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Susan Peirce, who founded the rescue, must find a home for 40 formerly abused horses (see shocking before and after photos) living at the center. Another 16 horses that Red Bucket has rescued from starvation and neglect are out at pasture in Temecula.

CLICK HERE TO SEE SHOCKING BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTOS

Mary Behrens, the owner of the equestrian center, has told Peirce that the horses must be out of their stables in 30 days. The letter also says Peirce can take them out to pasture on land adjacent to the stable for another 60 days if she needs extra time.

But Peirce says about a dozen of the horses are healing from injuries and broken bones and cannot be moved to pasture, so she is hunting for a new facility.

A Newport Beach donor is prepared to help pay for the relocation, but the offer isn’t enough to buy real estate, Peirce says. The donor wishes to remain anonymous, but Peirce says she has stepped up because “she wants to see our work continue.”

Since it was founded three years ago, The Red Bucket has saved 96 horses. Some of the animals were found starving in their stalls, eating each other’s tails. Others were found beaten or tied to trees and abandoned.

After rescuing the horses, more than 300 Red Bucket volunteers donate their time to rehabilitate the animals and work with them so they can find permanent homes. Peirce said the rescue is working on its 42nd adoption.

Peirce says she is worried about finding a new home so quickly, but confident that she’ll have an answer at some point. “There’s a sense of urgency… but I see my role as problem solving.”

Behrens could not be reached for comment.

When asked if she knew why Red Bucket was being asked to leave, Peirce said: “This is a business for (Behrens) and she brought in a new management company and they want her to increase profits and fill stalls with people paying board.”

This isn’t the first time Behrens asked Red Bucket to find a new home.

In June, Behrens told Peirce she had until September to leave because she couldn’t afford to support them anymore. The Register wrote a story, and readers sent in $300,000 to help the rescue pay its bills. Red Bucket has been paying for electricity, water, bedding and other necessities for the horses, but the center is not making a profit off them.

“We were there for three years,” Peirce says. “We’re very grateful for being a part of Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center.”

Original Article from OC Register

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Last month I wrote a story about a horse rescue in Huntington Beach in need of help. Red Bucket Equine Rescue had saved 86 horses, some starved and abused, others found chewing each others tails off for food or headed for the slaughter truck. See stunning before and after photos

For two and a half years founder Susan Peirce kept them at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center. But as of September the horses were set to lose their homes.

After The Register ran a story, photos and video about their predicament, Red Bucket was bombarded with phone calls, emails – and more than $230,000 in donations.

“People were calling, crying,” Peirce says. “Our website was out of control with the hits, it went off the charts. I’m still digging out, trying to respond to people and write thank you notes. It’s unbelievable.”

In addition to donations, 40 people have signed up to volunteer their time to the horses. Others showed up at the equestrian center just to visit, bringing jars of apple sauce and molasses.

“The whole community has embraced this,” Peirce says. “Because of that, our horses are safe.”

The money will keep the horses in their Huntington Beach stalls through the end of the year. It has also allowed Red Bucket to take in five more starving horses in the past few weeks.

Red Bucket rehabilitates the horses, many abandoned by their owners because of the bad economy, for adoption. Since Red Bucket was founded, 35 horses have gone to ”forever homes,” including three since the story ran. Several more adoptions are in the works.

The largest donation has come from the Cecil B. DeMille Foundation. A relative of the filmmaking legend came out to see the horses. That night, she phoned Peirce inviting her to pick up a check for $100,000 at her Newport Beach home.

A private donor then matched that donation.

“Red Bucket has stepped up during very troubling times and taken responsibility for horses victimized by cruelty and difficult economic times,” an email from the foundation reads. “We encourage other foundations and humanitarians to contribute to such a worthwhile cause and outstanding organization.”

The Stanley E. Hanson Foundation, based in Anaheim, donated another $10,000 with a promise of $1,000 a month “for as long as we’re around,” Peirce says. A foundation trustee said Hanson, an Orange County businessman now deceased, had empathy for animals in distress.

ACRA Incorporated Aerospace, also out of Anaheim, made a similar pledge: $10,000 plus $1,000 a month support.

Peirce has also received about $8,000 in donations from horse lovers throughout Orange County.

And a representative from Random House called a few weeks ago to set up a fundraiser in conjunction with their book launch of “The Eighty Dollar Champion,” a true story about a horse that went from slaughter truck to a grand champion.

The fundraiser is set for Sept. 11 at the equestrian center. Tickets for brunch, an autographed copy of the book and a Q & A with the author, Elizabeth Letts, cost $80. There will be a flag ceremony on horseback and a dressage demonstration to the national anthem. All profits will go to Red Bucket.

Peirce says the community outpouring doesn’t mean Red Bucket is safe, though. Their operating budget is nearly half a million dollars a year. Each horse costs about $600 a month to take care of. And there are countless more horses to rescue.

“I have to turn down heartbreaking calls every single day, like you can’t believe, knowing these horses will go to slaughter,” Peirce says. “I’m talking about a dozen a day. And we cry every time we say ‘no.’”

But for now the work can continue.

“Red bucket belongs to all of us.”

