July 2020 Issue

Page 8 July 2020 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Positive Pandemic News: Horse Adoptions Surge (Continued from page 1) have gone up at New Holland, suggesting an increased demand for horses by the general public. They are hopeful that means fewer horses ending up being sent to slaughter. As of June 6, 16,710 horses, burros, mules and ponies were shipped to Mexico for slaughter, down from 26,919 in the same period in 2019, according to the USDA. (Figures for Canada were not available). “Each year it's getting better. And so far this year we're below last year!” Tina Snyder said. In Maryland a horse food bank helped keep horses from being surrendered, sent to auction or euthanized. The Maryland Equine Transition Service, which helps owners who need to rehome horses, and the Maryland Fund for Horses, which provides ser- vices and funds for at-risk horses before they become victims of neglect, distributed seven tons of hay and 1,000 pounds of grain to horse owners in need in April and May. “The idea is to keep horses fed and at home until the crisis passes and owners are able to take over themselves,” said Victoria Carlson, board presi- dent of the Maryland Fund for Horses. Burke, whose rescue requires adopters to return horses to the rescue if they can no longer keep them, said no one has yet returned a horse because of a COVID-related job loss. Hajek said she has seen a small uptick in people who want to surrender horses, but described those horse owners as struggling before the pandemic. “It pushed them over the edge,” she said. The lockdown brought good news for some long-term rescue residents. Two miniature horses at Last Chance Ranch had been in rescue care since 2017. Phoebe, a special needs mini with sight and hearing issues and Dean, who was saved at an auction, had trouble being placed, likely because of trauma they had endured earlier in life, said Burke. But they became the ben- eficiaries of pandemic equine shopping. “They went to an awesome home with someone who under- stands them,” said Burke. She said another seven horses purchased from New Holland auction in March be- fore it closed for a month – five minis and two riding horses – were all adopted. Pandemic “fever” even struck one rescue operator her- self. Christine Hajek said she added a Belgian-Clydesdale cross to her personal herd of three other pleasure horses during the COVID shut down. “I’ve gotten a lot of riding done this spring,” she said.