access to shelter, and environment. "Horses that do not live in extremely cold environments – meaning routinely colder than 10°F – will do well without a blanket, provided they are either stalled during the coldest temperatures or have access to a protective shelter". The chart posted here is from a horse product company providing information with little or no research supporting their reasoning to purchase their blankets.
"It is very important to keep in mind that there are times when blanketing is worse than not blanketing. A blanket will make your horse’s hair coat lie flat, thus removing that insulating layer of warm air. If the amount of insulation in the blanket is less than what your horse’s natural coat would provide, then he will be cold. Make sure that any blankets used for turnout are waterproof! A wet blanket will make your horse cold. Too many blankets, or too heavy a blanket will make your horse sweat, make the hairs lie down, and make your horse cold. Stick your hand under your horse’s blanket to make sure he is not too hot. Additionally, you should not see sweat marks on your horse when you take the blanket off."
How I fixed my Stubborn horse!
Several years ago, before I was turned onto “groundwork” from methods such as Clinton Anderson, Parelli, Buck Brannaman, I had come across a difficult horse who had sticky feet syndrome. Sticky feet syndrome is where the horse is unwilling to move forward undersaddle for the rider, and can also be a problem on the ground leading as well. Little did I know I would soon be practicing what these clinicians have been preaching for years without even knowing it. Sticky feet syndrome is a common occurrence in horses and those horses are more commonly known as sulky or even lazy. I find most people don’t even know their horse has sticky feet as they are plucking along below the speed limit while the rider nags with every stride making no headway, while the horse is pinning it's ears and has a dull expression on it's face.
This brings me back to my first truly sticky-footed horse. It was a young TB gelding who had been off the track a year due to a tendon issue. He was a beautiful liver chestnut with 4 socks and a blaze. The first couple rides I put in on him where in the round pen where he complied moving forward. It wasn’t until we walked into the riding arena when the feet planted and suddenly my accelerator pedal was no longer working. I sat on his back, kicking the crap out of him like a child on a naughty pony, but he stood as still as a statue. No matter how much I kicked or whipped while I was aboard him, his stubbornness way outlasted my physical efforts.
Scratching my head, I knew I had a clever horse on my hands who simply didn’t want to work. I had to get one step ahead of him and figure him out. After all, I couldn’t let him win! What came to mind was to make him work really hard on his own in the round pen and to work less when I am on his back. So, I would give him the first opportunity to go forward, the second he foot planted, I took him to the adjoining round pen and made him run, and run, and run. I wasn’t trying to expel energy, but rather make him understand that if he doesn’t comply this will be what he has to do - run. Sticky footed horses are just that, lazy who don’t want to work. I was hoping I could use a bit of psychology to get him to comply. After I got his heart rate up and he was wanting to stop, I’d hop on and if he went a round without sticky feet, I’d stop, pat him and put him up. After a couple days of doing this, I’d start off in the round pen, ride out of it into the big arena and test him. If sticky feet occured, we went right back into the round pen and I rode him hard in the round pen for a few mins, then back out and tried the arena again. After a couple weeks of this, the horse started to figure out it was much less work to comply from the get go rather then having to put up a fight and work really hard.
Once I was able to actually work him in the arena, he’d start to come up with other tactics to get out of working by tossing in a buck or a half-rear to try to intimidate me enough to let him have his way. So, I decided to just put him over some poles and see if this engaged him enough to change his mind about “work” and voila, that was the missing puzzle piece he needed. He loved the poles and loved jumping. After 6 months of hard work on my part, he was happily coursing 2’3” fences and anyone could ride him at that point. He later went on to be a young girl’s event horse and never stuck his feet again.
Today I have come up to the times the clinicians mentioned earlier in this post, and took note that they used similar tactics to get the horses to comply and working. If I had known those methods before this horse came into my barn, I would have recognized the signs right away and would’ve known what to do immediately and could have resolved the issue much sooner then I had. I am happy to say constructive ground work is now implemented in all of my horses from day one and makes the retraining process much easier for the horse and myself.
