ABOUT HERD
HERD'S STORY
It all began in the Spring of 2016 when Heather & Scott’s farm helper (Charlie) saw a beautiful pinto horse at an auction where he was buying cows for his herd. Charlie was outraged to see a man buying up horses for meat and hide sales to Mexico. That kill-buyer turned out to be living in the area.
Heather started tracking this kill-buyer's Facebook page where they promote horses for sale before they are shipped to Mexico. Horses are weighed for meat value & thus a price to bail or save the horse is established. Heather saw that pinto Charlie reported and was determined to save him. The only thing we knew about the horse was that he was 16.1 hands, approximately 12 years old, and could be saddled and walked.
Heather & Scott posted the pinto’s bail for Charlie. Off the trailer he came to their farm, severely underweight, but joyous to roam and trot in the large green pasture. He was dubbed Superman on the spot. Superman recovered, received training, and found his forever perfect home with a wonderful family in Florida.
HERD was born. Fast forward to today. We save, rehabilitate, train, and rehome approximately 25 to 30 horses each year. We have a well-supported foster program for young equines, where they reside until they are old enough to start under-saddle training. HERD horses are capturing blue ribbons at horse shows, in eventing and winning the hearts of many owners who adopt from us. Our rescue continues to grow, thanks to the area’s equine network of loving, caring, and concerned people just like us.
HERD MISSION
Save as many horses as possible from the slaughter pipeline to Mexico and Canada
Restore rescued horses to their best possible physical and mental health
Carefully evaluate and professionally train each horse to allow them to maximize their potential - to find what they love to do
Based on the horse’s capabilities, match every rescue to an appropriate, loving, caring forever home
Provide ongoing support and monitoring to horses and owners post placement
THE HERD PROGRAM
Horses coming to HERD are housed at facilities and pastures provided by four farms owned by volunteers and members of the HERD rescue team
We focus rescue efforts on horses with the greatest chance of full rehabilitation and rehoming
Occasionally we can take in babies or extremely debilitated cases knowing they be with us for a longer time
Every horse’s progress, treatments and training are carefully tracked in detail
Horses in HERD's care receive professional training at least 2 times per week
HERD is a 501c3 tax exempt charitable orginization.
