On Thursday, April 2 we rescued four horses in Washington County.

I received a phone call from the Indiana State Vet Thursday morning. She had gotten a call from the Town Marshall in Campbellsburg, IN telling her that six horses she had been monitoring through the winter were worse instead of better, and he felt like the horses needed to be removed from the property that they were on. Although the horses were bad, she was really hopeful that this was a false alarm, but still we made arrangements to place them just in case. So, I waited for her call to let me know whether or not she needed us. Unfortunately she did.

She told me over the phone that a yearling filly was down, and that the other yearling had apparently died since she had last visited. She asked if we would like to try to save the baby or have her put down. I told her that we would like to try to save her. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we realized that the situation with the yearling was a lot worse than we had expected. The owner had neglected to tell the vet that she had been down for three days, and as much as she tried, she wasn't getting up! Not only that, she looked like a four month old filly instead of a yearling. We ended up taking the stallion and three mares. Yes, there was a stallion running with four mares and two yearling fillies. The marshall was kind enough to have the filly euthanized for us, and one of the mares went to a boarding facility down the road. I have never walked away from a horse before last night, and I have to tell you, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done!

The four horses we took are now safe, they have shelter from the weather now, and will never have to go without food or water again. I will post photos and profiles on the "New Rescues" page within the next few days.

This is an update on what is going on with ERLSI:

In 2008 we rescued 19 horses. We still have 14 of those. We also still have six from 2007 for a total of 20 horses.

We have gotten one new (blind) horse in this year, which makes 21 rescues.

Unfortunately we are turning horses down because we have no funding or room for them.

We just lost the land that we have been keeping the walking horses on because we can no longer afford to pay the board on them.

We are still awaiting the court decision on reimbursement for the walking horses.
Even though the owners of the stolen walking horses have contacted us, they don’t want their horses back, for various reasons.

Again, unfortunately, we lost two this past year.

We have two in foster situations (one still needs to be adopted).

Some of our rescues (4) need experienced riders, and some (3) will be good for anyone to ride, while some (8) will need extensive training. Some of them (3) will make good companion horses, while others (3) still, will be permanent residents. These can all be adopted, fostered, or sponsored.

We are always in need of hay, and monetary donations! We are down to one farm. Our pastures are depleted, which means we are feeding hay year round. Because we have so many horses, we are worming a lot more than normal. We are currently struggling to buy the feed necessary for all these horses, and are beginning to get behind on that! I hate to sound desperate, but we really are right now. The last thing I want to do is close the rescue, but because most of the expense of the rescue is coming out of my pocket, it is getting very difficult to continue.

We really do appreciate every little bit of help we get, whether it is through
someone volunteering, or donations in any form!

ERLSI is having a meeting on March 14, at the Henryville Library. We are looking for new board members and volunteers. If anyone is interested in being a part of this rescue, please call 293-4077.

*NOTE* Volunteering doesn't always consist of working with horses or cleaning stalls. If you would like to help, but don't want to do the "dirty work" there are other things like fundraising or working booths that you can do.

Sponsors
Volunteer
Donations
Fundraisors

Equine Rescue League of Southern Indiana, Inc.

5318 Blue Ridge Rd Charlestown, IN 47111

chester@erlsi.com