Finding Motivation Through Critics
What motivates you to push forward? Is it the constant praise and encouragement, or is it criticism and judgment? I recently read a post discussing how ring-side edict has gone to the wolves in these current times; however, looking back, spectator edict has always been a harsh reality. Maybe the change of times, with the developing of social progression has made new age competitors a bit soft?
In 2005, I was the new face around the racetrack. A 22yo twiggy girl in English riding breeches trying to make my way in the tough male-dominated industry alongside all these professionals who have been around the track since they were toddlers, from generations of Racetrack families. It was especially hard for someone coming from a different background, with no winning hand dealt in the deck cards. I had no one to show me the way, take me under their wing, or help steer me in the right direction, at least not in the first several months. Climbing aboard any horse anyone would be willing to put me on, I'd head off onto the track, knowing literally nothing about racing, or racehorses for that matter. Day after day, mount after mount, I was either getting bucked off or ran off with on a daily bases, until I developed the skills to ride those horses. I never gave up, I showed up every single day. Typically, one is suppose to start at a racehorse farm to gain experience before heading the track; however, I started in a time where one could get away with just learning right on the racetrack. Those times have changed for safety reasons, obviously. During those short 3 months I spent at Pomona Fair Grounds before heading to my home base track at Los Alamitos, I'd had all kinds of people making comments and remarks behind my back. I could see the whispers and hear the laughter. One particular morning, a young jockey approached me and said "Maybe this thing isn't for you, and you need to go find something else to do". That right there was my motivator. I wanted nothing more than to prove everyone wrong that I could do this, and I will do this. I had always been very interested in conquering male-dominated worlds. As an 18yo, I worked as a front-end Mechanic for Ford and I had been heavily into street racing, finding nothing more pleasurable then to clean house on the boys who thought they were all that and a bag of chips. Prove them wrong and you get all the respect is how I lived my life.
Find your motivator. You can't control the critics, they are like cock roaches who have been here since the dawn of time. Instead, find them as motivators and prove them wrong. I have come across several young aspiring riders throughout my 11-year career on the racetrack, and the ones who made it were the ones who didn't listen to the critics and pushed their way through the industry, some even making leading rider. Don't fall for the rainbow and butterfly theory, live for the reality. If you can conceive it, and you believe it, you can achieve it.
The Thoroughbred Stereotype
Thoroughbreds (TBs) are unfairly misrepresented as hot, unpredictable, triggered, and reactive. Can they become this way? Yes, however there are always reasons to why this occurs. For example: What is their environment like? What is the TB's prior training/riding/working experience? What kind of person owns or is working with the TB? Does the TB have any pain related issues? All are fair questions. TBs are in fact a sensitive breed, meaning they are more aware of what their environment is like and the people handling them. They are definite people pleasers, with hearts of gold, who don't want to do anything wrong or harmful, and take punishment to heart.
TBs will keep you honest, make you learn to ask and ride correctly, and are more aware of your mood, body, and actions. By being a sensitive breed your training, riding, and mistakes will always be exposed on a TB. They will let you know when your pressure is too much or too little and will give you the holy grail when you do something right. They make you learn to have a certain feel in your hands and body just by their reactions to what you ask. If we listen, we will hear what works for them and what doesn't. If you sea-saw their mouth, or beat the crap out of them they will have an unpleasant reaction, but wouldn't you? In today's world we have so many different training outlets that can help us with training our horses, we don't need to resort to overly harsh tactics to "get the job done". I do believe sometimes you have to make a firm point, but make your point and move on—don't sit there and keep nagging the horse. These horses thrive on ground work and daily exercise. They aren't the type of breed to sit in a stall 5 days a week then go on a leisure trail ride for the weekend. Imagine living in your bathroom all week, only able to get out on weekends. Wouldn’t you want to run and jump around? Well, that is how your TB feels!
