Luxury and Wealth where you can easily afford a $15,000 colic surgery does not beat out offering a plain and simple environment where a horse is safe and has his basic needs met.
Most organizations are not looking for anything fancy in their adoptive homes. Nothing needs to be squeaky clean, new and covered in gold lame, friends.
You can have a safe property and offer sufficient care even if you do not have 100 acres of cultivated pasture, a 75 stall Morton building barn and the ability to offer the highest tech vetting out there should the unexpected happen.
Case in point, the above run in shed has been home to several rescues in the past while they rehabbed, and while I personally no longer foster at my own farm, this run in shed sets where most of the 23 acres fenced is hillside, and my personal horses still call this place home. The horses have never minded these modest accommodations. The fence has been mostly simple capped T-post and field fence type. Some areas had mud, but they could always get to dry spots and be comfortable and out of the wind. The horses have always had access to good quality round bales 24/7/365 and suitable grain, if required. They could get to loose minerals when they wished. When their feet needed trimmed, a farrier came. When their teeth needed done each year, a dentist floated them. Basic protocol for worming, fecals when needed, vaccines and preventive vet care was followed.
I sincerely believe most rescues, and certainly can tell you at Heart of Phoenix, we are looking for safe homes. This can mean very simple places. It often means the basics only, and that is okay.
As long as you can afford to feed your horse, care for your horse’s health with needed vet, farrier and dental care, can offer a quality end of life situation when the horse isn’t thriving and have a property that is maintained to the point the horse is happy and healthy, that is all that matters.
If you have doubts, check with the rescue you’re interested in adopting from, and if there are improvements they suggest, it is very likely they are improvements intended simply to help you keep your horses safe and happy with you.
