Equine Advocates is a national non-profit equine protection organization based in Chatham, NY. Founded in 1996, by Susan Wagner after rescuing her first horse, Gandalf, from slaughter, Equine Advocates has helped and rescued thousands of equines, including horses, ponies, donkeys and mules from slaughter, abuse and neglect.
In 2004, they proudly opened the doors to a Humane Education Center on the Sanctuary grounds.
In 2011, Equine Advocates began an important partnership with the Henry Street Settlement, introducing inner city children and adults to the joy of being around and working with horses, as well as learning about the special needs of these remarkable creatures. In just a short time, the program has already proven to be a great success. When these children from the city get to meet horses in the country, the result is nothing short of magical.
As Susan Wagner reports: In 2004 we established Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary, a 140-acre horse sanctuary and rescue facility in upstate New York from which Equine Advocates now operates. The opening of this wonderful facility was bittersweet, as Gandalf died one year earlier. While he did not make it to the sanctuary, he is here with us every day in spirit and continues to inspire all of us, along with the other wonderful equines we have gotten to know over the years.
Equine Advocates Rescue & Sanctuary has truly become a haven for horses. It is an equine village where horses get to live out their lives in a natural environment that allows them to socialize with each other. The 79 equines who reside here receive lots of TLC. Most were slaughter-bound and/or came from abusive situations.
In 2006, we proudly opened the doors to our Humane Equine Education Center where we welcome groups and individuals of all ages. Visitors come from many different parts of the country to learn about responsible horse guardianship, humane horse handling, natural horsemanship, equine issues and many other important subjects that affect the welfare of our equine friends.
We always stress the importance of people taking responsibility for the equines under their care and that they ensure a safe and kind existence during their lives and a peaceful, dignified experience in death. Slaughter is simply not an option.
Our Humane Education Programs are continually expanding. We offer tours and present lectures and classes on a variety of equine-related subjects and issues. We have held Symposiums on Equine Cruelty for law enforcement where experts discussed how to recognize abuse/neglect cases and how to effectively enforce the cruelty laws. In 2008, we produced our first children’s book for young children, entitled, Do Horses Sleep Standing Up? Written by Karen Wagner, this book features many of the horses who live at the sanctuary. Read an excerpt and purchase a copy.
In our outdoor arena right outside the Education Center, we hold lecture demonstrations and also allow visitors, especially young children, to meet some of our more gentle horses. Dolly and Queen often get to greet our visitors. Photo left is Dolly with some members of a Girl Scout troop.
Equine Advocates is an award-winning organization, honored by the New York State Humane Association and the Thoroughbred Charities of America for excellence in equine protection and rescue work, including numerous multi-horse rescue operations.
Since our inception, we have focused both on horse rescue and advocacy, exposing the cruel horse slaughter and pregnant mares’ urine (PMU) industries and other forms of equine abuse. Since 2006, Humane Equine Education has become a very important focus of this organization as we target horse owners and young people, in particular, because they are the future horse owners of America.
We have originated and participated in many televised and print undercover investigations that have taken us across the U.S. and to Canada to expose horse slaughter auctions, horse slaughterhouses, the tragic fate of most camp horses, the abusive treatment of many mules, buggy horses and work horses by some Amish farmers, the miserable lives of PMU mares who are continually impregnated and turned into 4-legged drug machines to produce the drugs, Premarin, PremPro and Premphase, the cruel urban carriage horse trade and other informative reports exposing equine abuse and other forms of exploitation.