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When You Chase a Dream Be Prepared to Catch it!
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Hunter & Beauty living the life.
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For every animal we rescue, our dream is to provide them with love, compassion and an environment free of enslavement and abuse.
Dreamchaser was born in 2002 when it was learned that hundreds of thousands of horses were being severely abused and dying just so big pharma could make a big profit.
The horrific fate that awaits the mares and foals that Pfizer can no longer make money from spurred our founder, Susan Thompson, into action.
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Gypsy enjoying the sanctuary pasture.
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Susan had received word that dozens of premarin mares were headed to slaughter. That's when she and her daughter Jamie took their 4-horse home and turned it into a 12-horse home almost over night. . .saving as many as their property and their wallets could hold.
For the next 12 years Susan, Jamie and the wonderful donors and volunteers of Dreamchaser rescued, rehabilitated and re-homed hundreds of horses.
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Road leading to the sanctuary. |
Why did we move to Missouri?
If you've never lived in central Arizona, it's hard to imagine the intensely hot summers or the lack of green vegetation. . .especially grass.
Having moved from Maine to Arizona as a young adult, Susan longed to have our horses on green pastures, among the natural beauty of giant shade trees and more temperate summers. It was at that point Susan put on her track shoes and went chasing another dream: the dream of greener pastures for the sanctuary residents.
In late 2014 she caught that dream.
Susan, Jamie and a few of their closest friends logged nearly 28,000 miles, making over 20 round trips between New River, Arizona and Falcon, Missouri to transport 34 horses, 8 donkeys, 14 goats, 7 peacocks, 5 pigs, 3 dogs, 2 llamas, 1 cat, 2 tortoises and a parrot.
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Top: Upper West Pastures
Bottom: Upper East Pastures |
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So why choose Missouri? Although Maine is cemented nicely in Susan's heart, she knew the winters would be difficult for both humans and animals.
When deciding on a location there were a few prerequisites. One was access to quality pasture. Susan knew she did not want prairie grass and found the rich green grasses of the Ozark mountains to be the best for our horses. Of course, the much cooler summers and mild winters were a major bonus.
The only negative about Falcon versus New River is that we miss all of our wonderful volunteers. Our location, while beautiful, is not near a major metropolitan area. Everything our volunteers did for us in New River now has to be done by our small but mighty staff.
It is a FACT that we could not do any of what we do without the support of our amazing donors and friends.
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Please give today.
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Ariya -
meaning Nobel and
Exalted
She came out of what is being called the largest equine rescue in our country's history. Ariya, along with almost 1,000 other wild horses were found to be severely neglected by the International Society for the Protection of Mustangs & Burros (ISPMB).*
Ariya was originally rescued from the ISPMB through another organization, but was relentlessly picked on by the second adopted horse. Her elderly adopter reached out for help.
Just a few days after we received the call, we made the 12 hour round trip to bring her back to our sanctuary.
She is being gentled and quickly learning that she is loved; never to be starved for food or attention. We have very high hopes for our wild girl.
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Rosie - Rescued from the pee barn
She came to us by chance. Rosie was rescued from a premarin pee barn in South Dakota and arrived at our facility with instructions that her new owners would pick her up in a day or so. That was 13 years ago.
Several months after her arrival, we saw movement in her belly and realized she was pregnant.
PMU mares are impregnated time and again, only to have the foals taken away long before either is ready. Rosie finally got to experience raising one of her foals at our sanctuary.
She was 18 when she came to Dreamchaser and is one of our most senior residents. Rosie will be celebrating her 32nd birthday.
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We could not rescue them without people like you.
You make their sanctuary possible!
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It's all in the details -
Getting the most bang for every buck donated is vital. Here is an example of how we stretch every dollar.
We use bale bags for the large round bales and the smaller square bales. This cuts down on the amount of hay wasted and helps slow-feed the horses who also have access to green, lush pastures.
The bale racks also help us conserve hay by keeping the bales off the ground. This is especially handy during the rainy season.
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Their safety is paramount -
When it comes to the safety of our sanctuary residents, we remain hyper-focused. This photo shows the ever so popular t-posts. When horses are at play, they sometimes rear up and, if they aren't paying attention, can find themselves in deep trouble with a t-post.
We safety cap our posts to ensure our horses are protected from those sharp corners and a horrible accident.
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Nothing goes to waste -
At Dreamchaser, we rehab more than horses, donkeys and other forlorn animals. We rehab their. . .um. . .Pooh has a donkey friend named Eeyore. :)
Every horse rescue has to contend with the by-product of well-fed horses and we are no exception. A healthy horse can create up to 12 piles each day.
So what do we do with these lovely gifts? We recycle them of course. The pictures here show you the before and after composting. Once the compost is ready, we spread it on our many pastures.
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********DONORS BEWARE********
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Do you really know how your donations are being used?
It seems that just about anyone can run a non-profit animal rescue with little or no checks and balances in place. Do those organizations really have the animals' best interests at heart?
In early October of last year, one of America's first wild horse non-profit organizations, the ISPMB (founded in 1960) was found neglecting and starving nearly 1,000 wild horses on their South Dakota ranch. It was reported that dozens of wild horses died horrible deaths on that ranch. The State of South Dakota forced the removal of all but 21 of those horses. Read More
The ISPMB had over 8,000 donors/members who had no idea what was happening there and, to this day, neither the ISPMB's web site or Facebook reflect there was ever a problem. It was business as usual while their animals suffered. This is unconscionable and, yet, they are still in business...collecting donations from an unsuspecting public.
At Dreamchaser, we pride ourselves on complete transparency and, for the past nine years, have carried accreditation from the Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries, a gold star rating from GuideStar Exchange and are listed as a top-rated non-profit.
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Help us turn their tragedy into triumph.
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About Us
Our dream was for the rescued horses to live a more natural life where they would be on grass and roam the pastures freely. In late 2014 we made that dream a reality and loaded 30 sanctuary horses and moved them from New River, Arizona to Falcon, Missouri.
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Premarin/PMU
Goldrush was the first Premarin mare we saved. 30,000 mares were headed to slaughter in 2004 when Premarin sales dived after the WHI study showed the dangers of Premarin to women. Cimmaron was born at our ranch in New River.
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Starvation to Salvation
All six of our orphaned foals were born in South Dakota and became unwilling participants in what is now being called the "largest equine rescue in our country's history".
Learn the truth of what happened and the insurmountable odds these horses had to endure.
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