Pony Up needs YOU!

Iris before and after......


Pony Up provides a safe haven for needy horses. Currently Pony Up has several horses for sponsorship. What is sponsorship? 30 dollars pays for a hoof trim, 17 dollars buys a sack of senior grain, 5 dollars will pay for a dewormer, 13 dollars pays for a bale of hay, 15 dollars pays for a sack of rice bran, 2.00 will buy vet wrap, 150 dollars will pay for a dental, 35 dollars will pay for vaccinations, .........sometimes we need a new water tub or a feed tub or a gate gets broken or we need gravel or we have to put diesel in the tractor........the expenses add up.

The past year has been tough financially for all of us.

I think it is safe to say that we have all cut corners and made sacrifices. ...I know we have. Personally and business wise too.

Through it all the Pony Up residents have not suffered, all are fed, extra supplements fed when necessary and we have had some help along the way via the kindness of supporters and volunteers. We do not have the luxury of buying a lot of extras.....all work at the farm this year has been done by my wonderful staff of volunteers. I cannot thank these folks enough for their gift of time

What does it take to run a horse rescue?

Time...day in/day out....it is hard to take a day off and I never "forget" about the residents we take care of.

Volunteers.......for cleaning, feeding, maintenance and fundraising activities.

Money.....I work a full time job to pay for the mortgage, power bill, taxes, maintenance and most of the expenses of the residents (vet bills, hay, grain) when there are not enough donations to support them. I have days when I think I must be crazy.....I could quit work, shop at Nordy's, and be home at 4:30pm each day...but I know we make a difference, even though it doesn't seem huge.

We have seen many rescues fail. I am very careful in what we undertake and I refuse to let us fail....

part of not failing is not taking on more than we can budget for, have room for or have volunteers for.

We could raise our hands and have fifty horses tomorrow.........I sincerely wish we had the resources to do so...but we don't....we are limited by space, finances and people.

It is important to take care of the horses we have custody of.

We wrote our mission statement to say that we took in horses with "sport horse potential"........that we were not a "sanctuary"......well......we are a sanctuary to a few horses who had nowhere to go.....they have no "sporthorse" potential........but they deserved a safe place to go and when you really think about it....would we turn our backs on a horse who could not jump or run fast? Does a horse who jumps and runs fast deserve to live more than a horse who was worked beyond their capacity, a horse who served their master well and then was thrown away?The answer is no.....we love them all....they all have a spirit and they deserve a chance to live.

I would have probably said we would NEVER have taken a blind horse, but we took Iris and now we all take care of her....she is well loved......she has a special gentle spirit and has taught us a lot in the short time we have had her. It makes me shudder to think about her at the slaughter lot.

We welcome visitors and volunteers......we welcome donations to help us support our residents.....we ask you to help us help those who can't help themselves. Consider adoption, consider fostering.....consider rescuing. If you see a horse who needs help, please do the right thing...........you may be all the horse has to count on. ..don't turn your back.

Everyday brings new hurdles, but we remain steadfast in helping horses.