By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

FRANKLIN, Ohio — Their bone structure is visible, and bulging ribs can be seen on many. But the horses on this farm are getting stronger by the day. Serenity Horse Rescue is attempting to give these horses a second chance.

Serenity Horse Rescue, which calls Sycamore Run Stables in Franklin home, is a nonprofit group designed to rescue the lives of unwanted, neglected or abused horses. And according to the organization’s president, Shula Woodworth, the first-year effort has been a success.

“I helped with Second Chance Horse Rescue in Lebanon, but that fell through due to mismanagement of funds. That gave all horse rescues a bad name,” Woodworth said. “We started ours a year ago. It’s been difficult. We’ve scrimped from one month to another.”

Serenity Vice President Robbin Vahle added, “We manage to feed them and give them veterinary care, thanks to the donations and fundraisers.”

The group has rented 16 of the 30 stables at Sycamore Run Stables.

“We have six rescued horses at this time,” Vahle said. “The Warren County Sheriff’s (office) alerted us about one horse, and one woman just couldn’t take care of her horse any more. One baby (which they named P.J.) we obtained came from a slaughterhouse under a mare-nursing program.”

According to Vahle, there are two legal slaughterhouses in Texas and one in Illinois. “It’s just awful,” she added, “but taking care of horses is something I’ve wanted to do my entire life.”

Some arriving horses have abscesses, some have cuts and bruises. Most are malnourished.

Finding needy horses is easy. Finding homes for them is a different story.

“It’s not easy,” Vahle said. “We screen the applicants. Most of the horses we get in here are real skinny, so much so you can put your fingers in their ribs. When they come in, we have them vet-checked and other tests on them. They’ll make it, but it’ll take some time.”
When healthy, the horses are sold at a price to offset the veterinarian fees.

Becky Morman, of Lebanon, Ohio, is the group’s secretary. She adopted a gelding which the group rescued from an abandoned garage in Carlisle.

“Our top priority is to save abused, neglected and unwanted equines,” she said. “We rescue any abused, neglected, abandoned, malnourished or unwanted horses from their dangerous, unhealthy or life-threatening situations.

“We try to rehabilitate them and place them into permanent, loving homes. We do this with no questions asked, except for information about the animal itself.”

Woodworth’s group also takes anonymous information regarding equine neglect, abuse or abandonment and reports it to the proper authorities while keeping an informant’s identity safe.

“We need volunteers who can be reliable, and they don’t need experience – just have the love of horses.” Woodworth said.
For more information about adoption, contact 513-379-0430 or visit www.serenityhorserescue.zoomshare.com

This farm news was published in the Aug. 1, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.