May 8, 2015 4 min read

Darlene Moore is busy at her desk nowadays – almost as busy as she is inside her stables – finishing an essay for a chance to win a $10,000 grant that would help her save more horses.

The operator of Save-A-Horse Stable and Sanctuary is telling her story to the American Society of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in hopes of persuading the national organization to sending grant money to her farm in Rogersville.

“Over the years, many people have helped keep us going and my friends have told me to ask for help because what we do is a good thing,” Moore said. “Every year, I wonder if we can keep going, but I look at all those horses and wonder what would ever happen to them if we didn’t.”

The stable’s website tells some of the stories about each horse and asks for donations. “My name is Tim” is now a sponsorship memorial to a horse that lived out his days on the farm that Moore has turned into a sanctuary. But Tim and the other horses were once younger and stronger, earning a living giving lessons and taking riders across rolling hills and down shady trails.

Now some of them that Moore rescued are back with their saddles, ready to help by getting the word out about just what it costs to save a horse.

When two ponies and an elderly Palomino named Storm showed up in the parking lot of Tractor Supply in Franklin Township April 25, the hard work of brushing, feeding, trimming hooves and loading them into the trailer for the ride to town was already done. It was time for kids to have the fun of being up in the air and rocking in the saddle while being led around and about.

Having a pony to ride and pet was how Save-A-Horse Stable began to celebrate what the ASPCA has been doing since 1866 by raising awareness about the life-saving work being done to protect animals from abuse and neglect.

The ASPCA held a national “Help a Horse Day” this year and Moore’s stables took part in the celebration. What better way to get the word out than to bring some shaggy residents of its 250-acre “rest home” for retired equines to the Waynesburg area and share the story of what Moore and her posse of friends and family have been doing for more than 30 years?

In Greene County, the humane society receives its share of calls about horses starving in pastures or tied to trees with nothing to eat or drink. But the shelter is designed to accommodate dogs and cats and the occasional bunny.

Moore is often the one who comes riding to the rescue when it’s a horse that needs saving.

Save-A-Horse was a riding stable in 1982 and Moore rescued horses from slaughter at local stock sales and auctions by paying the price and bringing them home to be saddled up for trail rides. Many of these horses, now quite long in the tooth if they have any teeth at all, still have a home at Save-A-Horse Stable, thanks to Moore’s passion.

“We are running a sanctuary now and occasionally take in new ones that deserve a better life,” she said. “But it is very expensive. I’m not good at asking for help but with the risk of the horses losing their happy home I’m going to give it a try.”

The list of things Moore said she needs to continue her operations includes senior feed, worming medicine, spring vaccination shots, hay racks for those too old to wander beyond their stalls, latches for the doors of stalls yet to be built and corner feeders for that special senior mix. She estimates it costs $2,000 a year to care for each horse. It can be even more costly to care for older horses that have special needs.

“The hardest thing about a rescue is getting the weight back on them after they’ve lost it,” she said. “We put up most of our own hay and some people have been very generous to let us have their hay because we keep their fields mowed. But we still need help.”

Save-A-Horse is now a 501(c)(3) charitable organization and contributors can receive a tax credit for donations. Anyone who wishes to make a donation can call Moore at 724-499-5709 or go to her website at saveahorsestable.com for more information.