OUR MISSION

...Other owners care, but have nowhere to house the horse after his racing career is over.  Those owners turn to us to help them find a place where their horse will be safe the remainder of his/her life.

Often, employment, logistics, finances, divorce or death force individuals to seek our help to find a new home for their beloved pet.  These horses are often well schooled, and could easily be sold for a profit.  However, if sold, the owner most likely will never see the horse again, and certainly has no control over the animals fate should the new owner's circumstances change.  Bright Futures Farm is the safety net for that horse.  When you donate a horse to Bright Futures Farm we find that horse a new home where he will be loved and remain safe.

It is important for us to say that we are NOT  a "rescue".  We encourage people to donate their horses before they need to be rescued.  We are an Equine Charity, a Placement Program for horses in need of new homes.  Do we "rescue" horses too?  Yes.  Sometimes (and we wish it were more often) we purchase horses at auctions either bidding against a killer buyer, or directly from the kill pen.  These horses come from a variety of circumstances...some neglected and abused, some from individuals who don't know what fate an auction can hold for their horse, and some directly from the racetrack - just because the owner doesn't care, or doesn't realize he has an alternative.

Some of the horses we have purchased that would have otherwise been sold for meat are Top Guns Fly Free, Iron Clad Case, Oz, Doodles, Ellie, Native Irish Lass, Street Commander, Hallie, Fencer, & Private Practice.  We were involved in the rescue and rehab of Bloodstock (Banner), Senility, Frank, Fabulous Warrior, Iroquois Hills and many others.  Thank goodness, most of the horses that have come to us have come from caring owners who want to ensure the horse is safe the rest of his or her life.  Those horses didn't have to go through the trauma of an auction, or a holding barn, or a meat sale.  They didn't have to stand on a trailer for two days with twenty other frightened horses or be beaten like Private Practice was.  They came from a good situation directly to our farm.  We will continue to rescue and help rescue horses when we need to, but we want people to make the right decision immediately when they need to find a home for their horse and that is to find a caring, reputable agency like ours to find it a good, prescreened home for life.

Owners do have a choice.  Meat buyers (“killers”) who frequent these auctions purchase these horses by the pound.  You may send a 1000 pound horse to the auction and get $200 or $300 for that horse.  He will sell to a meat buyer for approximately $350-$750.  That meat buyer in turn will sell him for 55c per pound to the slaughterhouse.  The slaughterhouse will send the meat overseas where it can sell for as much as $25 a pound in specialty shops, or to restaurants.  However if you donate that same horse to Bright Futures Farm or another reputable agency, you may deduct his fair market value from your taxes.  You may be able to deduct $1500 rather than make a quick $200 or $300.

If you  own a horse that is no longer deemed a productive entity, donation is a highly viable alternative.  A horse appraised at $4000, will give the owner who donates it a tax deduction of approximately $1100 !  Everyone wins!  The owner gets more for the horse, and the horse is saved from a cruel death.  Many of these horses  go on to careers as jumpers, trail horses, etc.  And, even more important than the tax deduction should be the fact that the horse has served you well, and this is your way to repay them for their loyalty.
 

Regarding re-homing family pets...Many owners think that because their horse was "their" family pet, and gave them many good years of service that if they take it to an auction, someone else will think the same thing.  Often not the case.  First of all, there has to be a buyer at the auction who would be looking for a horse like that.  Many times, there are either few individual buyers, or many, many horses "just like yours".  The ones that aren't sold to individuals are sold to killer buyers.  And, don't let the facilitators of the auction fool you by saying "we don't sell to killer buyers".  They sell to anyone who has the money to buy - it's their business. 

Our dream is that none of these horses end their lives at slaughter.  Our reality is that we can save a few of them each year and place them in loving homes.  

Please help us help them.  If you are interested in adopting one of our horses  please visit our "available horses" page.  We encourage those of you who want to help but cannot adopt a horse to consider sponsoring our program, or a horse in particular, to help us provide continuing care for those horses that may take longer to place due to age or an injury that makes them unable to be ridden.  Sponsorship can be an affordable and rewarding alternative to adoption.  For those of you who have an extra stall and time, Fostering  is a rewarding experience.  When you foster a horse, you're caring for him as if he were yours until we either have room at our facility, or we find him a new home.  Every foster home gives one more horse a second chance.  With regard to fostering and sponsoring, all contributions are tax deductible.