Rescue and Welfare of Horses, Burros, and Other Animals

For every animal that finds a loving home, the sad reality is that many more face neglect, cruelty, and abandonment – whether that’s at the hands of a past owner, or the actions of government programs. Horse Rescues, Animal Rescues, and Training Programs all over the country and world step in to save these less fortunate souls, offering shelter, medical care, and the opportunity for a happier life. Horse and Rider Living invites you to learn more about the people and organizations doing this incredibly important work, day in and day out.

If you know of a rescue organization or animal welfare issue you’d like to see featured here, please let our editors know using the contact us page.

What Can I Do?

Contact your legislators. Visit usa.gov/elected-officials and encourage them - in writing, by phone, or both - to support the John Stringer Rainey SAFE Act H.R. 961. This is especially important for Floridians, as residents of The Horse Capital Of The World; we need to do our best for our beautiful equine friends when they make up such a significant part of our economy.

Sign the ASPCA’s #NotWhatIOrdered Petition. It takes less than a minute and requires no further commitment!

Offer financial support. Whether it’s a one-time donation or a smaller amount each month, these funds make a real difference to the lives of these animals – and might be tax deductible, depending on the organization!

SHARE this information! Follow rescues and rescue efforts on social media and share their content! When you tell your friends, family, social media, coworkers, you might inspire another donation, signature, share, or contact…and it might just be the one that makes the difference!

Heat, Horses & Anhidrosis: A Summer Nightmare

In researching equine issues with heat, I received an article published at UF/IFAS about Anhidrosis (or in layman's terms, non-sweating) in horses. The reasons for non-sweating horses are still unknown, and though data regarding certain breeds has been produced and factors identified, there is no definite treatment defined for this condition.

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HRL EXCLUSIVE: Heat & Horses – A Survival Guide

Rising temperatures around the planet present a danger to millions of equine lives. Yet the vital facts of how heat can injure or kill horses is not widely known or understood. The most extensive international study of this threat is contained in the Encyclopaedia of Equestrian Exploration, written by CuChullaine O’Reilly, Founder of the Long Riders’ Guild. He has adapted the illustrated chapter which contains the collective wisdom of Long Riders past and present. The author has authorised HRL magazine to encourage the public dissemination of the article in the hope that this vital information may help save equine lives.

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The Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act: Subverted Over Fifty Years

By returning to the intent of the Wild Horse and Burro Act, we can step towards a healthy and more balanced ecosystem. That was the intent behind the 1971 law, which enjoyed public support and has even more proponents 50 years later. In the decades since my work with Wild Horse Annie, I have learned many lessons about our equine neighbors, and more evidence that the Wild Horse Act benefits humans and the ecosystem has come to light.

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A Toast to Water

Our survival depends on the one thing we take for granted: water. But that life-sustaining element is in serious danger from climate change…and as a result, so are plants, animals, and humanity. It’s time to stand up and work together, to save our water sources so it can continue to save us.

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How Horses and Humans Can Impact the Environment

Despite profit-driven misinformation, wild horses and burros are good for the environment – and their capture by BLM is doing real harm to the ongoing climate crisis that impacts us all. These are simple but powerful actions we can all make to make a difference for the planet…whether you own a horse or not.

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Wild Horses: A Threatened Symbol Of Hope

We need to find a way for people to fall in love with America again and to invoke the imagination of the recurring image of a multitude of wild horses racing in a line over mountains and prairies and through water, to understand why the protection of our wild horses and OUR public land along with all wildlife that calls it home are worth fighting for.

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Cowboy Convicts: How Prisoners Help Get Wild Horses Adopted

The Northern Nevada Correctional Center is a medium-security prison that also houses minimum-security inmates. A small group of those inmates, with approval for good behavior, are allowed to join the prison’s wild horse training program. There, the inmates are paired with wild horses and will spend several months transforming them from untouchable to rideable. The trained horses are offered to the public through a competitive-bid auction several times a year.

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An Open Letter to Jim Farley, CEO of Ford Motor Company

With America’s wild mustangs in peril, HRL is reaching out to the CEO of Ford Motor Company, hoping to secure his support in saving these iconic, beloved animals.

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HRL EXCLUSIVE: Savin’ All My Love For You

It was the 1920s and a new product called Ken-L-Ration dog food was an instant hit. The only problem was that the plant’s owner needed hundreds of thousands of horses to fill the cans of dog food he was selling. The result was horse slaughter on an unimaginable scale, with the Ken-L-Ration company bleeding the country dry of horses in its quest for even greater profits. That’s when one man single handedly attempted to stop the equinocide.

