Vonda Fischer with one of her rescue horses.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Spirit Horse Rescue
August 27, 2019 - 6:30 AM
LUMBY - Since Vonda Fischer received a foreclosure notice last week for her Lumby area farm where she runs Spirit Horse Rescue she has been inundated with kindness.
"I wish there was a word bigger than thank you because thank you doesn't seem to cut it," Fischer said.
While Fischer hopes the sale of some farm equipment will put a halt to the foreclosure of the farm, she is very worried about the future of the 14 rescue horses she has and the future of Spirit Horse Rescue.
"(The horses) really are my number one concern, because if it happens and I lose my farm, it's not going to have them anyway," she said.
Fischer started rescuing unwanted horses 15 years ago and set up Spirit Horse Rescue, which she runs with her finance Ian Groves when she moved to Lumby six years ago. She said she rescues between 15 to 30 horses per year that have either been neglected or are set to be slaughtered and works in close conjunction with Salmon Arm's B.C. Horse Angels organization and horse rescuer Judy Miller-Keenan.
"I take the horses that nobody wants, I take the lame, the old, the sick," she said. "I call them my kids because these are my horse kids."
Spirit Horse Rescue doesn't just stop at horses, Fischer took in an abandoned llama, and also looks after an alpaca and a donkey.
Financial hardship set in on the couple when work dried up in January for Groves, who ordinarily works in the oil fields. Fischer said while her partner has been working throughout the work it has not been stable. The issue was exacerbated when Fischer fell off a ladder in May and stopped working.
Fischer said ordinarily Groves' wages paid the couple's bills, while her wages went to all the costs involved keeping the horses. She's now trying to fundraise to keep the horse rescue going.
"Were depending on the graciousness of the public to help us get through this. I'm not asking the public to pay my mortgage that's not what I'm asking, I'm selling my farm equipment to pay my mortgage, I'm asking for the public to help me have the funds to take care of my horses," Fischer said.
T-shirts, hoodie's and baseball caps have recently printed to raise funds and since word got around she's had donations of hay and money to pay for essential farrier work and vet's bills.
"This whole valley is like a big family," she said. "We've always welcomed donations but we didn't depend on it before, but now we are."
Fischer doesn't want to think about what will happen if the farm is foreclosed, and hopes other rescues will be able to take some of the horses. But she says the future isn't too bright for the older horses.
Her oldest horse 'Buster' is 43-years-old, blind and has no teeth. Because of this, he requires a lot of care with each meal taking one hour alone to prepare.
"Just because they are old doesn't mean they should die," she says.
Fischer's passion for horses is very apparent and says she's loved horses since she was a little kid.
"I've seen the healing powers of them and to watch even one horse go through abuse (and) neglect, it breaks my heart into 100 pieces," she said.
She's trying her utmost to put a brave face on the situation, she and her partner, along with the horse are in.
"I'm being very hopeful and that's the best I can do right now, I'm taking it one day at a time."
To make a donation or purchase a Spirit Horse Rescue T-shirt, hoodie or other merchandise send an email to horserescue@shaw.ca. Or contact them through Facebook here.
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