I see posts all the time giving TBs the unfair stereotype of being crazy, out of control, or 'have a switch'. We just need to stop, take a good look, and listen to what the horse is trying to tell us before we proceed and give them wrong direction. If we come across an extra sensitive person or own a sensitive dog, we don't choose to not interact with that person or dog, but we change our approach to meet the needs of the sensitivity. Most of my experience has come from riding TBs on the racetrack. No one prepared me for that ahead of time, but spending hours on the backs of 10-12 TBs a day gave me the feel and education for the breed. I learned to be sensitive to their needs, quirks, and how to get the best out of them without fighting them or putting myself in harms way. Of all the years of riding lessons I’ve taken, most of my valuable riding knowledge was experienced and learned by the racing TB themselves. They are, in fact, the best teachers. We’re very lucky that horses tolerate us riding them along with the living conditions that aren't ideal for most horses. It's not a bad thing to take the time to learn to ride them correctly and efficiently.
Yet, I do agree TBs are not for everyone. They aren't for the people who are unwilling to change their ways or unwilling to learn. Those type of people have a narrow way of thinking and should not own or work with a TB. Therefore, take a moment, breathe deep, and figure out where the pieces to the puzzle go.
Everyone is a horse trainer
Everyone is a horse trainer. Or as it seems these days, at least here in the U.S. You can take a few riding lessons, label yourself a horse trainer and begin training horses. Whether it be your own horse, other people’s horses, or even teaching people how to ride. If you board at a riding stable, you know this all too well. You get people who have taken a handful of beginner riding lessons, then decide to go out and purchase a halter-broke young horse sight-unseen from a livestock auction. Yup, sounds like a good plan right? Those who know better, turn their head and look the other direction while cringing at all the confusing signals and mistakes the uneducated person is trying to teach the also uneducated horse. I could only imagine what is going on in the horse's mind. Horses are not like dogs and I find many people get confused thinking training a horse will be similar. Poor horse training, inexperienced horse training, all leads to a confused horse, poor direction, and in some cases, harm to either the horse or the person. When this happens, trauma and bad habits set in, which will require an experienced trainer to spend extra time to undo all the 'wrong' that the horse experienced or was taught. Many times these horses become damaged by these inexperienced people and the horse is deemed crazy or uncontrollable and thus find themselves at a feed lot waiting their turn to head off to slaughter. This all could have been prevented by someone who has a solid education on starting a horse. This happens a lot more than you'd think. It's best to just seek out a professional and get quality training that is done right the first time.
To become a qualified horse trainer takes years and years of experience and direction. You will not be a master of all trades, but a master of the trade you focus on, such as Dressage or Polo. Being an Eventer myself, I would never walk into a Polo barn and start training polo ponies. I have no idea what is involved in that sport, nor what it takes to train a successful polo pony. I would be asking for direction and help. If you were looking for a math tutor for your child, would you hire one with no education in math or one that has years of experience? That is the same as horse training.
You have to go to school to get a degree to become a school teacher. Why is that not the same for animal trainers? Specifically horses. It seems as if anyone can label themselves a horse trainer and gather business from people who don't know any better. In other countries such as Germany (which is #1 in the World Equestrian Game rankings, and holds 50% more medals over the U.S. over all), you are required to attend a school where you will be climbing up levels as you accomplish riding tasks throughout the program. In time, this will lead to a certification so you can take in clients or horses to begin your training career. Here in the U.S. you don't have to have any riding experience to label yourself as a horse trainer, and that is a big issue we have here. Resume and show titles are what is used here, however those could also be misrepresented and people who don't know better don't even know to look for that. Another issue I find in the U.S. are inexperienced riders competing and showing at levels well above their riding experience because they are on a horse who can. In Germany, this would not be allowed. I do agree having an experienced horse help you learn is a good thing; however, many of those riders should really be training at the level they currently are at and advancing as their skill level advances. You shouldn't be an intermediate rider riding a Grand Prix horse showing in Mini Prix because you have the horse. Have you seen those riders? They are all over the place, holding on for dear life, as the horse just takes them for a ride. A good way to tell where your skill set is at is to ride a green horse. A green horse will show you where you are at in your experience. I feel the U.S. horse industry here is based mostly on money instead of skill as it is in other countries.
