DreamCatchers
Equine Rescue Inc.

Would you like to Sponsor a Horse?

Despite the desire to be involved with horses, we understand that adoption and horse ownership will not work for every one.  That is why we have developed a sponsorship program.  This program serves a dual purpose in that it will allow sponsors to interact with a horse on a very personal level, feeding, grooming, exercising as well as giving the horse the loving, one  on one attention that is so critical to it's rehabilitation and continued good physical and mental health while revenue from the sponsorship donations will help us to afford to offer these special horses forever retirement homes. 

Sponsorship donations are amount optional...$8 buys a bag of alfalfa cubes which will partially feed one of these guys for 5 days...$15.50 buys a bag of Equine Senior that, mixed with the alfalfa cubes will provide for just over 8 days for one horse.  Rio's medicine will cost in the neighborhood of $60 per month.  Overall the average cost to care for one of these horses monthly is approximately $150 depending on illness/vet care, time of year, etc. 

Any amount you can dedicate to them on a monthly basis whether it be $5 or $150 will be a tremendous help.  Thank you!

 LEVI  - 28 yr old QH Gelding

Levi is a little standoffish at first but once he gets to know you, he loves to be groomed and loved.  An old Ranch Gelding, you can bet this guy has seen his share of action in his day.  He has very few teeth left, making eating a little challenging.  Levi is fed 16 pounds of alfalfa/senior mash daily to maintain his healthy weight.

 Misty -  29 yr. Old Arab Mare is Levi's best girl.  I like to refer to them as "Wayne and Evelyn" (my dad and step mom) cause they really do get irritated with each other but try to seperate them and then the real trouble begins...LOL  They truly love each other so to allow either to be adopted without the other would probably kill them...so, they will remain here at DreamCatchers, retirees, together til their time comes to cross the "Rainbow Bridge".  Misty is very gentle and loves to be groomed. She will even give you a ride if you want.

 Miracle/Angel -  By far the worst case of neglect we have seen to date, Miracle (sometimes called Angel because of her eyes ) was rescued by Park County Animal Welfare officers and brought to DreamCatchers in March 2008.

As you can see by this picture, she was nothing but skin and bones when she arrived.  It was very much touch and go with her at first as she began to gain weight and work her way to good health.  She had a level 4 heart murmur because of her malnutrition that has since corrected itself.  She developed bronchial pnemonia more than once and was on a regimen of antibiotics for what seemed like an eternity.  The vet had to check her liver and kidney function often to make sure that she was not becoming septic and there was no damage from the antibiotics...sometimes the cure can kill you.

Miracle finally began turning it around in August, 5 months into her recovery, though she still looked a little thin and was not too steady on her feet yet.  She needed to rebuild muscle as well as put on weight so exercise was as critical to her recovery as food.

Miracle was turned out into the exercise pasture with several horses daily to allow her freedom of movement.  She stumbled and fell the first time she tried to run, but she got up, shook the dust off and tried again.

All the good grub, exercise and medical attention worked.  Angel is now back to her beautiful well rounded self (or so we assume, never having met her before she was abandoned).  She flies like the wind when she runs, tail up, head up, floating just above the ground...It  is a thing of beauty.

And those Eyes - truly Angelic

Joey - What a truly amazing old guy, he is a Navajo Pony who was born in the late 60's...yes, that makes him over 40 years old and he is still very much going strong.  Joey is the boss of the geriatric barn.  He gets first preference of everything, all the other old farts defer to him.   Joey eats 16 pounds of alfalfa/senior mash each day which keeps him in tip top shape....

Being as old as he is, it takes time for him to warm to anyone, but he does love to be groomed and will stop dead in his tracks when you start scratching his whithers.  His head goes up and he develops "giraffe lips" big time. 

Julie - (no we did not name her)  26 yr old retired Polo Pony, this awesome red head has a sweet disposition with humans but is second in comand only to Joey in the geriatric barn.  Julie was retired from polo several years ago but her former owner describes her as her best mount, and she was FAST!...Julie came to DreamCatchers to retire and live out her years in peace and comfort.  She is also a mash horse because over her life span, she has had too good dental care and her teeth have been "floated" away to nubs making it impossible for her to eat solids effectively.  She also has a sensitivity to alfalfa so she gets 16 lbs of Timothy pellets/senior daily.  Julie would still be rideable today if not for her failing eyesight.  It does not effect her daily life because she is very familiar with her surroundings and stablemates.  You would never know she can't see very well.

Goliath -  25+ Draft Gelding. What a gentle giant...Goliath was close to 400 pounds underweight when he came to DreamCatchers last June from a Park County seizure involving 12 horses and an owner who claimed that "geo-magnetic forces in the earth beneath her home were causing the horses to lose weight" never mind the fact that Goliath had seriously sharp points on his teeth which made it miserable for him to try to eat solids.   As you can see by the picture, Goliath is in awesome shape.  He is our go to horse when little kids want a ride...he is so gentle that he can be ridden with just a halter and lead rope, or sometimes with no tack at all.  Look at that sweet face...He loves to be groomed and will stand for hours if you will just scratch his whithers for him.....

Rio - 21 year old Arab Gelding - is Goliath's best little buddy.. you rarely see one without the other being nearby. 

Rio came to DreamCatchers in June 2008 from a grieving husband who had lost his wife suddenly 2 months earlier.  Robin had rescued Rio 6 years earlier from an abusive and neglectful situation.  It took her years to gain his trust and help him to become the sweet and gentle little horse he is today.  When Robin died suddenly, and way to young at 47, her greiving husband Jim was determined that Rio would not end up in another bad situation so he called DreamCatchers.  We have vowed to keep Rio safe and happy for the rest of his life in honor of Robin's memory. 

 Rio had been listed as adoptable but we are withdrawing him from adoption because we suspect he is developing Cushings Syndrome.  Our vet will be testing him and if confirmed, he will begin treatment which will have to continue for the rest of his life.  The treatment, a daily dose of medicine, is expensive.  Sponsoring Rio will help us give him the medication that will keep him healthy and allow him to live a comfortable long life in his retirement.

 Other horses for sponsor include:

Tiger - 24 yr. old Conamara Stallion - Tiger has melanomas that partially block his ability to pass his stools so he must be fed a semi liquid diet with mineral oil to keep him loose. He cannot be gelded due to the possibility that it will cause the cancer to spread and because of his age, so he will remain here at DreamCatchers in retirement...

Rae Ferzon - 28 yr. old Egyptian Arab Stallion - Rae was part of someones breeding stock for the majority of his life until they no longer had use for him and sent him to sale...he ended up at a kill buyers lot about to be shipped to slaughter in Mexico or Canada until he was rescued by the fine ladies at the Epona Center.  When Kellie Gibbs died suddenly this spring, her partners could not go on without her so they began to find homes for their rescued horses.  They asked DreamCatchers to take Rae in and allow him to live his life out in peace.  We of course said yes.  Rae is a stately old gentlehorse, he never was trained to ride but he halters, leads, stands well for the ferrier and loves to be groomed.  He remains aloof though probably due to his living conditions throughout his lifetime.