News & Stories
Creating Safe Haven for Rescued Horses
Photo credit: Horse North Rescue
Image description: A horseback rider wearing a safety helmet sits on a brown horse in an outdoor riding arena.
Horse North Rescue, a nonprofit based in Interlochen, believes all equines deserve a home, consistent care, and love. An all-volunteer-run organization, the rescue has taken in over 370 horses since opening in 2006, and in 2025, placed four horses into their forever homes. This past year, Horse North Rescue became one of our newest grant partners, receiving a Quick Response Grant to support their mission of properly caring for and rehabilitating equines.
The rescue’s volunteers work hard to create a safe place for rescued equines to live while awaiting their forever homes, ensuring that each animal has fresh water, balanced feed, access to a 24/7 run-in shelter, regular farrier visits, annual vet visits, equine companionship, and adequate exercise and training, which is where the Quick Response Grant comes into play. The nonprofit needed to replace the property’s fencing to allow for safe boundaries for training, exercise, and rehabilitation.
“We recognized that our arena fencing was a safety issue and liability very soon after moving onto our current property,” said Barb Birdsong, Horse North Rescue President. “The previous fencing consisted of old wood posts that were falling over with wire strung between them. Since the potential for flight is high with rescue horses, this fencing was a safety risk to horses and riders.”
With the help of our Quick Response Grant, Horse North Rescue installed new secure fencing that creates a visual barrier and a safe means of containment.
“The trainers and volunteers who take horses into the arena often comment that they feel very secure and are able to assist the horses in a more helpful and challenging manner,” said Barb.
Quick Response Grants address unexpected or unforeseeable small-dollar needs that fall outside of an organization’s regular budget, and even though the nonprofit recognized that it needed new arena fencing, its budget was not prepared for such an expense, especially while it was caring for 17 horses last year.
“Community foundations are needed especially in times of economic and challenging uncertainty,” said Barb. “Foundations are needed when nonprofits’ missions are outside of the normal scope of assisting individuals, such as caring for animals, and foundations, gratefully, are composed of the resources of many and provide additional assistance to those who might not be eligible for assistance otherwise.”
With flexible grant assistance and community support, Horse North Rescue can safely continue fulfilling its mission of rescuing, rehabilitating, and rehoming as many equines as possible in our region.
Writer: Alex Dailey