By Melanie Lekocevic
Capital Region Independent Media
GREENVILLE — As 2024 comes to a close, Unbridled Sanctuary honored its sponsors, volunteers and others who serve the horses in its care with a “Holidays with the Herd” event.
With the horses, donkeys and mules scattered in fenced-in fields and stables around the property, dozens of their advocates gathered for a holiday celebration in honor of the animals they serve year-round.
Unbridled Sanctuary, located on the border between Greenville and Westerlo, is an equine rescue organization that celebrated its 20th year in 2024. At any given time, the rescue group cares for between 60 and 65 horses, and more recently added donkeys and mules to its stables.
And every year, more animals are rescued from slaughter pens and other fates around the country.
“We took in about a half dozen this year,” said founder and president Susan Kayne. “We have a lot of elder residents who are seniors in sanctuary. We have those horses because they are the most vulnerable, the most marginalized in the slaughter pipeline, and they really need a place to spend their golden years where they are safe, protected and honored with a dignified life.”
“They have given all that has been asked of them but they don’t have anything left to give so there is very little capacity for animals like that and that is who we really want to serve, in addition to helping horses that need rehabilitation, who are suitable for rehoming,” Kayne continued. “My heart is really with the oldies who need a soft place to land.”
While physical labor or the racetrack is beyond their reach, these older horses do have plenty to offer in terms of companionship and friendship, both for humans and for other horses around them.
Horses and other equines make “wonderful companions,” Kayne said, but there is a big investment of both money and time for those looking to adopt one.
“I encourage people to explore ways to become involved in a relationship with them, but with the understanding that the financial commitment is enormous, the emotional labor is huge, and the amount of time that that horse requires of you to have a good life, to enjoy their time on this planet, will take up a lot of your time.”
If that type of commitment is beyond your capability, there are other ways to get involved with horses by volunteering at a rescue or stable, sponsoring a horse at Unbridled, or even leasing or sharing a horse with a friend.
The equines at Unbridled Sanctuary come from a variety of backgrounds and experiences. For some, after their rescue there is a long road back to recovery. Volunteer Alexandra Whitcraft works with those horses to provide for their needs and ease their transition to living at Unbridled.
“A lot of these horses have been traumatized and you want to let them re-establish their trust in humans so they can become the wonderful horses that they are,” Whitcraft said.
She does that by grooming them, spending time with them, using a Japanese healing technique called Reiki, and utilizing tools such as a Bemer blanket, which helps to improve circulation, warm up the animal and support their recovery. And she spends a lot of time with those horses who need a special dose of attention and love.
“These horses aren’t going to race again, they aren’t going to run, they’re not going to have babies again or have their babies taken away from them,” Whitcraft said. “They are just going to be taken care of and loved and valued for who they are, and that’s what I do.”
Unbridled also seeks to work with people to educate them on the value of horses as sentient beings. Retired special education teacher Micheline Wilson is the educational director at Unbridled Sanctuary, developing programs to help people learn about and interact with equines.
“I want people to learn that horses feel the way we do, that they experience loss and attachments and joy the way that people do,” Wilson said. “People should take the time to recognize that they are sentient beings and we can learn so much from them — horses are nonjudgmental, and they have the ability to sense where we are coming from.”
Wilson also wants the school groups and others to gain a deeper understanding of horses and how they are treated.
“The ultimate goal is for people to understand how these horses got here in the first place — to see what is going on in our world that isn’t working so that these animals wind up being pulled from a kill pen or having a tragic, career-ending experience,” Wilson said. “We need the next generation to be more proactive in the choices that they make with our equine partners.”
