August 10, 2025 • 11 mins
We spoke with President Susan Mitchell from US Horse Welfare and Rescue about the fundraising event Hoedown for Horses.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Susan Mitchell. She is president, founder and
executive director of US Horse Welfare and Rescue.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Good morning, good morning, thank you for having me my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You have a wonderful event that's coming up on September
sixth It's called Hodown for Horses. It's in Avon from
five thirty to nine thirty. Where in Avon exactly is
it taking place?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So it's at the Horse Rescue itself, which is three
forty five Waterville Road in Avon, and it will be
right on the property amongst all of our wonderful horses
in our products, and people will get an opportunity to
visit with them and find out more about our work
as well as have a great time.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So there's going to be music, food, games and dancing.
My good friend Damen Scott on the Country Station will
be there and Mike Kaidek from NBC thirty is going
to be there as well. And why the need for
this fundraiser?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
So the horse we bring in here are very often
horses that are not readily adoptable out because they have
some sort of health issue. They some of them have comorbidities,
they're older, they're at risk of perhaps being overutilized, and
they certainly are all at risk of ending up in
(01:18):
the wrong hands and ending up in the slaughter pipeline.
So many of our horses are sanctuaried here. But in
addition to them, we do a lot of work locally
trying to help other people place their horses. So we
get several requests every week helping, you know, asking for
help to place their horse, and I try to be
a middleman and find somebody who would love this horse,
(01:41):
and the horse goes out on a contract, But all
of that requires funding. In a lot of times, we
help with the vet bill or whatever inoculations, et cetera,
so that the new owner feels confident in taking this
horse over. In addition, we do a lot of national
work on legislative things. We actually have our own lobbyists
India who works pro bono for us, and we're working
(02:04):
very hard right now trying to make some changes and
keep sixty five thousand wild horses that are now standing
in corrals from ending up going to slaughter, which is
a very real risk. For the first time in my
history as long as I've been involved in rescue. Have
we felt that this is a very big risk these
horses are going to be called. So the funding goes
(02:28):
to taking care of the horses we have here. In
addition to the horses that we have here, also provide
programs for at risk youth steniers, PTSD, individuals, people, veterans, etc.
And most of those people do not have a lot
of money to pay out of pocket, so the funds
also help us keep the costs down so they can
(02:50):
be involved in these programs. Then it helps with placing
other horses, and it helps with our national agenda. So
it's kind of all encompassing, but the funds are really needed.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
When you say that it is a very real risk
that these horses may not make it what's happening in
the world.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So for many years now, the Bureau of Land Management
indiscriminately decides how many horses they're going to round up
every year, and they do these horrible helicopter roundups, and
so now we're up to sixty five thousand wild horses
that now stand and corrals overcrowded, baking in the hot sun.
They cost the taxpayers a lot of money. They cost
(03:28):
about seven dollars and fifty cents per horse per day.
The money goes to the cattleman, because the cattlemen are
the ones throwing them the hay and keeping giving them
the water. And the truth of the matter is the
cattlemen then turn their cattle out on our land, which
is a whole other, whole other thing. But anyhow, this
particular administration very sadly is looking to cut costs everywhere.
(03:51):
We all know that, and I think that that's potentially
a great thing, but this isn't the right place to
be cutting it. So there is language right now that
would allow our government, if the bill passes as it is,
to decide to send these horses to slaughter. And that's
the first time we've had this big of a risk.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So we really need you to come out to this
event and any other events that you have. What is
your web address?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
The web is www dot US Horsewelfare dot org and
people are welcome to Obviously, we want everybody at this
event because it's going to be amazing. The band is phenomenal,
Jake's country rocking country band. They're amazing, So it's going
to be fun. We're going to have a line dance instructor.
It's going to be a great time and they can
get tickets on event, right.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And what about volunteers? Are you ever looking for volunteers?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Always, always, always, always, yeah, yeah, whether it's here on
the farm doing chores, or helping with administrative things, or
helping our lobbyists with getting word out because she does
a lot of work trying to create more advocacy and
get letters out across the country. There's so much to
do to prevent these horses from going to bad places.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Are there other ways that people can donate?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
There are They could go to the website, there's donate
buttons on multiple pages for sure. They can also just
send a check to us if that's if that's their things.
Some people don't like to do it online. There's lots
of things, lots of ways that they could donate, but yes,
and donations really are critical. These horses do not stand
a chance of surviving even here on our farm without
(05:32):
enough funds to feed them and maintain them. And it's
a lot of money, you know this. I think our
tab last year was two hundred thousand dollars for fifteen horses.
These horses do not go without what they need if
they have a medical issue. We don't let them stand
there and hope it gets better. We call the vet
and whatever it takes, as long as we can save
this horse, as long as the horse is going to
(05:53):
be happy and healthy at the end of the treatment,
we will do it. We would never keep a horse
in pain. If it was chronic, we couldn't help it.
But most of these horses, with some love and tenderness
and a good vep, we can get them through a
lot of things.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And it's a lot of work for you. Take me
through your day.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well, the typical day starts out there on the farm
at seven o'clock with feeding the horses, and then we
turn them out. Each horse typically has their own paddock.
You just find that horses are happier when they can
eat their hay and not be bothered by other horses.
It prevents the kicking and all the craziness, so they
all have their own space. And then once that's done,
(06:31):
people start mucking stalls, cleaning waters, setting up hay bags
for the next feeding, and the day just continues that way.
There's outside waters that need to be done, there's inside
waters that need to be done, there's mucking paddocks outside,
there's mucking the stalls. Inside, there's always stuff to do.
There's never a time that there's not something to do
out there. And then, like I said, there's a lot
(06:52):
of stuff behind the scenes, just the marketing, the social media,
grant writers. You know, we would love a good grant writer.
There's a lot of people. P are people we would
love to have more of. We would love to have
more people that are involved in marketing. There's a plethora
of holes that we would love to fill.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And these horses are living their best lives right now
with you guys, after everything that they've been through.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
We believe so, you know, I've been to rescues where
perhaps they take on too much for their financial ability
and or for their space. We have tried to balance
that and there are times that we get calls and
people are asking us to take horses, and I do
have to say no because I feel like if I
(07:38):
don't feel we have the staffing to care for that
extra horse and to put in that extra time, then
we can't do it because I cannot take away from
the horses that are here for another horse. Does that
make sense? I know that's really hard to say, but
because I never want to say no, but you can't
just fill your space because there's a space. You have
to have a balance so that the horses you have
(07:59):
are really getting what they need and they remain healthy.
We have no skinny horses here. They're all fat and
happy and healthy.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
If I was a horse, that's where I would want
to end up as a sanctuary there.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, and we do keep them busy in programs. We
also do riding lessons here, which I believe is really
important for these horses because they always say if something
were to happen and we had to place them, the
healthier they are and the more skill they have, the
better chance they have of actually ending up with the
right person outside of here. But as it said, most
(08:33):
of these horses, they're seniors and they're fragile, and so
placing them can be a little bit scary. There are
some that we would be willing to adopt out under
the right circumstances, but we're very picky because we've seen
it happen over and over again that people lose track,
including rescues, lose track of horses that they've adopted out,
(08:55):
and the next thing they know, they find out that
the horse ended up in the slaughter lot, it's you know,
where they go to auction and end up in a
bad place. So it's a very fine balance between keeping
a horse here and letting a horse leave.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So if somebody was retiring their horse, I mean, besides you,
where else can they go?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, that's you know, Allison, there's so few places they
can actually go these days. I get phone calls all
the time, Like I said, you know, people looking and
asking me, well, if you can't, who can. And the
truth of the matter is sometimes I really have to
coach these people, especially if it's an older horse. Many
horses can live well, I mean many horses will live
to be forty years old. The typical age is going
(09:40):
to be late twenties to earlier thirties, but there is
the rare one that will go to be forty. But
there's times that I've gotten phone calls to horses that
are thirty years old and people are asking me if
we can take them in or can I help them
place their horse? And it's very hard to place a
horse like that the new owner. I don't feel right
going to somebody and saying please take this horse, because
(10:01):
that horse in a day might be lame in a
month might need to be put down. It's a huge
expense putting a horse down, rendering the horse after it's
put down as a whole other thing. Cremation in the
state of Connecticut is about nineteen hundred dollars, So that's
a problem. And so sometimes I really have to coach
these people to understand that the best thing for this horse,
(10:23):
especially if they've had it for a long time and
they've really loved this animal, is to let it go
right on their property where it's surrounded by the people
that love him for her and they feel safe. It's
better that than trusting somebody is going to take your
horse and not end up sending it off to auction,
(10:43):
because that's a very real risk.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I'm speaking with Susan Mitchell. She is president, founder and
executive director of US Horse Welfare and Rescue. The event
is Hoe Down for Horses September sixth then Avon from
five thirty to nine thirty. There's going to be a
band there that's awesome, some line dancing, food games. Damon
Scott from Country ninety two to five is going to
be there and Mike Hidek from NBC thirty Again. You
(11:09):
can go to Ushorsewelfare dot org. You can volunteer, you
can make a donation. There's so much you can do
and you can help Susan. Thank you so much for
all of the amazing work that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Thank you. I appreciate that. Alison
Good morning, Thank you for listening to Community Access. My
guest today is Susan Mitchell. She is president, founder and
executive director of US Horse Welfare and Rescue.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
Good morning, good morning, thank you for having me my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
You have a wonderful event that's coming up on September
sixth It's called Hodown for Horses. It's in Avon from
five thirty to nine thirty. Where in Avon exactly is
it taking place?
