Jill MedingerAs with any cause, raising visibility and creating inspiration and a productive and tangible way to channel passion and support is everything. It is no different for the EQUUS Foundation, which is why the EQUUS Foundation is so grateful for the opportunity to host the Equine Adoption Day at the Hampton Classic Horse Show each year, sponsored by world-class equestrian and EQUUS Foundation EQUUStar, Georgina Bloomberg.
Renowned animal welfare advocate, media personality, and best-selling author Jill Rappaport, and EQUUS Foundation EQUUStar, Brianne Goutal-Marteau, joined Georgina Bloomberg and Valerie Angeli, EQUUS Foundation VP, to raise awareness on how horses become at risk—and what they can do to help. “Everyone can help horses in some way, even if they can’t adopt,” said Angeli. “We are always surrounded by passionate horse lovers who come to support the horses that somehow just fell through the cracks. The work of the EQUUS Foundation begins each time the career of a horse comes to an end.”
This year’s Equine Adoption Day in August was extra special because seven horses from EQUUS Foundation Guardian charity, Rising Starr Horse Rescue, in Wilton, Connecticut, were adopted as a direct result of this event. “It truly drove home the fact that awareness and visibility is everything,” said Rising Starr’s founder and president, Kelly Stackpole.
Bunny and Turtle are 10-year-old mini donkeys who arrived at Rising Starr when a vet convinced the owner to surrender them instead of euthanizing them. They will now live out the rest of their lives at a private farm in North Salem, New York.
Rising Starr became aware of two black three-year-old Falabella Pony/Mini Horse cross mares, Daphne and Velma, from a Craigslist ad and acquired them to keep them from winding up at auction and the threat of slaughter as many horses do when sold this way. They were adopted by Laurel Crown Farm, a Long Island show barn, where they will be their much-loved mascots.
Xander, a 13-year-old chestnut Quarter Horse, had been purchased at an auction in Texas and was transferred to Rising Starr. When Xander’s new owners came to Rising Starr to take him home, they also fell in love with rescues Gunner, and Oden, and adopted them as well. So Xander, Gunner and Oden went to their new home together as pleasure and trail horses at a beautiful, private farm in the New York Catskills.
“We are so grateful to the EQUUS Foundation, Georgina Bloomberg, and the Hampton Classic for this opportunity which now makes room for seven more waiting in the wings for their next chapter,” said Stackpole.
“We are beyond thrilled that seven rescued horses found loving homes because of the awareness created at our Hampton Classic Adoption event,” added Angeli, “and even more thrilled that so many people were inspired to know more and care more about horses that need our help and a lifeline.”