These tough economic times have wreaked havoc on the equine industry. And horses are the hardest hit when the humans they depend upon struggle financially. 

So many people formerly living high, wide and handsome have lost their jobs and their homes.  And horses are starving, being abandoned and dying because of it.

Horses are expensive animals to maintain. The monthly cost for hay, grain and stabling can run into several hundred dollars every month. And, unlike cats or dogs who have a shot at being carted off with the rest of the family to stay with Aunt Nettie until things turn around, Old Dobbin must be housed in a stable, a pasture or a pen.

Sometimes Dobbin is sold on the cheap. Sometimes Dobbin is abandoned at his stable, or in an open pasture,  or tied to someone else's horse trailer in the desperate hope that some horse-loving family will adopt him. Sometimes Dobbin is simply left behind to starve as the family flees or is forced out .

Enter the Equamore Foundation. Enter hope.  

Linda Davis-Jones is the owner of Eden Farm and the founder of Equamore, a nonprofit rescue organization in Ashland that provides care and placement for horses who are in desperate need.

But as more horses continue to need the sanctuary of the foundation, costs for feed and care continue to rise and donations continue to slide, she said.

The organization really needs all the support it can get. People need to understand horses are a lifetime commitment, Davis-Jones said.

Saturday, September 19,  the foundation is hosting its annual fundraiser. There will be great food, live music and an auction. (Personal note: I've donated a framed artist's print of a quarter horse mare named Lucy Brown which I painted back in the day.) 

Donations are tax-deductible. The Eden Farms/Equamore facility is at 4723 Highway 66, Ashland. To find out more, call 482-5550 or visit equamore.org.

Go see. Go bid. Go save a horse. Please.