FORHORSEPEOPLE • ABOUTHORSEPEOPLE
SIDELINES JUNE 2014 51
shecanonlyhelpsomanyhorses.Thesanctuary reliescompletely
on donations and grants in order to operate. “I’d say the most
frustrating part for us is the fundraising,” she said. “It’s something
that we’re just getting a grasp on and it’s a whole different skill
set. I know horses, I know training horses, and I’m perfectly
comfortable with that. Making sure that we’re bringing in enough
financially tomake sure that theherd isbeingworkedand that we
have the ability to continue reaching horses, whether it’s a daily
basis or in emergency situations, that’s our mission statement.
That’swhat we’re really trying to do, ismake a difference.
“We have to turn horses away on aweekly, even daily, basis,”
Bethadded. “Sadly, theneed isendless.Having tosay, ‘I’msorry,
I can’t take your horse,’ is really difficult. Evenwhenpeoplearen’t
emailing and calling, there are horses going to auctions every
week. These horses slip through the cracks and they get lost. It’s
soul-crushing.”
Horses are constantly being shipped out of the U.S. and into
Mexicoor Canada for slaughter. “Somepeopledon’t even realize
that there’s an active slaughter market,” Beth remarked. “There’s
a very real possibility that if you send your horse to an auction,
there’s always that risk.”
One of the main goals of the sanctuary is to educate people
and get them to understand that there are other options. These
A skinny
Abraham,
rescued
from a
slaughter
pen
Abraham is
now living
out his life at
SquirrelWood
Equine
Sanctuary.
A recoveredand healthy Tess plays polo sixmonths after shewas
rescued.
Photo byErikaHuyler
Tesswas a 20-goal polo horse fromFloridawhowas
found covered inmanureand extremely sickwhen
shewas rescued from an auction inNewHolland,
Pennsylvania.
include placing the horse at a rescue, networking the horse, or,
in severe cases, even euthanizing the horse. However, themost
gratifying thing that Beth gets from her work is watching each
horseprogress at the sanctuary.
“It’s watching a horse that’s so shell-shocked from coming
through an auction because it really is traumatic for them. It’s
remarkable to watch them settle in at the sanctuary, and to be
able to have such close interaction with them. At the end of the
day, it’s the little things thatmatter themost. It’s thesoundof them
nickering to you that first time. It’swhen, instead of running to the
back of the stall, they turn to face you instead. Thoseare the little
things that addupover somanyyearsand thoseare thevictories.
While it’s great to have horses go on and show, or be placed in a
polohomeanddo fabulously, it comesdown to the little thingsday
to day that reallymakewhat we’re doingworthwhile.”
To contact Beth or make a donation,
email
.
You can also visit the sanctuary’s website at
.
About the writer: Kathryn Murphy is a senior studying Communications at USC
Aiken. She plans to be a journalist when she graduates.
Photos byDianeButler, unless noted otherwise