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So it's at the Horse Rescue itself, which is three
forty five Waterville Road in Avon, and it will be
right on the property amongst all of our wonderful horses
in our products, and people will get an opportunity to
visit with them and find out more about our work
as well as have a great time.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
So there's going to be music, food, games and dancing.
My good friend Damen Scott on the Country Station will
be there and Mike Kaidek from NBC thirty is going
to be there as well. And why the need for
this fundraiser?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
So the horse we bring in here are very often
horses that are not readily adoptable out because they have
some sort of health issue. They some of them have comorbidities,
they're older, they're at risk of perhaps being overutilized, and
they certainly are all at risk of ending up in
(01:18):
the wrong hands and ending up in the slaughter pipeline.
So many of our horses are sanctuaried here. But in
addition to them, we do a lot of work locally
trying to help other people place their horses. So we
get several requests every week helping, you know, asking for
help to place their horse, and I try to be
a middleman and find somebody who would love this horse,
(01:41):
and the horse goes out on a contract, But all
of that requires funding. In a lot of times, we
help with the vet bill or whatever inoculations, et cetera,
so that the new owner feels confident in taking this
horse over. In addition, we do a lot of national
work on legislative things. We actually have our own lobbyists
India who works pro bono for us, and we're working
(02:04):
very hard right now trying to make some changes and
keep sixty five thousand wild horses that are now standing
in corrals from ending up going to slaughter, which is
a very real risk. For the first time in my
history as long as I've been involved in rescue. Have
we felt that this is a very big risk these
horses are going to be called. So the funding goes
(02:28):
to taking care of the horses we have here. In
addition to the horses that we have here, also provide
programs for at risk youth steniers, PTSD, individuals, people, veterans, etc.
And most of those people do not have a lot
of money to pay out of pocket, so the funds
also help us keep the costs down so they can
(02:50):
be involved in these programs. Then it helps with placing
other horses, and it helps with our national agenda. So
it's kind of all encompassing, but the funds are really needed.
Speaker 1 (03:00):
When you say that it is a very real risk
that these horses may not make it what's happening in
the world.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So for many years now, the Bureau of Land Management
indiscriminately decides how many horses they're going to round up
every year, and they do these horrible helicopter roundups, and
so now we're up to sixty five thousand wild horses
that now stand and corrals overcrowded, baking in the hot sun.
They cost the taxpayers a lot of money. They cost
(03:28):
about seven dollars and fifty cents per horse per day.
The money goes to the cattleman, because the cattlemen are
the ones throwing them the hay and keeping giving them
the water. And the truth of the matter is the
cattlemen then turn their cattle out on our land, which
is a whole other, whole other thing. But anyhow, this
particular administration very sadly is looking to cut costs everywhere.
(03:51):
We all know that, and I think that that's potentially
a great thing, but this isn't the right place to
be cutting it. So there is language right now that
would allow our government, if the bill passes as it is,
to decide to send these horses to slaughter. And that's
the first time we've had this big of a risk.
Speaker 1 (04:12):
So we really need you to come out to this
event and any other events that you have. What is
your web address?
Speaker 2 (04:20):
The web is www dot US Horsewelfare dot org and
people are welcome to Obviously, we want everybody at this
event because it's going to be amazing. The band is phenomenal,
Jake's country rocking country band. They're amazing, So it's going
to be fun. We're going to have a line dance instructor.
It's going to be a great time and they can
get tickets on event, right.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
And what about volunteers? Are you ever looking for volunteers?
Speaker 2 (04:46):
Always, always, always, always, yeah, yeah, whether it's here on
the farm doing chores, or helping with administrative things, or
helping our lobbyists with getting word out because she does
a lot of work trying to create more advocacy and
get letters out across the country. There's so much to
do to prevent these horses from going to bad places.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Are there other ways that people can donate?
Speaker 2 (05:09):
There are They could go to the website, there's donate
buttons on multiple pages for sure. They can also just
send a check to us if that's if that's their things.
Some people don't like to do it online. There's lots
of things, lots of ways that they could donate, but yes,
and donations really are critical. These horses do not stand
a chance of surviving even here on our farm without
(05:32):
enough funds to feed them and maintain them. And it's
a lot of money, you know this. I think our
tab last year was two hundred thousand dollars for fifteen horses.
These horses do not go without what they need if
they have a medical issue. We don't let them stand
there and hope it gets better. We call the vet
and whatever it takes, as long as we can save
this horse, as long as the horse is going to
(05:53):
be happy and healthy at the end of the treatment,
we will do it. We would never keep a horse
in pain. If it was chronic, we couldn't help it.
