Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society

Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society A non-profit equine welfare organization dedicated to helping starved, abused, abandoned and estray

Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society is a nonprofit rescue organization and equine welfare community. We rescue, rehabilitate, retrain, and rehome horses from neglect and abuse cases, horses who have been abandoned, and horses whose owners can no longer keep them. Fueled by a growing community of owners, caretakers, and equine-related specialists, we offer owner assistance programs that help owners ca

re for, and keep, their horses. We also assist with disaster relief efforts and provide educational opportunities to improve the quality of horse care in Texas and beyond.

“A holistic approach to equine care not only improves the health of the horse but also enhances the emotional bond between the animal and its caretaker.”
Dr. John J. Krai, a veterinary behaviorist

“Strong, informed communities are essential for advancing ethical standards and fostering a culture of care within the equine industry.”
The Equine Welfare Alliance

Our community uniquely provides a vital network of empathy, understanding, and encouragement fundamental to fostering a sustainable and joyful relationship with horses and other equines. It has been well documented that when we immerse ourselves in a community that nurtures our interests, we do not merely pursue our goals; we excel in them. And we become more resilient, more dedicated, and ultimately, more successful. Our community is not merely a network of rescuers, horse owners, or equine enthusiasts but instead a sanctuary of compassion, a center of knowledge, and a beacon of holistic support for both horses and their caretakers.

I just checked on everyone and fed the skinny boys their alfalfa and feed. I always worry about the new ones with all t...
01/01/2026

I just checked on everyone and fed the skinny boys their alfalfa and feed. I always worry about the new ones with all the fireworks. Fortunately everyone appears to be ignoring the noise so far. Whew.

It is our final donation request of the year. Right now, we've only raised a little over half ($51,000) of our $100,000...
12/31/2025

It is our final donation request of the year. Right now, we've only raised a little over half ($51,000) of our $100,000 year end goal. We know we're not going to make it to the goal today, but if you haven't donated yet and could spare a donation, you can help us get a little further.

And if you need a reason to donate, other than my "pretty please", here's some awesome reasons:
94 - The number of adoptions that happened this year
80 - The number of horses assigned to the Training Challenge this year
63 - The number of new horses into the rescue this year
55 - Approximate number of horse owners helped through our owner assistance programs this year
35 - Approximate number of previously adopted horses who came back - this year
7 - The number of new agencies we worked with this year (animal control, law enforcement, animal welfare, rescues)
6 - The number of agencies we've worked with in the past that we worked with again this year

That's all important work we've been able to do thanks to our donors' generosity and support. What can we do next year if we work together?

Galeno has learned that the skinny boys get 2nd dinner before bedtime. He now comes to the gate to beg for a pre-bedtime...
12/31/2025

Galeno has learned that the skinny boys get 2nd dinner before bedtime. He now comes to the gate to beg for a pre-bedtime snack. I can't resist his face.

BTW, the skinny boys are doing well. I can see a slight softening of the angles. And they tell me about how much they enjoy their food.

They also are enjoying attention. I think they had handling in their younger lives but not much in years. They were so withdrawn at first, but now they seem to understand that I am not going to disappear and they can count on nice pets.

We really don't deserve horses. While I know there are exceptions, most horses really want to connect with us. Yet stil...
12/29/2025

We really don't deserve horses.

While I know there are exceptions, most horses really want to connect with us. Yet still too many people see them as utilitarian or something to win ribbons or something to collect.

I have fostered so many horses from neglect cases, including several of my current fosters. And I have fostered horses from hoarding cases.

Most of these horses have two things in common. 1. Their former owners ignored them. And 2. They crave attention and love. I have seen so many of them just melt into a soft touch or relax under grooming.

We don't deserve them. But I am so glad they are willing to give us another chance.

Well, I needed a day off so we were going to head to Galveston to have seafood and walk on the beach.Instead I am in the...
12/28/2025

Well, I needed a day off so we were going to head to Galveston to have seafood and walk on the beach.

Instead I am in the barn cleaning stalls and monitoring a colicking horse. While wearing a skirt because I didn't expect to do anything other than feed and leave.