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The Extreme Mustang Makeover | Ocala, Florida

Ocala, Florida is a haven for competitive and casual riders alike, with beautiful trailheads and state-of-the-art professional facilities catering to many equine disciplines. It regularly features highly recognized events and exhibitions, such as the Mustang Heritage Foundation’s Extreme Mustang Makeover at the Southeastern Livestock Pavilion earlier this year.

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Person of Interest: Craig C. Downer

Horse & Rider Living is honored to introduce Craig C. Downer – an ecologist, environmentalist, activist, author, musician…and genuinely impressive human being.

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A Fading Dream: Wild Horses in Onaqui, Utah

The horses I stood with in the Utah sun and wind who once had shining coats, full bellies and bright eyes are wasting away physically and spiritually in filthy over-crowded holding pens…And this is a Federally protected animal. Our government has failed them, and our country is poorer for it.

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Fireworks: A Deadly Celebration

Holidays are times for celebration and we all have different ways of making them memorable. However, if you are a dedicated horse or dog owner, you already know the apprehension that builds with certain holiday traditions...if those traditions involve fireworks. With the pandemic setting the stage for even more people celebrating at home this year, the universal fear is that there will be increasingly widespread trauma amongst our four-legged friends.

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To Celebrate Horses, Take Action for Meaningful Change

It’s beyond time for change. Time to explore other options with the true to be mindful of the contribution of horses to the economy, history, and character of the United States” as stated in resolution 452. Because right now the character of the United States, as currently shown by the BLM and other parts of our government, is nothing to be proud of.

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Ask Saint Boy

With all the media attention on this incident, I would have thought the first question would have been “Why?” What happened that Saint Boy decided he was having no part of the games people play? His refusal wasn’t the first time, so did they ask why?

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Could Deb Haaland Be The Change Environmentalists And Animal Advocates Have Waited For?

Different circles of citizens – those who want better protections for the gray wolf, who wish to see climate change addressed, and those who would like to see America’s wild horse herds protected – have found new hope in Haaland’s appointment.

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North America’s Gift to the World: Wild Horses

The mass removals and stockpiling of wild horses in holding is unsustainable…This is not just an issue for horse lovers, it’s an issue that affects every American taxpayer. The long term cost for the BLM’s mass roundup plan over the next 10-20 years is a staggering $5 billion! Meanwhile, better, more humane and cost-effective alternatives exist.

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VOCAL (Voice of Change Animal League) | Ocala, Florida

The Voice Of Change Animal League, known as VOCAL, a community resource clinic located in Marion County, Florida. Established in 2015 by three animal advocates – Linda Norman, Kate Rengel, and Lauren Carpenter – they have funded a state of the art veterinary clinic completed in 2019. VOCAL focuses on the wellness of those animals they assist with medical issues, as well as spaying and neutering.

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Keep Our Horses SAFE

Horses are not livestock, but they are currently classified and being handled as such, and the results are horrifying and heartbreaking. To save them, our equine friends need our human voices to speak for them; we must continue to press our representatives to continue progressing SAFE Act HR 961.

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Help for Feed and Hay from the United Horse Coalition

Horses are a huge financial responsibility, and an interruption in income can be devastating for both horse and owner. Imagine you are unemployed for reasons out of your control, with benefits either running out or never received. What do you do? Where do you turn?

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Horse Slaughter and the SAFE act

SAFE is the Safeguard American Food Exports Act, a bipartisan bill…to end the slaughter of horses in America as well as make it illegal to transport them outside of the USA borders for slaughter. It seems that every new Congress introduces another version of this bill, and yet it proceeds no further even though it has widespread bipartisan support.

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DreamCatcher Horse Rescue | Clermont, Florida

A visit to DreamCatcher Ranch also brings about awareness of a different kind of rescue – one of a more human variety. Speaking with volunteers made one thing abundantly clear. Among those who volunteered, many needed the horses at DreamCatcher as much as the horses needed them.

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Person(s) of Interest: Azenda (Suzie) Maichak & Billy Geck

Suzie Maichak and Billy Geck are pro-active horse enthusiasts whose lives center around the rescue of horses. Four of the six horses on the Geck family property are rescues!

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The Saga of “Teddy Bear Highway”, the I-75 Miracle Horse

On November 30, 2018, numerous 911 calls were made by horrified motorists traveling north Florida’s I-75 when seeing a horse simply standing in a ditch alongside the fast-paced interstate. While much has been made of Highway and his miraculous turn of events, he is not the only horse to find him or herself in such dire circumstances.

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