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Horse rescue looks for aid

For Amy Stockman and Tender Mercy Equine Rescue, the arrival of spring is much more than a change in the weather. Spring is mud season, but it’s better than what has come before.


Permanent residents at Tender Mercy Equine Rescue, Starr (left) and Buddy would love some sponsors all their own.

The last few months have been a seemingly endless cycle of hauling bales of hay through the snow, breaking the ice in water buckets, cleaning stalls and pulling sleds through snow drifts. For a few months, at least, there will be a reprieve in keeping a careful eye on the weather, on making sure the horses stay blanketed, making sure that they don’t catch a chill that could mean the death of those still going through their rehabilitation after months of malnourishment and abuse.

The weather has turned, and now Stockman hopes that the same will be said for the rescue.

The economy has taken its toll, and Tender Mercy has lost several key sponsors and volunteers over the winter months. Now, they are appealing for more, desperately needed help.

“What it all comes down to is that we need more support,” says Stockman. “We need some volunteers who are really willing to pitch in and help us with our fundraising. Everything we do depends on donations, and right now, we’re struggling.”

Right now, Tender Mercy has a number of residents who have been deemed unadoptable for various reasons, and will spend the rest of their lives in the safety of the rescue. These residents are in need of sponsors to help with their continued care; due to matters of health and age, the cost can be quite hefty.

These permanent residents are happy and healthy now, but the reasons they’re not up for adoption varies. In the case of Buddy, an aging gelding and Starr, a 25-year-old thoroughbred mare, they will not be placed not only because of their age, but because they have found something at the rescue that they have never had anywhere else – each other.

From the first time Stockman turned them out together, they bonded quickly and strongly. Now, they’re almost always side by side, and even being taken from the pasture to the barn, out of each other’s sight for only a moment, can be a traumatic experience.

“They know exactly where they’re going and where the other is, but Starr turns into a drama queen and he’s just as bad,” Stockman laughs.

Theirs is more than just a simple friendship – they both rely on each other for much more than that.

Buddy is slowly losing his eyesight, and Starr is blind in one eye due to an old, untreated injury.

Those stories are the reasons that Stockman continues to struggle through the long winters.

Even if people aren’t able to afford an outright sponsorship of one of the horses, there are other ways to help. Tender Mercy is looking for individuals who are willing to do online research into grants and business sponsorships and help to organize and run fundraisers.

They’re also collecting Nutrena food tags and bar codes, good for redeeming with Nutrena for cash.
There are other easy ways to help, including signing up for online services that give donations to charities, including GiveBackAmerica.org and Good Search.com.

Grain and hay donations are always welcome, and one of their most important goals for the summer is to get some actual equipment to make the physical labor less demanding. In turn, there is also one more barn, still unfinished from last summer that needs to be completed in time for the upcoming winter.

Tender Mercy is also starting an online store, located at www.freewebs.com/tmer. All items are handmade, and there are more items available than what is on the site.

And of course, Tender Mercy is also looking for adoptive families for a number of different horses including Cash, a 5-year-old thoroughbred gelding.

For more information, visit www.tendermercyrescue.com or contact jmw7765@roadrunner.com. TMER is also available on Facebook.