BRIGHT FUTURES FARM Nonprofit group rescues horses from slaughter, finds new owners

The process of adopting a horse usually takes a few months.
By LAURI GALENTINE
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
SPARTANSBURG, Pa. -- Make It Snappy is a 6-year-old Thoroughbred that couldn't cut it on the racetrack. Not so long ago, his future was looking pretty dim, as racehorses that don't make money usually wind up at a slaughter auction.
Things changed for Snappy, however, in the blink of an eye, when Beverlee Dee learned of his plight.
The gelding is now a family pet, residing on a farm in Kennerdell, Venango County, Pa. His adoptive owners, Denise and Ed Conley, have nothing but praise for the work that Dee does.
"My husband says she's his hero," said Denise Conley. "We just think it's great what she's doing."
Dee runs the Bright Futures Farm in Spartansburg, Pa., a nonprofit organization that rescues horses such as Snappy, cares for them, retrains them, and puts them up for adoption.
Although her charity centers on the Thoroughbreds, Dee has opened her heart and her stables to all the unwanted horses she has been contacted about.
Have two others
The Conleys have also adopted Victor and Walter, two Gelderlanders who once were a part of a carriage team at Kentucky Horse Park. Gelderlanders are a rare breed; there are only 300 in the world. The other two members of the carriage team still reside at Bright Futures Farm.
In early 1999 Dee bought her farm at 44793 Harrison Road in Spartansburg, and went to look for some retired racehorses to adopt herself. In the process she said, she found a real need for organizations that would help these animals.
"So, I decided that since I already had the farm, I might as well do this," Dee said.
She found herself a board of directors who set up the nonprofit status and now govern the charity. Dee is the organization's program director.
She said that "each year over 1 million horses of all ages and breeds are sent to an auction because they are injured, old, unraceable or just unwanted." Most of the horses sold at these auctions go to buyers who ship horse meat overseas to Europe, Asia and Japan, Dee said.
Gunner's story
That's the fate she rescued Snappy from, and another horse named Gunner.
Dee said Gunner was awaiting the "meat man" when she arrived at a local racetrack to arrange for them to work with Bright Futures Farm and save the horses.
This particular horse had become skittish, and flipped over on his jockey in the paddock, breaking the man's leg. His owners didn't want to risk any more accidents like that, so they sent him to the receiving barn to wait for the meat man, Dee said.
It took her almost the entire day to track down his owner and make arrangements to save him, she said, but Gunner now resides on a New York farm and has become an excellent trail horse.
The adoption process usually takes a few months, according to Dee.
Prospective owners normally come to the farm to meet the animal and see how they "click" with each other.
Screening
There is an application process, a screening process, an adoption fee of anywhere from $550 to $900, and follow-up care and advice for the new owners.
The screening takes place in order to make sure the prospective adoptive owner knows about horses and has the proper facilities to care for them.
"It's different to go and ride them and handle them, than to own them and have to watch for problems," Dee said. So she makes sure that adoptive owners have the expertise they need.
Dee said she recommends training programs for people who love horses and would like to adopt one, but don't have the knowledge they need.
XTo learn more about Bright Futures Farm and the work Dee does, visit www.brightfuturesfarm.org or call (814) 827-8270.