Sunkissed or TBFriends. I love Joe!
[QUOTE=LLDM;5507471]
USERL. The United States Equine Rescue League is one of the best run non-profits Iâve had the pleasure of knowing. I pretty much go with them exclusively - money, goods, equipment and POPs. Hereâs my list for why:
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They manage to help a lot of horses with very little overhead and effective use of volunteer hours and funds. They generally help hundreds of horses per year and average about $1000 per horse. Thatâs a great average! They get a lot of things and services donated though.
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Education, education, education! They train volunteers, investigators, law enforcement, and horse owners. Their education system is very good.
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Cooperation and expertise. They work with Animal Control, Law Enforcement and Prosecutors to enable legal and just seizures, house and rehab the horses that many jurisdictions just donât have the money, facilities or expertise to handle, and assist the Prosecutors in building cases. They are more than happy to work with other entities of all sorts.
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Solid adoption policies, training of horses by volunteers, and a desire to get horses placed.
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Organized and professional. Only 2 part time staff, but everything always seems to get done.
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Knows how to treat volunteers and donors!
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They do such an amazing job of mobilizing for large seizures and their people manage to remain professional under the most difficult of circumstances. They are involved in almost every large seizure my state. I donât think we could do it without them.
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They have been great about starting up chapters across the country. This service is invaluable to areas without state or local resources. Often seizures donât get done because there is no place to take the horses.
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Theyâve passed every one of my (very high) requirements for a well run non profit. Thatâs not easy to do!
I will also say though, that I have been very impressed with some of the efforts involved in the huge seizures out west. The one last posted probably wonât end up well for the horses involve. But the Montana Sanctuary rescue was amazing and I think many of those animals were indeed really saved. Cooperation between rescues and with law enforcement is huge.
SCFarm[/QUOTE]
worth repeating.
I think no matter who you donate to, a good vetting is necessary. What matters to you, and how much first hand experience with the organization do you have.
A list of criteria is helpful in making an objective decision. It is very easy to get lost in the internet jargon and hype. Been there, done that.
TB Friends! Nothing against Bluebonnet, or Sunkissed, or Days End - all do great work - but I have a soft spot for thoroughbred racehorses and Joe does incredible work.
Another fan of TB Friends with SKA a close second.
Yet another TB Friends fan.
Saddlebred Rescue - they do a great job of evaluating, caring for, and adopting out Saddlebreds, Standardbreds, and Morgans.
TBFriends - Iâve had the pleasure of actually visiting Joe and the horses. A great rescue.
Arabian Rescue Mission - theyâve done a fantastic job of handling large hoarder/neglect situations that involve Arabs. Terry Figuerosa is apparently a tactful and skilled negotiator - gets the horses to a safe place and gets them adopted.
Last Chance Corral in Athens Ohio for nurse mare foals.
Cowgirl Spirit near Seattle - they did a great job rehabbing and placing an Arab gelding that I and another horse nut bailed from Enumclaw.
I guess I didnât answer the question, did I? Or overanswered it! Iâm glad there are many good rescues that Iâve had the pleasure of dealing wihth.
Actually, based on postings here recently, SKA would not be high on my list. Days End is my vote.
I donât know if CANTER Illinois is still functioning but I worked with them a few years back and had a good experience. Hooved Animal Humane Society was always a good choice too, although Iâm out of touch with the area and havenât heard much of them lately.
CANTER and Days End.
Took a look at the Gentle Giants pages and they have rescued some Haflingers also.
Never heard of them. Thanks for the recommendation.
SunKissed all the way with Bluebonnet a close second.
Have yet to find a really good one in Alberta to support though i am sure they are there somewhere.
P.
[QUOTE=Joanne;5508060]
Took a look at the Gentle Giants pages and they have rescued some Haflingers also.
Never heard of them. Thanks for the recommendation.[/QUOTE]
Sure. 
Yep, they have four Haflingers right now (two they rescued in conjunction with Days End and a neglect seizure, two colts from local auction) and one Haflinger cross (Sugar came from New Holland). Haflingers are draft ponies so they count as far as the rescue is concerned. 
Sunkist acres for me. Always have given to her and always will. I stand beside my Lori. I love what she does for the horses.