So, please do the horse a favor and seek out a qualified trainer with years of experience and great references. It will only help you and your horse along the journey to have a long, healthy, positive, progressing riding lifestyle.
Horses are just horses - Behavioral Issues
Horse are creatures of habit and sometimes they pick up habits that aren't ideal for our riding or living conditions. While we can train our horses to help lessen that habit, it won't ever really go away completely. I am not referring to green horse habits such as traveling high-headed, not picking up the correct lead, or ability to do flying lead changes as asked. Those are considered uneducated horses that just need some training. The habits I am referring to are deeply ingrained habits such as wheeling, taking off, rearing, spooking, as well as stall vices. Those are ingrained habits that the horse has used in the past as their defense to something that may be hard, scary, stressful, or just something they don't want to do. We need to keep in mind a horse does not have a frontal cortex; they cannot think things through to process issues like we can. That is what has kept horses alive all these years: flight mode. So, when a horse is faced with a scary object in the near distance, or leaving the herd (which instinct tells them that is a cry for danger) they do what they can to get back to what they perceive as safety. This is where the undesirable behavior comes into play when we are riding or handling horses. You can fight or school the issue to get the horse over the issue at that time, but their ingrained instincts are very strong and to completely dissolve the issue for future insistences is nearly impossible all the time. We can always improve the issue with time, training and trust, but it will never go away at 100% unless the horse remains in an environment where they feel 100% safe at all times. That is the key word "safe". Does the horse feel safe? Generally if they feel safe, you will have very little issues, unless the horse is sour or sore, then the avoidance will creep up and they will default to their ingrained "safety" habit as the defense. Sometimes we can trick them, or even work with them to lessen the behavior, but when shit hits the fan that habit will come right back around.
Addressing stall habits such as weaving, cribbing, pacing are almost nearly impossible to fix. These behaviors are generally caused by artificial living environments we create for the horse, such as closed in stalls. When horses are in confined spaces, they not only typically feel claustrophobic, but they also cannot use their flight mode to evade what they perceive as danger, they feel trapped and a way they deal with that is by picking up habits. Sometimes you can make them feel more comfortable by putting them in an open pen or pasture, which will lessen the behavior, but once again these are ingrained habits that will come to surface when the horse feels unsafe or stressed. We can only do what we can do based upon our living situations and lifestyles, but thinking outside the box and understanding your horse and their insecurities is the first step to help them lessen the behavior and keep everyone safe. After all, horses are just horses.
Purchasing an ON-The-Track-Thoroughbred from the stereotypical Racing Connections
Typical bad track photo
You decide you’re in the market for an off the track thoroughbred. So, you begin your search online, researching various websites and adds. You come across an ad for a young Thoroughbred mare that is still on the racetrack. When you look at the thumbnail, there is this tacky picture of her with her hind leg cocked, her ears back, looking the opposite direction of the camera. You‘re interested but you need more information, so you call to inquire and ask for more pictures and hopefully some video.
A nice man answers the phone and you proceed to ask him about said mare and ask him for more pictures, better pictures and a video. After some time, you receive a message on your phone with pictures of the mare. Much to your disappointment, you see more horrible pictures with the horse's nose cut off and it’s legs placed all over the place. You think to yourself, 'how can I make a decision on purchasing a horse if I can’t even see how it’s conformation is?'.