If you all have followed this page very long, you know how much I love this horse. I'm not supposed to have favorites, b...
12/27/2025

If you all have followed this page very long, you know how much I love this horse. I'm not supposed to have favorites, but Chili has really gotten to me. Probably part of it is because he's a bright red Arabian gelding which pretty socks - which I think is so beautiful.

But a lot of it is because he's been through so much. He arrived emaciated and scared of everything. We had been told he wasn't halter broke, but he actually was - he was just too leery to let many people get close enough to him to learn.

The first time I tried handling his front feet, he tried to bite me. He wasn't mean - he was defensive and scared.

We worked through that. And through his fear of the saddle pad. And his fear of strangers.

A little over a week ago, he gave me a horrible scare. I went out to feed and he was laying down. I never see him lay down - it is one of his defensive behaviors he's clung to. Laying down when you are a prey animal makes you vulnerable. He doesn't want to be vulnerable.

So I got everyone into their stalls and he was still down. I went to get him up and he jumped up and move onto into his stall. But he stood with his head in the corner, not interested in anything.

I checked him out - reduced gut sounds, high respiration rate. I couldn't find my thermometer (not to self, order a new one) so I checked his gums. Pale and tacky - signs of dehydration.

The vet came out and treated him. I checked on him a few times, and he was up and about and mad he wasn't getting food. Good signs, right?

Well, the next morning I gave him a small breakfast (more anger - he wanted all the feed he was due!) and put him back out with everyone. When I went to check on him 90 minutes later, he was down again.

So another call to the vet. It took her a few hours to get here (the vets serve a huge area), so I sat in the barn with him.

I love this horse so much, and I was terrified. By the time the vet got here, I pretty much had him dead and buried already in my mind (I know, I jump to the worst possible outcomes).

By the time she got here, though, he was more alert, more demanding, and doing better. She checked him over, administered more meds, and decided he could go out in a dry lot where he was easy to monitor.

Each time I went to check on him, I was pretty sure he would be gone (I do have some past trauma from a simliar colic in a horse of mine years ago that ended in his death, so....).

He recovered. He's doing fine. But I had a scary several days there. So scary that when our fostering coordinator called to tell me she had a horse who needed a spot to go right that second, that I told her she needed to find someone else. I've never told her that before (I did relent and tell her if she couldn't find someone else quickly I would manage).

I would hug Chili every day, but he's not ready to be that vulernable yet. So instead I talk to him, pet his nose (which he likes), and tell him to never do that again.

The last two weeks of 2025 have been incredibly busy here at Bluebonnet. Last week, we took in a couple of horses from m...
12/27/2025

The last two weeks of 2025 have been incredibly busy here at Bluebonnet. Last week, we took in a couple of horses from multiple neglect cases. This guy is one of the horses we're hoping to pull through. He's emaciated - clearly. I've been out to check on him every few hours and he's getting plenty of hay and small meals multiple times a day. Today we finally found some alfalfa, so he gets that as well.

It is touch and go, and I always hold my breath when I walk out to the barn or the pen he gets turned out in, worried he's going to crash on us. He's already been vetted (multiple times). He has a strong will to fight, so we're fighting with him.

We could use your help in the fight, though. So far this year, we've brought in just about half of our year end goal. We don't set that goal just to be ambitious or to hoard money. We set it so that we can help horses like this, so that we can give them all the chances they need, all the chances they deserve.

We'll keep fighting for them. We would love for you to join us in that fight.

12/25/2025

Merry Christmas Eve from the barn!

Just two days before Christmas and another needy soul joined Bluebonnet. This guy was removed from negligent owners and ...
12/23/2025

Just two days before Christmas and another needy soul joined Bluebonnet.

This guy was removed from negligent owners and placed with us by the courts, with thanks to a small animal rescue who helped connect him to us (rescuers working together!).

He has a long road ahead but he is with an experienced foster home who will help him along.

Your donation feeds him and cares for him. It also helps with the vet bills today from some new intakes from last week.

Your donations make their holidays happier and their new year better.

December is over half over - wow! For those who celebrate, Christmas is just a few days away and then in just a little ...
12/22/2025

December is over half over - wow! For those who celebrate, Christmas is just a few days away and then in just a little over a week, we'll be celebrating the end of 2025 and the birth of 2026. It is hard to believe!

