The Sad Truth About Horse Rescues… And Why We Aren’t Like Them

For the year of 2026, Wilde Child decided to take the chance and start our own 501c3 nonprofit horse rescue. For years people have been encouraging us to do something like this given the amount of horses we already rescue and rehome - and every time I refused. Not because I don’t like helping horses in need, but because most horse rescues aren’t always what they seem. The thought of grouping myself into one of the shadiest parts of the equine industry when I advocate so strongly for equine welfare made me sick to my stomach - until somebody told me to change my perspective. Rather than associating myself with the negative aspects of horse rescues around the globe, why not use this as an opportunity to show others the correct way to run a nonprofit - and raise awareness on the issues buried beneath the miraculous stories we see online. As I thought more about it, I realized they were right. So I grumbled under my breath, eating my own words of Wilde Child NEVER becoming a horse rescue, and started my non-profit. And that’s how Mending the Soul Equine Rescue and Sanctuary was born!!

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As we launch MTS, I’m going to be the blunt person I am and uncover some harsh truths about the world of horse rescue. Throughout my career as a horse trainer, I’ve learned the first step to advocating for more humane treatment of our equine partners - is education. Sometimes, people don’t even realize that they’re doing wrong by their horse. If they don’t know any better, how can they do better? The same principle applies to horse rescues. It can be VERY easy to get sucked into a sob story you see on the internet and before you know it you’re donating every penny you possibly can. Trust me, I’ve been there. Not only is this a good marketing tactic, but it forces you to run off of emotion rather than logic. Which leads to my first point.

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Scam or Legitimate?

How do you know if the story that’s being shared on the internet is actually the true story? Has the rescue showed proof from the moment the horse came into conversation to the moment you’re seeing online? Have you seen vet records, receipts of costs, etc? A while back, I worked for a major horse rescue that really knew how to play the system. So much so they made over six-figures in donations countless years in a row. They had two facilities - their main place of operation and a second one very little people knew about. The second facility? Was used as a starving ground. They’d go to auction, find horses that really weren’t in all that bad condition, take them to that facility… only to starve them for months. After doing just enough to keep these horses alive, all of a sudden they’d start posting about a new rescue case, giving it a unique story that made the public’s stomach flip inside out. They’d bring the horse to their main facility, everyone would see pictures of an extremely emaciated horse and not think twice to question the sob story they were given. The crooked management doesn’t end there. They had found a way to run duplicate online fundraisers, so rather than having a single fundraiser for a single vet bill, they’d have four or five for the same bill. People would donate… only to come across a duplicate fundraiser and think they hadn’t donated to it yet. This mind game was nothing but a scheme to not just get the vet bill paid, but to get extra money in the process. If it weren’t for the fact they made me sign a non-disclosure agreement prior to my first day volunteering, the name of this rescue and all the proof I have would already be open to the public. While this is only one rescue, I have heard countless stories of others performing similar sickening work. This is why at Mending the Soul, we only have one facility. The same facility my training clients at Wilde Child visit all the time. And we plan to have full transparency with our followers, from the beginning of a rescue case to however it may resolve. Every vet bill, feed bill, farrier bill, and more will be open to the public so they know EXACTLY the things they are donating for. And - we won’t be doing any behind the scenes marketing schemes. Our goal is to help the horses, not rob the general public of their hard-earned money.

Quality of Life VS Quantity of Life

Unfortunately, one lesson you have to learn very early on is that not every horse is capable of being rehabilitated. I know, there’s probably going to be some backlash for this one. But it’s true. I’ve seen a rescue spend upwards of $20k to repair a colt’s broken Sesamoid bones. Even after the countless surgeries, the horse will never be sound or comfortable. And in my eyes - that is just as cruel as the people they rescued him from. That horse will forever live in pain - and it would’ve been better to euthanize and put those funds towards a horse that won’t suffer every day. The rescue world is run off of emotion. Animals in need grab you by the throat and drown you in a pool of sorrow. Seeing any animal in pain has a tendency to make you want to do everything in your power to save it. However, some horses are better off being put out of their misery than forced to stay alive while they are suffering. It seems to be a common occurrence with horse rescues that people keep a horse alive longer than necessary because they can’t stand the thought of euthanizing it. It can be extremely rewarding knowing that you were able to give a horse a second chance at life. But it can also be heartbreaking seeing a horse the world destroyed and recognizing you may not be able to help it. Running a horse rescue requires you to be capable of choosing logic over emotion. It is better to acknowledge that a horse is going to spend the rest of its life in pain than to let them continue to suffer because of your own emotions. Think of it like a balancing act. For the first several months, if the horse is on the road to recovery, then great! But if the horse has shown no improvement or has only gotten worse, then it might be time. You have to find a balance between saving horses that are capable of being rehabilitated and knowing when you’re fighting a losing battle.  Even before starting the non-profit I’ve had to make some tough calls - and I can promise that the horse’s well-being will always come above all else.