Then you get to the video portion and you’re looking at a horse that’s jogging towards the front of the camera for a total of three seconds. You shake your head and say to yourself, 'I can’t tell anything from this video." You proceed to ask for another video, yet the seller is left confused and thinking he had shown enough. It's a 3yo TB mare after all, what else is there to know?
Racing people are only concerned about three things when they purchase an already raced racehorse:
The horse's racing form
If they can improve the horse's racing form
Any major injuries the horse might currently have
In the sellers mind, selling racehorses to people who want to use them for non-racing activities is very foreign. They don’t understand why the horse needs to be standing in a conformation pose. In fact, many might not even know what those words mean. All they know is that they have a horse they have been racing, it has a racing record, and that should be sufficient enough for somebody to buy the horse based upon. After all, that's how THEY buy horses.
The racehorse owner doesn’t know what you’re talking about as far as a floating trot, or an uphill way of traveling, or even what stable vices mean. They don’t understand why the buyer needs to see the horse walk, trot, and canter on a video, in fact you might just end up with a racing video and we all know that doesn't tell us sporthorse buyers squat.
So, you decide to just take a chance on this horse. The price is right, they are only asking $2000 for the horse, which is fair market value for a track broke horse that is stepping down in racing class and can no longer compete at the higher levels.
Next, we move onto having a veterinarian check out the horse for soundness. The race owner balks and once again questions the need for such a waste of time exam on a cheap horse who is no longer useful to him. The truth of the matter is, $2000 is rock bottom dollar amount of money. The amount of money involved in horseracing can far surpass the amount of money one would spend on a GP show jumper and that is just to get the horse to the race, which is no guarantee on it's own, let alone that horse make back even a fraction of what it cost to breed, raise, and produce as a racehorse. To try and be successful in racing requires breeding to the best of sires, which can cost you $300,000 for one foal. That sure is a large chunk of change for an unborn embryo who hasn't proven a darn thing.
To non- racing people, we look at that horse for sale as a young, big project that is not yet proven in the sporthorse world, who going to cost us a lot of time and money to develop into the horse that we hope it becomes. That's a gamble in itself, especially if you board and are limited on how many horses you can have at one time. So, how do we get around this issue? Meeting the horse in person is your best bet; however, if you are unable, finding an aftercare organization or agent with access to the track grounds who can be your go between, they might be able to go down and take the footage and access the horse your inquiring about. They also are familiar with the lingo and can be the translator between the two languages.
The fact of the matter is, the buyer nor the seller is wrong; it's just two different industries trying to co-exist. But even this is just a generalization. There are many racing owners who are horse saavy in other areas and are familiar with what you are needing and looking for and will help obtain the information you need to make your decision.
Ideal sale photo
How the Red Mare changed me
Dogs barking in near distance, as an elderly person takes his morning walk pushing his dried up walker along the sidewalk as it scraps the pavement, desperately needing some oil. The loud roar of a neighbors sports car fires up, he hits the gas, pealing out leaving tread marks on the road. The daily rounds of the big green city trash truck stopping at each house, to draw up and collect the garbage into it's giant bin. Mini horses are seen in the far turn out running around chasing one another, squealing. Confidently, my redheaded dragon walks by all of this along the spooky set of trees that felines love to hide in mimicking a stalking predator. All on the buckle, my dragon walks with her head low taking in the surrounding sights and smells, completely relaxed, unfazed by all the activity, we are both in a zen state of mind. I let out a big sigh as I say "thanks" to the sky for helping me find this place in our partnership where we both are at peace with one another and can actually relax in this crazy place we call home. Just over 8 months ago this wouldn't be a zen moment at all, but a rather stressful situation as her eyes would be bugging out followed by a straight up sky leap or side-way spook sending us flying into the abyss from a small snap of a branch underneath her step.
