GSH Assists Kingsbury County with Seizure of 33 Horses
The most critical horses will be returning to GSH tonight for refeed and medical care. The rest will be held in a safe location. The horses range from a Body Condition Score of 1-5, with most of them under 3. There are stallions, pregnant mares, and a range of ages including yearlings. They range from easy to handle to completely unhandled. Several recently deceased horses were found on the property.
Immediate needs:
Alfalfa for refeeding. If you are local to Humboldt and want to donate square bales of alfalfa, please email info@gentlespirithorses.org. Alternatively, you can order Compressed Alfalfa at Tractor Supply in Sioux Falls (57104) or Flandreau (57028), SD, with pick up for Nina Ring or GSH. You can order online here: https://www.tractorsupply.com/…/standlee-premium-western-fo…
If you are near Lake Preston and would like to drop off hay for the horses temporarily in the safe location, contact us and we'll get you together. We do need to keep track of everything donated for the county.
Dewormer: Safeguard pellets and tubes.
Vetting funds (fundraiser started below). This includes injuries, vaccinations, and ultimately castration when the horses are legally ours. Likely several thousand dollars.
Funds in general. We will need to bulk up our hay supply once they are out of refeeding to cover for 9-12 extra mouths. We'd like to help cover expenses for fosters if needed as well.
Mailing address and alternate donation options available here: http://gentlespirithorses.org/donate
***
If you are interested in fostering a horse, please email info@gentlespirithorses.org.
Funds: yes, this is a Sheriff seizure and the horses have not been signed over. Yes, this means that the County is responsible for the costs. That doesn't mean we can't help and let the community help, as we want to encourage law enforcement to help by providing support. Additionally, our policy is to waive all costs if the horses are signed over to our care when legally able instead of taking them to auction or a feed lot. It is imperative we cover the costs as much as we can as a comment has already been made about the Corsica horse sale in four weeks to recoup the costs for the county. We need to cover costs to keep these horses from auction, which means we need donations.
We ask that media and anyone not directly involved in removing the horses stay away from the property, both for weather and the safety of the crew. Media: please contact tiffany@gentlespirithorses.org or the Kingsbury County Sheriff for more information.
Thank you all for your support and patience. Major gratitude and thanks to the new sheriff and deputies in Kingsbury County, as well as the State's Attorney and State Vets involved.