Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society

04/29/2025

This year, we're sharing our Bluebonnet stories. Meet Liz Magyar, a Board member of Bluebonnet, and hear about her Bluebonnet story, as well as meeting one of her friends and co-workers who joined her in volunteering at our Expo last year.

04/28/2025

We want to follow horse pages - so what are some of your favorite horsey pages or groups here on Facebook? Clubs, associations, barns, trainers, events - both in Texas and beyond?

04/27/2025

Time for an update on an adopted horse!

Blazen Beauty spent a couple of years in the rescue looking for a home.

But good things come to those who wait, and Blazen Beauty now has the good life with an adopter. She and her adopter have breakfast every together every morning, just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. They also get to trail ride around the 1700 acre property they live on - sounds heavenly to me.

I so loved her when I fostered her and I am delighted she is loved and loving life!

04/26/2025

Sweet Duchess was a 2023 Bluebonnet Rescue Horse Training Challenge champion, and she's been living with her Challenge partner (as a foster horse) ever since. She's a lovely, 23 year old, lady - which isn't everyone's cup of tea. And that's ok. I have such a soft spot for the older horses as they come with so much wisdom and so much patience.

But, like far too many horses (and even one horse is far too many, in my opinion), probably didn't have the easiest life. She's very loved in her foster home, which is nothing less than what she deserves. Her foster "mom" says, "When I consider what may have happened to her in her younger life, it brings me to tears every time. There are reasons she struggles with the farrier. There are reasons she struggles with deworming. There are reasons she is extremely petrified and starts breathing heavy when away from her herd. But Duchess truly is so Sweet and she tries so very hard to trust. She loves to be groomed and pet. She will stand with you all day if you have the time to do so."

It takes the right person to see past fear and a troubled past and to love anyway. We're lucky we could save Sweet Duchess, and she's lucky to have all of you out there supporting and loving her.

04/25/2025

We're getting to the end of another week (TGIF!) and it is time for you to hear about where your donor dollars are going.

Our single biggest expense is providing feed and hay to our horses. Since we don't have a farm or ranch, we can't get bulk rate pricing, and for years our foster homes covered all the cost of feeding the horses they fostered. It was like that for all rescues at the time, and it is still like that for many foster home based rescues.

About ten years ago, we started offering our foster homes a small monthly stipend. We knew it barely covered any of the hay or grain, but we wanted to do what we could to help those who help our horses. Over time, as we've increased our fundraising and donation programs, we've also increased the size of the stipend.

Now, we cover most of the costs of feed and hay for our foster horses, although some of our foster homes refuse the stipend and consider hay and feed a donation.

Last year, we spent $145,121.75 on fostering stipends, and this year we have budgeted $150,000.

So when you donate, part of your donation is going directly to putting quality hay and grain in formerly starving horses' bellies. I think that's a great use of donor dollars!

04/24/2025

Happy birthday to Cash Money from hm and his adopters! Cash came to us in 2021 when his owner couldn't keep him. He was enrolled in the 2022 Bluebonnet Rescue Horse Training Challenge and adopted by his CHallenge partner before the event.

His adopter says, "He is happily toting little kids around the pastures in his retirement. He lives in a pastures w a 25 yo retired SHOT horse and our 26 year old kid horse who is retired from competitive trail. All three can be easily caught and ridden ba****ck by grandkids."

04/23/2025

If you haven't joined Bluebonnet Equine yet, we Want to Welcome You to the Bluebonnet Community

We're a group of horse lovers not just in Texas, but spread across the country, who want to help both horses and the people who love them. We help horses through working with law enforcement, taking horses in to rehabilitate, and then rehoming horses. And we are here for our horses for life, taking them back if their adopters can't keep them and offering support to their adopters whether they've had their horse for one week or twenty years. That's what makes us special - we don't just care about our horses for a day or week or month, we care about them forever.

We're a collaborative rescue. We may not always agree, and we put the horses first, but we always remember that without the humans, the horse lovers, we cannot help any horses. We're not just horse lovers scattered across Texas (and across the country). We're not just a rescue. We're a community. We're a community of passionate horse lovers helping horses.

And this community, our community, uniquely provides a vital network of empathy, understanding, and encouragement fundamental to preventing burnout and fostering a sustainable and joyful relationship with horses.

Our community is not merely a network of enthusiasts, rescue pleas, or reactive horse owners; but a sanctuary of compassion, a center of knowledge, and a beacon of holistic support for both horses and their caretakers. I'm proud of the community we've built, and I hope you are proud to be a part of it.

We hope you'll decide to become a member of our community. Because when we work together, we not only support each other and help horses, we change the world.

Become a member at https://www.bluebonnetequine.org/membership-paypal/

04/22/2025

Adoption update time - this one I really love. I helped pick Gibson up from law enforcement, and he was such a leery guy then. To see him loved now - and loving his person - it means the world to me. It is why we do this work!

His adopter says he's so awesome and he's so loved. They're riding together and he's a completely different horse now from that scared horse I met a few years ago.

04/22/2025

This year, we've been telling - and sharing - our Bluebonnet stories for Bluebonnet's 20th anniversary. I love this one from one of our newer supporters, Lindsey. I want everyone to feel that way about Bluebonnet!

And if you want to be part of a community of amazing people helping horses, we invite you to join us.

