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ABOUT US Mission Statement Royal Equine Rescue & Sanctuary, Inc. is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to rescue, rehabilitate, and re-home horses in need, as well as to educate others about proper horse care and management. RERSI promotes the improvement of equine welfare, in order to reduce the neglect, abuse, and slaughter of horses. RERSI realizes these goals through equine rescue, rehabilitation, and adoption, community education efforts, and the promotion of horse-human interaction in conjunction with equine assisted therapy programs. RERSI is dedicated to rehabilitating the bodies and minds of equines in need, and to promoting the welfare and intrinsic value of the equine. Vision Statement It is RERSI's vision to create a thriving horse industry, and a better world for equines and equestrians alike. We visualize a world where equines are not neglected, abused, or considered byproducts of various industries; where equines are recognized for their intrinsic value as companions, athletes, and therapy aides; a world where equestrians seek out knowledge, and every equine has the right to humane euthanasia. How We Maintain our Operations RERSI is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We operate solely off of donations. If you wish to donate to our cause or find out other ways to help, please click on the HOW TO HELP US tab above. Where Our Horses Come From RERSI is an all breed rescue that specializes in the rescue and rehabilitation of PMU foals, off the track thoroughbreds, nurse mare foals, and other young horses. Occasionally we take in owner surrenders, but most of our horses come directly from nurse mare farms, auctions or racetracks. Although we believe that all horses, young and old, deserve the right to a humane life and death, we feel the saddest fate of all is of the young horse who is not even given a chance at life. Our rescues are generally young, sound, and sane horses, just in need of a loving home. There is an extreme need for the rescue of these youngsters, because of the tremendous overpopulation of horses in the US, (largely due to the over-breeding by various industries). The wonderful thing about these foals and young horses, is they are generally a clean slate, and with the right adopter and training they can grow up to become terrific pleasure and competitive horses. What We Do With the help of volunteer staff, we rescue horses that may otherwise be headed for the slaughter house, rehabilitate them, and place them into loving and suitably matched homes. Some will be adopted within a month, others may never leave. It is RERSI's goal to find the best suited home for each of its rescued horses. We take great care in finding responsible and most importantly suitably matched homes for our rescued horses. All of our rescued horses have been: Ω Quarantined before entering rescue Ω Vet checked and vaccinated Ω De-wormed Ω Examined by an Equine Dentist Ω Examined by a Farrier (Blacksmith) Ω Evaluated in hand and under saddle Ω Therapeutically massaged RERSI has also recently started new and innovative education programs. The Sanctuary Sponsorship Program is a stepping stone for future large scale educational programs. The rescue offers monthly clinics and workshops about horse care and management. Not only does this program further RERSI's mission to educate, it also raises funds to pay for the rescued horses. Rescued Foals Background Information Horses come into rescues for a variety of reasons. Financial situations change, or children go off to college, thoroughbreds who aren't making it on the track are dumped at auctions, while other horses may have been bought with the best of intentions but were too much for the owners to handle. Still many more people don't realize what a commitment horses can be, and "get rid of them," simply because they no longer care. Foals as well as horses are often in need of rescue. They can become orphaned or in need of rescue for any number of natural causes, and unfortunately, there are also thousands of foals orphaned each year senselessly because of humans. RERSI is committed to rescuing foals and horses regardless of their circumstances, however our primary focus is to rescue Nurse Mare and PMU Foals. What are Nurse Mare Foals? Nurse Mare Farms have been around for years, but only recently has the disturbing practice been made public knowledge. Nurse mare foals are conceived for the sole purpose of bringing their dam's (mother horse) into milk. As soon as the nurse mare foals are born, they are removed from their mother, and a more "valuable," foal is given to the nurse mare. The "more valuable," mare is then rebred immediately, only to start this whole process again the next year. This is most common in the thoroughbred industry because The Jockey Club does not allow the use artificial insemination and/or embryo transfer. The nurse mare foals are left behind, and without anyone to feed or care for them, they often die senselessly. What are PMU Foals? The PMU Industry manufactures medication to provide post-menopausal women with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to offset the symptoms of menopause. This medication is derived from the urine of pregnant mares. There are some reputable PMU farms but there are also many that are not. Mares are impregnated and left for six or more months of their gestation period in standing stalls (some stalls are only three and a half feet wide) tethered to a “urine collection device” with little to no exercise or positive human contact. The mares are taken off their UCD just prior to foaling and allowed to foal in outside paddocks. Once again, the innocent foal is considered a byproduct, often born only to be slaughtered. Because of the large number of PMU foals being born at each farm, they are normally completely wild and un handled. Surplus foals that are not sold are sent to auctions and bought by kill buyers. When the mares and stallions are no longer useful they meet the same fate. The fashion and textile industry may use these innocent foals hides as “pony skin” or they may go to the meat auctions, or resale agents, and sold to foreign countries that consider the meat a delicacy. |