Rewind to the early spring of 2017. I received a phone call from a local racehorse breeder asking me to take on this young filly he had bred to race that wasn't able to make the cut physically as a racehorse. "Sure", as I always say "I would love to". With a chuckle on the other line, I was advised that the horse I was getting was difficult and would require a lot of time and retraining. A half smile formed on my face as I had no problems with young difficult horses, heck I galloped racehorses for 11 years and have retrained a whole hell of a lot of them.
A week later, I greet my new project, as I enter her stall and halter her up, I start to lead her to the nearby round pen to let her stretch her legs while I evaluate what I have to work with. Two steps out of the stall and she jumps straight up in the air, she proceeds to follow me as if she is walking on hot coals, barely clipping the heels of my boots as I am scurrying out of her way. I move my feet quick, to avoid being ran over and trampled as all I see behind me is a fire breathing dragon who has made all 15.3hh of herself appear to be 18hh. Getting her into the round pen was another challenging task as she starts rearing. And that was just the beginning.
Fast forward 3 months with several broken cross ties, countless exhausting days, and endless time "babysitting", I have some control to start her over some poles. Poles were cucumbers in the cat's eye as her reaction was to leap straight up into the air, regardless of how many times she has seen those darn things. She's a smart one, knows when something is new or has changed and it's back to square one as if she had never encountered it. Once I got her over the scary part of the jumping, as well as the 'clearing standards' faze where I swore I was going to eat dirt every time, the motor kicked in. Must-run-as-fast-as-we-can over everything and completely ignore the human on the back telling me to slow down and take it easy. Dragon was starting to gain a little too much confidence in this department and with the attitude of no one tells her what to do, it was a very frustrating time. Exercise after exercise, and we were still stuck at the drawling board. Going back to basics and flat work to get her more ride-able, turned dragon from speed demon to cranky, ear pinny, and resistant. If she couldn't get what she wanted, she resorted to being flat out disrespectful and sour. Now, I have no forward, I get ear pinny when I ask for impulsion, and I get kick outs when I ask for canter transitions. Ignoring the behavior hoping it would just go away, only made things turn further south. I felt like a small child on her pony kicking away while the pony stood there unfazed. I've had several vets check her body for soundness, chiropractor, hormones, saddle fitting. You name it, I tried it.
A year in half into working with dragon, I just decided to take her to a show and see what happens. The warm up was challenging in itself, as she went around like an unbroke stallion kicking up and and trying to run herself into other horses. During our warm up class in the jumping ring, not only did she refuse every single fence, she also gave me the full on feet plant at the gate, while turning her head back to me with pinned ears and showing me her teeth. "That's it!", I said "This ends now".
Desperately scouring the web reading article after article, as well as hitting up a few people I know well for advice, I was told to go back as far as ground work and start her from scratch as if she were a new horse in training. I ended up following the Clinton Anderson method, "Groundwork for Respect". Many people might frown upon his method, but this is what worked for us. Without this or something along the same lines, she would not be a ride-able horse for me at this point. I did not pick up any abusive training, just tactics, basically what worked was getting her to move her feet in any direction I asked with the smallest amount of pressure from a series of exercises to help you communicate with your horse. I spent an entire 3 weeks doing his method without riding her and boy what a difference it made in her overall. By the time I completed most of the exercises, I had a completely different horse. I no longer needed a running martingale, she was very calm, responsive, and the best part of all, I have little to no sticky feet. I could feel her start to respect me just by the attitude she was giving me daily, a horse who was finally willing to work with me.
Fast forward six months, I was able to haul her off property and compete at our first Beginner Novice Event. She was amazing! The instructor couldn't believe it was the same horse. She gave me a solid Dressage test and jumped everything in stadium and out on cross-country like a boss. I can happily hack her out on a loose rein, in a new place without her loosing her marbles, and she just feels so content in her own mind and body. She still has her moments, but they are much less evident. She is so well broke now that she has started giving beginner riding lessons to young girls. I now restart all my projects with that method and it has really made my life much easier. The horses become calm, focused, and willing to work with. I wish I would of opened up my eyes and picked this up years ago. My advise to you, if you run into issues with your horse that are not physical, go back to the basics, further your education, try something new. Nobody is ever an expert with horses, we are always learning, changing, and conforming. Don't be afraid to look at a bigger picture, ask for help, or change some of your ways. It might be hard in the beginning, but it does pay off. I can now happily say I love my mare and feel like I no longer need to refer to her as a Big B, but more of Boss Mare.
