Behind The Scenes of Equine Rescue. Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary. Clinton Michigan Photography.
From Jessica:
Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary is a relatively new equine rescue that is primarily run by 3 women caring for 30+ horses. They have the overwhelming task of rehabilitating, and handling the daily needs of the horses in their care. I had the opportunity to document a “typical” morning for them; feeding, cleaning, and checking on horses. Rescue can get glamorized, “you get to work with horses that’s so cool,” but the reality is messy, dirty work that most people have no interest in doing, and that doesn’t leave much time for recreational enjoyment.
Continue reading to learn more about their story.
How it all started.
From Jane the founder:
“We have been a 501c equine rescue in Michigan since April of 2021 (2019 unofficially), our first horses coming into the property in June of 2021. Although we (our founders and dedicated volunteers) have a lifetime of equine experience, our journey begins in 2017 with a scrawny, skinny, and neglected little horse my husband and I rescued from auction in 2017 for $70. We had no intention of buying a horse, having seven of our own, and were at the auction for tack. But being who we were, couldn't resist the horse auction. We were no strangers to bringing home a needy soul. We once brought a well-behaved mini mare home in the back of our minivan. One can only imagine the stares we got at every stoplight!
Back to the current auction - An emaciated and pathetic little bald-faced paint horse was just about last in line, and no one was bidding. He was ewe necked and looked like a starved and dying yearling. We couldn't stand it and placed our bid. We could hear laughter at our perceived stupidity but even the meat buyers weren’t interested. $70 later he was ours. The only problem was, we didn't bring a trailer. We scooted home for the two-and-a-half-hour trip, grabbed the trailer, and drove back, not knowing if he had even survived the trauma of the auction. We arrived back at the stockyard six hours later to find him tied up, alone, and without food or water. It would be a miracle if he made the trip home. Fortunately, he survived the journey, and we settled him in a stall with a small amount of hay, grain, and beet pulp. We said goodnight and hoped he'd still be standing by morning. We named him Little Hidalgo because he reminded us of the tough, rangy little paint horse depicted in the movie “Hidalgo.”
This little boy had a fight in his soul! He survived the night and the next day we gave him a bath to get rid of the stink of auction and death. Imagine our surprise lifting his tail and find he was a stallion and not the yearling he looked like. He was so emaciated that his genitals had retracted beyond sight! Next up was a call to our vet. A day later the vet came out for an assessment. It wasn’t good. Due to starvation, he was given a 40% chance of survival. On top of that he was indeed a stallion and at least 10 years old, with only one testicle palpable. We had a tough task in front of us.
After a couple of months, with significant weight gain, our local vets were amazed he had made it this far, and were impressed with his progress, but they were concerned about a lesion in one eye. Despite their concerns we planned to have him gelded and let him be a happy horse. It required a trip to Michigan State as they thought he was retracted but we didn’t care about the cost. We would do anything to save Dalgo. Thankfully, all went well, and we got him home safe and sound, albeit thousands of dollars later. Might we add, the vet techs all loved him and said he was a perfect gentleman! For the next two years we bonded and just let him get fat and healthy with his new herd. He was always easy to handle and easy to love. His eye lesion was still a concern but between fly masks, ointments, and sprays, we appeared to have his vulnerable blue eyes under control.
Finally, it was time for some serious training. We brought in a trainer that we trusted. The progress was nothing short of amazing! Dalgo went from a fearful boy to a trusting liberty horse in no time! The day finally came when I was allowed to ride him. The love and the bond we shared was so obvious! He was perfect and such a joy! The video I have of our only ride will live with me forever. The trainer made it a point to tell me Dalgo was one of the best horses ever in his training career. He really was that special.
Joy notwithstanding, it was obvious to us and our trainer that his eye issue had gotten worse and worse over time, especially in warmer weather, no matter what we did to treat it. They just weren't healing, especially his left eye with the ever-growing lump that just wouldn't quit, getting bigger and more ominous every day. In our guts we knew it was cancer but, in our hearts, we wanted to keep trying.
We gave him another winter, fly free, to try to resolve the problem. Nothing we did worked. We knew we couldn’t let him suffer another summer with flies and other irritants. So, under our vet’s guidance, we decided to ease his suffering once and for all. May 21, 2020, we said goodbye to our Little Hidalgo. We gave him over 3 years of care and love and, with no regrets, gave him a peaceful and dignified end.
November of 2020, we started Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary on a limited basis on our 10-acre mini farm. At first, we thought we could handle maybe four horses a month but before we knew it the surrenders came in and we developed a partnership with the Standardbred Retirement Foundation. (I personally had a 30-year career with Standardbreds grooming and training from Montreal to Pompano.)
Less than two years later, in April of 2021, we were granted our 501c status and in February of 2022 we bought an almost 20-acre farm to accommodate the constant flow of horses coming our way. We have been to Kansas to rescue mustangs from a kill pen, to Texas for slaughter bound horses, to Pennsylvania, and Ohio and all over Michigan. Our focus always has, and always will be, on slaughter-bound horses with a focus on Standardbreds.
Currently we have 21 adoptable horses from surrendered Arabians to rescued Quarter Horses to the never-ending flow of Standardbreds. Throw in a baby or two born of rescues, a mustang born mule filly and a surrendered pony, and you have the general picture of our farm!”
The day to day
From Julia The Treasurer:
The struggles: “There are so many struggles we have day to day. We have a small team but such a high demand from the community to save horses. With 30+ horses on the farm and a team of 3-5 people (around work and school schedules) that’s a lot. Not only do horses need fed and watered everyday, we need to work with horses to make sure they’re safe for adoption. With that many horses, and most coming in with some form of rehab, there’s always at least one horse that has something going on; injuries, underweight, sickness etc. that require extra care. We’re a younger nonprofit as well so we don’t have a lot of funding. We’re constantly pushing for funding, to pay for basic things like feed and hay, but also vet, farrier, chiro, all the things. So to be pushing those on our social media and have someone manage those accounts who also is helping do chores… there is just not much time. Grants would be amazing but again there isn’t much time to get those completed as they require a lot of work. Getting and keeping the website updated is tough, answering the hundreds of Fb messages, phone calls, and emails… All these things happen everyday.”
The rewarding experiences that keep you going: “I think one of my favorite things is seeing the transformation with each horse. From being shut down, skinny, dull looking to becoming full of life and personality. They put weight on and have shine in their coat. That’s one of the best feelings. To see that horse who’s days away from their end and see them thrive. Then when they get adopted not only have we helped give this horse a second chance but we helped someone or a family bring such love and joy to their life with their new horse.”
Being a woman-led non-profit organization: “This isn’t something I think about too often, it’s so normal now, but I think a lot of people always think men know how to do all the heavy lifting and fixing, and they’re the manual labor type people. But trust me we find a way no matter what. We’re definitely a problem solving group of women. We work together to figure things out, and we have so many ideas, and get so creative in the best way to get things done. I think we’re all naturally pretty independent so we don’t expect anybody else to come out and get things done. We take it on ourselves. It’s just a bonus to have one of the other girls come out and help. And we do have men that help us (president husband, our farrier is also a local man who helps out when we need a hand) and we appreciate when they can take the load off.”
If you are interested in supporting Two Wild Hearts Sanctuary, here are their links:
All photos were taken at the Two Wild Heart Sanctuary in Clinton, MI by Photographer Jessica.
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