South West Florida Horse Rescue gives horses a second chance at life

Story by Meghan Bradbury

What started as a pr vate rescue operation on five acres in 2010, has since grown in size both in the number of horses helped and the land to do so with a nonprofit status

South West Florida Horse Rescue brings horses under its care if there is not a human currently responsible for them or f they have been seized due to mistreatment or neglect

"We know we can't save the world Those that we can save we will provide the best qual ty we can possibly do " South West Flor da Horse Rescue Co-Founder and Director Matt Vanaleck said

As of the beginn ng of March, the rescue off Babcock Ranch Road was car ng for 15 horses Each horse's well-being dictates how long they have to stay at the rescue before they become adoptable

"It's not uncommon to expect them to stay here at the earliest, for s x months," he said

He said the horse being r deable is imperative for its future, as 99 percent of ndividuals who want to adopt want to ride the horse

"Out of our 15 horses that knocks out 11 r ght away We have four rideable horses and that is it They were stallions and no longer reproduce They are stil in the rehabilitating state and not yet availab e I have zero horses ready to be r dden ready to be adopted," Vanaleck said.

Some of the horses that have cancer COPD or massive arthritis while one has its tendons torn from umping.

"We have had horses come in 400 to 100 pounds underweight," Vanaleck said

South West Florida Horse Rescue

Address: 14811 State Rd 81, Punta Gorda, Fl 33982

Info: 239-567-4111, info@swfhr org, www swfhr org

Before horses can be adopted a veterinarian does evaluations and sends them through a professional training program with a bonaf de tra ner who can vouch if the horse can be ridden

The adoption process takes three months, as the person who wants to adopt has to answer questions have social zation visits at the facil ty and interact with the horse

"We adopt local " Vanaleck said "We go off the premise of loca , ocal local "

They have a two-strike rule of horses be ng returned to them

Only six have been returned

"Those returned were because of family issues " he said, such as a fam ly losing their property or other f nancial crisis. "Financially they were in troub e We will bend over backwards for that horse to come back to our care "

The last year the rescue took willingly owner surrenders was n 2017

"We will aid and assist peop e who are willing to work with us

The result is what they put into t " he said

Some of that assistance is connecting someone who can no onger care for the horse with someone will ng to adopt

"We create a connection base for higher exposure for the person ooking for a home for their horse " he said

Although running the organizat on can wear on your emotions and take a lot of time, Vana eck said seeing the effective change on horses that were wronged by man at some point is the biggest reason he keeps going

The biggest case they had was with a horse named Sammy who was 780 pounds instead of 1,100. The rescue struggled with keep ng him alive for the f rst month

"I don t have a favor te horse The ones that I have a h gher connection with are the ones I struggled with " he said of feeding Sammy every two hours "He recovered quite well It s remarkable to see h m nowadays. When he would go down he couldn t get back up I would grab his pelvic bone to get him up Now he lays down and gets back up You can t understand how that tickles your heart "

Histor y of South West Florida Horse Rescue

Vanaleck sa d he and founder Tina Garrett decided to begin rescuing two horses at a t me, which quick y became three horses once they immersed themselves into that world

"Three kind of put us at a limitation We owned four personal horses at the time on five acres That s why we chose to do two " Vanaleck said as one horse needs an acre of land

Max and Chance, in one of the pastures at the South West Florida Horse Rescue off SR 31, also known as Bobcock Ranch Road. As of of March, there were 15 horses being cared for by the rescue team and its volunteers on acreage that includes 12 paddocks and 11 barns .

The very first horse rescued was Jeannie who was in their care for roughly four months before they lost her to a staph infection in her leg

"We really questioned if we were going to be a good horse rescue or not We took a break for about six months," he sa d

The founders stumbled upon more horses that needed help when Garrett s golf cart broke down near their property There was a Paso Fino horse breeding farm with 50 horses a l "skeletons," Vanaleck sa d. The man had been h t by the economic crash he said "Over the course of four months we took 18 physical horses from that man One was pregnant This was by his admittance and allowance unt l he told us no more, " he said From there they began creat ng a footprint of a horse rescue and began a website

"We started promoting what we were do ng and try ng to find homes for the horses Out of 19, we were able to rehome all of them. The rest of the horses dealt with the sher ff's department " Vanaleck sa d.

W th so many horses, and not a great dea of room on their own property foster farms began w th a total of seven from Golden Gate Estates to North Port "For the next two years we ran a foster program while still mainta ning operat on at five acres, " Vana eck said "We sacrificed everything we had to keep it go ng "

In 2012 fundraisers began to help support the rescue and the path to obta ning their nonprofit status began. He said a para egal offered her services to file for a nonprofit and money was donated as it was $1 000 to apply, money they used to buy feed for the horses

Another bless ng was provided after a pr vate fami y foundat on took an nterest in their rescue, particularly Freedom the baby that was born from the pregnant horse they rescued "Carol kept coming by and checking on Freedom She was a horse person A year later she had said I am going to bring my husband We want to help you out on a d fferent wavelength, rather than feed and hay " Vanaleck said of the Fred & Jean Al egrett Foundation that provided a grant to establish a nonprofit facility "We did not str ve, or make any efforts to go that way. Things fell into place the way they did "

In April 2014, they closed on their 40-acre State Road 31 property which was 10 to 15 years unmaintained, as it was a prior golf course A few years were spent on building the structures, fencng add ons and ad ustments

A volunteer program began in 2016 Volunteers are a huge backbone to the success of the organization which fluctuates in season

"We teach people the process and through that process they earn by osmos s. They learn by sen or volunteers who teach them processes of expectations in a given day " Vanaleck said "People come here wil ing, free and willing to prov de the r t me and availabi ity Come when you want and go when you need during daylight operations "

"There were good souls along the way that really he ped out a ot with some advancements," he said "We are n a f uid form of an operation 160 horses ater and a volunteer program sponsor program "

The foundation continues to support South West F orida Horse Rescue, but now it s only about 10 percent of their budget, about $20,000 a year

Above, A volunteer conducts a tour at the South West Florida Horse Rescue. Tours are available by appointment and for a small donation to aid the rescue’s efforts in providing rehabilitation, and a home, to horses in need. Below, Co-founder and director Matt Venaleck shares some horse history./VALARIE HARRING

With a 40-acre faci ity, Vanaleck said their nominal number of horses is around 20 as Florida living for horses on one acre is not ideal since there s ittle but sand

The and includes 12 paddocks and 11 barns

"We built our rescue two horses per paddock and not much more, " he said "We operate at ha f the total and size Five to 20 acres was plenty to focus on "

Vanaleck said there are horse owners that have problems, such as financ a , medical no longer wanting a horse which is not their emergency

"You have to figure something out," he sa d, adding that they will not take their problem r ght off their hands, as t will on y happen again n a couple of years

For more nformation or to make a donation visit https://swfhr org/