Unwanted Horses

It had been three years since I last posted a blog to my account. The last post was regarding the drought we had in 2007 and the effect that, along with excessive breeding by horse breeders, had on horse rescues. At the time, we were seeing an unprecedented number of horses people were trying to get rid of. Now, due to the downward spiral of our economy, we are facing the same problem. Only this time, non profits are also faced with a reduction in donations, leaving them with less money to care for these animals.
Last year, under the leadership of our outgoing president, Pat Sneed, the Mustang and Wild Horse Rescue of Georgia (MWHR), placed elevan of our horses in private homes. We had to find homes for our horses and do it in a hurry as we lost our lease on 60 acres of beautiful pastureland. That left us with only 7 acres that we were leasing in Canton Georgia . Fred and Jeanne Wall are leasing use of this land to the MWHR at no cost.
Earlier this year Pat located a benefactor who had 20 acres of pastureland for lease in Jasper Georgia. We signed a twenty year lease with the owner, Charles Kaplan, for a total cost of $20. This land is overgrown with weeds and requires much work. We have to bush hog the briars and brambles and then overseed and, finally, put up fencing before we can put horses on it. This is a major project for us. We have already put in close to 100 man hours clearing the horse trail along the creek with many hours of work still needed.
About two months ago, Nancy Koch of Suwanee Georgia, donated two acres of pasture land to the MWHR. This property is located in Cleveland Georgia, but also needs to be fenced in prior to use.
Preparing the pastures and fencing them in will require an enormous amount of money, so the MWHR has its' first fundraising event of the year, a Texas Hold 'Em Poker Tournament coming up on November 12, 2011 at Stars and Strikes at 133 Merchants Square, Cumming GA 30040. The telephone number is 678-965-5707. We hope we have a great turnout so we can get started on preparing a home for some of the unwanted mustangs out there. There are many.
We have been active this year finding homes for mustags even though we cannot accomodate anymore at this time. In fact, we assisted in placing four.
Our "needs" list is long. At the top of the list would be someone with a tractor willing to help us bush hog the property in Jasper. Then, if anyone has any fencing they would be willing to donate we could put that up and seed the land.