Fairfield Equine Foundation Hay Fund

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By Mark R. Baus, DVM

If riding a horse is a dream, then owning your own horse is the full realization of that dream. Unfortunately for many horse owners, the responsibility of feeding and caring for their horse becomes an obligation that is too hard to bear. Consequently, many horses go under fed. Although this has been a harsh reality for years, several factors collided this past year to create an even bigger challenge for the well-being of many horses. The cost of hay has risen dramatically, the drought in the south made hay even more scarce and a strained economy made it difficult for many horse owners to care for their horses.

With inspiration and assistance from Sara Gruen, Beth Helms and Dana Katselas, the Fairfield Equine Foundation has become the ideal means for establishing the Hay Fund. It is my goal for the Hay Fund to not only provide subsistence for horses affected by the drought but also to become a long standing resource for feeding horses whose owners are no longer able.

It has been a tremendous honor to assist in establishing the Hay Fund, and I look forward to providing this service to this noble species for years to come.

Water for Elephants, Hay for Horses

By Sara Gruen

Last November, I needed to stock my barn with hay for my horses and goat. This was my first time shopping for hay in North Carolina, and I was stunned to discover that local hay prices were almost triple what I had paid in Illinois. It turns out to be a simple question of supply and demand: last summer’s drought destroyed pasture and hay fields over large areas of the southern states. I was able to get the hay I needed that time, but three weeks ago, I was not so lucky. I wanted a hundred bales, but the dealer would only sell me twenty-five. She had to take care of her established customers first. And then there was the price:

It was more than four times what I was used to paying.

One way or another I’ll get hay for my own horses, but I realized this was a symptom of a much larger problem. I had seen some articles in papers and heard rumblings among horse groups, but because of my own experience, I started paying closer attention.

What I discovered horrified me. With their owners unable to feed them, starving horses in drought-stricken parts of the country are simply being turned loose on back roads or in National Parks, or sent to “Saturday Night Specials”—auctions that in most cases lead to horrible deaths in unregulated Mexican slaughterhouses. Equine rescue organizations are overwhelmed, and forced to turn away needy horses for the same reason the owners are trying to give them up: they have nothing to feed them.

A lifelong animal lover, I knew I had to do something. I was not alone. Within a matter of days I had joined up with fellow novelist Beth Helms (author of the newly-released Dervishes), and Dana Katselas, a Hollywood screenwriter, both of whom own horses and had independently decided they also needed to do something. And so, with the help of a handful of dedicated veterinarians at the Fairfield Equine Clinic in Connecticut, the Hay Fund was born.

It was kismet. Within days we had a thousand bales of compressed hay on a big rig on its way to a horse rescue in Tennessee.

In subsequent weeks, we sent another thousand bales out—500 to a horse rescue in Georgia and 500 to be distributed by the Kentucky Horse Council. We wanted on-the-ground relief immediately, and so we went to the source: Dana wheels and deals at hay auctions on our behalf, and as a result we end up with good quality hay at the best possible price. The response to our efforts has been wonderful, from the brokers to the truck drivers to the volunteers at the other end who unload the hay.

Knowing help was on its way, our first recipient was able to take in additional horses she would otherwise have had to turn away. Mary Hord of the Almost Home Horse Rescue says, “I had a video playing in my head of the day that big rig was going to pull in with all that hay. I can’t tell you how it helps my heart to know there are folks who are trying to help.”

Lori Yonts, of Sunkissed Acres Rescue and Retirement, which recently took in 44 relinquished horses, says that without the Hay Fund’s help “we would not have gotten through this crisis.”

For now, the need continues. Relief will come with the spring—and even then, only if the spring is accompanied by rain. We are a handful of people working with laptops and telephones. We have no overhead other than what PayPal charges us. Every cent donated goes to the purchase and delivery of hay to those areas in greatest need.