SHELBY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — In the past month, the Kentucky Humane Society’s equine program has rescued two groups of 10 or more horses. At Willow Hope farm in Shelby County, the horses are starting to show signs of rehabilitation.
Equine manager Olivia Dixon stood in the stall with a stallion named Victor who was one of 13 horses rescued four weeks ago in Franklin County.
“Four weeks ago today we were called by an investigator with the state vet’s office and they asked, ‘would we be able to take horses today?’ Dixon shared, “there were 13 horses who were in varying stages of neglect. Victor was one of the stallions who was in a 10-ft. by 10-ft pen standing in very deep mud with no food and some of them had no water.”
After Victor was placed into care, Dixon says he went down, meaning he was so weak he could not stand up on his own.
“He had to be rushed to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital where they had to actually lift him in a sling every day until he was healthy enough to be able to come back to the farm.”
Victor just recently returned to Willow Hope Farm, and he has his own feeding plan to nurse him back in a healthy way.
“He’s going to be a really big personality once he feels better,” Dixon said, “because he’s already a little sassy even though he’s really thin right now.”
The ‘Franklin 13’ was the first of two rescues carried out in the last four weeks. The Kentucky Humane Society took in 10 more horses from eastern Kentucky two weeks ago.
“We usually hope that cases of 10 or more horses are a little more spread out,” said Dixon. “These kind of happened to happen within two weeks of each other, and we happened to have the space on the farm, so that made it to where we were able to say yes when we were asked. We try not to turn away any emergency.”
The ‘Franklin 13’ rescue drew some extra intrigue because it included a number of thoroughbreds, including one by the name of War Envoy.
“He was a previous Breeder’s Cup horse and kind of travelled around the world a lot, people have asked about him more than anyone from this case,” Dixon explained.
“Thankfully all that recognition and coverage from here to across the pond over in Ireland and England and all that stuff has really helped to fundraise for horses like Victor who were a part of the same case, didn’t get quite as much attention initially, but his vet bill has ended up being I think over $10,000.”
Victor and the rest of the ‘Franklin 13’ are going through the process of being rehabilitated and trained at Willow Hope Farm with the hope that the horses will find a new home when they are ready.
“The end goal is always adoption,” said Dixon, “so seeing those horses through the hard times until they’re fully rehabilitated and ready for adoption and then seeing somebody who’s happy to take them home and give them a wonderful home, it’s really what they do this for.”
To learn more about the Kentucky Humane Society and how to volunteer, donate, or even adopt, you can visit their website.