But most of these horses, with some love and tenderness
and a good vep, we can get them through a
lot of things.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
And it's a lot of work for you. Take me
through your day.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Well, the typical day starts out there on the farm
at seven o'clock with feeding the horses, and then we
turn them out. Each horse typically has their own paddock.
You just find that horses are happier when they can
eat their hay and not be bothered by other horses.
It prevents the kicking and all the craziness, so they
all have their own space. And then once that's done,
(06:31):
people start mucking stalls, cleaning waters, setting up hay bags
for the next feeding, and the day just continues that way.
There's outside waters that need to be done, there's inside
waters that need to be done, there's mucking paddocks outside,
there's mucking the stalls. Inside, there's always stuff to do.
There's never a time that there's not something to do
out there. And then, like I said, there's a lot
(06:52):
of stuff behind the scenes, just the marketing, the social media,
grant writers. You know, we would love a good grant writer.
There's a lot of people. P are people we would
love to have more of. We would love to have
more people that are involved in marketing. There's a plethora
of holes that we would love to fill.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And these horses are living their best lives right now
with you guys, after everything that they've been through.
Speaker 2 (07:16):
We believe so, you know, I've been to rescues where
perhaps they take on too much for their financial ability
and or for their space. We have tried to balance
that and there are times that we get calls and
people are asking us to take horses, and I do
have to say no because I feel like if I
(07:38):
don't feel we have the staffing to care for that
extra horse and to put in that extra time, then
we can't do it because I cannot take away from
the horses that are here for another horse. Does that
make sense? I know that's really hard to say, but
because I never want to say no, but you can't
just fill your space because there's a space. You have
to have a balance so that the horses you have
(07:59):
are really getting what they need and they remain healthy.
We have no skinny horses here. They're all fat and
happy and healthy.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
If I was a horse, that's where I would want
to end up as a sanctuary there.
Speaker 2 (08:12):
Yeah, and we do keep them busy in programs. We
also do riding lessons here, which I believe is really
important for these horses because they always say if something
were to happen and we had to place them, the
healthier they are and the more skill they have, the
better chance they have of actually ending up with the
right person outside of here. But as it said, most
(08:33):
of these horses, they're seniors and they're fragile, and so
placing them can be a little bit scary. There are
some that we would be willing to adopt out under
the right circumstances, but we're very picky because we've seen
it happen over and over again that people lose track,
including rescues, lose track of horses that they've adopted out,
(08:55):
and the next thing they know, they find out that
the horse ended up in the slaughter lot, it's you know,
where they go to auction and end up in a
bad place. So it's a very fine balance between keeping
a horse here and letting a horse leave.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
So if somebody was retiring their horse, I mean, besides you,
where else can they go?
Speaker 2 (09:17):
Well, that's you know, Allison, there's so few places they
can actually go these days. I get phone calls all
the time, Like I said, you know, people looking and
asking me, well, if you can't, who can. And the
truth of the matter is sometimes I really have to
coach these people, especially if it's an older horse. Many
horses can live well, I mean many horses will live
to be forty years old. The typical age is going
(09:40):
to be late twenties to earlier thirties, but there is
the rare one that will go to be forty. But
there's times that I've gotten phone calls to horses that
are thirty years old and people are asking me if
we can take them in or can I help them
place their horse? And it's very hard to place a
horse like that the new owner. I don't feel right
going to somebody and saying please take this horse, because
(10:01):
that horse in a day might be lame in a
month might need to be put down. It's a huge
expense putting a horse down, rendering the horse after it's
put down as a whole other thing. Cremation in the
state of Connecticut is about nineteen hundred dollars, So that's
a problem. And so sometimes I really have to coach
these people to understand that the best thing for this horse,
(10:23):
especially if they've had it for a long time and
they've really loved this animal, is to let it go
right on their property where it's surrounded by the people
that love him for her and they feel safe. It's
better that than trusting somebody is going to take your
horse and not end up sending it off to auction,
(10:43):
because that's a very real risk.
Speaker 1 (10:45):
I'm speaking with Susan Mitchell. She is president, founder and
executive director of US Horse Welfare and Rescue. The event
is Hoe Down for Horses September sixth then Avon from
five thirty to nine thirty. There's going to be a
band there that's awesome, some line dancing, food games. Damon
Scott from Country ninety two to five is going to
be there and Mike Hidek from NBC thirty Again. You
(11:09):
can go to Ushorsewelfare dot org. You can volunteer, you
can make a donation. There's so much you can do
and you can help Susan. Thank you so much for
all of the amazing work that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (11:21):
Thank you. I appreciate that. Alison
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!