One For The Win
Leaping out of bed the second your alarm sounds, it's still dark on a very early Saturday morning, but who's sleeping anyways? You have too much excitement mixed with nerves to sleep anyhow. Heading to the show grounds on level ten energy while most of the world is still sleeping, you’re hopeful all your hard work with your partner will pay off on this very expensive day.
You unload your 4 legged partner and get them situated at the grounds, while your anxiety and anticipation starts to slowly raise, your show time creeps much too quick for your liking. Thinking you had plenty of free time to get ready, you're rushing to saddle your horse and get on for a quick warm up before your scheduled class. Stomach in knots and with a lump in your throat, you whisper to your hoofed partner; "we got this, you can do this". Not that they speak our language, but I do feel they have some sort of idea that this isn't just a normal schooling or practice that you've done time after time. Out you go, like a seal swimming in the ocean, alone, vulnerable, being watched by the sharks standing on the side lines. You try to swallow that giant lump in your throat and only hope at this point you make it back still on your steed. Kicking off, as your anxiety starts to fade and your surroundings blur out of your mind. You are present, in the moment, you and your partner tackling the competition like a lion after a gazelle. You pull up to a stop, exit with a giant smile on your face as if you had won the gold medal at the little show you attended. Over joyed with adrenaline and excitement you give your partner several giant pats and a hug to thank him for performing his best and keeping you safe. Anxiously awaiting the results, still thinking you won, only to find out you placed out of the standings. Your smile fades to a disappointed frown, as you feel defeated and bummed that you didn't even make the top 5.
Walking back to the trailer, replaying the day in your mind, your frown turns into a smile as you realize you didn’t lose at all; you actually won. You won that dance of accomplishing what you’ve worked so hard for for so long. So what if you didn’t win by what society defines is a win. A win is not labeled by a ribbon, but an accomplishment. Let's face it, having a horse as a partner is not always rainbows and butterflies. It’s the countless hours of blood, sweat, and tears; well maybe more of sweat and tears then blood. You trained that horse, you built that relationship that turned into a wonderful partnership and it showed. So, they can keep their fancy ribbons, the memory created today will serve as a timeless keepsake. One for the win.
So you want to start up a horse rescue?
So you want to start up a horse rescue and/or an organization to help horses?
Why - Seems like a silly question; however, it will be the first question asked of you when you go to apply for your 501(c)3 non profit status as well as when applying for grants. Do you want to help that sad skinny horse at the feed lot? Or do you want to help by retraining horses? Or both? Many groups out there do apply for the 501(c)3 status to help receive funding for their already established business. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as it's done with the right intention: helping horses. Horses receive an education and in turn makes them ridable for the equestrian community. Let's face it, nobody gets rich off of horses, it's a consistent balance of trying to break even with some good and bad breaks in between. It's all about keeping the program going, and we do it because we love it and are passionate about it. Helping is helping, period.
Mission Statement - Your mission statement should be a summary of what your organization does in one sentence. Be clever, but also be straight to the point. This will be used when applying for your 501 as well as grants. It's what you stand for, so it is important.
Specializing - Make a plan. Do you want to specialize in auction/feed lot horses? Horses who are no longer useful for riding, such as a sanctuary? PMU or nurse mare horses? Elderly horses? Racehorses? Re-training? It is easier if you have a direct plan so people know exactly what you do and are more apt to want to help and adopt.
