Benefits to adopting from a rescue

[equineartworks]

My creatures are all Sunkissed Acres kids with the exception of the gelding who is coming to stay temporarily and recoup until the new facility is completed this spring (he is a COTH giveaway horse and his former owner has been wonderful).

Nothing gives me peace of mind like knowing that if I run into something and I am unsure that I can call Lori and ask her a question. She knows these guys, especially Katie and Paco (and my sweet Dumplin' :sadsmile: ) and they thrived in her care so why reinvent the wheel, right? If something isn't quite working I give her a call and *poof* I have the answer. I have found that any problems I have had have been problems I have created and once I get on the right track with Lori's direction...problem solved! Even my wonderful Vet (seriously, she is the best EVER) will say "Let's call Lori and see if she has any insight before we go changing things". :cool:

I am so blessed that my first horses have come to me with a " Sunkissed service plan" :lol: and that I have such an incredible vet and farrier. If anyone is considering their first horse or looking for a new friend I highly recommend going to local rescues in your area and looking at the horses AND the people who run them. With the latest saga of Two Socks I realized how big a difference there is from rescue to rescue and how grateful I am that my very first horse and love of my life came from Sunkissed Acres.

Take the chance on adopting from a rescue if you haven't and you can, it can be such a win/win!

[ChocoMare]

Amen! :yes:

And if you're not in a position to take home an adoptee, HELP THE RESCUE! Donate your time, supplies and cash when possible. No gift is too small, no helping hand is ever rejected. Besides, you get blessed just for being a blessing. :sadsmile:

[EventFan]

Although I haven't had the pleasure of working with Sunkissed, my family has been active in our local equine rescue organization. We also fostered a OTTB a couple of years ago and loved every minute of it! He went from a body score of 1, to a thriving healthy boy. The joy of watching him go from a sad starving boy to a robust happy horse was such a pleasure.

Just a note of warning: Make sure you research your equine rescue of choice. Not all of them are legitimate (of course SK is!).

[DressageGeek "Ribbon Ho"]

Absolutely, EventFan!!

[snkstacres]

thankyou for the kind words Colleen. If there is one thing I am proud of, its my friends. Yes, some of them come with issues but.........................I have learned to live with the holes and so have there new owners. If not, they are always welcome back.

If an adoptee is honest and sure of what they are looking for, rescues will go out of there way to help you find the right horse. It doesnt matter to me if they come from my field, or the field of a needy person. A home needed is all that counts. There are some great horses out there looking for new owners.

thankyou for loving my friends.

[equineartworks]

thankyou for the kind words Colleen. If there is one thing I am proud of, its my friends. Yes, some of them come with issues but.........................I have learned to live with the holes and so have there new owners. If not, they are always welcome back.

If an adoptee is honest and sure of what they are looking for, rescues will go out of there way to help you find the right horse. It doesnt matter to me if they come from my field, or the field of a needy person. A home needed is all that counts. There are some great horses out there looking for new owners.

thankyou for loving my friends.

no...thank you :)

The ponies have been absolutely perfect for me the past could of days. Last night when I was taking off Rye's halter he let me rub his face all over...the look on his face was pure bliss. I whispered to him "you know, if you hadn't been such a poop you would have gotten this days ago". I swear he smiled at me :lol:

This little crooked faced horse with his buggy eyes and "blind spots" is not a horse that finds a home easily. But for me it was love at first sight. Lori knows that and knew he would be perfect for not only our program, but for my heart. :sadsmile: Dumplin' was not a horse most people would consider...but he was my heart and soul for 243 days. Paco, he has lived through things no horse should ever survive but Lori and his owner saw something in him that begged to live. And now he is out in my pasture getting loved on and recovering from his Stifle injury so he can go back to giving tiny kids their lead line TR sessions.

And Kate? don't even get me started. She is not the type of creature that Lori would normally adopt out to people like us, but she knew Katie well enough to know that she would be the horse (mule) of my daughters dreams because of their trust issues. And you know what? She is PERFECT. But not only for DD, for me and for my DH.

Oh, I have a crazy adorable little dog that I love so very much too. He road up with Dumplin'!

Besides Sunkissed Acres, I have had AC4H offer our program a lovely older mare that would have been perfect. Again...a quality experience that is a win/win. While we were unable to take the mare at the time we are expanding our program this spring and you can bet we will be heading to the rescues first in our search for the perfect partners.

Please make a good rescue your first stop when looking. :sadsmile:

[Risk-Averse Rider]

Sunkissed Service Plan :lol:

Do they offer 24 hour barn-side assistance? Will they show up if your horses lock you out of the truck?

How did that work out for you when you needed advice when Rye & Firefly were scootching under the SNOW FENCE?!?!?!

I'm thinking, not too many snow fences in Georgia :D

(We are still, by the way, waiting for photos of the redneck snow fence repair - unless I missed them???)

Lori, I think you need to add the Sunkissed Service Plan to your web site. :yes: :yes: :yes:

I'm sure some lawyer here could help you with the wording.

[equineartworks]

Only phone support is included :lol: But it is pretty comprehensive :lol:

I can't believe I forgot about the redneck snow fence photos! It was replaced with redneck bird netting fence, which the ponies ran right under, and is now fortified like the snow fence was. I will load some pics later today :lol:

[cowgirljenn]

Another benefit is...

We (rescues) celebrate every excitment in your adopted horses' life with you. I LOVE hearing about horses who were adopted - I just recently reconnected with someone who adopted a horse I fostered for the last rescue I ran. About 8 years ago.. and she is doing GREAT and it makes me feel wonderful (especially since this was such a special needs horse).

And we mourn with you when over their loss. We lost one of our first adopted horses from Bluebonnet a week or so ago. It was a perfect adoption - he loved his adopter and she loved him. And it was tragic to lose him and we all mourn along with her and her family.

[hossluva]

Offering support after adoption is an extremely important part of the process. Who better to assist than the people who saved the horse from the get go? It's also a large part of the joy. When you get that perfect match that makes you feel like you rehabbed the horse especially for that particular person at this particular time in each of their lives. I've had several of those goose bumpy experiences and it's fabulous - then updates and follow-ups confirm that it's not just you feeling that way. :cool:

Beware the rescue that disappears as soon as the check is cashed... I often get calls from people wanting to surrender a "rescued" horse that they'd "adopted" because it's terminally ill, trying to kill them, or just isn't anything at all what it was represented to be and the organization they got the horse from won't respond to them even if they drive up and bang on the door. I call that a sale, not an adoption, and seriously, what good does that do for the horses or the industry as a whole??

I live for the follow-ups!!

On a totally other note, often the horses we adopt out are elderly or ailing, a little after adoption support and keeping the lines of communication open may ensure that in a year or two or ten, that same person will come back looking for a horse... just sayin' ;)

[Risk-Averse Rider]

Panda-chan not only has the woman from the rescue interested in him, he has a small fan club ;-) The rescue has been passing along the photos I've sent, and one of the women who got to know him while he was stuck in that pasture for 3 years (she works nearby) has e-mailed me a couple times and is planning to come visit him soon. She recently had to put down a dog, and she's just thrilled to hear that Panda's doing well.

These horses touch many, many lives.

[Laurierace]

To me the benefits are so numerous its hard to list them all. For starters when you adopt one you free up a spot for another as well as putting some cash back into the rescue to use as they see fit. In my particular case I adopted a horse I could never afford to buy outright. I also believe if you truly "rescue" a horse as in taking them from an awful situation and making their lives good again, they never forget it and are eternally grateful. Those type of horses would jump through fire if you asked them to.