Link to OC Register Article

They are some of the 84 horses Susan Peirce has rescued and brought to the Huntington Beach equestrian center where she and her ever growing band of volunteers has fed them, groomed them, loved them.

In their care, the horses have gained back hundreds of pounds. And their dignity.

See stunning before and after photos.

But now, two and a half years after Susan started Red Bucket Equine Rescue, they must leave their Huntington Beach stalls.

Susan has until September. The countdown is on.

She is confident she can pull it off though.

Even if it means losing sleep. Or losing money. Or losing her sanity, as it sometimes seems.

“I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing,” she told me. “I’m committing the rest of my life to this.”

What she wasn’t to know is, who is coming along for the ride?

Harlow.

That’s what she named the first horse she saved.

Susan used to go out to the Inland Empire with her husband Dave when he was training his border collies. While he practiced his hobby, she stumbled upon a nearby stable.

There she saw a scrawny horse and learned from the stable owner it had been left there, abandoned. She and her husband bought a red bucket, filled it with carrots and spent the next six hours trying to get the horse to trust them enough to come near them and eat. She named the horse Harlow and brought her home, renting a stall for her at the Huntington Central Park Equestrian Center.

Six months later, in January 2009, the stable owner called Susan to say there was another abandoned horse. This time it was starving and in pain with colic, could she take it?

She returned with him — and eight others.

Now, boarding a horses isn’t cheap. It costs $600 a month, and that doesn’t include doctor bills.

Susan sent out emails to the horse community, asking for help. Mary Behrens, the owner of the equestrian center, phoned to pledge her support. She gave Susan some stalls — and her credit card to buy the horses feed.

Susan gave each of the horses a name. And their own red bucket to eat out of (with their name in black letters). There would be no herd feeding here. Each horse would be treated like an individual, with individual diets and goals. The Red Bucket Equine Rescue was born.

Since then, the horses haven’t stopped coming. They have been rescued from an Inland Empire breeding scandal, an abandoned kid’s camp in Malibu, a truck headed for a slaughter house, and sometimes Orange County households.

One phone call came from a San Juan Capistrano woman who was in tears because she couldn’t afford to keep her horse Disco, a family pet, so she rented him out for riding lessons, only to have him go lame. Now she couldn’t afford to pay a vet. Could Susan take him and fix him?

But for every sad story, there is one with a happy ending.

The horse with the hip bone piercing its side? That’s Caspian. When he was found, it was in a stall that hadn’t been cleaned in so many months that a crater filled with urine and manure had formed under him. He has since gained more than 400 pounds; a gorgeous, shiny creature happily training under saddle.

Of the 84 horses taken in, 32 have been adopted back out, in one case to a ranch in Colorado with 300 acres of open land, a horse’s dream. When a horse leaves, its new owner takes its red bucket “as a concrete reminder that in addition to nourishment, you have committed to a special, loving relationship with a truly remarkable animal … Forever.”

Shirley Puga, Executive Director of the National Equine Rescue Network, has worked with dozens of rescues in the southwest and considers Red Bucket “nothing short of amazing.”

Red Bucket has 168 volunteers. Some of them, including Huntington Beach vet Jenn Winnick, have spent entire nights at the stable, tending to sick horses recovering from whatever nightmare they’ve endured.

“Every single horse there is treated like an individual,” Puga says.

That’s why she was worried when she learned Red Bucket was in trouble.

“People are losing homes and jobs, and horses are often the first thing to go before the family dog or cat, due to the expense. Horse owners are in trouble. And now donations are down so the rescues are struggling. Costs of hay are up. Fuel is up. It’s like a perfect storm.”

Red Bucket’s budget is $360,000 a year, all from donations. Mary has always picked up the slack. Now she has asked the rescue to become more self sufficient.

“For two years she’s financed this,” Susan says. “She’s extremely compassionate. I am forever grateful for her. But we can’t continue to drain her.”

In an email from Idaho, where she has a house, Mary wrote that working with Red Bucket is an honor. “For me, being able to see starving and neglected horses flourish within the rescue is my motivation. After all, it is all about the horse.”

While the horses need to leave their stalls, Mary is letting Red Bucket move them to a plot of bare land she leases next to the equestrian center. It’s up to Susan, though, to find fencing and shelter.

“I haven’t slept in a long time so I’m very worried about this,” says Susan, who also has a son in college and a consulting business to run. “I’m terrified. I have the plan, I just need the money.”

Link to OC Register Article

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What Red Bucket says about Amanda – Amanda came to Red Bucket with a degree in Equine Management, a heart of gold, organizational skills galore, and a deep desire to serve our horses and all of those serving our horses.  As Tatum’s BFF and Guardian Angel, Amanda has left her mark!  A southern lady with old-fashioned character and a gentle, self-deprecating style, Amanda provides invaluable support to Kimberly on weekday mornings.  Due to Amanda’s meticulous grooming, Kimberly can ride more horses; therefore preparing more of our treasured horses for the transition to their Forever Homes.  We are lucky, and our horses are fortunate to have Miss Amanda Walker on our team!  Thank you, Amanda, for making such a difference!