eHorse Rescue
SquirrelWood Equine Sanctuary:
Second Chances Make It All Worthwhile
By Kathryn Murphy
Making a difference one horse at a time was the reason Beth
Hyman and Diane Butler co-founded an equine rescue called
SquirrelWood Equine Sanctuary in 2003. Located in New York,
it’s devoted to giving horses a second chance to flourish. Beth
and Diane specialize in saving horses in New York, Pennsylvania
and Connecticut, with an emphasis on rescuing polo ponies who
are at risk of abuse, neglect or shipment to slaughter.
Gabriel SES, one of the first horses they rescued, was a foal
who was unable to nurse. The owner didn’t have the funds to
care for him. “He came to us 2 days old,” Beth recalled. “We were
feeding him every two hours via stomach tube. He had a fever
and the owner wouldn’t provide antibiotics, saying instead that
he’d just take him home and take his chances, whatever happens,
happens.” On day three Beth convinced the owner to sign the foal
over to the sanctuary to give the sweet little baby a chance. “It
was a long haul,” Beth said. “But we got him healthy.”
Gabriel received a second chance at life and is thriving in the
dressage arena. Last year, he won his first class and was second
in a large Training level class at Saugerties, impressing the
judges. He’s showing First level this year and trains with Lendon
Gray, who’s on the Board of Directors at SquirrelWood. “He’s
been such a great ambassador because people think, Oh, it’s
just a rescue horse, and yet for him to place second … that’s
what makes it so worthwhile! We’re so proud of him; he’s our little
superstar,” Beth said.
Although they started with just one horse, there are now 25 to 30
horses at the sanctuary at any given time. By 2009, SquirrelWood
officially became a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. “We
Gabriel SES, a dressage horse who trains with Lendon Gray,
as a 1-week-old foal who was given a second chance at
SquirrelWood
50 SIDELINES JUNE 2014
Boo, an auction rescue who plays indoor polo, is an ambassador
for SquirrelWood Equine Sanctuary and polo pony aftercare.
Photo by John Painter
realized that there were all of these horses that have nobody, no
voice and no way to get out of this mess that they find themselves
in unless somebody comes along and helps them out,” Beth said.
Through genuine care and excellent training, the sanctuary
provides the opportunity for these horses to be adopted into loving
homes. They work hard to make sure that each horse and owner
is a good match. One such horse is Tess, a polo pony who was
rescued from an auction in New Holland. When Tess arrived at
the sanctuary, she was covered in manure from head to toe and
had nasal discharge, typical of strangles. She was extremely sick,
but the sanctuary took her in, quarantined her and got her better.
That summer they took Tess to play outdoor polo in Pawling,
New York, where a polo groom recognized her. The groom kept
walking past Tess, studying her carefully. “I know that horse,” he
finally said, and then proceeded to describe her perfectly. “It turns
out that this was a mare that had played 20-goal polo in Florida
and ended up in an auction in Pennsylvania. We were just calling
her Tess, but the groom was calling her by a different name,” Beth
recalled. Now, Tess has been adopted and plays polo with an
owner who loves her.
“The vast majority of horses that we get in do come around and
it’s really remarkable,” Beth said. “Their capacity to trust people
again is so enormous. We’ve seen everything from starvation
cases where there was severe neglect to some that were beaten
on. They all find their way back.”
The sanctuary is also a permanent home for horses that aren’t
adopted. Abraham, a 26-year-old Belgian draft gelding, was an
Amish plow horse that was placed into a slaughter pen after
developing a heart condition. He had severe hoof issues and was
emaciated before being rescued by the sanctuary. However, he
has been nursed back to health and happily spends his days at
the sanctuary with his girlfriend, a Premarin mare named Pesto.
Beth admits that the hardest part about her work is realizing that
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE