We celebrated the national Help a Horse Day on April 23rd. It was a huge success, not only at our shelters, but for horses around the nation. We simultaneously worked in California, Oklahoma and Tennessee in support of the ASPCA’s Help a Horse day.
At Tennessee we held a Horse Fest, which was a great success despite near constant rain all day. During the Horse Fest we operated a 1-Day Open Door Shelter, made possible by the Right Horse Initiative, where nearly 20 horses and donkeys were surrendered. We had horses available for adoption too. Our trainer did a halter training demonstration, speakers talked about equine health, many vendors came to help raise money for horses, and we had 3 concerts. Everybody that participated in the event were volunteering to show their support for the Help a Horse day, and we are excited to have such a great turnout. Over 100 people came to the Horse Fest.
It was raining outside, so we brought one of the horses inside for part of the event. One of our missions is to reach out to young people and encourage good horsemanship. It’s amazing watching young people pet a horse, maybe for the first time, and fall in love with the experience. This photo was not staged, and we didn’t’ realize the scene was mimicking our Horse Plus Therapy logo in the background until we looked at it later. How cute!
The Tennessee Coop had a representative come to speak on equine health and wellness. The representative had rescued some horses of his own, and did a great talk on rehabbing neglected horses, and the importance of proper nutrition and care.
We were delighted that Templeton Thompson and her cowboy rockstar husband Sam Gay came to perform and show their support of the national Help a Horse day. We first met them many years ago at the Western States Horse Expo in Sacramento, and have been fans ever since. They sing such great songs about horses, one of her signature songs is When I Get That Pony Rode. To watch Templeton and Sam perform, click here.
Our long time fans will remember Steve from a few years ago. He worked as our farrier and ranch hand at the California shelter many years ago, but moved on. He has been running a successful farrier business and focusing on his music career. When he found out about the Horse Fest, he flew out from Idaho to participate in it. To watch Steve perform, click here.
Ryan Hinkle lit up the stage with his band and stunning vocals. We can’t thank him, and all the artists, enough for making the evening a great success. To watch Ryan and his band, click here.
In Oklahoma, we had an outreach booth at the Shawnee Tractor Supply. We focused on sharing information on horse care and bringing awareness to equine adoption. Over 30 people came by the booth to talk and appreciated the information we were sharing.
In California we were doing an adoption marathon. For weeks before the event, we had been taking adoption applications and getting people approved to adopt. Now that Help a Horse day had arrived, the trailers were lining up.
We were so thrilled with all the folks coming to adopt horses on Help a Horse day. Adopting a horse is truly helping a horse, transitioning from a place of danger, to the shelter, then to their right home. We love the smiles we see when we take adoption photos!
It was an extremely busy day, and because of the Help a Horse event, 16 horses were adopted in California and 1 horse was adopted in Tennessee. A total of 17 horses found their right homes! Every horse was adopted that we had available in California except for 1. It was a huge success.
You can see a lot more photos of the Help a Horse day on our Facebook page by clicking here.
