ASPCA Announces Winners of the Fifth Annual Help a Horse Day Contest

NEW YORK—The ASPCA® (The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals®) today announced the 19 winners of its fifth annual ASPCA Help a Horse Day contest, which is designed to raise awareness about the year-round lifesaving work equine rescues do to find homes for horses. The ASPCA awarded 23 prizes, totaling $116,500 to the winners in recognition of their efforts to find homes for horses during contest. Groups were judged on the number of adoptions and adoption commitments they secured, the amount of funds they raised during the contest period, the best overall adoption campaign, and most compelling adoption video. The contestants were separated into three divisions based on budget, capacity and number of adoptions they achieved last year.

The winning groups include:

Division I (Large)

• Grand Prize ($20,000):
  • Horse Plus Humane Society, Hohenwald, Tenn.
• 2^nd Prize ($10,000):
  • Dumb Friends League Harmony Equine Center, Franktown, Colo.
• Runner-Up Prizes ($5,000 each)
  • Humane Society of North Texas, Fort Worth, Tex.
  • Missouri Forget-Me-Not Horse Rescue & Sanctuary, Linn Creek, Mo.
  • New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program, Laura, OH

Division II (Medium)

• Grand Prize ($15,000):
  • This Old Horse, Hastings, Minn.
• 2^nd Prize ($7,500):
  • Hidden Pond Farm Equine Rescue, Brentwood, N.H.
• Runner-Up Prizes ($3,500 each)
  • Horse and Hound Rescue Foundation, Guthrie, Okla.
  • Nexus Equine, Oklahoma City, Okla.
  • Pony Tales Refuge & Rehab, Colfax, Wis.

Division III (Small)

• Grand Prize ($10,000):
  • The Santana Center for Equine Education and Outreach, Saunderstown, R.I.
• 2^nd Prize ($5,000):
  • Hickory Hill Farm, Mount Juliet, Tenn.
• Runner-Up Prizes ($2,500 each)
  • D-S Rescue, Tucson, Ariz.
  • Freedom Hill Horse Rescue, Owings, Md.
  • Southeast Equine Rescue, Auburn, Ala.

Other Prizes

• Best Campaign ($5,000):
  • Hickory Hill Farm, Mount Juliet, Tenn.
• Best Campaign Runners-Up ($1,000)
  • Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society (TX)
  • Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Woodbine, Md.
• Best Video ($5,000):
  • Colorado Horse Rescue, Longmont, Colo.
• Best Video Runners-Up ($1,000)
  • Days End Farm Horse Rescue, Woodbine, Md.
  • Hickory Hill Farm, Mount Juliet, Tenn.
  • Humane Society of Rochester aka Lollypop Farm, Rochester, N.Y.
  • This Old Horse, Hastings, Minn.

“The primary goal of Help a Horse Day is to elevate equine welfare. This year, we challenged groups to focus their efforts more squarely on adoption as our research shows there could be approximately 2.3 million adults in the United States with both the resources and desire to adopt a horse in need,” said Dr. Emily Weiss, vice president of Equine Welfare for the ASPCA. “We were blown away by the incredible progress these groups made towards finding good homes for the horses in their care and we look forward to building upon these outstanding achievements to continue raising awareness about horses in need.”

More than 100 equine rescues, sanctuaries, and shelters across the country competed in the nationwide contest, which ran from April 26 to June 30. In addition to finding homes for more than 1,000 horses, participating groups raised over $2 million and 78 percent increased the number of adoptions they did during the same time period last year.

Help a Horse Day is celebrated annually on April 26—a date chosen for its significance in the ASPCA’s long history of horse protection. In 1866, ASPCA founder Henry Bergh stopped a cart driver from beating his horse, resulting in the first successful arrest for horse mistreatment on April 26 of that year. Now in its fifth year, Help a Horse Day has been a meaningful way for equine rescues and sanctuaries to garner essential community support for their lifesaving work. Since 2014, the ASPCA has awarded equine groups more than $400,000 in grant funding through the Help a Horse Day contest.

For more information about ASPCA Help a Horse Day, please visit www.aspca.org/helpahorse.