Our Recent Successes

Jackson, a wonderful Thoroughbred, was saved out of the kill pen at the Shepherdsville, Kentucky horse auction several years ago. At some point he was donated to a riding facility to be used in 4H classes. After he came up lame, the owner of the riding facility decided to "get rid" of him. His prior owner called us for help and Speak Up For Horses was able to secure Jackson and transition him into a loving forever home, where he is undergoing treatment for EPM.

Costly Shoes, an older broodmare, needed a forever home after her owner decided to retire her. With the help of one of our wonderful volunteers, a home was found in Florida. She will live out the rest of her days on a 900 acre plantation. As an added bonus, her fantastic new family has already adopted several other thoroughbreds, including one of Costly Shoes very own sons. Mom and son are reunited.

We were able to secure five mustang mares from their owners who were charged with animal neglect in 2007 in Harrison County, KY. All five were placed in a local foster home, where they thrived.  Under the loving care of John they regained their health and weight. Two of these lovely mares were adopted by our foster family and will live happily in the Bluegrass for the rest of their lives.

With the help of many loyal supporters we were able to send the other three mustang ladies to Three Strikes Ranch in Nebraska to live out their lives in true freedom with over 200 other mustangs on 1,600 acres.

We thank the Walter's family for adopting five lucky horses form a local neglect situation.  Since their adoption/rehabilitation, two of the horses have been successfully shown by the Walter's teenage children.

Sweet Holli Brown, a 5 yo Thoroughbred mare, was no longer able to race after a knee injury.  Her owner contacted us to help find her a soft place to land after she fully recovered from knee surgery.  Mountain View Rescue, KY agreed to take her in and has since placed her with a loving family where she is thriving.

Affair, a magnificent thoroughbred racehorse, had been admired by one of Speak Up's board members for several years. Her wish was that she could help place him when his racing career ended. In July 2007, Affair suffered a shockingly dangerous fall during a race. Luckingly he only suffered a splint bone fracture. His owner retired him and our Speak Up board member got her wish. Affair's owner graciously sent him to Speak Up for rehab. He has recovered and has been adopted by Raymond!  Thank you to CANTER Ohio; to Leanne and Triple Lee Farm for fostering him; to Dr. Barb Schmidt, farrier Trudy, massage therapist Teresa, chiropractor Dr. Ron; his rescue angels Jessica, Annie, Paula and Susan; and the many who financially supported his rehab.

Doc is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. He is a 28 year old quarter horse stallion. Since Katrina, he has struggled with a variety of health issues, all manageable with special handling. He has passed through several owners and last year was purchased at auction for $165. He was no-saled at the same auction a few months later at $60, after having lost considerable weight. We purchased Doc for the $165 so he could be rehabbed with the help of Mountain View Rescue.

Daughter of Wolf was Speak Up's first resident rescue horse. An elegant thoroughbred, former racehorse and broodmare, came to us after her owner died. His mother knew what could happen to a 19 year old broodmare and asked if we would accept her as a boarder at Shelly's for the rest of her life. We did. We only wish her life could have been longer. She had to be euthanized after eight months due to a tumor that caused colic. Run with the wind sweet Wolf.

Ariel, a beautiful registered quarter horse mare, came to us as a generous donation from her loving owner. Her owner asked that we find Ariel a forever home in the country with an experienced horse person. We found her the perfect place where she can romp with other horses and enjoy a leisurely day on the trail.

Frosty was a pregnant 13 year old quarterhorse exposed to fescue toxicity. While pregnant, she was shipped to an auction where she colic'd and was no-saled. We negotiated with the owner for the purchase of this mare so she could be medically treated and placed in a forever home. She was adopted by a loving family in Kentucky and gave birth to a healthy foal in the March of 2008.