What do Tommy Lee, Adele and Mick Jagger have in common?
Rescue horses! Naming horses after rock stars is one method the rescue nonprofit group Sound Equine Options (SEO) has used to keep track of incoming rescue groups.
SEO started when Kim Mosiman, co-founder, realized the need for a veterinary-focused rescue facility. As a licensed vet tech for many years, she saw so many cases of horse neglect and the need was increasing year after year. So she partnered with Scott W Hansen, DVM to create just such a place. SEO takes care of veterinary care and feed and other expenses all through donations and fundraising events.
Fritz is South Equine Options first rescue.
I first learned of SEO when the Oregon Humane Society seized many animals including 21 horses from a residence in rural Oregon who were in really bad shape. According to Kim, almost all 21 have been rehabilitated and re-homed in the span of 1 Year. They are the go-to place for vet-focused rescues in the NW Oregon and SW Washington.
SEO has helped over 1200 horses since its beginnings in 2009. Utilizing a combination of both the barn facility and foster families, they are able to care for up to 70 horses at a time. Once a need is discovered, most of the horses are taken immediately to Eagle Fern Equine Hospital care facility in Gresham for initial assessment to get them on the road to health. Outside, this place is surrounded by lush green spacious pasture that must feel like heaven on earth to these neglected beauties. Once ready, they move on to the SEO Training Barn to begin their training.
I absolutely adored meeting one of SEO's very first rescues. Fritz, a wonderful white Arab Appaloosa, had been abandoned with his sister and turned loose. They ran loose for 6 months, foraging for food, until the ground was covered with snow. Starving, they found their way down to neighbors with horses, who then called SEO for help. When Fritz first came to SEO, he was severely underweight, had punctured his left eye, and wasn’t halter broken. He most likely had never been in a stall. Now, after many months, he is well-trained, healthy and ready to move on. It was wonderful to watch him with Carlos, a fellow rescue, running free in the arena for a good while during my visit. I just heard that he has been adopted, and is now on to his forever home.
Fritz getting his daily excersize in the Sound Equine Option riding and training arena.
People like Kim Mosiman find this work so rewarding that it was worth leaving her full-time job to be able to give the time it takes to help run SEO. The hard work, dedication and love is overly evident here. On their website they have a saying known among horse rescue circles that really says it all:
"Saving One Horse Won't Change The World, But For One Horse, The World Will Change Forever."
You can discover more about Sound Equine Options in Gresham, Oregon here:
http://www.soundequineoptions.org
If you would like to have your facility photographed or have a special rescue or therapy story to tell, please contact me at sarah@sarahwatersphotography.com.