Motivation - It takes a very motivated person who can commit a majority of their time to the rescue. This is an everyday, full time business that requires a lot of your attention and time. trust me, I know that well. If you cannot be committed, don't take on the responsibility.
Funding/Grants/Donations/Applying for 501 - I suggest you hire a CPA or someone who specializes in starting up a non-profit. There is a lot involved and if you miss anything, all that time and money you put into your application process will be denied. A professional in the field will also help you with all the yearly filing requirements to keep your organization up to date with the state regulations. Failing to meet those regulations will end up in suspension of your non profit status. The start up process is not cheap, it will cost a couple thousand dollars in total to get all set up with the filing. It takes a solid 6 months to get your approval letter and you must be an established non profit through the government for one year before you are eligible for most grants. Having a good grant writer is huge. You will have lots of competition when applying and there is only so much money, your application needs to stand out from others. Hosting fundraisers, online auctions, or even giveaways are a good way to collect small amounts of donations to help. Many large online horse stores will give you items or gift cards to help you with your fundraising if you ask and apply.
Website - Get the word out, let the public know who you are and what you are here to do. Create a Facebook page, an Instagram account, build a website. The more your organization is known, the more you are able to be successful in what you are trying to accomplish.
Facilities - Having your own land is ideal or one you can rent and manage yourself to help cut costs. Running an organization out of a boarding facility will limit you on horses you can take in, whether it be the high cost of boarding or stallions or even sick horses. Boarding facilities are not ideal; however, if that is the only route you can go, then make sure you don't get in over your head financially.
People Skills - Very important one here. You will not just be dealing with the horses, you will also be dealing with potential adopters as well as donors. Respond to your emails and phone messages within a timely manner. Learn to deal and handle complaints professionally. If you need to make right by someone, suck it up and do it. Brush up on your people skills, look and act professional and most of all BE NICE. The horse world is very small and word spreads very quickly. A non-profit should not be treated any differently than a well run business. Your reputation is everything, without it, you are more than likely to fail.
Drama - Stay away from drama from other organizations. If you must get involved, do it to help and not to bash them online. You run your organization and they run theirs.
Horse Knowledge - This would seem pretty basic, however I have come across a few who have some basic knowledge, but really lack in horsemanship all around. Having a strong knowledge and experience will help you in dealing with many different horses and their baggage and can in turn help save you some money being able to deal with certain situations on your own.
Volunteers - Volunteers are priceless. Many of them want to help and will follow your lead and be there to help you do duties around the barn or even video your rides for you. Most of them probably don't have much riding experience, but they can certainly lend you a hand in other areas.
Plan for Everything - Having a plan for everything, such as a horse with a poor riding diagnosis, or an emergency surgery, a surprise mare in foal, or even a horse who requires euthanasia. Unexpected bills come up all the time, being able to properly handle them is what counts.
Sanctuary vs Retraining/Rehoming - Very important one here. You really need to define yourself if you will be accepting horses who need life long care (Sanctuary) or you will be adopting them out. Keep in mind, the more you keep, the less space you have for others.
Knowing when to say "NO" - One of the hardest things to do, but is a necessity. Too many rescues get in way over their heads because they cannot say no, and in the end, the horse suffers. You cannot help them all, but the ones you can help makes a huge difference in that horse and that is what counts.
Knowing when to ask for help - When you are in over your head, whether it's financial or just too many horses, please ask for help. I cannot stress this enough. 99% of failed rescues end up in horrible situations with starved and neglected horses because they simply did not ask for help. Don't be that organization. Many people will be more than happy to help if you just ask for it. The horses should never have to suffer because of poor business planning or simply bad luck.
Most of all, if you lose focus or passion, get out. No one will look down on you and say you failed. There is nothing worse then trying to keep something going that you no longer are passionate about or able to continue on at 100%. Helping horses is an amazing feeling, and seeing the happy faces of adopters with their horses does make it all worth it in the end.