Selling homes to save horses — it’s an interesting ploy but an effective one nonetheless, and one for which Nellie the horse will be forever grateful.
Darlene Supnick has owned a farm in Medford previously known as Hartford Arabians for 19 years and has been rescuing animals for three of them.
Turning her farm into a horse safe haven has lead to the emergence of her nonprofit organization, The Forgotten Angels Equine Rescue.
However, the saving of these animals is no cheap task. In fact, after these horses are purchased from the “kill buyer” and have gone through veterinarian exams, costs easily eclipse $1,000. A kill buyer is a term used by horse owners to describe the contract buyer who brings the horse to the slaughterhouse upon purchasing it.
Supnick is a salesperson in real estate, and along with some donations, she uses a combination of her retirement money and some of her commission made from selling homes to fund this operation — one that has grown now to 15 horses on 30 acres, with about 80 horses in all being saved.
The most recent rescue story was quite a unique one.
A paint mare by the name of Nellie was being auctioned off in Holland, Pa., and was sure to be sent to a slaughterhouse until The Forgotten Angels were able to land her.
“Darlene conducted a lot of fundraising to rehome her,” Forgotten Angels barn manager Carloyn Marshall said. “She ended up getting her to a farm in South Jersey for quarantine for about three weeks to make sure she didn’t have any diseases, and then Nellie came to join us in Medford on April 3.”
When she arrived at Supnick’s farm in Medford, it was not a pretty sight.
“She was bad,” Marshall said. “In 45 years of being around horses, she was by far the most mistreated horse that I had ever seen.”
Nellie’s ribs were all very visible and her spine was up about three inches, a common cautionary sign in neglected horses.
With the love and care the folks at Forgotten Angels provide, this horse has made tremendous strides in the three months she has called this farm home.
“She’s in much better shape now than she was when we first got her,” Marshall said. “The turnaround has been impressive.”
Nellie is now so healthy she recently gave birth to a baby paint colt, a feat that is extremely rare, and often considered a miracle, in mistreated horses due to the poor health they suffer from.
Nellie is one of the many success stories that have come from this farm.
There have been numerous rescue horses taken to local shows and used for horse lessons.
A few of the minis have been going to 4-H shows and have been doing very well.
All of these horses are products of a sturdy network of people who are all in it for the same reason — to give horses an opportunity to live a free, healthy lifestyle.
“The grape vine is very strong,” Marshall said.
The groups of people who attend horse sales on a regular basis such as the Coast to Coast Draft Horse Connection to purchase these horses to negate them from being sent to slaughterhouses are extremely passionate and take immense amounts of time to make sure no horses end up like Nellie did.
“Just seeing a horse that comes in so neglected with many unknown skills and getting it back to the shape that it should be in and identifying these unique skills so that we can rehome it properly to someone who appreciates it,” Marshall said. “It is so fulfilling and really gives the horse another crack at life.”
To help Forgotten Angels financially or to learn more about their cause, visit forgottenangelsequinerescue.com.
