By Patty Wilber
There are hundreds of stories of abused and neglected horses on the Internet every day, and there are really not that many places for these horses to go.
Walkin’ in Circles is a horse rescue in Edgewood, New Mexico, with 70 horses on the property and 18 that are being cared for by sponsors off-site.
Walkin’ in Circles. The horses all have lots of room, one or two buddies, and shelters.
Seventy is a lot of horses, and all the care is done by a ranch manager and a raft of volunteers. Money to fund the rescue comes from private donations and some grants.
Seventy horses means over 70,000 bales of hay per year, and on a more immediate scale, around 16 bales to be distributed, plus supplemental feed for those that need it, morning and evening. Done by volunteers. (Just thought I’d mention that again!)
The feed room. (Not at feeding time!)
In addition to food, the animals also need hoof care, vet services and attention. This adds up to a whole lot of money and a whole lot of (volunteer!) time.
Many of the horse have special needs (elderly, past injury), and whenever you have that many horses, there is always some new thing cropping up.
This retired race horse and his retired race horse buddy both have a fungal infection that needs to be treated daily. Mary Ann uses a designated halter, gloves, and changes her jacket after treating them to reduce chance of spread! That is dedication!
His forehead is one place that needs treatment!
You can see what the horse thinks of this whole thing!
A bunch of the horses at WNCR are going to be lifers. They are too old or have lameness issues and cannot be useful working animals, but there are also those that are adoptable! The Ranch adopted out around 28 animals last year, and as a safety net for the equine, WNCR will take always take horses back.
WNCR can use donations of $ and time, so if interested, click here and go to their website!
The Horse Shelter is another rescue in the area, and if you happen to be interested in mustangs, there is the Jicarilla Mustang Heritage Alliance. The JMHA, among other things, helps place wild horses removed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Carson (owned by Brab Kiippers) is a Jicarilla horse, and in general, that herd produces very level headed individuals. Just as an FYI, the JMHA successfully adopted out all the animals they got in 2014, but are expecting new stock to arrive in the spring.
Carson is being ridden.
Ooh, I’ve always wanted to visit. I cruise their web page a lot, and we once did a JESS rare edition auction to benefit them.
It was a lovely day the day I went. Warm and no wind!
Went to the WNCR open house last spring–cold and very, very windy!! But they seem to be doing a good job. May be able to volunteer there eventually; right now I’m too busy with work, dog training, and judging dog obedience.
Yes–often windy there! I was lucky!!
Will have to see if I can scrape together a donation. Always wanted a horse (is there any teenaged girl who DIDN’T go through that phase?) but we moved so often when I was growing up that it wasn’t practical. But helping some in need… yeah, that would be nice.
I think even 5 bucks would feed a horse for a day or two, so I am sure anything would be appreciated!
Great story, Patty. Thank you. And you’re right; every dollar helps.
Thanks Rudy!
The thrift store in Edgewood supports them, right? I like that thrift store.
Yes they do!!