Straight from the Horse's Heart

Habitat for Horses could use your help

Bonham, TX – With 76 horses rescued from a ranch in Denton County and 23 taken from a ranch in Fannin County, animal rescue groups are struggling to stay afloat. The Humane Society reported they are under a lot of financial stress because the money to take care of rescued animals just isn’t there.

And Habitat for Horses also needs more help. They assisted with the Arabian horse seizure near Pilot Point and are currently taking care of the 23 horses from Bonham.

Those horses rescued last week are already showing signs of improvement under Habitat for Horses care. Member Nancy Gracey says all the hard work is worth the results.

“It’s rewarding because you’re seeing that they’re getting better, they’ve actually put on weight since they’ve been here and that’s only been three days,” said Gracey.

And today four of them are getting a new home. As Randy Koon loads the horses into his trailer, he wonders if he will just foster these… or end up with another permanent member of the family.

“Some of them we keep and some of them end up getting fostered later on down the road. You can end up growing attached to them, you know a lot of them you don’t want to give up,” said Koon.

But Gracey says they need more people like Koon to lend a helping hand.

“We haven’t had a lot of help yet, we’re hoping to get some more. It’s expensive to take care of these horses, it’s also very time consuming and tedious,” explained Gracey.

Just yesterday two more of the neglected horses had to be euthanized. Their long term injuries and illnesses made their quality of life too painful to continue.

“We try to help them out and give them a place, and nurture them back to health. And hopefully somebody can find a home for them,” said Koon. “Most of them are good natured horses, make good pets, a lot of them ride and show them and it’s good for kids.”

But Gracey says she believes one reason why animals get into as bad as shape as these horses is a sign of the times. People don’t have the money to care for their animals properly, and it’s also harder to find enough funding to help the animals once they’re rescued.

“The economy contributes to that, a lot of rescues are full because the people that used to foster have met economical reasons that they have had to give up fostering,” said Gracey.

For Randy Koon, taking in a few of these horses is simple. He says all you need is good pasture, plenty of food and a little heart.

“We feel like we’re helping out, you know all these horses that have been neglected and abused… Just a love for animals I guess,” said Koon.

And Habitat for Horses says they need all the help they can get. They’re asking anyone who has knowledge of healing and caring for mal-nourished horses to please volunteer.

To help by donating, adopting a horse or volunteering with Habitat for Horses call 1-866-434-5737 or visit http://www.habitatforhorses.org.