Wow! Thanks everyone for all the suggestions. Hearing a few horrid stories about equine rescues misusing funds and/or not really rescuing horses lately I am so glad to hear all of your positive stories and suggestions! CANTER and Equine Rescue League were the only ones that Iâd really heard of, but I love hearing about some of the more local (or should I say, independent) rescues out there. I especially liked hearing some of your first-hand experience with the organizations. Thatâs something I canât get from looking at their websites. Thanks!
Sunkissed Acres for me and occasionally Save the Horses. Both excellent rescues and I have personally been to both on many occasions over several years. Sunkissed Acres gets the bulk of my volunteer time and donations as Lori has so few volunteers to help out in her area.
Sunkissed.
One of the reasons for Special Horses was to avoid the issues with a group like CBER. I know how I felt when I sent a donation to CBER and realized it wouldnât have helped any horses. We try and facilitate fundraising and the donation process so that they are not so overwhelmed with everything else they have to do.
Of course, the TB groups - Exceller, CANTER, FLTAP - that Special Horses has so far assisted are near and dear to my heart since I am a big fan of TBS! But Sunkissed, TIER and Bluebonnet - they are also fabulous. All different, since they serve different needs, being in different parts of the country. Dayâs End, Save the Horses, Equihab - also solid. They all are trying to do so much to help under such very difficult circumstances.
Sine the subject has come up, can I quote Lori from Sunkissed here? Itâs on the Special Horses website
http://www.specialhorses.org/HowYouCanHelp.asp - she offers up many ways anyone can help - it is not always about the money, it is not necessary to be there physically, it is not necessary to have large chunks of time. And it can make so much difference! Choose a local group, choose one further away, choose a rescue, choose a therapeutic facility - whatever. It is a win-win for everyone.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
It is not always about the money. Let us share with you just how valuable you are with no cash whatsoever. These words are courtesy of Lori Yonts, who runs Sunkissed Acres Rescue and Retirement in Summerville GA:
Take a day to email a few of the hundreds of equine suppliers and ask if they can send outdated items, returns, promos, gift packs, etc. to the rescue.
The donation of a day or two a year in which to sit down and write thank you letters and print them off for a rescue.
A day or two a year that you can give to go and organize or clean a feed room.
You can check out the internet and find the various groups and foundations who do donate to animal organizations. Take a rainy day to do this and then forward your information.
Hold a yard sale with proceeds to go to your favorite rescue. It need not be at the holidays. These horses eat year round so send a promissory note for one to be held next year and then announce it.
Hold a concession at a show you know you can work. Put out a donation can somewhere or a collection at work, any time of the year is good.
Have a candy dish at work and have people donate their change in exchange for the goodies, and then every few months send the funds collected.
Ask your local vet if you can put a donation can at their clinic and then print a flyer with it. What you canât give, someone else might be able to. This can also be done at a local tack or feed store.
And from Jennifer Williams at Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society (Rosharon, TX): What is really needed now is to invest the time/energy/whatever to helping rescues grow and improve, and into educating the people who want to run one about what it really means and what it really involves. This is our goal for Special Horses.
You are all worth a lot more than you realize. So, short of cash, no problem. Giving of yourself is the greatest gift, and seeing the returns from what some of these very simple ideas can bring, will absolutely amaze you.
Just to be clear, there is another Equine Rescue League in VA. They seem to work more in Northern VA. I donât know them nearly as well - but have generally heard good things about them. I believe they have also been part of some of the larger seizures around the state.
As always do you homework, check out places like Guidestar, ask lots of questions and see who you think will be most efficient with your time and/or money.
SCFarm
[QUOTE=oldpony66;5507242]
If you were going to donate $ to a rescue organization, but only one, which one would it be, and why?[/QUOTE]
well the one caveat is that I have a CD in place to see about all my horses if I die.They should not be a burden to family that does not share my enjoyment of them
after that if I felt compelled I would give what I could to Nina at Horse Haven of TN
When we were still an active feed store (Purina) we sent the feeds that were w/in a few days of expiring to HH of TNâŠwe could have gotten the money back from Purina as a credit but I felt it would be better used there.
I would not have said that about HH in their early daysâŠbut they,as a group of people, have matured I think away from some of the Disney thinking that the group of people started out with and they are a credit to the area
Tamara Howard
True Innocents Equine Rescue (TIER).
Hopefully most of us in rescue mature. I know I was MUCH more idealistic in the early days and would get easily outraged at the care of horses that wasnât up to my personal standards. I learned to relax - a lot - and work with what was within the law instead of what was within my own head (that said, we never helped take/seize horses that werenât legally neglected).
