June/July 2024

Dharmahorse Equine Sanctuary

and Herbal Stable Yard


Hello Katharine,


Our equines' hooves are always growing! Diane loves doing minis - and they love her! Shade has been particularly important this summer.


I'll admit it, we have struggled some with the heat. Where nights usually cool down nicely in the summer, the past month has not been typical! Feeding mashes with extra coarse salt added helps keep the horses drinking heaps of water. We have to remind ourselves to drink enough!


Because we're on the west side of the mountain, the evenings heat up a bit more as the sun drops. Some very dry times have kept the swamp cooler working well, but the past couple of weeks brought humidity that foils the principle of evaporative cooling!


But we are all okay.

We had our Global Federation of Animal Sanctuaries site inspection this month for moving up from Verification to Accreditation! Stay tuned, we will announce the outcome.


We were blessed with a beautiful day for the inspection and volunteers were on hand to help with questions and horse care.

Dharma kitty lives in the barn, closed up, at night for her safety. During the day, we leave both garage doors slightly open so she can go in and out (but so a loose horse could not get in with the feed). She is thriving and there are no mice in the barn now!


Teddy started having a rough time in July. He bowed a tendon on his right front leg. We used an ice boot at first for him - changing it out several times through the days. But it was more than that (the bow was likely a consequence of deeper issues). His back or hip (or both) were not functioning correctly.

Then we did a support wrap on the leg and tried a Ttouch body wrap to help him. The support wrap and later, Iconoclast boots, on both front legs, were just too hot in the 107 to 112 degree days.


He went on anti-inflammatory drugs and pain killers in addition to his herbs and Vitamin E. We were hoping for a miracle for Teddy.

Diane trimmed his hooves with a chisel because he couldn't lift a hoof/leg and stay balanced. We kept working to relieve stress on his tendons (and his back) We scheduled a Chiropractic adjustment for him...

Teddy started "sidewinding" on Thursday night - moving in a circle, constantly bent. He was able to get one hip resting against the wall of his shelter... then he went down. We tied a big quilt above him for shade and informed the Vet who had been called earlier.


We had to give Teddy a peaceful passing. His sweet old body was just giving out and it wasn't fair to him to make him keep going.


While one of the hardest parts of caring for elderly horses, it is also one of our greatest responsibilities. To give them all the love and joy we can until they need to cross the rainbow bridge.


Teddy had lived alone for two years with no horses anywhere near him. He had been well cared for, but lonely. For 6 months, we gave him all the comfort we could, and he was surrounded by horses (and mules)!


Rest in Peace, sweet Teddy.

The munchkins have extended shade! It has been a brutally hot summer! Volunteers helped Mark stretch this wonderful shade cloth across the mini's shelter, extending it to double size. And they use it! The weather has been a roller coaster the past 2 months and we just rise to the challenge to keep everyone safe!

In June we had a Haboob - 91 mph sustained winds!

When we could go outside safely, we found roofing blown off of the house and the barn, and a line of track fencing completely blown over!


Working with our Insurance, we have roofers (who stabilized roofs against leaks - we've had some rain) coming in August to replace the roofing. Insurance will cover a portion of the costs.


Mark and Joe completely rebuilt the section of fence that blew down, adding railroad ties for extra strength. No horses (or mules) were harmed during the haboob. We are grateful.

Horses in the mist

The misters at both stable yards remain lifesavers this year. The equines can cool off during the day. Trees and plants suffer and all we can do is water them and work to keep them alive while hoping for some frequent and lasting rains.

VOLUNTEERS are the backbone of this institution! THANK YOU everyone who volunteers. THANK YOU to our Veterinarians and hoof trimmers! THANK YOU to our body workers and donors! Without all of you, we couldn't provide this level of care.

A lot of us have been seeing questionable handling and riding of horses as of late. Bordering on abuse and sometimes breaking that boundary, the public at large is seeing much that is negative in the horse world. True Sanctuaries often intake horses from such abuse. Our mission is always to provide healing and make sure no horse here has to suffer again.

Dharmahorse Blog:



So, competition horses lived a very unnatural life. And yet, many of us loved our horses dearly and thought we were doing right by them. The rider who would show up at a competition after pulling her pony from a field where he lived, brushing him clean and leaving him fuzzy had no chance of placing in classes... READ MORE

We have a video on our YouTube channel showing a bit about using the chute to help Pumpkin, the mini mule. She has been having breakthroughs in confidence lately - it is the good work and gentle handling she has received from our trainer, Rachel, and intern, Alexys!

Our Store

We have these three designs (art by Linda, Billy and Katharine) available on mugs, shirts, toddler clothes and more:

THE DHARMAHORSE STORE

All proceeds go to the horses! Great gift ideas!


Visit, like and follow our Facebook page!
Stay up to date with all that happens at Dharmahorse!
Visit our Website

We see each horse here as an individual with physical, mental and emotional needs that are dynamic and fluctuate with the weather, the seasons, their changing bodies as they age and who they live with as a herd.


If you want to help a specific horse, you can sponsor his or her hay costs for a month:



Sponsor a Horse

Scroll to the bottom of the webpage for details on how to donate/sponsor.

We appreciate everyone who helps us help these horses. Donors, Volunteers, Foundations and those who "spread the word" about Dharmahorse. Thank you all.


You can use this DONATE button to access our website & donate from there. If you want to send a check, the address is 6874 Coyote Road, Las Cruces, NM, USA, 88012. Make checks to Dharmahorse. We are a 501c3 nonprofit, so donations are tax deductible.


DONATE
We also have a WISH LIST at Chewy!
CLICK HERE to see it.

The Products on the list are SO needed and appreciated!
Dharmahorse Herbal
We use herbal supplements (of our own making) to support the good health of all the horses here. We make remedies for healing from plants! It's called "phytotherapy".


Pomegranate Seeds


Pomegranates are round, leathery fruits filled with juicy seeds that are packed with nutrition.


The bushes grow well here in New Mexico and the size of the bush (and size of the harvest) depend upon the amount of water received.



Pomegranate seeds are dried and crushed into a powder in Tibet to preserve them. The powder is ingested, used for renal disorders in humans and animals.


The juicy seeds can be frozen for later use. They are safe to feed to horses - the leathery rind is not fed. We have four pomegranate bushes at DH1 (the original facility) and usually, the birds get most of the fruits. We don't mind sharing with wildlife. They are family, too.


Always consult a health care practitioner in cases of illness or injury.


Our Herbal Guide has information on the herbs we use for the horses with recipes and safety guidelines:


HERBAL GUIDE FOR STABLES


All proceeds from the Guide go directly to the Sanctuary for the horses.

We don't do this for donations, we need donations to do this!



We wish you well. We hold this planet and all who fly with her in love & light.

Mahalo!

Katharine, Mark, the DH Team & the Dharma Horses