Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Inc.

We aim to improve the quality of care of horses throughout their lifespan and drive down the number of unwanted horses. When intervention is necessary, we provide skilled assistance in the removal, transport, rehabilitation and rehoming process. We are finding ways to elevate the equine-human welfare conversation and support healthy, strong communities in places where horses are present.

Adopting horses into permanent homes improves the lives of the horses and frees up space for more intakes. In recent years, we have ramped up the marketing of our rehabilitated horses, changed the regional equestrian community’s perception of rescued horses, and created adoption demand. We have allocated more resources to training our horses to boost their adoption prospects, and simultaneously have begun offering training for prospective adopters. n 2018 we hired an adoption coordinator to provide better outreach and support to prospective adopters after realizing that we had more people expressing interest than we were able to handle.

A key strategy aimed at helping people value equine welfare and equipping them to intervene in situations of cruelty is to promote awareness of the plight of horses and positively influence attitudes toward the animals. Our volunteer and educational programs are designed to motivate community interest in compassion for horses. DEFHR educates people on advocacy, the proper care of horses, visible signs of abuse and neglect, and techniques for rescue and rehabilitation honed over decades of experience. DEFHR is often referred to as the national model of equine welfare and humane education and strives to maintain this reputation through making its entire operation accessible to anyone with even a passing curiosity about horses and their welfare along with robust and innovative humane education programing. Our main farm is purposely maintained as a welcoming, wholesome community center, open to the public for tours every day of the year, with no appointment necessary.

DEFHR’s facilities consist of two farms in central Maryland. Core operations are carried out by a professional staff of approximately 18 full-time employees along with hundreds of volunteers who work on a regular, committed basis over the course of the year. The main farm, a 58-acre property in Woodbine, Maryland, is owned by DEFHR and features a critical care barn with specialized veterinary equipment, pastures with run-in sheds, an outdoor arena, and a classroom building. The second 14-acre satellite property in Rohrersville, Maryland, which we lease, is used for overflow and quarantine purposes.

We have succeeded in developing a robust and sustainable infrastructure: a broad donor base, an excellent financial position, internal controls integrity, and blossoming collaborative partnerships with external organizations and businesses. We have honed our techniques for nursing horses back to health and providing documentary evidence in criminal cases that are prosecuted. We have helped professionalize the rescue field by offering trainings to first responders handling cases of large animal abuse and neglect.

What is next for us is to expand and upgrade our facilities. We need additional veterinary equipment in our critical care barn. We routinely fill our classroom building to capacity and turn away groups, and we lack sufficient parking space for cars and buses. Our trainers work long hours through all seasons in our outdoor arena; we need to build an indoor arena to make it possible for them to train more effectively during the winter months and in inclement weather. Our intern program continues to grow and the current residential facility can only house 3-4 interns, if we renovate the housing we would be able to more than double residential capacity and accept more interns into the program. All of these improvements will help us grow our capacity to take in horses in need, increase the level of quality care we provide our horses, increase the number of horses placed in second-chance homes, and enhance our educational and outreach programs. In 2021, with support from a Maryland state grant, we purchased a former firehouse on an adjacent property. We plan to renovate the building in order to create a welcome center, classroom, office space and intern housing.

Animal cruelty and neglect are often linked to factors such as economic distress, divorce and mental illness. While much is beyond our control, we focus on areas that are within our influence, such as education, support and intervention. Our systems are working well: law enforcement is stepping in more effectively and community resources are being brought to bear. We have rescued, rehabilitated and rehomed increasing numbers of horses over the years. Collaterally, we are growing our human beneficiary base. DEFHR volunteers and visitors experience a sense of wellbeing and a better understanding of their capacity to empathize. Within the animal rescue field, we are widely recognized as the national model for horse rescue. As we continue to grow our facilities and community outreach, we will further our mission of prevention of and response to horse cruelty and neglect. Maybe one day we will succeed in eliminating a need for horse rescue farms such as ours.