Oregon Horse Rescue is located on 70 gently sloping acres west of Eugene, Oregon. The property is subdivided into a number of smaller pastures to allow compatible horses to be placed together in smaller groups. Multiple structures provide stalls and shelters for horses during inclement weather. Many of the older horses, or those needing daily medical treatment, are stabled at night and turned lose to graze during the day when the weather allows.
The Rescue relies on donations from the founders and the public to meet their many expenses. All donations received are used directly to care for the horses – nothing is used for administrative costs.
And, as might be expected given the Rescue’s focus on caring for special-needs horses, costs run quite high. End-of-year financial statements for 2016 document over $300,000 spent caring for the 60+ horses in their custody. Of this, $63,000 was used to purchase feed, $17,000 was invested in supplies (medical, equipment, etc.), $97,000 in veterinary care, nearly $9000 for farrier work, and just over $99,000 in care (the Oregon Horse Rescue does employ several care-takers – as you might imagine, daily cleaning of stalls with a herd this large is an all-day task when the horses are stabled during the winter).
Those involved frequently remark on the lengths to which the Oregon Horse Rescue goes to provide care for horses whom others have given up on. “We currently have five fully blind horses on the property,” Jane Kelly shares. “We’ve had to schedule four surgeries to remove damaged eyes that were causing the horses great pain and have worked with the Oregon State Veterinary School as well as Del Oeste Equine Clinic here in Eugene to provide cancer treatments for a number of horses. We work closely with the equine chiropractor and vets to try to make our horses as comfortable as possible. And, when their quality of life has degenerated too far for medical attention to sufficiently alleviate their pain, we grant them a peaceful exit, surrounded by those who care.”
Below, Ruger before and after
Above, Katie before and after