Cases for Clout

Then there’s some rescues who happen to stumble upon some extraordinary cases, like horses with a missing limb. The world tends to go crazy over these cases, as they make you wonder how the horse is even alive. The rescue is swarmed with donations, gaining new followers every day - yet when they’re questioned about the horse’s quality of life, they refuse to share any actual evidence from their vet. There’s numerous rescues who fall into this cycle. The attention and donations that follow such rare cases start to affect their reasoning. Their priority shifts from the welfare of the animal to the benefits they receive from keeping said horse alive. Dont get me wrong, sometimes there can be a lot to learn from rare medical conditions. But at what point is it unfair to keep the animal alive for the sake of your education? Or - there’s countless mustang sanctuaries whose mission is to adopt mustangs and let them remain wild on an enclosed piece of land. But rather than going for the horses that are struggling to be adopted, or the horses who were just too feral to be tamed, some of these sanctuaries end up in an all-out bidding war with civilians. They see a pretty horse than can get them lots of views and bring in donations, and would rather spend $10k on a new horse rather than $200 on a horse nobody wants. If the goal is to take in horses in need, horses without a home or that nobody wants - there should be no bidding wars involved.

Horse Hoarding

I’m going to be really blunt about this one - some rescues use their non-profit status as an excuse for horse hoarding. They take on more horses than they are actually capable of caring for, therefore putting more horses in harms way. To be honest - rescues don’t always make a lot of money. Unless they’re scamming people or run a business on the side, the donations received rarely balance out with the costs of care. The money has to come from somewhere, right? One of the few rescues that I do support is Blue Moon Rescue in Chino Valley, AZ. They have a system figured out where in order to supplement where money might fall short - they sell hay to the general public. In fact, their hay has been feeding my horses for years. Another rescue, Seahorse Ranch Rescue in Queen Creek, AZ. The owner is actually a salesperson. If the donations aren’t quite cutting it, she makes absolutely sure those animals don’t go without. Both of these rescues have a heart for the animal, and do whatever is necessary to ensure the bills associated with such expensive animals are paid. The issue lies in the rescues that bite off more than they can chew, don’t have extra ways to cover the costs of the animals, and in turn end up putting horses back in a situation similar to what they started in. This is why MTS is starting off small. We want to ensure every horse we rescue gets everything they need. Aside from running my training business, I’m also a bookkeeper. Both of these businesses have allowed me to support my own personal horses as well as take in rescues over the past few years. Whatever donations we receive stays with the nonprofit, and if for some reason we’re falling short there’s at least two other income streams to fill in the gaps.

Misinformed Rescues

Then there’s the rescues that are misinformed on their specific niche. A prime example of this is organizations who focus primarily on killpen horses. By bailing horses out of killpens they may THINK they’re bringing horse slaughter numbers down- when in reality they’re contributing to its profit. How it all works is a kill buyer goes to a local auction and pays $200-300 for a horse. They take it to the killpen, offer it for sale at a bail price of let’s say $1,000. Tugging at people’s heart strings, they pass over the cash to prevent the horse from coming to a brutal end. This one horse may have been saved… but now four or five others are in harms way. What happens with that $1,000 is the kill buyers go and buy several more horses at auction. If they have ten spots on the trailer to slaughter, those ten spots will always be filled no matter how many horses are actually bailed out. They just offer horses at bail to the general public so they can make even more profit off of their horrific actions. So all of the many rescues out there who take in JUST killpen horses are only further financing the slaughter pipeline. If we truly want to prevent horses from being shipped to slaughter - the best way to do that is stop bailing horses out of killpens and encourage others to do the same. Take away their funding - it won’t be as easy to send truckloads of equines out of the country. Moving on from that particular topic, there’s also rescues that were founded with good intentions - but unfortunately the ones who run the organization lack the education necessary to successfully rehabilitate horses in need. They have a heart for helping, but without the experience they often cause more harm than good. This is why it’s important to educate yourself on who you’re donating your hard-earned money to. And why one of the big priorities with both Wilde Child and Mending the Soul is education. We all have more to learn, and we can’t do better if we don’t know better.

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Now that we’ve discussed some vital topics in the world of horse rescue, and explained how we plan to do things differently - I encourage you guys to not just follow our pages and stay up to date on the horses we take in, but ask questions. Come see what we do in person. We want to show you guys that we are a legitimate rescue who absolutely does NOT take part in the shady practices that are all too common. We truly want to help horses succeed, and are willing to provide all documentation, proof, and more that we mean what we say. Thank you guys for your continued support with not just Wilde Child where it all began, but as we launch Mending the Soul too. So let’s rehabilitate some horses!!