Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In Northwest Oregon and Southwest Washington, as in the rest of the country, the number of unwanted horses and horses not receiving basic care exceeds the resources available to accommodate them.
Although there are currently no accurate figures on how many of unwanted horses there are, our research and work with regional animal control officers tell us the numbers are on the rise. People who suddenly find themselves financially or physically unable to care for their horses—usually due to foreclosure, job loss, illness, death or divorce—have very few options for surrendering them, which all too often results in neglect or abandonment.
Although Oregon leads the nation in animal welfare legislation, it lacks the resources to address the increasing numbers of unwanted horses in our area. Unlike cats and dogs, horses don't have a publicly provided safety net. By caring for abused, neglected and abandoned horses in our area, SEO fills a great need not met by local or state government.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Rehabilitation
When a horse is taken into our program it is frequently sent to a veterinary facility for triage. This gives us the opportunity to have the horse medically evaluated and monitored. We can also then determine the horse’s personality to better match the appropriate foster home to the individual horse.
Most horses need to go into a foster home for a few months to gain weight and recover from mental and physical effects of their previous environment. In the foster home they receive quality nutrition, and are dewormed and vaccinated several times. Often a horse takes 3 – 4 months to recover enough before they can start a training program. Our foster horse program is the heart of SEO.
Training and Adoption
Once a horse is healthy enough, it is sent to a Natural Horsemanship-style trainer who will usually invest least 30 days of ground training with the horse to build both its trust and confidence. These horses often come to us never having been handled by a human. We believe it is crucial to transition these horses to a point where they are well behaved and ready to be ridden. Usually a horse has 60 days under saddle before we feel it is ready to be adopted out.
We are proud that our adoption return rate is very low, and we attribute this largely to the training protocols we have in place. Having happy adopters’ helps spread the word about our remarkable rescue horses and increases the number of people coming to adopt our horses!
Where we work
External reviews

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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Putting an end to the downward spiral of horse-trading, auction dumping and neglect is a top priority for us, and it informs everything we do. The best way to make sure a horse does not find itself back in a bad situation is to give it the care and training it needs to be a reliable partner and find a good home.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We have several different strategies for making this happen:
—maintain and grow relationships with local law enforcement agencies by providing assistance, expertise and education when needed and duplicating these successes with additional counties as possible.
—continue to provide high-quality and humane natural horsemanship training to all our horses and promote the value of well-trained rescue horses, thus attracting more trainers and adopters.
—continue to raise awareness of the plight of abused, neglected, abandoned and unwanted horses and its causes to the public at large to increase both public and private support for the issue.
—expand our growing network of our supporters, donors, volunteers, foster homes, trainers to increase our capacity
—expand our growing partnerships with like-minded agencies and organizations to share knowledge and assistance, increasing our collective capacity and strengthening and expanding the safety net for horses in our community, region and beyond.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are currently able to care for between 40 to 70 horses at one time. We are working to expand our capacity through raising awareness, increasing our contacts and increasing our partnerships with other quality organizations.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We currently have great working relationships with our local humane society and multiple county sheriffs offices. On an annual bases we average rehabilitating, training and adopting over 80 horses.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
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SOUND EQUINE OPTIONS
Board of directorsas of 08/24/2021
Elisabeth Wolff
Renee Hoem
Marie Naughton
Renee Hoem
Wendy Geber
Elisabeth Wolff
Kim Mosiman
Anika Moje
Jackie Wolff