Non-profit’s new horse & buggy buy out program
AUBURN, KY.- Lily’s Ranch and Rescue has a new horse and buggy buyout program, providing an alternative route for horse owners who often bring their horses to auction events with no plans to return them to their farm if they aren’t sold.
Laurie Beatie, founder of Lily’s Ranch and Rescue
“Amish often bring their horses to the auction, where kill buyers end up buying these typically bigger-bodied horses to bring them to Mexico or Canada for the slaughter pipeline,” Laurie Beatie, founder of Lily’s Ranch and Rescue said. “So a lot of these horses are at risk of just becoming food production animals. And so our goal is to kind of intervene before they go to the auction.”
This non-profit is a sanctuary for the horses and many other animals in need of a home. But it also serves as a great learning opportunity for people in the community.
“life skills that will only help them later on in life, whether it’s caring for something that they may not have in their life now,” Madelyn Rodcay, barn manager, said. “Animals are also very healing, so if they’re going through something that is a huge struggle in life and they don’t have anything to resort to, animals are amazing with that.”
One of the top priorities is to create an outlet for people of all ages.
“For the kids in the area that wouldn’t necessarily be able to afford a writing program,” Rodcay said. “We’d be using the rescued horses that are rideable that live here at the sanctuary and teach kids how to ride, teach them the tools to take care of an animal from start to finish.”
Not only is this helping people, it also shows that these horses have value no matter what they’ve gone through.
“We emphasize that horses are more than just the work they can put in for us, but that they still deserve life after the work they put in. So a lot of our horses here, most of them are not rideable, are usable either they’re too old or injured. But we think it’s important to offer them a space where they can just live out their days and get proper vet care and nutrition and just prove that they’re more important than just what they do.”
