ASPCA Awards More Than $100K to Help a Horse Day Contest Winners

(HealthNewsDigest.com) – ASPCA Help a Horse Day was created to honor the ASPCA’s longstanding commitment to horse rescue and equine welfare. In April 2017, we celebrated the fourth annual Help a Horse Day grants competition with nationwide events that encouraged equine rescues and sanctuaries to raise awareness about the work they do to care for at-risk horses.

More than 20,000 community members came out to support the 173 groups holding celebrations across 38 states, and the winners were selected based on the creativity of their events, as well as their success engaging their local communities. This year’s events included open houses, education and volunteer programs, free gelding clinics, scavenger hunts and Facebook Live segments to promote equine adoption. Participating groups raised a combined total of more than $1 million in cash and other resources to help at-risk horses.

The grand prize winner, TheraPony of Ramona, California received a $25,000 grant, and ten runners-up were awarded grants of $10,000 or $5,000 to support their ongoing efforts to protect horses. An additional runner up, Days End Farm Horse Rescue Inc. of Woodbine, Maryland, was also selected in recognition of its innovative use of social media to increase awareness about equine adoption.

Below is the full list of this year’s winners:

$25,000 Grand Prize Winner:

• TheraPony, Ramona, CA

$10,000 Prize Winners:

• Equine Wellbeing Rescue, Inc., Snowflake, AZ
• Freedom Hill Horse Rescue, Owings, MD
• Rancho Tierra Madre Corp, Cave Creek, AZ
• RVR Horse Rescue, Riverview, FL
• The Pegasus Project, Murchison, TX

$5,000 Prize Winners:

• Days End Farm Horse Rescue Inc., Woodbine, MD
• Drifters Hearts of Hope, Franktown, CO
• Mountain Valley Horse Rescue, McCoy, CO
• Phoenix Rising Equine Rescue & Rehabilitation, Clarence, NY
• Save A Forgotten Equine, Woodinville, WA
• Serenity Farm Equine Sanctuary, Louisa, VA

In a special video message, celebrity animal advocates Beth Behrs and Huw Collins commended participating equine rescues and sanctuaries for their year-round lifesaving work caring for at-risk horses who’ve been abused, neglected or find themselves homeless.