The effects of drought brought on by an extra-dry, hot summer has meant skyrocketing prices for hay. For horse rescue groups that can put a strain on an already tight budget. Quebec’s A Horse Tale Rescue hosted a fundraising event this past weekend to help offset the cost of this equine diet staple.
Mike Grenier, the organization’s executive director, who won Horse Canada’s Heroes of the Horse Award in 2019, spoke with Global News about the need to raise money. “It costs between $30 to $40 thousand a year just for hay,” Grenier told the news outlet.
The fundraiser offered the public hayrides, corn on the cob, pictures with a horse, a dunk tank and baked goods for sale. One hundred percent of the proceeds went to feed the rescue horses that have come to A Horse Tale from difficult situations, including neglect and abuse.
“They come from varying areas where the people can no longer afford [to keep them or may have a] change in lifestyle or some injuries. But we also have five that have come from Montreal’s calèche industry,” Grenier explains. The calèches are carriages once pulled by draft horses through Montreal’s streets for tourists, similar to the carriages operating in New York City.
If you weren’t able to attend the fundraiser in person, you can still make a donation at the group’s Canada Helps page.
