At approximately 50 years old, the current cedar shake roof at the Unbridled Sanctuary in Greenville is beyond repair. WAMC’s Samantha Simmons met the horses, mules and donkeys who shiver beneath that damaged roof on particularly cold days and brings us this report.
Gemma is a new resident at Unbridled Sanctuary in Greenville. Her stall is off one of several entryways to the roughly 12,000-square-foot barn. Her hair grows thick enough that she doesn’t need a coat, but not all her neighbors are so lucky.
The barn, which has dozens of stalls lining the walls and halls that go in many directions, needs a new roof.
Unbridled's President Susan Kayne says the structure can’t be neglected any longer.
“On days that are windy like this, sometimes the cedar shakes go flying around,” Kayne said.
Over the last year, she says they solicited bids and have chosen to go with Delmar-based Grace Roofing. But the cost is more than $67,000 — of which they've raised about $25,000 so far.
But why, exactly, is protecting these animals from the elements so important? Kayne says many of these animals have been abused, thrown away, or surrendered. She says many of them were sent to slaughter. Here’s Kayne talking about Gemma, the beloved mule who has a bump on her left snout caused by a neglected tooth fracture earlier in her life.
“So, we'll have that addressed with our team of veterinarians. But all of the horses, donkeys, and mules in here that you see were in what is referred to as the slaughter pipeline, meaning that they were at auctions that would have resulted in them being bought by the pound and being shipped to Canada or Mexico for slaughter,” Kayne said.
"She's so friendly."
"Oh, they're all friendly and love attention and mules especially, they are very cerebral and they're very thoughtful.”
Others in nearby stalls are having a harder time. Kayne says Lovey, a pure Arabian, has been experiencing grief after the loss of a fellow foal. OK, maybe not foal, but one of her friends.
“She is not quite sure how to navigate it without her friends, she was very she wasn't controlling of her friends; protective and patrolling of them," Kayne said. “She would make sure they were okay. Her first friend, Bride, was blind in one eye, so she would be a guide horse to help Bride walk around.”
Kayne says many people buy horses without an idea or concern about the expense that comes with proper care — upwards of $10,000 per horse per year. She says it costs upwards of $1 million a year to run the sanctuary.
“Unfortunately, a lot of the thoroughbreds here, their owners are active in the industry. They're standing in the winner's circle, and I'm on the corner with a bake sale raising money to feed their horse,” Kayne said. “We want to shift that you know your horse your responsibility, and be proud of it, because the real, true heroes for horses are the ones that stay with them through the course of that natural lifespan.”
Leilea Hackett is one of the sanctuary’s few employees. At just 16, she feeds, rides, and cares for the equestrians. She says while, yes, the barn needs a new nearly $70,000 roof, there are plenty of other expenses that have to come first. Expenses like needing special food for those animals that can’t eat hay because they can’t process it due to neglected dental care or damaged hooves and skin.
“There's so many horses, and I mean, they're all individually, so expensive,” Hackett said. “But I mean, with the roof, it definitely keeps the warmth, and it keep us warm and heats the barn.”
Andrew Elsbree is Susan’s husband and a certified journeyman farrier — or a highly-skilled hoof craftsman. He says the cost of feed has gone up roughly 20 percent since the pandemic.
“Hay is the biggest increase; it's probably doubled in price,” Kayne said. “And that kills. That makes it very expensive to do what we do, and the only way we can do it is to beg for money, ask for money, solicit money, look for grants and that's an 18-hour a day job. That's what Susan's life is consumed with and that makes me try to make up for her not being able to be out here and get things done. And every day it's like "50 First Dates" every single day. You do the same thing over and over again.”
Kayne says the sanctuary has become a neigh-borhood hub for learning, including informational programs.
She says some horses end up in her and her roughly 30 volunteers’ care in odd ways. Posey, formerly property of Sheikh Mohammed, the ruler of Dubai, raced only a few times before becoming a breeding horse. Kayne says she was going to auction for meat and rescued her.
“For $200, we bought Posey and secured the rest of her life here in Sanctuary. And it turned out that she and the other horses had been traded to this fellow for a mechanics bill that he was owed. So, he was taking the horses to auction to try and get some liquidity in those funds, and Posey was one of them. So, her life was saved through that dynamic, through someone who had adopted,” Kayne said.
By way of transparency, Unbridled Sanctuary is a WAMC underwriter.