04/21/2025

Shelly might just be the sweetest horse in the world, and she's looking for someone who needs an equine best friend, a sweet soul, and a lovely horse to adopt her.

She's 14 years of age, which is an awesome age, and she stands 14.2 hh. We're not sure what breed she is - maybe her own breed of The Sweetest Horse.

Poor Shelly had a rough time of it, but that hasn't dampened her spirit at all! She was so skinny when she first arrived at Bluebonnet, but she had a strong spirit and determination to get better. And she did! She then went into the Training Challenge where she excelled. She particularly seems to love obstacles - both manmade and natural - and she really wants to be a trail horse, an obstacle competition horse, or maybe even an agility horse.

She wants a friend who doesn't just want to ride, though. She wants someone who will pet her, groom her, give her treats, and tell her she's beautiful. And this girl deserves all that and more.

No one is perfect, and that goes for horses, too. Shelly does have some arthritis in her hocks, but her vet has seen no signs of pain or lameness. He said she's fine for trail riding - just no endurance, jumping, play days or other hard riding.

It is possible she might need a joint supplement or injections in the future, but she may not. None of us know what the future holds.

Her adoption fee is $850 and she's located in Montgomery, Texas.

04/21/2025

Here's an update on one of our Training Challenge alumni - Vegas was in the 2019 Training Challenge. He spent several years with an adopter and came back to Bluebonnet when she passed away. Earlier this year, he found a new adopter and the pair is having fun together!

They've gone to despooking clinics together in preparation for hitting the trails. We are excited to hear about their adventures!

04/21/2025

Join our horse-loving community! Together, we can make a difference in the lives of horses and the humans who love them - not just in Texas but around the world.
https://conta.cc/3EwcDjO

Email from Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society Learn What is Happening on at Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society   BLUEBONNET EQUINE COMMUNITY NEWS     We Want to Welcome You to Our Community Thank you for

04/20/2025

Ash is hoping to find a loving home as a pet and companion. He's a 16 year old, 15 hh, stock type gelding who hasn't had the easiest life.

Ash was living, mostly unhandled, out on a large property with other stallions when law enforcement first learned about him. His herd wasn't being fed. there wasn't much grass, and many of them had almost no water. It was a bad situation.

I first met him when we went to help law enforcement move his herd off the property and into Bluebonnet's care. He was friendly-ish - he didn't mind having his nose pet, but he wasn't at all interested in letting us near with a halter or leadrope.

Fortunately for Ash, we didn't just walk away. We persisted in getting him onto a trailer and off that property. He was pretty happy when he learned that food was part of the deal - a round bale of hay awaited him and and feed was delivered on a regular schedule. Plus there was plenty of clean, fresh water.

And Ash has now learned what the good life is like. He's been halter trained so you can catch him, lead him, and load him. He likes treats and food and pets.

He was a stallion for years, so he hasn't always gotten along with other horses. He does best either in a herd of geldings or as the only gelding in a herd of mares. He's also one of the few horses we would adopt out as an only horse as he seems to enjoy being alone just as much as being part of a herd.

Ash needs a companion or pet home because he's not sound for riding. When he was in training to become a riding horse, he became lame. He was vetted, and the vet said he'll be fine in pasture but the stress of training and riding is too much. Because of this, we're waiving his adoption fee. We just want him to have a good, easy life - he deserves that.

He's located in Bynum, Texas.

04/20/2025

Adoption update time for Donatello.

Kelly was a foster home and inspector for Bluebonnet, and regularly monitored the horses in the rescue. She noticed that Donatello was moved around a lot. At the time, she had started an equine assisted mental health facility at my farm outside of Austin, Texas, and felt Donatello would be perfect to partner with our therapy teams to help humans heal from trauma.

Donatello has a huge spirit. He was a wild horse, and that energy was always present. To earn his trust, and build a relationship with him was an honor, and watching him teach humans how to be present and find their true selves, was transformational for everyone involved. Donatello lived in a mixed herd for a while, but the mares in his pasture were not impressed with his constant need to gather them and move them around! She tried partnering him with a kind gelding, but Donatello felt he was a threat, and we had to seperate them.

So, Donatello lived alone in his own palace, with lots of hay, a run in shed, next to all of the other horses, and interacted regularly with our therapy teams. But, one day, he started to gaze off into the distance. He started to pace restlessly, and had a hard time settling down. She knew it was time to find a retirement home for this strong and brave mustang.

And so, she contacted Clare at Skydog Ranch in Oregon. There the mustangs live out their lives in freedom on 9000 acres. And she asked us if we would let him go to the sanctuary. She says she nervously waited for the board to make a decision on whether or not he would be a candidate for the sanctuary. And then she said that she literally jumped up and down with joy when she got the news that he was going to be joining this incredible place!!!

Transportation was arranged, and off he went, our brave mustang who had touched so many lives. Today Donatello lives out his life with his herd, a wild one, running free as it should be. Kelly says, "It was an honor and privilege to have partnered with him. I will never forget him. Thank you Bluebonnet for rescuing this brave stallion."

And you can now see videos of him at Skydog Ranch Sanctuary - he's a little older and a little greyer now, but he is where he needs to be. While he seemed to enjoy his time with humans at times, he definitely wasn't interested in being ridden by most of them. And when it was time for him to retire from the good work he did, it seemed right that he get to be free and wild again.