Throughout December, we've been introducing you to the horses living at Bluebonnet and asking for donations. And donations have been slow this year because things are tight for so many people this year.

So I wanted to take a break from the horse introductions and the donations to remind everyone that giving money is just one way to help. You can also give your time, your expertise, your passion to help horses.

There are obvious things like joining the rescue as a member, fostering a horse, or adopting. But did you know that's just the tip of the iceberg?

We also need volunteers to help check up on adopted and fostered horses, to trail horses to new homes, to talk to people about the rescue at booths, and to help with fundraisers and other events.

We also need folks with professional expertise - fundraising, marketing, branding, grant writing, HR, PR, and more to help behind the scenes, building and strengthening the backbone of the rescue that allows us to keep on helping horses.

And if you aren't in Texas but want to help, you can join our promotions team to help get the word out about Bluebonnet. You can help with online fundraising. You can participate on our page. You can help in so many ways.

Everyone's contributions are important - whether that contribution is financial or expertise or time. Because it takes a whole army of folks to make Bluebonnet work. And when Bluebonnet works, we do amazing things.

You can learn more by visiting our website - and we invite you to become a member and join the Bluebonnet team.

As I was feeding the new intakes this morning, I had time to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned in nearly 30 years of e...
12/22/2025

As I was feeding the new intakes this morning, I had time to reflect on the lessons I’ve learned in nearly 30 years of equine welfare and rescue work.

When I first began rescue work, if we got an emaciated horse into the rescue – especially one as bad as one of the guys I’m currently feeding – a lot of veterinarians would give up on the horse and tell us to euthanize him. Fortunately, my idealism and stubbornness saved those horses because I wouldn’t give up on them.

In those days, though, little was known about refeeding horses. We would start them out with a literal handful of feed every two hours – getting up in the middle of the night to feed, too. Since then, we’ve seen better and safer feed developed. UC-Davis recommended a refeeding protocol, and while I don’t use it, we’ve learned that we don’t have to start with handfuls of feed.

Veterinarians and equine scientists have learned a lot, too, about rescue horses. I’ve been invited to speak at vet conferences, participate in research studies, and speak at vet student clubs, all with the goal of educating veterinarians and equine scientists about equine rescue topics.

We’ve learned a lot about EPM, ulcers, kissing spines, laminitis, PPID (Cushings), and other equine diseases, lamenesses, and conditions. Things that were once death sentences for horses are now often treatable.

We’ve seen a change in attitudes towards rescue horses, too. When I first started this work, people often thought of rescue horses as thrown away, “garbage”, “useless” (their words, definitely not mine) horses who no one wanted. Now, people are showing, competing on, trail riding, driving, and working cattle on horses who came from rescues.

Actually, when I first started this work, most people hadn’t even heard of rescues. I used to explain what I do as “like animal cops with horses and less yelling”. Now, most everyone knows of a rescue, has met a rescue horse, or knows someone who runs a rescue.

There’s also been a lot of changes in our understanding of equine behavior and training. While some folks cling to harsh training methods, more people are exploring more humane ways to work with our horses and are learning about how to work within the bounds of normal equine behavior to train and interact with our horses. As a behaviorist, I really love these improvements – and as someone who loves horses, I admit I’m embarrassed now about some of the less kind training methods I was taught and once believed.

I think I could probably make a series of posts – or even entire books – out of each of these improvements. There’s so much to keep learning, and many ways we can improve our understanding of horses, what makes them tick, and how to treat the problems that occur.

What have you seen change in your time in horse rescue? Or your time in horses in general? Do you think anything has gotten worse?

Just a few more days until Christmas.If you celebrate, do you have any horse stuff on your wish list? I told Santa that ...
12/21/2025

Just a few more days until Christmas.

If you celebrate, do you have any horse stuff on your wish list? I told Santa that I want him to adopt Chili for me for Christmas!

And do your horses get gifts? I will go out to the barn late on Christmas Eve with horse treats.

Address

PO Box 632
College Station, TX
77841

Telephone

+18885425163

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Bluebonnet Equine Humane Society:

Shortcuts

Share