RESCUE.
REHABILITATE.
RETRAIN.
REHOME.
GELDING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Ungelded horses, donkeys, and mules can be difficult to house and hard to handle. They may be hard to rehome, as well, if needed. Indiscriminate breeding by stallions, colts, and donkey jacks also leads to equine overpopulation. We created the Cuter when Neutered program to offer low-cost equine gelding services to help alleviate these problems.
HORSE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
If you’ve lost your job or suffered other financial burdens and can’t feed your horse, we may be able to help.
Getting a Horse
Getting a horse can be one of the most exciting times in your life. You’re fulfilling a dream…gaining a companion…expanding your horizons…starting an adventure. Getting a horse will change your life.
The worst way to get a horse is to remember how much fun you had riding horses at camp or your grandparents’ place, see a photo or video on the internet, fall in love, visit the horse, fall more in love when it lets you lead it around and pet it, write a check to pay for it, and then realize you have no way to take it home and no place to keep it. People aren’t always rational about getting a horse.
It isn’t fair to a horse if you buy or adopt it and then discover you can’t afford to care for it, can’t spend time with it, or lose interest.
An average horse suitable for trail riding is likely to cost $5,000 to $15,000 if you purchase it or $1,000 to $3,000 if you adopt from Bluebonnet.
- Boarding your horse at a “full care” stable that provides feed and bedding, cleans stalls, and turns horses out in a pasture each day might cost $9,000 to $12,000/year. Routine farrier and veterinarian costs add another $500/year. If you board at a “self-care stable” ($2,000-$3,500/year) or keep your horse at home, hay and grain may cost $2,000 – $3,000/year. Wood shavings for stall bedding might cost another $1,000/year.