Even though we were forced to close our doors, a little side door remains open, and every now and then a horse-in-need sneaks in. Currently there are several horses in need of adoptive homes. Please find them here: AT A GLANCE
NEW - LONG-TERM FOSTER / LEASE PROGRAM: We have some permanent residents (and/or horses in rehab) that would benefit greatly from a different climate, daily handling/attention, training, rehab, etc. For different reasons, we are not willing to adopt them out and transfer ownership, but we would be happy to send them temporarily (long term) to qualified and committed foster-homes so they could get the attention, handling and training they need, and we currently can't offer them. If you are interested to have a horse in your life, home and heart, but aren't able or ready to commit to adoption, this new program might be perfect for you and one of our PERMANENT RESIDENTS / HORSES IN REHAB......
We are still trying to scale down the equine part of our rescue, but several new horses have been sneaking in.... Most of them are ready to go and need committed forever homes !!!
We are devastated to announce: The time has come to close our doors !
The extreme financial and emotional burden of the past 4.5+ years of rescue have finally caught up with us. Worsened by the lack of QUALIFIED, COMMITTED homes that are willing to adopt an "expensive" rescue horses, as well as our horrible economy, we have no choice but to quit and close our doors - at least the big barn-doors (a small side door will always remain open to animals in need).
We will most-certainly remain committed to ALL horses adopted from here. We will stay in touch with all adopters, will do check-ups via e-mail or in person when necessary, and will also take back and re-adopt any horse that their adopter can no longer keep. We will also try to keep rescuing and placing the occasional horse in an emergency situation - as long as it is do-able and affordable. So please keep checking our website from time to time, and keep an eye out for a newsletter here or there. And maybe, if a miracle happens, and/or after we are retired and all rescue debts are paid down, we will be able to re-open the "big barn doors", but for now, LAZY HORSE RESCUE as you know it won't be any longer....
We need every help we can possibly get, to place these last horses. Due to reasons that I just tried to explain, we can't really afford to drastically lower any adoption fees, but for one last time we can offer a SHORT-TERM "payment plan" (SPONSOR-TO-ADOPT program), at least for some of the horses. And all horses located in SD, we can also board here until fall in case you want to adopt but aren't ready yet to bring your horse home. We can also offer TRIAL ADOPTIONS, which means you could adopt a horse, bring him/her home, and then have a certain time-frame to decide if you want to adopt the horse for good or not. If not, you would receive a full refund, but would lose the transportation fees and agree to foster the horse until re-adopted.
Almost ALL horses have to go, including horses in rehab, horses that are not on the website (please ask for details) and some of our permanent residents. However, even thought we are under a lot of pressure, we will NOT compromise on any of the adoption- and screening procedures, and we won't quit until we find the BEST home for each horse.
Any donations towards a horse's care, adoption fee or transport would be GREATLY appreciated, and would help out tremendously with placing these last horses..... PLEASE HELP - one last time:
======> 10+ horses in need of permanent homes: HORSES
We are experiencing TREMENDOUS trouble with our incoming and outgoing e-mails - some never get through, others arrive with a 24+ hours delay.... And sometimes forms submitted from our website don't even go through.
So if you have e-mailed us, or submitted a form from the website, and never heard back from us, PLEASE, PLEASE contact us again. Chances are that either your e-mail or submitted form or our reply never made it through.
Please use one of the following e-mails and watch the EXACT spelling:
And if neither one works, you can always contact us through the comment form on the website (very bottom), but make sure your e-mail address is spelled correctly !!!
We apologize for this - it seems like certain email accounts don't "cooperate" very well, and the constant changes and updates of the spam-filters don't help either.....
We want to make sure not to miss ANY of your contact attempts.... THANK YOU !!!!
Some people (who obviously think rescue horses should be free or "cheap") have asked why some adoption fees are "so high"....
Well, here is the answer:
LAZY HORSE RANCH is a very small private rescue - our ONLY "income" are adoption fees, and all rescue efforts are funded by said adoption fees only. We do not receive a lot of donations, and if we do, they are usually smaller amounts or they are being sent for a particular horse. And we also do NOT receive grants or other contributions of any kind like most bigger rescue groups do....
Please keep in mind, the horses that we rescue are NOT given to us - we have to pay for them, and against all common believes, we always pay more than meat-price. If the places where we buy them from (PMU farmers, feedlots, etc.) would be happy with receiving “only” meat-price for them, they would rather spare themselves the trouble and the time of working with people like me, and send the horses straight to slaughter - one phone call and one truckload at a time - it’s a lot quicker and easier for them. With that being said - besides the purchase price of the horse, we also have to pay for the Vet fees to get the horses ready for transport, then we have to arrange and pay transport to SD or to a foster-home. And for Canadian horses there are also all the border fees that need to be taken care of.
When the horses finally arrive here, we need to pay for their vaccinations, castrations, exams, pregnancy-tests, blood-work, medications, sedations, farrier costs, horse-wormers, lice-treatments, supplements, shampoo, shavings, fly-spray, etc. Well, and then we still need to pay for halters, lead-ropes, grooming-tools, feeders, corral panels, water-tanks, water heaters, heat-lamps, tools, etc. And we pay just as much as everybody else does - retail prices !
Well, and in all these expenses the horses' feed is till not included - it costs about $100 per horse per month - more for the big ones, less for the foals. After a 6-year drought in our area, hay prices are up to $100+ per ton of hay - not including the high costs for delivery. We live in a high-desert climate, and with the drought on top of it, our 80 acres could support an average of 4 horses - needless to say that we need a lot of hay..... Plus, water is VERY limited and we can't take it for granted - our well is dry, so we have to haul water several times a week in a 1000 gallon tank, from a public pump station about 8 miles away.... For that we needed to buy the tank and an affordable 1960 truck that was strong enough to carry all that weight.
And last but not least, there are more expenses that most people tend to forget - things like barn-, land- and tractor-payments and -maintenance, fencing, electricity, water and of course property taxes – not to mention any kind of office expenses, phone bills, internet fees, or the endless hours we put in for free…… Yes, for free - we don't get paid. In fact I work 2 jobs to help support this little private rescue and my mission to SAVE ONE SOUL AT A TIME.
Now after you might have gotten a better idea of the financial aspect, one last comment to adoption fees:
Sometimes the adoption fees for a horse are a lot lower than his/her actual expenses, just to give the horse a better chance of getting adopted. And to make up for that loss, we need to ask higher adoption fees for other horses – horses that are especially beautiful, uniquely colored, pure-bred, healthy & sound and/or trained to ride or drive. We try to stay away from outrageously high fees, but we also have to try to stay as close to “market-value” as possible. Sometimes it might be cheaper to buy a horse straight from a breeder, and it’s almost always cheaper to buy a horse directly at auction, but please don’t forget the initial expenses that you will face after you get your horse home……
If you are looking for a free or cheap horse, then this is not the place. But if you are committed to adopting a rescue horse, if you're willing to give him/her a loving home for life, and if you found a horse here that tugs on your heart-strings, then please don’t let the adoption fee stop you. Instead keep in mind how many good things could be done with those funds, and that in the end you would save a horse’s life. Even though the horses that are here right now, available for adoption, are safe - please remember that prior adoption fees made it possible to save these horses’ lives – and the adoption fee of the horse you’re considering to adopt could safe the life of another lost soul.....
