Assisting Owners

If you have an equine who is suffering from a painful chronic or acute lameness, disease, or condition which cannot be reasonably treated but cannot afford the cost of euthanasia and burial or disposal we may be able to help.  We will also assist with euthanasia expenses for equines with dangerous behavioral problems on a case by case basis.

If we feel like we may be able to treat the equine, we may instead offer to take him or her into our rehabilitation and rehoming program rather than pay for euthanasia.

Apply for Euthanasia Assistance.

The Rainbow Bridge Project is funded by donations. If you would like to help horses whose owners cannot afford humane euthanasia, please make a donation..

Gelding Assistance

Ungelded horses, donkeys, and mules can be difficult to house and hard to handle.  They may be hard to rehome, as well, if needed.  Indiscriminate breeding by stallions, colts, and donkey jacks also leads to equine overpopulation.  We created the Bluebonnet Gelding Program (f/k/a Cuter when Neutered) program to offer low-cost equine gelding services to help alleviate these problems. At this time, this program is limited to horse owners (not other rescues or sanctuaries) in Texas.

 Owners who are unable to afford gelding for an equine can apply for Gelding Assistance Program funds provided that there will no longer be an intact equines on the property and the owner is not involved in breeding equines.

Apply for Gelding Assistance.

The Bluebonnet Gelding Project is funded by donations. If you would like to help horses whose owners cannot afford humane euthanasia, please make a donation.

Feed / Hay / Vet Assistance

Difficult situations sometimes force owners to make difficult decisions, and we don’t want anyone to give up their horse due to a temporary financial hardship. We created the Horse Owner Assistance Program to provide temporary financial assistance to horse owners who have lost their jobs or suffered reduced hours or salary due and for owners who are dealing with medical bills.

This program is not designed to cover all of the horses’ expenses, but we’re hoping that with some assistance people can hang onto their horses. At this time, we’re only providing one month of assistance at a time, but you can apply up to three different times (so you could apply in May, June, and July if needed). Once you’ve been awarded horse owner assistance three times (whether that’s in one year or spread across multiple years), we will not be able to help again.

We are only able to offer assistance to individuals in Texas at this time. We are unable to offer assistance to other rescue organizations, breeders, lesson barns, or other businesses.

Apply for Horse Owner Assistance.

We have limited funding for the program but expect many applications.  Your donation will help us buy hay and grain for horse owners or pay for veterinary care (all money will go directly to the vendors, we will not be giving out cash awards). Our goal is to use these funds to help owners keep their horses until they can afford them again. Make a donation to our Horse Owners Assistance Fund.

Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society is a 501(c)(3) organization and all donations are tax-deductible.

Horse Rehabilitation

Incoming horses are evaluated by a veterinarian. If our veterinarian believes the horse is suffering from an untreatable or painful condition, we will likely decide to euthanize to spare the horse any further suffering.

If the horse exhibits dangerous behaviors, we will work with a trusted professional trainer to evaluate him/her. If the trainer, veterinarian, and our team believe the horse will remain dangerous, even with a reasonable amount of training, we may decide to euthanize.

All horses, unless euthanized, will be made available for adoption and offered to screened adopters once they’re healthy and have training.

Assisting Law Enforcement Agencies

Law Enforcement / Animal Control Agency Assistance

We founded Bluebonnet to help neglected, abused, abandoned, and estray equines throughout Texas. Our Executive Director, Dr. Jennifer Williams, has a Masters and Ph.D. in Animal Science specializing in equine behavior, learning, and welfare from Texas A&M University, is a Certified Humane Investigator, trained by the Law Enforcement Training Institute at the University of Missouri-Columbia, and has assisted with many seizures and court cases, including providing expert testimony, throughout Texas and Arkansas.

We also work with veterinarians with experience seizing horses, preparing for court, and testifying in court, and many of our volunteers have years of horse rescue experience, including participating in neglect case seizures in the past.

With our training and experience, we help law enforcement and animal control officers in a variety of ways:

• Assist investigating reports of neglect
• Educate owners to help them correct neglectful situations.
• Assist during seizures, including catching and handling horses, documenting the condition of horses and property, and transporting seized horses to a holding facility.
• Arrange veterinary assistance when needed – including veterinary assessment of neglected animals, care of the equines during and after seizure, and testimony in court.
• House equines after they’ve been seized.
• Prepare for court including preparation of a case notebook including photographs of the equines, informational sheets about each equine including Henneke Body Condition Scores, and veterinary statements.
• Accept equines into our program for rehabilitation and adoption.

We don’t charge for any of these services if the equines come to Bluebonnet – our goal is to save agencies funds while helping the horses.

Law enforcement and animal control officers who need help with horse or other equine cases, can call us at (888) 542-5163 or email info@bluebonnetequine.org.

Report Neglect

At BEHS, one of our goals is to help alleviate the suffering of equines.  One of the ways we do this is by investigating reports of neglect or abuse and working with law enforcement to remove those horses and other equines who are being neglected or abused.

In Texas, neglect is defined as “tortured, seriously overworked, unreasonably abandoned, unreasonably deprived of necessary food, care, or shelter, cruelly confined, or caused to fight with another animal”,  (Texas Health and Safety Code, Title 10 Health and Safety of Animals, subchapter 821).

If you worry that horses, ponies, donkeys, or mules are being neglected or abused, please report those animals either to BEHS or to the local authorities.  Even if you are not sure if what you witness constitutes legal neglect, please report the situation.  BEHS or local authorities can investigate and determine whether the horses are being neglected.

If you have a neglect case to report in Texas, you can call us at (888) 542-5163 or email us at neglect@bluebonnetequine.org. We are only able to assist with neglect investigations in Texas. If you witness neglected horses, or other equines, outside of Texas, please contact the sheriff’s department in that area.

When reporting neglect, please provide us with the following:

• Your name and contact information. We do not give out complainants’ names or contact info, but we may need to get in touch with you to get better directions.
• Address or good, clear directions to the property where the horses are located. If you only provide the town or road, we cannot find the horses.
• A description of the horses. This should include the number, date you saw them, conditions they are living in, etc.
• Other agencies you have contacted. If you have contacted the sheriff’s office or another rescue, please let us know.
• Any other information you think may be important.

Please do not send us links to Facebook posts, Craigslist ads, other social media posts, or other sales sites. We cannot investigate without an address or clear directions.

Neglect FAQ’s

Placing a Horse with Bluebonnet

We take horses in from law enforcement/animal control cases, rescues and shelters, and from owners who can no longer keep their horses. Since our mission is to help abused, neglected, and abandoned equines, we do prioritize law enforcement cases and do our best to help law enforcement/animal control agencies when asked. If you are a law enforcement/animal control agency who needs assistance, please call us at (888) 542-4163 or email jenn@bluebonnetequine.org.

If you are a shelter or rescue organization who needs to place a horse or an owner looking for a rescue to take your horse, please complete our Intake Request Form.