Why are the adoption fees so high? 

The financial realities of rehabilitating a horse are far greater than most people realize. Most of the horses we bring in are skinny beyond belief. Our first priority is to have the veterinarian take a close look at their medical condition and tell us exactly what treatment is best. Usually that involves deworming to get rid of the parasites in their intestines, bringing in an equine dentist to level off their teeth, and a visit from a farrier to attempt to restore hooves that probably haven’t been trimmed in years.

Then come the months and months of rebuilding their weight. A normal size horse of 1,000 pounds will burn 16,000 calories a day! So a lot of hay and feed has to get into the system to build up the lost weight. Typically, a horse that comes to us is around 300 pounds underweight. The weight gain must be slow and regulated to make certain the digestive system is not overloaded. If not done correctly, the horse can start having a lot of other problems, so we plan on at least 6 months of doing nothing more than feeding, grooming and loving

How much are we spending so far? We’ve had the vet visit, with the associated blood work and fecal exam, which cost around $80. We had him tested for EIA, gave him shots for three different kinds of viruses, inserted a microchip and a rabies vaccination - $120. The visit from the equine dentist cost $85 and, during the six months, the farrier has been out four times (once every six weeks) at $25 a visit. That all comes to $380. Not too bad, right?

Oops, we need to add in the feed and hay…which, through years of experience, we know is right at $200 a month, so we need to add in another $1,200 

So six months after a very skinny horse steps through our gates, if all has gone well and there have been no major medical issues, we’ve spent $1,580 and we have a healthy horse ready for adoption – except for another small problem. 

We often have no clue as to the training or capabilities of our horses. Other than hands on caring and loving, a horse in rehab is not healthy enough to undergo any type of training or evaluation. When we are finally able to do an evaluation, we’ll find that the horse either has experience and is ready to ride, needs a refresher course, has never been ridden or can only be a pasture ornament for the rest of its life. If it needs a refresher course, or it needs to be completely trained, we’re looking at one to two months at a professional trainer, at a cost of between $450 to $900. That level of training, plus the age and experience of the horse, is what determines our adoption fee.

 At the very least, we’ve spent between $1,500 and $2,500 on each of these horse. Some of them stay in foster care or at the ranch for far longer than six months, and the additional cost continues every month.

So when you see a horse with an adoption fee of $250, or maybe a fee of $900, understand what you are paying for. We’re a non-profit, but we must make a little bit in return because that, and the financial contributions of our members, saved this horse from certain death, brought it back to health and made it ready for your barn, plus, there are more horses standing at the gate, waiting to get in, and the adoption fees are what enable us to do it all over again.